Chapter One

"A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward."

—George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

It had been six months since the death of Gwen, and it was becoming a little bit easier to breath, to smile, and to forgive with each passing day. It had taken five months before he put on his alter-egos costume. It took another month before he let himself mourn the loss of his closest childhood friend. It wasn't as if Harry died, although it felt like it after the spider venom altered his…everything, but they ended on bad terms. Really bad terms. All because he wouldn't give Harry his blood because he couldn't fess up to him about being Spiderman. In a way, he felt guilty for not trusting the other. He was reasonably concerned and cautious about giving his blood to Harry because he didn't know if it would cure him, and after finding out what his dad did…it would take a lot of processing before being able to save Harry without killing…or altering him in the process.

It was all his fault.

He wanted so badly to see his childhood friend, and to apologize and beg for forgiveness. Besides Aunt May, Harry was all he had left. The guilt would eat at him, and pester his subconscious for days before he finally relented. It was time to go and visit his friend.

Peter had made plans to go and visit his friend later that week when midterms had finally passed. He was at a café, where the television was set to the news channel. He hadn't been paying much attention to it until "Harry Osborne, son of Norman Osborne, the head of Oscorp, has been released and is on his way back home. Specialists say that the young Osborne is back to his full potential and the hereditary disease has been cured. After being screened for any psychological trauma and disorders, doctors say that Harry can live a happy, healthy, and peaceful life. Now onto the weather…"

Peter looked at his laptop and his books and notebooks, before shoving them all into his ratty backpack and moving behind the café. He pulled off his clothes, and tugged on the mask, shoving the articles in his opened backpack, before shooting off toward the Oscorp mansion. His stomach lurched a bit it what would happen, and after realizing he hadn't thought about what he would say and how he would apologize, his stomach dropped. Harry wouldn't forgive Peter. He would never forgive him for hiding his alter-egos identity when he was in need.

He slipped into an alley to pull on his clothes and running his fingers through his mask-hair. He paced a few times, before taking a deep breath and slipping out from the darkened alley and into the twilight to finally conquer his try at forgiveness. This could go either two ways, Harry would forgive him and Peter could spend the rest of his life making up for it or Harry could tell Peter to never speak or come near him again, which was what he was expecting.

The brunette hesitated when he reached the door. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before raising his fisted hand and knocked on the door, and then proceeded to ring the doorbell. A second turned into five, which turned into fifteen, to thirty, and Peter's heart sunk. Finally the unlocking of the door encouraged him and the Osborn's loyal butler opened the door. He gave him a half-smile when the other recognize him and gestured him inside. "The young master Osborn is currently unpacking. I'll go and alert him of your visit." Peter nodded and thanked the friendly man.

He waited a couple of minutes before his nerves began acting out in impatience and fear. Spiderman didn't fear hardly anything, but Peter Parker feared rejection.

"The amazing Spiderman has come to visit me," a voice said in a mocking drawl. Peter looked up to see Harry standing at the top of the stair case, and he felt an immediate sense of déjà vu.

"Um, I guess, he's kind of wondering if you would visit Peter instead of him though," he said, quirking his lips into a brief half-smile.

Harry placed his hands into his trousers, looking at him without blinking. "I knew you would come."

Peter nodded, "Yeah, well, you always knew me better than I did."

"Why are you here Peter?" His friend said, cutting right to the chase in his own impatience.

He looked up and bit his lower lip, sucking it in briefly before letting it jut out. "I'm here, to congratulate you on overcoming your disease."

"With no help to you," Harry included.

Peter nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I deserved that one."

"Why are you really here?"

Peter sighed, "I want to apologize, man. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for keeping Spiderman hidden from you, I'm sorry for not giving you my blood, and I'm sorry for not being honest with you in your time of need. I'm sorry." He hesitantly looked up to meet Harry's gaze.

Harry looked at him pensively, before nodding just a bit. "I was desperate, and wasn't thinking rationally."

And Peter knew that was as much of an apology as he was ever going to get.

He was perfectly fine with that.