Adrien sauntered through the door, his hands shoved casually in his pockets, soaking in the details around him. To be perfectly honest, he wasn't exactly sure what all he should be looking for in an apartment, since it was his first time living on his own, after all. Well, on his own with Nino. However, he had put together a mental list of certain features that would better suit his... unique situation. For the most part, the layout of the place didn't matter to him, but certain aspects were necessary for him to keep his soon-to-be roommate in the dark about his alter-ego. It was for this reason alone that he rejected the studio apartment they had seen earlier that morning. How on earth was he going to hide Plagg with no walls?

Strolling into one of the two bedrooms, he looked it over. It was on the small side, but it would easily fit all the necessary furniture and still have enough room to move around. Shifting his eyes to the window, he noted that it looked out over the street in front of the apartment building. Not ideal.

He moved on to the second room. It was relatively the same size, though perhaps a bit smaller. As he stepped toward the window, Plagg floated up to hover by Adrien's shoulder.

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Plagg complained in a low whisper.

"Plagg, we've been over this." Adrien replied wearily as he reached the window and inspected the view. Directly across the alleyway it overlooked was a windowless brick wall. After checking every angle he smiled to himself. Perfect.

"But what if I get hungry?" The kwami whined. "I can't just go waltzing around the place with DJ Four-Eyes around."

Adrien sighed. "I'll fit a mini-fridge in my room somewhere and keep it stocked with cheese, okay?" He mumbled quietly as he ensured that the window that would function as his means of slipping out undetected actually opened. "It can't always be camembert though." Plagg's jaw dropped and he clutched his tiny chest. "That stuff isn't cheap, and with my father cutting me off, we'll both have to cut back on some things. We can make it on my earnings from modeling for a while, but I'll have to get a new job sooner rather than later."

Plagg opened his mouth to complain further when the sound of Nino's footsteps came toward them. He popped his head around the corner as Plagg zipped out of sight.

"What do think about this one, bro?" Nino asked as he scanned the room.

"I like it." Adrien said with a smile and an approving nod. "We should still check out the last one, but I have a good feeling about this place."

"Oh, I heard back about that job." Nino said before cramming the end of his oversized burrito in his mouth. Adrien perked up, the etiquette that had been drilled into his brain forcing him to finish the bite in his mouth before responding.

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

"The assistant at the radio station." Nino replied and Adrien nodded his head in understanding. "I'd basically basically be getting people coffee and running errands, but its a foot in the door and it pays decent." Nino shrugged.

"Gotta start somewhere, right?" Adrien offered before biting into his burrito as Nino did the same.

"What about you, bro?" Nino mumbled through the mouthful. Adrien held back a grimace at the pieces of rice that sprayed from his best friends mouth as he spoke. "Are you gonna keep modeling or..." He trailed off when Adrien quickly turned away and shook his head.

"No." He said simply, a icy tone in his voice. "I told Vincent I won't be doing any more shoots, and I told Nathalie that I will be making my own schedules from now on." Nino nodded slowly, taking in the sudden change in Adrien's demeanor that always happened when anything to do with his father was mentioned, and all but forgot his food. He leaned back in his chair and studied his friend.

"You're dad didn't take that well, did he?" He asked sympathetically, and watched as Adrien's jaw clenched and he grew quiet, his father's cruel words echoing in his mind and cutting through him yet again. He wasn't sure which was worse, the explosive fight, or the days of cold silence that had stretched between them since.

"Not at all." He replied in a low voice, dropping the remnant of his burrito on his plate and leaning back in his chair with a hard expression. "It was bad, Nino." He added quietly after a moment. "My options were to either keep letting him dictate my life and making me miserable, or essentially be disowned." Nino's eyes widened.

"Wait, you mean he cut you off?" He narrowed his eyes, and Adrien nodded grimly. "That's harsh, bro." Nino replied, feeling helpless. He watched his friend for a long moment, wishing there was something, anything he could do. What can you say to someone who has been repeatedly and brutally wounded by a person who is meant to cherish them?

"Wait, how are we going to afford an apartment then?" He blurted suddenly.

"My income from modeling is in my name, so I still have access to it. Father can't cut me off from that." Adrien answered and Nino relaxed some. "It'll last a while, but eventually I'll need to find another source of income, or maybe some scholarships or something. Maybe all those fencing lessons will finally be worth something. There's not much else I'm good at besides looking pretty." He finished with a mirthless laugh.

"What about tutoring?" Nino's eyes lit up as he sat a little taller. "I mean you know enough Mandarin that you probably could do something with it."

"Or maybe find work as a translator." Adrien said, hope rising at the idea. Nino nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "I'm fluent enough. I translated for Marinette's uncle when he came to Paris for that cooking competition at the Mayor's hotel. That seemed to go pretty well... Cheng Shifu getting akumatized aside. "

"That definitely had more to do with Chloe than your translating." Nino said dryly as he picked up his forgotten burrito and continued devouring it.

"Do you think I could-" Adrien began, then his face fell. "Ah, never mind." Nino's brow furrowed.

"Could what?" He inquired and stared at Adrien for a long moment as his friend debated with himself.

"Do you think Marinette would be a reference for me?" Adrien visibly winced as the words finally flooded out.

"She would probably give a stranger one of her kidneys if they asked." Nino replied with a chuckle.

"It's just. I don't know." He shrugged. "We haven't even talked in like a year, and before that she always found some reason to avoid me." His gaze fell to the table and he picked at the edge of his napkin. "I don't think she likes me very much."

"I told you, bro, she's just busy. You know Marinette. She always has a million things on her plate. I'm sure she would be glad to give you a glowing reference." Nino strategically skirted around the truth.

He, of course, had known the reason for Marinette distancing herself from Adrien, and had been forced to play the awkward middle man. He hated hiding things from Adrien, but feared the wrath of Alya enough that his silence was ensured.

"I'm sure she'll say yes. Just give her a call." Nino heard himself say and silently cursed himself. What did he just say?! He was dead. He was so dead. The love of his life was going to murder him, then... Was it possible to further torture someone after murdering them? If there was, Alya would no doubt find it.

"I don't know. I'll think about it." Adrien hedged, interrupting Nino's panic attack. Perhaps this wouldn't be the cause of his untimely demise after all.

"Thanks, Nino." Adrien said softly after a moment. Nino cocked his head, confused.

"What for?"

Adrien shrugged.

"For caring, and just for always being there for me. It means a lot." He offered a small, sincere smile, which Nino returned.

"Anytime, bro."

*Author's Note*

Thank you to everyone who has followed this story! Things are going to start picking up here pretty soon. ;)

And thank you to everyone who has commented. I love hearing your feedback.

You can find me on Tumblr as yourbasicbibliophile. I don't post much of my own stuff, but I reblog some pretty sweet MLB fanart and such.