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When Harry gets his memory back, he realizes he can kill Spiderman. Just walk up to Pete and stab him in the back, and he'll never see it coming. Harry's dad would be proud of him. But somehow breaking up Pete and Mary Jane seems so much more satisfying.
Harry knows he could actually make Mary Jane be his girlfriend, if he wanted to. Kiss him, sleep with him, whatever, and she'd do it to save Peter. He's a little surprised he doesn't want to, and a little annoyed at her obvious relief when she sees he isn't going to. What does Peter have that he doesn't? But he's not annoyed enough to do anything about it. That would just delay seeing the look on Peter's face when he realizes Harry has won this time.
Peter's reaction in the diner is even better than Harry hoped. Pete is almost crying. This is too easy; for a second it almost disappoints him. We've been trading Mary Jane back and forth since we were kids, he wants to say. When did it get so serious?
He's happier when Pete shows up at his place and starts breaking things. Their fight is brutal and fast and hard and Harry thinks maybe this is it, maybe this time one of them isn't walking away. They end up tangled together on the rug and no one is more surprised than Harry when he grabs Pete's jacket to slam his head into the floor and somehow kisses him instead. At least, Pete doesn't seem surprised at all---he just kisses back, angry and desperate. For a second Harry wonders if everyone knew but him. He wonders if his dad knew, and if that's why he always seemed so damn disappointed.
It's still like a fight, only now they're fighting over who can bite and suck more skin, who can rip clothes off faster. Pete is winning like he always does, but Harry almost doesn't care.
"I hate you," Pete murmurs passionately against his neck, as the buttons of Harry's shirt scatter across the room. "I hate you." Nothing has ever sounded sweeter. But when Harry goes to pull Pete's shirt over his head, Pete pulls back, yanking down the hem. "Don't touch it," he growls.
"For fuck's sake, Pete," Harry says. "I'm not a brainiac like you but I'm not stupid. I fucking know you're Spiderman. Now I'm taking this off you, so shut the hell up."
Pete's taking this emo thing pretty far, he thinks when he sees the black suit. The suit is made out of some weird fabric that clings, and Pete keeps tensing and pulling away from Harry like he's trying to keep it on. Harry isn't giving up, though; he licks down Pete's neck, bites his naked chest, and Pete moans and relaxes a little. The suit peels off inch by inch, and finally Harry is winning at something.
But the suit must have been all that was holding Pete together, because once he's down to his briefs he starts bawling like a baby and clinging to Harry's torn shirt. Harry forgot how Peter cries, like a sniveling kid whose lunch money has just been stolen.
This is when Harry realizes with a sick jolt that he just isn't cut out to be a villain. He's earned his father's contempt yet again. He puts an arm around Pete, rubs small circles on Pete's naked shoulder with his thumb, and says, "Look, I blackmailed MJ into breaking up with you. She loves you. You can get her back."
Pete just presses closer and buries his face in the goblin suit as if he wants to burrow inside. "I could have hurt you," he gets out, all choked up and whiny from the tears. "I almost hurt you."
Harry's father would be so disappointed in him. But somehow, the thought doesn't sting as much as it did a minute ago.