Nathalie had fallen asleep in Gabriel's room again.

She awoke in that same armchair her boss had rushed her into all those times when the peacock miraculous was too much for her body to handle. After getting her work done and driving Felix and Amelie to the airport the night before, she'd only meant to sit down and rest for a few minutes. Turns out that didn't happen as she'd planned.

For a minute, she half-expected him to be there, leaning over her in desperation as his concern for her completely transformed his stone-like personality. If it weren't for that concern, that flawed sensitivity for her wellbeing, none of this would have happened.

Gathering herself, she sat up and smoothed down her front, eliminating the wrinkles that had formed on her suit. Her watch read 5:16 AM, giving her plenty of time to fix herself up before Adrien woke up. It was also still the weekend, and the boy had just gotten his first night's sleep since this all started. She suspected it would be a while before she saw him out of bed.

She stood up, looking around for her clipboard that she knew she'd had last night. She turned around, quickly locating it on the small table on the other side of the armchair. As she reached to pick it up, something else caught her eye.

Her heart pained to see Adrien's curled up form, sleeping silently on Gabriel's nearly oversized bed. He lied on top of the perfectly-made bed with nothing to cover him, and Nathalie wondered if he'd had wandered here in his sleep.

She hadn't anticipated this to be the most difficult part of the outcome caused by her and Hawk Moth's failed expiriment. Adrien was so young, and he'd already had everything taken away from him once. Seeing it happen to him all over again was unbearable to watch, especially since he seemed to be taking it even harder the second time. Nathalie tried to be there for him, but so far she had just allowed things to get worse. Adrien and her were yet to really have a moment to each other to talk about the whole situation. She wasn't sure if he could feel comfortable confiding in her as his legal guardian or not.

Forgetting her clipboard for the time being, she passed the sleeping teenager on quiet feet and slowly opened one of Gabriel's storage closets where he'd kept various belongings. One of them, Nathalie knew, being a spare blanket that he'd lent to her many times. After sliding the neatly folded quilt off of its shelf and shutting the closet doors gently, she let the blanket fall open, giving it a slight wave before draping it carefully over Adrien. The sight of his face burrowed stubbornly into the bed brought an overwhelming feeling she couldn't quite place. But in any case, she couldn't bring herself to leave him alone without resting her hand on her shoulder for a moment.

With that, she turned and left him to sleep, grabbing her clipboard on her way out.


Last call. We're officially stopping by Adrien's pad at 3 today. Offer's still up
Sent by Nino Lahiffe at 9:34AM


So far, day two of watching for any akumas that would target Adrien was proving to be just as uneventful as day one. Ladybug felt like she'd been taken back 24 hours in time. It was just as quiet and boring, and her body ached just as much as it did yesterday. Even the clouds in the sky appeared to be layed out the same way.

The only difference she could really pick out so far was that only a single car had shown up this morning, and it left after a few minutes. Apparently, spying on everyone that visited the Agreste Mansion was now a hobby of hers. That was just great. But, hopefully Mr. Agreste's assistant kept to her word and took Adrien's space more seriously after seeing the effect yesterday had had on him.

As the day repeated through its cycle, Ladybug passed the time by letting her yo-yo roll off its string down the side of the huge building, and yanking it back up. She often forgot that her multi-purpose weapon was also, in fact, a toy to be played with. One she might as well take advantage of. It was something to keep her busy, at least.

She had even figured out some of those fancy yo-yo tricks she'd seen from that one time she'd looked up videos of professionals out of curiosity. She was able to form a triangle shape with the string and spin the yo-yo into the center of it, though she couldn't quite remember what the trick was called. Would she have been able to figure this out as Marinette and not Ladybug? She honestly doubted it.

Though, apparently, neither one of them would pick it up instantly, because the next trick she'd attempted left her cursing herself as she struggled to untangle the thin black thread that was now in a frenzied labyrinth of knots.

At least I can't say I have nothing to do, she thought as her thin fingers picked at the durable string.

It was at that moment she realized that 3PM had apparently snuck up on her, when she started hearing teenage chatter in the direction of the Agreste's driveway. She looked towards the sound and, as anticipated, Nino was waiting at the huge, black gate that towered over him easily, sided by Chloe and Alya, who had a large, stickered book wedged underneath her arm. They were let in, and made their way towards the mansion, exchanging soft words as they disappeared up the large set of stairs, out of Ladybug's sight.

She sat for the next few hours, comforted that Adrien would finally be surrounded by good company. Nino was his best friend, and he showed more genuine care for his wellbeing than anyone else did. Alya probably could have been a licensed therapist at this point, and Chloe, as much as she didn't like her, had proven herself to be a somewhat solid - and literal - shoulder to cry on for Adrien, so that was good enough for her.

She was supposed to be with them, and something in her wished that she had accepted Nino's invitation. It was torturous just sitting here, unable to do anything while the person she cared about suffered. Especially when there was still no sign of an akuma. Her being there already felt pointless enough as it was.

But upon remembering the harsh words she'd spat out at him last Friday, she was reminded of why she'd refused the offer. She couldn't imagine trying to face him with words of kindness and pretend like nothing had happened that day.

Chat Noir's words from last night repeated in her head.

She couldn't help but wonder what her partner had gone through for him to sympathize with Adrien's situation so much. Most of what left Chat's mouth was just foolish flirting, teasing or tasteless jokes, and he never really took himself seriously. It sometimes didn't occur to her that he, like everyone else, had a personal life with personal struggles. And those struggles had a big enough impact on his life that being reminded of them had made him act almost like a whole different person. Guess you really never do know what people are going through.

She did tell him she would think about it. It's true that Adrien always seemed to admire Ladybug, as most citizens did. Still, she wasn't sure it would be appropriate. It would still feel like a lie. She was still Marinette, and Marinette had still said those things, despite whatever persona she was currently taking on.

But, maybe it didn't matter. I mean, as long as it made Adrien even a tiny bit happier, that was the important part, right?


Adrien sat slouched over in front of his multiple computer screens, studying the image of him and his mother from early last year. He sometimes felt like this was really the only thing he used his computer for.

It felt wrong that he was trying to use the grief of his mother to distract himself from the grief of his father. While he could never get over his mother being gone, it was far less of a shock, and he'd had more time to accept it. Plus, it hadn't left him an orphan like his father's did. Still, the fact that one of the most horrible things to happen to him in his life was now being used as a coping mechanism really just went to show how poor of a state his mind was in.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a small hissing sound from somewhere behind him. He looked back, confused to find nothing out of the ordinary, until he saw something round and bright red poke into sight at the top of his window, spinning in place before redisappearing.

A smile crept onto his lips, in both relief to know Ladybug was looking after him again today, and amusement in seeing her yo-yo being used as an actual yo-yo. That was a first.

He found himself considerably more at ease after that. For a second he was tempted to go outside and try to talk to her, but decided against it. What exactly was he planning to say? Hey, Ladybug. My dad just died. Want some tea?

Guess he was just going to have to hope she would take last night's advice into consideration. He was gonna have to act surprised to see her, in the event that she did decide to visit him.

His door latched open, and Adrien turned to see Nathalie at his doorstep. "Adrien, your friends have arrived," she informed. She stepped aside, and Adrien's heart warmed to see his best friend's face smiling carefully at him. He stood up to meet him halfway as Alya and Chloe followed in after him.

"Hey, dude," Nino greeted him softly, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Hey," Adrien returned. He stepped back, observing his guests with a gentle smile. "Thanks for coming to see me, everyone."

"Of course," chimed in Alya, smiling at him sweetly. Upon looking at her in appreciation, he realized she wasn't accompanied by her best friend at her side like he'd been expecting.

"No Marinette?" He asked.

"Yeah, nah, she flaked out." Nino nearly stumbled sideways upon receiving Alya's elbow in his ribs. "Uh, I mean she…couldn't make it."

"Oh, that's too bad," Adrien responded, oblivious. "It would have been nice to see her."

"Some friend she is." Chloe scoffed, passing the three of them, walking deeper into Adrien's room. "This is my second time here in two days. She couldn't even manage make it here once?"

Nice to see you too, Chloe.

"I'm sure she has a valid reason," Adrien excused on Marinette's behalf, even now making an effort to be as understanding as possible. "Either way, I'm super happy to see all of you. Please, make yourselves comfortable."

Adrien and Nino planted themselves on the sleek couch in the middle of his room. Alya was seemingly distracted, taken by the size and quality of Adrien's room. After all, this was her first time in here as her non akumatized self. Luckily he hadn't let it get too messy, though the avalanche of clothes was still piled on his bed from last night when he'd abandoned it and crashed in his father's room (though "crashed" probably wasn't quite the right word for it, seeing as he was really only half-asleep the whole time). It didn't seem too noticeable, though he hoped Nathalie hadn't seen it when she escorted his friends in.

"How're you holding up?" Nino asked, leaning his elbow against the back of the sofa and resting the side of his head into his palm.

"Oh, you know," Adrien sighed, shrugging. "As well as I can, I suppose."

"You look like you haven't gotten much sleep, bro." Nino frowned, studying Adrien's face. This caught Adrien off guard. Was it really that noticeable?

"Yeah, not really," Adrien admitted, nervously stroking his hair. Hearing this caused Chloe's unreadable expressions to fall. She was clearly having difficulty showing the same side of her that she had yesterday, and Adrien knew it was because other people were around. Alya and Nino weren't exactly the ideal people she would choose to hang out with. He could only imagine how awkward the trip over had been. But they were the only people he felt comfortable seeing. Them and Marinette, who apparently couldn't make it. He loved his other classmates, but didn't feel quite close enough with them to request their presence at his house at this time. Still she brought herself to walk over and sit next to him opposite Nino, looping his arms through his and holding tight.

"You know you can always call us, right?" Nino asked, looking discouraged at Adrien's confirmation. "If you need us to come over or to talk to about anything, you have our numbers."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Nino," Adrien said with genuine gratitude. He didn't know how comfortable he would be with having friends over super often. His father had never allowed this kind of thing, and he didn't want to feel like he was betraying him. "I guess I'm still just…trying to wrap this situation around my head." He looked around, eyes falling back to his computer screen and bouncing to each picture of his mother he had placed across his room. "I guess I'm gonna have to expand my collection of dead-parent portraits in here. Wouldn't want him to feel left out."

Nino chuckled in response, but quickly stopped when Chloe shot him an impatient look.

"Why would you laugh at that?" She barked, leaning forward to glare at him from the other side of their friend.

Nino seemed frantic and like he was about to apologize, until he saw that Adrien appeared to be encouraging his reaction. He was lucky to have someone to remind him to laugh at these kinds of times and not take everything so seriously. He was also lucky to have someone care about him enough to be so protective over his feelings, even if it wasn't always necessary.

"It's okay, Chloe," he reassured. "I'll have to get a sense of humor about these things sooner or later. It's not like there's anything I can do to change it, so I might as well."

Chloe didn't have words to say in response to this. She wasn't the type to understand, seeing as she really wasn't the type to have a sense of humor in most situations in general. Instead, she looked sideways to Alya. "Hey. Are you gonna give him that book thingy, or not?"

Alya snapped back from her trance of fascination for Adrien's room, looking to the group with wide eyes. "Oh. Yes, of course." She approached them from where she'd been gawking near Adrien's fooseball table, holding the wide book to her chest. Adrien was surprised. He hadn't anticipated that it would be for him. "So, I had a bunch of our class get together at my house yesterday, and we all worked on this for you." She set the book down on the coffee table in front of them. "Not everyone was able to make it, but I added in their contribution for them."

Chloe released Adrien's arm so he could lean forward and take in the cover of the book. It read We love you, Adrien! in carefully placed letters with artistically arranged stickers and banners.

"Wow, Alya," Adrien breathed, slowly picking up the book and placing it on his lap. "You didn't have to do this for me."

"Sure we did," Alya said, taking a seat on the edge of the table with a wink. "You're our friend, aren't you?"

Flipping through the book, he found a series of messages written by his classmates, each accompanied by a random picture of Adrien and them. He instantly understood what Alya meant when she said she'd added some of the messages on their friend's behalf. There was no way Ivan's handwriting was that neat and…well, fancy.

He skimmed through the messages, deciding he'd read them in depth later. He didn't want to take up his friend's time, and they were already difficult enough to even look at without him wanting to burst into tears.

"That's-" his voice caught as he closed the book. He set it back on the coffee table, trying to blink away the quickly flooding tears, without success. He chuckled nervously, covering them up by pressing the bottom of his fist to his forehead. Showing emotion around others was definitely not something he was used to, and he wasn't sure how to go about it. "That's really thoughtful of you guys," he managed to force out. "You really didn't have to-" he couldn't finish.

"Hey, we wanted to, man." Nino was quick to throw his arm around Adrien's back. "We care about you. This is the least we can do."

Adrien sat up, wiping at his tears and snickering at himself again sheepishly. He knew he wasn't supposed to be embarrassed, but he couldn't help it. His father had always taught him to be composed around others, and to not let weakness show.

It's unproffesional to let your weakness show around others, he'd said, when Adrien was a child. We're a proud, dignified family. We can't be having people looking down on us like we're desperate commoners.

Adrien remembered the feelings of discouragement when he'd heard those words. That lecture had lead him to confide in his mother more often throughout his life, always feeling like showing any kind of emotion around his father was disrespecting him. His mother never reacted that way. She always understood and offered an ear to his problems, offering advice and imput where she could fit it. It was always better than the cold, disapproving stare he got from his father.

There it was again. The guilt. His father only ever tried to help him and set him up for success so he wouldn't let himself be humiliated. Now he was gone, and all Adrien could seem to do to honor his efforts was complain about them.

He swallowed his thoughts, archiving them for when he didn't have company to think of. He exhaled, composing himself. "Thank you, really," he said, trying to sound like his voice wasn't still struggling to recover from the tears. "This means a lot. I'll be sure to text everyone once I finish reading all of their messages."

The three of them stayed with him for the best few hours he's had for a while. Him and Nino had played a few rounds on Adrien's video game system, but most of the afternoon was spent just talking. No complicated business talk or empty well-wishes shoved down his throat. Just plain, simple talking. It wasn't even about him or his father, which was nice. It took his mind off of everything.

When the time came for his friends to leave, Adrien assisted Nathalie in escorting them out, waving to them from the top of the stairs as they made their way out of his driveway.

He turned around, heading back inside. "So, I was actually wondering if you and I should have dinner together tonight?" Adrien asked Nathalie, stepping into his home. "We never have before. You know, not really."

Nathalie didn't reply, and Adrien turned back around to see his legal guardian hadn't yet left the front steps. She appeared to be fixed on something in the distance, though Adrien couldn't clearly see her expression, nor what it was that had her hooked attention.

"Nathalie?" He said, peering at her in puzzlement. "What is it?"

Nathalie was silent for a moment, but eventually did turn and follow Adrien inside. "Sorry. I thought I saw something." She closed the one double-door they'd opened behind her. "What were you saying?"

"Well, I didn't know if you wanted to eat dinner together tonight," Adrien brought his idea back up. "I mean, since you're my guardian now and all, I just thought it would be fitting. Maybe we could…I don't know, get to know each other a little better?"

Again, Nathalie's response didn't come right away. Her expression was unreadable to Adrien, and for a moment, he wondered if he'd said struck a nerve somehow. But his worries quickly ceased when Nathalie nodded, her face brightening up a bit.

"Of course. That sounds like a great idea," she confirmed. "I'll have the cook start preparing something for us now."

Adrien nodded back, pleased, before the two of them separated. It typically took a while for their meals to be made, so he decided he might as well make himself comfortable in his room in the meantime.

Adrien took that moment alone to flip through the scrapbook that was made for him, reading through each of his friends' messages and feeling touched by each one. He even managed a light chuckle at some of the inside jokes his classmates had squeezed into their letters.

Flipping the final page, he was puzzled when Marinette's section was left without a written message. He'd instantly recognized the photo Alya had taken of two of them from the time they modeled Marinette's clothing design in front of the Eiffel Tower. Their laughing faces from that day contrasted against the wordless, empty space accompanying the photograph. He thought back to earlier when Nino had told him Marinette wasn't been able to make it. He wondered if he'd said something wrong to her to make her not want to reach out to him. Honestly, that whole week before his father died was just a blur to him now.

"Adrien." He once again heard his door open. Dinner couldn't have been done already. He looked up at Nathalie, who had the same strange expression on her face as she did a few minutes ago. "You have one more visitor," she said, her voice low and just as unreadable as her face.

"Oh. Really?" Adrien was stuck with confusion. He wondered who it could be…he hadn't been expecting anyone else. Unless…

Wait a minute. He was expecting someone. He just wasn't sure if she would actually come.

He quickly stood from his spot on the floor, waiting for Nathalie to reveal the guest.

"O-oh…Marinette, hi."