seven
Light was seeping through the curtains when Wade woke up under his unnecessarily large pile of blankets. He sat up, squinting at the room as he stretched. a grin grew quickly as he remembered that Logan was out on his couch. Without checking the time, he sprung up and tiredly wobbled his way across the floor.
Walking out into the main room, Wade could see the peaks of Logan’s hair from behind the sofa arm. Two steps into reaching his arm out to pet the man awake, Laura looked over at him, catching his attention by shaking her head.
Wade stopped mid movement and frowned at her before looking down at Logan. His hair was screwed up on all different sides, his lips were parted just enough to take in his calm breaths, and he was crunched up in a ball. Wade smiled fondly.
“He doesn’t ever sleep like this,” Laura spoke, quiet and soft, “Don’t wake him,”
Wade nodded but kept his eyes on Logan. He had never seen the man so peaceful. After a few moments passed, he moved his gaze to her, “Breakfast?”
“Mhm,” She stood up, and they both stepped quietly into the kitchen.
She lifted herself onto the counter while Wade walked over to the fridge, “What do you want?”
“Do you know how to make crepes?”
Wade looked over his shoulder at her, “The thin pancakes? French?”
She quirked a brow at him, “Yeah, they aren’t easy to make so if you don’t-”
“I’m a quick learner,”
“I don’t believe that,”
She was right. He was not.
He threw the ingredients into a bowl, heated up a pan, and assembled what he thought would be workable food. Ten minutes into the process, he had burned almost all of his batter and set the smoke alarm off.
He was waving a dirty towel at the alarm until it was silent. He continued flapping the fabric around, stopping when he heard three thick steps enter the room.
He spun around and met face to face with Logan, “Morning, Honey Badger,”
“The hell are you doing in here?” He looked pissed.
“I’m being a good trad wife,” Wade put his hands on his hips.
“He was trying to make crepes,” Laura looked at her father, and added, “For the first time,”
Logan turned his gaze to her, and then looked behind Wade at a pile of burnt thin dough, “Jesus Christ, Wade,”
He shoved his way past the younger man to the stove. Reaching over the hot burner to twist the heat off, he huffed, “You had this way to fucking high,”
The older man continued to grumble as Wade crossed his arms, “Okay, Chef Howlett, how am I supposed to do it then,”
“Not like this,” Logan muttered in return. He lifted the plate of burnt thin lines of pathetic pastry and looked almost amused, “How the hell did you keep fucking up? Did you not think to turn it down? Change your methods?”
Wade pouted as Logan turned to him with a small quirk to his lips, “I did change the heat,”
“He turned it up, not down,” Laura piped in.
“You,” The younger man pointed at her,” Shhh, he is mean enough without your help,”
She snickered. Logan squinted in disbelief, he huffed, “Throw these out,” He slid the plate towards Wade, “Then get me out flour, eggs, and milk,” He lifted the pan up from the one burner to another, letting it cool down completely.
Wade frowned largely as he dumped his plate of attempts into the garbage. Swiftly, he brought the ingredients over to Logan, “You know, I really did try,”
Logan hummed, “That’s why I’m going to teach you,” He cracked four eggs into a bowl that he had already measured milk and flour into.
“And what are your qualifications, good sir?” Wade hovered over the older man’s shoulder.
“Two years of culinary classes,” Logan turned his cheek to look at Wade, “Now melt me three tablespoons of butter,”
Wade grumbled, but obliged. In five minutes the crepe batter was complete. Logan took a towel from a hook and covered the bowl.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’re you doing?” Wade raised an eyebrow.
Logan set the bowl to the side, “We have to wait fifteen minutes for it to settle,”
“What,” Wade stared at him, the older man dismissed him.
Laura sighed, “He does this everytime, I swear there is not a difference,”
Logan rolled his eyes and began cleaning up the counter and measuring utensils, “Both of you quit whining,”
Laura and Wade both shared a look, but said nothing.
Wade bothered Logan the entire wait period, earning far more growls than he deemed possible.
“Can we please, please, please make them now?” Wade draped his arms around the older man’s shoulders, dropping all his weight onto his back.
Logan growled, “Jesus, Wade, fine,”
“Wah,” Laura huffed, “That has never worked for me,”
Logan pointed a spatula at her, “You always bitch about it, its not the same,”
Wade grinned wide and slid onto the counter beside Logan and the bowl, “I’m just special,”
The older man snorted, “Hm, ‘s one way to put it, Bub,”
Laura watched the two men look at eachother. The fondness in Wade’s eyes as he looked down at her father. It was such a gentle, yet genuine affection. She couldn’t see her dad’s expression, but his body wasn’t tense, unlike it always is. He was calm, and the twitch of his ears hinted that he had a smile on his lips.
They were sickening. She slid herself off the counter, “I’m gonna go mess with the dog, call me when they’re done,”
Logan hummed at her as he lifted a ladle out of the batter, delicately pouring the contents onto a pan he had preheated low.
“She’s a cool kid,” Wade said softly as she walked out.
Logan smiled down at the pan, “Yeah,” He maneuvered the skillet around, evenly spreading the batter, “She always has been, I just had to knock something into her first,”
“What do you mean?
“When she first came home with me, she wouldn’t talk,” Logan sighed a little laugh, “I tried everything: seeking out specialists, learning sign language, even social exercises. Nothing worked, she was just as stubborn and frustrating at eleven as she is now, maybe more,”
Wade smiled, “When did she finally talk?”
“Six months, it took six months,” He shook his head, “We were in the car, and she was trying to get me to take her to the park, but I had work. So she called me la perra… which translate to bitch,”
Wade snorted, “That was her first word?”
“To me atleast,” Logan flipped the crepe, showing a perfectly golden brown sheet, “After that she just kept speaking to me in broken english or angry spanish,”
“How much did you understand?”
”Not much,” Logan grinned, “Little shit knew it, too,”
Wade laughed.
Logan checked the underside of the crepe, making sure it was steadily cooking instead of burning, “She came home with me a week after the night with Jean,” He stepped away from the stove to lean on the counter beside where Wade was sitting, “I don’t think they should have letten me take Laura home in the state I was in, but Jean… she…”
Wade placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder, “Don’t force yourself to tell me about, Peanut,”
Logan nodded, not moving his gaze from the floor as he hummed. He took an unstable breath in, then out before sliding the finished crepe out of the skillet onto a plate, “Alright, you’re turn,”
Wade’s soft sympathy dripped away as he whined, “But, you were making them,” he frowned, “I was happy,”
“I made the first one because they are the most difficult,” He turned to face the other.
“Such a gentleman,” Wade put a hand to his chest, dreamily.
Logan reached over and took the younger man’s wrist, dragging him from the counter to his feet, “C’mon, Bub, it’s not hard,” He looked up at him, “I’ll walk you through it,”
Wade felt his heart thump at the way Logan was looking at him, “Yeah, yeah, okay,”
The next couple minutes were complimented with the older man’s hands on his wrists showing him how to pour the batter or flip the cakes. Wade could feel his stomach fluttering while Logan spoke softly beside him about different techniques or how good he was doing.
They finished the last crepe and Logan smiled, “You did better than I thought you would,”
“Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special,” Wade huffed.
“You’re fine, princess,” Logan rolled his eyes at the grin Wade displayed from the pet name. He called out, “Laura, they’re done,”
After they ate, Laura and her father stuck around for about an hour before Logan decided it was time that they actually went home. He earned a few pouts, mostly from Wade.
Before stepping out the door, Logan and Wade held each other’s gaze.
“Bye, Bub,”
“See you Monday, Peanut,”
The door shut, and Logan couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread on his face.
—
Logan pushed open the auditorium doors ten minutes past practice’s start. He had stayed behind after his last period to help a kid who broke his nose during dodgeball. He had to bite his tongue to not laugh at him. It was hard. The kid was an asshole.
Walking down the aisle that led to the stage, he stopped beside Wade. The younger man turned to him with a smile before his attention reeled back to the cast.
The students were on stage performing one of the final songs. Logan didn’t pay them much attention as he leaned over to Wade, “How long do we have until performance day?”
“A week,” He responded with little concern.
“What?” Logan’s brows went up, “It’s that soon?”
Wade nodded. He kept his eyes on the students as they finished out the scene. He clapped his hands, “Okay, guys, that one was good, we need to go back over ‘The One That I Want’, gotta see if you payed attention to Logan and I’s pretty little performance,”
“Hard not to,” Laura quipped.
“You, shush,” Wade waved in hee direction, “Get into position,”
The kids scrambled their way into the beginning stance, but Ben stayed staring at Wade.
“You good, Benny-Boy?”
Ben shook his head, “I… Bathroom,” He ushered himself off the stage before Wade could speak.
Wade looked from Ben’s direction towards the stage, “Okay, um, you guys,” He looked to Logan.
The older man sighed, “Get into groups,” He addressed the cast, “Work over any choreography or lines you think you need to improve; help each other,”
The kids nodded, a little unsure, as they moved from their positions into little groups. Logan looked to Wade, “What are we going to do about him?”
“Huh,” The younger man looked at him, seemingly unbothered, “What? About Ben? He’s fine, just a little cold feet, happens to him every performance,”
“Every time?” Logan looked unimpressed.
Wade nodded, “Yeah, don’t worry about it, he’ll be fine,”
“If he doesn’t come back in here in a minute, I’m going to talk to him,”
“Really unnecessary, Peanut,” Wade smiled at Logan who just stared at back at him, “Okay… or go ahead, but you don’t have to,”
Logan scoffed, turning away from Wade and walking towards the backroom that Ben had run into. The younger man shook his head and put his attention back on the kids.
Logan twisted the knob of the prop closet’s door, stepping inside. There he found Ben sitting on a children’s chair holding his breath.
“Kid,” He stepped further in, shutting the door behind him, “Kid, look at me,”
Ben shook his head.
Sighing, Logan walked in front of the kiddy chair, “We aren’t mad, Kid, but I’m gonna need you to talk to me,”
“Didn’t Mr. Wilson tell you this is normal,”
Logan grit his teeth a little, “Normal doesn’t make it necessary,” He pulled a children’s chair out of a corner for himself, sitting on it with a creak, “I get pre-show freak outs, but we need you to run the song through,”
“What if I mess up,” Ben looked up at, “You got really upset last time,”
“Kid, I wasn’t upset, I just wanted Laura and you to really see it as it should be,” Logan rubbed his hands together, a nervous habit. For being a teacher, he didn’t really know how to talk to students one-on-one like this.
“And if I can’t deliver?” Ben frowned, “Maybe you should just have Caleb be Danny instead,”
“Your understudy? Kid, no,” Logan shook his head, “It’s too late for that, Caleb isn’t prepared enough to be our main choice,”
Ben’s eyes widened, “What— you mean that I have to go on no matter what?”
“No, no that’s not—“
“Oh my God,” Ben looked like he was going to throw up.
Logan put his hands on the boy’s shoulders, “Kid, listen to me,” They met eyes, “You are doing great, Ben,”
“Am I?”
“Yes,” Logan breathed a small laugh, “You just have to also believe that,”
“How,”
“Confidence,”
Ben deadpanned at him, and Logan laughed. He stood up holding a hand out to Ben, “Just come back out there with me and try, mkay?”
Ben took his hand, pulling himself up with the man’s help, “Yeah, okay,”
Logan clapped him on the back as they walked out.
Wade looked over to them with a big smile, waving at the older man to come to him. Ben smiled hesitantly at Logan before running back onto the stage.
When Logan got over to Wade his hand was grabbed and he was pulled over to the platform's corner. There lay Danny’s T-Birds jacket, a bleach stain covering the front.
“Shit,” Was all Logan could think.
“Yeah, none of the kids know what happened,”
Logan huffed, looking at Wade, “Do you not have extras?”
“No,”
“Dammit, Wade,”
“How is that my fault? Your department took my budget,” Wade complained.
Logan glared, “So it’s my fault,”
“No, Jesus, Logan, lighten up,” Wade glared right back, “I was just gonna ask if you still had yours from your performance?”
“Oh,” Logan’s demeanor changed but his glare stayed put, “I’ll check when I get home,” He turned and walked away.
Wade scoffed a sigh and followed behind him.
And, so, practice continued like this. Every bump in production would cause a spat between Logan and Wade. Bickering during practice was nothing new for them, but this wasn’t just irritation. There was true frustration packed in.
The last straw was when Wade dismissed Logan’s complaints about wrong lines.
“The line got said, does it really matter?” Wade asked Logan as they argued a few feet from the cast practicing.
“Yes, it matters, Wade, that wasn’t his line, it was Russel’s” Logan huffed.
“So? the impact is there regardless,” Wade huffed back.
“Dammit, Wade, just have them fix it,”
“I don’t see a reason to,” Wade crossed his arms, “It’ll mess up their rhythm,”
“Authenticity,” Logan complained.
“Who cares,”
Logan growled, “If you want to ignore my suggestions, then do it on your own, Wade,” He grabbed his bag off the pew beside them, “Tell Laura I’ll be in the damn car,”
Just like that, Wade was standing alone as Logan let the auditorium door shut behind him.
Wade hurried to the stage calling Laura down to him, He pulled her away from the other kids.
“What are you doing?” She complained until Wade stopped pushing her.
“Your dad is being a bitch, so, I need you to keep everyone under control while I go get him to come back in,” He pleaded
Her brows raised, “You really think that’s going to work,”
“No,” Wade frowned, “But hopefully my charm can get him back,”
She rolled her eyes, “Good luck,”
Wade looked at the auditorium doors and started walking.
—
The passenger door opened and slammed shut as Wade slipped into the seat of Logan’s car. He received a frustrated growl and nothing else.
“C’mon, Kitty, talk to me,” Wade insisted.
“Don’t fucking call me that, Wilson, get out of my car,” Logan glared over at him.
“Logan, come on, I need you in there, I know it, you know it, so, drop the pissy act and talk to me,” Wade looked almost sincere, but far too amused to actually be honest.
“I’m not being pissy, Wade, get out,” Logan flicked his radio on.
Wade muted it immediately, “Peanut, talk,”
“Dammit, Wade, you don’t listen,” Logan sighed, “I don’t want to talk, get the the hell out of my car,”
“I want to talk,”
“That’s because you never shut up, get the fuck out, Wade,” Logan huffed.
Wade glared at him, “The hell is your problem today? You’re being more of an asshole than usual, and I gotta say, I’m not a fan,”
“I’m not being an asshole,” Logan angled to face Wade from his seat, “You aren’t giving this show the attention it needs and it’s fucking irritating,” Wade’s brows furrowed as Logan continued, “These kids need to be told when they are messing up, you can’t just let them do whatever,”
“I’m not letting them do whatever, asshole, I’m just not being a dick to them,”
“I’m not being a dick either, Wade” Logan frowned, frustrated.
Wade smirked, “I didn’t say you were,”
“You implied it,” Logan sighed.
“Guilty conscience,”
“Fuck off,” Logan reached back for the radio to drown Wade out, but the younger man smacked his hand away.
“You think I’m not stressed about this show, Logan? Of course I’m fucking stressed,” Wade’s face contorted in irritation, “I could lose my damn job if this doesn’t go well,”
“Then why aren’t you acting like it?”
Wade sighed, exasperated, “Because I can’t just tell the kids they look like shit, that’s so not productive, Peanut,”
“I’m not saying they look like shit, Wade, I’m saying that you can’t just spare their feelings by not telling them when they make a mistake,”
“Yeah, because making them freak out and hide in a closet is a lot better,” Wade rolled his eyes.
Logan glared, brows furrowed, “I didn’t make him hide in the closet, Wade, besides I went in and talked to him. You weren’t gonna do that,”
“If you hadn’t, I would have,” Wade said unconvincingly.
“Sure you would’ve,” Logan rolled his eyes.
Wade glowered, “Quit the attitude, Kitty,”
“Enough with that name, Wade,”
“What are you gonna do, Kitty, puff your tail at me?”
“Wade,” Logan warned, the younger man was being condescending and he was not having it.
“Don’t be so sour,” Wade smirked, cocky “Are you gonna stick your claws out at me, or maybe scratch—“
Wade was cut off by Logan reaching his hand out to cuff the collar of his shirt around his fist. They held one moment of eye contact. Silent.
Wade opened his mouth, “I guess Kitty does have claws—“
Logan’s lips were on his in an instant. Rough and mad. Wade’s abdomen was cutting against the center console as the older man pulled him in by his shirt, deepening the kiss. Wade loved it.
Teeth clashed and Wade reached his hands to Logan’s arms to steady them both. They parted lips a minute later, leaving foreheads connected. Sharing heavy breath, gazes unleaving.
Wade tugged Logan back into the kiss, less mad. They kept it harsh. Pushing and pulling, hissing at whatever car structures got in their way. Wade snickered into the kiss when Logan hit his head on the ceiling.
“Shut up,” The older man growled onto his lips, Wade felt the impact of those words everywhere.
The younger man tugged at him more and more until he finally got the hint. Logan slid himself, with Wade’s help, into the passenger seat. His strong thighs enveloping the younger man’s lap.
He steadied himself by placing both hands on Wade’s shoulders before leaning down to kiss him again. The push and pull continued, nipping at each other's lips and letting hands roam.
Logan undid one, two, three of Wade’s shirt buttons. Deepening the kiss, pushing the younger man’s head back into the car seat’s headrest. His rough hand touching the newly exposed skin and hair on Wade’s chest.
He removed his lips from Wades’s. Giving him one more peck to the corner of his mouth before trailing down to kiss from his jaw to his neck, Logan nipped at Wade’s collarbone, hearing breath catch in the younger man’s throat. He smirked against his skin.
Wade placed a hand into Logan’s hair, scratching ever so slightly and lowering the man further down his neck. Logan obliged with ease.
“Good,” Wade said softly and rumbly into the air. A praise that earned him another nibble to his neck. He exhaled shakily, continuing to pet at Logan’s hair.
The older man reached his lips back to Wade’s and kissed him hard. Wade dropped his hands to Logan’s waist, rubbing his thumbs along the dips of his bones. The older man leaned in further, pressing their chests together.
Wade reached one hand up into Logan’s hair, gripping it tight, pulling him away from the kiss, and exposing his neck. Logan growled lowly at him.
Wade smirked and leaned forward kissing Logan's neck, and replacing his hands on his waist. He scraped his teeth along the man’s adam's apple, smiling further when he heard Logan’s breath shake.
He kissed further down, pulling the neck of Logan’s shirt out of the way so he could bite his shoulder. The older man bit his lip, muffling a sweet sound.
Wade tsked, bringing his face beside Logan’s ear, “I want to hear you,” He bit at the lobe.
Logan groaned low and quiet, squirming slightly in Wade’s lap. The younger man’s fingers trailed softly from his waist down to his hips. He thumbs resting on the curves of Logan’s thighs.
Putting two fingers under his chin, Logan lifted the younger man’s head up to look at him. They leaned back into a kiss, softer than before. Wade rubbed his thumbs on Logan’s inner thighs.
The older man brought a hand up to Wade’s cheek, cradling his head. He gently leaned Wade further back into the chair, keeping their lips together, and adjusting his weight to align their hips.
He made no motion to move, and neither did Wade. They just kissed and felt the heat of each other burn. The younger man brought his hand onto the small of Logan's back, and lightly pushed them together. Heat grew as they slowly moved with each other, hips sliding together in well awaited friction.
Logan groaned again, leaning his forehead onto Wade’s shoulder. The younger man smiled, soft, “Good, boy,” He rubbed at his back, “Just keep moving, mhm, just like that,”
Logan began to kiss his neck again, softer than before, “‘m sorry for being a dick,” he was muffled by Wade’s neck.
“If this happens every time you decide to catch an attitude with me, feel free to do it more often, Kitty,” Wade chuckled, then groaned as Logan slid their hips together a little rougher.
“Stop with the name, Wilson,”
“Why,” Wade grinned as Logan lifted his head to glare at him, “You seem to like it more than you lead on.”
Logan growled,
Wade smiled slyly, “Keep that attitude, Princess,”
Logan’s hips jerked again and Wade laughed with a smirk, “You like that one, too, boy, hm, Princess,”
The soft moan that left Logan’s lips made Wade’s stomach twist with a flutter. He gripped at Logan’s hips, keeping their rhythm steady. Leaning forward, he brought Logan back into a heated kiss, nipping at the man’s lips.
Logan sat up quickly, banging his head on the car roof when his phone began to ring. Wade laughed at him as he growled, rubbing the back of his head with one hand while the other reached for the phone.
He peered down at the screen, “Shit, it’s Laura,” He stayed in Wade’s lap as he answered, “What’s up—“ His eyes squinted, “Hey, watch your tone with me, Kid, Wade and I are having an important discussion about the show right now— Yes, we are in the car— It’s an important conversation, Laura— Yes, it is,” He moved the phone from one ear to another. Bringing his other hand up to Wade’s chin, thumbing at the younger man’s bottom lip.
“Laura, you’re fine watching over the cast, we’ll be in after we… finish our conversation— Yes, give us a few—“ His eyes widened, and he twisted his head to look through the windshield. Laura was standing outside looking at the car, “Dammit, Kid, go inside, we will be in, in a minute— Shut up— I’m still your father I can take your phone for that language ya’know— Goodbye,” He tossed his phone to the driver’s seat.
Wade grinned wide, “Were we caught?”
Logan grimaced, “She is not gonna let it go either,” He pushed himself back into the driver’s seat, pulling his sun visor down to fix his hair, “We can… um, talk about this later, she wants us back inside now,” He turned the car off.
Wade’s grin fell into a soft smile, “Yeah… yeah, okay, c’mon, Kitty,”
Logan rolled his eyes before stepping out of the car. Wade followed behind him as they reentered the school.