When the first few petals had shown up in his hand after his coughing fit, his heart stopped. There was only one explanation, and it wasn't one he was quite ready to accept.
Part of him was numb, knowing that he had partially expected this to happen, but that fact didn't make him feel any better. Looking around to make sure he was completely alone, he turned back to the petals to see if he could identify them. He had borrowed a book from the library on the language of flowers just in case this happened. Shifting his hand so he could see them from a few different angles, he finally decided that they must be Gloxinias.
Love at First Sight
Glaring at the vibrant red petals, he threw them into the trash as he tried to think of his best course of action. He couldn't just tell Adrien how he felt, sure that the second the blond rejected him, his heart would shatter in his chest, leaving him broken and hollow. Hoping the flowers would simply disappear was a foolish wish, and he knew there was no way his parents could afford the surgery, not that he even really wanted it.
Grimacing, he decided to push the thoughts out of his head as headed back to class, sliding into his seat with a grin at Adrien, turning back to the teacher and trying his best to pay attention. Of course, it was hard to pay attention to the teacher's lecture on the first president of France when he could feel the tickle of flowers blooming in the back of his throat. He tried to swallow it back, taking a swig from his water bottle to cover his choking, but when Adrien turned to grin at him, he had to cover his mouth as he coughed.
The class went quiet as he coughed and choked, petals spilling out from his hands even as he tried to hold them back. He could feel the stares as everyone realized what was wrong with him. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see their pity, only opening them when the coughing finally subsided. No one spoke as he sat up, hands and desk covered in stray petals.
"Nino, would you like to go to the bathroom to straighten yourself out?" The teacher asked hesitantly, giving Nino a chance to escape the stares and whispers that were sure to come soon enough.
With a jerky nod, he stood, straightening his hat and leaving the room with his schoolbag and a fist full of petals. As he walked, he took a deep breath and opened his fist, looking down to determine what the flowers were this time, since there were obviously more than just one.
Pink Camellias. Longing for You. Yellow Tulips. There is sunshine in your smile. Gardenias. Secret love.
Glaring, he threw the petals in the garbage, speed walking to the bathroom so he could try to wash his hands of the situation and head home. It wouldn't work, and he knew it wouldn't work, but he was too frustrated to try to think of the situation rationally, so obviously denial was the next best step.
Luckily, the bathroom was empty, which wasn't surprising since class was in session, but Nino still sighed in relief as he headed for the sinks. He set his bag down and turned the knob on the sink to turn on the cold water, taking his glasses off and setting them aside before splashing his face a few times. After a few quick, cold shocks to his system, he let his head fall forward, hands gripping the edge of the sink as he let the water simply drip off his face.
He flinched as the door opened, sliding his glasses back on and turning to the door to see Adrien watching him, eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Are you okay?" The boy asks, stepping forward to let the door close behind him and walking closer to Nino, "Why were you coughing up flower petals?"
Nino moved away from the sink, turning his body so he could fully face Adrien as he grabbed a few paper towels and wiped his face and hands dry.
"Don't worry about it," He answered, ignoring the way Adrien only seemed more upset at the answer, "I'm taking care of it, so don't worry, I'm fine."
Adrien watched as the DJ threw the paper towel away and left the bathroom, not even looking back as he headed back to class. Adrien glanced down at the garbage, grimacing slightly at the sight of all the petals he saw. There was no way that coughing up flower petals for close to a minute was something to not worry about, but if Nino wasn't going to tell him, he'd have to ask someone else, and he had just the person in mind.
"Hey Marinette, can I talk to you?" Adrien asked as soon as class was dismissed, fidgeting with the strap of his bag as she turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, sure?" Turning to Alya, she nodded, and the other girl simply shrugged and left the classroom, leaving the two of them alone, "Are you okay Adrien?"
He shifted on his feet a few times before sighing and setting his bag aside.
"I'm worried about Nino," He responded, sitting in one of the empty seats, leaving room for Marinette to sit beside him, "I asked him about the flower petals, but he told me he was taking care of it and I shouldn't worry."
Marinette seemed to pause for a moment before resting her hand on his shoulder with a pitying glance.
"Adrien, have you never heard of Hanahaki?"
Shaking his head, he watched as she frowned and rubbed her arm nervously.
"Well, Nino has Hanahaki. It's a kind of disease is the best way I can think of to describe it," She started explaining, and the more she explained, the more upset he got. Why wouldn't Nino have told Adrien about how serious this was? Did he not trust him?
As soon as she finished explaining, he nodded his thanks and got up to leave, determined to find Nino and ask him why he had lied about the seriousness of his situation.
When Adrien had asked to talk to Marinette, Nino took it as a small blessing and left. Now he wouldn't have to deal with the blond's questions and could instead scramble to his locker and head home. His plan was going well until a pale hand slammed into the locker by his head, making him jump and turn to see Adrien glaring at him.
"Adrien?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Nino flinched, shoving the rest of his books in his bag before shutting his locker and turning to Adrien.
"Why didn't I tell you what?"
Adrien's scowl seemed to deepen as he crossed his arms and shifted so there was no way Nino could get past him.
"Marinette explained Hanahaki to me, since you wouldn't, and she told me about how it's brought on by unrequited love. Why didn't you tell me?"
Nino's heart stopped in his chest as he tried to fumble for an excuse. Adrien was obviously angry, so Marinette had either told him about his feelings, or the model had figured it out himself, and Nino wasn't quite sure which was worse.
"Nino, you should have just told me. You're my best friend, and I'll even help you plan your confession if you want! I don't know if you want to do a big dramatic thing for Alya or if you'd rather keep it simple, but I'm sure she'd love it either way!"
He swore he could hear his heart crack in his chest at Adrien's smile. 'Ah, so this is what total rejection feels like.'
Painting a fake smile across his face, he reached a hand out to squeeze Adrien's shoulder gently before walking past him and out the door.
"Thanks man, I'll think about your offer. See you tomorrow!"
Adrien simply smiled and waved, watching Nino leave and feeling lighter now that he had done his part in attempting to comfort his friend. Now, he only had to wait until the next day for Nino's response.
Which of course meant, the next school day was Nino-less.
Adrien was agitated, consistently checking his phone under the desk and texting Nino to check on him, but he didn't get a single response, leaving him anxious and fidgety.
Alya and Marinette had noticed once he started bouncing his leg, and the second class was dismissed, they pulled him aside to figure out what was bothering.
"Alright sunshine boy, what's got you so on edge?" Alya asked, raising an eyebrow as Adrien checked his phone once more.
"I'm worried about Nino," He responded, tucking his phone into his pocket with a sigh, "I thought he might be sick, so I texted him, but he hasn't responded to any of my texts."
"If he's sick, he's probably just sleeping. Marinette and I will text him too just in case if that makes you feel better," Alya responded, pulling her phone out and shooting Nino a quick text asking if he was okay.
"Thanks guys. I have to head home for lunch, but I'll see you later!" He replied, turning with a small wave as he walked to the waiting car in front of the school. As soon as the door shut behind him, Alya's phone dinged with a new message.
Pulling it out, she frowned as she read the message, turning the phone so Marinette could read it over her shoulder.
Alya: Hey, are you okay? Adrien's worried cause you didn't show up.
Nino: Fine. Adrien just told me yesterday that he was willing to help me confess. To you. I just didn't want to see him today.
Marinette frowned as well, pulling her own phone out to text him as they headed to her parent's bakery for lunch. The texts continued through lunch, Nino explaining how he accepted that Adrien didn't have feelings for him and that he was old enough to be able to get over it and move on.
Alya was frustrated with how oblivious Adrien was, sure that the boy didn't really mean to reject Nino but knowing that while the intent wasn't there, the message had gotten across. While Marinette seemed content to let sleeping dogs lie and have Nino come up with an excuse for his absence to Adrien the next day, Alya was not quite as sated.
Alya: Hey, I called Nino. He's been sick in bed all day. I would go visit him after class, but I've got a study sesh planned with Mari. You should go check on him tho.
A few seconds later, her phone dinged with Adrien's response.
Adrien: Thanks! I asked my chef to make some soup and I figure I can grab it after school and go check on him.
"Alya, are you sure that was a good idea? Nino seemed really upset, maybe we should've just left them alone," Marinette worried, biting her lip when her girlfriend pocketed her phone with a frown.
"If we leave those two to try to figure this out themselves, we'll both be dead before they even talk about it,"
Marinette sighed but nodded, inwardly hoping that things went well between the two boys. Adrien was a wonderful person, but he was so oblivious most of the time that it physically hurt, and things most people would easily notice had to be practically shoved in his face. She winced and sent a mental apology to Nino before getting back to her lunch.
Adrien had been spacey for the rest of the school day, constantly bouncing his leg under his desk as he haphazardly scribbled notes. Marinette was tempted to check on him when class ended, but as soon as they were dismissed, he was out the door and off like a shot, racing to his locker to grab his stuff before rushing outside to the car set to take him to check on Nino. Alya's explanation of the other boy being sick had sated his curiosity at first, but now worry gnawed at his brain and left him jittery and anxious.
When the car arrived, Adrien jumped out, waving to the Gorilla as he drove off and heading for the front door, school bag slung over one shoulder and thermos of soup in hand. He stood in front of the door for a moment before taking a deep breath and knocking. He waited a moment, but when no response came, he frowned and knocked again, getting the same nonexistent response. When he turned the knob to see if the door was locked, it easily turned, letting him swing it open and head inside.
The door clicked shut behind him as he stepped forward, looking around the comfortable living room and headed deeper into the house, heading straight to Nino's room. He easily found the door, impossible to miss with the band posters all over it, and reached forward to knock, pausing when he heard the coughing coming from the other side.
It was rough and grating, leaving him wincing as the rough choking continued for a few more seconds before cutting off with a gasp and sigh. Steeling himself, he swung the door open, freezing at what he saw.
Petals. Petals everywhere.
Nino was leaning against the headboard of his bed, petals strewn across his lap, the blankets, and even spilling onto the floor nearby. Nino had turned at the noise of the door opening, glass of water in hand as his brows furrowed.
"Adrien? What are you doing here?"
The questioning tone snapped him out of his mild panic and let him force a smile, stepping forward and holding the thermos up for Nino to see.
"Uh, Alya told me you were sick, so I brought you some soup. I also knocked, but no one answered and the door was unlocked,"
The DJ seemed to accept the explanation, accepting the thermos and setting it on his bedside table, which was usually a mess of of CDs and sticky notes and was now only home to a tissue box and a myriad of petals.
"Are you okay?" Adrien asked, scanning the room and noticing not only the quantities of the petals, but the diversity in shape and color.
"I'm fine. It's really not a huge deal. I'll be back in school tomorrow," Nino said, waving Adrien's concern off as he purposefully avoided looking at the petals around him.
"Pink camellias," Adrien spoke, watching as Nino tensed on the bed, "The flowers you coughed up in class were pink camellias, which mean longing for you. There were also yellow tulips, there is sunshine in your smile, and gardenias, secret love."
Nino glared down at his lap as Adrien set his bag on the DJ's desk chair before sitting in front of him and pointing at the petals scattered around the room.
"Those over there are obviously red carnations, my heart aches for you, and over there are forget me nots, true love. The ones on the floor also seem to be mostly daffodils, unrequited love, you're the only one, and the sun is always shining when I'm with you."
"I get it Adrien," Nino spoke, voice close to a whisper as he refused to meet the model's eyes, even as the boy leaned toward him. "There are a lot of petals. I told you, it's fine and I'm taking care of it."
"Obviously, you aren't!" Adrien yelled, reaching toward Nino's lap to grasp a fistful of petals and shove them in the other boy's face, "Primrose, I can't live without you, purple hyacinth, I'm sorry, please forgive me, sorrow, and Cyclamen! Resignation and goodbye."
Adrien threw the petals aside as he glared at the boy in front of him, angry and hurt at how he seemed to be dismissing something so serious.
"Why don't you just confess to her?" He asked, refusing to look away from the other boy, "Why are you just letting them grow? Marinette told me they could kill you Nino, and I know that you know that, so why?"
"Because they're not for Alya!" Nino finally yelled, arms thrown in the air as he glared back at Adrien. "They've never been for Alya."
"Then who? Who is so important that you'd rather die than confess?"
"You! The petals are for you!" Nino yelled, face red with anger as he continued glaring, even as Adrien's face fell in shock.
"Me?" He asked, hands starting to shake as he realized that he was the reason behind the flowerbomb that was now Nino's room.
"It's been you since you walked into class on the second day of school," Nino whispered, head down as he gripped the blanket in his lap, "I fell in love with you the first time you smiled at me, and every time you smiled at me, or hugged me, or even just looked at me, I fell harder, and every time I tried to stop it, you came in like a hurricane and took my heart all over again. I couldn't love another person if I tried, so I told my parents. They'd been saving money since before I was born just in case, so I have a surgery consultation scheduled for next week."
Adrien had been trying to restart his brain at all the information Nino had unloaded on him, but the moment he heard surgery, he snapped back.
"Wait, wait, wait. Getting the surgery was your first choice? Why would you do that?"
Nino didn't even bother looking up, but Adrien knew him enough to know that the boy was rolling his eyes.
"Because you're the most oblivious person I know, and I don't know, maybe I didn't want to get rejected?" Nino asked, turning his head to look out the large window on his left, "Evidently it didn't work because you tried pushing me onto Alya, but I think I at least deserve a few points for effort."
Adrien sputtered as he tried to think, turning to look out the window as well as he tried to get his thoughts in order.
"I thought you and Alya liked each other. Like liked."
Nino let out a short laugh before turning to meet Adrien's eyes, even as his were rimmed with red from the few tears that had escaped before he could stop them.
"This is what I meant by oblivious. Alya and Marinette have been dating for almost four months. It'll actually be exactly four next Tuesday."
Adrien's brow furrowed, upset at himself for apparently missing the fact that not only did his best friend have a crush on him, but that his other two friends had been dating for several months and no one had clued him in. He could only dwell on Alya and Marinette's relationship for a few seconds before his brain automatically yanked him back to the fact that Nino liked him. Like liked him.
His mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to think of what he could say, but any thought that came to mind immediately left, leaving them sitting in awkward silence. Nino raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head and sitting up.
"Alright, great talk. Thanks for the soup, and I'll see you at school tomorrow," He spoke, grabbing Adrien's bag off the chair where it had been set earlier and holding it out to the blond.
"Nino," Adrien started, hands gripping his jeans as he stared at his bag swinging lightly in the other boy's grip, "You're my best friend."
"Don't Adrien-"
"No! Nino, you're my best friend and I was content with that. I was supposed to be content with that, but you're you Nino. I mean, you got akumatized because you were upset that I didn't get a birthday party! How was I not supposed to fall in love with that?"
"Adrien?"
"And you're so talented, I still have all of the mix tapes you gave me, and so smart. You're so unbelievably smart, and kind, and I swear when you smile, my heart jumps out of my chest, but friends aren't supposed to feel like that!"
"Adrien, what-"
"And I don't know what I'm supposed to do now! I like you and you like me, liked me? I just, I don't know where I'm supposed to go from here. I don't know what I should do." Adrien muttered, eyes now focused on his lap as he fidgeted on the bed.
Nino stood by the door for a few moments before his shoulders slumped. He set the bag bag on the desk chair and walked forward to sit next to the model, who seemed to tense slightly at the motion.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Nino whispered, watching out of the corner of his eye as Adrien's hand gripped his jeans tighter.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Blinking, Nino grinned at the quick response, chuckling as Adrien turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"That's fair." He responded, watching as the blond seemed to relax at his smile, "So, you like me?"
"Nino," Adrien started, letting go of his jeans so he could grab the DJ's hand, "I love you. I couldn't love you anymore than I do right now, and I know tomorrow that will change because I'll love you even more then, and I'll only be able to love you more and more everyday until the end of my life, and even after that, I'll still love you."
Nino was frozen, looking down at where Adrien's thumb stroked over his knuckles as his heart swelled in his chest, fit to burst with the kind of joy that is unexplainable to those who have yet to experience it.
"Adrien, I-" He started, having to stop as a cough bubbled out of his chest, leaving him hunched over as he choked on the sunset colored petals that were sprinkled on his lap. The coughing fit lasted only a few seconds, and when it had finished he was able to take a deep breath, lungs free of the flowers that had made their home there months ago.
Adrien reached forward to grab one of the petals, turning it over in his hands as Nino watched him in silence.
"Ambrosia," He spoke with a smile, turning to Nino with the widest grin the DJ had ever seen on the model, "Your love is reciprocated."
With a matching grin, Nino squeezed the blond's hand and linked their fingers together, internally delighting at how the boy's face reddened.
"So," Adrien started, face still bright red as he looked down at their linked hands, "Does this mean I can call you my boyfriend now?"
"Only if I can call you mine."
Adrien gave a jerky nod before his face reddened even further, causing Nino to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
"If you're my boyfriend, does that mean I can kiss you now?"
With a smile, Nino leaned forward, moving his hand that wasn't holding Adrien's to cup the boy's cheek, turning his face toward him.
"Only if I can kiss you too." He responded with a soft smile, watching as Adrien's face lit up.
And evidently, he could.