Chapter 2: Friends

The silver limo pulled to a stop outside of Adrien's building. His luxury oversized studio apartment was on the top floor. Adrien didn't move from his seat, his eyes locked onto the white van parked across the street from the entrance. He couldn't even come and go as Chat Noir as long as the media had him on stakeout. He wasn't sure if they'd assume Chat was his lover, or if they'd piece together his identity, but neither possibility was remotely appealing.

He turned to Nino, who was seated beside him, popping the last chouquette into his mouth.

"You sure you want to be seen with me?" Adrien asked. "They might assume you're my boyfriend."

Nino shrugged, licking the crumbs off his fingers. "People have assumed far worse about me." Nino turned to him with a grin. "We could make a show of it if you want?"

Adrien smiled in spite of himself. He couldn't resist the boyish playful look on Nino's face. "What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing major. We could hold hands! Just play it up, like we are together."

Adrien laughed, feeling more than a bit tempted if only to turn the whole situation into a joke, but he didn't want anyone else swept up in this scandal. Especially not Nino who already did so much for him. "I appreciate the thought, but I don't want you or your family being harassed by reporters if it's not even real."

"We could handle it," Nino insisted, his grin never fading.

"I'm not saying you couldn't." Though Adrien wasn't sure if that was truly the case. Adrien knew that Nino wasn't out with his family. He wasn't going to force Nino to have that conversation before he was ready even if he did have the option of saying it was all for show. "I just… if you have to handle it, I want it to be for real."

"Fine. Be that way," Nino said, pouting.

"It almost seems like you want to be mistaken for my boyfriend," Adrien teased.

Nino's gaze turned towards the window. "If people think you're taken maybe they'd be less likely to think they can get away with scamming you on the street."

Adrien's chest bloomed in warmth, and his lips stretched into another smile. He was never sure what he had done to earn Nino's friendship, but he could no longer imagine what his life would be like without Nino's warm, and often forceful, support.

Nino undid his seat belt, leaned forward, and clapped a hand onto Ezra's shoulder. "Thanks Big G! Hope you have a good one!"

His bodyguard nodded acknowledgement, but didn't smile. Ezra never smiled while on the clock. Adrien had no idea how he managed it.

Nino opened the door and exited the vehicle.

Adrien undid his own seatbelt. "Thank you, Ezra. You don't need to stick around. I'm planning on hiding away all day. I'll text you if that changes."

The large man nodded, pointed his large index finger at Adrien's chest, and signed an okay sign with raised eyebrows.

Adrien shrugged. "I'm… better than I was. I'll be okay. Thanks for asking."

Ezra pushed a knuckle to his own chin, flicking it upwards.

"I need to keep my chin up?" Adrien guessed.

The gruff man nodded. He still didn't smile.

But Adrien did. "I promise I will try. See you tomorrow, Ezra."

Then he exited the vehicle, and broke into a trot to catch up to Nino who was waiting at the top of the stairs in front of the double doors that led into the building. One short elevator ride later, they arrived at his front door.

The door swung open and they were greeted with the amazing smell of raspberry and flaky crust. Adrien kicked off his shoes, and glanced across the open floor plan towards the kitchen. Sure enough, Marinette was there, headphones in either ear, facing away from them as she wiped down the counter, which was dusted in flour.

When he had signed a lease, the elaborate space with marble countertops, stainless steel appliances, and an island prep space with a built in gas stove had all seemed remarkably excessive for him when he barely knew how to use a microwave. To this day, he ordered out more often than not. When he had first moved in four years prior, Marinette and Alya both refused to let the amazing set up go unused. And he was often spoiled with five star dinners from Alya, and baked perfection from Marinette. But Alya had left Paris for university, and Marinette had started coming around less and less often unless the whole gang had plans.

But she was here today and he was grateful.

Nino settled onto a high stool in front of the island, opposite Marinette.

"Marinette?" Adrien called loudly, hoping to be heard over whatever she was listening to.

She whirled around immediately, her blue eyes jumping up to his face. She tore the headphones out of her ears and threw herself at him. Her slender arms were quickly around his neck. He closed his eyes and basked in her comforting warmth against his chest.

"I came as soon as Nino texted me. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," he assured her, letting his chin rest on her shoulder. "It's really good to see you."

She pulled away, and stared into his eyes. He felt like he was being measured, but he couldn't help the soft smile that grew on his face watching her so intently focused before she pulled him into a hug again.

"It's been too long," she agreed. It hadn't been that long. Maybe two or three months, but once upon a time he had been unable to go a week without her dropping by at least once. "How can I help?"

Adrien let her pull away. "Tell me what smells so good and tell me it's ready to be devoured right now." He and Nino had just polished off a box of chouquettes from her parent's bakery, but today felt like the perfect day for total self indulgence.

She laughed. "What you're smelling is a raspberry torte, but it has to refrigerate for at least six hours. Papa says it's better if you leave it overnight, but I'm never patient enough for that. It's for round two later this afternoon. I was going to start on a batch of snickerdoodles next. Should only take about thirty minutes before we can partake!"

"Can I help?" he asked.

She grinned. "Absolutely!"

"The usual cookie ingredients?"

She nodded, "And cinnamon! Oh and do you happen to have cream of tartar? I already took out butter earlier."

"Yeah, I keep all your baking ingredients in stock. I've learned I miss out if I don't!" He grinned as he handed her a mixing bowl, and a large wooden spoon.

Nino had buried his head in his arms resting on the counter. Adrien poked him as he passed by with baking soda in hand. "You know there's an extra bed right there," he said, gesturing past the living area filled with leather sofas and ottomans to the guest "bedroom".

It wasn't really a guest room, as it didn't have any walls. But the lack of walls was the whole reason he had elected to go for the studio over the three bedroom flat. He never felt trapped when the whole living space was one giant room. Even the wall to the balcony was made entirely of glass giving the illusion that the room extended into the open air around the building, but it was higher than any of the surrounding buildings meaning no one could really get a good view inside unless he was standing right at the window. A necessary consideration for a part-time superhero.

"Too far away," Nino grumbled into his forearms. "I'm fine right here."

"Suit yourself."

A cell phone rang, and Nino immediately bolted to a sitting position, pulling out his device from the pocket of his green hoodie. He grinned at it, flashing the screen towards Adrien.

Nathalie Sancoer was calling.

"Mlle. Sancoer, I was expecting your call!" Nino answered, his voice positively gleeful as he mimed towards Adrien's pocket.

"M. Lahiffe," was the dry response on the other end, loud enough that Adrien and Marinette could hear.

Adrien pulled up his missed call log. Four missed calls from Chloé, one from Kagami, another from Marinette, and six from Nathalie. He held up the device to Nino with a resigned sigh.

His friend fist pumped in silent victory. Adrien supposed he shouldn't have been surprised to lose the bet. "Ms. Sancoer, give me just a moment." Nino muted the call. "I'm going to head out to the balcony. I might be a while."

Negotiations apparently took time. Adrien seriously didn't know what he had ever done to deserve a friend like Nino. "It's all yours!"

Nino left out the back, and Marinette turned puzzled eyes toward him. "What was that all about?"

"They're negotiating over me," he explained, as he fished out white and brown sugar from his cupboards.

"What," she said, her voice flat.

Adrien chuckled. "Father wants to talk to me, but he is unwilling to call himself. He makes Nathalie call me, and I'm not taking or returning her calls. My father apparently doesn't find that to be an acceptable excuse for her being unable to get through to me, so when that happens she calls Nino and bribes him to get me to call her back."

"That is awful."

Adrien retrieved a couple eggs from the refrigerator. "No, it's good! He gets her to take away a photo shoot here or there, or frees up my schedule so I can hang out with you and the gang."

"That is still terrible! Adrien! I knew your father was strict and controlling and insufferable in so many ways! But Nino having to serve as your union representative? That is a new low! How long have you had to bargain this way?"

He ignored the question. He didn't know the answer. It had been going on long before Nino started making it easier. "It's how I got to have more control over my studies without being disinherited. For reasons I don't understand, Nathalie listens to Nino more than she does me. And father listens to Nathalie and no one else. These are the tools I have, and I'm not going to be ashamed of using them. Fancy physics degrees don't pay for themselves after all."

She squeezed his shoulder. "I never said you should be ashamed. I just… I wish none of it was necessary."

He shrugged. "That makes two of us. We never planned to do this. She just called Nino once when she couldn't get a hold of me. I never asked him to go to bat for me."

"Nino's just awesome like that."

"He most definitely is!" Adrien agreed enthusiastically, placing a bag of flour and the cream of tartar on the counter next to Marinette's mixing bowl. "So… is that everything you need?"

Her eyes scanned over the items, as she silently mouthed the ingredients while counting them off on her hands.

"Just missing salt," she concluded.

"Salt. Of course." He retrieved the condiment from the third cupboard to the right.

"Are you really okay?" she asked him as he handed her the last ingredient.

He shrugged. "I'll be fine. I'm mostly just embarrassed."

She frowned, her eyes shining with concern. "I imagine it hurts too though. To think you're having a moment only to find someone is lying to you the whole time?"

"I only knew him for a day," he insisted, but he couldn't meet her eyes.

"If you say so. I've managed to fall in love in a day before," she admitted softly.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I've done that before, too. It hasn't panned out for me though. You?"

Her eyes avoided his, intent on scraping the butter off its paper wrapper and into the stainless steel bowl. "Not as of yet."

Her sadness hit him in the chest. "We make quite the depressing pair, don't we?"

She scowled, her lips pursed to the side of her face. "No! Not today! Today, we're indulging ourselves in baked goods, and maybe Chloé will bring some good wine and we can get tipsy."

He laughed. "I like your plan. How much sugar?" he asked, holding up the bag.

"Umm… 150 grams."

And quickly they fell into a rhythm almost not needing words. It was strange to him how easy it was to follow Marinette's line of thinking, but as they had gotten older, it had only gotten easier.

Now, what she was feeling? He had no idea. She was as much as mystery to him now as she had been their first year of college.

"Did you ever hear back from Dior?" he asked into the silence.

Her whole form slumped, and he wished he hadn't brought it up.

"Not good news, I take it?" he asked as he added the last portion of flour into the mixing bowl.

She growled. "The worst part is they left me glowing feedback. Practical and fashionable at the same time, they said." Her stirring took on a furious pace, and flour burst into the air between them. He chose not to comment. "They had no criticisms to offer except that it wasn't what they were looking for. I just wish they would tell you what they were looking for so that I could design with that theme in mind."

"I don't think they want to give away to the competition what they're thinking."

She groaned. "That makes sense. I just… I think I could deliver what they wanted."

"I could talk to my father if you wanted?"

She dropped the wooden spoon and jerked her head towards him. "Absolutely not! You will not owe that man any favors on my account."

"I bet New York would still take you, if you reached out. They seemed really excited about the possibility of you on their team. And you seemed so excited with their design philosophy."

Her eyes turned glassy, threatening tears. "You're probably right," she whispered. "They probably would still take me…"

He turned her away from the counter and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. She trembled in his embrace. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry," he told her softly.

She shook her head. "I-It's not your fault," she stammered through her tears. "I was… already a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.

"I'm not pressuring you to leave Paris if you're set against it. I would miss you if you were gone," he mumbled into her shoulder.

She pulled away and offered him a watery smile. "I would miss you, too."

The front door clicked open. Adrien didn't spare it a glance, knowing it was likely Chloé. Kagami always knocked despite the fact that she had a key. His attention remained on Marinette.

She wiped her tears away. "Enough about me!" she exclaimed. "Today is supposed to be about cheering you up!"

"Maybe if I could make you feel better I would feel better," he told her, his lips quirking upwards in a sideways smile.

Marinette giggled. "That's sweet. But I'm a bit of a lost cause at the moment. Maybe it would make me feel better to make you feel better!"

Chloé's heels clicked definitely as she stepped into the tile floor of the kitchen.

"Are you two seriously arguing about who gets to make who feel better?" she growled out in exasperated greeting.

"Uh… maybe?" Marinette hedged, turning away from Adrien's comfort and back towards the cookies in progress. She soon was rolling out little balls of dough and lining them up on a baking sheet.

Chloé shook her head, mumbling something under her breath. But she didn't comment further on how ridiculous they were. Instead, she wrapped Adrien in a tight embrace. "Are you okay, Adri-kins?" she whispered.

He nodded into her shoulder. "I am with you here."

She squeezed him harder. There had been a time when she would have scoffed at such a statement. But a random off topic tangential lesson on recognizing abusive relationships in tenth grade Literature, a fortune spent on intensive therapy, and time spent in self reflection, his oldest friend had become someone he could rely on again.

She pulled back, and scooped out a spoon of cookie dough from the bowl, and began licking it.

"Hey!" Marinette objected. "Those aren't done yet!"

"I hate to break it to you, Dupain-Cheng, but they are better this way."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but didn't comment as she dipped a cup in a sugar cinnamon mixture and then pressed the cup gently into each ball of dough.

Chloé turned to Adrien again. "So, what can you tell us? Who are we plotting revenge against?"

Adrien groaned. "No! No revenge."

Chloé patted his shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry. You won't have to be a part of it at all. I'll take care of it. I'm sure Tsurugi will help. You in Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette cocked her head, her gaze considered the ceiling. "Yeah… I think I am."

"Marinette!" he hissed.

"What?!" Marinette exclaimed. "Someone goes after my friend? After you? And you want me to just let it go?"

"Yesss!" Chloé grinned. "Welcome to the dark side, Dupain-Cheng." She offered a fist, which Marinette reciprocated.

"No," Adrien repeated firmly. Chloé remained unmoved while Marinette shifted more nervously from foot to foot. "I'm serious. No revenge! That won't make this go away any faster. And it won't make me feel any better."

Chloé stared at him, her face a mask of stoicism. "Is it so bad that we want to protect you?"

"Chloé, please," he begged. "Promise me. No revenge."

Chloé pouted, glancing down at her nails. "You're absolutely no fun."

Adrien rolled his eyes, very aware that she had promised nothing. "Oh, I'm so sorry to ruin your day."

Marinette threw her arms around him again. "We're so sorry."

"Speak for yourself," Chloé said. "I have nothing to apologize for."

Marinette and Adrien shared an eye roll, but a knock at the door suppressed any comeback from either of them.

Adrien shook his head. "I'm going to go remind Kagami for the thousandth time that she has a key."

He swung the door open revealing Kagami in a deep red business suit. She always looked good in the color. He was more than a bit envious.

She stepped forward and they exchanged the formal la bise greetings before they stepped back into the entryway of his studio.

"Coming from the office?" he asked, as he took her coat and scarf.

"An interview. A potential psychologist to add to our founding team. She is somewhat an expert on assessment and screening for red flags that could be indicative of current or past trauma among children and adolescents."

He grinned. "That's fantastic! I know I've already said it a dozen times before, but I think this foundation for neglected and abused children you and Chloé have started is amazing. I just can't help but wonder how much better off she and I would have been if someone had caught us earlier in our lives." And maybe Kagami too, even if her situation could be classified slightly differently.

Kagami lips stretched into a fond smile. "I don't know that you could be better than you are. You have so much integrity and resilience. I have always looked up to you."

Adrien felt the heat burning to the back of his neck. He really needed to get better at taking compliments.

"I have always looked up to you, too, Kagami."

She nodded in formal acknowledgement. "Before I forget, my mother wishes you good luck in light of your scandal, and offers the use of her PI if you want to check this guy out."

He groaned. "Not you, too."

She chuckled. "I told my mother you likely would not make use of her offer."

"I'm sure that went over well," he commented, his voice flat.

Kagami laughed. "She said you were foolish and naive to not go out of your way to protect your family legacy and honor from those that would besmirch it."

"I wish I could say she was wrong, but it sounds like she has me pegged."

"Would you two stop standing awkwardly in the doorway and come in?" Chloé called. She was sprawled elegantly across the corner of the black leather couch nursing another spoonful of cookie dough in one hand, and a glass of red wine in the other. Nino sat in the recliner, his red hat over his face. Adrien hoped he was actually asleep, but he had his doubts. Marinette remained in the kitchen, sliding her first sheet of cookies into the oven. He knew she would prepare a second before joining them in the living area.

Kagami took a seat on the opposite side of the couch of Chloé leaving the space between them for Adrien.

"Tsurugi! The suspense is killing me!" Chloé whined. "That report you just gave to Adrien was carefully neutral. How did it go?"

Kagami grinned. "I do enjoy giving you a hard time, but that was not my intention this time. I think it went really well."

Chloé literally squealed and threw her hands up in a miniature victory dance without spilling any of her wine.

"You're awfully excited," Marinette commented with an amused grin. "Who were you interviewing?"

Chloé spun back towards the kitchen island where Marinette was dusting another twelve cookies in her cinnamon sugar mixture. "You don't understand!" Chloé exclaimed. "This woman was amazing! It's like she could have written our mission statement! She had so many ideas for how children in abusive situations could be identified earlier, for what type of education is needed for children to recognize harmful situations themselves. And she somehow projected this aura of such gentleness. She would be so approachable. And yet, it didn't diminish her passion at all!"

"You fell in love didn't you?" Adrien smirked at her.

She turned back to him, and held up two manicured fingernails a centimeter apart. "Only a little bit." Her blue eyes immediately shifted to Kagami. "But that's not why I want to hire her! She will be an asset in getting the foundation off the ground!"

Kagami nodded. "No, I agree with you. She's a good fit. I would like to make her an offer."

"Tsurugi!" Chloé whined. "Why haven't you already done that? I already told you I wanted to hire her! She's going to be snatched up so quickly!"

"No, you didn't. You told me you wanted to date her," Kagami countered matter of factly.

Chloé spluttered, and then blushed. Everyone else laughed, including Nino, which definitely meant he wasn't asleep. Adrien would have to fix that. "Can we talk about something else please?" she begged.

As if the universe had heard her, a siren blared right outside the building. Chloé immediately bolted for the window. She pushed aside the curtain and peered down into the street below, her lips stretching into a smile as satisfied as the cat who had found the camembert.

"Chloé?" Adrien asked, his voice dripping with suspicion. "What did you do?"

"Mwah?" she asked, her painted nails flared out to her chest dramatically with complete innocence. "I only did my civic duty by reporting someone that looked exactly like the wanted poster down at the precinct this morning hanging out in a creepy unmarked van."

"Chloé!" Marinette scolded, but she was grinning as she peaked through the drapes over Chloé's shoulder. "That's terrible!"

"Efficient," Kagami disagreed.

"He was doing nothing wrong," Adrien said.

"Nothing illegal, maybe," Nino said, replacing his hat onto the top of his head, revealing his face once again.

"Did he really deserve to be arrested?" Adrien asked, but it was clear that he was the minority in this debate.

Chloé's blue eyes pinned him in place. "Do you really want them to have you under surveillance like that? That kind of trash understands only one thing! Power."

Adrien sighed. "No, but there were other ways to take care of it."

Chloé shook her head. "Adrien, you are amazing, and I love you! But you are way too nice! It's not like he's a journalist speaking truth to power! It's not like he's going after some corrupt asshole that profits off the plights of others while not paying his taxes."

"You'd sick righteous reporters on your parents like that?" Nino teased. He was clearly trying to deflect the subject. "Harsh."

"Though not undeserved." Kagami added. She and Nino exchanged a fist bump across the open expanse between the sofa and his lounge chair.

"Can it, both of you!" Chloé snapped, shooting a glare towards both of them from the window.

Nino chuckled. He rolled out of the recliner and took over Chloé's vacated seat next to Adrien.

The oven timer went off, and Marinette scurried from the window back into the kitchen. "Who wants cookies?"

"Just bring a giant plate!" Chloé called back. "We'll eat everything."

Seconds later, there was a crash, and a scream from the kitchen. Adrien bolted to his feet and ran to her side, Kagami less than an arm length behind him.

Marinette's hands wrapped protectively over her head, she was surrounded by broken glass.

Adrien tread carefully around the largest fragments to put a hand on her shoulder.

She peeked out from under her hands to him. "I'm okay," she said.

"What happened?" Adrien asked.

"Just me being my usual clumsy self," she said, her voice dripping with self deprecation.

Kagami handed him the broom and he immediately started sweeping up the glass, starting with the area closest to Marinette.

Marinette sighed, dropping her arms completely to her side. "I just was reaching for another wine glass, but I couldn't quite reach it. In trying to urge it closer, I overdid it, and the two glasses went flying."

Kagami tisked in disapproval. "Perhaps, next time you should just ask for help?"

Marinette nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm sorry for being stubbornly independent." She turned her gaze back to Adrien. "And I'm sorry for breaking your glasses. I will replace them."

Adrien shook his head. "Please don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay. And I do wish you let us help you when you need it."

Marinette snorted. "You're one to talk."

He grinned. "Touché."

Kagami held the dustpan and he swept the glass into the tray.

"Do you have a mop?" Kagami asked.

When he handed her the requested item, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Would you mind letting me do this part? I wanted to talk to Marinetted about something."

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping."

"I got this," Kagami insisted.

He nodded, and turned back to Marinette who hadn't moved since the glasses had fallen. "Are you okay?"

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm… I'll be fine. You should get back to your party. Kagami and I can finish cleaning this up."

It was obvious he was being dismissed. "Okay, well, let me know if either of you need help finding anything."

Adrien let himself fall back onto the couch next to Nino. His head flopped back onto the couch, his gaze locked on the ceiling.

"Marinette okay?" Chloé asked. She had taken Nino's former seat in the lounge chair.

"Just rattled, I think," he reported. "They kicked me out. Kagami wanted to talk to Marinette about something."

"Ooh!" Chloé leapt to her feet. "I think I want in on this conversation! Excuse me!"

Adrien sighed again.

"If all the revenge talk really bothers you, I will get them to stop," Nino told him softly after a moment of silence.

Adrien smiled. "Thank you for the offer. I do appreciate that everyone is all protective. It's really nice to have you all on my side. I just… I also want this to be over. Ideally, I never want to have to think about it again after I talk to my father."

Nino nodded. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. You do get why they want to go after this guy though, right?"

Adrien shrugged. "Maybe?" He understood it intellectually he supposed, but emotionally, revenge had never made sense to him.

"Imagine it was you mystery girl on that tabloid instead of you. Where you can look at the picture and she looks happier than you've seen her in a long time."

"Is it really that rare to see me smile?" Adrien objected.

"Have you seen this pic?" Nino asked, whipping out his phone, swiping through his apps. "It is not just a smile!"

"Please don't make me look at it," Adrien begged, turning away from Nino's phone, towards the kitchen.

Marinette giggled at something Kagami had just said, and Adrien found himself smiling fondly at the pair.

"Yeah, fine," Nino continued. "But again, she looks amazingly happy, and you now know that the person who was kissing her was lying. That in fact, the whole image is a lie. And she's hurting somewhere after the fact because of it. Wouldn't you want to do something?"

"Yeah okay," Adrien conceded. "I get your point. And for the record, that would be the case if it had been any of you."

"Good! So, if you're willing to stand up for others, why won't you ever let us stand up for you?"

Adrien hadn't really thought about it in those terms. Was he just being stubbornly independent? Thinking he should be able to manage everything himself? Or did he believe deep down that he wasn't worthy of being defended.

He shook himself out of his thoughts. That was a therapy session for another day.

"How did the phone call with Nathalie go?" Adrien asked, intentionally changing the topic.

A grin bloomed across Nino's face."Pretty good for you, I think? We managed to get five am fittings until you complete your masters degree. She wouldn't commit to an indefinite change."

Adren didn't know why Nino used the "we" pronoun in his summary. His friend was the one doing all the work in negotiating out a deal. If Nino wasn't already running a successful DJ business, Adrien would have pushed his friend to become a lawyer.

"Nino, that's literally a year or more. Thank you. When do I have to talk to my father?"

"Eleven tomorrow morning. At the mansion."

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. He may have wanted to do his fittings first thing, but it would be nice to have time to mentally prepare in the morning before seeing his father.

"You're the best." It felt like a weight had been lifted from Adrien's shoulders. With an appointment on the books with his father and his friends all in the room, his phone would finally stop blowing up. He could almost pretend it was a normal day.

"Anything for my best bro," Nino said, offering a fist bump. He yawned in the middle of it.

"You should get some rest," Adrien suggested.

Golden eyes turned toward him with eyebrows raised. "You didn't get any sleep last night either, mec. Want to follow your own advice?"

Adrien barked a laugh. "I would love to, but I don't think my brain shut up long enough to let me yet. It's better to be distracted by all of you until I'm bone-dead tired. But you got everyone here, so if you want to take a shift off, I'm good for a while."

Nino started to nod when there was a knock at the door. He jumped up to answer it.

"Isn't everyone here already?" Adrien called after him.

"Not everyone," Nino reported and answered the door. Alya Césaire stood on the other side of the threshold, and Adrien grinned at her unexpected presence. Last he heard, Alya had been chasing some International drug cartel in Italy.

"Hey Al," Nino greeted as he enveloped her in a warm hug.

Adrien smiled at how well they fit together. He still didn't understand why they had broken up. He rose to his feet to greet her, but a squealing Marinette came running from the kitchen, tackling Alya the second Nino had pulled away.

"I didn't know you were in town!" Marinette exclaimed, a huge grin lighting up her features.

"Yeah, I honestly didn't think I'd have time to see anyone so I was trying to keep it hush hush, but then I saw that headline…" she trailed off, her hazel eyes landing on him with a sympathetic smile from over Marinette's shoulder.

"Say no more! You are totally welcome to be an honorary member of the "protect Adrien Agreste squad!" Marinette squealed happily as she pulled away.

Alya swept him up in a hug next, with Marinette and Nino joining in from behind him. He let himself melt into their protective holds. Once upon a time, the four of them had been as thick as thieves, and he had missed their dynamic.

"I called Nino as soon as I saw," Alya confessed as they broke apart. "I'm sorry I didn't call you myself. I just figured you would be more comfortable hearing from him, but if you ever need to talk about anything, please reach out."

Adrien's gaze landed on Nino who was grimacing over Alya's shoulder. "Liar! I knew there was no way you were up that early."

Alya laughed, her sparkling eyes flicking back toward Nino. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was getting anyone in trouble."

Nino waved away her apology.

Marientte quickly ushered them all inside and back to the leather sofas. Soon, the six of them all sat around the plate of snicker doodles and with glasses of wine in hand.

"Spill Césaire!" Chloé demanded.

"About?"

Chloé rolled her eyes. "Stop. I know you've already done your research on this bastard that landed Adri-kins in the tabloids, and have a half formed plan for vengeance. So tell us what you've discovered so we can get it on it."

Alya set her glass of wine on the center coffee table with a sigh. "You don't want to know."

Chloé scoffed. "What do you mean? Of course I want to know!"

"He recently graduated university," Alya reported. "Majored in theater and minored in physics."

Huh. Adrien hadn't expected that. Maybe the conman hadn't feigned his interest in Adrien's research after all. He frowned. Or maybe, he had been hired specifically because he had the expertise to feign interest.

Nino's head fell onto Adrien's shoulder. His golden eyes had finally fallen victim to Nino's sleep deprivation. Adrien couldn't help the fond smile that stretched across his face as he adjusted his arms to make his lean form a more comfortable pillow.

"He hasn't landed a job in about six months," Alya continued, "and apparently he has some crippling debt."

"That doesn't justify…" Marinette broke in.

Alya barreled over the interruption. "Medical debt. For his… kid sister."

"Ugh! Just stop!" Chloé cut in. "You're right! I don't want to know if you're just gonna make me feel sorry for this guy."

Alya smirked. "The trashy tabloid that hired him, though?"

"Now we're talking!" Chloé exclaimed gleefully. Even Kagmai leaned forward with her elbows on her knees to listen to Alya's research.

Adrien let his own eyes fall closed and he leaned into Nino's warmth only half listening to his friends as they plotted and schemed.

Soon he was dozing in and out, finding comfort in the familiar righteous voices that spiraled around him.

Alya wanted to sink this online tabloid that had a reputation for going after easy personal scandals of celebrities and regular people alike. Chloé had connections that could crash the server for a solid week. Kagami has strategies and clout to encourage divestment from the organization. And of course Marinette's crafty mind worked to tie it all together in a plan so bizarre, it was worthy of Ladybug so it couldn't be traced back to Adrien or any of them.

Despite his own misgivings, it felt really good to have them all so willing to pour in hours and resources to come to his defense. And if the tabloid couldn't hurt anyone else, Adrien definitely could get on board.

"I'm so glad you're all on my side," Adrien interjected, sleepily after about an hour. These were four women you did not want to cross. "I'd never survive your combined wrath."

Their laughter melted together in the best kind of harmony.

A second later his phone buzzed in his pocket. He slowly fished it out, careful not to disturb Nino who remained on his shoulder - still as a rock.

Marinette had sent him a picture. He opened it to reveal him and Nino curled up on his black leather couch seemingly asleep with the tagline "I slept with my best friend" scrawled across the bottom in elegant cursive. He flashed her a smile and she grinned back.

Thank you, he texted. I'm going to frame this.

yw. The two of you are too cute.

Before he could craft a response, all their phones went off at once, and Adrien's contentment evaporated like liquid nitrogen on a laboratory floor. The simultaneous alert could only mean one thing.

Nino sat up, his thumb and forefinger rubbing at his eyes.

"Shit!" Chloe muttered. "It's at the office." She glanced at Kagami. "We have to go."

Kagami gave a stoic nod and rose to her feet gracefully.

Alya was only a second behind her. "I should probably go, too. To make sure the twins stay out of trouble."

Adrien nodded and waved her away with a smile understanding completely. Alya's twin sisters running the Ladyblog were somehow more reckless than Alya had ever been.

Marinette didn't even offer an excuse. She just gave him a hug, grabbed her purse, and ran out the door.

Nino stood as well, but he lingered. "You going to be okay, mec?"

Adrien nodded, grateful that his friends had learned over the years to make themselves scarce during an akuma attack. They believed he was contacting his bodyguard for added protection under his father's orders. He wished he could tell them the truth.

And within a minute, Adrien stood alone in his lavish studio save for Plagg who came out of hiding the second the front door had closed behind Nino.

"Stupid akuma," Adrien muttered under his breath. His friends would have stayed until two in the morning had the alert not gone off.

Adrien called for his transformation and stood on his own balcony with his eyes closed for a second, letting the chill breeze whip his hair around. A moment later he activated his baton and vaulted into the Parisian sky.

A hero's work was never done.

…

A/N:

Guys! My autistic brain had SUCH a hard time writing this ensemble scene. Having more than three characters at a time is just HARD for me the same way interacting with more than three people at a time is HARD for me! Especially when you're trying to throw in exposition at the same time. I definitely cheated more than once. But hopefully it worked for you!

This chapter almost reflects who will be in this story. Adrien and Nino obvious – they are the POV characters. Marinette has her own arc, but it mostly resolves in the first quarter of the story. Alya and Chloé both play significant supporting roles. And Kagami, Noël Lahiffe, and Gabriel will have some important influence on the story's progression as well, but they are not as present throughout the whole thing.

I don't know when chapter three will be out. I thought it was pretty far along, but I made some edits today, and I like it BETTER, but it feels like it's in pieces all over again. As normal chapters 4-6 are in pretty good shape, but I have to finish ch 3 first… Wish me luck! Haha!

Reviews/comments are Love!