Harry Osborn

1. We could give our children the childhood we didn't get to have.
2. They would never want for anything.
3. I want to be a dad.
4. Mary Jane will be a fantastic mother.
5. We will have children not heirs.
6. They would be the most beautiful and perfect kids ever.
7. We'd love them unconditionally.
8. It's not something we have to do right away.
9. I want to prove that genetics doesn't dictate how a parent will be.
10. I think we'd be cool parents.

I've tried to stop smoking ever since Mary Jane and I got married. She was never fond of the smell, and I went to great lengths not to smell or taste like an ashtray when we were dating. Now that we're living together it's a bit harder. I see her more than I used too. For a couple of years I used to go out on the balcony and smoke at night. Now I can't do that without her discovering me there. She reminds me of the health risks. I know she means well. I know it's a filthy habit.

It's just a bitch of a habit to break. Nicotine is absolutely more addictive than any street drug I've experimented with. When I'm stressed out or nervous my body craves that nicotine fix. The moment I give in to it I feel better physically. Then I see that look of disappointment on her face, and I feel like shit for giving in again.

One of these days I'll kick the habit for good. The patches don't work, and I hate the taste of the gum. And yeah I know that it's weird that I hate the taste of the gum, yet I like the taste of cigarettes. I can't explain it. It is what it is.

Now that we've been in Vegas for the weekend I've been fine without nicotine. There has been a bit of withdrawals, but the fact that I'm not stressed has helped. Maybe this will be the time I finally kick the habit. Or I'll go home, get stressed out again, and buy a new pack. Eh.

School is out for the summer, and despite Norman's urging that Harry take summer classes, Harry declined. This of course led them to have a major fight. His Osborn funds were turned off until he could find himself back into classes full time. Harry shrugged it off. It wasn't like he didn't have access to his other trustfund.

There was a cold silence between father and youngest son as the summer continued on. The only contact Harry received from him was a notice that the second summer term would begin at the end of the month. Harry didn't bother emailing back and telling Norman, once again, he had no plans to take classes over the summer. The silence continued.

Harry was tempted to concede the fight. To apologize to his father and enroll in the classes. It would make things easier for everyone, right? This was what he was supposed to do. Bruce rebelled and Harry obeyed. Harry was so tempted to just do it, and suck it up and hope that he didn't fuck up summer term the way he had Spring.

But the Lizard was tormenting New York, and Spider-man was out nearly every night fighting him. He was running out of excuses to explain his absences to his wife. He was running out of excuses to explain a lot of things to a lot of people. He was tempted to be honest with all of them. To tell them the reason he's gone all the time, and distracted when he's not is that he's Spider-man. He's the freak in the black suit that is trying to fight the other freaks.

Then he remembers that he can barely stand himself this way. Better to be a disappointment to his family than a freak. So the silence continues.

[friends locked, Norman blocked]

For as long as I can remember my brother has been my protector. If someone picked on me, and I couldn't handle myself Bruce would show up to scare them off. Then he'd smack me for not fighting back. That was the message he was always trying to drill into me. Don't take their shit. Don't be scared of them. Fight back. It's better to hit the ground fighting than to apologize for something that isn't your fault, or show fear.

I have this weird ability to make my father angry just by existing. There were times when he would literally become enraged by the sound of my breathing. I was such a stupid kid. I thought that maybe I was breathing wrong. That somehow someway there had to be a better way to breathe. A way that wouldn't set him off. He'd get started on me, and there would be Bruce. He'd insult him or stand between us. Anything to take the focus off me. Anything to protect me.

Then he'd get pissed off that I was going to apologize for the sound of my breathing. He'd get so fucking mad that I bought into the stuff that Dad would say to me. I was just a kid, you know? All I knew was that sometimes apologizing worked. Sometimes buying into his shit made it so that Bruce didn't have to step between us.

I always knew that he'd take care of me. Maybe not with the best bedside manner or the sappy stuff you see with some siblings. That isn't how we work. But he'd always protect me. I can trust him with my life. I just need to be prepared to learn how to not have it happen again. He'd teach me. He was always teaching me.

I think I've learned that. Things are so weird now. So different from when we were kids. It's not just that I'm older and taller or whatever. It's not even that I can take it without blinking or apologizing for something that wasn't my fault. It's not even that if you corner me now I will go down fighting if I don't make you fall first. It's like, there was this one time when I was in school and Bruce was gone. It was after he left. I was sixteen and in boarding school and these guys had me cornered, and they were bigger than me. They were trying to get me to back down, and my brother wasn't physically there to protect me. But he was there, in my head, telling me not to take their shit. To fight back. I did. I fought back so hard. I fought back beyond what was needed to protect myself. By the time someone came in to break it up two were on the ground and I was just kicking the shit out of the third one. It was such a mess. Dad had to pay off the parents of the other kids, and I was expelled, but it was just weird. It was like no matter how pissed off Dad was at me he was kind of proud too. I knew what it was. In that moment I reminded him of Bruce. I'd finally stopped cowering and learned to fight my way out.

It's just so weird that he's back after those years because in some ways I still expect him to intervene, but I don't really need him too anymore. I learned what he was trying to teach me, and I wonder if it's weird for him too. To not see that cowering kid that was there before he left. Or maybe he still sees him. Memory is weird. It locks people in at a certain age. We really pissed Dad off this week, and it was just so weird. Because it was like going back in time, but everything was different. Everything had changed.

I still knew I could trust him to watch my back though. I guess some things will never change.

Mary Jane and I recently eloped in Vegas. I'm not really sure what her family thinks about it. She doesn't keep in touch much with them. My dad is infuriated, and my brother thinks we're too young to be married. I recently turned nineteen, and I've been in love with Mary Jane since I met her when I was sixteen. Maybe we rushed a bit into marriage, but I know we can make it work.

I only regret that she has to deal with how rude my father can be. He is wrong of course. Mary Jane isn't beneath us. If anything we're beneath her. My family is complicated, but they're my family. I'd do anything for my brother except annul my marriage. Not that he would demand it. That isn't how Bruce is. He'll call me an asshole and an idiot for staying married when I'm still a teenager, but then he'll show up to walk my wife home from work because I asked him too.

I guess our biggest issue is just learning what it means to be married. I don't want to screw this up. She is everything to me, and I know that Osborn marriages have a history of being stressful. I never want her to feel like I regret that night in Vegas. It was amazing. Pirates and all.

Of course if she ever finds out I'm Spider-man she'll probably divorce me on grounds of being a freak. Not that I would blame her.

I need a huge favor and I'm willing to pay you well for it.

Harry can't comprehend why Mary Jane refuses extra security. They've gone through it before, but he just doesn't get her justification for not needing it. Didn't she realize how dangerous it was in the city? Not just because she was an Osborn, but that had to be taken into consideration as well. It was dangerous in the city for everyone. Harry knew that. He saw it first hand every time he took to the streets as Spiderman.

He tried to let it go, and accept her declining the offer to hire security. The truth was, he just couldn't. He could not let it go.

Why? Why was she being so stubborn about it. Why wouldn't she listen to reason? Why wouldn't she just admit that being assaulted had frightened her?

He nearly told her he was Spiderman. The night she came home and told him about the attack and then denied the offer for security he nearly told her. He just couldn't reveal the secret. Not to her, and not to anyone else. He didn't want them to know he was a freak. He had a hard enough time knowing he was one.

Standing in the doorway of their bedroom he turned his gaze on her as she emerged from the bathroom and prepared to leave for work.

"Why? Why are you so determined not to have security, Mary Jane? Make me understand."

[Set before the current thread with Bruce, Mary Jane and Spiderman]