Chapter 22: Pire Noel(Part 2)(Adrien's POV)

Author's Note: This part in the story deals with Gabriel's cruelty and Adrien having a mental breakdown because of it after the first Keith's POV. So if you don't want to read that just skip ahead to the second Keith's POV cause that's where it dies down, kind of.

Trudging through the snow, Adrien shivers. Walking around in this blizzard, not being able to see anything clearly was a bad idea. But he doubts some random stranger is going to let a stranger, in their eyes, into their homes.

And every business is closed, so…

Laughter sounds come from a distance. Curious Adrien goes to see where this laughter is coming from. And what he sees disturbs him.

Two young children are hitting Santa with snowballs and mocking him.

Running over, he scolds the children, "That isn't nice you know."

One child, a girl with ginger, blue eyes, wearing a purple coat and snow pants replies, "You're not our parents."

"Yes he's not. But I can still get you in trouble," replies a man who has ginger hair, black glasses, and brown eyes. He's wearing a brown button up coat, and jeans with black boots.

"Dad!" The two girls speak in surprise.

"Uh, huh. Now you two are in big trouble. Apologise to that man." The man points to Santa and the girls half heartedly apologise.

"Now it's time to get you youngins to bed.''

The man then heards them back inside the nearby building, with the girls trying to plead about not going to bed.

So weird, shouldn't young girls be fawning and adoring someone dressed as Santa, not mocking him and throwing snowballs?

"Thank you. Young kids these days don't seem to have any Christmas spirit. All they care about is presents, and food when the real prize is spending time with family."

Adrien looks at Santa, him seeming to get something from the red sleigh he had somehow missed that has four reindeer attached to it, "I'm sorry for those kids…"

"Thanks, but you don't have to be sorry on their behalf. They made their choice. Now here you must be cold to the bone." Santa says and wraps a pink blanket around Adrien. "Now come onto my sleigh and I'll serve you some hot chocolate."

Surprised, Adrien climbs into the sleigh, sitting in the back of it. The seats are comfy, and surprisingly they don't feel cold.

Remembering Plagg, he asks, "Do you have any Camembert cheese?"

Santa winks, "Yep, it just so happens to be my favorite."

He sighs in relief. Whispering, "Hear that Plagg. You'll get your strength back soon."

"Hear you go. Some Camembert and a mug of Hot Chocolate."

Adrien reaches for the mug first, and then sets it down. Grabbing the Camembert he puts it near his pocket. Plagg grabs it and begins eating, slowly. He must be too weak to swallow it down in one bite, Adrien thinks. And it's his fault. He is supposed to be the next Guardian but if he can't get his emotions in control….Well disaster might happen.

Though if he remembers from Starlight bottling up emotions isn't good, because it just drains you. But a Guardian needs to seem calm and cool under pressure. And he can't keep Master Fu from retiring forever….

He takes his hot chocolate and sips slowly. Not wanting to think about that.

"Mind if I do my rounds? I like to wave to people in Paris and while we're at it you can tell me what's bothering you."

Adrien sits up in surprise, almost spilling his hot chocolate. "How'd you know something was bothering me?"

Santa laughs, "How could I not? You're hunched over, your mouth is pulled into a frown and your eyebrows are pressed together in thought. Your eyes also revealed how you are feeling to me."

He slumps, huh. Well he didn't expect Santa here to be an expert body language reader. And he had just assumed this was a Santa who is paid to this, not anything else. Just a regular guy, maybe bored.

But this Santa is joyful and much more skilled than…..Wait! How did he get hot chocolate in his sleigh(he's pretty sure sleigh's don't come with a hot chocolate maker)and where did this reindeer mug come from? Same with the Camembert.

The reindeer start moving, and the sleigh rocks forward a little before getting steady.

"Alright, now tell me what's bothering you?"

He pulls the blanket closer to him with one hand, his hot chocolate in the other, his questions forgotten.

"It's my father. It's our first Christmas without my mother there, and he decides to spend all Christmas Eve on his work! Then there's this sweet old man who wants me to take over for him and when he retires I won't be able to see him again. Marinette and Ladybug have been missing for months and I don't know where they could be and I feel like I need Ladybugs support, her positive attitude and help….I mean I have friends who support me. But it's not the same…."

"Maybe you should talk about this with your friends, get it off your chest. I'm sure one of them will be willing to listen. Besides I give you an assurance that Marinette and Ladybug are fine, they are just dealing with some stuff before they can be back."

Adrien leaps forward spilling his hot chocolate, not caring he leans on the little wall that keeps the two sides separate.

"You where Ladybug is?!"

"Of course I do and she's with good people. So is Marinette."

"But where?" He asks, his joy rising along with his intense curiosity.

"Now that's a secret and I can't promise when they'll be back. But just know that she has good people with her. People who care for her."

Adrien slumps backward, "I wish I had people who cared for me."

"But you do. That Keith fellow really cares for you. Almost as much as if you were blood brothers. Kagami, Nino, Chloe and Zoe all care about you too. So you're not alone. I think you just need to recognize that."

Keith did come home early to spend time decorating the tree…. God he's so blind. So blind that he didn't see that Keith does really care for him. So much so that it's like brotherly love. Chole has always been his friend and knows about the weight on his shoulders about becoming the Guardian. Kagami is an excellent fencing partner and friend, even though they rarely hang out. Nino has just recently become his friend and Zoe….He doesn't really know Zoe, if he's thinking about the right Zoe, the one is his class.

"Thank you. I've been so blind, I guess I just had a skewed version of what it means to care for someone."

Wait a minute….How did Santa know those names?...

"Alright here we are. Agreste Mansion. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas."

He looks, and wow. It's his home. But his heart feels heavy to return. Almost scared to go back.

Santa gets off his sleigh and rings the doorbell. His father appears on screen, and he shrinks back. Oh, he's so in trouble. So so so so so so in trouble.

"What do you want?" His father snarks.

"I found your son wandering around in the cold and thought I should…"

"You just want reward money! You were probably the reason my son left in the first place! I knew he wouldn't have wanted to leave his perfect life behind! Gorilla gets outside and escort Adrien inside and if that poorly dressed Santa gives you any trouble throw him into the snow!"

In rage, Adrien goes up to the screen. "Father, you can't be serious! And perfect life, give me a break! You hardly pay attention to me, always criticising me when I don't do anything perfect and punish me harshly for it!"

His father just scoffs, "Must be brainwashing. Don't worry we'll fix you right up."

Adrien clenches his fists. His father doesn't believe me. He doesn't believe me. Tears fall down his cheek, why does his father do this?

Suddenly someone pulls him into a hug.

"You're safe! You really gave us a scare. You aren't hurt? You're crying! Who hurt you?" Keith says venomously, still hugging Adrien.

"Ummmm, well.." But before he can reply Gorilla breaks Keith away. Keith glares but doesn't say anything. Gorilla puts his hand on Adrien's shoulder, pushing him inside. He looks over at Keith, and he looks sad and angry.

Keith's POV

How dare Gabriel treat Adrien this way! He's not some prisoner to be kept on a tigh leash, he's a teenage boy for crying out loud!

"Excuse me, you're Keith right?"

Turning his head to the left, he jumps in surprise. Standing next to him is an old man dressed as Santa.

"Yes that's me," Keith says.

"Look after Adrien for me. I feel terrible for bringing him back to Gabriel. But I didn't know where else to drop him off. AndI know Gabriel is a bad man, but I never knew he was this bad. Definitely won't be getting any presents from me. Just straight up coal, as black as his heart."

"So you're the one who found him?"

Santa nods, "Told off two little kids throwing snowballs at me. So I'd say he was the one who found me. And good thing too, he was freezing."

"Thank you. For taking care of him. Me and Natalie were worried sick, and with the way Gabriel reacted…."

He shudders, Gabriel is scary, more scary then facing off Galra soldiers. Gabriel's eyes had pure anger in them and his voice was pure anger. The way he barked orders at them to find Adrien when they had rushed into the room.

Natalie is still out driving, meanwhile he had to search the whole Mansion to see if Adrien was hiding anywhere before he heard Gabriel in the security room say 'You were probably…' and with that he ran to the Gates.

"I feel sorry for you. But at least you have each other and Gabriel hasn't done anything, beside being certain someone, done anything to hurt you."

"A certain someone?"

"Someone attacking Paris…"

"You. Why are you fraternizing with Keith!? Get away from my property or I will call the cops, or you could give me money for what you did to my son! You son of a gun!"

"I'll take as my cue leave," Santa says sadly. Murmuring softly, "What's wrong with people. Where's the abundance of the Christmas Spirit, the joy from celebrating the holiday?"

Keith sighs, and stares coldly at the now blank screen. If only Shiro were here, then maybe he could help him get out of this mess. Not that he wants to leave Adrien, but he just can't stand to live inside the Agreste Mansion anymore! Gabriel seriously overreacted, and why would a kidnapper return their victim without receiving a ransom( he only knows this because of certain detective novels he's read out of boredom since mysteries aren't really his cup of tea. But And Then and There Were None was really great and different from most mysteries, even if it's really depressing which fits the emo title he has had in the past).

But what can he and Natalie do? Gabriel is the man of the house and Natalie's boss, which means he makes the rules and going against him seems impossible.

He stares up at the following snow, closing his eyes he wonders what he can do to make Adrien be freed from his piece of crap father. Because this is becoming an issue.

Adrien's POV

Adrien looks at his father, his father is standing with his back to Adrien. He shifts uncomfortably on his chair that Gabriel had put in front of his desk in his office.

"Adrien. What you did was reckless and stupid. I should ground you for running away from this perfect setup you have."

He opens his mouth to speak, but his father cuts him off, putting his hand up, "Don't bother speaking. You don't deserve anything after the stunt you pulled. Do you not understand that I work so that you can be happy, so that you and I can be happy! Your constant complaining of me not being there for you is ridiculous! I provide you with shelter, food, clothing, and many luxuries and what do I get in return? Disobedience! I was lenient to let you go to school, to hang out with friends. What did I do wrong? So, Adrien, you are hereby grounded for the rest of Christmas break and you are not going to school when it ends and instead returning to how it was. And Keith is going to be kicked out as his presence hasn't done anything to help with you not disobeying me. Complete isolation. And that is final. You'll thank me later."

Tears threaten to spill out and he runs out of the room. He closes the door to his room and collapses on the floor.

Tears come out in waves and Adrien can't stop them. His father is being unfair, all the other times he has been a good child, one slip up and everything goes away? How is that fair?! To treat me like this, like I'm supposed to be perfect, never slip up, be okay with not having friends when that's all he ever wanted since discovering Mlp and other friendship shows where friendship solves all problem shows. To be okay with being lonely for the rest of his life, never having a friend his own age. Just having a bodyguard and instructor/secretary as the only people he's close to?!

Keith's POV

Walking to Adrien's room, he hears sobbing. Going up to the door, he knocks, "You okay Adrien?"

"I'm fine," He hears Adrien say, but it's muffled.

"I'm coming in."

Opening the door he sees Adrien sitting on his knees. Going over and in front of Adrien he sees the boy trying to wipe away his tears. "Oh Adrien.." He murmurs, Gabriel must have really pulled out the punishment this time.

Keith pulls Adrien into a hug and begins rubbing his right hand on Adrien's head, trying to be soothing(since this was something Shiro did for him whenever he had nightmares when he was younger about being without him and him eventually leaving him alone like his mother and father did).

"Hey it's okay. It's okay," He says softly.

"No it's not, my father is going to kick you out, stop me from going to school, and keep me isolated for the rest of my life."

"Well I won't let that happen. Besides he's probably overreacting and in the morning he'll realize it isn't that big of a deal as he made it out to be." Though Keith can't really convince himself to believe in those words.

Adrien nods, but the nod with the tears still coming down doesn't look convincing that he believes it either. Then Adrien just leans on his chest and closes his eyes.

Keith keeps doing the soothing rubbing motion on Adrien's head, angrier at Gabriel. That douchebag. How could he do this to his son, his flesh and blood. His father died to save people and even if he left Keith all alone, he never felt unloved by him. Besides, his father didn't know the fire was going to get bigger and consume the whole building the moment he went back in.

That's why he's having such a hard time imagining a father like Gabriel Agreste being real. Tangible. Something that exists in the world.

Author's Note: Alright, much longer than planned. And I actually wanted to deal with Gabriel's abuse and entitlement towards Adrien later(like when I tackle Season Four in this arc, but then I remembered this Christmas Special exists and this was born. So in the third part, it'll get to the akuma and hopefully the end of Adrien living with Gabriel, as Gabriel is so mean in this fic(but it honestly aligns with his cannon personality even if it's a little over the top and the first amok will appear as well, so fun and also I hate hurting Adrien, but this is necessary for his character growth and as well as Gabriel's, well Gabriel's growth is being more bad and fully going into super villain mode). Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :)