A few weeks after their rooftop tacos after several accidental late night meetings, which, if Peter was perfectly honest, weren't quite so accidental, Wade finally plucked up his courage.
"Movie, pizza, you, me, my place? How about it, Spidey-boo?"
"Sure," Peter said, relieved Wade had asked, since his courage had failed every time he had tried to ask the merc out. How else was he going to find out if he was really interested in Wade, if not by going out with him? It was just science, right? Have a hypothesis and test it. Here he was, ready to test it. A shiver ran up his back.
"Ha! No takebacksies!" Wade said quickly and hopped into Peter's back, his powerful legs clenching around Peter's slender waist, making him flush under his mask. "Giddy up!"
Peter snorted fondly. He let his first web fly and started to swing them toward Wade's new apartment. Peter had dropped Wade off there a few times, his heart beating oddly erratically for some time afterward, the feel of Wade curled around him still lingering, the warmth of him fading slowly. No one had been that close to him before. The best he had managed with Gwen had been hand holding.
Luckily Wade was a fun passenger and Peter soon managed to let his grief over Gwen fade. Wade went 'wheee!' whenever Peter swung them loose from their previous web and cackled wildly at the shocked expressions of people they passed by overhead at the low points of their swings.
"That's right! I'm riding the Spidey Express!" Wade yelled with glee, making Peter laugh. The ride was over too soon, as Peter swung them toward the now familiar building.
"Where now, Wade?"
"Third window from the right and straight on till morning."
"Huh?"
Wade pointed, and Peter climbed to the right window, holding still as Wade opened it. They hopped inside and Peter stopped to look. It was... surprisingly neat. The first place Peter had taken Wade to had been a dilapidated building in a rough neighbourhood. The apartment had been dingy and messy, as the careless merc and Al, the blind old Black woman he cohabited with, were clearly neither too particular about cleaning up.
"You sound sweet, kid. What are you doing with this scummy reprobate?" Al had asked Peter.
"He's no kid, my blind friend, he's the Amazing Spider-Man!" Wade had replied and flopped on the sofa after pushing aside some empty food cartons. "He's pretty and perfect and he likes me!"
Al had scoffed. "Nobody likes you, Wade."
Wade had clenched his fist over his heart. "You wound me, Al. You wound me deeply. Now take that ancient bag of bones you call your body to your room and let me and my friend catch up." Peter had chuckled at the exchange, but the presence of Al, and that offhand 'kid' comment, had made him even more awkward than usual and he had left quite soon.
Not long after Wade had told Peter he had moved and next time Peter swung him home they had come here. It was a much nicer neighbourhood with trendy little cafes and restaurants, but with still rough edges from a fairly recent gentrification.
Wade's windows faced a blind alley which was convenient for two vigilantes entering and exiting through a window. This was the first time Peter had gone inside. The flat was sparsely but tastefully decorated. The kitchen was compact, the couch super sized, the TV massive. An open door led to a bedroom with a super king sized bed and a closed door Peter assumed led to a bathroom.
"Mi casa es su casa," Wade said, and flopped on the couch, still in his suit. Peter had never seen Wade out of it. He blushed at the thought. He was feeling nervous and elated. This was the first time the two of them were alone, in private, in a place with a bed. The unmapped opportunities didn't help his frayed nerves.
An hour later, they were about half way through Love Actually, the now empty pizza boxes stacked next to the sofa. Peter had no idea what was happening onscreen. They had started the movie sitting companionably side by side, but Peter had been inching surreptitiously closer until he had ended half sprawled against Wade.
"That man has a beautiful voice. Can you make a dildo out of a voice? That's the voice I would choose," Wade said when Alan Rickman was flirting with some chick in a short skirt. "Total douchebag of a character, though. Who in their right mind would ever cheat on Emma Thompson?? I mean, she's not the goddess that is Bea Arthur, but she's definitely on my freebie list." And on it went.
Wade had been making constant commentary throughout the film, but now the closer Peter got to him, Wade became increasingly tongue tied. By the time Peter pressed fully against his side, Wade went completely still. Then Wade's beefy arm slung pretend casually over Peter's shoulder, his eyes still glued on the TV, his mouth uncharacteristically shut. Peter had to bite his lip to hide his gooey smile. Wade was being really cute.
Peter's eyes kept drifting to the merc's powerful thighs and thick biceps, straining the red leather, and the small strip of bare skin visible below Wade's rolled up mask. It was like Wade was a magnet and Peter's eyes were powerless against the pull. And Wade was so warm! He was like a radiator and all Peter wanted was to curl up and warm his eternally chilled body in Wade's heat.
This close to him, Wade's scent overwhelmed him, all leather and gunpowder and tacos and popcorn. How did he smell of tacos when they had been eating pizza? Mexican food must just be infused with Wade on a cellular level. It was all Peter could do not to lean in closer to inhale Wade in and Peter almost whimpered with the temptation. He just had to take the plunge.
Wade popped the last popcorn into his mouth. The massive bowl of popcorn Wade had made them now finished, Wade stretched his other arm and dropped it on the floor next to him, trying not to move any other part of his body. Peter took a deep breath and took Wade's freed hand, curling his own fingers between Wade's. The scarred skin was warm and soft, the texture intriguing and Peter let his fingers rub Wade's softly. His hand looked so small in Wade's big palm and his heart began to race.
When Peter's hand wormed into his, Wade stopped breathing for a moment. "This is a dream, right? It must be, Spider-Babe would never hold my hand otherwise."
Peter made a protesting noise and turned his head toward Wade.
"Since this is a dream..." Wade whispered and then he was kissing Peter. His lips were soft and warm, the kiss perfect. Hungry and eager and tender in equal measures, it was just right for Peter's first kiss. Just right and not enough.
Wade tasted of popcorn and the cherry lip balm he had applied bashfully earlier and the combination instantly became Peter's favorite. That clinched it. All five of his senses confirmed his hypothesis, Peter was head over heels for Wade. The scientific method worked!
Wade's tongue slipped into Peter's mouth and Peter made a noise, his fingers clenching involuntarily into Wade's thigh.
"Fuck! This isn't a dream. Abort! Abort!!" Wade cried, his voice panicky as he hastily pulled away. "I'm sorry, Webs!! I thought this was a dream or a hallucination or something —"
"Shut up, Wade," Peter groaned, his heart clenching in his chest. Before Wade could react, Peter leaned in to kiss Wade back. Wade made a hiccupping sound and Peter leaned in further until he toppled into Wade's lap. Without thinking he wiggled until he got comfortable, wound his arms around Wade's neck and pressed against his front.
"Is this real?" Wade's voice was soft, almost broken. "Is this real? I don't think I can deal if this isn't real." His hands, which Peter had thought would zoom immediately on his ass, hovered lightly on Peter's waist, as if he was afraid his touch would shatter the dream.
"It's real. God, Wade... it's real. I'm here, I'm here, Wade," Peter repeated and kissed him again.
Wade finally pulled away and looked at Peter, his eyes wide and shocked behind the mask. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly. "I know I'm not exactly prince charming. I mean, no one in their right mind would think of me as boyfriend material... Fuck! Who said boyfriends, no one said anything about boyfriends!" Wade backtracked wildly.
"Wade... I know who you are. I know you've killed people for money."
"Yes, but they were all bad," Wade said, with an inexplicably thick Austrian accent.
"Huh?"
"Not a fan of the Austrian oak, huh? Pity," Wade said. "Look, I wouldn't take a job without doing some research. And I haven't unalived anyone in months, Peter, because you told me not to."
"You shouldn't kill because it's wrong, not just because I told you so," Peter said, even though his heart flip-flopped in his chest. Wade had given up that side of his job for Peter. It was quite romantic actually. Then he winced. Maybe not-killing was a low bar.
"I'm working on it, really I am, Peter. But see, that's why we should... You know, spend more time together. So that you can show me an example. And I really like you, Peter," Wade said hopefully. "I know I don't deserve you, but give me a chance, maybe?" He held his breath waiting for Peter's reply.
"That's why I'm in your lap, Wade," Peter said and wriggled for emphasis, making Wade draw in his breath. "I do want to. But it's not just that. It's not you. It's just that everybody dies, Wade. My parents. Uncle Ben. Gwen..."
Peter had told Wade about her a few months earlier. "Oh! We're at the point in our relationships with the tragic backstory! Progress!" Wade had cooed and taken his very best listening pose. Wade's antics made it somehow easier for Peter to spill it. The car crash which killed his parents. The mugger who killed his uncle Ben. And Peter who killed Gwen. There was a school trip, and a maniacal super villain had kidnapped Gwen. Peter had tried to save her, his crush, but he had been too late, too slow, and Gwen's back had snapped at the end of Peter's panicky web meant to catch her. Peter still had nightmares about it. "Petey pie, you did your best," Wade had said, patting Peter awkwardly on the back, the hand heavy and warm. "You tried, that's all we can do. Life is just a big old cunt sometimes."
Now Wade just clucked and booped Peter's nose. "Not me, baby boy. Well, I do die, a lot, like a lot lot, like all the time, but I always come back. I will be with you as long as you want me to."
"Sounds good to me," Peter said softly and kissed Wade again. They spent the evening necking, kissing and saying silly, goofy things to each other, until Peter finally had to go. Peter had an early morning class, but he had made an excuse, which Wade had accepted by putting a brave face on it.
"Patrol tomorrow night? Some necking and tacos after?" Peter said, pausing one leg out the door. He just couldn't take Wade's sad face.
Wade lit up. "Absolutely. Sleep well, Spider-babe." When he leaned into kiss Peter, Peter clung to him fiercely, making Wade coo deep in his throat.
"You, too. See you tomorrow," Peter said, finally pulling away. "Okay, I'm going now. Good night!" Still he lingered. "Bye now," he tried again.
Wade chuckled. "Text me when you get home?"
That was what finally got Peter to leave. Then he spent half the night texting Wade and he fell asleep in class the next day. He hurried home after school, eager for their patrol date that night.
After their first kiss, they kissed everywhere. In dark alleys, on rooftops, on Wade's couch watching some stupid romantic movie Wade insisted they see. Kissing Wade was just the best thing Peter had ever done with his lips. And it was mutual. Wade's mask did that heart eyes thing every time, his hands getting more and more bold with each kiss. When Wade finally cupped Peter's ass in his hands, he went into high pitched raptures.
"It's even better when you actually let me touch you," Wade squealed and Peter blushed again. He spent a significant amount of their time together blushing, as it happened, yet with his mask on Wade was little the wiser.
Peter wanted to take Wade on a date, a real date, and it had to be something no one else could do. So one night after patrol Peter swung them into a web he had made earlier, swinging high up above the other buildings, too high up for anyone on the ground to see. Even Wade who was afraid of nothing cursed as Peter swung them up and up and up and he clung to Peter's slender form tighter with each swing. When they got to the web Wade flopped on it and held on for dear life.
Peter snickered. "Scared of heights, big old you?"
"Na-huh, nope. That was just..." Wade said, still a little winded.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you," Peter said softly and crawled over to straddle Wade. It was the most romantic moment in Peter's life, kissing Wade in that soft web hammock high above the city lights.
When they got hungry, Peter pulled up a basket he had hung from one corner of the web, and they lay there, snuggling and sipping their beers, licking the last of the chimichangas from their fingers.
"You know how to show a girl a good time," Wade said softly. He seemed a little hesitant.
"Wade? Something wrong?"
"You're making me want to believe this is real. That it will last."
"Wade... I'm not going anywhere." Peter crawled over Wade to straddle him again. He couldn't help it. Whenever Wade had a moment of doubt, he just wanted to punch whoever had made Wade feel this way, like Wade wasn't enough.
"Promise?"
"I have an immortal boyfriend who fights villains with me every night, who gave up killing for me, and who lets me have the last taco every time. Well, most times. Some times. Why would I ever want to leave you?" Peter said.
"Boyfriends? We're boyfriends?"
"Well, yeah...?" Peter said. "Umm, you do want to, yes?"
"Hell yeah," was all Wade could say, in a barely audible soft voice, like he didn't quite yet believe it. Peter had to just keep telling Wade until he did.
It was going so well, yet Peter held back, and Wade seemed perfectly content to spend hours just kissing and cuddling. God, the kissing and cuddling with Wade (his boyfriend!) were world class, and it just made everything harder.
In his cold Wade-less bed later that night, Peter groaned. He was going out of his mind with want, but... It wasn't that simple. Nothing was ever that simple.
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