@wbbing !!
harry was a firm believer in ghosts --- what were ghosts if not our guilts, our fears, made tangible? what were ghosts if not our own pain? after his father’s death, he had been haunted, a haunting that only had begun to lessen with spider-man’s fall. ( even now, even here, he was afraid of saying peter parker’s name. ) but he should have known that the past would not stay there, that one ghost would only lead to the creation of another. an exchange. harry osborn should have known that he would see his friend again.
peter parker. spider-man. peter parker. standing in the fundraiser, wearing the most expensive suit that harry had ever seen him in. alive. alive. there.
( harry ignores the fact that his breath comes easier in his lungs at the sight of peter. he ignores the fact that he must be in a dream and that he will wake up soon. but for now, let him sleep. let him sleep. )
he did not know how long he stood there, watching the man. one song faded into the next faded into the next. something was growing in him --- that familiar anger, that familiar pain, but something else too, something old and something new. you’ll separate your grief from your father’s rage, a voice whispered, and he wanted to slap it away, to tell it that it was wrong. he felt young and old, all at once; he felt terrified and thrilled.
did he run through the crowd, or did he slip through it, trying not to attract attention? he could not say which he chose. he only knew that he made his way to peter, that he would have followed the man to the ends of the earth in that moment. for good or for ill.
and there they were. over the past weeks, harry had been careful to master his mask. he was alone now, the most alone he had ever been. ( no friends, no family. only his name. only his shadow. ) if he did not guard himself, he would die, and it was the only thing that kept him sane then, the only thing that protected him. put away the shock, the sadness, the love, the hate. put it all away.
his hand was the only thing that gave him away as he held it out to peter parker, shaking slightly.
i killed you, he wanted to say. haunt me. please.
“dance with me.”
