forty-two.
There was a knock on the door at 7:15 exactly and when Nat opened the door she saw Peter there, wrapped up in his blanket and smiling widely. Behind him, Bruce and Tony were holding bags with other presents. Nat greeted all three of them with kisses on the cheeks as they made their way inside one at a time.
Peter bounced into the kitchen and hugged Bucky like he hadn't seen him in forever. In reality, it'd only been a couple of days since Peter was here last. Bucky hugged him and even kissed him on the head.
Nat watched on. Bucky and Peter held each other so highly. They were talking quietly, each sporting huge smiles. Peter was going on about how excited he was for Bucky to open the gift he got him. Bucky felt the same, telling Peter that if he didn't like it then he could always pick something else, but Peter insisted that he'd love it no matter what it was.
Steve greeted Tony and Bruce with hot cups of coffee while they put their gifts with the others. Tony laughed as he put a sparkling Santa's hat on Steve's head and Steve almost wanted to kiss him. Nat could see it in his eyes how badly he wanted to do it, but he wasn't about to come between him and Bruce. They seemed to have something really good going for them, and as long as Tony was happy then it was enough for Steve.
While everyone sat down to breakfast, Nat could tell that something was a little but off with Peter. When nobody was looking, he just looked sad, lonely. She could see him touching his stomach every once in a while, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had him down. It was Wade. The fact that he wasn't present had her little spider upset, and as soon as she figured it out, she started wondering what there was for her to do about it.
Everything she could think of seemed to end in some kind of disaster. So for now, she just watched as Peter sipped on his chocolate milk and joked with Bruce about Radiophysics. Tony listened on in silence, leaning into Bruce's side as he ate. Nat thought it was cute how they cuddled up to one another. They were still in that cute, nauseating honeymoon phase, and she really hoped that for their sake it never goes away.
She was very sincerely hoping that this relationship would last, for both of their sakes. Because if they were happy it was all that mattered, right? The problem with the group's resolution was this: Steve still felt for Tony. Anyone in the room could see it. The way Steve let his eyes linger, the way he smiled when he caught Tony's eye. It was sad.
Peter's phone rang and he jumped up, excusing himself to go answer it.
On the porch, bundled up in what he might call the softest blanket in the world, Peter answered his phone as he leaned on the railing. "Good morning, Wade."
On the other end, he heard a soft chuckle, and it was easy to imagine Wade smiling. "Merry Christmas, Petey... I'm sorry I can't be there with you."
Peter looked down and messed with a fray on his blanket. He felt sad, lonely. He felt a tug on his heart as he longed to be with Wade. He longed to be held close, to feel safe and loved. Sure he felt those things inside with his family, but it was different with Wade.
Wade, who Peter could see hiding very obviously behind a bin across the street, could hear the pain in Peter's voice as he spoke, "I wish you could be here... But they'd kill me... And I would say you, but they can't kill you, can they?"
Wade took a breath. "No, Petey, they can't. But killing you would do the job."
Peter let out a laugh, but they both knew it was fake. They both knew that Peter didn't have it in him for laughter right now. Neither of them did, to tell the truth. All they wanted was to be together, but it would seem that the world wasn't ready for that just yet.
"If you're not busy tomorrow, we can have our own Christmas at my place, yea?"
Even from up on the 5th floor, Peter could see Wade exhale a big cloud of smoke from his cigarette as he laughed and waited for Peter's reply. Peter just nodded, because he knew that Wade could see him. "Yeah, that sounds good... I can't wait for you to see what I-"
Peter jumped as the door opened behind him. He turned and hid his phone behind his back and Wade dove behind the dumpster as Steve walked out of the apartment and leaned on the railing to look at the sky. He didn't say anything for a long minute, choosing instead to let Peter worry about being in trouble for a long moment.
After a long minute, Steve just smiled over at Peter. "You should ask him over for Christmas."
Peter beamed like a goddamn lighthouse. "Really?!"
Steve laughed and stood up straighter. "I can't promise it'll go over the best with Tony, but I asked him to be civil... Everyone inside has someone, I figure it's only fair for you to have your someone too."
Down in the street, Wade stepped out from behind the dumpster and waved his arms in the air as he yelled, "I tried to kill all of you!"
Steve stared down at the man, scarred beyond all repair and yelled back, "Do it again, and I'll kill you! Merry Christmas!"
Steve turned and walked back inside without another word and Peter and Wade stood staring at one another in disbelief. Peter put the phone back up to his ear and heard Wade say that he needed to go and pick up the gifts he bought and that he'd be back over soon. Peter laughed and asked him to wear something festive, but also something appropriate.
Wade told him he couldn't promise that he could do both and hung up with a laugh before running off... Maybe this would be a good day after all... If Wade kept himself in check.