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Nico dropped face-first onto his bed, groaning loudly into his pillow. He couldn’t believe he’d done something so stupid earlier that day, telling Jason that he was dating Chat Noir when he and Will had agreed before school that they were going to be open about their relationship with their friends.
The looks that Jason kept giving him throughout the day made Nico’s stomach twist into knots. Jason hardly spoke to him all day, and didn’t even look at Will that often. Nico knew Jason well enough that he figured as soon as Jason opened his mouth, he was going to say the wrong thing.
Nico needed to fix this before things got any worse.
“What’s wrong, Nico?” Tikki asked, and Nico felt her moving to rest in his hair.
“I messed up,” Nico whined. He started to roll onto his back, moving slow enough that he knew Tikki wouldn’t get trapped underneath him.
Tikki gasped, fluttering around and stopping before the tip of Nico’s nose. “What do you mean? You didn’t tell anyone--”
“No,” Nico assured her. “Nobody knows, just Will.”
Tikki frowned in concern, drifting back to sit on Nico’s chest. “Then what did you do?”
Nico ground the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Jason kept bothering me and I told him I was dating Chat Noir, and then Will came over and kissed me. Jason probably thinks I’m a terrible person because he thinks I’m cheating on Will or something, but I’m not, and I don’t know how to explain that to him!”
Tikki hummed in thought. “Have you talked to Will about it?”
“Have I what?” Nico asked, dropping his hands.
“Talked to Will,” Tikki repeated. “He knows what happened this morning, right?”
Nico winced. “No, I, uh, haven’t told him about it.”
“Nico, you have to!” she insisted. “If you don’t tell Will what happened, he might talk to Jason first, and he might get upset. You have to be the one to tell him.”
“What if,” Nico started, “what if he doesn’t want to date me after this? Or what if he doesn’t trust me enough to be my partner anymore? What if talking to him is what makes this worse?”
“You can’t work yourself up over ‘what ifs,’ Nico,” Tikki told him. “You have to tell him. Today. As soon as possible would probably be best.”
Nico sighed. “Okay, yeah, you’re probably right.” He slipped his phone out of his pocket, shooting off a quick come over text to his boyfriend.
Almost immediately, his response came: 5 minutes.
Nico pulled the pillow out from under his head, pressing it into his face as he began shouting into it.
“Everything will be okay, Nico,” Tikki assured him. “I’m sure he’ll understand why you did it.”
“I hope so,” Nico moaned into his pillow.
Approximately five minutes later, Nico heard his window slide open, followed by the soft sound of footsteps.
“Hello, Will,” Tikki called out to him, and Nico lifted the pillow off of his head.
“Hello, Little Lady,” Will said softly, and his eyes drifted over toward Nico, a beautiful smile blooming on his lips. “Hello, Darling.”
Will’s smile was contagious, and Nico felt his own lips twitching up at the corners, but he couldn’t help the feeling of guilt settling in his stomach like a rock. “Hi, Sunshine.”
Will knelt momentarily on the edge of Nico’s bed before stretching out on top of Nico, fingers brushing softly across Nico’s cheek before he leaned down for a kiss. Nico reached up, fingers tangling in Will’s hair and deepening the kiss before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.
“Will,” Nico breathed, tugging gently at Will’s hair to try to pull him back. Will hummed, moving to kiss down Nico’s jaw and biting at his neck. “Will, wait,” Nico said around a gasp. “Hang on.”
Will pulled back enough to see the serious look in Nico’s eyes. He sat up, lifting himself off of Nico almost completely. “Sorry, I thought you wanted me to come over for, um--” His cheeks grew pink, an adorable look of embarrassment blooming on his face. “Why did you want me?”
“I need to tell you something,” Nico said, sitting up against the headboard and pulling his knees up to his chest. “I kinda messed up, and I wanted you to hear it from me, first, before things could go wrong.”
Will looked concerned. “What do you mean?”
Nico glanced across the room, rubbing his cheek against his knee. “This morning, I didn’t actually tell Jason that we were dating, like I told you I did. I was going to, I promise I was, but last night, when you were sneaking in here, apparently he saw you and he wouldn’t let it drop. And instead of telling him I was dating you,” Nico sighed, turning his face to hide behind his knees, “I said I was dating Chat Noir.”
Nico didn’t hear a response - didn’t really even wait for one - before he started talking again without even looking up at Will’s face. “It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, either, ‘cause, like, you’re the same person, you know? But I was afraid that Jason was going to talk to you first, and he was going to tell you I was cheating on you but not tell you that I’m cheating on you with you, and I was afraid you weren’t going to want to be with me anymore. I told him that he can’t talk to anyone about it, not even me, but what if he slips up and says something that somehow reveals your identity?” He finally glanced up, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, gaze landing on Will’s shocked expression. “Please don’t hate me for this.”
“What?” Will breathed, and Nico’s heart started to sink. “Why would I hate you for that?” He scooted closer, placing his hands over Nico’s ankles, rubbing circles into Nico’s skin with his thumbs. “Nico, I don’t care that you told Jason. We can clear it up with him in like, two seconds. Thank you for telling me, but there was no reason to get so worked up, okay? I trust you, I know there’s no way you would ever cheat on me.” Will leaned forward, smiling brightly. “Besides, you know how smart I am, the only way somebody’s revealing my identity is if they worm their way into my heart first.” He tilted his head slightly with a hum. “A little like a certain someone I know.”
“How do you suggest we clear this up with Jason?” Nico asked softly, loosening his grip on his legs and letting his hands slide down his shins until they covered Will’s.
Will darted forward, pressing a kiss to the tip of Nico’s nose. “I think I might have an idea.”
Nico invited Jason over to the apartment. When Nico got a text from Jason that he was outside, Nico started pushing Will - Chat Noir, at the moment - towards the window. Will pressed a kiss to Nico’s lips before climbing out onto the fire escape, and Nico ran down the stairs to the living room.
He opened the door just as Jason flew up the stairs, breathing heavy and spitting out words so quickly that Nico couldn’t tell what he was saying - but he had a guess.
“Dude, I can’t understand you,” Nico told him, gesturing for Jason to enter the apartment and closing the door behind him.
“Roof,” Jason puffed. “Chat Noir. Just now.”
“Uh, huh,” Nico said plainly. “Sure.” He started towards the stairs leading up to his room, Jason following close behind.
“Dude, he was just there,” Jason insisted. “Did you not know he was here? Bro, is he, like, stalking you?”
“No,” Nico responded, cracking a smile. “I told you, we’re dating. Why would he need to stalk me when we’re dating?”
“But dude, what’s going on?” Jason asked as they walked into Nico’s room.
“Maybe I could tell you if you’d shut up already,” Nico suggested, and Jason’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click. “Take a seat, you’ll probably want to.”
As Jason dropped into the chair at Nico’s desk, Nico crossed the room and pushed open the window to the fire escape, poking his head out and calling toward the roof, “Hey, Sunshine! Come down here.”
Nico sat at the edge of the windowsill, facing Jason, and waited until he heard the sound of footsteps on the fire escape before he said, “I believe you’re familiar with my boyfriend.”
Chat Noir hopped through the window.
Jason’s jaw dropped. “I’m familiar.”
Nico reached behind himself, closing the window and drawing the curtains shut. “All good, Sunshine.”
“Thank you, Darling.” Will shot Nico a smile over his shoulder before turning back to Jason and releasing his transformation.
Jason stared in shocked silence. Nico stepped forward and took hold of Will’s hand. “I’m not cheating on Will, just in case that wasn’t clear,” Nico offered. He glanced up at Will. “Was it clear?”
Will nodded. “I think it was clear.”
Jason shut his mouth, rubbing at his eyes as if he’d been seeing things, but had the same shocked expression when he looked again. “Will,” he muttered, “is Chat Noir?”
“Guess it wasn’t as clear as we thought,” Will said to Nico.
“No, no,” Jason said quietly. “It was clear.”
“Very clear,” said another voice from the doorway to Nico’s room, and three heads snapped in Percy’s direction. “What the hell is going on?”
Nico groaned, turning his face into Will’s shoulder. “Shit!”