Shattered meanings hide in cracked words

Wade hummed mindlessly as he stirred a steaming pot of ramen noodles, the broth bubbling from its position on the gas stove. The sweet aroma of the chicken flavouring caused his stomach to growl.

The steady stream of rising steam burned at his face a little, but his body healed as quickly as the hot air stung his damaged skin. The tune to ‘I kissed a girl’ rang through his small apartment, accompanied by his own mindless hums. 

Wade sighed as he lifted a fork-full of the noodles from the pot, the slimey texture of the noodles was sickening. Cooked way too long, he realised. He had developed a habit of spacing off while doing little things; showering, eating...brushing the stray cat...Poor thing. He rubbed at his arm where the cat had tried to escape from his lap and brutally clawing through his shirt. 

Dumping the gummy noodles down the garbage disposal, Wade huffed as he flicked the switch and watched the wasted dinner dissipate with the swirling blades for a few seconds. Finding the garbage disposal grating to listen to, he turned it off, I’ll finish it later. 

Shuffling across the open floor of his apartment, he tossed himself onto his couch. Laying half on the cushions he  scratched at his wrists as the rumbling of his stomach reminded him of the reason why he was making noodles in the first place.

Groaning to himself Wade lowered himself back to lay deeper into the couch, one leg propped over the arm. 

Noodles...Macaroni...Listing through the things in his pantry Wade had to admit he needed to go shopping. Between finding jobs and being his jolly Anti-Hero self, Screw being a super hero, thank you very much. He hadn’t had a lot of free time to shop or see Peter. 

Peter!

Scrambling onto his feet Wade began digging through his belongings in search of his cellphone.

“Crap, crap, crap,” He muttered, tossing a pair of fluffy Spider-Man pants over his shoulder, “I know it’s here somewhere.” 

“Ah hah!” He yelled triumphantly as his phone came up in his hand. Tapping the screen to life, he checked for any missed messages. Guilt weighed heavily in his gut, he had told peter they would have a taco date today. Idiot, he thought angrily at himself for forgetting. Especially after Peter had called him last night at two a.m. sounding scared and upset. 

“I’ll just be honest,” Wade spoke aloud to himself as he clicked Peter’s contact name, “I forgot, I just got busy. We can go out for tacos right now. Say a little hey-hi-goodbye to May too. I’m starving, it’s a good idea. He’s a college student, they’re always open to free food, right?” 

Wade sat himself on the floor, leaning his back against the couch as the phone rang in his ear. Tapping his finger against his knee he listened to the ringing continue...and continue till Peter’s voicemail kicked in, “Hey! Sorry, I really am. I couldn’t answer the phone. I’ll call you as soon as I can okay. Oh, yeah this is Peter. Peter Parker,” Wade smiled at the familiar awkward bumbling, “So, uh, leave me a message!” Click. 

Shaking his head Wade called again, frowning as the voicemail answered his call once again. It was no secret that Peter hated phone calls, the lack of facial expressions always irritated the weird twenty-two year old. Wade didn’t understand it, phone calls were the best; easy communication and no face to face time spent with people. Switching apps, Wade got on Snapchat. The app of the new generation in his opinion, but Peter loved to send him snaps of himself with silly filters, sometimes quoting what was it called...weeds? 

Taking a picture of his leg strewn over the couches arm, Wade typed a quick message, ‘Taco date @ 7?‘ glancing at the time, he hit send before pocketing his phone.

Shoving his feet into his shoes, he grabbed his keys and one of the hoodies that he had thrown across the room earlier. It was twenty till seven, and a ten minute walk to the taco shop that he and Peter had grown so fond of, after many late night stops. They became regulars, until lately, Wade thought bitterly. 

Sitting on the curb outside of the ‘Taco Palace’ Wade huffed, shoving his cold hands into his hoodies pocket. The nights had grown a lot colder in the mid October  days. Activity was still as lively though. Cars passed continuously and the smell of tacos filled the air. Wade frowned as he saw no sign of Peter. The kid always showed up for tacos, even if he had the worst of days. He once turned up caked in dried yellow paint with a large burn on his arm from tripping in art class and landing on a heating lamp, but tacos were priority. Wade of course chastised him over tacos before taking care of the burn. He wasn’t a monster.

Grabbing his phone again, Wade frowned. Worry starting to grow as the clock showed it was almost seven thirty. Peter was busy with school and work a lot lately, but he never left Wade withought a response. Pushing himself up, Wade began walking down the block, guess tacos will have to wait.

He found himself infront of the small twenty-four seven gas station that Peter always yapped about. It was owned by a small Italian family that let Peter go and star gaze on their roof at night whenenever he was struck by the occasional whim. 

”Guess I can grab a few chimichangas,” Wade muttered as he pulled open the small door. Searching through the isles he grabbed a few microwaveable chimichangas and shuffled to the check out. A plump older woman smiled tiredly at him before checking his items, 

“You’re looking tired Wade,” she commented. Wade grinned and ducked his head,

“Yeah, you know how it is. Busy busy.” She laughed and nodded, passing him his bag in exchange for a ten dollar bill. 

“You haven’t seen Peter lately have you?” Wade questioned over his shoulder as he pushed open the door to exit. 

“The last time I saw him was a week ago sweetie, and he was looking just as tired as you are.” The woman replied from behind a few shelves. Wade nodded to himself and walked out, the cold wind bit at his nose, causing his eyes to sting.

Sighing, Wade twisted the plastic bag in his hand. Turning to face the building, he gazed up at the edge that he knew was  surrounded the large, open roof that Peter called his second home. It was simple concrete and crappy little stones with a few AC units tossed around, but it was comfortable, standing just the right distance away from any streetlights to be comfortable. Peter had let Wade join him on a few of his star gazing nights. I wonder...

Trudging around the building, Wade squinted in the darkness of the ally as he tried to remember where the rickety metal ladder that led to the roof was. Walking behind the rusty dumpster, Wade found it.

Gripped the ladders rungs he hauled himself up each step, huffing into the cold air as the plastic bag swung against the ladder with each step. Hauling himself over the edge, Wade stepped down onto the roof, the pebbles crunching beneath his shoes.

Glancing around he looked for Peter, but saw only a small lounge chair like one that people keep around their pools, sitting abandoned in the middle of the roof. I guess he isn’t here, Wade thought. Disappointment dampened his moment of hope. Turning to leave, he noticed the figure of a man laying beside one of the AC units on the opposite side of the roof. Squinting, Wade tried to make out if it was a homeless man or his friend. The shadow of the AC unit made it difficult to tell.

Walking as quietly as he could to the slumped figure, Wade peered down at him. The red and blue suit was unmistakable. Letting out a breath of relief Wade felt his shoulders slump with tension he hadn’t realise he’d been holding. 

“I swear to God, Parker. Don’t you ever give me a heart attack like that again,” Wade smiled and set his plastic bag on the ground beside his feet, “Sleeping on the job, huh? I thought you knew better. And why the hell didn’t you text me back, you missed taco night.”

Peter didn’t move. Wade felt his entire world crash down, silence was not something Peter Parker was known for. No sir, he was loud, nerdy and couldn’t keep his mouth shut for anything. He was peppy personality and sarcastic snips, he was nothing like the silent figure on the roof.

”Peter?” Wade said, his voice cracking. “Buddy I really need you to respond right now.” Crouching beside his friend, Wade placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. It was cold and lifeless. A sob caught in Wade’s throat, causing his chest to constrict painfully. 

“No, buddy. Hey, Baby boy. Do you hear me?” Wade gasped out between tears. Gripping Peter by his shoulder, Wade tugged his friend’s body towards himself, tucking Peter’s upper body against his chest as another sob tore itself through Wade’s body. 

“Oh God. Peter, what happened,” Wade yanked the mask off Peter’s head. Revealing the fluffy mask-hair that Peter complained about so often. Feeling for a pulse Wade held his breath, he’s just cold okay, he’s been here for a while. Stupid kid, just fell asleep. Finding nothing, Wade wailed and held Peter closer to his chest, rocking back and forth as he sobbed openly. Burying his face in Peter’s hair, he squeezed his friend, hoping somehow to put life back into the body of his friend. 

“I’m so sorry.” Wade whispered to himself as he struggled to breath. Laying Peter down as gently as he could, Wade looked over his body, he looked fin-...

”Oh, Fuck.” Wade gasped before lurching away to puke. Peter’s side was caked in dried blood, a gaping wound in his side. Peter looked as if he had been drained of blood. The skin beneath his shredded suit was pale, at least the skin that wasn’t covered in blood. Wade felt choked as he stared at the face of his friend. Peter looked...Gone.

Almost unrecognisable to Wade, Peter’s face was never void. He always wore some emotion on his sleeve, anger, sarcasm, joy, sadness. But right now, his face was empty. The once fire filled eyes  stared emptily at the sky, glassy and wide. 

Laying his head against Peter’s chest, Wade sobbed, leaning back on his ankles he screamed.

He screamed for Peter. He screamed in anger, anger for losing his friend, anger for the world losing another good man.

Losing another hero. He screamed till his throat burned and the world went dark.