A/N: Well, another slow update, but this chapter ended up being a bit longer than any of the previous ones. It also contains an... interesting scene that took a little longer to work the kinks out of. I hope you enjoy!
Also, thanks to Marion, donnyd312, Time, and the anonymous reviewers, whose kinds words pushed me through the arduous task of editing and re-editing this chapter.
By the time Wade woke up, the sun was already high in the sky, filtering through the blinds to set the entire room aflame in an orange glow. It took a moment for his eyes to stop burning in bright light, but when the world around him finally came into focus, he was met by the serene sleeping face of Peter.
Memories of the previous evening came rushing back to greet him, and he couldn't help but smile like a fool. It had been a long time since he had felt like he had a purpose other than to make money, or desperately try to find a way to die, but he had one now, even if it was just to be a friend to the kid. Spidey confiding in him that his immortality gave him peace of mind was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. Someone cared if he was alive! He felt needed. Not just needed though. Wanted. Wade wrapped his arm around Peter's waist and pulled him closer, into a hug.
After a few minutes of laying there, just enjoying the warmth, Wade began considering getting up to make breakfast, but felt himself somewhat hindered by their current positioning. One arm was pinned by the kid's head resting on it, their legs were tangled together, and Spidey's fingers were limply intertwined with the fabric of the front of his pajamas. The merc momentarily pondered how to best free himself (admittedly reluctant to do so), but was distracted when the kid shifted in his sleep, sighing softly while nuzzling against his chest. There was a little, almost imperceptible spark that shot through his entire body at the innocent display, and Wade was suddenly exceedingly aware of their closeness.
Swallowing against the odd dryness in his mouth, he looked over Spidey again. His pajamas hung loosely from his slender frame, the top few buttons undone, exposing his shoulder and a thin sliver of his toned chest, shadows playing teasingly over his pale skin. The light from the window illuminated the soft contours of his face and throat like smooth alabaster, and set his hair aglow like strands of polished copper. The merc laid there a bit longer until his stomach protested in hunger, drawing him from his reverie. He certainly is a cutie.
Wade finally slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, briefly pressing his masked lips to Petey's forehead. Deciding he could wait a bit longer before preparing breakfast, he first headed to the bathroom for the shower he didn't get to take the previous evening.
Peter awoke to the distant sound of utensils clinking, and the sweet aroma of cinnamon. He sat on the edge of the bed, stretching and rubbing his eyes, mentally giving himself a quick pep talk/reminder that he needed to reign in his inappropriate thoughts of Wade. He stood with a sigh and shuffled his way to the kitchen. The last remnants of exhaustion were jarred from his body upon entering, finding the older man turned with his back to him, bending over to pull something out of the over, wearing nothing but a pair of tight boxer briefs under his frilly pink apron (Spider-man-themed, naturally).
The younger man actually yelped in surprise, stumbling backwards, drawing the merc's attention.
"Morning! I hope you're hungry!"
Oh, am I... No! Bad! Friends, just friends. Peter lowered his eyes, mumbling a comparatively less-cheerful greeting as he sat at the kitchen table, willing himself not to stare. After a few difficult minutes of wrangling in his wandering eyes, Wade set a plate in front of him.
"Fruit, eggs, sausage, and cinnamon rolls. Everything a growing boy needs!" The bottom half of his mask had already been pushed up, and his wide grin made Peter flinch. "All homemade and lovingly prepared, of course. Only the very best for my Spidey!" Friends, dammit! Just friends... Peter smiled weakly, making a joke about expecting dinner for breakfast after last night, focusing his attention on the plate while the merc chattered away.
He was so absorbed in his food that he didn't even notice when the older man stopped speaking. Wade was eyeing him intently, sensing something was off. "Is everything ok?" No response. "Petey?" Nothing. Wade shifted in his seat, leaning forward to poke the kid's arm. "Peter?" He watched with a mixture of mild concern and amusement as he jumped, looking around in panicked confusion before looking up at the merc. Somehow, the older man thought he looked like a guilty little puppy. "You ok?" He felt the corners of his mouth curling as the kid turned a lovely shade of pink, nodding vigorously while averting his eyes.
"Y-yeah! I'm good." Peter cleared his throat. "Sorry. I just- I was distracted by how delicious everything is..." He trailed off, pretending to be preoccupied with shoveling more food into his mouth, cursing Wade for having such a damnably charismatic smile. At least the man seemed appeased, grinning at the compliment and continuing his monologue. Peter made an effort to appear engaged in the one-sided conversation, nodding now and then, and occasionally chancing a quick glance at the merc, but, oh, did he regret it ever time he did. Despite his best efforts, it was nearly impossible to keep his eyes from trailing over the older man's chest and shoulders, barely covered by the apron, and each bite was becoming progressively harder to swallow. The way his muscles flexed and rippled fluidly beneath his scarred skin with every tiny movement was mesmerizing. Peter's imagination willfully began to extrapolate how they'd look and feel if he was nice and sweaty. Maybe on top of him, forcefully pinning him down while those rough lips worked their way down his neck? Or perhaps if Wade forced his way between his thighs, how much force could those muscles generate if he were thrusting into him? A familiar tremor surged through his pelvis, snapping him out of his fantasy.
Peter stood up suddenly, almost knocking his chair over in the process, cutting the merc off in the middle of a sentence, nearly shouting in his panic.
"I need to go home now!" Wade stared up at him, silent for a moment.
"Ok... Um, your clothes are cleaned and folded on the bathroom counter, if you'd like to change first..."
Peter attempted a smile, excusing himself, trying to gather his composure while he changed. Wade was still sitting at the table when he returned to the kitchen, significantly calmer, having used his time in the bathroom to formulate a believable excuse.
"Sorry about that. I'm still just kind of stressed out from midterms, and I remembered that I need to be on campus early to meet with a professor before my first lecture." He rubbed the back of his neck ruefully, glancing up at Wade, who just chuckled.
"You deal with baddies trying to kill you on a daily basis, and you have a conniption over being a little late?" Peter laughed. If only you knew...
After gathering all of his things, Peter walked to the door, the merc trailing behind while they finalized their plans for the next movie night. The kid took a step into the hallway and turned to face Wade.
"Thanks for having me over, and for... everything."
"No problem. Well, see you next week, sweetums. Have a good day at school!" The merc leaned forward, closing his eyes and puckering up his lips for a kiss, awaiting the inevitable smack or aloof comment Spidey usually gave him when he tried to jokingly flirt. Instead, he was hit even harder by shock when he felt soft pressure against his lips. His eyes snapped open, but Peter was already sprinting down the hall, looking over his shoulder to stick his tongue out at the merc, laughing as he disappeared around a corner at the end of the hall.
Wade took a step back, quietly shutting the door as the blood rushed to his head. He kissed me. Petey actually kissed me...He reached up to touch his lips, giggling to himself, moving to cup his face in his hands as he wiggled happily. (Eh, he was probably just trying to appease us, since we're always harassing him.) No, don't ruin the magic. It was a true friendship kiss![He was laughing though...] Shut up, and let me enjoy this! I mean, he always just brushes me off, but not this time! (Maybe... And he did let us snuggle him last night!) [Well, we kind of forced him into that. He just gave up and let it happen.] Still, he let it happen! This is advanced friendship! This is... best friendship!
What was I thinking!? Peter had ended up running all the way home, and was now leaning against his door, panting and grumbling at himself for his stupidity. He had acted on impulse, wanting to get back at Wade some way for always teasingly flirting with him. Well, of course he had wanted to kiss him in general, but in the moment, it had mostly been an immature attempt at revenge against the older man for always trying to canoodle with him. His feelings were confusing and torturous enough without the merc trying to jump in the shower with him, or spoon him, or parade around in his underwear, so he'd wanted to shock him a little by giving him a taste of his own boundary-violating medicine. Of course, the kiss had probably had a much larger and more negative impact on him than on Wade, since the older man would probably laugh it off as a 'friendship kiss', and he'd be stuck cursing himself and obsessing over it. A great way to start off my 'let's just be friends' schtick.
Peter sighed in frustration, making his way to his bedroom to gather his things for class, figuring the best way to distract himself was to focus on work and school. He cringed as he remembered the scene he made at breakfast. He had only reacted so excessively from shock. Sure, it was embarrassing to catch himself daydreaming about the merc while sitting right across the table from him, but what had really caught him off-guard was the content. He had fantasized about Wade often enough, but it had only ever involved touching. This time, somehow, his mind had jumped to... that.
He felt his face burning at the memory. He knew exactly what sex with a man entailed, as he knew that he was attracted to Wade, but he'd never put the two concepts together and considered actually having sex with him. When he was sitting there letting his mind wander, it had kind of just naturally led to the idea of Wade... inside of him. He would have never before believed that he'd be turned on by the thought of being a bottom to anyone, and the idea dually filled him with overwhelming desire and immense terror. Of course, just as I'm trying to stop myself from thinking about him romantically, I start daydreaming about him doing me. God help me... Ok, alright, don't worry. Just don't think about it. There's a week until I have to see him again. That's plenty of time to get ahold of myself. Remember: just a friend.
Peter rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He continued to repeat his mantra, telling himself that he just had to exert a little willpower. Everything would be fine soon enough, and these silly misplaced feelings would eventually dissipate.
It had been almost two weeks since Peter had made the mistake of kissing Wade, and his regret had continued to grow with every passing day. The merc had apparently taken his thoughtless action to be a sort of green light to the next stage of their friendship, and had since started harassing him for a repeat. Not just on their last movie night, either. The older man had very obviously been making up every possible excuse to drop by his apartment in the days between, and every time he went to leave, he would stand in the door with his lips puckered expectantly until Peter managed to push him out and lock the door between them. Even after he explained to Wade that he had only kissed him in the first place to throw him off, as revenge, the merc had relented, insisting instead that now it shouldn't be a problem, since they'd already done it anyways.
It was torture. Peter might have been happy that the merc was so intent upon locking lips with him, but it was ruined by the knowledge that this was purely Wade having fun. It didn't mean anything to him. The torment was only compounded since Peter was trying his damnedest to reform his straying feelings back to platonic, which was difficult to do when the object of his affection was constantly prodding him for a kiss.
It was their second movie night since his regrettable lapse in judgement, and Wade was still persisting to the point that Peter's stress and irritation were reaching a boiling point. He spent most of the night cycling through cursing himself, cursing the merc, and wishing that he had made an excuse to not come that evening. Finally, it was late enough for Peter to excuse himself. The merc followed him to the door, pouting while reiterating his usual argument of kissing between friends being 'no big deal', especially since they'd 'already done it'. Looking back as he reached for the door handle, a surge of frustration and lust washed over Peter. His self-restraint finally snapped.
Wade sometimes forgot that the kid was endowed with super powers, more used to seeing him as Peter Parker than Spider-man these days, so he was thrown off guard when Peter jumped him at lightning speed, grabbing the front of his shirt and roughly shoving him back so the edge of the kitchen table was pressing painfully against his lower back. Anger was quite evident in his expression, and in his voice as he hissed in Wade's ear, low but venomous, "Fine, have it your way, you insufferable ass."
The merc's eyes were as wide as saucers under his mask. All the muscles in his body tensed, and he braced himself with both hands on the table behind him, fully expecting to punched. [There. Now we've done it. We've harassed him into hating us. We've succeeded in driving away one of the very few people capable of tolerating us. Good job.] Wade flinched, closing his eyes as Peter's hand moved towards his face. He felt his mask being yanked up to expose the bottom half of his face, and a forceful hand grabbing him by the throat. Rather than being strangled though, he felt the same gentle pressure against his mouth. However, instead of a chaste peck like he'd received before, this one rapidly grew wet and insistent.
Wade stood paralyzed as his mouth was devoured, his mind blank to everything but the sensation of the kiss, unable and unwilling to push the kid away. Instead, he reciprocated, hesitant at first, afraid any sudden movement might result in Peter running away again. Slowly and deliberately, he worked his tongue into the kid's mouth, slipping his hands around to cradle Peter's head for leverage, running his fingers through his soft locks of hair. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but he sure as hell didn't want to stop.
The merc was drunk with pleasure, feeling himself drowning in the sweet, wet warmth of Peter's mouth and the slippery friction of their lips. He chanced to pull back, nibbling the kid's swollen bottom lip, delighted when the action elicited a shaky whimper from him. A hunger like he'd never felt before was growing inside of Wade. He felt like his body was acting on its own as his hands moved to grab Peter's wrists, quickly flipping him onto his back, pinning him down.
Peter moaned sharply, twisting up off of the table as Wade licked and sucked down his throat, feeling something distinctively hard pressing deliciously between his thighs. He had been helpless against the inundation of pleasure that had crashed over him the moment their lips met, completely losing control as the older man quickly matched and surpassed the ferocity of his kiss. His mind was simply refusing to function, and he could only lay there as he was ravaged. Wade released his tight grip on his wrists, trailing his fingers down to caress his hips and sides. Tremors worked their way down Peter's spine, and he felt a strangled moan forming in his throat that was cut short, silenced when the older man's tongue was once more eagerly exploring the depths of his mouth.
The kid was shaking and writhing uncontrollably under Wade, fueling his desire even more. His mind was growing increasingly cloudy, and the only thought repeating in his mind was he need for more. He felt Peter's hands graze over his shoulders, moving to hold him tightly as his hips rocked up against him, a feral growl escaping the merc's throat in response. In the back of his mind, he knew he was pushing this far beyond the limits of a joke between friends, but he couldn't stop himself. He slipped his hands between them, moving to unbutton the kid's pants, quite ready to slip them off and ride this situation as far into the sunset as he could.
All at once, the fog enveloping Peter's brain lifted. The merc was fiddling with the front of his pants, and he was sure Wade wouldn't stop unless he made him. The thought of just giving in and letting Wade take him briefly crossed his mind, and though the thought sent a shiver of excitement through him, he knew all that would do was utterly ruin things between them.
For the merc, this was probably just scratching an itch, a natural follow-up to a kiss. In fact, he was fairly certain that Wade would do this with anyone who kissed him: he just didn't care about that kind of thing. Peter could let it happen, but all that would come of it was more painful, confusing, unreciprocated feelings. Though his will was already in tatters, a mixture of self-respect and dejection served to pry him out of passivity. Mustering up the remaining dregs of his strength, Peter pushed Wade away.
Wade was caught off guard when the kiss was abruptly broken, and tried to resume, but the kid's hands were firm against his chest and he knew that was the end of their little impromptu tryst. Peter sat up, but remained leaning on the edge of the table, his gaze averted for a few long seconds. The merc could tell that he had pushed too far, taking a step back and watching the kid intently, waiting for some cue to take. Peter was still panting, still blushing as he licked his lips and swallowed. He finally looked up at the older man, sidelong through half-lidded eyes, speaking in a low but steady tone.
"That's enough. There. Now leave me the hell alone about it." Wade was still in shock as Peter stood and ducked past him. "See you next week," he mutter without emotion, closing the door silently without another word.
[Now you've really done it. You've been pestering him incessantly to kiss you for the past two weeks, after he jokingly did so to try to get you to stop sexually harassing him all the time. He finally does again to shut you up, and you pin him to the table and try to take his pants off.] (Good job, buddy. You know he likes ladies. You like ladies, but you were still trying to get in his pants. He wasn't kidding when he called us an insufferable ass.) [He didn't even want to kiss us in the first place. You heard his voice. He never spoke to us like that, even before we were friends when we fought each other. Imagine how disgusted he must be...] The voices were very accusing today, not that he blamed them.
Wade was stricken by a wave of guilt. He knew Peter had a large personal bubble and wasn't one for physical contact, but he always liked to tease him, and to violate that bubble. It was funny to see his reaction; to see the stern and witty Spider-man get all flustered and turn so red. He had gone too far. He felt a jolt of fear, wondering if he had scared him away for good.
He did say that he'd see me next week. Maybe it'll be alright. [Yeah, but you saw the look on his face.] (You ruined it.) I'll apologize! We're good enough friends now. If I just say I'm sorry, everything will be ok. [Maybe. Maybe not.]