Wednesday

When Will said he was committed to the bit and had ideas, he wasn't fucking around. The night previous when Will and him had their usual conversation, Nico sending a few memes he had found, snapping back and forth, Will was obviously going over the top to show he was joking, but there were a few times Nico wasn't sure if he was fully joking.

One of the things that left him in a state of, oh damn, he's serious about this, was when Will got out of the shower and had sent what he called "Freshly out of the shower pics." He was wrapped in a towel and the mirror was foggy, but he was still shirtless and his hair was wet. He was making a weird face that made Nico laugh. He was biting his lower lip a little too much and raised his eyebrows. It was quickly followed up by an unflattering photo of his close up with the caption, "I'm fucking freezing my balls off."

Nico had sent him a poorly lit photo of the top of his face, telling him, "Put clothes on idiot."

Will sent him weird photos all the time, they were close like that. The weirdest photo he received was at 2 am one night and it was an extremely blurry photo that Nico couldn't even figure it out. When he asked him what it was, Will told him that it was a pic of his ass. The way he said it made Nico wonder if he was serious or just joking.

You
I dont want ur nudes

Sunshine Man
:(
Okay but I was trying to send you a photo of something else, I just dropped my phone.

You
Why are you naked trying to send me a photo?

Sunshine Man
Don't think too hard about it.

He had ended up sending the right photo (a new electric guitar his father had gotten) moments later and the first photo was never discussed.

When Nico had woken, Will had kept it up and sent him a good morning text. There was a bunch of emojis around it – too many hearts for any normal person to send. Nico couldn't help but laugh when he opened the message, shaking his head.

He clicked on the photo Will had sent him. Will rose with the sun like some weird freak. That is the one thing that's different between the two of them: Will rose and fell the with sun, rarely was he awake after sunset, and Nico was awake all night, hating the sun's raze in the mornings.

Will sent him a photo of the sun rise from his apartment and it was gorgeous. Nico knew he would never be awake early enough to actually see it, but that's why he had Will because he was always awake. The photo was captioned with: Wish you were here 3.

Nico shook his head and snorted. Guess Will was pulling out all the stops for this. One thing you could do was trust Will to come through on a project. He always understood the assignment.

You
Mornin
God your view is so pretty

After a few minutes of getting ready to for school, his phone buzzed.

Sunshine Man
Not as pretty as you ;)

You
Fuck off

Sunshine Man
:o

Nico smiled at his phone as he headed to school. He had no idea what Will was planning, but he knew this was going to be a wild few days.

….

When he got to school, he was quickly welcomed by an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. For a split second, Nico tensed up, ready to push away whoever it was who was touching him.

"Hey, babe," Will said, a smile tugging at his lips. He was trying his hardest to keep it together, but saying that seemed like the funniest thing to him.

"Jesus fuck, Will," Nico muttered, shaking his head as they walked down the hall, Will's arm still around him. No one really paid them any attention, but for a moment Nico wondered if anyone around them thought they were actually dating.

They made small talk until they got to Nico's locker. As he was putting his bag inside, pulling out his first period class work, Will asked, "So, what brought on this whole, 'needing to listen to Sour while being sad,' thing?"

Nico sighed, wondering how much he could tell Will. Piper should be fine with him telling Will that her and Jason broke up. He knew Piper wouldn't care with Will, but it wasn't his place to out her.

"Piper and Jason broke up," Nico said, closing his locker and leaning on it.

"Jesus," Will said, raising his brows. He shook his head as if he couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, I know."

"What happened?" Will asked as they started to head to the hall they both had class. They were in opposite directions of each other.

Nico shrugged.

"Just didn't work out."

"Ah," Will said, nodding his head as if that's all he needed to know.

"Hey, so," Will said, shifting his backpack, the tiniest of accent coming through in his words, "I think our date should be this Saturday. It's a long weekend, we can get everything wrapped up by then, giving you Sunday and Monday to really feel it."

Nico thought that Will spoke with so much seriousness about this topic to be absolutely adorable and hysterical. Will was ride or die with most plans, this one not being any exception.

Nico cracked a smile.

"Alright, that works."

"Cool, I have some idea, but just be ready for twelve. It's going to be a day event."

"How romantic," Nico said sarcastically.

"Only the best to break your heart."

"It's already in two."

The first warning bell wrang.

"See you at lunch?" Will said, already heading down to his first class. Nico nodded.

"That works."

"Okay, bye babe!"

Nico just shook his head as he headed into class. Will was truly something.

As he found his desk and set his text book down, pulling out his pencil, his phone buzzes. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was a snapchat notification from Will. He opened the app and smiled.

Sunshine Man
Already miss you.
3

You
I swear to god Will

As he closed his phone, he did what he did with the other messages, saved them so they wouldn't disappear.

….

At lunch, Nico spotted Jason sitting at their regular table. Piper wasn't there, but he wasn't too surprised. He knew things would be awkward for the first bit, but it should level itself out. There was no way this break up was splitting up their friend group.

"Hey," Jason said as Nico sat opposite, pulling out a sandwich his mom had made him. She always made his lunch whether he wanted her to or not. At this point, he stopped fighting it and just went along.

"Hey."

Jason fidgeted awkwardly in his seat for a bit, pushing his glasses up his nose. They had fingerprints smudged on them from constant fiddling. Nico watched him as he bit into the sandwich, raising a brow. He knew why he was awkward, but he liked watching his cousin squirm.

"So, um," he started, clearing his throat as he looked anywhere but at Nico, "did you hear…"

"About you and Piper?" Nico asked, mouth full of half chewed food. When Jason nodded, Nico put his sandwich down and brushed his hands off. "Yeah," he said, covering his mouth as he swallowed. "She told me yesterday."

"Oh." Jason said. "Did she…"

"Oh, I know why."

"Okay."

"Dude," Nico said, wiping his mouth, "calm down. She doesn't hate you."

"I know but…" he trialed off, his thoughts getting away from him.

"Listen," Nico started, "the last thing she's gonna do is be mad at you. She broke up with you. And besides, she's kind of going through a lot with all of this. Trust me, coming out isn't easy. Just… just be there for her when she needs you, okay?"

"You think she'll still need me?"

Nico wanted to roll his eyes, instead he started working on his sandwich. He knew Jason cared for her very much. He might have even been in love with her. But this wasn't Jason's place to fret. All he could do is be the best ally he could for his lesbian ex-girlfriend.

Hazel was the next one to join their table, putting down her metal lunch box. She had always brought one to school since she transferred to there school in middle school. Each year was different, this one had Wonder Women on it.

"Did you get your hair redone?" Jason asked when he saw her. The last time he had seen her, her hair was natural. But her tight golden curls were braided into thick braids that faded into purple.

"I did," she exclaimed, playing with one of them.

"I'm surprised he even noticed," Nico muttered, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Hazel did her best to hide her laugh, biting her lip.

"Honestly, same."

Jason frowned and furrowed his brows.

"Hey, I pay attention," Jason said, pouting. But he lost all ground when his glasses fell down his nose.

The three of them chatted for a bit before Frank made his way to the table. He took his place next to Hazel and stole an apple slice from her lunch box. He laughed as he shoved it quickly into his mouth before Hazel could protest. As she nudged him, Will finally made his way over, sinking in beside Nico.

"Hey babe," he said as he sat down, putting his bag beside him and slipping his arm around Nico's waist.

"Sup," he said, taking a bite of his sandwich, ignoring both Will's arm around him and the lack of distance between them and the looks of utter confusion from the three others at the table.

"So, umm," Jason said, clearing his throat, "are we going to get an explanation of this or…"

Hazel nodded as Frank stole another apple slice, still looking slightly confused at the two of them. Nico didn't say anything, he was leaving it to Will.

The blond smiled, his blue eyes disappearing behind his shaggy bangs before he moved his hair out of his eyes.

"Nico and I are dating," Will said.

Frank coughed on the bite of apple he was chewing, Hazel rubbing his back as he recovered.

"Okay, not actually," Nico clarified when he saw Jason's eyes bug out. He was pretty sure Jason wasn't actually breathing. "I thought it would be funny to fake date someone then break up with them so I can listen to Olivia Rodrigo's album."

"So we're dating," Will said, leaning his head on Nico's shoulder, smiling. He told Nico he was going to grab something from the cafeteria and asked if he wanted something before getting up. He shook his head no but Will rolled his eyes, not really believing him. As Nico watched Will leave, the entire table just stopped at stared.

"What?" Nico asked, finishing off his sandwich.

"You and Will?" Jason said again, as if he couldn't exactly understand what they meant by fake dating. "You're not dating?"

"Well," Nico started, thinking about how he was going to phrase it. "We're not actually dating, but we are? It's kind of confusing, but not. Like, we're dating so we can break up Saturday. It wasn't supposed to be this elaborate, but Will's having fun with it. So, we are dating, but we're not, but we are, but only until Saturday. I hope that helps."

"I am so confused," Frank admitted.

Nico shrugged. He didn't understand it much either, but he wasn't worrying about it.

Will was his best friend and they did weird things all the time. They hadn't gone as far as fake dating, but they had joked about it one time when they were both tipsy. Will had wondered how weird it would be for the two of them to date. They had laughed the entire time, taking sips and imagining what it would be like. Neither of them had taken it seriously, they were intoxicated and had other important issues to worry about, so it never went any further than that.

And they weren't really dating either, so it had no effect. It was simply a joke that got a bit out of hand in the beginning but they were running with. No harm no foul. They didn't have feelings for one another, so once this week was over, Nico could listen to a sad breakup album and everything could go back to normal.

No one really spoke about it while Will was gone, and when he got back, he resumed his place by Nico's side, earning unsure glances from everyone. Nico stole one of Will's fries like he normally did, only this time, Will's arm was around his waist.

"So this is happening, I guess," Jason said, straightening his back and stealing one of Will's fries.

"Get your own fries, Grace."

"Eat my ass, Solace."

"I would rather not," he said, pulling his fries closer to himself, making it easier for Nico to steal another.

"You're missing out," Jason said.

Nico rolled his eyes and looked at Hazel. He limped his wrist and nodded with his head before going back to stealing more fries. Hazel put her hand over her mouth to hold herself back from laughing.

…

When Nico got home, he slung he bag against the wall and jumped onto his bed, letting his body go limp. He was tired from staying up the night before, sleep refusing to take him. He knew he should probably finish his essay, as finals and deadlines were right around the corner, but he was exhausted.

So he rolled over and pulled out his phone.

You
You doing okay?

Pipes
Yeah
Kind of a weird day I guess
How was lunch?

You
oh boy
Jason and you were NOT the topic of discussion

Pipes
OH
?

You
OH YEAH
So
You know the whole "Will and I fake date then break up" thing?

Pipes
Yeah…..?
Now I'm invested

You
SO
Hes apparently going all out
Calling me babe
Putting his arm around me

Pipes
OH SHIT

You
And everything
I KNOW
When he sat down at lunch he put his arm around me and called me babe
Everyone was just
O.O
It was so fucking funny

Pipes
NO THAT'S SO FUNNY
WHAT
WHAT DID THEY SAY?

You
Jason was like
Yalls gonna explain
and Will fuckiNG GOES
were dating
UuU
EVEYRYONE JUST STARED AT US

Pipes
WAIT REALLY?

You
Im not shitting you dude
I almost lost my fucking shit
I did correct them
but
I still dont think Jason fully understood what was going on.

Pipes
I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't
he didn't realise I was gay our entire relationship

You
Pipes
To be far neither did you

Pipes
ListEN
ur right but I don't like it

You
Exactly
ANyways
doing better?

Pipes
yeah
Jason and I are gonna have a conversation later
probably
just to smooth things out
you know?

You
I do
Just know. He really cares about you
He was so worried you hated him

Pipes
Idiot
thanks

You
np
Let me know how it goes
k?

Pipes
Same with you. Got it?
I want to know everything in this fake/real relationship of yours
I better be the first person you call crying when he breaks up with you

You
Obviously
who else would I call? Jason?
hed probably be even more confused

Pipes
At least hes cute

You
at lease hes cute

Pipes
Aight dude
Im gonna go google two girls kissing and pretend like my entire world isn't falling apart

You
classic
Good luck and delete your search history

Pipes
you know it
Bye.

Nico scrolled through Instagram for a bit, switching in and out of the app to check Tumblr, Tiktok, and a combination of any other app that would give him some sort of emotional response. When nothing was working, he pulled up Snapchat.

You
bro I am so bored

Sunshine Man
Don't you have an essay to write?

You
Yes dad

Sunshine Man
Listen
I love you.
But I don't have a daddy kink.

Nico smiled.

You
Sad

Sunshine Man
YOU BETTER NOT HAVE A DADDY KINK OR I SWEAR TO GOD

You
OH GOD NO
It was a JOKE
FUCK

Sunshine Man
Good
Because there's a lot I can excuse, but a daddy kink?
Sorry babe, but I would be out so fast.

You
Yeah no daddy kink here

Sunshine Man
Good.
Now if you want me to call you a Good boy?
Then we could talk.

There it was again, that weird nauseating feeling Nico felt yesterday. He couldn't place what it was, but it felt like he wanted to puke – but not in a bad way. It was like he had swallowed too much salt water while swimming.

You
I swear to god Will

Sunshine Man
:D
Good boy

You
STOP

Sunshine Man
You're such a good boy, Nico.

You
I AM LITERALLY GOING TO KILL MYSELF
GOOD BYE

Sunshine Man
ahaha don't kill yourself. You're too sexy.

You
Wow would you look at that
I have an essay I need to finish
BYE

Sunshine Man
All according to my plan

You
ur literally my 13 reason why

Sunshine Man
Go do your homework.

You
Fine
but I wont enjoy it

Sunshine Man
I don't expect you to.

Nico sighed as he tossed his phone to the other side of his bed. He laid back and stared up at his ceiling, making words out of the texture in the ceiling. He found faces and shapes, stories he could create. All of these possibilities and still he was fixated on that sickly feeling.

He had saved the conversation before closing his phone like always, so why does it feel like he missed something? Like it was right there in front of him but he couldn't see it.

As much as he wished he could lay there and work through it, what he needed to do was write the essay he needed to pass this class. His grades were fine if he didn't hand it in, but his mom would most likely find out he got a zero and question him why. And that was a conversation he wanted to avoid at all cost.

A/N: It is literally the middle of the worst heat wave in all of north America where i'm at rn and if i didn't have these chapters like 2-3 ahead pre written i would have nothing for yall. it's so bad, being inside is almost as bad as being out. its like 50C i wanna die

anyways, i hope you are enjoying this, i have a lot planned coming up! I plan to incorporate more social media aspects into this story so stay tuned as i fucking figure that one out!

Let me know your thoughts and feelings, its nice to hear from yall!

Kitty