"Why're we here?" Peter looked around to see the stained rock of Fort Totten, the orange and red foliage growing tall against the abandoned base. It was desolate and the only noises Peter could hear were the faint rustling of the leaves, as well as the distant sound of cars passing by. A chill ran up his spine as he took it all in. The desolate atmosphere, the quiet– Once you added it up with Wade's unpredictability, it was a bit unnerving.
"Well, I figured we could get away from... People. For awhile."
"Oh, yeah. This is a perfect place to hide a body, don't you think?"
"Hide a–" Wade turned his head towards him. "Baby! How could you say such a thing!?"
"Stop calling me 'baby'–" Peter interjected.
"Shush, shush, shush! Let's go!!" Wade grabbed Peter and dragged him through open, heavy, and rusty set of doors.
"So... I'm pretty sure I failed a math test yesterday." Wade sighed, leaning against the cold, stained stone. "Pre-Calc is a monster, baby boy..."
"I wouldn't know. I don't have it." Peter shrugged as he settled in next to Wade.
"You don't? I'm surprised, I would've thought you had-"
"I'm in Algebra II. I was able to skip Geometry, but not anything else."
"So, you still skipped a class. Damn..." Wade said and turned his head to look at Peter. "I don't know why I took this class. I could barely get out of Algebra, baby boy." Peter frowned and focused his gaze on his lap.
"About last week..."
"I already told you not to worry about it." Wade sighed.
"I already am worrying about it! What I said was-"
"Perfectly fine-"
"Fucking stupid!"
The words echoed in the desolate base. But, Wade always had to destroy the serious moments.
"Just like me."
"What! No! I'm the stupid one! All you've done is help me out. Yeah, you dragged me to this creepy place, but it's actually nice being away from everyone and you're here with me and it's quiet and-"
"Baby boy, I know it's usually my job to ramble aimlessly about nothing, but-" Wade interjected.
"I'm not rambling-"
"Especially over things that don't matter."
"Wade! Just, shut up for once!" Peter cried.
"You're the one who won't shut up!"
Peter sat up, so that he was kneeling, and gripped Wade's helmet in his hands. "Listen to me," He said, faltering for a second when he caught a glimpse of Wade's eyes.
"Don't. Look at me." Wade said, grasping Peter's wrist firmly.
"What color are your eyes?" Peter blurted and he saw Wade's eyes widen in response.
"Wha-" Wade quickly shoved him away. "What part of 'don't look at me' do you not understand?! This makes it twice, now, that you've tried to look at me!" He stood up, now towering over Peter.
"What is it? Wanna see if the rumors are true?"
There were so many rumors about Wade, though. And, Peter had only heard a shortened version of them. That he was not good to be around, that he apparently hurt people. Peter, of course, didn't believe a single word of them. He wasn't one to just judge people based on a rumor without seeing proof of it himself.
"I don't believe rumors without seeing for myself."
"So, that's what this is, then. You've just been trying to humor me, huh? You just want to see if I'm as disfigured as they say, right?"
"What?! No-" Peter interrupted, but he was instantly cut off.
"To see if I'm a fucking monster under this helmet, like everyone says I am, right?!" Wade walked towards Peter, until he was forced to walk backwards and away from Wade.
"Wade, listen-"
"No! I'm done listening to you! You're just like the rest! I never should've thought that you'd be different!"
"Enough!"
They both froze, Peter standing his ground and glaring at Wade, and Wade tense and still.
"The only stupid 'rumor' I heard was from Harry. And, he only said that you almost punched a teacher for trying to take off your helmet. Nothing about you being disfigured, and even if you were, I wouldn't care. He just said that no one's seen your face. But, I refuse to believe in rumors without checking to see if it's actually true or not." Peter stepped closer, wary of how Wade seemed to tense even more at the movement. "I don't think you're a bad person. After everything you've done for me, there's no way you could be a bad person. Flash is a bad person. Flash puts people down because it makes him feel powerful. You helped me get to school- You helped me get Flash off my back and-"
Peter let out a sigh. "And, I've been nothing but an ass to you. I wish I could just blame that on Harry, but it's all me. And, I'm sorry Wade. You've done nothing to deserve me treating you the way I have."
"You said you wouldn't care." Wade finally said after a few moments.
"What?" Peter asked.
"If I was disfigured," Wade clarified. "You said you wouldn't care."
"I- Yeah. I wouldn't care. I meant what I said." Aunt May had always told him to never judge based on outwards appearances. Wade was no exception for that, and Peter berated himself for treating him so poorly and for messing things up further than there already were. He silently swore to himself that he'd do anything to make it up to Wade, no matter what it took.
However, Peter didn't have time to think about how he would even do that, because Wade reached up to take off his helmet.
"Wait!" Peter cried, causing Wade to freeze.
"What?" Wade sneered. "Decided that you don't wanna see, after all? Don't think you could stomach it?"
"Shut up. I just... Don't do this because you feel like you have to prove something to me. That's not what this is about. I want to see your face when you're ready to show me - When you want to show me. Not because you feel like you have to prove your point or some shit."
"Oh, but don't you see, baby boy? This is the test, right here. To see if you actually mean your words or if you're just bullshittin'. Cause, I can tell you right here and now that the other's didn't take well to my lovely features." Wade said, before he pulled the helmet off his head.
