Geez, NotreDame burning up yesterday really got to me. It was so hard to watch... I'm so glad that nobody died and that most of the artwork was saved. Just when I think it could have been so much worse it gives me chills.
Anyways, here is a new chapter.
Lies
Adrien Devereaux wanted nothing more in life than to succeed as a Fashion Designer as he had as an actor back in the day.
Once the Miraculous series were over, so had been his heart.
He'd been friends with Zhi Ruo for a long time. He knew her every quirk, her every smile, her everything. Or so he thought. He'd found out the hardest way that Zhi was an even better actress than he'd thought.
Once it was over, he'd decided to pursue a different path. In the following months, several directors had tried to hire him to play parts on their movies. Or brands wanted him to model their clothes. He'd always rejected them. Soon, they stopped asking. He was finally free(ish).
He'd moved to London with his father and enrolled on the UAL (University of the Arts London) in the LCF (London College of Fashion). It wasn't easy, but he'd done it. Only to find that being in the actual school was even harder. People assumed that he had everything he wanted because he was... 'Adrien Agreste'. Being called Adrien, as the character he had played, did nothing for his situation. He rarely felt like himself anymore. It seemed like his name was meant for someone else.
He'd entered that school without any 'helping hand'. He'd made sure of it. If he got in, he wanted it to be because of his talent alone. He knew he had talent, and he got to prove it to a lot of people. Most of the students and teachers made his life living hell, but he'd prevailed and was now a graduate. Of course, there were some wonderful people he'd met along the way, such as his final project mentor Karl J. Rouse and his very good friend Hannah Smith.
After that, came the — even harder — part of finding a job. It was like college had started all over again. They kept treating him like the golden boy that had everything he wanted just because he had stared on a very famous series once, and it was pissing him off. Someone had hired him to do assistant's work and he'd felt so thrilled, only to find that they wanted him 'assisting' the camera by modeling their clothes. He'd never felt more offended. He desperately needed to prove himself in the fashion world.
Adrien had just come out of his last job interview — one he'd been treated as the model Adrien Agreste again — when he decided to reunite the gang and tell them the good news:
He was going rogue.
If he couldn't start by the bottom on a normal design company, he would start from the top at his own company.
"Now that we're all here, I have an announcement: I'm going to create my own brand." He said with a confident posture. But in his head, he was already re-thinking the whole thing. He did have a lot of money, but to create a company from scratch... It was going to take more than money to do that. He shook away the negative thoughts and looked at the scenery in front of him.
Sitting on his couch, Simon, Lucie and Hannah were looking at him without covering their thoughts. Which shifted between skepticism and bewilderment.
Lucie Alard, the optimistic of the group, was the first to recover, "That sound so cool!" She squealed, making him immediately think of Tikki, the Kwami. She was five years younger than him — she had 8 years old when the Miraculous series started — and she was everything that Tikki represented. From the whole cast, he'd say that Lucie was the best match for her character. Sweet and optimistic, but always with her feet on the earth to judge what could go wrong in every situation. Her appearance was pretty normal. She wasn't a beauty, but she combed pretty well. She had dark hair and dark eyes and a couple of cute freckles on her nose. She was now 20, but still had the voice of a 10-year-old.
"Yeah!" Recovered Hannah — his only true friend through college years —, "But how are you planning on doing it?"
"With help." He answered unsure, "With your help, hopefully." He continued looking at his friends, "But if you can't or don't want to, it's totally fine!" He quickly added rising his hands with his palms facing his friends, "I'll manage."
Before anyone said anything, Simon Laurent let out a little chuckle. He had dark hair too, but soft green eyes, and he had a rude kind of handsome.
"You know we are here for you, kid. But don't you think that's throwing yourself to the sharks?" He said with a dangerous smile wavering on his lips. Adrien knew what that meant. Simon was always testing him. Like Lucie, Simon wasn't Adrien's and Hannah's age. He was four years older, meaning he was almost 30. When they first met, Simon had been the cool older kid, who Adrien had the luck to hang out with. Now he could not imagine his life without his sarcastic and testing comments. It was a great part of their relationship.
Back in the day, the group was bigger. Zhi Ruo and Alice made part of it, although the air was always weird when Simon or Alice spoke to one another, they used to be a group of five, not three. Until it happened. He never should have let his feelings for Zhi Ruo get the best of him. He shouldn't have started dating her. Even though she was the one who ruined their relationship before it began, he kept wondering what had happened if he'd never told her his feelings for her. Probably the gang would still be intact. He was to blame too.
Now there was nothing to be done anyway.
"I don't mind swimming in dangerous waters. That's all I've known in the past years, so why not try to become a shark myself too?" Adrien shrugged, with a naive smile growing on his lips.
"It will be your funeral." Simon shrugged back, "And ours if we go in with you."
"Of course we're going in with him!" Said Lucie a little outraged, "But we are going in with our head on our shoulders and with a lifeguard boat!" Lucie was on the third year of her bachelor in Economics, so she would be great at the accountant stuff. Ever since she'd entered the Economics college of London, she had been staying at Adrien's house. Her parents lived in Preston and add agreed that she could come to London because Adrien's father had offered his place. Lucie was very loved by her fans and his parents were scared of her living all alone. Adrien looked at her as his little sister, one he needed to love and protect.
"Adrien, I'm not sure how much time I can spare, but I will help as much as I can." Added Hannah, smiling sadly. Hannah had found a job at a Fashion atelier and Adrien was incredibly happy for her. He knew he couldn't ask her to give it up because of his little whims, so if she could give him just a little help, it would be more than enough.
Hannah had light brown hair and amber eyes. She was cute, but not stunning, or so thought Adrien. It was really hard for him to tell if a girl was attractive when the girl he loved — past tense — was stunningly beautiful. Outside.
"Lifeguard boat!" Repeated Simon, laughing. Ignoring what Hannah had just said, not giving time for Adrien to thank her.
"We can do better than that, if you want in." Said Adrien smirking, while sitting on an armchair and placing his feet on the coffee table to make a point.
"So dramatic..." Breathed Lucie, rolling her eyes.
"I'll tell you what," Said Simon, smirking right back at Adrien, while leaning over with his elbows on his knees, "First, you present your idea to me. Then I'll invest. How's that for you?"
"Sounds perfect!" Replied Adrien, but what they all heard was 'Bring it on.'
"Lucie, don't you want to see the movie?" Asked Charles, Adrien's father, looking at Lucie that was glued to her mobile's screen instead of watching the movie she'd picked for them to see on the movie night.
"Oh!" She said, surprised as if she'd forgotten she was supposed to be watching a movie, "Yes! I'm sorry!" Her gaze shifted between the Tv and her phone, as if she couldn't decide, "Just a sec!" She furiously typed something on her phone.
Adrien smirked and got up from the couch where he had been sitting with his father and walked behind her to peek at her phone.
"Red Thread?" He asked amused when he saw the app name on her phone.
Lucie got up as if her chair was on fire and let out an offended screech. Adrien's smile grew with his curiosity.
"What's the Red Thread, Lucie?" He asked, stepping towards her. She squealed and quickly ran away to the other part of the room, with her hands covering her phone on her chest.
"None of your business!" She said defensively.
Since no one was watching it, Charles paused the movie. He too was interested in Lucie's reaction to Adrien's prying.
"You can tell me, or I can figure it out on my own..." Adrien warned, with fun flickering on his eyes.
Lucie frowned, indecisively. Adrien really had become the big brother she'd never had.
Be careful what you wish for.
Adrien picked his phone up, throwing her an amused smile, and typed 'red thread' on the app store, "Wow." He said, looking at her without concealing his surprise, after reading the summary of the app. Lucie blushed and prepared herself to be judged. "Why would you want to be on a dating app?"
Lucie blushed darker, "I- It's none of your business!" She let out a bit too aggressively.
"Okay, you won't tell me, I have no other choice." He said shrugging while pressing the download button.
"What are you going to do?" She asked, with fear creeping in, and walking over to look at his phone. He repressed a smile and hit the 'create account' button. She let out a little shocked shriek and her eyes doubled size as he happily started to make his account.
"Don't you dare, Adrien Devereaux!" She warned making a move to get his phone out of his hand. But he was already expecting it, so he dodged her attempts and laughed.
Charles, that until how had watched with amusement, finally said, "Kids, cut it off. I'm not going to have to ground you for bad behavior, am I?"
"But he is prying on my things!" Lucie complained, as she jumped to try to reach Adrien's phone, that he was holding up in the air.
"I'm just trying to protect you from creeps!" He replied, laughing.
"That's absurd! I can protect myself!" She whined, making both men laugh.
"Okay, stop it, both of you." Said Charles with a commanding fatherly tone, but without raising his voice, "Adrien sit here" He pointed at one armchair, "And Lucie sit there." He said, pointing with the other arm to another armchair in the opposite corner of the room. They obliged. "Seriously, you kids keep making my hair greyer."
"Dad," Started Adrien, "You know we're not kids anymore..."
"You will stop being kids when you start acting unlike them." Said Charles with a chuckle. "Now, Lucie," He looked at the girl, "Why are you using a dating app? You know how dangerous things like that can be, right?" She looked down and gave him a timid shrug. "Your parents didn't want you to be in danger. I told them that a bodyguard to follow your every move was taking things too far, but if I tell them you are dating online they will probably stop trusting my better judgment."
"I'm sorry." She said, with her eyes still on the floor and her hands grasping around her phone, "But I really like this guy!" She let out looking up at Charles, begging with her eyes.
He let out a sigh, "I guess we can hire a private detective to look into him..."
"What! No!" Said Lucie, frowning at the idea, "That's absurd! What would he think if he ever found out!?"
"Sorry, Lucie, but we have to make sure that this guy is legit. I'm sure your parents agree with me." Charles said, with an understanding smile.
"Maybe we can dig into the guy first?" Adrien asked, "That was what I was going to do, anyway..." Lucie looked at him thankfully. He had started the mess, and he was trying to make it better. "If we find that he is way too perfect to be true, then we hire a private detective." He looked at Lucie, apologetically, "That is if you really like him."
Charles sighed loudly, "Does that sound reasonable to you, Lucie?"
She nodded, slowly.
"Then it's settled. You give Adrien the name of the guy and we will look him up!"
The rest of the night passed in awkward silence. Lucie went to bed early, giving the men space to finally look into the guy she was text dating. Because she at least had had the discernment of not meeting him yet. They'd only been texting for two weeks, apparently.
Charles and Adrien sat together on the couch, both looking at Adrien's phone.
"Do we really have to answer all these questions?" Asked Charles, already regretting his decision.
"I don't know." Adrien replied, feeling his father's pain, "Let me try and skip them." He pressed the 'done' button and the account was accepted. "Wow."
"What?" Asked Charles, confused.
"I didn't have to do anything. I only wrote my username." He frowned at the phone, "What kind of dating app is this!? I thought that we needed to at least prove who we are to get in!" He looked astonished at his phone. This app isn't safe at all. He thought, but he refrained of saying it, because he knew that Lucie was counting on him. Who knows? Maybe the guy she was texting was a nice guy that had made a poor choice of picking a dating app such as this one. Like Lucie had. "Anyway, let's just search his username." He quickly said before his father could put together what he'd said before. He hit the search button and on his page appeared some random suggestions. His stomach jumped at the sight of Zhi's picture. He promptly wrote the username of the guy Lucie was dating, and his profile popped up.
"Wasn't that Zhi Ruo?" Asked his father with a surprised tone.
A picture of her, yes. Zhi Ruo? On a dating app? That was just absurd. But he wasn't going to say that to his father, when he was trying to help Lucie prove that her boyfriend wasn't a creep. If Charles realized this was an app where people could pretend to be anyone they wanted, his father wasn't going to hire a private detective. His father was going to call Lucie's parents and they'd do god knows what. He'd never seen such strict parents in his life! They'd probably make her give up college in London and come back home. He wasn't going to let that happen. He knew how important was for her to be there.
"Was it? I didn't notice." He said, shrugging, dismissing the importance of the matter. He hated to lie to his dad. "Here he is!" He and his father leaned on to the phone and starter de PI investigation.
Adrien woke up in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat and panting as if he'd just ran a kilometer.
Her words still wavering on his ears like it had been yesterday.
I love you.
Liar.
She was a liar.
She'd said it with such heart...
Every time he relived it in his dreams, he'd believe her. He was a fool to believe her.
Zhi Ruo still visited him from time to time on his dreams. Her beautiful lies had haunted him for years.
He remembered her cruel words, written on his mind despite he'd long deleted the text message.
'I'm sorry, I can't hold it back any longer.
I was only pretending for the sake of good publicity. The truth is I never loved you. You can't really blame me, can you? How could I ever be in love with someone like you?
Don't call me because I won't be able to recognize your number.'
It had stung. Her every word cutting his heart to bits. He had hated her. He'd said he never wanted to see her face again when she came to knock on his door. He was young and really hot-headed at the time. Could anyone really blame him?
But when the heat cooled down, he realized that he should at least have listened to her. Let her explain...
He loved her.
He had searched for her, feeling guilty for not letting her speak that day. Only to find her making out with some random dude. After that one, a lot more followed. Adrien realized that she was just not what he thought she was. Around that time, Zhi Ruo gained a bit of a bad reputation, she and her manager had made disclaimers and newspapers had found proof that the one kissing around wasn't really Léi, but he didn't believe it. It was nothing more than a tentative of clearing her name. No one wanted the girl that played Marinette Dupain-Cheng to look bad. But he had seen her. And he knew what he saw.
What was really getting into his nerves was: why would someone try to enter a dating app and create a Zhi Ruo's profile to catfish other people? She was beautiful and all, but she was rotten. She ruined everything she touched with her perfect words.
Of course, all her fans loved her. She was the perfect cover. So maybe that was why someone would pretend to be her..? Because everyone loved her?
He reached for his phone and searched for her in the Red Thread app.
Her profile appeared. She had a picture taken from Zhi's official Facebook page.
Another liar. Anyone can have access to this pictures. He thought, bitterly, scrolling down her profile page. She had answered every question correctly. This girl or boy must be quite the stalker. Adrien gave a little unhumourous snort. Even with all the defects this catfishing person might have, she (let's think of her as 'she' for now) was not even close to how bad Zhi was.
He aggressively put down his phone and turned to the other side of his bed, trying to sleep some more. Tomorrow he was going to start to make the plans for his new brand and he had to dig into Lucie's boyfriend too.
"Adrien, Thomas Astruc for you." Said Charles, attempting to pass his phone to Adrien. Astruc had called his father, because Adrien had given up his old phone number and his manager after the Miraculous series were over, "Please listen to him and don't give your answer right away." Whispered his father with a warning tone. His father knew him all too well. If this was a job offer, his answer would have been a short and round 'No'.
Adrien took the phone off his hand and answered it.
After the first normal greetings, Astruc quickly got to business. Adrien knew that he was a very busy man and the fact that he was calling personally meant a lot.
"Adrien, we are bringing Miraculous back, and before you say 'no', we really need you. I'm calling back the old cast and Miraculous wouldn't be the same without our Adrien Agreste."
A chuckle came out of Adrien's lips before he could contain himself. There was no way he was going to be back. "That is a bit dramatic, Thomas, don't you think?"
"You know it's not, Adrien. We're already pushing the rope a bit by making the characters way older, but we wouldn't have half of the views without our Chat Noir. I mean it when I say, we need you." Thomas answered, trying his best to convince Adrien.
It wasn't working. "Thomas, I'm very thankful for all you've done for me. I loved every part of my life while working with you, but that part of my life is a closed chapter. I don't-"
"Wait!" Interrupted Thomas, Adrien could hear that he was desperately pulling the last card of his sleeve. "Before you say no, I had something else to ask of you."
Adrien lifted an eyebrow, "Okay... Ask away."
Thomas Astruc dropped the bomb, "Your portfolio made its way up to my desk. I want you to make the wardrobe too. Director of Costume Design, sounds good, doesn't it?"
Adrien was quiet for a moment and Astruc let him have all the time he needed to process, "Let me guess," Adrien added, a little bitterly, "It's a package deal?"
Thomas let out a light laugh, "Don't sound so pissed about it, Adrien! This is a big deal. I've heard you are struggling to make people take you seriously." Adrien threw a glare to his father, "This would be a turning point for you, wouldn't it?" Adrien was silent again, so Thomas let out a sigh, "Let me know your answer by the end of next week, okay? Don't get me wrong, you are good, otherwise I'd never come up with this offer, but remember that my neck will be on the line for hiring such a young and inexperienced designer to make such a big production's wardrobe. That's how much I need you as Chat Noir."
"Okay." Adrien forced himself to say, "I will think about it."
"That's all I'm asking!" Thomas said cheerful, and then the phone call was dropped.
Adrien rubbed his eyes with his hands while his heart beat frenetically. He didn't want to be a part of that world again.
Lucie entered the room and caught the silent question Charles was asking Adrien.
"Is everything alright?" She asked timidly, sensing the tension radiating from Adrien.
He exhaled and passed his hand through his hair, "Astruc is bringing Miraculous back and he wants to hire the old cast."
Lucie let out an excited squeal, "Really?"
Adrien smiled weakly at her, "You should be expecting a call soon."
She clapped her hands together, excited to be reunited with the people she had passed a great part of her life with, "Then why do you look so upset?" Lucie was still a kid when the Zhi Ruo's incident had happened, so she never had realized how hurt Adrien had really been. Or so he thought. "I know you had decided to stop acting, but this is different, right!?" She asked, trying to make him see how wonderful it would be to be in a Miraculous movie again, "I mean... It's MIRACULOUS..."
Which makes it even worse. He thought. I will have to see her every day. I will probably have to kiss her. If not worse.
He shut his eyes hard and shook his head, trying to shake away the wicked thoughts of his head.
"I don't want to act again, Lucie. Not even for Miraculous." He said, resigned.
"Hum." She sighed, "If you really don't want too, you don't have to."
"She is right, son. If you really really don't want to, you don't have to." Charles said, assuringly, "I told you not to answer right away because I thought you'd want to hear his proposition. It's all you ever desired, right? A shot at proving yourself. He is giving you what you wanted, in return for a favor. And he is paying you for both jobs."
"What is he offering?" Asked Lucie, interested.
"Direction of Costume Design." Adrien blatantly said.
Lucie's chin dropped as her eyes opened wide. Charles nodded.
"Wow, Adrien,..." She started, amazed, "That is a big deal."
"I know." He said.
"Are you gonna say yes?" She forwardly asked.
"I don't know." He answered, running a hand through his hair again. His soul was screaming at his head for even considering it. Could he handle being close to her again? "I need some air." He said, picking up his jacket and rushing out to the street. The sun was setting and the colors of the sky were a beautiful mix of reds and strong dark blues. He strolled down the street without caring that the cold evening hair was biting his cheeks.
Damned Zhi Ruo Léi!
He wished she'd never cleared her name of all the rumors of her making out with a different guy every day. If she didn't, he didn't have to be worried about seeing her again, because Thomas Astruc knew better than to call a bad reputation actress to play the role of a heroine such as Ladybug.
He was so pissed off, right now!
Without even thinking about it, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, furiously wrote a message and pressed enter.
[18h43 Today]
Why on earth would someone want to pretend to be Zhi Ruo Léi?
Because, WHY? Why on earth would someone want to pretend to be Zhi Ruo Léi?
She was beautiful.
She was nice.
She had the most gorgeous warm fake smile.
All of her. It was all fake. A lie that only him seemed to see.
Why couldn't they see it too?
He sat on the grass in the Wide Park and lied down to look up at the sky, as it's vibrant colors turned black.
Zhi Ruo had broken him. She was the reason he had closed himself in his art. The reason that he took the harder way on his path to be a designer. More than anything, he wanted to be better than her. He wanted to be there for his friends and if he ever found love again, he wanted to be true, like she never was.
Was he a coward because he feared their reencounter? Was it even worse than a part of him desperately wanted to see her again? He feared more than anything that she could charm him right back into her arms. That he would fall for her all over again because of her beautiful bewitching lies.
Words are a dangerous thing. Words can start wars, and words can bring peace. Words can make someone swoon, and words can break a person's heart. But more terrible than normal powerful words, where lies covered as the truth.
Those were the worst kind of words.
The ones you believe in with all your heart and then they reveal themselves as lies.
It was as if you'd believed your whole life that the sky would always be there, just to find out it is slowly falling over your head, breaking into pieces, and there's just nothing you can do about it. The world falls on you and there's nothing you can do.
There was nothing he could do.
Guilt started to crawl into his system. He shouldn't have exploded to the Red Thread girl like that. She wasn't doing the right thing, by pretending to be someone else, but it wasn't her fault that he had desperately needed to burst out and she practically had offered herself as a guinea-pig.
He picked his phone once again and typed:
I'm sorry if I was rude. But I'm sure that, whoever you are, you can do so much better than Léi...
He reread the message and pressed sent.
Adrien knew that with a username like hers — Buggzhinette —, the girl was much likely a fan of Zhi's and Miraculous, so she wouldn't be very receptive to any of his comments, but if he could just make someone change hearts about Zhi Ruo's, that would be a victory.
The answer from Buggzhinette came around 1 am, and it said:
[1h12 Today]
Buggzhinette: You shouldn't really make assumptions about what you don't know. And yes, you were rude, apologies not accepted.
Adrien smirked to his phone.
The text had arrived right on time. He was about to turn his phone off and go to sleep. He looked at the device and thought about how he should answer. The girl was in a dating app, so maybe he shouldn't flirt with her. It would give the wrong impression. Plus, he was absolutely sure that she as a fraud. Léi would never open an account on such a dishonest dating app, or any app for the matter, that much he knew. Another proof was that her profile was now completely blank. No picture, no name. The obvious move of someone who had just been caught. But for some reason, he still wanted to let her know what Léi was really like. Without offending her, if possible...
[1h15 Today]
Chat_Noir999: Oh, but I'm not assuming anything. I know that you, whoever you are, can't be worse than Léi.
He waited for her answer, but ten minutes after, he kept waiting. Deciding with a sigh that she wasn't going to answer he typed again.
[1h26 Today]
Chat_Noir999: I'm sorry, again. I really didn't mean to offend you. You're obviously a fan, but be careful with Léi.
Giving up on this conversation already, he turned off the lights and motioned to do the same with his phone, when a new notification popped up.
[1h28 Today]
Buggzhinette: You need to learn not to say things that require an apology right after, mister.
[1h29 Today]
Chat_Noir999: I prefer to ask for forgiveness than permission.
[1h29 Today]
Buggzhinette: That's not very polite, is it?
Adrien smirked at the phone. This girl is witty. He thought, amused. When she didn't add anything else to her comment, he decided to do it himself.
[1h31 Today]
Chat_Noir999: Can you tell me your name?
He eagerly waited, looking at his phone.
[1h34 Today]
Buggzhinette: Zhi Ruo Léi. What about yours?
He let out a low chuckle. That was expectable of her to answer. Well, if she wanted to play it like this, he was going to do the same.
By telling the truth, of course.
[1h31 Today]
Chat_Noir999: Adrien Devereaux
This is the 3rd chapter, so if you didn't like reading this story until now, you can officially stop reading it xD If you are having fun with this unconventional fanfiction, I hope you stick around for more ^^
I'm writing my master thesis, so I won't have a specific day to post, I will post when I can (probably once a week, but it might be longer, so I won't promise anything).
Stay Miraculous,
AuriMoon*