An-Harley and Peter Stark are Tony's twin sons, problems arise when Harley tries to be cool

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Peter stopped short when he heard Harley's voice, ducking behind the locker block and pressing his back against the cool metal. He frowned when he heard Flash's voice mixing in with his brothers, narrowing his eyes and straining to hear them.

"Did you see that loser in chemistry?" Flash snickered, the light sound of Harley's familiar laughter ringing in the empty hallway.

"Yeah! Did you hear him, man? That was way too bold." Harley giggled. Peter narrowed his eyes further, Flash and Harley were in his chemistry class. Of course though Flash didn't know Peter were twins, Harley Keener was really Harley Keener Stark and Peter Parker was Pater Parker Stark. But no one had spoken out in class except him, other than a few of Flash's goons. Peter had no idea why Harley was speaking with Flash, he knew how he made fun of Peter afterall.

"Man one day Parker's gonna get it! You were so right! He's such an annoying freak!" Flash sneered. Peter's arms dropped to his side, stepping out from the lockers, making eye contact with Harley. Tears were dribbling out of his eyes and spattering onto his sweater their mum had gotten for him. His hands shaking by his sides, glasses slipping down his nose and braces pressing into his cheeks as he pursed his lips.

"That's really what you think about me?" Peter asked, voice breaking and wobbling. Harley's mouth fell open, face paling and eyes widening.

"Peter I didn't-" Harley started but Peter cut him off with a hard shove, making him stumble back.

"You're such an asshole!" He shouted, shoving Harley again before sidestepping him and rushing off down the hallway. Harley stayed frozen, staring down at the floor.

"I gotta go."

——————

"Hey Underoos, Peanut. How was school?" Tony asked. He was surprised when Peter stomped out of the elevator, slamming his backpack down on the floor and pulling off his shoes roughly.

"Peter I didn't mean it!" Harley pleaded. Peter whirled around, throwing his shoe at Harley which he easily dodged.

"Woah! Peter what the hell?!" Tony shouted. Peter didn't even glance at him, yanking off his jumper and throwing it at Harley who let it hit him and fall to his feet. Peter tugged off the knot of his tie and threw it at Harley. Tears were spilling out of his eyes and his face was scrunched up.

"Okay I'm sensing tension. Just don't throw your belt at your brother please." Tony said calmly.

"I wish he wasn't my fucking brother!" Peter screamed. Tony took a step back in surprise, stopping short and dropping his hands.

"Peter you don't mean that," Tony said softly.

"I mean it! Because I'm sick of living in his stupid perfect shadow!" Peter screamed, pointing at Harley.

"Peter you don't-" Harley started again, being cut off by Peter.

"I do! You've always been better! The better twin that everyone likes you better! The more attractive one! The popular one! The funny one! The smarter one! The cool one! The fashionable one! The one who all the girls love because he's soooo pretty! With the pretty blue eyes and blond hair and the sharing smile! God, you're fucking perfect and I just don't compare! Everyone has always loved you more! Even mom and dad! But you're the one person who always loved me the most!" Peter screamed, shoving Harley hard and getting in his face. Harley's lips were pressed into a thin line, tears gathering in his narrowed eyes.

"You always said that you'd stand up for me and that you'd protect me! But you did the opposite! What was it he said?! That you called me an annoying freak?! What else have you said?! That, that no one likes me? That no one cares about me? That I have no friends? Because that's what Flash says! And now I can't tell the difference between what Flash has said and what you've told him!" Peter screamed, red in the face, tears in the constant stream down his face.

"What else did you tell him?!" Peter screamed, shoving Harley hard again.

"Petey, I didn't-" Harley stuttered. Peter swiped his hand through the air.

"No! You don't get to call me that anymore! I want to know! Did you tell him about all the times I ran to you and cried for help?! Did you tell him all the times we'd made forts in the living room when I had nightmares because dad was on a mission and nothing could calm me down but you?! Did you tell him all the times I crawled into your bed because I needed you to hold me until I fell asleep because we shared a bed until we were ten because you didn't want to leave me alone?! Did you tell him all the times I relied on you to help me?!" Peter screamed. His eyes screwed shut and eyes bludging out of his head. Harley couldn't say anything.

"That's right! Because you're just a fucking coward! You don't want people to know that you are just. Like. Me. And we're both fucking cowards. You were the one person I could always trust. Could rely on. Could be me around. But now, I don't know who you are." Peter spat, pointing a finger at Harley's chest, pressing it in for a moment before bending down and picking up his sweater, tie, shoes and walking calmly out of the room.

Harley stayed with his feet firmly planted on the floor, hands clenched into fists, tears spilling out of his eyes as he stared at the floor. His hair fell over his forehead, the tiles seemed very interesting right now instead of thinking about how bad he fucked up.

"Did, did Peter just swear?" Rhodey asked incredulously. Harley broke into fresh tears, sobs shaking his shoulders and arms coming around himself, hugging himself tightly.

"Oh shit. Pep, you go to Pete, I'll um, Uh. Harley? Can you come here?" Tony asked hesitantly, Pepper already jumping up from her seat and rushing off down the hallway after Peter. Harley shook his head. Tony sighed and stood up, placing a hand each on Harley's shoulder and forcing him to start walking, pushing him into a lounge. He glanced at Rhodey who nodded and stood up, walking over to the elevator and pressing the down button as Tony pried Harley's arms away.

"You sh-should be with Peter." Harley sobbed. Tony sighed deeply.

"Harley you're both going through this. Right now I need to figure out what happened." Tony said, pushing Harley further into the couch.

"He was right. He's always right." Harley cried softly. Tony sighed, sinking in next to Harley.

"He gets that from your mom." He said softly. Harley sniffled, wiping his face hurriedly.

"He gets everything from mom." He said thickly. Tony sighed, pulling Harley into his side, waiting out the fighting from Harley until he sunk into his side.

"Harley, what the fuck happened?" Tony asked. Harley shrugged.

"I always thought it was so easy for Peter. He acted like he didn't care, like nothing ever affected him. Like it didn't matter what people thought about him. But it really mattered to me. Cause it always felt like everyone likes Peter better. Always more cute and cuddly, easier to talk to. I just, I just wanted to feel like it could be easy for me sometimes too." Harley started to explain weakly, hiding his face in Tony's side as he rubbed circles into Harley's shoulder.

"I could just pretend every once in a while. Pretend to be cool and interesting when I'm not. Cause in reality I study in the library on weekends with my brother, and go to weekly game nights with my family, and still build forts with my baby brother cause I miss when we were ten and nothing was this complicated." Harley said softly, soaking Tony's shirt. Tony stayed silent, listening to Harley speak patiently.

"And at the start, I just didn't say anything when everyone made fun of Oeter and then I'd come home and I'd have to comfort Peter after Flash said all those things and called him all those things. But then all I had to do was tell Flash some embarrassing stories and make a believable lie why I knew them and I was cool. And then I was calling him things and I didn't know how to stop. And I felt so horrible because Peter's right, I'm a fucking coward. I was so so so stupid. And peter can always see that." Harley explained. Tony nodded slowly, sighing deeply.

"You fucked up. And I know you know that. And I'm not going to say it's okay what you did because it not. And I know you know that too. But I understand why you did it. Because it's a lot of pressure. Because you're my kid. And I know that this is also my fault. Because I put so much pressure on you and your brother. And I know that other people who know you're my son also put pressure on you. And you put pressure on you. So I understand. You're going to have to fix this, because we both know your brother holds a grudge until the end of time. And even though I know you're gonna fix this you did a shitty thing to your brother and you deserve punishment." Tony said firmly. Harley nodded into his side.

"No labs for three weeks. No devices for two and you're grounded for one. And you better fix this." Tony said firmly. Harley sniffled loudly.

"That sounds fair." He said softly. Tony hummed.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does. Now cuddles for a bit then I'm sending you to your room before your mum finds out I went easy on you."

——————

"Jesus when I said to fix this I didn't mean beat up a kid for your brother," Tony growled, pacing on the floor and stroking his chin.

"He was gonna beat Peter up. Better me than him." Harley said, playing with the stitches above his eye. Nat slapped his hand away, shooting him an unimpressed glare.

"Harley you're seriously injured!" Pepper shouted. Harley narrowed his eyes.

"I've had worse." He said quietly.

"When you and your brother were play fighting as children!" Toky shouted.

"Well he doesn't think of me as his brother anymore does he?!" Harley shouted, jumping up off of the couch and standing on his feet. Tony snapped his mouth shut just as the elevator door opened, in running Peter with an already forming black eye and split lip.

"You beat up Flash?!" He shouted incredulously. Harley sat back down in the couch nervously.

"Oh, honey look at your eye. Come, let me take a look." Pepper said. Peter held up a hand, walking up to Harley and standing in front of him with his hands on his hips.

"You idiot! You beat up a whole ass kid!" Peter shouted, waving his hands around in the air. Harley looked down at his lap.

"He had you against the lockers," Harley said, shrugging his shoulders weakly.

"And you had him on the floor! You were on top of him!" Peter shouted. Harley shrugged weakly again.

"He was punching the shut out of you! What did you expect me to do?!" Harley shouted, looking up at Peter and waving his own hands around in the air up at Peter.

"Not get yourself suspended! You practically beat his face in! You looked insane!" Peter shouted.

"He deserves it!" Harley reasoned.

"No shit! But that doesn't mean you ruin your life because some guy was making fun of your brother!" Peter shouted.

"Exactly! You're my brother! My brother! And I love the shit out of you! Even if you steal my sweaters because you forgot to wash yours! Even if you always leave your stupid glasses in my room and then forget where they are and make me take them to your room for you because you're comfy in bed! Even if you like physics more then chemistry and forget to do your Chem homework so I stay up all night to help you with it and fall asleep during my chess final! Even if you always steal the best seat during movie night so I either have to sit next to a Thor who snores or cuddle with you! Even if you embarrass me in front of every girl I've ever liked!" Harley shouted, standing back up and waving his hands around. Peter stayed silent in shock.

"Even if you come into my room to ask where your favourite Star Wars T-shirt is and leave my door open! Even if you always push the button on the elevator because you know I want to press it! Even if you always blow out the candles on my side just so you can get a hug when I lean over to blow the ones out on your side! Even if I'm a fucking asshole who doesn't deserve you as my brother!" Harley shouted, tears slipping out of his eyes as he stared at Peter's shocked face.

"You're a colossal idiot," Peter said finally.

"Granted." Harley conformed. Peter nodded slowly.

"And you owe me three days of forts," Peter said firmly, pointing at Harley's chest.

"Understandable." Harley reasoned. Peter nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry I said all of that about you. You're the best brother in the entire universe. And I'm sorry I was an asshole and that I threw my clothes at you." Peter said, wiping his face hurriedly.

"Was?" Harley teased. Peter narrowed his eyes.

"Thin ice peanut. Thin ice." Peter said sternly.

"Back to peanut, Underoos?" Harley said. Peter rolled his eyes.

"You're lucky I love you, idiot," Peter said quietly, tugging Harley towards himself by his shirt and hugging him tightly.

"I love you too. But who's the idiot when you're the one bleeding on my shoulder?" Harley asked, making a face as Peter pulled back and wiped his bloody nose.

"Hmm. Still you. But you're the one who has to clean the shirt, not me."