Heavy Healing

23 Wade

Peter hadn't seen it. Which was great.

But then what had Peter seen if it was related to last night?

As soon as Peter hung up he stopped to look down at his phone and do a quick Google. If it had to do with last night then it was probably Spider-Man business, right? He typed in 'Spiderman news' and had to wait half a second before his phone offered him an answer.

His jaw dropped as he stared at the breaking news headline and the following short articles summarizing and circulating the main article. It was catching on like wildfire with different sites uploading statements within hours and minutes of the original article. The latest had come out only six minutes ago.

"Shit," he muttered, wondering if Peter was right. Would he be able to get into his place without being noticed? It wouldn't take long before someone figured out where the photo was taken. Peter was just lucky that the building was generic and no background buildings made it into frame. 

He jumped over to his social media of choice and did a quick search on the web slinger and was quickly brought up to speed on the situation. 

Peter was going to be in trouble if he didn't have a great poker face. 

He looked around and started to move again, running until he happened upon a bus stop where the bus was just rolling up. He stuffed his hand into his pocket and dug out his card, scanning in before finding a seat where he could catch his breath without being stared at. Which was far easier now then it ha been at the start of the year. It was a small convenience he'd never considered he'd earn from this entire treatment exposure - privacy.

Well. On the general person-to-person front at least. 

He watched a few videos, getting a couple of angles that people were taking, exploring the contents and gauging what he needed to be worried about first and foremost. 

Eventually, he pulled the chord when they were as close to Peter's place as the route would take him. He only needed to jog a few blocks before he slowed to a walking pace and pulled his hood up to hide his hair. If there were people camped outside he wouldn't be able to strut in without being noticed. Certainly not when he needed to be let in. But he could at least hide his main identifier for once not his scars, but his short blonde hair which had been brought up a few times during a couple of the photo analyzing videos. 

He took a deep breath before rounding the corner of the building that would reveal Peter's home. He was expecting the worst but was pleasantly surprised to see that there wasn't a crowd of pushy reporters outside. The only suspicious thing there was an illegally parked van which could be an undercover reporter but it was small enough of a concern that he felt safe approaching for now. Who knew what the place would look like in a few hours. 

He texted Peter to let him know he needed to be buzzed up before he slipped inside and walked up the few flights to Peter's flood. He walked down the hall, glancing at the door that seemed to bug Peter out and down to the corner where Peter was at and knocked a rhythm.

It took a minute, probably due to Peter's pain, but the door eventually opened and he was quickly ushered in. There was a moment where Peter was just staring up at him with a blank expression that didn't give anything away before the brunette looked down. 

"First, I'm sorry for getting angry with you last night."

He blinked. "Peter, it's fine. I pushed your buttons and asked a question that made you uncomfortable and you lashed out in a moment of panic. It's not that big of a deal. I pushed your boundaries. Right after you attempted to express them." He admitted awkwardly, staring down at the young man who frowned in response while he stared at Wade's shirt. 

"You did? I guess I don't quite remember exactly what we were talking about before that guy. I guess that proves that It wasn't that important and I overreacted. I'm sorry."

He would beg to differ actually. The fact that he freaked Peter out to the point that he felt the need to defend himself over favoring his wounds and pain said a lot about the boundary that Wade had pushed. Peter not recalling might be a lie, but it might also just be proof of how overwhelmed he was.  "I don't think that's right, but I think we need to talk about something else right now . . . Uh, I think you have one team outside, but you're probably going to get swarmed later as people sniff you out."

"What am I supposed to do?" Peter asked, and honestly, he could see the guy's mind working overtime so he reached out to put a hand on his shoulder in hopes to ground him in the present. "First, we should get out of here so you're not stuck in this place, right?"

"I don't have anywhere to go?" Peter frowned. 

"Sure you do. You can just come out and hang with me for a while until we have a plan." He offered a smile. 

The brunette stared at him for a moment, looking anything but reassured that this was the right course of action. "Okay." he eventually agreed, making a halfway attempt to smile back but it was a feeble expression that didn't flash any teeth or reach Peter's pretty eyes.