Adrien could only describe himself right now downright miserable. He and Nathaniel had only been dating for a month, and it was the bestmonth of his life. Until his dad gave him the news that the two of them were needed in New York to help prepare for a large fashion event, and there was no way Adrien was able to get out of it. Gabriel had Nathalie pack for him and he was given two hours to spend time with Nathaniel before they had to leave for the next week and a half.
Adrien's emotions fluctuated between being mad at his father for the short notice and sad that now the dates he had planned with Nathaniel were going to be scrapped. He had called the redhead as soon as he got the chance, explained what was happening, and agreed that the best way to spend the next two hours was cuddling on Nath's couch, watching The Princess Bride, and eating the last of the treats Nathaniel's sister had made the day before.
The cuddling was almost enough for him to forget the fact he would be leaving his boyfriend and friends behind for the next week, but the thought still hung over his head like a dark cloud. Luckily, Nathaniel seemed to pick up on how much the thought of leaving was really bothering his boyfriend, so he simply let Adrien relax, letting him rest his head in his lap as he ran his fingers through the blond hair. Usually Adrien would speak alongside the movie since he knew it so well, but today he decided to simply watch, mostly absorbing as much of his boyfriend's presence as he could.
He was just dozing off when he heard the knocking at the front door. Groaning, he peaked an eye open, noting that it was two minutes before he was due to leave, so the knocking was probably for him. Glaring at the clock, he rolled up, pulling Nathaniel into a kiss before pulling away with a sigh.
"I'll text and call as much as I can, okay? And I promise to bring back the best souvenirs ever. I'll have to buy a whole new suitcase just to hold all of them," Adrien muttered, using one hand to brush Nathaniel's hair aside as he stood up to leave.
"Alright, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Nathaniel responded, standing to walk Adrien to the door. "I'll miss you."
Adrien's face softened, stopping in front of the door to pull Nathaniel into another kiss. A week and a half wasn't even that long to be apart, but knowing that it was his father's whims that were taking him to an entirely different country without taking his wants into consideration. When he pulled back from the kiss, he smiled at the flush that was now painted across Nathaniel's cheeks, accentuating the light freckles there that few ever noticed.
"I'll miss you too.I'll try to text you before we take off and when we land. It's a nonstop, so it should only be around eight hours. I'll probably just be working on the assignments I'll be missing and sleeping. Hopefully this week goes by fast and I'll be back cuddling with you before we even notice." Adrien tried to reassure Nathaniel, giving him one last grin before opening the door and going with Nathalie to the airport.
It was fair to say the week was not going by quickly, in any sense of the word. The first day had been blocked off so he could try to recover from the jetlag, which he couldn't help but be thankful for. The next two days had been a mess of shoots, scrambling for an upcoming fashion show, and sitting alone in his hotel room when his father had somewhere to be.
He had wanted to call Nath more often, but taking the six hour time difference into account, all the free time he had would've been either class time or the redhead would already be asleep. He had tried to convince his father to let him go souvenir shopping, even saying that he'd bring the Gorilla, but Gabriel had quickly told him that they were in a foreign city in a different country and as such, Adrien would be confined to his hotel room when they weren't working.
The fourth day was crammed full of work for his father, but Adrien's schedule was mostly clear, which left him time to sit around and wish he was back at Nathaniel's, cuddling and cracking jokes about whatever they decided to watch together. Sighing, he pulled himself from where he was sprawled across the bed, walking to the large windows and peering down at the sidewalk below. They were only on the fifth floor, so he had a pretty decent view of the pedestrians skittering about below him. Pulling the chair for the desk towards the window, he decided that he might as well people watch, hoping that it would provide more entertaining than watching tv or surfing the internet.
He tried to imagine what they were doing, where they might be going, if maybe they were meeting up with others or if they might just be going to work. He imagined little stories in his head, freezing when he caught sight of someone with bright red hair bobbing their way down the sidewalk. He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but from his current distance, it almost looked like Nathaniel.
Pressing his face to the glass, he squinted, watching the person as they walked closer and closer. Eventually, he could make out their face, and even though the chance had initially been low, he still frowned when he realized it wasn't Nathaniel.
Deciding he had enough of window watching, he got up from the chair, crossing the room to pick up the menu Nathalie had dropped off for him less than an hour ago. She had told him that he was allowed to order what he wanted, as long as he was careful to not order in excess. Flicking through it, he decided to order a simple steak, eyes darting around before he flicked back to the dessert section. Scanning the options, he stopped when he came across the picture for the strawberry sponge cake. Nathaniel always told him that his favorite flavor anything was strawberry, and he was especially weak against strawberry cakes.
Making up his mind, he called down for his meal, practically bouncing in his seat as he waited for it to arrive. It was such a small thing, but with how much he missed the redhead, he hoped the taste of the strawberries would be enough to trick his brain into being a little less miserable.
When he heard the telltale knock at the door, he barely stopped himself from sprinting to the door and yanking it open. After taking a deep breath, he opened the door gently, stepping aside as the worker pushed the small cart into the room. Once it was beside the small sitting area, the man turned to leave, and Adrien made sure to pass the man a few dollars. Once the worker left, he turned to the food, pausing as he saw the small vase with a single tiger lily in it beside the plate. He stepped forward to run his fingers across the petals, smiling softly when he remembered Nathaniel telling him how much he loved the flowers.
"Tiger lilies were always my maman's favorites. She said they were the first flower mère ever gave her. They planted some in our front yard, and they've been there as long as I can remember. Maman always told me they mean 'I dare you to love me'. I don't know, I just think that's more beautiful than a red rose. I'd want a bouquet of tiger lilies if I ever got flowers."
Blinking back a few tears, he sat down to eat, eyes glued to the flower as he ate. Maybe when he was done eating, he'd call Nath. The boy would still be in class, but he'd at least be able to hear his voice through the voicemail, and maybe he'd even leave a message telling the redhead how much he missed him.
Mind made up, he ate his steak quickly, but slowed down to savor the strawberry cake. Once finished, he pushed the cart out into the hall beside his door and darted back inside to grab his phone. When he found it and checked the time, he realized lunch was just ending in Paris, and he didn't want the boy to see the call and be late to his next class trying to talk to him, so he decided to wait. Sitting on the small couch, he flicked the TV on, groaning when it flickered to life and showed The Princess Bride just starting.
He usually loved the movie, quoting along as often as he could, but knowing that he had cuddled up and watched the movie with Nathaniel right before he had to leave made his chest tighten. Turning it off, he decided to just lay in bed and nap, maybe read a bit of fanfiction on his phone before passing out. His schedule was empty for the next two days, so he wasn't worried about missing anything. Changing into pajamas, he crawled into the bed, pulling the blanket over his head as he buried his face into the pillow.
When he woke up the first time, it was to the sound of hushed arguing right outside his door. It sounded like one of the voices might be Nathalie, but he was too tired to think on it, so he simply rolled over and went back to sleep.
The next time he woke up, it was to the sharp rapping of his father's knuckles against his door. His father had a very distinctive way of knocking that let Adrien know it was him, but he usually just walked into whatever room he wanted, and Adrien knew he had a keycard to the room, so he simply sat and waited for the man to walk in. When a few moments later there was simply another knock at the door, he pulled himself out of the bed, checking to make sure he looked presentable before walking forward and opening the door. His father stood on the other side, hands crossed behind his back as Nathalie stood tapping away at her tablet. His father seemed to look him over before his brows furrowed.
"Nathalie brought it to my attention that you seemed...distressed yesterday, and that I should see what I could do to remedy the situation."
Adrien opened his mouth to assure his father he was fine, but the man simply held up a hand and stopped him.
"I came to check on you yesterday evening, but you had already gone to bed, so I had Nathalie take care of it."
Adrien paused, raising an eyebrow as he waited for his father to elaborate. The man stared at him for a few seconds before lifting one hand to wave like he was beckoning someone forward. Adrien leaned forward in the doorway, eyes widening when he caught sight of his redheaded boyfriend walking forward, one hand dragging his luggage behind him as the other rubbed at his eyes.
"Nath!" Adrien shouted, smile painted across his face as he darted forward to hug the boy, smiling into his hair as the artist's arms came up to wrap around him.
"Nathalie informed me that a large part of your upset seemed to stem from his absence, so I had her contact his parents and book him a flight here. He'll be staying with you, although I expect you to behave appropriately. Your schedule is empty until Friday, when we have a gala to attend, so you'll be allowed to spend time with him. I have also taken the liberty of scheduling blocks of time for you to get out of the hotel and 'sight-see', with your bodyguard of course. We'll have to get him a suit if he's going to attend the gala as well, but seeing as how he's most likely quite jetlagged, that can be taken care of later."
Adrien pulled back from the hug, looking down at Nathaniel and noticing how tired the boy really looked.
"I'm sorry," Nathaniel muttered, hand scrubbing over his face as he tried to stay awake, "I've never flown before, and it was a really long flight. The time change is also messing with me, so I'm more than ready for a nap."
Adrien reached behind Nathaniel to grab his luggage, wrapping the other arm around the boy's shoulders as he guided him into the room. Pushing him gently forward, he turned to thank his father. Before he could say anything, Gabriel simply nodded his head at him before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway. Nathalie gave him a small smile as well before following after him, leaving Adrien and Nathaniel alone.
Adrien pulled the luggage into the room, shutting the door behind him as he set the bag aside and walked into the room, finding Nathaniel, still fully dressed, sprawled across the bed.
"Nath, you can't sleep in those clothes," Adrien grinned, stepping forward to pull at the boy's jacket, "You'll regret it when you wake up. I'll help you get changed and then we can cuddle and sleep, okay?"
Nathaniel let out a dramatic groan before rolling over, yanking at his jacket and tossing it to the ground.
"I can't believe your dad managed to convince my parents to just let me fly over to New York for a week. I'm glad I get to see you again so soon, but my mind is still completely blown."
Adrien chuckled as he untied Nath's shoes, tugging them off as soon as they were loose enough. Leaving the redhead to handle the rest of the clothing, he grabbed the luggage, dragging it towards the bed so he could pull out some pajamas for his boyfriend.
Giggling at the Chat Noir onesie that he found as soon as the bag was unzipped, he tried to see if there were any other pajamas and finding none, he passed the onesie over to Nath, grinning at the red that flushed across his cheeks.
As soon as the boy was changed, Adrien crawled into the bed, pulling Nathaniel into his arms as they lay together.
"I really missed you," He whispered, running one hand through the bright locks, "I'm glad you're here now though."
Nathaniel hummed, shifting so he could press a kiss right above Adrien's heart before settling back.
"I missed you too. That's why I came. Now, less talky, more cuddly."
Adrien laughed, pulling Nathaniel closer, tangling their limbs together as he closed his eyes and relaxed, drifting off to sleep to the sound of his boyfriend's light breathing. Right before he finally fell asleep, he realized that he was so unbelievably happy to have the other boy in his arms, that if felt like his heart might burst, and unbeknownst to him, Nathaniel felt the exact same way.