Wade felt really bad for laughing. But, how else was someone, such as himself, supposed to handle this? It's not everyday people tell him that they're mermaids and then expect him not to laugh.

Peter cocked his head to the side. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, his eyes wide with confusion.

Wade shook his head, wiping a fake tear from under his eye. "Nothing," he chuckled. "Just, for real? A Merman?" Peter nodded, confused at Wade's actions.

"I'm having a hard time understanding what's so funny about me being a Merman," Peter said, crossing his arms across his naked chest.

Wade cleared his throat, still grinning. "So you expect me to believe that you are a Merman?" Peter nodded again. "How hard did you hit your head?"

The younger boy sighed and looked down, making droplets of water fall from his hair and bloodied forehead . "Look," he said sadly, "I told you the truth. Can I just-can I stay here still?"

Wade nodded with a nervous laugh. "Yeah man. Whatever." He gave Peter a once over, taking in his naked disheveled appearance of lake grime and blood on his forehead from the gash.

"Do you need a shower?" he asked, trying not to sound harsh.

Peter shrugged. "I guess I could. Thank you..."

"No prob," Wade smiled. "You can borrow some of my clothes, too."

Peter nodded in response and sat there on the couch, looking at Wade expectantly.

"Oh!" Wade flinched. "That's right. You need to know where the bathroom is."

Peter nodded sheepishly, looking at the floor.

Wade cleared his throat and asked, "Can you walk or should I...?" When Peter said nothing, Wade took that as his cue to pick him up.

"I'm guessing you're gonna need a bath instead?"

Peter remained silent as Wade carried him to the bathroom. He released a small grunt when Wade sat him down on the toilet in a not so gentle manner.

"Sorry," mumbled Wade.

Peter sat in silence as he watched the older man turn the bath water on. The two said nothing to each other.

Once the water filled the tub, Wade helped Peter into it, making sure to be careful this time. Peter, standing by himself, began to sway and wobble, but managed to stabilize himself and successfully sat down without error. He sighed as the warmth of the water welcomed his naked body and pulled him into its alluring grasp.

"Thank you," he whispered, looking up at Wade through his matted bangs before closing his eyes and resting his head on the wall behind himself.

Wade felt himself blush. "Y-yeah," he stammered. "No problem." He cleared his throat and backed away as he said, "I'll, uh, get you some clothes and a first aid kit." He quickly walked out the bathroom.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard Peter call for him. Wade sighed and willed himself to be strong. Doing a 180, he made his way back to the bathroom and peaked his head into the door.

"Yes, what is-" Wade's eyes grew wide with shock.

Peter looked confused for a brief moment. "What's wrong?"

"T-tail."

Peter looked down. "Oh!"

Reaching all the way to the faucet and curving under it was his long, green tail that he hadn't realised appeared until now. It's shiny scales reflected the light, giving them the appearance of having a rainbow on each individual one.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit," was all Wade had managed to say before fainting onto the red and black tiles of his bathroom.

Peter lay beside Wade on the bathroom floor, trying to figure out what to do. The older man had been out cold for ten minutes now and made no signs of recovering anytime soon. He had tried tapping Wade's face and shaking him by the shoulders, but nothing happened. He couldn't necessarily pick the older man up either due to his weak legs. It'd take him a while to get the hang of them.

He sighed and looked around, waiting for an idea to pop up.

Come on come on. Think...the only thing around is the tub full of water...

"That's it!" He said with a smile. He crawled over to the tub and dipped his hands into the water, cupping them. He then turned back to Wade and dumped the water onto his face.

Immediately Wade gasped awake and looked to Peter with wide eyes. "Please tell me I was dreaming." Peter shook his head apologetically, which only made Wade groan. He looked at the naked younger male beside him and sighed, "You need clothes."

Peter felt his cheeks grow warm. "Well, you never gave me any."

"Oh yea-HOLY SHIT! YOUR CHEEKS ARE GREEN!"

Peter's cheeks grew even warmer. "Wh-what?"

"Whoa!" Wade exclaimed as he examined the younger boy's cheeks. "They're a dark green now!" He looked up at the younger male. "How are you doing that?"

Peter blinked. "Uhm, that's the color they turn when I blush?"

"Weird?"

"Why'd you say it like that?"

"Say it like what?" Wade asked.

"Say weird like it was a question?" Peter asked.

"Because you did it with your answer," Wade replied. "Thought I should do it with my answer too."

Peter rolled his eyes, clearly not amused. "Anyway, I, uh, should probably get back to my bath," he said, looking down at the tiles.

Wade cleared his throat and said, "Right." He stood up carefully and scooped up Peter in his arms. He then sat him down in the tub before quickly disappearing once more into the hall.

Peter could feel himself blushing again as he watched Wade leave. The moment he was alone, Peter sank into the water with a loud sigh. He looked down at his legs and closed his eyes. He sighed once more before opening them to find his tail in place of his legs.

He allowed his fins on the end to flick gently before he said, "This is gonna be tough."

Wade sped walked to his bedroom and closed the door. He stood in silence for a moment, listening to the storm outside. Then, quietly, he slid to the floor and whispered, "Holy mother of Trickydick. I have a merman in my bathroom." He nodded and smiled. "Okay. Okay. I may be crazy like Cable suggested." He scrubbed a hand across his face and groaned loudly at the memory of Cable, an old (but oh so amazing) fling of his, calling him crazy right before walking out of his life forever.

"I'm going crazy," he mumbled. "I can see it on my headstone now as my cause of death: Became a prisoner of his greatest foe: his mind." He groaned into his hands.

Despite all of the freaking out, a little boy in the back of his mind cheered at the thought of proving his awful father wrong for the first time. Wade could feel the weight on his shoulders being slowly lifted off.

Finally, Dad was wrong about something.

That was so unbelievably satisfying for him. His father was wrong and it felt amazing. After all of the years of emotional and verbal abuse from his father crushing everything by saying that he was right and Wade was wrong, Wade could finally say, "You are wrong, you piece of shit."

If he were alone, he would cry. But, he had company and he didn't want to explain his red eyes to Peter.

Speaking of which, the thought of the merman (merboy?) made Wade scrub his hand across his face.

"Holy shit."

But it wasn't the time to be freaking out. There would be plenty of time to do that when Peter goes to sleep. Wade needed to figure what to give the kid to wear and figure out where he would sleep.

Wade walked over to his dresser and searched the drawers for sweatpants. He eventually settled upon a pair of large gray drawstrings. He then went to his closet and pulled the first aid kit from the top shelf and held it in the crook of his arm as he searched the closet for a good shirt to let Peter borrow for the night. He decided that a black one with the words "To Punch Your Face or Not To Punch Your Face; That Is Here The Question" would be a good one. His clothes were a little on the big side since he's taller than Peter, but they would work.

Like an evil snake, a dirty thought slithered its way into Wade's mind; Peter wearing the sweatpants, which hung low on his hips, and the large shirt that hung off one of his shoulders as he lay in a seductive position on the couch.

Wade shook his head. "No," he hissed. "Bad mind! The kid is like twelve!" He groaned in irritation as he mentally scolded himself. He was so gonna spend time with later that night to rid his evil thoughts of potential pedophilia.

As if on cue, Peter called for Wade from the bathroom. His voice sounded so small it made Wade wonder what was wrong. He slowly walked to the bathroom (while telling himself to stop being a dirty pedophile) and knocked quietly on the door.

"I'm wet," Peter said from the other side. That went to straight to a place Wade wished he didn't have.

He cleared his throat and said, "Th-there should be a towel hanging on the bar against the wall."

There was the sound of rustling water and fabric being pulled off of metal.

"Thank you," Wade heard Peter say.

"Is it okay for me to come in?" Wade asked.

"Sure."

Wade closed his eyes and told himself to stop being gross. Taking in a deep breath, he opened the door and nearly fainted again at the sight of Peter's tail as the younger boy sat on the toilet seat wiping himself off.

Peter smiled at him. "Don't worry," he said. "It'll go away in a bit."

Wade nodded, eyes stuck on the green tail. He handed Peter the clothes and sat the first aid kit down on the counter. He noticed then that Peter's wound wasn't as bad as he thought since all the blood and dirt was gone. He also noticed how nicely shaped the younger boy's upper body was. He had perfectly shaped shoulders and decently toned abs...Wade mentally cursed at himself. He was heading down a dark path that he did not wish to take.

Apparently, Peter noticed him watching because he asked, "Is there something wrong?" His cheeks were a faint tint of green.

Wade shook his head. "I'm gonna let you get dressed in peace..." Wade left the bathroom as quickly as possible and sunk against the wall in the hallway in shame.

His mind was trapping him in something dangerous. He'd been alone for far too long and he had urges, so it made sense why he was acting this way. But, he really wished it would stop. Peter was a kid and Wade is undoubtedly at least twice the kid's age. So, even though he wanted to do something, he couldn't.

"Wade?" Peter said from the bathroom.

"Yes?" Wade squeaked.

"Uhm, how do you put these on?"

Wade sighed and walked to the bathroom. The moment he had seen Peter leaning against the counter on wobbling legs in nothing but the oversized black shirt that hung off one shoulder, Wade instantly regretted his decision in allowing Peter to stay. The kid was going to be the death of him.

Peter held the sweatpants up and nearly lost his footing. On instinct, Wade caught Peter around the waist, making the both of them blush. He then sat Peter down on the toilet and told him how to put the sweatpants on. Peter carefully slipped into them with Wade looking away.

"Okay," the boy said. "Now what?" He looked down at the large pants hanging off his hips.

"Pull the strings," Wade said, still looking away. "Then tie them."

Peter did as he was told and smiled. "Got it." Wade looked at Peter and quickly examined the tied strings. He gave a nod, which made Peter smile even more.

Wade cleared his throat nervously. Oh yeah, he thought, this kid is gonna kill me.

"How's your head?"

Peter gave a small shrug. "It doesn't sting as bad. But it still hurts." Wade opened the first aid kit on the counter and pulled out an alcohol wipe. He told Peter it would sting and carefully dabbed the tiny gash on the kid's forehead. Immediately, Peter jumped back with a yelp and looked to Wade with frightened eyes.

"I said it would sting," Wade said in defense.

Peter frowned. "I didn't think it would hurt that bad!"

Wade shrugged. "Well, your wound is cleaned now, so," he threw the alcohol wipe away in the trashcan next to the toilet. "You tired?" Peter nodded, still frowning. "Okay," Wade said. "Can you walk?"

"I'll try," Peter said. He attempted to stand, his legs wobbling in the process. He held onto the counter and took baby steps, reminding Wade of Bambi. To help, Wade grabbed the boy's hand and led him to the room. Peter would occasionally lean against Wade for support when his legs wouldn't handle the weight.

When they reached Wade's room, Peter eyed the bed with hunger, his eyes looking more tired with the bed in his sight. "Looks like my sleeping quarters in my home," he said with a hint of sadness laced through his words.

Wade helped Peter into the bed and fought the urge to ravish the kid right then and there. Peter stretched himself across it and arched upwards stretching his back. Wade guiltily watched.

"Thank you," Peter said as he curled up in the sheets.

Wade nodded. "Welcome." He looked around and said, "Get some sleep," and turned out the light before disappearing into the living room.

Like the loner he was, Wade spent the night relieving himself (and making sure Peter stayed out of his fantasies).