The time went by much faster than either boy wanted, but that's not to say they didn't use every moment they had to its fullest. Adrien's schedule was also so much easier and not quite as demanding with his best friend being present. It seemed that Mr. Agreste allowed his son to be more like a teenager when Nino was around, and though he would never admit it to anyone, he was actually happy that Adrien had a friend like the dark-haired DJ at his side.

Nathalie however was not afraid of what others thought or said about her, and let both Adrien and Nino know that, "I particularly like this friend of yours Adrien. He's not afraid to speak his mind. There are not enough people like that in this world,"

Nino hadn't been sure as to whether or not he should be offended by what Mr. Agreste's assistant had said about him, but Adrien explained that it was a compliment, and a high one from Nathalie.

"She barely ever says something so nice to teenagers! She usually claims that they are useless divas and brats," Adrien explained.

So, the month went by with Adrien and Nino hanging out as often as possible, with Nathalie always having an acceptable excuse ready for whenever Mr. Agreste arrived on the scene.

But before they knew it, they were having to pack up their clothes and toothbrushes, preparing for the non-stop flight back home.

"It seems so unfair that we have to go back already!" Nino said as he packed his clothes into his duffle bag.

"I know right! It feels like just yesterday you arrived here! I wish we could spend a little more time just being bros. But like always, duty calls!" Adrien said, as he brushed his hair.

"Why do you need to be back in Paris so soon anyway? I mean it's not like the fate of your dad's business depends on you!" Nino asked.

Adrien sighed, packing his brush in his carry on bag.

"It might as well be like that,"

Nino was about to ask what his friend meant by that, when there was a sudden knock on their hotel room door.

"Come in!" Adrien called.

Nathalie entered the room, her tablet in hand.

"Your father has already left on the private jet, and all of your flight preparations have been made," she explained.

"He left? Already? But he didn't even see me off," Adrien sighed, gazing sadly at the floor.

"He had scheduled a very important meeting today that he didn't wish to reschedule," Nathalie said, which Adrien understood really meant, "I'm sorry your father is being so nasty to you,"

"It's alright dude. We'll have a blast just the two of us! And I'm sure that Nathalie won't relate any 'mistakes' to your old man!" Nino said, throwing an arm around his buddy's shoulders.

Nino's eyes got wide as he realized that Nathalie was currently in the room.

"You wont tell him I said that will you?" he asked looking pleadingly at the older woman.

Nathalie gave him a small smile.

"Not a word Nino. Not a word,"

"Thanks!" Nino thanked her, a grin spreading across his face at the knowledge of the bullet he just dodged sunk in.

The boys talked all the way to the airport, not ceasing their conversation even when they were waiting for Nathalie to return with their flight information.

"Here are your boarding passes," she informed the two boys, handing them each a boarding pass. "And your seats are right in front of mine, so if you need anything, just ask,"

"Ok we will. Thanks Nathalie!" Adrien said as he looked over his boarding pass.

"Of course. Now, do you have everything? You have your carry ons?" she asked, Adrien and Nino both raising their small duffel bags in response.

"Yes," they replied in unison.

"Good. Let's get going. I'd rather not wait last minute," Nathalie said, motioning for the boys to follow her lead as they headed to their flight gate and handed their pre-boarding passes to the workers.

Nathalie practically fell asleep as soon as her head hit the back of her seat.

Nino and Adrien however, played every game available on Adrien's tablet, listening to their favorite group ADDA as they battled against inter dimensional foes and tried to pummel each other in chess.

"Has your dad been giving you chess lessons along with fencing and piano?" Nino asked as he lost his ninth straight game of chess to the blonde.

Adrien laughed and shook his head.

"No! I just really like the game. I learned how to play from my Great Uncle Julian. He's a master at it! I wanted to learn when I was about six, and he wanted me to actually learn something remotely fun, so he agreed to teach me while I agreed to learn,"

"Dude that's really cool!" Nino said.

Adrien nodded just as the flight attendants informed the passengers that they had to put their seat belts back on as they started their decent into Paris.

Nino and Adrien buckled their seat belts, and then Adrien checked behind him on Nathalie who gave him a thumbs up, indicating that she was fine.

She had slept for almost the entire twelve hour flight with both boys taking turns in checking up on her periodically.

"I bet Marinette will be happy to see you!" Nino said out of the blue, elbowing his friend lightly in the ribs.

Adrien's face turned a shade darker at the mention of his partner. He hadn't seen her in almost half the year. He wondered how much she had changed, if any.

"W- (clears throat) why do you say that?" the blonde asked.

"Because! You haven't seen each other yet, and I bet that she is just going crazy not being able to see or talk to you! All the information she's getting is from social media. Plus, you sent her like, twenty letters just while I was here,"

"It wasn't twenty! It was eighteen," Adrien corrected his best friend.

"Well excuse me!" Nino laughed, putting his hands up in defense.

The attendant came over the loud speaker, letting everyone know that they were about to land.

Both boys prepared for impact, and soon as the plane landed, they each let out a sigh of relief.

They unbuckled and grabbed their bags from the overhead compartments, getting into the aisle as quickly as they could.

As soon as they exited the plane, both boys turned their phones off of airplane mode, both devices suddenly lighting up with text messages.

"I'm sorry Adrien. I just was informed by your father that he needs me at work sooner than he thought. You will have to go to the mansion without me," Nathalie said.

"What? But we barely got back!"

"I know Adrien, and I'm sorry. But if its any consolation, I already made arrangements for a chaperone for this very instance. He will be there to greet you,"

Adrien sighed. This day was not going at all like he expected it to.

"Ok. Thanks Nathalie,"

The woman simply nodded and headed off to baggage claim with post haste.

The boys took their time to get to baggage claim, Nino trying his best to comfort Adrien.

"I cant believe he would call her into work so soon! Did you see how tired she was? She slept for so long, I was afraid she wasn't gonna wake up!" Adrien said, his exasperation at his father quite obvious.

Nino spotted Adrien's bag and grabbed it when it came closer, listening to the blonde as he let out all his frustration.

"I mean, how hard is it for him to think about somebody other than himself for once? Obviously, impossible!"

Nino noticed recognized the Agreste family car. He did not however, recognize the person leaning against the silver vehicle.

He was tall, with light blonde hair, the bangs of which were swept neatly over his forehead. He seemed trim, but well built at the same time, like he had a swimmer's build. He was dressed rather classy, but pretty casually for a chauffeur. He wore a white dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows and was tucked neatly under a black vest which matched his black dress trousers.

Nino simply directed Adrien towards the name by pulling him by the elbow rather than telling him where to go since he was in a full outrage by now.

Adrien wasn't even paying attention at this point, and clearly didn't see the car or the person as they approached.

"And he seems to think that he can just walk over everyone! Regardless of their feelings! And another thing, he"

"Adrien," Nino tried to interrupt him, not succeeding.

"Never lets anyone get a word in edgewise! It's like what we have to say is unimportant in his schedule!"

"Adrien," Nino tried again.

"He's rude to all of his employees too!"

"Adrien!"

"I mean, he has no respect! None! For other people!"

Nino noticed that the man leaning against the car was now chuckling.

"And it just…" Adrien took a breath, sighing at the predicament he was in.

"I probably made a pretty big fool of myself huh?" Adrien asked his best friend, the blonde's face very similar to that of a dejected puppy.

"Probably," the stranger said, speaking for the first time. "But what else is new?"

Adrien turned his attention the man, his green eyes going wide at the sight before him. His jaw dropped and his bag fell from his hand to the ground with a hollow "THUD!".'

"Hello Adrien,"

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh! Who is this new addition to the "game"? And what role does he play? And how will the whole thing turn out with Adrien and Marinette? Or Chat Noir and Ladybug? Stay tuned to find out!

Enjoy!

Always, WOBE