IT HAD BEEN A WHILE SINCE NICKY HAD CHECKED UP ON THE YOUTHS IN HIS LIFE, AND SINCE RHETT HAD PRACTICALLY KICKED HIM OUT OF THE LOFT, HE FIGURED NOW WOULD BE THE BEST TIME TO VISIT THEM. That was how he ended up going to Midtown High for lunch, complete with a vistor's sticker and everything, texting Harry and asking where he and the others were. He had thought they would be in the cafeteria, but instead, they told him that they were all out on the field, except for Peter and his own friends who stayed inside.

"Hey, kids," he greeted, smiling as he caught sight of Diana who was sprawled out along the table, her adoptive brother Flash sprawled across her, and his ex-girlfriend Gwen across him.

"Hey, Nicky!" Harry chirped, nearly sending an unfamiliar boy sprawling onto the grass as he jumped to his feet.

"What's going on?" he asked, moving to help the unfamiliar boy to his feet, "Hi. I'm Nicky."

"So I've heard," the boy replied, though he immediately caught himself, giving him an awkward, but charming smile, "I'm Phillip. Harry talks about you. A lot. So does Dina, but she doesn't sound as in love with you as he does."

Harry made a sharp noise in the back of his throat, making a swipe at Phillip's leg with his foot, and the boy dodged it easily, smiling.

Nicky had heard of Phillip from both Harry and Diana, as well as Peter who had gone to see him after Valentine's Day with the news of how he had come to know him and the boy's newly acquired girlfriend, whom Diana spoke very highly of despite never interacting much.

"What're you doing here?" Diana asked, and despite her smile, he could see her reaching towards the bracelets around her wrists which, when pressed, transformed into gauntlets; Nicky had to admit, he was very proud of many of the things he designed for her.

"Rhett kicked me out for the day, so I figured I'd see what my favorite kids are up to," he hummed, moving to sit next to Phillip so he could reach over and ruffle Flash's hair, "And trust me, I met this one kid. Real cute, scary observant, but we don't get along."

"I thought everyone liked you," Flash said, sharing a look with the man; he had had a brief time going to sessions with him, though familial differences forced him to stop; it was a pity and Nicky reminded himself to give the boy his card again.

"I try to make sure everyone likes me, I don't like enemies or people disliking me, but I'm working on it," he replied, smiling over at Gwen who was looking at him with barely hidden interest; she had heard much of him from all her friends, but had yet to meet him in person.

"I'm Nicky," he introduced, holding out his hand, and was surprised by the firmness of her grip; a girl smaller than Diana in every way, he didn't expect her to be so forward.

"Gwen Stacy, I think you worked with my dad once on a case," she replied, "I don't know much about it and don't expect you to talk about it, but I figured I'd add it in."

He laughed, because he could, then reached into his bag to pull out the lunch he had brought with him, seeing that the kids were still in the midst of eating their own lunches.

After a few minutes of silence, Diana spoke, "Okay, I'm really sorry if you don't want me to say it, but are you dating Sam yet?"

Harry choked on his food, Phillip hitting his back roughly. The taller boy jumped to his feet, whirling around and grabbing Nicky by his shirt, shaking him lightly.

"Who's Sam and why didn't you tell me!" he shouted, looking over at Diana, "Who's Sam?"

Before Diana could reply, Nicky held up his hand. "How much time do you have before you have to go to class?"

"I have study hall next, I can skip," was all Harry said, unmoving and unblinking.

Nicky nodded, sparing a glance over to the other teens who were watching with varying degrees of understanding and intrigue.

"I'm gonna need to borrow him for a bit, okay?"

They all mumbled their agreement and understanding, Harry stepping aside to let Nicky move, and the tension amongst them had risen in just a few moments. What started as an easy joke had become another bead in the necklace of lies that Nicky left Harry stringing upon.

"Harry," Diana said, as the two began to walk to the edge of the field, "I know as much as you do. I swear."

The boy gave her a tight smile. "Sorry, Dina. I don't believe that."

º º º

It was well into Harry's study hall period when the truth was finally out, complete with tangents caused by Harry's exclamations and questions and, at one point, crying.

Nicky took a deep breath, sniffing and wiping at his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry, Harry. But you know why I couldn't tell you."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, puffing out his cheeks and blowing them out slowly. "I get the weapons thing. And the Spider-Man and Diana thing, I get you can't tell me who he is and I get that she couldn't tell me.

"But the coming out thing. I mean, I can't force you to, but I came out to you first. Before anyone else. You were there when I came out to dad, and you didn't trust me? I trusted you with everything."

Nicky sighed and reached out, pulling the boy into a hug. "I'm sorry. But if I told you one thing, I'd tell you everything."

Harry licked his lips, still clearly upset. "I have money, you don't have to keep lying—"

"What I do is legitimate, Harry, I just have to lie to people so no one can exploit me and no one asks questions," Nicky sighed, rubbing his face, "And even if I was doing this because I needed the money—which I don't, because I'm a psychologist—I wouldn't accept it from you."

Harry frowned. "Why? 'Cause you don't like my dad, don't think what he does is right—?"

"I worked for your dad, Harry, remember?" Nicky sighed, "Back when I was still starting out, when my practice was still taking off, I went to your dad and he gave me a job. Yeah, I'm not his biggest fan, but I'm not gonna take your money because I don't use my friends."

Harry paused. "We're friends?"

Nicky scoffed, borderline cruel. "Of course we're friends! Just 'cause you're younger than me doesn't mean I don't count you as my friend, Terran was the exact same way."

Harry raised his eyebrows, sighing. "That's how you knew about me? You know...with you."

Nicky gave him a wry smile. "I'd say I see myself in you, but we're not too similar."

Harry laughed at that, barely a breath, but it was enough. Nicky smiled and pulled him into another hug. "You know I love you, right?"

Harry nodded, burying his face in his shoulder, hugging him back. "I love you too."

After a few moments, Harry spoke again, "So can I meet Cap, because I don't care what the press says, that man is my bisexual hero and his chest is bigger than my future."

Nicky's laugh echoed throughout the large field as he fell down onto the grass, his stomach aching and body wracking heavily as his loud shouts fell into silent gasps for air.

Harry grinned down at him, Nicky's laugh always infectious, and he soon found himself laughing as well, looking back towards the school before taking a seat next to him on the grass, dirtying his nice clothes.

"I wanna help you," he said, when the older man finally calmed down, "With Sam, with finding your friends, with everything."

"Harry," Nicky sighed, starting to shake his head, but the boy cut him off.

"You told me the truth, I'm not just gonna sit here," he said, and it was with the kind of force only the son of a wealthy man could have, but with the vulnerability of a child who was desperate to be good, "I only know how to buy love, I can't do anything else, I don't know how, you know that. Let me help you, 'cause for once in my life, I think I might know what I'm doing by helping you with this. 'Cause I'm not trying to get you to like me, I want you to be happy."

Nicky swallowed the growing lump in his throat, nodding. "Okay."

After a moment, trying to raise the spirits, he added, "You're just like your dad, you always know how to work the room. Bring up a chance for emotional growth, suddenly I'll do whatever you want. But you're nicer than your dad. Kinder. Your dad says nice things to get what he wants, you say it to make people feel good."

"I don't say nice things often," Harry said.

"But you mean them when you do," Nicky finished, and Harry smiled, turning towards the fence.

"I know who Spider-Man is, by the way," Harry said, with all the casualness of the most terrifying villain, "I figured it out back during Homecoming, you just confirmed it once you told me Diana was the girl with the wings. Which you said you stole from Tony Stark, even though we both know that's not really true. I gotta say, I'm proud of myself, I pieced that together almost perfectly."

Nicky scoffed, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Harry Osborn, I think we might be identical."

Harry grinned. "That's probably the best news I've ever gotten."

After a few minutes of contemplative silence, Nicky rubbed his eyes, sighing. "God, I shouldn't have done this."

Harry scoffed. "Wow, okay—"

"No, no, no," Nicky said, shaking his head, "No, I mean...I know what it's like to tell the truth. Not in bits and pieces anymore, or parts of the truth, but all of it. Harry Osborn, you're the only person who knows the whole truth. And it feels so good to get it out."

"Why's that bad?" Harry asked.

Nicky laughed, a bitter taste that filled his mouth and his heart, which had felt lighter, for a moment, but now weighed heavier than before.

"You know the saying 'the truth can set you free'?" Harry nodded, and Nicky smiled.

"I don't know if I want mine to."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

That ending was so ambiguous I don't even know what it was, but I love how this wound up because it was supposed to be filler, but now it's perfect build up, I love my life.

Okay, so for those who don't know, the kids are from Lonely Hearts and as I mentioned before, Flash and Gwen are broken up by this point and Flash is now dating Matthew Mitty, a character who is going to make his own debut soon. Phillip is from my fic Sleeping Beauty, as is Aurora, who is briefly mentioned. The reason why I said Flash is Diana's adoptive brother and not foster is because of a story in my one-shot book

Also Harry's speech about wanting to help Nicky honest to God made me tear up, like, I wrote it, but I'm hurting.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!