Adrien trudged into class Monday morning. His perfect face was sullen, his lips turned down, and his green eyes were tired and full of hurt. That was the first sign that something was wrong with the blonde haired boy. Marinette—not that she'd ever admit it—knew that Adrien always came to school ten minutes before classes started. Today he nearly came in late, his darkened expression quickly replaced by a forced smile. As soon as he walked in, Marinette gave him a kind smile and a small wave. He smiled back but broke eye contact with her quickly, moving away from her. He fell into his seat, reluctantly placing his bag on the floor and staring somberly at the slideshow projected on the pulled-down screen.
All the while Nino looked very confused. Adrien was a complete stranger. Alya noticed this too, raising an eyebrow, but staying silent. Beside Adrien, Nino's brow furrowed and then he looked to Marinette for any possible answers. Marinette didn't have any. Adrien's sudden depressed mood was a mystery to everyone, even her.
Marinette turned to Alya.
"Hey. Do you know what's wrong with Adrien?" Alya shook her head. Under normal circumstances, she would have passed the question off as another lovestruck Marinette day, but something was really wrong with Adrien today, no joke.
"I honestly don't know," she said, moving around to try and see his face. What she saw only made her suspicious. "It's weird seeing him like this."
"I know." Marinette felt bad for him. Yesterday, he was cheery and calm and even talked to Marinette a bit before leaving school. Now…
"Bonjour, class!" the teacher called, as punctual as always, entering the room as soon as the bell rang for the first-period class. Marinette sat straight up in her seat so that she wouldn't be yelled at again for talking. The students chorused back and gave their attention to the teacher. Sh placed her coffee cup down along with her own bag an began to speak. "I hope everyone has had a great weekend?" She was met with the half-hearted yes's and then continued. As you all know, Mother's Day is approaching and this year the school has decided to hold a Mother's Day celebration here at school."
What? Adrien thought.
This caught the class' attention. Chatter ensued, and all of the students were discussing with positive reactions. Everyone enjoyed a school celebration. Marinette herself was excited at the news. Mother's Day was one of her favorite holidays, focusing on the love between family. To Marinette, her mother was like her best friend. Sabine Cheng understood her daughter almost like Alya would; with as much nosiness and teasing as Alya, too. The announcement of a celebration was such a surprising gesture from the school, but Marinette couldn't complain. Oh, the mothers would love this! But she would have to kee an eye on her mother. When it came to other classmates, Sabine would most definitely push Marinette and Adrien toge-
Marinette stopped.
As the teacher tried to calm the students down, Adrien rested his head on his hand, staring into space. Their words faded around her. Adrien.
How could she have forgotten?
He didn't have a mother. Adrien refused to think about it, though, preferring to wait out the holiday instead of letting it enrage him. Mother's Day had always been like this for the Agreste family. Adrien ignored it, and his father only saw it as a business opportunity and a crude reminder of how far his family had fallen.
Adrien clicked a ballpoint pen in his hand, in and out. The steady beat he created setting up for even thinking.
Missing for nearly four years. They called the authorities immediately, praying that she'd only gotten lost. The case took a week and the results were final. The police couldn't find any leads. The investigators couldn't find anything to lead to her whereabouts. She had disappeared without a trace, leaving Gabriel and Adrien behind with enough pain and grief they could have disappeared themselves long ago. Against all odds, Adrien had survived, but Gabriel had turned cold, treating his son like a responsibility rather than his own child. It was as if they had switched roles, and Adrian had to be there for his father instead of the other way around.
He clicked the pen faster, holding it in an iron grip, the increased beat matching that of his rising anger. Deep down, he hated his father for abandoning him. He should have been the adult about the situation and been there for Adrien, at least. Gabriel didn't though and chose to disconnect himself from Adrien and redirect his focus to his work and to his name. It was all about image and money. Adrien accepted this, at first, giving in to his father's expectations and rules. He started piano, took Chinese lessons and began training as a model in hopes that someday he could pose for his father's magazines and advertisements. After a while, Adrien began to catch on. His father was never home, and only expected results. If Adrien accomplished something, so what. His father never seemed to be satisfied. Which then led to Adrien to start taking fencing. A sport like that was good for taking out his anger and for blocking out any harsh words from his father in favor of technique and calculation.
He was never there for Adrien and yet Adrien did whatever he asked of him, for Gabriel's sake. Adrien was the father, and Gabriel was nothing but a spoiled kid, too blind to see that his wife was gone. He ignored the fact, but in reality, it had shaped his life. He can't get past the grief.
His wife is gone. My mother is gone.
Aurora Agreste is gone and she was never coming back!
"Adrien! Quit clicking that pen!" the teacher shouted. Adrien stopped and took a shaky breath. He stopped gripping the pen, the indents on his hand glowing a soft red. The class went silent behind him.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady his heartbeat. He had never felt that angry before. Adrien was well aware of the eyes burning into him. He was Adrien Agreste, and he never lost his cool.
"Yes ma'am," he replied. placing the pen back into his bag and faked an interested expression. The teacher nodded and continued talking, wrapping up what she had to say on the Mother's Day matter and moving onto today's lesson.
As Marinette flipped to a new document for notes, she looked at Adrien, concerned. It wasn't like him to be called out by a teacher. Flicking her gaze back and forth between Adrien and the lesson on the slideshow, Marinette thought about what she just saw. That raw anger she saw in his face right before he was chastised scared her. What was he so angry about? She knew it had something to do with his mom, Marinette just didn't know what.
Yet.
The week continued on normal enough, but the overcast mood still hadn't lifted from Adrien come Friday. Mother's Day was on Sunday and the luncheon was today. Classes were postponed until the next week, strengthening the good mood of the student body. They were assigned different roles in order to hold the celebration: some were setting up the venue, others were making final decisions, and the rest followed orders from teachers and students alike, grabbing last minute items and helping any way they could. Adrien and Nino were setting up tables and chairs and Alya and Marinette were decorating the posts that circled the gym with flowers and ribbon. Every so often, Marinette looked at Adrien, who was trying his very best not to run away. He unfolded chairs and tables almost angrily, making slamming sounds that echoed sharply across the courtyard.
Nino had no idea what his friend was going through but still kept joking and talking with him. Over the past week, he knew that the subject of Mother's Day was a dangerous one. On Wednesday, Adrien had stalked away from him immediately after Nino had started talking about his plans.
Nino sighed. "Is it just me, or is it too quiet in here?" he asked. Adrien looked at him; it was loud enough. Couldn't he hear the clatter and clank that they made while setting , however, played along.
"Well, Mr. DJ, how bout you put on some tunes?" Alya smirked and stuck out a thumb in the direction of the speakers. Nino winked at Alya. He gave Adrien a pat on the back before sprinting over to the sound system, setting up the equipment.
"I like how you think," he called, which received a short laugh from Marinette. With that attitude of flirting, Nino might make a good Chat Noir. Another laugh joined her. Marinette beamed when she saw that Adrien was laughing too, a genuine smile on his face. She had seen forced smiles from him all week and now that the real Adrien was back, Marinette felt her heart flutter. He was slowly recovering.
Adrien laughed at his friend, acting all too much like when he was flirting with his lady. If only there was another Akuma attack; not that he enjoyed civilians turning evil. Adrien just thought that another day as Chat Noir fighting alongside the beautiful Ladybug would ease his heart and his rage. Whenever he was around her, Adrien's problems shrank and it was only Chat Noir and Ladybug, crime fighting duo of Paris. Unfortunately, there had been no attacks and no sign of Ladybug; just his luck.
His friends had tried to cheer him up all week and, despite his mood, he appreciated that. They had politely dodged the Mother's Day subject and kept busy trying to keep him happy. Nino started cracking jokes and puns more often and Alya had shown him all of her new stories on Ladybug. Marinette tried to smile at him and gave him many different sweets. He would walk in and find an assortment of his favorite pastries and candies on his seat. When he looked back at Marinette, she got that flustered look in her eyes and instantly looked away. He appreciated their efforts, but it still didn't cheer him up entirely. He just wanted the holiday to be over, so he could forget about it.
Adrien looked at Marinette, his kind smile making her heart beat faster. She blushed and went back to securing a flower to a post.
"I swear, Mari. If you don't tell him how you feel, then I'm going to go crazy with all these smiling, staring and blushing," Alya groaned. Marinette shot her a stern look, to which Alya shrugged.
"Hey. I wasn't afraid to tell Nino, and look where we are now," she blew a kiss to Nino from across the room. Nino saw it and blushed himself, quickly turning back to his set-up. Alya rolled her eyes. Marinette was about to say something, but Alya placed a hand over her mouth.
"Not a word, you." Marinette smirked.
Nino scrolled through his many playlists until he found one titled "Pop Party". He pressed shuffle on his phone and pushed the volume up, the playlist choosing to play a pop song that was both terribly silly, but catchy all the same.
You had me hooked again from the minute you sat down.
Thanks a lot, Nino, Marinette thought as Alya started whooping and singing the words. This had been their favorite song a year back and they-regrettably-knew all the words. After a few lines, Marinette couldn't help but join in.
Don't know if I have the strength to stand!
The girls started swaying, twirling the ribbons and sing shakily as their voices were interrupted by laughs. Adrien saw the and couldn't help himself. He sighed.
If you can't beat them, join them, he thought.
And then Adrien joined in.
Trouble, troublemaker yeah that's your middle name.
He made what he called his "model" face and winked at Marinette after the line. Alya whistled and laughed at the scene, refusing to sing after seeing Marinette's beet red face. Adrien cracked a smile and finished placing the last chair, walking over to Nino who gave his best friend a fist bump.
The rest of the volunteers started singing along with the chorus and soon, the entire courtyard full of students were singing and working at the same time, enjoying themselves.
Adrien looked around the room and felt happy for the first time this week. I guess it was just the group project. All of his friends together, enjoying work with a little music, just felt right. Even letting out a bit of his inner Chat Noir. It made him realize that he had other people that could be there for him when his real one couldn't. After a week of feeling like a zombie, it was good to feel alive.