A Week with Red Team Chapter 4 Date/Romantic
Matt perked up as he identified the footsteps he'd been waiting for. "He's coming," he said. "Heading this way…"
"Thank heaven," Peter whispered.
"He's…just around the block." Matt focused. "He's pausing. Anxious, I think."
"Anxious? Or angry?"
"Can't quite tell. Heart rate picking up…he's coming."
The bell on the door tinkled, and Matt carefully angled his head to 'watch' Wade enter. The mercenary froze in the doorway, before coming over to Matt and Peter.
"I was so afraid you wouldn't come, Wade," Peter said softly.
"Look, I guess it's just to tie things off, right?" Wade said. There was a definite tang of bitterness in his voice. "Nice knowing you two, so if that's all…"
"That's not all, Wade," Matt said sharply. "Sit down, give the waitress your order, and listen."
"I don't need a pity taco," Wade said angrily. "Just a clean break. At least give me that."
"We're not breaking up with you," Peter sighed in exasperation. He gestured to the waitress, and beckoned her over. "This one, this one, and this one, plus the sharing platter," he said, pointing to the menu items rather than trying to wrap his tongue around the Latin American pronunciation.
"Wade, we love you, but we need to talk," Matt said as the waitress scurried off. "Two nights ago was an utter mess."
"These things happen, but around you, they happen far too often," Peter said. "And it's hard on us."
"So, while you still love me, you're dropping me," Wade said morosely.
"Oh for-" Peter yelped, and shut up as the waitress returned with Wade's food. He waited until she left before continuing. "No, you doofus, we're not dropping you, we just occasionally need a little space whenever you do something really outrageous."
"We were angry last night, and said some overly-harsh things," Matt explained. "We. Love. You. It's not the same without you. We're sorry about what we said."
"We didn't really want you to go away," Peter murmured. "It was an overreaction, and I never wanted you to get lost."
"Please forgive us?" Matt whispered.
Wade stared down at the untouched plate of tacos. Then he pushed up the mask beneath his ball cap and grinned. "'Course I forgive you. I mean, I screwed up with the teleport. Your reactions were reasonable enough."
"No, Wade, they weren't," Peter insisted, and Matt laid a hand on his arm to remind him to keep his voice down.
"Wade, you haven't even started your tacos," Matt said quietly. "We hurt you and we shouldn't have. It was a mistake, and we shouldn't have hurt you for it."
"I bet I hurt you two plenty," Wade grumbled, finally tucking in. "Try not to do it again?"
"I promise, I will never knowingly hurt you," Peter assured him.
"Same here," Matt echoed. "I have something for you, if you like?"
"You do?" Wade said, perking up.
"I was planning on saving them for Valentine's Day, but I think now is a good time," Matt said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three braided bracelets. "Ah, Foggy helped me with the colors," he explained. "The blue is Peter's spandex, the black is Wade's Kevlar, and the red is offcuts I got from Melvin."
Wade took one of the bracelets, admiring the three different colors and textures. "That's so sweet," he murmured. "One for each of us?"
"Three of us together," Peter smiled.
AN: I am also bad at writing romance.
Still working.
See ya soon.
Katara