A/N As inspired by GreenPaw's story, found at s/13113656/1/Come-Undone

Yup. He's a dick.

Adrien couldn't stop the thought from crossing through his brain yet again. It wasn't that he hated the guy. In fact, meeting up to jam at his studio for the past few years had been a welcome release from a packed modelling schedule, and a great way to benefit from all those lonely hours of solitary piano practice. And as Adrien had transferred his skills to the keyboard and Nino developed his drumming skills, the guy had even booked them occasion gigs at the local bars.

But still, he's a dick

Adrien shook his head to try and dispel the thought. These thoughts had started soon after his twentieth birthday party. Leading up to it, Adrien had experienced five long years of continuous brush-offs from Ladybug and his younger self's optimism had started to waver as his body developed stronger urges. There had been no lack of willing partners in his modelling circle, but those experiences had turned out to be as empty as he had feared. Wanting to find a more satisfying connection, Adrien had looked to his friends to see what made their relationships work. He was determined to turn over a new leaf as he entered his twenties.

Nino and Alya had set a pretty high bar. They were a solid couple who were also close friends. Their example was probably one of the strongest reasons why Adrien had held out hope for so long with his lady. He trusted Ladybug with his life, and he thought that surely they could be just as amazing partners romantically. Unfortunately, she had always refused to see him that way.

His list of friends wasn't a long one, thanks to his father's tight grip on his life. Chloe had been his friend since childhood, but the thought of dating her made Adrien shudder. Although he would always remember their childhood fondly, he could never be with someone so superficial. Another friend on his short list was Marinette. She had slowly grown out of her awkward stuttering phase as they graduated and he knew her to be kind and thoughtful, but until his twentieth birthday his heart had been too wrapped up in all things Ladybug to give her any more attention.

His last birthday party had been where this mental shift had started. Adrien had wanted to share with his friends how well the group was doing since they had begun jamming and practicing regularly. The stage was set up for the three of them. Nino on the drums, Adrien on the keyboard, and Dickhead on the guitar. Only Adrien hadn't mentally replaced his name yet at that time. On the night of his twentieth birthday party, he had still called him "Luka".

xXXx

This story is about to take off, so heed the MATURE rating!

This is my first fanfiction post ever. Let me know if you have any suggestions, feedback, or comments. Always appreciated.