Chapter 11
Wade was building his new lego set with Lucky when there was a knock on his open bedroom door. He turned to see James standing there, a smile on his face and his phone in his hands.
“Hey pup, how’s the Starship Enterprise coming along?”
“Probably about half way done,” Wade said with a shrug, attention back on his spaceship. Clint was working so it was just the two of them. He would've invited James to join him, but the Alpha had explained earlier he had some phone calls he needed to make for work.
“Well I just got off the phone with Steve. And apparently Peter is going to have a sleepover tonight...and asked if you could come over. Would you be interested in that?” the Alpha asked with a smile.
“You...could I?” Wade asked, the legos all forgotten as he stood up to face the brunette.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking you,” James sassed in reply, getting a frown from the pup.
“I’ve never been to one before,” Wade said with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring up at the Alpha. Who at least lost his smile at that. The pup hated feeling embarrassed and he was pretty sure his foster father knew that. “I’ve only seen them on tv,” he confessed. The Alpha's scent went from playful to guilty, which the pup at least appreciated.
“I'm sorry, pup. And you are definitely allowed to go if you want. I went to a few when I was your age, they’re pretty fun. And if it’s too much you can always ask Steve or Tony to call me and I’ll come get you. But it's with your bestie Peter, so I think you’ll have fun if you go, it's up to you pup.” James looked and smelled sincere as the pup took a moment to think about fun sleepovers he'd seen in tv and movies.
“I think I wanna go then!” Wade said, more excited about the idea the more he thought about it. So he packed a bag, said goodbye to Lucky and smiled the whole car ride over to Peter's place.
Which - it turns out, wasn’t a good idea.
Wade had thought he and Peter and maybe Harley would get together and play games and eat snacks all night.
But Peter didn’t just invite Wade.
He invited his new friend, Harry Osborn.
Little perfect same-grade-and-class-as-Peter Harry who Peter just gushed about in front of the boy when Wade arrived. Harry just blushed at the praise and stood there with a shy smile. The six year old held Charlie a little closer to his chest, frowning at seeing Harry holding a teddy bear identical to Peter’s. Who was this kid?
“And Harry, this is my cousin Wade! He has an imaginary friend named Jimmy -”
“-No I don’t! Not anymore. I’m too old for that,” Wade interrupted with a huff, standing a little taller in front of Harry. “I’m basically seven.”
“So...you’re six?” Harry asked.
Wow. Wade didn’t like this kid.
“Hey boys! Wade honey I’m so glad you could come. We’re ordering pizza for dinner and you guys get to make s'mores in the backyard for dessert. How does that sound?” Steve asked the pups, but Peter was the only one who cheered in response. The Alpha didn’t comment on it, just stole a glance at Harry and Wade before addressing his son. “Peter why don’t you show Wade where to put his bag down? Then you guys can either watch movies or play video games in the media room. Peter also has nerf guns -”
“- We’ll figure out something, Papa,” Peter said fondly, a smile on his face as the pup turned to his father.
“Okay okay! Harley and your Daddy are in his lab so come find me if you need something. I’ll be in my studio and I’ll let you know when the pizza gets here.” The Alpha walked away after that, leaving Peter in charge again.
“Alright, come on Wade. Harry already put his bag in my room but we were thinking of bringing sleeping bags into the media room so we can stay up and play video games!” Peter said as he led the way to his room.
“Oh, so you play video games?” Wade asked Harry, the urge to destroy him at MarioKart coming to mind. Except the younger boy frowned and shook his head.
“No, my Daddy says video games are just a distraction, so we can’t have any at home.”
“Oh?” Wade asked, more curious than anything.
“Harry’s Daddy is kind of...strict. He can’t have tv or video games -” Peter began to explain when the information broke the foster pup's brain. Even his crappy foster homes had tv's.
“- you can’t have television?!” Wade asked, shocked and upset on the other pup’s behalf.
“Right?!” Peter cried in agreement, shooting Wade a bright smile as the blonde boy left his stuff in Peter’s room. “Okay guys, so I was thinking we take my jedi robes and lightsabers and save the galaxy! What do you think? Unless you guys wanna start with video games.”
Wade looked over at Harry who was looking back at him, the younger boy suddenly looking down and shrugging in response.
“Whatever you guys wanna do, this is my first sleepover,” Harry admitted quietly, shrugging again and hunching over himself. Wade suddenly didn’t hate the other pup, he kind of felt sorry for him.
“This is my first sleepover too,” Wade added, since he was no chicken.
“This is my second! But it’s my first time hosting one. I’m nervous too, you guys,” Peter said, suddenly a little sad. Wade felt a protective rage course through him but was stopped when Harry spoke up first.
“You’re doing great, Peter,” Harry reassured the pup, making Wade take it one step further and pat the worried pup on his back.
“Best host ever, Pete. Now let’s play Star Wars! I call dibs on Han Solo with a blue lightsaber,” Wade said, arm now around Peter’s shoulders as he led the two to the media room where they also kept the toys.
“Come on Harry! Think about who you wanna be.”
“He’ll have to be a bad guy, so it’ll be two on one,” Wade said without thinking, cause even though Harry hadn’t been mean to him, Wade still felt protective of Peter.
He was his best friend.
Not Harry’s.
“Not if he doesn’t want to,” Peter countered, brushing Wade’s arm off his shoulder.
“But, then who are we going to fight against as jedis?”
“We’ll just pretend we’re fighting bad guys, Wade.”
“It’s okay, I can be a bad guy,” Harry spoke up, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.
“No, Harry you don’t have to be a bad guy. No one is being a sith. Now come on Harry, I want you to pick out which lightsaber you want!” Peter moved away from Wade and grabbed the other boy’s hand before leading them to the play room. Wade felt sick to his stomach with the sudden desire to leave. He stood there dumbly for a second before mumbling something about having to use the bathroom.
He made his way to the bathroom but kept walking, instead looking for Steve to call James to come get him. Wade’s stomach was in knots, his face was hot and he just wanted to go home.
But Steve wasn’t in his studio like he said. Wade wasn’t a baby, but he felt tears start to come into his eyes as a mixture of anger and hurt swirled around his tummy.
“Wade?” he heard as he furiously tried to wipe his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey Harley. I was just...looking for your Papa. I don’t feel very good and I want to go home.”
“You don’t feel good? But, you don’t look sick,” the too smart older boy said, eyeing the other pup up and down.
“Well I am,” Wade snapped, not wanting to be mean but not feeling like he needed to explain himself either. James had said that he would come get him. He didn’t need to explain why to an eleven year old.
“Don’t snap at me, Wade. I was just trying to help you,” Harley replied calmly, which kind of made Wade madder.
“Yeah well, go help Harry. Peter’s bestest friend forever,” Wade spat out, plopping himself on the floor in the hallway and bringing his knees up to his chest.
“Oh. Wade, you're jealous of Harry?” the other pup asked with a chuckle that only angered the shorter blonde further. Instead of answering the ridiculous question, Wade just growled at the other pup and curled in more on himself.
His eyes got watery again when his foster cousin sat down next to him.
“Wade, you don’t have any reason to be jealous of that kid. Peter has known Harry for a week. He just moved here and my sweet little brother felt sorry for him cause he really wasn’t making any friends. Trust me, you are Peter’s best friend. The punk doesn’t shut up about you. Before you got here, he was bragging to Harry about how much fun you’ll be.”
“No he wasn’t,” Wade half-argued, maybe because he needed to hear more. Maybe cause Jimmy and his negative thoughts still made Wade question anyone really liking him.
“Yeah huh! Do you know how often he tells people his best friend is his cousin? He thinks that is the coolest thing ever. Daddy had to encourage him to invite someone else, cause all Peter wanted was for the two of you to have a sleepover. Which then Papa argued you need more than one person to have it count as a sleepover.”
By the time Harley was done talking Wade was looking up at the older boy. A small part of him thought he was joking, just making fun of Wade for acting like this.
But Harley just smiled back at him. Like, a real, kind smile. And the eleven year old had been nothing but genuinely kind to the foster pup since they've met.
Before Wade could respond, they heard heavy footsteps approach them. Looking up, the two watched Steve walk towards them with a concerned look on his face.
“Hey Papa,” Harley said cheerfully, standing up and beginning to walk away from them, confusing the hell out of Wade. “Wade was looking for you. Apparently he isn’t feeling too well and wants you to call Uncle Bucky.” With confusion on both his and Steve’s face, they watched Harley walk away before the Alpha turned back to the pup.
“Are you okay, pup? Do you want me to call him for you?” Steve asked as he squatted down in front of Wade. The pup considered that even though he was feeling better, wondering if he should take up on the Alpha’s offer when Peter came running around the corner.
“Wade? What’s wrong, are you okay? You said you were going potty but I didn’t see you in the bathroom!” Peter cried as he ran over to the blondes.
“He isn’t feeling too well, baby. I think I’m going to call Uncle Bucky to come get him -” the Alpha began before being interrupted by the five year old.
“- what?? No! We haven’t even started the sleepover yet!” Peter cried, tears in his eyes as he looked back and forth between Wade and Steve. “Wade you can’t go!”
“Peter, don’t make him feel guilty. If he isn’t feeling well you have to respect that," Steve explained as Wade felt the knots in his stomach go away. Peter truly wanted him to be here.
“But Papa!” the other pup whined. “Wade can’t go!”
“Peter, that’s enough puppy. Wade, honey do you want me to call Bucky?” Steve asked gently as Wade watched Peter’s eyes water more. Harley had been telling the truth, he was still Peter’s best friend.
“No I think...I think I’m okay,” Wade said with a small smile, wiping his eyes and enjoying the absolute glee coming from Peter.
“You sure?” Steve asked with a fond smile of his own, ruffling his son’s hair as he stood back up. Wade nodded and stood up too, blushing when Peter wrapped him in a hug. “Alright boys, pizza should be here any minute. You two go back and play with Harry.”
Wade deflated a little at that, but perked right back up when Peter squealed, grabbed Wade’s hand and led the two back to the playroom.