One week later, Will (or, at present, technically Spider-Man) once again found himself on top of a building in the middle of the night.

This time, his feet dangled off the edge of an apartment building a few blocks from his. He stared out at the buildings surrounding him, at the cars in the street below, at the polluted night sky with barely visible stars. And to absolutely no one's surprise, he thought about Nico.

Will was still hung up on the story Nico had told him about his past. It made him feel sick to think about it for too long, but he could hardly get it off his mind. He couldn't believe everything Nico had gone through just to survive. Everything he'd lost.

Will also had been seriously considering why Nico had trusted him so much to tell him that. Nico easily could have lied, gotten out of the conversation. True, he had really wanted to know the origins of the card, but Will telling him that didn't entirely constitute Nico telling him his whole story. Not that Will was complaining. Nico had needed to get that off his chest, and Will was a good person to tell.

Annoyingly, his mind flashed back to another moment of that night. When Nico had hugged him when he left. It wasn't that big of a deal (at least, that's what Will tried to convince himself of), but Will kept thinking about what had happened after. When he thought Nico had been blushing. He hated himself for thinking about it like that, considering Nico had probably just been overwhelmed and it definitely hadn't had any romantic connotations. Will could dream, though.

The sound of the rooftop access door squeaking open behind him startled Will out of his thoughts. He pulled his mask on and quickly darted behind one of the tables that was on the roof near him, and watched the other person closely.

It was dark, hard to see, but Will could make out their baggy clothes (probably pajamas, considering the time) and messy hair. As soon as they sat down and turned their phone on, lighting up their face, Will stifled a gasp. Of COURSE it was Nico fucking di Angelo. Just his luck.

Will mentally ran through a million things he could do right now, and finally landed on possibly the dumbest solution. Taking a deep breath, he straightened up and walked over to where Nico was sitting. "Hey," he said, trying his best to sound cool and probably doing a really terrible job.

Nico jumped and whirled around to where Will was standing. "WHAT THE FUCK?" He squinted at Will. "Spider-Man? What- you cannot sneak up on people like that!"

Will was beginning to regret this interaction already. "Um. Sorry?" He shrugged.

Nico shook his head and sighed. "I'll let you off nicely, since you saved my life and all last month."

Wow, it had already been a month since that happened? Will was kind of shocked by how much yet so little time had passed since he had met Nico. "I appreciate it." He said, sitting down gently next to Nico. They sat quietly for a moment, then Nico spoke up again.

"So," Nico said. "I'm Nico. I don't think I've told you that."

"I'm Spider-Man. I think I've told you that." Will replied jokingly. It felt kind of strange talking to Nico while Nico didn't know who he was, but there was some type of mysteriousness to it that he kind of enjoyed.

Nico nodded, smiling. "Right. Now that that's out of the way...what are you doing on my apartment rooftop in the middle of the night, Spider-Man?"

"Thinking," Will replied honestly after a moment of thought. "I've had a lot going on recently. What about you?"

"Oh, well, I took your advice." Nico chuckled. "Instead of going on walks when I can't sleep, I come up here. It's quiet, easy to think. And less chance of getting kidnapped, right?"

"Right." Will laughed. "Good to hear I won't have to save your ass again."

"Oh, like I WANTED to get kidnapped." Nico scoffed. "What, you think I ran out in the street with a sign on my back that said "kidnap me!"?"

"Maybe! I don't know you!" Will said back. It felt weird lying like that, saying he didn't know Nico.

"Well, I can confirm that I did NOT do that. I was simply taking a late night stroll. As one does." Nico responded.

"As one does." Will affirmed. He paused. "So, is this a common thing? You not being able to sleep?"

Nico shrugged, fidgeting. "Yeah. I've always struggled with it. Lots of reasons. Sally- she's the woman I live with - got me melatonin, sleeping pills, the works. But it's pretty ineffective. So I end up here most nights."

"That sucks." Will replied. "I haven't slept much recently. Either I'm thinking about everything or fighting crime."

"Sounds rough. I can't imagine balancing being a superhero with being a teenager. I'd die." Nico paused. "Well, assuming you are a teenager. I guess you could be like, forty-five."

"God, no!" Will laughed. "Yeah. I'm a teenager."

Having this conversation with Nico felt VERY weird. Like an out of body experience. Will almost felt like Spider-Man was a different person than him in general. A different, cooler, more confident person. A person who wasn't always an awkward disaster around Nico di Angelo.

"Good." Nico said. "Because it would be very odd if you were a middle aged dude who went around making conversation with teens on rooftops."

"Agreed. And I'd like you to know that you're the first teen I've ever made conversation with on a rooftop." Will replied.

"I'm honored." Nico said, leaning back on his hands. He shivered a bit. "It's cold out. Aren't you freezing in that skintight suit of yours?"

Will shrugged. "Oh, I'm fine. I don't really get cold. And the suit isn't too bad."

"Hm." Nico rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself up.

"I could warm you up." Will said suddenly.

Nico looked at him, a smile tracing the corners of his lips. "Really? How do you plan on doing that?"

"Watch me." Will responded, then focused. A steady warm glow rose from his skin, through his suit, radiating heat around him. He wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders and pulled him close to him. "That better?"

He had felt Nico flinch when he touched him, and could still feel him slightly shaking under his arm, but Nico turned to him with a surprised expression, his mouth upturned into an open smile. "I- yeah. How do you DO that?"

"Radioactive spider bite. I dunno." Will half shrugged.

Nico leaned into Will more. Will tried not to scream. "Well, it's very nice. You got any other secret powers?"

"Just typical spider stuff. And I heal quick. I don't know if that counts. That's all I know of. Not too interesting."

"Are you kidding? You can GLOW. And stick to walls, and heal fast, and...you just have superpowers. You are by definition VERY interesting."

Will felt himself blush. "I guess so."

Nico's head leaned in the crook of Will's neck, and they sat in silence for a long while, pressed together. Will thought he would pass out from how close they were. Finally, Nico moved off of Will and stretched.

"I'm getting sleepy." He said. "You know... I think this actually helped tire me out. Talking and all. And, um, being close. Normally I hate physical touch, but...I dunno."

"We could do it more often." Will offered impulsively. "You know, if it helps."

"Hm." Nico mumbled. "Well, I wouldn't want to bother you- and we don't really know each other, so-"

"It's no problem." Will interrupted. "I can't sleep. You can't sleep. Somehow we keep meeting each other. Maybe it's meant to be."

"Maybe it is." Nico admitted. "Well...then maybe see you around, Spider-Man."

"I'll see you around...Nico." Will said.

As Will watched Nico exit, his mind started to explode. He had just basically cuddled up with Nico on a roof. That was crazy romantic, right? It was a shame Nico didn't know it was him. But on the flip side, it was sort of an ego boost that Nico liked both of his identities.

Will thought back to what Nico had said, about disliking physical touch. He had sort of figured that, but it made him weirdly happy that although Nico didn't like touching people he always seemed fine with touching Will. Once again, Will's mind took the wishful thinking route of "he has a crush on me".

Which...maybe wasn't entirely unrealistic anymore, considering the interaction they just had. Wait, would that mean Nico technically liked Spider-Man? Or did that count towards him liking Will? If he even liked him.

This whole train of thought was getting much too Miraculous Ladybug for Will's liking, so he shook himself out of it. Now that he thought about it, he was tired too. Maybe this talking thing really would help. If it continued. Will hoped it would. Maybe he could subtly drop hints about it to Nico tomorrow. Like Will was subtle. He could try.

For the first time in a while, Will swung home with hope.