Chapter Text
The collar was obscured by the layers of clothing his old friend wore but Peter's eyes were instantly drawn to it. The leather of it was dark and rich in color, a complex design – Celtic? – burned along the edges of it and it was just barely visible over the collar of the white dress shirt Harry wore.
It looked expensive and it probably was.
It wasn't uncommon for omegas, especially young, unbonded omegas, to wear a large collar that protected their neck and shoulders from unwanted bonding bites. There was an entire industry for them, fashion designers who specialized in them. Gwen had a few different kinds of collars, a few for every day, and ones she wore when she dressed up. Peter was well acquainted with omega collars...
He just never thought he's see one on his best friend.
“Pete, what are you doing here?”
Peter forced his eyes away from the peek of leather and met his friend's eyes. He felt his cheeks heat up but he smiled through it. Harry's hair was darker than it used to be but his eyes were still that icy shade of blue. It made Peter want to smile at his old friend but he had a more serious reason for being here.
“Hey, I... I heard about your dad...”
“You didn't have to come here for that.” Harry shook his head and took another step down the marble staircase. The light from the windows hit him, making his skin seem paler and the leather all that much darker. “I mean, we all knew it was coming, one way or another.”
“Yeah, I know,” Peter wandered over to the bottom of the staircase. “It's just... you were there for me when my parents... I just wanted to do the same for you.”
“Thanks,” Harry said softly and Peter could feel the other boy's eyes looking him over. He took a step back and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “I should... get back. There was a meeting and I...”
“Oh, oh, right,” Peter stammered, nodding. He turned and walked down a few steps then turned to look back up at Harry. “Right, CEO now. Meetings. I just... just wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry I interrupted.” Peter descended the last few steps and looked back up at Harry. “I, uh, I guess I'll see you around...”
“Yeah,” Harry nodded, watching Peter retreat. He looked back behind him toward where a servant was waiting for him to take him back to the meeting. To escort him back to the meeting.
“You know what?” Harry said, taking the steps two at a time, reaching Peter just as he got to the door. “It can wait.”
“Really?” Peter blinked, looking back up the stairs where Harry had been. “Are... Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Harry grabbed Peter's hand and opened the large wooden doors, pulling Peter out after him before his butler could protest.
“Is this an escape?” Peter asked, smiling as Harry all but dragged him down the hall toward the elevators. “Am I an accomplice?”
“Technically, ditching meetings isn't a crime,” Harry pressed a button and smiled at Peter, panting slightly. “But yes, this is an escape.”
“They're not going to send security guards or anything, are they?” Peter asked, stepping into the glass elevator behind Harry. “I mean, I am an alpha and everything.”
“And a very raggedy looking one at that,” Harry grinned, leaning back against the back wall and looked Peter over. “I can't believe you turned out to be an alpha,” Harry grinned, shaking his head. “Just look at you.”
It was true. Last time Harry had see him, he was tiny even for a ten year old. Harry had had a few good inches and ten pounds on him and Harry had been pretty small for a kid as well. Now the opposite was true. Peter was a good half a head on his old friend and whatever weight Peter had was in muscle. Harry's formerly straight and thin frame was now padded with the subtle curves and padding of a male omega.
Peter was really trying not to notice them.
Peter shrugged, hooking his thumbs into the straps of his backpack. “I'm full of surprises, what can I say?” Harry snorted.
“You're still kinda scrawny for an alpha though,” He said, crossing his arms with a smirk. “And the hair, what is that?”
“Hey, I might be scrawny but I can still pick you up and toss you around,” Peter laughed, puffing out his chest to make his muscles look bigger. It didn't work, especially when Harry took the opportunity to poke Peter in the ribs.
“Oh, I bet you could,” Harry laughed as Peter flinched back and covered his chest with his arms. Peter joined in.
“I really missed you, Pete,” Harry said softly as their laughter died. “I don't think I realized how much until now.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Peter smiled gently, pulling Harry into a tight hug. “Good to have you back.”
* * *
Peter picked up a rock and turned it over in his hand, not ready to skip it over the water just yet. The escape from Oscorp went without a hitch. Harry called his driver up and they left the building without a single person stopping them. It wasn't surprising, since Harry was the CEO but a part of Peter hated how easily they let such an important omega, even if it was Harry, just walk out without a fight.
Peter furrowed his brow, mentally kicking his hindbrain for such sexist, overbearing alpha thoughts. He worried about Gwen and Aunt May all the time but he never thought they should stay indoors with twenty-four hour security. Ugh, he wasn't turning into one of those knothead asshole alphas, was he? The type that thought every omega was just a knot and a bite away from being their property?
He never acted this way before, not with any of his previous exes, certainly not with Gwen. Well, he wanted to mate with Gwen, sure, but when they were both ready and not about to go to college, they were way too young for that anyway...
“What's that face for?” Peter blinked, snapped out of his mental rambling. Harry stood across from him, a hesitant smile on his lips.
“Sorry, I was just,” Peter motioned toward his head, “just thinking about some stuff.”
“Like what?” Harry asked, tossing a small rock in his hand as he looked over the water.
“Just a lot of stuff,” Peter shrugged and half-heartedly skipped the stone the stone over the water. “I still can't believe you're an omega.”
“Didn't we go over this?” Harry laughed, smirking over at Peter. “It's not that hard to understand.”
“Yeah, I know.” Peter shrugged. “It's just... hard to wrap my head around.”
A thought occurred to him.
“Is that... that why Norman... sent you off?” Peter asked, looking over to his friend. “I mean, you just disappeared one day and...”
“I think so. Well, a little bit anyway.” Harry shrugged. “Apparently omegas are harder to ignore than betas or alphas.” Harry threw another rock but it just landed with a loud splash and sank. “It all happened pretty fast. I mean, I presented and it seemed like I was packing as soon as that first heat was over...” Harry shrugged, a bitterness edging into his tone. “But for all I know, he might have had all alpha and all beta schools lined up for me.”
“He sent you to an all omega school?” Peter asked, rolling a pebble in his hands, not ready to throw it just yet.
“The 'Eleanor Florence School for Omegas'.” Harry scoffed at the name.
“Wow, what was that like?”
“Expensive as hell and just as boring,” Harry shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “It was one of those real conservative type of schools, you know?”
“Norman sent you to a conservative school?” Peter asked, smirking. “He really didn't seem the type.”
“Conservative might not be the right word.” Harry said, staring out over the water. “They didn't teach the whole 'barefoot and pregnant' bullshit at least. They wanted to raise 'strong, independent' omegas.”
“That doesn't sound very conservative.” Peter said, finally flicking the rock over the water. It skipped ten times. Harry shook his head and muttered something about showoff alphas.
“No, but the way they went about it was very... archaic.” Harry shrugged. “They didn't allow suppressants, for a start. They wanted us to learn how to deal with heats instead of 'ignoring' them.”
“That's...” Peter wasn't sure what he thought about that because, yeah, learning to deal with heats was important but there was a reason there were suppressants. He might not go into heat but he'd heard about it enough times from Aunt May and Gwen. Heats hurt, it was miserable. Being able to skip half of the four heats a year and have the two remaining heats dulled was a life changer – or so Peter had been told. “...Wow.”
Harry nodded, not having expected Peter to have any real sort of opinion on it.
“And no 'Heat Relief Products', as the staff called them.” Harry picked up another rock.
“They called sex toys 'Heat relief products'?” Peter smirked. “Really?”
“Conservatives,” Harry laughed, shrugging.
“That... sounds like it sucked.”
“You have no idea,” Harry shook his head. “One of the first things I did when I graduated was stock up on 'Heat relief products'.”
“Gross, too much info, Har.” Peter wrinkled his nose playfully. The toys were just a fact of life for omegas who were of age but that didn't mean Peter couldn't tease his friend about them. “Did you start using suppressants?”
“Um... not really, no.” Harry examined the small rock in his hand carefully. “You, uh, you know my father finally found a cure for his illness a few years ago, right?”
“Yeah?” Everyone had heard about it. Norman made such a gigantic deal about it: donated a lot of money to related charities, threw a massive party, the whole works. For weeks, the news ran story after story about it. Looking back on it now, it was ironic that Norman still died due to the organ damage the diseased caused.
“It's hereditary,” Harry started, “Dad was thoughtful enough to tell me I would have gotten sick as soon as he found a cure. Would have appreciated more of a headsup, you know.”
“Yeah, but there's a cure now. You just said it.” Peter frowned.
“Yeah, but the thing is, it was designed mostly for Norman.” Harry scoffed. Peter looked up at Harry, concern and a bit of alarm clear on his face. “Don't look like that, Peter, it still works. It was just made with an alphas biochemistry in mind. It'll work with omegas well enough it just... doesn't react well with suppressants.”
Peter felt a flood of relief.
“So still no suppressants?”
“Nope,” Harry gave an exaggerated sigh. “That I can deal with. Plenty of supermodels with knots bigger than their brains. The fact that Norman's dick move did me a favor, that's what bothers me.”
“Just tears you up inside, huh?” Peter laughed.
“Like you wouldn't believe.”
“At least you got to go to England.” Peter reminded him, grinning. “That must have been something.”
Harry shrugged. “It was alright. It was an hour outside of London which made up for it.” Harry smirked, “American accents are quite attractive on that side of the pond.”
“Ugh, you must have been that school's worse nightmare.” Peter laughed.
“I certainly tried,” Harry joined in. “Lost count of how many times I got caught. They must have sent my father thousands of emails over the years. Drinking, gambling, sneaking in strange alphas and betas to partake in drinking and gambling. Only reason they put up with it is because Norman just kept donating to them.”
“Did they name a wing after him?” Peter laughed.
“No but they should have named one after me!”
“Well, come on, Private School.” Peter grinned, grabbing the shoulder of Harry's jacket and pulling him closer so he could sling an arm over his shoulders. “Let's get something to eat. Something cheap and greasy that's on a dollar menu.”
“Gross,” Harry wrinkled his nose but didn't protest. “If we're going cheap, you're buying.”
“Ugh, fine,” Peter grinned. “Wouldn't want to break a hundred for a dollar hamburger, would you?”
* * *
“So what do you plan to do now?” Peter asked, setting down Harry's tray in front of him before sliding into the chair opposite him. Harry's tray looked so empty, an order of fries and a shake, compared to Peter's hamburger, fries, shake, all large.
“How do you mean?”
“Now that you're back in New York?” Peter shrugged, unwrapping his hamburger. “Besides the CEO thing.”
Harry shrugged, ripping open a packet of ketchup. “Just figured I'd do the CEO thing, as you call it.” He dragged a fry over the puddle of red.
“What, no more dating supermodels?” Peter asked, smirking. “I've seen those gossip magazines.”
“I was a favorite of theirs,” Harry said dryly, quirking an eyebrow. “None of that was ever serious, Pete. Just a bit of fun, especially around my time of the year.”
“Aw, no Norwegian model's going to come barging in to defend your honor?” Peter smirked, taking a large bite of his burger.
“Oh, God, I hope not.” Harry laughed, shaking his head. “I tried to avoid the clingy ones but one or two always seemed to seep through.”
Peter nodded, mouth too full to talk.
“I try to avoid relationships anyway.” Harry shrugged. “Too complicated.”
Peter thought about Gwen. He could understand wanting to avoid complicated.
“Yeah, I hear that.” He shook his head. “Relationships are... way, way, way complicated.”
Harry looked at Peter, smiling slightly. “Talking from experience?”
“Uh, yeah.” Peter shook his head, studying his already half eaten hamburger. “Girl I've been dating. Gwen, her name's Gwen. She works for you, actually.”
“Works for me?” Harry laughed, popping a fry into his mouth. “Good worker, I hope?”
“Oh, the best,” Peter said, completely serious. “Amazing.”
“If she's so amazing, what's the problem?”
Peter groaned and took another large bite of burger. “Stop eating your emotions, Pete.” Peter swallowed hard.
“It's... complicated.” he said, wincing. “It just.. it's like we want different things but we also don't.” Peter threw up his hands, shaking his head. “It's...”
“Complicated, you said,” Harry filled in for him. “Think she's the one?”
“I don't know.” Peter shoved a few fries into his mouth. “I just... it's hard to imagine her not being there, you know?”
“Not really...”
“It's... it's like she's a part of me.” Peter tried again, crumpling up the empty french fry packet. “Like... a part of me feels missing because she's not with me...”
Harry shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I've never gotten that deep before, Pete.” He watched as Peter inhaled the last of his hamburger. “Closest I can think of is when I got sent off to England but I was just a kid then.”
Peter nodded, sighing.
“Have you mated with her?” Harry asked bluntly.
“No, no, nothing like that.” Peter felt his cheeks heat up. “We didn't want to bond or anything like that until after college.”
“Have you seen her without her collar?” Harry considered something. “She does wear a collar, right?”
“Yeah, she does, no, I haven't.” Peter laughed softly. “We were waiting, remember?”
“Right,” Harry said softly before shrugging. “If you miss her so much, why not try and get her back?”
“I don't want to be that kind of alpha, you know?” Peter shook his head, looking forlornly down at his empty tray. “I don't want to make her do anything she doesn't want to.”
“You're too nice for your own good sometimes, Pete.” Harry laughed, shaking his head. He laced his fingers together and stretched his arms over his head until his back popped. His collar followed his neck and shoulders and Peter could see the rounded edge at the bottom of the collar.
Somehow, he had almost forgotten his friend was wearing it. It looked so odd and out of place around Harry's thin neck.
“What's it like?” Peter asked, tearing up the empty hamburger wrapper as he watched Harry settle back down to eat his fries.
“What's what like?” Harry asked, nibbling on a soggy fry, mostly to annoy Peter.
“The, uh,” Peter watched Harry swallow, his Adam's apple moving underneath the leather of the collar, “the collar. I mean, is it comfortable?” Peter asked, looking at the collar openly now. “I mean... it doesn't look like it...”
Harry shrugged, reaching up to run a finger over the leather, passing over the metal closure at the front.
“It took some getting used but, yeah, it's alright. It's padded,” Harry shrugged. “When I was a kid, it felt like a baby was trying to put me in a choke hold.”
Harry put down his nibbled fry and looked Peter over. “Pete, is my collar bothering you?”
“No!” Peter felt his cheeks flare with heat. “It's just... well, when you left you didn't wear one and now you do...”
“Yeah, that happens.” Harry smirked, leaning back in the ugly yellow seat. “Omegas usually start wearing collars after they present...”
“Well, yeah,” Peter ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of how to phrase his thoughts.
“Peter, do you have a collar kink?” Harry's smirk was becoming more diabolical by the second.
“What, no!” Could a person blush everywhere? To Peter, it felt like the blush from his cheeks had spread out to engulf his entire body. “No, it's nothing like that!”
“Do you want to touch it?” Harry continued, leaning forward onto the plastic table.
“No!” Peter yelped, leaning back away from Harry. “Yes, maybe, not in that way.”
Harry looked up at Peter through his lashes, a seductive pull creeping into his smirk. “Peter, do you want to wear my collar?”
“Harry, no!” People turned to look at their booth, curiosity and disapproval clear on their faces. Harry fell back into his seat, laughing.
“That's not funny,” Peter muttered, feeling the stares on the back of his neck. “It's not like that. Really.”
Harry crossed his arms, still grinning.
“Yeah, yeah, I believe you. You're such a spazz, you know that?” Peter tried not to look insulted. “So how is it like, Pete?”
“I don't know,” Peter shrugged, pouting down at his empty food tray. “It's like... every other omega I know, I've known they were an omega.”
Harry raised an eyebrow.
“Like, they were never anything else, you know?” Peter continued, feeling more and more idiotic as he spoke. “I guess I'm just not used to the idea that suddenly you're an omega. I know that's stupid.”
“It is stupid.”
“Yeah, but there it is.” Peter shrugged helplessly. “And the collar thing just... it's just a kind of confirmation I wasn't expecting.”
“Okay, I think I understand it.” Harry leaned forward, hands laced together on the table, and met Peter's gaze. “You don't have a collar kink, you have a Harry Osborn's collar kink.”
“Oh, good, you're still egotistical.” Peter muttered through a second bout of blushing. “Glad to see that hasn't changed.”
“Don't worry about it, Pete,” Harry smiled, shaking his head. “I don't plan to go bare-neck anytime soon so you'll have plenty of time to gawk at it.”
“How considerate of you.” Peter said dryly, reaching for one of Harry's fries.
“I try.” Harry slapped Peter's hand before he could steal one.
“Come on, let's get out of here.” He took up his small cardboard container of fries, to keep them out of Peter's creeping fingers, and stood up. “My handlers have got to be pissing themselves by now.”
“You have handlers?” Peter smirked, following Harry out the door and into the night. “Are they the ones who hold the hair dryer?”
“Please, Peter. I pay a guy specifically to hold the hair dryer.” Harry answered, not missing a beat. “It's his only job, actually.”
“Good benefits, I hope.”
“Health and dental.” Harry nodded, “Even threw in vision.”
“Impressive.”
“It's a very important job, Pete.”
* * *
The Osborn mansion was just as Peter remembered it: large, foreboding, and incredibly expensive looking.
“Wow, it looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie.” Peter looked up at the impressive building. It wasn't that it was falling down or whimsically crooked, it just looked... empty. It was creepy. “Why are all the lights out?”
Harry shrugged. “Don't really see the point in having them on, I guess.” The door opened the silhouette of the mansion's butler could be seen. “I don't think I'm going to stay here too long.”
“What?” Peter looked at Harry in alarm before rationality kicked in. He meant the house, not New York.
“More my father's style than mine,” Harry smirked, sparing Peter's ego for now. “I'll find some other place and keep this around for when I have to impress someone.”
“Right,” Peter nodded, ignoring the flush of embarrassment. Of course Harry wasn't going to leave. Idiot. He sneaked a glance at Harry's collar.
“So... ugh, guess I'll see you around then.” Peter stammered, walking backward along the sidewalk. “Call me,” He mimed holding a phone to his ear, “whenever you want, alright?”
“Don't worry, I will,” Harry smirked back at him before closing the large oak door.
“'Call me',” Peter muttered to himself, reaching up to pull at his messy hair. He ducked into a nearby alley. “Fucking smooth, Parker. Be more of a dork next time why don't you?”
Spider-man swung out of the alley, still muttering.