All Roads Lead To Rome
Peter stops touching him after his dad's funeral, and Harry's not sure if it's because Peter thinks he needs time or space or something else that Harry really doesn't need at all. If he wants time and space, he'll buy it. He'll move. Actually, he could move, hell, they could move into his dad's place, but Peter won't even let Harry pay all the bills so there's no chance he'll move into the penthouse Harry grew up in.
Harry already knows before he asks that Peter will say no; that doesn't stop him from asking though, and that's when he notices the thing with touching, because Harry's talking to Peter, and Peter's just looking at Harry like -- like someone he wants to touch, but can't or won't.
Harry didn't even realize how much he missed Peter's casual hands on the shoulder until he realized it had been three months since he'd felt one, but now, when Peter reaches out, he freezes in mid-air, and they both see it. And that's that.
This doesn't stop Peter from making up some lame excuse about work and taking off.
This doesn't stop Harry from watching him leave.
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Harry keeps expecting to come home and find Peter and MJ fumbling on the sofa. He keeps expecting to come home and find Peter with someone who's not him. Harry's never been good with sharing, and thankfully this never happens, but the anticipation doesn't help at all.
Neither does the drinking, but that's nobody's business but his own.
Peter moves out after Harry goes through his room looking for Spider-Man's contact information. Harry's not sure if he's expecting to find it on a post-in or a matchbook or on the back of a head-shot made out to My Favorite Photographer, but Peter's not with him and MJ's not with him and his father is gone, and it's all that freak's fault. Harry doesn't mean to invade Peter's privacy, but it's like Peter's chosen Spider-Man over Harry, even though he killed Harry's father and that's just so fucked up and wrong. Harry could, would, give Peter anything he wants, and Peter won't help him with this one thing at all. It's so small, and Peter's supposed to be his best friend. Peter's supposed to be his --
Still, it's not like Peter catches Harry looking through his stuff, but he just seems to know anyway. He doesn't accuse Harry or anything, he just looks at him with those eyes, and Harry goes out and gets shit-faced drunk.
He doesn't remember calling the apartment and getting the answering machine, but the messages are there when he gets home, and Peter's not.
There's nothing better than multiple, slurring messages declaring how much Harry loves Peter to entice Harry to throw up all over the floor.
So he does.
Harry knows that Peter's not going to move back in with his Aunt May; he can feel it in his bones. So he hires someone to track Peter down and make sure he's okay. Harry will wait if he has to; for Peter, Harry can wait.
For Spider-Man -- well, that's a different matter altogether.
Harry's first board meeting is a confusing, infuriating rush of condolences and nervous executives, and afterwards all he wants is a drink. All he wants to do is to talk to Pete, but when he goes home, Peter's not there.
No one's there, but his father's strange ceremonial headmasks; and Harry is all alone.
Pete? Pete it's me, Harry.
Look, I'm sorry, man, for whatever. I know the Spider-Man thing isn't your fault.
We should get together soon. Call me.
Peter Parker, this is the Voice of Doom. You never call your best friend, Harry Osborne, anymore and he's going to send someone to get you.
Okay, I'm kidding, but seriously, Pete, what does someone have to do to get you to call him back? Kidnap Spider-Man?
Pete, man, you are a hard guy to get hold of. Where are you living anyway that you've got your own phone service? Call me, man. We haven't talked in forever.
Peter has this unerring ability to frustrate Harry more than anyone else; he guesses this is what love is all about. Correction: he knows this must be love, because Harry never got this frustrated with MJ, and maybe this is why Harry never really goes after Spider-Man as much as he could. Not because he doesn't want justice, but because he doesn't want to lose Peter as much as he already has, and it's clear that there's some sort of connection between Peter and Spider-Man that Harry can't seem to sever. Maybe, if he's lucky, Peter will come back. Or maybe luck has nothing to do with it. His dad always said that luck was for suckers, and maybe what Harry really needs to do is to get rid of Spider-Man and help the entire process along.