SI
aurora smith x peter parker
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: HARRY OSBORNE
things were getting better for aurora. especially now that easter had passed. the weather in new york was a whole lot brighter, the snow fully melted and with it pushing away most of the memories of the man who had controlled her life for years. her relationship with her father's girlfriend was getting better, even if their conversations centred around material objects. aurora probably should have hated the way that the woman had another man around every few days, forcing aurora to retreat into the depths of her bedroom and shove her headphones on. but after everything her father did? his girlfriend could cheat to her heart's content.
her favourite thing about life had quickly become peter parker. when she wasn't spending her time with nick fury and his agents, who she only recently realised weren't s.h.i.e.l.d. members at all, after the fall of the empire that was once underground booming, she spent her time with her best friends. it was just easier to call it s.h.i.e.l.d than nick fury's secret agency. but back to peter. he seemed to do absolutely no wrong. they spent most of their days together — he even managed to convince her into coming out on patrols with him some nights. she refused to fight unless things got ugly. they never did. peter parker may have been uncoordinated and most definitely not professional, but he always won his fights. he never pulled his punches.
she'd also developed a newfound friendship with ned and mj. sure, they'd always been friends, but this time it was different. now that she was in control of her own mind, aurora had the time to do teenage things, like go to the movies or go out for pizza. she began reading again. she had study sessions with them, which wholeheartedly ended in little bickers and chucking gummy worms at each other. life was good. life was normal. she was normal.
and here she was, giggling with the brightest eyes as she leant up against peter parker's locker. one of her hands was raised, grasped in his own as he kissed down on each one of her knuckles. the way that peter parker looked down at her was the way that she wanted to be looked at for the remainder of her years. golden love swirled behind chestnut brown, melting her candyfloss heart. it was the end of the day, bell rang long ago as the students pile out of the open doors. the lovers stood awaiting for their friends, plans of going to get sandwiches and studying until twilight awaiting to unfold.
"anyone would think you were bitten by the love bug, pete." little giggles passed bee stung lips, an english twang to each of the words. peter parker could only smile, pressing another kiss down to the scarred surface.
"what, i'm not allowed to love on my girl?" he playfully nipped the skin before allowing her hand to drop, pushing his head down to press a kiss upon her warm forehead. "you deserve it." her chest rose and fell next to his own, pressed up close. "gonna give you more love than you've ever had before, rory." that wouldn't be a hard task.
"i hate them. do you hate them?"
"i hate them."
blonde and chestnut hair shifted as the lovers turned to the side, eyes meeting the disgusted stare of both ned and mj. the antagonistic duo both shared a look of disapproval, lips turned downwards at the sight. truth be told, aurora and peter probably were acting so sappy that they looked like the couple in the halls that everyone would despise. they were just happy.
peter was the first to step away, though one of his hands remained beside the blonde's head, pushed against the yellow locker. "sounds like jealousy to me." he hummed boyishly, grinning from ear to ear. doe eyes shifted from his friends to his lover. "don't you think?"
"definitely jealous." the girl joined with a giggle, clutching her textbooks harder against the little dress she wore. with the changing weather and changing spirits, it only seemed fitting that she wore the pretty apparel she adored so deeply. today, her little dress was plain and simple, tiny forget-me-nots printed onto a smooth white surface. heavenly lace danced upon the neckline of the dress, mixed in with the loose tendrils of her blonde halo.
"you're all over each other, it's like you're both in heat." ned shivered, as though the thought brought him actual dismay. "ever since christmas — it's hard to get either of you alone."
glossed lips soon adorned a row of pearly whites. aurora bit down hard, her glare falling away from ned and towards the floor, lightly kicking her mary janes in the dust. any and all reminders of that time were hard, the thought of her dad seeping in and tainting her mind once more was enough to have bile rising in her throat.
thank god for peter parker, "wasn't it you who told me that having a girlfriend was the opportunity of a lifetime, ned?"
"i didn't mean tonguing in the halls!"
"we weren't—!"
"for the love of god," groaned michelle with a tilt of her head, dark curls falling back against her nimble shoulders. "can we please just go? we're already going to get in shit for missing debate."
with a huff, peter's hand left the locker and dipped down, picking up his backpack from the floor. aurora lifted herself away from the lockers, pushing a piece of hair behind her pierced ear before a larger hand met her own, slipping between her fingers and weaving her in close. with a giddy grin she began to walk, half aware of ned and mj's argument either side of them.
peter parker's smile dropped the moment they began to near the open doors. chilling air pushed past the clambering students. it seeped up into his skin and spread like venom, rendering him speechless and narrowed, head swirling.
the feeling was similar to that of his spider sense, crawling at the back of his neck and pulsing with every step he took. peter's larger hand gripped aurora's harshly, unintentionally drawing her attention up towards him. "are you okay?" all the tell-tale signs were there. he sensed something.
conspicuously, his eyes remained forward. he didn't know what to say — this wasn't their usual face of danger. "i don't know."
aurora clutched onto her bag tighter, hoping to hell that she wasn't going to have to launch into battle. bambi eyes fluttered to either of their sides, ned next to peter, mj by her own side. at present, if something was coming, they were their first call of protection. the only way to find out what was coming was pushing past the doors and walking down the steps, or awaiting for whatever was coming to hit.
the sun was beaming, hot, scorching, enough to make peter believe that he'd been thrown into the depths of hell. his world was spinning, his stomach was churning. something wicked was approaching, something that had his heart clawing to reach for aurora. something told him to protect aurora.
chocolate eyes scoured the faces in his immediate path. nothing out of the ordinary. people pushing and shoving past one another to get to the bottom of the white stone staircase. the staircase they were currently stepping down, closer to the top than the bottom.
"hey," ned piped up, completely unaware of the look both aurora and peter had on their faces. "isn't that principal morita? who's that guy he's with?"
two pairs of brown eyes shifted towards were ned's finger pointed. there, when settled, came two different expressions. one, peter parker, was hard as stone, brows furrowed together as it took in the state of the two men, trying to piece together what was happening. and two, aurora smith, bright eyes dazzling and mouth curling into a smile.
he should have seen it coming, but it took him by surprise as aurora's hand slipped out of his own.
he stumbled as she let go and raced down the steps, blonde locks waving behind her as she squealed, approaching an, to them, unknown figure. the trio could barely see his face from behind principal morita, just a mop of raven curls and a slender frame, strong jaw locked. that was, until, aurora called out his name.
"harry osborne!" the sound left her lips followed by giggles, and the raven haired boy looked up with barely enough time to catch the impending figure that came towards him. the air was knocked out of his lungs, just as peter's heart fell to his stomach.
aurora's arms latched over the boy's shoulders, a bright smile against her lips as his own curled around her waist. harry osborne effortlessly turned them around, spinning with the small girl in his arms. principal morita was now long gone, only leaving three american teenagers confused by the sight in front of them.
"what is happening?" mj whispered. she gained no answer.
"they told me you would be here!" a thick, heavy and heady english accent filled the air, seeping through the thickness and plunging straight into peter's gut.
the squealing girl tightened her hold on him, legs wrapping themselves around his waist. even now, their height difference was oh so evident. he completely enveloped her, holding her as though he had done it a thousand times before. their contrast was heavy — aurora's sweet, feminine dress and this boy's dark grey gorillaz t-shirt and heavy demeanour.
finally, she was set down. "me? what are you doing here?! you have no idea how much i missed you!"
so much that she never even mentioned a word to the three stood in silence.
"dad's expanding his empire." the boy, hands heavy with silver rings, grasped ahold of one of aurora's palms and pushed his lips against it, before grasping her chin and moving it towards the heightened sun. "see there? between those two buildings?" she nodded in haste, shimmering eyes drawn upon the area of interest, becoming lost in his words. "that's where its going. an oscorp tower."
"is that why you're here?" her gaze returned to the boy in front of her, eyes wide. "are you staying for the term? whilst the tower is built?"
a grin spread across his lips, somehow seeping into her own skin and becoming reciprocated on her bee stung lips.
"i'm staying, full stop." her breathing spiked, a piece of her past brought back to her. "you're face to face with midtown high's latest, rory." and he leant forward, pushing his lips against her forehead, grasping her warm cheeks between his palms. "you're not getting rid of me just yet."
a giggle surpassed her lips. and then, suddenly, a switch flipped inside her head. aurora's eyes grew impossibly wider, and her head snapped away from his hold, towards the three wide eyed students watching from the top of the stairs. harry followed her line of vision, his dark brows drawn together at her sudden distraction.
she scrambled for his hand, pulling him up the stairs behind her. "come and meet them, harry! you'll love them!"
"are these your friends?" asked the english boy as they neared, stumbling as she pulled him so quickly.
peter parker didn't like the flush on aurora's cheeks. he didn't like the way her palm wrapped so tightly around harry osborne's. he didn't like their similar accents and doting smiles. he adored her giggles, but not for a stranger. none of the things he adored about her should have ever been for a stranger.
"this is ned and mj." the two shared an awkward wave at the boy as aurora smiled so bright she almost dazzled them. they hadn't seen her like this before. harry sent them a polite smile. then, aurora's eyes fell onto peter, and brown irises became almost whole pupils. she stared so openly at something, someone, she loved. it was a different stare to the one she gave harry osborne. it was reserved, only for peter. "and this is my boyfriend, peter."
a moment of silence came over them. aurora's hand fell away from harry's and she looked between the two boys, waiting for someone to say something. mj blinked harshly. ned's fingers awkwardly tapped against his thighs.
"hey, mate, nice to meet you." harry osborne's ring clad hand raised up in greeting, offering peter to shake it.
slowly, peter's larger hand met his own. "i'm peter, aurora's boyfriend."
harry let out a breathy laugh, amber eyes blinking lightly. "she mentioned. you being good to our girl?" our girl.
"he's the best to me, harry." she spoke so lightly, as though the words were the most truthful utterance. they meant the world to her. "practically saved my life." he did. he did save her life.
"didn't pin you to be so romeo and juliet, rory. always left that for penny."
a gasp left the blonde's lips. "oh, penny! how is she, i-is she—"
"rory," peter's voice invaded her thoughts, pushing away the memory of one of her english friends. the blonde turned back to her lover, nodding slightly for him to continue. "you haven't told us..."
her eyes widened once more. "balls! i'm sorry, ned, mj, peter, meet harry osborne." she smiled back at the raven haired boy, the look instantly reciprocated.
"my very best friend."