Nino was standing outside the school, staring down the road with pursed lips. There were ten minutes until the first bell rang and Adrien's car still hadn't driven up to the school. They had made a habit of meeting outside before class started, Adrien usually appearing at fifteen minutes til the first bell on the dot so they had some time to talk and goof around outside. Though it had never been planned out right, the ritual had been consistent and Nino had grown used to the routine.

While Adrien had missed it before (or Nino himself had arrived late and ended up just meeting him in the classroom), it was usually a bad sign for him to not show up. The last time he'd been this late to their meetup, the poor guy had been stuck at a photoshoot and didn't get a chance to get his homework done until midnight, meaning he didn't sleep until even later. Nino didn't know how he did it, juggling school with modeling and fencing and piano and Chinese and professional skydiving, or whatever the hell it was that was getting him all bruised up and exhausted.

Checking his phone one last time (Adrien usually texted, he was pretty good at making sure no one was worried about him, which was worrying in itself), Nino decided to bite the bullet and head inside.

Nino wandering into first period, giving a shrug to Alya when she raised an eyebrow at his unusual earliness. Taking a seat on his side of bench, he leaned back and pulled on his headphones before zoning out. It was interesting, music was something he'd found he didn't really have to rely on anymore, except for when Adrien wasn't there. Mostly because he was too busy, y'know, interacting with other humans. Well, just Adrien, but still.

As if thinking of the boy had summoned him, Adrien stumbled into the classroom a moment later, limping rather heavily but also playing off well enough to convince almost everyone without question. Everyone other than his best friend, who tugged off his headphones and gave him a suspicious look.

"Hey." Adrien dropped heavily into his seat, holding his hand up for a fist bump that Nino gave, albeit it reluctantly.

"You alright, man?" Nino asked, reaching out to drop a hand on Adrien's shoulder, partly to comfort and partly to steady him, the kid looked like he was about to topple over.

"Yeah, m'fine." Adrien practically slurred, and judging by Alya's little 'humph' behind him, she wasn't buying it either.

Especially when Marinette dashed into the room, only to collapse into her seat and let out a long, low groan.

Nino barely paid attention to Alya's interrogation, having heard it and Marinette's responses a million times. He was more focused on his own charge, who had intense bags under his eyes and what appeared to be a darkening bruise on his cheek once Nino looked a little closer. When

Adrien caught Nino staring, he gave a cheery (and definitely fake) smile and inclined his head as if to say 'what?'.

Nino's eyes narrowed further, and he kept a close eye on Adrien for the rest of class. He seemed to be in a daze, zoning in and out of lessons and even almost dozing off at some point. Nino knew something was really wrong then, Adrien may get exhausted but he never, ever let himself sleep in class. He was too jazzed about getting to be in a public school to let himself miss any of it. For him to nearly pass out in the middle of one of Mme Bustier's lessons on Shakespeare (Adrien loved Shakespeare, the freaking nerd) meant that something was seriously wrong.

When it was finally time for lunch, Nino walked out with Adrien, trying to think of a way to bring it up again without Adrien brushing it off. Before he could get anything worth wild together, Adrien's driver/bodyguard/personal heavyweight/whatever arrived and Adrien was headed off with a wave.

"Kay, what's going on with your boy?" Alya asked once Adrien had climbed into his car and been driven off.

"I don't know! He won't talk about it." Nino crossed his arms, feeling put out.

"Think it has something to do with that limp?"

Nino's eyes flickered over to Alya, she was giving him a serious look. "You picked up on that, huh?"

"It was hard to miss. The boy walks around, all perfect posture and poise, then suddenly comes limping into class?" Alya waved a hand, before pointing to herself. "Reporter, remember?"

"Alright, I'll give you that." Nino teased, before sobering and sighing. "I'm positive it has something to do with that. And the bruises he keeps getting."

Alya bit her lip, staring off into the distance. "Do you think his dad...?"

Though she didn't say it, Nino knew they were thinking the same thing. It wasn't a secret that Adrien's dad was extremely strict, and cold towards everyone. To think that he may have been...hurting Adrien wouldn't be much of a step.

"I'm not sure." Nino pushed up his glasses and scrubbed at his face. "I wanna say no, but I just don't know with that guy."

"Maybe we're jumping to conclusions," Alya tried, "Mari's been in a similar state and I know her parents would never do something like that."

Nino nodded. "Maybe he's picked up, I don't know, kickboxing or something."

"You could always go to the source. Try talking to his dad?"

"I guess." Nino gave a little wince. "Last time I tried that, it didn't go well."

Alya flinched in turn and grabbed his hand to give it a squeeze. It was an unspoken rule to not bring up what people did when akumized. It was clear, especially after Ivan, that it would only serve to stir up more negative feelings and put people at risk again. Besides, it was hard enough to have to hear what you had done when not in control of your actions. Modern technology meant they could see every second of their attacks, from every angle. Nino had watched some of the videos and it hadn't been pretty.

"Then you're going to have to talk to Adrien directly, if there's no way around it." Alya told him, still holding onto his hand.

"I know." Nino sighed again. "I just don't know how without making him get cagey. The boy's like a damn cat sometimes, I swear. Runs away when spooked, or in this case, when being forced to talk about his feelings."

Alya laughed at the comparison before making a considering expression. "Then don't force him."

"What?"

"Let him come to you. Make it clear that you're willing to talk, but don't push it." She explained.

Nino snorted, shaking his head. "Have you met Adrien? He's mega repressed, I don't know if he knows how to like, ask for help, let alone go to someone to talk about his problems. And he's really good at shoving all that shit down, y'know?"

"Then be insistent, but gentle about it. Trick him into thinking that he's not giving anything away."

"That...might actually work." Nino considered it. "Maybe I could go to him with a similar problem and have him solve it for himself."

"There you go!" Alya tugged off his hat and ruffled his hair. "I knew you had a brain in there."

"Knock it off." He snapped back, but it was softened by his grin. "And give that back."

Alya held the hat away from him and up high, and Nino wrapped himself around her to grab it. She laughed as he dragged her arm down and snatched his hat, securing it over his hair before dropping his chin on to top of her head.

"Ow, pointy chin." She poked at him before relaxing a bit. "I wonder what Adrien is like without the whole perfect model thing he's got going on."

"Oh, he's a huge dork. Tells puns, kicks my ass at DDR, watches Sailor Moon, cries over Sailor Moon, the works." Nino chuckled, before pondering. "But he's the sweetest guy and just wants to have friends, y'know?"

"Yeah." Alya nodded and was quiet a moment. "But really, puns? I can't even picture that."

"They're the worst." Nino groaned. "Like, he's my best friend but most of the time I can't stand hanging out with him cause he just, like, pulls these puns outta nowhere and they're awful, just terrible. And cat based, a lot of the time? He doesn't even have a cat!"

"Cat puns?" Alya leaned away and gave Nino a strange, unreadable look.

"Yeah, I don't get it either."

"Hmm." She pursed her lips, then shook her head. "Anyways, you should probably talk to him today, the sooner we figure this out the better."

"Okay, okay." Nino straightened and released her, glancing back at the school. "Where's Marinette, by the way?"

Alya rolled her eyes. "She went home for lunch but I'm pretty sure she's taking a nap."

"I'm on Adrien, you're on her?"

"Yep." Dropping a quick peck on Nino's cheek, Alya left him a bit starstruck while she waved and crossed over to Marinette's bakery.

Nino watched as she went, touching his cheek, before a pair of clearing throats shocked him back into the moment. He glanced over, Kim and Alix were standing together at the top of the steps, watching him with raised eyebrows.

"What?" He crossed his arms, making a put upon expression.

"Nothing at all, come on meathead." Alix socked Kim in the arm, dragging him off, while the boy glanced over his shoulder and tossed him a wink and finger guns.

"Nice one dude!"

"Get outta here Kim!" Nino tried to ignore how screechy his voice went, turning away and tugging his hat firmer over his face.

He still wasn't quite used to whatever was going on with him and Alya, he was about 85% sure they were dating. Or at least, actively flirting? But he could address that later. At the moment, he had an angsty blond to coeric into talking about his feelings.

As luck had it, Adrien's Chinese lesson was cancelled after school that day due to "family issues" (which Adrien told Nino with a face that attempted to be sympathetic but mostly just looked happy) so Adrien was free to hang out that afternoon. The two went straight for Nino's house; their way of getting around Mr. Agreste's 'no Nino' rule was to just not go to the Agreste mansion. Nino might not have had quite the digs Adrien did, but he had enough to keep them entertained.

Honestly, Nino was pretty sure Adrien would be happy to sit around playing board games if it meant he didn't have anywhere to be.

They sat in Nino's room, playing an older version of Smash on Nino's little portable TV set. As Adrien repeatedly kicked Nino's ass, he tried to find a subtle way to bring up the whole, 'limpy tired Adrien' situation.

"So..." Nino dropped his controller on his lap after the end of a match, steepling his hands against his chin. "I had something I wanted to talk to you about."

Adrien blinked owlishly, setting his own controller aside and turning to face Nino more fully. That was something Nino really appreciated about his friend, Adrien was sure to always give someone his full attention when they were talking.

"Yeah?"

"Let's say, hypothetically, I had a friend...who was having issues at home."

"Okay, 'friend' as in we're talking about you and you just don't want to say it, or actual friend 'friend'?" Adrien asked.

Nino huffed a laugh. "That later."

"Alright, go on."

"This hypothetical friend is really good at pretending to be okay, but it's pretty clear something is going on." Nino gestured vaguely. "How would I go about bringing it up? Or even, helping them out?"

Jutting his lip out, Adrien tilted his head from side to side as he seemed to consider it. "Well, I think that if they don't bring it up themself, maybe just try to be supportive? Let them know you're there for them, no matter what's going on. I'm sure they'll come talk to you eventually if you make it clear you're there to listen."

"Wow." Nino blinked in surprise. "That's some really solid advice, dude."

"Well, you asked." Adrien shrugged a bit, crossing his arms and sticking out his chin. "I'd never get hold out on my number one bro."

"Bro."

"Broski."

"Brah."

"Amigo."

"Buddy."

"Pal."

"Sugar."

"Sweetums."

"Bae."

Adrien huffed, leaning back. "I can't top bae, dude."

"I know, that's why I used it." Nino smirked before straightening. "Alright."

He clapped a hand on Adrien's shoulder, looking him in the eyes.

"I want you to know that I'm supportive and I'm here for you, no matter what's going on. And whenever you want to talk about it, I'll listen."

"Whoa wait, we were talking about me?" Adrien sputtered.

"Yeah, man."

"You asked me for advice on how to talk to me?"

"Yeah?"

Adrien burst into laughter, a little hysterically, his shoulders curling up around his ears. Nino made a face, but he knew this was less to do with him than it was Adrien trying to shake off some of his own feelings. He waited patiently for Adrien's panicked chuckles to die down, his hands still resting on his friend's shoulder.

"Dude, what the heck." Adrien rubbed at his eyes, though his weepiness seemed unrelated to his laughter. "You just said everything I said back to me."

"It was good advice!" Nino protested, though he was smiling.

Adrien was covering his face with his hands, and Nino let him take a moment to center himself. He knew that Adrien was a sweet guy, but he was unused to people being so straightforward with him.

"Do you want a hug?" Nino asked when Adrien hadn't moved in a while.

"...yeah."

So Nino gathered up his best friend, his loveable, insecure,emotion best friend into his arms and hugged him tight. Adrien was still sniffling a little, and probably getting snot all over Nino, but he didn't really care. He just wanted to force as much affection and support as he could into Adrien until the boy realized that there were a lot of people who cared about him. Nino, especially.

When they pulled apart, Adrien looked a little more settled,though his eyes were still teary.

"I can't...I can't tell you about all of it now. But I will, someday soon. I promise." Adrien looked a little desperate, like making Nino believe him was the most important thing he could do.

Nino smiled, patting Adrien's back lightly.

"Okay, whenever that is, I'll be right here."

AN: Alright, so I had this half finished for a while and finally figured out how to wrap it up.

Title is from "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor but the Carol King cover is my favorite.

I mostly just wrote this cause I love these two being bros like, so much.