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Jotaro wouldn’t have woken up if not for the gasp. There had been a time in his life when he could have slept wherever and whenever he wanted, a skill that had proved more than useful when he wanted to doze off during boring lessons. He’d been a delinquent, sure, but things had been peaceful. Now, something as small as a change in breathing was enough to startle him out of the little sleep he got.
He opened his eyes and glanced up, squinting so hard his eyes were nearly closed. The blue light from the aquarium in their room always cast a soft glow over their room at night that he didn’t need to adjust to, but the bright screen of Noriaki’s Switch was different. Jotaro grumbled, shut his eyes, and threw his arm over Noriaki, pressing his face into his hip. He didn’t need to check the clock on the nightstand to know it was late. Too late for Noriaki to be awake.
“Go to bed,” he growled. “Turn that off.” He didn’t mean to sound so angry, but the just-woke-up deepness of his voice and his irritation at his eyes stinging from the light didn’t help. It was really no surprise when Noriaki reached down and tried to pry Jotaro’s arm off around his middle.
“Sorry,” he said softly, but Jotaro could detect a sour edge to his scent. His mate was probably fighting to not sound sarcastic, but Jotaro didn’t care. Noriaki needed sleep, and if he made a deal out of this and Jotaro had to roll over and see just how late he’d decided to stay up, again, he was going to be seriously irritated. “Let go, Jotaro, I’ll go play in the living room.”
“Don’t piss me off.” Jotaro moved his arm, but it was only to rest his hand on Noriaki’s stomach. He cracked one eye open when he felt a small kick beneath his palm. Noriaki smelled so good to him, his natural scent turned sweet with pregnancy and somewhat muted under how much Noriaki smelled like his wearing one of his old shirts, but his sensitive nose was picking up other things. Annoyance, irritation, but most of all exhaustion. “You need to sleep. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Don’t tell me what I am and am not doing.” Noriaki made a disgusted noise and shoved Jotaro away, throwing the covers back and kicking one side of the nest down. Jotaro frowned and pushed himself up, his frustration at the sight of Noriaki destroying his own nest to get up nothing next to the panic that overtook him when Noriaki stood up and immediately tripped.
Jotaro didn’t think. He called his Stand and stopped time, launching himself across the bed to catch Noriaki’s frozen form and bring him back into his arms. Star Platinum hovered worriedly as Jotaro turned him around, the fear and guilt making his throat close up. Noriaki’s feet had gotten tangled in his pajama bottoms, the ones he’d stolen from Jotaro that even with his growing stomach, he was still swimming in. He would have fallen on it if Jotaro hadn’t caught him.
When time resumed, Noriaki jolted, looking around. He shoved his hands into Jotaro’s chest and stood up, his shoulders heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His scent spiked with panic and Jotaro felt like he’d been dunked in ice water. He tried to put out a calming scent but Noriaki was still backing away from him, still getting dangerously close to hyperventilating.
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Noriaki had his hands over his stomach and even in the little light from the glow of the fish tank and Nori’s abandoned Switch, Jotaro could see the glisten of tears on his cheeks, and fuck, but he looked so small and scared in Jotaro’s clothes. He wanted to hug him close, but he’d get bit if he approached now. And not in a fun way. “Jotaro, you promised— you promised you wouldn’t fucking do that to me unless you had to! Why did you do it?!”
“Nori.” Jotaro took a deep breath and flexed his hands before standing up. He was also upset and tired, but he was the alpha. He had to be the bigger person, to guide his mate, to not let him see how terrified he’d been. He fucking hated being the bigger person. “You were going to fall. I’m so sorry for not letting you trip over your own feet, but maybe that wouldn’t have been a problem and just gone to sleep when you were supposed to!”
“Supposed to?” Noriaki wiped his eyes and Jotaro could have choked on how thick his scent was, filling the room with all the emotions he hated most. He bit his lip hard, trying to keep his eyes dry through willpower alone. He knew how to handle this, they’d been there before, but he couldn’t do it that night. Instead of staying back and safely diffusing the way he knew how, Jotaro pulled Noriaki into his arms, pressing his nose to the mark on his neck and ignoring the way his mate squirmed and fought. “Jotaro, just let go of me! I don’t have a bedtime, I’m not a child. Leave me alone, I can’t— I can’t sleep! Don’t make me sleep!”
Noriaki’s shoulders started to shake and his protests lost all of their energy. His nails dug into Jotaro’s back when his legs gave out, but Jotaro was already there, gently sinking to the floor with him as everything spilled over.
Jotaro loved how proud Noriaki was. He cared for his appearance, guarded his emotions, relied on himself. It was one of the things he’d been drawn to, the thing that made Jotaro notice and want an omega for the first time in his life. The way they’d grown together over the years meant he got to see Noriaki the way no one else did, the things he usually loved to see: Noriaki with ratty hair in day-old sweatpants, pouring his heart out to Jotaro and letting his scent out to show how earnest he was, or even asking Jotaro to grab something for him when Hierophant Green could have done it for him. Endearing things, things that showed Jotaro someone he loved and trusted.
But sometimes it was like this. Sometimes it was Jotaro holding him, at four in the morning, while Noriaki sobbed because Jotaro couldn’t just keep his mouth shut. Noriaki was already high-strung all the time because of the baby. Jotaro was supposed to be his alpha, to protect him, and here he was making it worse. He pressed his lips to the top of Noriaki’s head and rocked him gently.
“Don’t make me, please, I can’t,” Noriaki begged. “I don’t want to sleep. I don’t want to lose him.” He babbled through his tears and Jotaro felt his heart grow heavier with each word. Life had been so much simpler when he could punch all of their problems, but it turned out those problems had ghosts. He hated seeing his mate so haunted by things he couldn’t fight.
“We talked about this,” Jotaro said when Noriaki’s crying had devolved to sniffles. He cradled his head to his chest, feeling sick at how he trembled. Noriaki had been a bit weepy from the pregnancy hormones, but nothing like this. “You can’t just stay up until you pass out. Sleep deprivation is high risk for the pup.”
“So is being caught off guard by a Stand user. I’d say that’s pretty risky,” Noriaki responded sourly. He wiped his eyes and pulled away, resting his hands on his stomach. Jotaro dug his nails into his palm so he didn’t roll his eyes.
“Then I’ll protect you,” he sighed. “Star Platinum and I won’t let anything happen to you. I promised you I’d be there for you, Noriaki. Don’t you trust me?”
Noriaki looked at Jotaro quietly and then away, his small shrug nearly lost in the shadows of the room. A soft green glow lit up his exhausted, tear-streaked face as Hierophant materialized and wrapped around him. Jotaro knew he didn’t mean it, that Noriaki didn’t trust him, or else he never would have cried like that in front of him. But Jotaro knew something had to be eating at him, something besides his nightmares. At least before he could ask, Noriaki said it himself, his voice so, so small.
“What if… what if this is the wrong thing to do?”
Jotaro shook his head immediately. How could any of it be wrong? Loving Nori, starting a family, healing and moving on— he knew in his bones it was right. There was nothing in the world he wanted more than to see his mate’s smile every morning and hear the pitter patter of little feet running through the halls every day. He refused to accept the possibility that this was wrong, that they were wrong, and the only path left to them was to be destroyed by Dio’s hatred and in the end, that monster would still win. Jotaro needed to know that love was stronger.
But it was so much easier to think about things than to say them out loud. Instead Jotaro gently leaned forward, feeling Hierophant’s tendrils part around his hand as he reached for Noriaki’s stomach. For their pup. Noriaki’s Stand didn’t fight when Jotaro pulled him into his arms again to bring Noriaki back onto the bed. He laid down next to him and held him close, and as soon as he had a comfortable hold on Noriaki, Hierophant’s tentacles wrapped around him as well. No matter what turmoil Noriaki was feeling, it was clear he didn’t want Jotaro to go, to be away from him. So he wouldn’t.
“I love you, Noriaki,” Jotaro said right into his ear. Noriaki’s scent finally calmed as he pressed closer. “I’ll never be wrong about that. Now please, go to sleep. You won’t lose our baby. I’m right here. I’ll always be right here for you. Both of you. I won’t let anything happen.”
He pressed a kiss to Noriaki’s cheekbone and then laid his head down beside him. Noriaki must have truly been exhausted, to not fight against him and only close his eyes. Perhaps he figured he’d stayed up so late he was too tired to dream, which is exactly what Jotaro knew he’d been trying to do when he caught him.
He’d have to talk to him about it more. Tomorrow. For now, Jotaro just hugged his mate close. If Noriaki slept peacefully, he’d be right by him. If Noriaki woke him two hours later screaming from another nightmare, he’d be there for him. Tomorrow he’d find a way to convince Noriaki to be just a little less paranoid, but for that night, all he wanted to do was hold him and think about how fucking lucky he was that Noriaki had always been the right decision.