The only other person at the diner was a man sitting in the corner; Peter didn't get a good look but the man was wearing a leather jacket and his head was shaved. He gently pushed Miles in the direction of a table as far away from the stranger as possible and sat down. The waitress that came up to them was a young and pretty redhead in rimmed glasses.
"What can I get you, tiger?" she asked, winking at Miles.
Peter cleared his throat and nodded at Miles, letting him order whatever he like, and turned around to take a look at the man in the corner. He looked bored, playing with a dart in his fingers; maybe he was waiting for someone. The waitress, Mary Jane according to the name tag, didn't seem particularly alarmed by the man's presence so maybe they shouldn't be either.
"So what are you two doing at 1 A.M. in a diner in the middle of nowhere?" MJ asked, seeing that Peter was watching the stranger. "It's kind of dangerous, don't you think? Where are your parents?"
"I'm his legal guardian," Peter answered coldly and Mary Jane hummed but didn't say anything else before going back to the counter.
The doorbell chimed and a hooded figure entered the diner, heading straight for the table where the bald man was sitting. Peter cursed inwardly for picking the apparently the most shade diner in Nowheresville, Arizona. They were far away from home, weren't they? He glanced at Miles who was nervously picking at his sleeve.
"Hey. You okay?" Miles only nodded and Peter ran his fingers through his hair. Maybe it was a bad idea after all…
The sound of clatter by the shady table startled him out of his thoughts. He instinctively turned around just to see the skinhead leave, huffing angrily.
"Bad break up, Wade?" Peter saw another waitress with short blond hair chatting up the man in the hood.
"You're hilarious, Inez. You know how Lester is with business…"
"Oh, I do. What can I get for you, hunny? Pie?"
"Sure, if it's the cutie pie over there…"
Peter blushed as Inez giggled hysterically. Miles kicked him under the table and grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. That little shit. But it was the first time he smiled since they left New York… Peter snorted and kicked the kid back just as Mary Jane came back with their pancakes.
"Wade's obnoxious but he's harmless," she assured them, winking.
"Hey, Red, don't sell me so short!" Wade shouted. "I can be dangerous if you want me to, baby boy."
Peter was about to splutter and give the man a piece of his minds, but Miles almost choked, trying to conceal his laughter. Wade made him laugh; in five minutes, he accomplished what Peter couldn't in three months. So what if it cost Peter his dignity? It was a small price to pay.
"No, no, you're fine being just shady, no need to get dangerous too," he muttered more to Miles than to anyone else, to see if it would make his mood better.
"Shady?"
Peter jumped so violently he hit the table with his knees and almost broke the plate with his head. The question was whispered right into his ear, because Wade was, apparently, right behind him. Peter tried to calm his racing heart down without appearing too shaken up but he was failing miserably; at least Miles and Inez were having a blast.
"Creepy, much?" he stammered, clutching at his chest. "Well? Don't hover, sit down!"
"Oooh, bossy, me like!" Wade exclaimed with a grin and pulled up a chair to sit on.
His hood slipped down and Peter barely held down a gasp. His face was marred with scars and he had no hair, just like his friend. Miles' breath hitched slightly but he didn't react in any inappropriate or hurtful way; he was such a good and mature kid it left Peter in complete awe sometimes.
"What brings you two hopeless wanderers here, huh?"
"Just visiting some relatives," Peter muttered, glancing at Miles. His eyes were going to roll out of his head at that pace.
"Relatives? Don't get me wrong but you don't look like brothers. I mean, the kid has much better fashion sense and that shit has to be genetic, right?"
Miles giggled and Peter's heart sank. He had missed that sound… Ever since their parents' death, he hadn't heard it even once and he was ready to dine Wade for an entire night if he could make him laugh at least one more time.
"Our parents remarried. Each other, for the record. Did you order yet?"
"Inez knows what I like," Wade said with a wink. "Don't you, Inez?"
"Oh, I do!" Inez shouted from behind the counter. "And it ain't our pancakes!"
"Shut up, you hag, I've told you numerous times that I am in no way infatuated with any specimen of the local fauna!"
"Oh, but he ain't local!"
Peter hid his face in his hands because he could feel himself turn seven different shades of red. Small town communities were exactly like on TV… He dared to peek at Wade and froze. His cheeks were red and his jaw clenched, like he was really embarrassed and ashamed. Peter didn't want that. A snort made him drop his hands and turn to Miles. The kid was biting his lips really hard and his eyes were watered. Peter choked out a laugh – that was Miles' trying-not-to-laugh-so-hard-I-may-fry-my-brain face. Peter chuckled again, and Miles couldn't hold it in any longer. They laughed until they cried and Peter loved it too much to worry if Wade would take their joy the wrong way.
"You're seriously hurting my feelings," Wade grumbled jokingly which only made them laugh harder. "Fucking tourists."
They did get tired of laughing eventually and Miles happily consumed his, and Peter's pancakes. He reverently listened to Wade's countless anecdotes and Peter settled for talking with MJ after she gave him some information about the nearby motel.
She wanted to be model and ended up as a waitress. "It's co cliché it's not even funny. Or sad for that matter. It just is."
Peter smiled apologetically, even though he had nothing to feel guilty about. It wasn't likehis dreams of finishing college came true. He would never expect to wind up on the road with a kid brother for searching for something that kept escaping them for two months already. He would never expect to lose their parents and be left with a choice: forget about college or put Miles in a system. He didn't even hesitate – even if he didn't love Miles more than life itself, abandoning his only family was never an option. They were lucky Peter was twenty one. The family lawyer, Mr. Murdock, took care of everything and they were free to do whatever they wanted with more money they would ever be able to spend.
But Miles wouldn't talk.
He was well-behaved and pliant, he didn't cry himself to sleep every night or start using crack; he simply stopped talking. So they took a bus to New Jersey, hitchhiked to Pennsylvania, rented a car there before going to Ohio. Peter considered a "great Route 66 adventure" they used to spend days panning out to make sure their itinerary would resemble the original route as much as possible. But he didn't feel like it would make Miles better. In fact, he thought it would make matters worse, that it would be like trying to diminish the gravity of their tragedy by following some useless dream. It would be like forgetting their parents.
Peter knew he should have taken Miles to a therapists, that he shouldn't have pulled him away from school. But he knew his brother and he knew for sure no one would take better care of him than Peter himself. That's why they left. That's why they were constantly on the move, never staying anywhere long enough to get attached, but never leaving before Peter made sure Miles had experienced all there was to see and do. He promised himself that they would go back home using the Route 66 if he managed to get Miles to talk again. He began losing hope completely in Texas but there they were, in Nowheresville, Arizona and Miles seemed happy.
Peter chuckled into his coffee when he tried to poorly conceal his yawn. He was so engrossed with Wade's stories he'd probably spend entire night listening to him but his weak teenage body demanded well-deserved rest. He shook his head violently and snuggled up to Peter and listened about someone named Blind Al until he fell asleep.
The longer Peter kept listening, the better he understood Miles' fascination. Wade was overbearingly interesting. And he never stopped talking! Peter had to be careful not to laugh too hard and wake his brother up. He listened to the steady hum of Wade's voice while watching Miles' peaceful expression and the even rise and fall of his chest.
Suddenly, he realized that Wade had fallen silent and Peter became self-conscious. Watched. He lifted his eyes and saw Wade looking at him with a small frown.
"So what's up with the kid?" Wade asked casually, putting down his mug and leaning closer to Peter. "Why he ain't talking?"
Peter considered lying, coming up with some stupid but believable excuse. He stroked his brother's hair as he said, "He saw our parents get killed. I was away at college. Someone broke into our house and our parents woke up. The burglar panicked. Or maybe not, considering he didn't even leave wedding rings on my parents' fingers… The police found Miles hidden under the table, a few feet away from our parents' bodies."
"That's fucked up," Wade breathed, clearly shocked.
"You can say that again."
"That's fucked up…"
Peter couldn't hold back a chuckle. It was so lame it was actually funny. He looked at Wade and gave him a crooked smile. The man averted his eyes, and Peter could have sworn his cheeks pinked slightly. Oh God, Peter missed sex. That was not a train of thought he would like to follow but, for some reason, it was all he could think about now. Maybe it was loneliness. Maybe it was gratitude. Or both. Or Peter was just horny and in a good mood and Wade seemed interested. Peter wasn't saying he wanted to climb the guy like a tree but he wouldn't turn him down either.
"So where're you from?" Wade asked suddenly, probably to hide his embarrassment.
"Manhattan."
"Oh, I've been there around a couple of months ago. With Lester, the guy from before."
Peter nodded. "You should choose your friends more carefully. He seemed shady."
"I seemed shady."
"Touché. I may have trust issues."
"You think?" Wade grinned as Peter threw the crumbs from his plate at him.
"What were you doing in New York? Business?"
"Business might have been what he was doing but I wouldn't know. I just tagged along to visit an old friend. And, for the record, sweetums, air quotes make you look unattractive."
Peter hummed way more flirtatiously than he intended. He was actually about to say fuck it to everything and make a move on Wade, but someone banged on the diner's window right next to them. He startled and Miles stirred in his sleep. Peter looked outside – Lester was out there, with both of his hands splayed on the glass, looking extremely impatient. He was wearing two silver rings instead of dog tags which made Peter squint in confusion and search his memory for some clues why.
"I've never hated him more in my life then I do now, and I do dislike him a whole lot, he's family after all" Wade whines pitifully before halting and clearing his throat in embarrassment. "Unless, of course, I completely misread that and you weren't planning on getting in my pants."
"Oh, he was," Mile mumbled.
Peter's instinctive reaction was to smack his brother for running his mouth, but Wade's shocked grin made him realize that that stupid comment was something he was waiting to hear for three months. He grabbed Miles' head with both of his hands and kissed his forehead, trying his best to hold back tears.
"Are we going to stay for a while?" Miles asked sleepily.
"Yeah," Peter chuckled out as he wrapped his arms around the kid's middle. "We'll stay as long as you want."
Miles hugged him back and Peter had to make sure not to crush him out of pure happiness. Lester banged on the window again and Peter saw MJ with a broomstick with a corner of his eye. Wade stood up, motioning for Lester to calm down, and reaching for his wallet. Peter gave Lester a distrustful look that was returned with a disgusted one. Wade apologized to the girls and put his scarred hand on top of Miles' head.
"I'll guess I'll see you around," he mumbled awkwardly. "That is, if I don't kill Lester and have to flee to Canada."
Peter smiled reassuringly and promised Wade they would stick around for a while for the excellent pancakes. Wade was laughing as he left the diner and Peter was crying silently as Miles drifted to back to sleep. He steadily stroked his brother's back and forced himself to even out his own labored breathing as he looked outside the window to see Wade pushing Lester against the car. Just as he could almost hear Wade's yelling, he could easily imagine the sound of the two silver rings on Lester's chest clanging against each other.
He couldn't help but smile bitterly.