"How does it feel? To kiss a monster?"
Wade was sitting off the edge of the curb, mask crumpled between his hands. He kept his gaze down, avoiding looking at Peter.
For all the months they'd been together, it still hurt that Wade would think so lowly of himself. But Peter knew he had to patient. Knew he had to keep taking small steps before Wade could finally, finally start to see for himself just how deserving of Peter's love he actually was.
So he took a seat beside him, not looking, not touching. Just waiting.
And in the silence it was like he could hear the shivers breaking across Wade's skin, hear the doubt rising through his mind like a bright flame, blinding the night with his constant worry, his constant rejection to acknowledge Peter's affection as reality. It was so loud. So deafening, this quiet space between them. He wasn't even close enough to feel the heat that was always radiating from Wade's skin. Or maybe Wade himself just felt too vulnerable to express his energy, containing it all within his thoughts like a pressurized bomb.
It wouldn't have been the first time he tried to keep away from Peter like that.
But right as the final rays of light escaped the sky, chasing the sun, Wade turned to look at him, eyes large and curious in the safety of the night.
Peter brushed a finger across his cheek, cupping the marred flesh before Wade could flinch away. He kept his eyes fixed on Wade's, and slowly, like the a molten eruption running down an abandoned mountainside, he leaned in to press his lips against Wade's, never once even blinking.
The kiss was hesitant. Peter let Wade move his lips against his first, and when he kissed back, it was only in response, never as a push. He needed Wade to feel secure, to feel somewhat in control, that hewas the one keeping Peter here with him, that he was the reason Peter wanted to stay.
It lasted no longer than the exchange of a breath, and Peter reluctantly pulled back.
But what he saw in Wade's eyes made his insides churn, and a slow heat started to spread along outward, reaching his fingertips.
"You get off on kissing a monster, don't you?"
The hope clawing its way to his heart was shattered.
"I never have kissed a monster, Wade."
Wade's eyes became shadowed with something dark, somethingrelentless. Peter's patience had started to reach a breaking point, and he pulled Wade towards him, tightly gripping the arm of his suit before crashing their lips together, kissing him with a desperate passion.
He only pulled back when his head started to spin, lungs burning with the need to breathe.
Wade looked scared. His lips, although constantly chapped and lined with scars, looked swollen, and there was a tear at his bottom lip, slowly darkening with deep crimson.
"You're not a monster," he said again, and pulled Wade back towards him.
This kiss was sweeter. It was innocent, affectionate, but Peter could still feel the fear in the way that Wade's lips moved against his own, careful and calculating. Like he was scared Peter would bolt at any moment.
Peter slowed their pace, dragging out each brush of their lips, deep and intimate. He felt Wade bring his hand up to rest against his arm, giving him a gentle squeeze.
"I'm not gonna stop loving you, no matter what you may think," he said against Wade's lips.
As the kiss continued, Peter tasted salt, wet against his lips. He closed his eyes and held Wade tighter, trying to give himself a reason to keep hanging on.