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Logan was hating this Christmas season.
Sure, it was the first one he wouldn’t spend alone, the first after saving the world with Wade a few months ago, thanks to that he became close with Laura, so that's a start, but it didn’t make anything kinder.
Winter this year was ruthless. Snow swallowed the streets whole, the wind screamed through alleyways, and for some mutants like Wolverine, the cold settled deep into the joints, aching like old memories that never learned to stay buried.
Still, that wasn’t the real reason the holidays felt worse than any other had for the immortal. After hundreds of years of being alive and alone, even rotting drunk in a motel room on Christmas morning couldn’t compare to what his chest was hoarding now.
Yeah. Dramatic.
One of the many things he’d picked up from Deadpool.
Because Wade was everywhere. In the constant noise, the overcrowded malls and toy stores, the aggressive cheer of festive colors… all of it dragged Logan back to him. The man he couldn’t stop thinking about, no matter how hard he tried.
His mind kept drifting back to the months they’d spent as roommates, the quiet accumulation of knowledge: Wade’s likes and dislikes, the small, useless details that somehow felt sacred. Enough to buy the perfect Christmas gift for the merc.
Not that it would be needed.
Logan had pulled away. Like he always did. Even when it ached deep in his chest, even when his head and heart screamed at him to turn back. Just like after that mission, when Wade had called after him and for once, Logan had sworn he would stop running from good things. From Wade’s smile. Wade’s courage.
But weeks had turned into months, and fear lit itself inside him, slow and stubborn, until it became easier to keep walking than to look back. He moved in with Laura, leaving Althea, Wade and Puppins behind.
Of course they supported him, kind as ever, people would be surprised to know the real Wade, to get a glance at his heart, like he did, but he took that opportunity and threw it away, like a coward, telling himself that it would be best for his… friend. Logan wasn't stupid, he knew these feelings, caring deeply about every non-sense that came out of Wade’s mouth, locking his gaze onto those lips, wanting to protect, needing touch, missing every second.
But things like that never worked out for guys like him. And that was why, on Christmas Eve, around sunset, Logan found himself sitting in an old shawarma joint, surprisingly still open, remembering the first time he ate there, alongside Wade, laughing and pretending to be annoyed, that first time that Wade changed his life completely.
When he finally left, the cold hit hard, biting through his jacket as he walked aimlessly, hands shoved deep in his pockets. That was when he saw it tucked into a store display bright with holiday clutter. A stuffed animal. A unicorn. Wrong colors, but so similar to Wade’s favorite stuffed animal, that it brought back a memory.
When they were watching movies on the couch, Logan found it, so he called it the ugliest thing ever, for Wade to laugh, hold it up and say — that his unicorn probably got lonely. – That it needed a friend. Something rough around the edges. “Like us, Wolvie”, he’d said. One all growly.
Logan didn’t think. He went inside, bought it, and stepped back into the cold with the bag clutched tight in his fist. His chest hurt, sharp and sudden, because that had been such a stupid thing to remember.
And such an important one, because it was the little things, the ones that followed him everywhere, that reminded him of Wade and his warmth. Thinking about it felt tacky in the best way, warmth sweeping into his heart as he imagined Wade’s reaction. Then anxiety followed.
Was it too late? Would he be angry if Logan just showed up? Or was fear only an excuse again. Knowing Deadpool, he would welcome him with open arms, as always.
Maybe the real gift was showing he cared. A quiet confession of his love.
So he ran.
He could barely register how he got to Wade's building, but he did, he used some spare key he never returned to get to his floor, and when he finally rang the bell he was finally able to breathe again, to calm down because he was finally being brave.
When Wade opened the door holding Mary Puppins, who was wearing a little sweater, Logan could swear his heart exploded.
Wade was hiding his surprise. “Well, look who remembered how to walk, say hi to your old roomie Mary!”
Logan couldn’t put up with Wade’s humor, because he knew the merc was hiding his hurt, so he just extended the gift and finally said, “I really fucking needed to see you, bub, Merry Christmas and-”
Wade interrupted him quickly, he dropped Mary softly and hugged Logan tight. The apartment smelled faintly of pine from a neighbor’s decorated tree, warm and cozy, and Wade’s arms around him made Logan’s scars feel almost soft. “Hi Wolvie, wanna come in? I think we can fix you a plate, maybe just cocaine, but hey, it could be worse.”
Logan huffed, frustrated, did Wade really get what he was trying to say? “Wade look, I- I’m sorry and I just can’t stop running, I always get scared, but for you I-”
Wade blushes and Logan can tell he’s nervous for the first time. “It’s Christmas Eve, time for forgiveness, yadda yadda yadda, I don’t know what's in here,” he says, as he shakes the gift, “but the real present is you showing up.”
Even he was surprised at how serious he sounded.
Logan was the one who initiated a hug this time, still scared about Wade not getting what he meant, but if he truly knew him too, then maybe he could feel the true nature of their relationship, too. He couldn’t keep thinking, because a scarred pair of lips graced his cheek with a soft kiss.
The lights from the apartment reflected off the snow outside, turning the world into shards of soft gold and silver. Behind them, a romantic holiday song played quietly from somewhere in the building, and Logan noticed, more than anything else, that Wade Wilson shined brighter than any light, warm and impossible, the heart of the whole city in that small apartment.