Re: Gramercy: Harry and Gwen
"You're a handsome face with a nearly unnatural ability to charm everyone," Gwen replied. In high school, that had certainly been true. After, he'd fallen into enough destructive behavior that it didn't work as well, but this was very much the Harry of her high school experience. Well, nearly. If she began crafting a list of similarities and differences, she might get herself tripped up on the fact that this version of Harry Osborn didn't seem to display any of the sadness that she associated with Harry when his dad was still alive. She didn't sense the pressure to please a man that had always proven impossible to please, but perhaps that was just a result of knowing his dad was dead. She wasn't sure, but it would definitely go on the list as a deviation from expected behavior.
She expected him to ask about the problems, and she'd already begun determining her response. But he didn't ask, and she wondered that she thought he would. Harry never liked talking about the challenging things, and that had been the problem with her pregnancy and disclosure about that. He hadn't wanted to know, and she hadn't wanted to push. It was the same situation now, where she should probably provide him with some clarity, but she found herself uncertain where to begin, and there was no really good way to explain anything. It wouldn't be smart, either, to say things that might bring the house of cards tumbling down while they were alone, and she convinced herself that the most logical course of action would be to discuss this with the others and decide if he should be informed of past occurrences.
Decision made, for better or ill, and she didn't know he was trying to figure out what happened with Mary Jane. Admittedly, his relationship with the prior Mary Jane was something she knew a lot about, but she had very little notion what had occurred with this one recently. She didn't know if Mary Jane was still communicating with him; she didn't ask.
Even with all the parsing of information, and even with the realization that he didn't have the layer of sadness that the Harry she'd known in high school did, she was surprised when he turned the conversation to lawyers and boats. The commentary about the boat was so innocent, and Gwen realized she hadn't felt that innocent in a long time. She smiled at him, letting his comment carry her into a simpler time, if only for a few minutes.