Hot mess
Chapter 1: girls?
Gabriel Agreste's knowledge of teenagers was as extensive as his knowledge of children. More simply put: he had no idea how to raise a child. Nonetheless he still attempted to care for his son while trying to balance his work. More times his work weighed out, leaving his child in the arms of a nanny with a smile because she knew she would earn a fat paycheck. Luckily Adrien was always well behaved. Even as a small little baby he learned quickly to not cross his father. Consequences were often harsh and quick, yet got the lesson across efficiently enough to only require one punishment. Although he was a pristine example of a successfully obedient young man his father still neglected to notice the prime extent to his patience. If he let one fraction of a hair out of line his father was bound to know about it.
The source of his stress was mostly from Gabriel's anticipation for Adrien's troublesome teen years. The infamous rebellious teenage years had been nagging at the back of his mind ever since his son turned 12. He couldn't let his son fall in to a predictable path of teenage deviants and rebellion such as swearing or disobeying his orders. It wouldn't look good for him if his own child was caught hanging around town with toxic individuals who condone sex, drugs, and violence. Thankfully, so far, his friends all seemed to be socially awkward misfits. But it still sat in his mind. One day, Adrien would disobey, and he had to be prepared for that.
Thanks to Nino, that day was sooner rather than later. Unfortunately these unlawful adolescent acts are inevitable, and going to a public more than tripled that chance. Not to say that Nino is a bad kid, he's just a normal kid like any other. Adrien is also a normal kid as any other, yet his teen years so far have been not so predictable as the others. He kept his manners and unconditional obedience intact through age 12 and 13 and 14 and even now as 15. Alas, Gabriel was still dreading the boys 16th birthday. His teen strike could happen at any age, just because it hasn't happen yet doesn't mean it won't.
Anyways, back to Nino. He was a good kid. A little bit out of whack socially with his utter obsession with tech and music, but he still fit in better than others. His DJ skills score him some extra social points as well, and his enthusiasm makes him a lot more approachable than Adrien. He tries to help his best friend get with any girl other than Chloe, and usually he ends up failing with a lack of participation on Adrien's side. He's tried setting him up with some of his own cousins who aren't crazy fans of his modeling. Adrien always ended up shaking his head with a thin-lipped frown.
"Nino, I'm not interested in anyone. I don't have time," he said as he packed up his bag for the day.
"C'mon, dude. You haven't even met Trish. She's super sweet when she's not hungry, and super single too," Nino persisted. The blond shook his head again.
"Sorry man, I'm too busy. You know my dad. The only girl I could think of that he'd let me date would be Chloe, and frankly I don't like that option," he reminded him. Nino groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Your old man needs to lighten up. You're a teenager! It's time to get out there and make an impression on the ladies," he said and waggled his eyebrows. Adrien couldn't help but chuckle at his friend and shake his head for a third time.
"Nino, you're so silly. I appreciate your offers, but honestly I don't think my dad would allow it," he said standing up from his seat.
The DJ followed him out of the class room continuing to nag him about girls, but Adrien's mind was only half in their conversation. The other half was thinking about how futile his friend's attempt was. Given that his father definitely wouldn't allow him to date anyone whatsoever, but also because he was head over heals for his Ladybug. Despite not knowing who she was, he was desperate to know. He never sought her out himself to respect her wishes, but that didn't stop him from stalking Alya's lady-blog and secretly cheering her on to reveal the masked heroine's identity. He was aware of how bad it would be for her if Alya did expose her on the lady-blog, but he couldn't help the desire. Of course he knew that she would never be exposed, she's too meticulous in covering it up. Any hint of her identity wasn't enough to get a full picture. Like the history book she dropped. It was a perfect piece of evidence, but Alya reported that she had lost it not too long after she found it. It felt hopeless to get her to reciprocate his feelings for her, but he couldn't help but think it was because she only knew him as Chat Noir. He pondered the idea of his red clad hero knowing his civilian form and what she thought of him. What if she was a fan? Or maybe an admirer who liked fashion and noticed him in modeling ads. He smiled at the thought of his Lady oogling over pictures of him. Posters of his shoots plastered on her walls, a calendar of all his events and even his birthday, or even her monitor set with his face as the background. The image made him grin like an idiot.
"Hello? Earth to Adrien? What's going on up there, dude?" Nino asked tapping his knuckles on the blond's temples to get his attention. Adrien blinked and let his grin fall.
"Huh?" He responded and looked over at his friend.
"You totally dozed off man. What were you smiling about?" He questioned. Adrien felt his cheeks get warm.
"N-nothing, I-I was just thinking about…my fencing class later. I've been practicing and I'm totally stoked to surprise my teacher," he lied. Nino lifted a skeptical eyebrow.
"You have fencing on Tuesday's and Thursday's, dude. It's Friday," he reminded him. Adrien mentally face palmed his brain for not thinking.
"Oh darn! I'm gonna have to wait for Tuesday then," he said with fake disappointment. Nino's expression softened and then he smiled.
"Were you thinking about a girrrl?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows again and nudging Adrien with his elbow. Adrien felt his face turn the color of Ladybug's suit.
"N-no! W-what makes you think that? I already told you I don't have time!" He protested nervously. Nino laughed.
"Oh, man. You never fail to make me laugh dude! Who is she? Does she go to our school? What does she look like?" He interrogated. Adrien shook his head furiously.
"Nino, I don't like anyone," he lied through his teeth. Nino rolled his eyes and pulled out his bottle of bubbles.
"Don't lie to me, mon copain, it's obvious you got the hots for some lucky girl," he said. Adrien couldn't help but notice the irony of his statement. She sure was lucky, but not because he liked her.
"What makes you say that?" He challenged. Nino pumped his bubble wand and raised the plastic to his lips. He blew the bubbles lightly over Adrien's face.
"You're in the love bubble, dude."
When Adrien got home he couldn't help but be upset with himself. How careless could he be to let Nino know what occupied his thoughts with a simple facial expression? Nino of all people. He wanted to have trust in his friend not to tell anyone, but he couldn't help but worry that he'd at least blab to Alya…and who knows how many people Alya would tell! The whole idea made his head hurt enough to sought out a couple of pain killers he found in the medicine calmer in his bathroom. He didn't know how to fix this. Once Nino suspected something about Adrien he had to find out. They've been friends for almost a couple years now that he was nearing his 16th birthday next month, and it became increasingly harder to keep secrets from him. That made him anxious. What would he do if he couldn't hide the fact that he was Chat Noir anymore? He would be vulnerable at all times to Hawkmoth and his undying lust for his miraculous. A thought just occurred to him that he had no idea who Hawkmoth was either. He could possibly have a civilian form like himself and Ladybug. It made his head hurt even worse. Before he knew it he was a shivering ball of anxiety huddled up under his blanket. What would he do?
"Cheeeeese…cheese."
Adrien's ears picked up as he heard the small voice pipe up from his bag he left at the foot of his bed. Oh right, Plagg was asleep for most of the day.
"Plagg?" He spoke. He heard a yawn followed by the sound of his bag being rustled with.
"Cheese, Adrien, cheeeeeese," the creature whined.
"It's in the innermost pocket with the zipper," he grumbled.
"Mmmmm…very nice," Plagg grinned as he unzipped and smelled the heavenly dairy product. Adrien continued to sulk and worry as the kwami devoured his camembert.
"What are you doing under your blanket. That's not very heroic of you," the cat-like creature spoke as he approached the nervous teen. Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed before pulling his covers off over his head.
"Nino knows I like someone," he told him, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the cheese.
"Does he know that you like ladybug?" Plagg questioned as he licked his paws of any left over cheese. Adrien shook his head.
"No, but he was able to guess that I like someone. What if I can't keep secrets from him anymore because he'll be able to guess it right away? What if I can't hide Chat Noir from him anymore?" Adrien rambled and felt the nerves invade his voice as it cracked. Plagg laughed.
"That kid is a little thick if you ask me. I doubt he'll figure it out. Even if he finds out you like Ladybug he'll assume you're just an obsessed fan boy just like 80% of the guys in France," he assured him and patted his full stomach. Adrien glared at him.
"But I'm not an obsessed fan boy."
"Right, but Nino doesn't know that. Letting him think you're some creepy fan boy who dedicatedly stalks one of the most famous Ladybug blogs desperately hoping to find her identity to confess your love would set him off your trail. Oh wait, you already do that," he teased. Adrien's glare hardened and his cheeks heated up as Plagg snorted with laughter.
"Shut up," he muttered when he heard a knock on the door.
"Adrien? Are you talking with someone?" Spoke Nathalie's muffled voice through his door. He quickly reached out and grabbed Plagg, tossing him back in his bag and digging out a random textbook.
"Ah n-no! I'm just reading out loud," he lied. Nathalie opened the door and stepped in to see him sat on his bed with his history book opened up on his lap…upside down.
"Do you need something?" He asked politely. The assistant looked up from the displaced book and to the blond child sat in front of her.
"Your father wishes to speak to you."
