Hi everyone! I would really love to hear your suggestions about how Adrien should cope with this! Please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own miraculous
"Look at him, little Agreste wants his daddy to come and get him. Oh, wait his father doesn't even care about his family" said the oldest boy laughing. The rest followed. They were about half a dozen teenagers ganging up on Adrien because they were too scared to mess with Felix. You see, even if Felix would always come home beaten and hurt he always managed to leave is opponents in a worse shape. So, those idiots had figured they'd attack the most precious thing in the blond's life: his brother. He was so small and frail that it was easy to pick on him. only a five-year-old as himself could be so easy to destroy. What an easy target.
"I think he wants to cry!" mocked one pushing him to the ground. Adrien and his friends had been playing football in the town square when the bullies had come. At first, Paul and Lucas, his best friends, had tried to defend him but soon were overwhelmed and left to get reinforcements.
"Why don't we show him how to be a man?" proposed one of them and the little kid knew nothing good would follow. And he was right. He was kicked in the ribs at least ten times before he heard the first scream in pain from his aggressors. Felix was here. He was forgotten. Everyone attention was on his brother who was now fighting all the boys. Adrien watched in amazement as he forth boy fell back. That was his brother right there. It was because of the attention he was paying that he saw one of the fallen rising and preparing to hit his savior from behind. He couldn't stand by. He never knew how he had managed to jump so high to put his legs around the aggressor's neck, pulling him down with him using his little weight. The fall was painful but worth it as now Felix had beaten the rest of them and they were now free to go.
"Wow Ad, I think you can start taking care of yourself now." Winked Felix taking in the sight of his brother's actions, causing the mentioned to beam. He would do anything to make Felix proud. He wanted to be just like him. They went home together and when they saw mom wasn't back yet Felix took Adrien to the bathroom and started cleaning the wounds himself.
"Fe? What did we ever do to them?" he asked, genuinely ignorant to the answer. All he knew was that it had always been like that but that didn't satisfy his curiosity.
"Because they see that mom and dad are not always here and that when they are all they do is argue. They know we're different and instead of feeling sorry for us, they've decided to tease us to feel better about what they had." Explained the oldest cleaning a scratch in his leg.
"I our family less than theirs? Because they're not here I mean." Felix had to smirk, Adrien was too inquisitive for his age.
"No, we're just different. But don't worry I know one day all of this will be better and we'll be a family."
How the hell was he supposed to deal with this? Should he tell someone? Keep it a secret? His dad, the man who had raised him, tuck him into bed as a child and laugh at his antics was a supervillain. He had tried to hurt his father for over a year, had badmouthed and hated him. What was right? What was wrong? Him being Chat Noir was suddenly a crossroad: should he continue, reveal to the world who Hauk moth was or should he hide it, protecting Gabriel? Taking the decision was just too hard. Worst thing was that he couldn't rely on anyone else to help him take the decision. It had to remain a secret until he found a way to save his dad from the consequences of his actions. Or should he let him pay for his sins? This was all too much. "What you've got there?" Felix's voice made him jump in the air, nearly dropping the miraculous.
"It's nothing, I just…" said the youngest trying to hide the broch behind his back. Unfortunately, his brother saw that and snatched the jewel from him. Everything went silent except for the loud pounding of Adrien's heart. Shit. Felix would tell everyone for sure. If he thought he could help the fashion designer out of this mess he'd been wrong. It would all be for nothing.
"Adrien Agreste, where did you get this?" the accusation in his voice was a hard blow for the young model: his own brother suspected him of being the cause of all this havoc? He'd been containing it, not creating it!
"It's not mine." He defended immediately.
"Where. Did. You. Get. It?"
"What do you care? You've never been worried about anything that happens in my life. What should this be any different? I'm not your brother, you said so yourself! And I don't care about you being with me in the hospital, that was all about keeping an image; I know better than to fall for that act. You betrayed me! You used to be my hero! I looked up to you for everything, I loved more than I loved Father and you threw it all away, like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. Well guess what I have no reason to treat you any better than the scum you accused me of being. So, leave me alone or get out of my life. You know what? Get out of my life! I don't want to know a thing about you!" The rage of the past few months came all rushing to him, making him spit venom and leaving him empty and exhausted. Now that he had exploded everything seemed somehow distant, less important for sure. His brother stared at him and the anger slowly disappeared. He looked tired too.
"Adrien, listen: I do care. More than you could ever imagine. You're my little brother and I love you. I know that I've behaved like that wasn't true but that is because of everything that happened in the United States. You did nothing to upset me. I want that to be clear. I spent too much time away and when I came back I couldn't figure out how to be the person you needed, I thought that if I kept my distance I couldn't disappoint you. You must understand something: I put that distance because I didn't want you to hurt more. You would've tried to fix it and you won't be able to do it. And that isn't because I don't care about you, it's because of what I lived. I'm sorry if ever made you feel worthless. You're not scum." Tried to explain Felix.
"And you think I didn't live horrible things too? While you were happily in America I was stuck here completely, not able to go anywhere but to work. My life's been miserable but not because of that I treated you like a nothing. Nothing you say can make things right. You betrayed me!" how could he keep screaming when he felt like no emotion could reach him?
"I know I've put you through hell and I'm not trying to make up an excuse for that. I know I changed for the worse and I let it all out on you. I had no right to do or say that. But I've lived horrible things too and they turned me into who I am now. I'm not denying I have part of the fault, more most of it. Treating you like that has been the mistake of a lifetime, and I will never forgive myself. Please understand… Don't forgive me if you don't want to. Just remember that this had nothing to do with you."
Adrien didn't know if it was because Felix had accepted the blame or because he was desperate to have his family back but suddenly the thought of letting go of all the hurt seemed right. He had never been one to hold grudges either. Yet, he didn't speak. Giving the first step was a little scary. What if history repeated itself and he was just giving the world a chance to hurt him even more? It didn't seem like it and he wanted to trust his instincts on this one. Maybe happiness was finally catching up with him. the silence settled for a while until he mustered the courage to say, "How did we ended up so messed up?" A smile crossed his brothers face. He had forgiven.
"I wish I knew. We're the last bit of family left. We should be together more than ever before." Admitted the oldest. Something clicked in Adrien's mind. Maybe he could rely on Felix for this. It was, after all, a family issue.
"Fe, I have to tell you something. The broch… It's actually Hauk Moth's miraculous. Don't worry I'm not him. But dad is." It was like time had frozen. For Felix, it was the shock to know his Father was a supervillain and had admitted it. For it was about the fact that he had just thrown his dad under a bus. Specially because the older brother had already testified against Gabriel once. What if he did it again? Shit. He had made matters worse. "Please don't tell anyone. I know it sounds bad and that it is bad but it's still dad we're talking about. I don't want things to be worse for him. Please, I trusted you now you trust me when I tell you that we can figure it out without the police." A small smile found its way to Felix's face.
"Don't worry Ad, I won't tell anyone. We'll figure it out. We'll be a family again."