A/N: I hope everyone had a good Christmas if you celebrate!

Enjoy!

Graduation finally arrived with much fanfare, though there was a bittersweet edge to the festivities as Adrien's classmates discussed future plans that would take them all in different directions.

Adrien was even given time off and allowed to attend some of the others' graduation parties, a surprising move from his father he hadn't expected in the wake of his anger about his impending move.

In fact, his father had gone radio silent with him since their initial few altercations on the subject.

By the time moving day had arrived, Adrien thought he'd made it through the whole process rather unscathed.

"Thanks you guys for the help."

"No problem at all, my dude. Glad you finally made it out!" Nino grinned as he walked out of the new apartment, Alya trailing behind with Marinette.

"Let us know when you're unpacked," Marinette said with a smile, "and we'll all get together and game."

"That would be awesome, Marinette. Good luck with your summer classes!"

"Thank you Adrien! Enjoy your break, you deserve it!"

The door closed behind them as they left.

Shadybug slipped from the shadows back into the room, a sneer on her face as she glared at the door. Her voice was mocking as she repeated the last words. "'Enjoy your break, you deserve it.' God, I hate that girl."

Adrien frowned at her. "Marinette? Why?"

"She's just so…ugh." Shady kicked an empty box across the floor. "She just irritates me." She continued to mumble to herself, walking over to the box she'd kicked and tearing it into pieces with barely any effort, throwing the tattered squares on the pile of broken down boxes in the corner. Then she grabbed another empty box, ripping it into even smaller pieces.

His expression softening, Adrien walked over to her, placing a hand gently on her arm to pause her controlled destruction. "Marinette's a really great person. If you ever were open to more friends, she'd be the first one I would suggest."

Shadybug let out a short laugh. "What makes you think I want more friends? I have my hands full keeping you out of trouble, Blondie." The emotion in her expression faded. "She wouldn't want to be friends with someone like me anyway."

"Shady," Adrien said softly. "I wanted to be friends with you, so I don't see why it isn't possible that others would as well. It's this barrier you have up, keeping everyone out." He squeezed her arm slightly, hesitating before pushing forward with another question. "Did someone hurt you, in the past? Is that why you don't let anyone in?"

She stood very still, her head tilted down, hiding her eyes. When she answered, her voice was low, softer than he'd ever heard it before. "Everyone hurt me."

Before he could process her answer, a knock sounded on the door, startling them both.

Shadybug relaxed, her glare returning to its normal spot. She kept her voice low. "Damn, you're popular. Now that your dad isn't scaring your friends away, I'm gonna need to find a better hiding place."

"Don't leave," he quickly said, suddenly worried.

She rolled her eyes. "I meant in here. I'm not leaving you just yet. Haven't taught you all I know about how to be a dick to someone yet." She winked at him before disappearing into the room that was now hers.

He laughed under his breath as he walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

His father stood out front, hands clasped behind his back. Adrien's anxiety ramped up slightly as he looked back into the apartment, still messy and not fully put together.

With a sigh, he opened the door. "Father."

Gabriel Agreste nodded briskly. "Adrien. May I come in?"

"Sure." He opened the door wider to allow his father space. "I'm sorry it's not clean; I only just got everything in."

The disapproval was clear as his father looked around.

Adrien walked to his couch. "You can sit down, if you'd like. Did you come to talk about something?"

His father moved to stand in front of the couch, ignoring the offered seat. "Yes, Adrien, I did. First, I wanted to congratulate you on your move."

Nodding carefully, Adrien waited for the rest.

Straightening further, Gabriel went on. "I thought it best to discuss your professional future, now that you have graduated and will be taking the next steps in your career." Adrien's stomach dropped. He had not planned on having this discussion quite so soon. He hadn't prepared enough for how to let him know he planned to quit modeling altogether. "You'll notice that you were given a small break in order to celebrate with your peers. I will generously extend that another week, but you will need to return to your full-time summer schedule before falling back to part-time when classes begin in the fall. You will be taking courses in business as previously discussed, correct?"

Adrien felt himself slouching further and further as he spoke, uncertain how to respond. Perhaps he could say nothing argumentative right now, agree, and then try again after he'd taken some time to think and make a plan.

From the corner of his eye, Adrien saw the door to Shadybug's room behind his father slowly and silently swing open, her head popping out. Her eyes were alight with furious intensity, and when she met his gaze, she very clearly and heatedly mouthed, "NO."

Adrien looked back at his father quickly. "Uh – father, you see–" he trailed off, struggling with how to answer. Apparently he'd used up all his defiance in his argument to move out.

The truth was, he didn't really know what he wanted to do, outside of quitting his job. He knew he wanted to go to University, but that was mostly to meet new people and explore what options were open to him, career-wise.

But years of attempting to please his father along with his uncertainty over his own desires made the need to give in grow strong. Before he could say anything else, his eyes darted over as Shadybug opened the door wider and stood in the gap, pointing threateningly at him and mouthing, "SAY – NO."

Adrien swallowed. "No."

Shadybug raised her fist in a celebratory motion.

His father's expression didn't change. "No, what, Adrien? No, you won't be going in a business direction? We discussed this, and you agreed. Are you wanting to switch to another direction in the industry?"

"No, I mean I don't want to model this summer, and I plan to remain undecided until I figure out what I want to pursue."

"Don't be absurd, Adrien." His father frowned at him and shook his head, his voice growing stern, as though he were disciplining a small child. "You will continue modeling for the time being. We will further discuss your direction in school after your first year of business prerequisites. End of discussion."

Shadybug began motioning enthusiastically, catching his eye once again. "BE – A –" She pointed at her crotch, thrusting her hips forward. "DICK," she mouthed, continuing the motion.

Adrien choked back a laugh and his father turned his head, seeing nothing but an empty bedroom as Shady stepped out of view.

"Sorry, " Adrien said. "I think I keep seeing a mouse in here." Gabriel turned back to him, lip curling. Adrien took a breath, squaring his shoulders as he stood up from the couch to be eye-level. "You're right, Father; this is the end of this discussion. I'm almost 19 years old, and a legal adult. I'm going to be making the decisions about my life now, not you."

Cold fury ignited behind his father's eyes. "Are you really going to throw away everything you have worked towards in a fit of childish defiance? Do you know how much time and effort I have put into building your career from the ground up? How much your mother wanted this for you?"

Multiple emotions gripped Adrien's heart in a vice at his words. He faltered for a moment, angry and aghast that his father would try and use his mother – his dead mother – against him.

He wasn't the only one to feel that way. Shadybug shook her head, clenching her fists as she glared daggers at the back of Gabriel's head. She took two menacing steps through the door, looking like she was about to attack his father right then.

"Don't–" Adrien said quickly, stopping her in her tracks. He let the anger fill him as he stared at his father. "Don't ever try to use Mom against me like that again. You are the one who wanted me to model. I never wanted this for myself. All she wanted for me was to be happy." Bitterness seeped into his voice. "If you wanted to honor her memory, you would want that too."

Adrien had never seen his father look so angry with him before. It all raced across his face in one flash of icy emotion. Finally, it disappeared as he brought back up the mask of indifference. "Very well. You can come back to me when you're regained your senses." He turned and walked out.

Feeling almost lightheaded at the conflict ending in his favor, Adrien leaned up against the couch. Shadybug was suddenly at his side, and he looked up to see the victory on her face, though the anger still simmered beneath. "Look at you, Sunshine. You fucking did it."

"I did," he said, almost not believing it. He took a step toward her. "I wouldn't have been able to without you." He threw his arms around her, pulling her close into a hug. Shady froze at first, but then her hands slowly reached up around him as well. Adrien basked in the moment, relaxing with her in his arms as the adrenaline from handling the conversation finally ebbed away and his heartbeat slowed.

"I told you," she said, voice slightly muffled against his shirt. "Being a dick solves a lot of problems."

He laughed softly, loosening his arms so he could look down at her, though he didn't completely let her go. "Sometimes. But I think you need a good balance. Maybe I can help you, next time."

He was acutely aware of how close she was to him, her arms loose around him as she seemed frozen in place. Slowly, she moved her head away from his chest to look up at him. The anger that had been burning behind her eyes had smoldered into something new, but no less intense. Still, there was a hint of uncertainty in her gaze.

He lifted one hand, bringing just the edge of his thumb to lightly graze her cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"I'm not sure what happened, last time," he admitted quietly, tracing the line of her jaw with his thumb, "but I want you to know that I'd really like to kiss you again."

She took a deep breath in and out before snapping her eyes back open, uncertainty gone. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

He leaned down, capturing her mouth with his as his hand moved to her neck. She kissed him back with fervor, sending jolts through Adrien as she melded against him. His tongue met hers, and it felt like fireworks going off through his body.

Adrien quickly lost track of time, his focus completely on the woman in front of him as her fingers dug into his back. Eventually, her hands came to his overshirt, sliding beneath it at his shoulders and nudging it down his arm. He released her lips for a moment, shrugging the button-down off before finding her mouth again.

Her hands danced up the bottom of his remaining shirt, tugging it up. When that was gone as well, her hands rested against his chest and pushed him over until he hit the wall. She pressed close as she kissed him, her hands moving up to his hair.

When she broke off this time, her teeth snagged his lip, biting down slightly before she let him go. Adrien's breath hitched as he felt every movement she made shoot straight through him. Despite his desire to continue with no questions asked, a part of him still wanted to make sure she was not about to run again.

He tilted her head to the side, leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw until he reached her ear, whispering, "You sure this is okay?"

She pushed herself away from him, and for a moment he feared she was indeed leaving, until he felt himself jerk forward, her hand on his waistband as she marched them across the room and through his doorway. She yanked him past her until his legs were up against the bed and she was in front of him, her eyes dark with desire. "I'm done trying to stay away from you, Sunshine." Her hand came up to rest on his bare chest, her fingers tracing lightly down. "Last chance to come to your senses and send me back to my room."

"Not a chance." He caught her lips with his once again, until she pushed him down on the bed and attacked his belt and jeans button while continuing to distract him with her mouth. He tried to help, breaking off from her with a soft apology as he fumbled with his clothing.

Her hands slowed as she looked at him with a hint of amusement. "You have done this before, haven't you?"

"Actually, no. I haven't." He felt himself turn red.

The amusement on her face turned to disbelief. "Seriously? You're a famous model who's hot as hell. You're telling me no one threw themselves at you over the years?"

"They did," he admitted, surprised again at how pleased he felt at her words. He was no stranger to compliments on his appearance, but it felt different, coming from her. "I never let anything happen. Didn't have feelings for any of them." He moved his hand to cover hers which had stopped at his waist, tracing small circles with his thumb against her suit.

Her frozen expression indicated she had understood his implication that things were different with her. Her eyes held him in their depths, and he knew there was still much to explore within them.

His cock throbbed against the jeans that still constrained him, and he only partially held back his groan. The noise reignited her movement, and she returned to removing his jeans, a new gleam in her eyes. He snagged the jeans just before she tossed them to the floor. "Hold on, I have–" He dug in the pocket to remove his wallet, taking out the condom he'd placed there a while back.

Thank you, Nino.

Though he guessed the answer based on her reaction, still he wanted to ask for her own response. Plus, he needed the distraction, because the way she was staring at the bulge of his cock beneath his boxers was threatening his control. "What about you?"

His question caused her expression to go neutral. "Not since receiving my miraculous, but yeah, I have."

Wanting to dispel the look in her eyes, Adrien ran his hand along the front of her stomach, climbing higher until he swiped his thumb over her nipple, which hardened beneath the thin fabric. She let out a deep hum of approval as she closed her eyes and leaned further into his hand. Gaze roaming her body, Adrien's voice came out hoarse. "What about the suit?"

Her eyes opened as a lazy smile grew. "I have an idea." She moved back from him, and he reluctantly let her go. "Unlucky charm!" A small pen-like object fell into her hand, which she regarded with a satisfied smirk. Her eyes shot to his as she brought it to a point above her waist. As she pressed it against her suit, Adrien realized it was a tiny knife. He watched, transfixed as her suit began to split, revealing the creamy-white skin of her stomach as she cut downwards, the tension of the fabric pulling it back and revealing more and more of her skin. His breathing grew ragged as she continued slicing down carefully until he could see everything, skin smooth and bared for him from beneath her breasts down to between her legs. She dropped the knife, looking down. "Hmm, nice." Then she lifted her head, meeting his gaze with a predatory look.

Her hips swayed as she moved closer, her hands reaching for and deftly removing his boxers. He groaned louder then, his head falling back to the bed as she climbed on top of him, hovering with one knee on either side of his leg, her hands ghosting along his cock without fully touching him, driving him crazy. She yanked the condom from him, opening it up and placing it back into his hand. "Put this on," she purred, and he lifted his head back up to do so. "Your first time then, handsome? A good girl would say you should be on top, so you have more control." He let out another noise as he rolled the condom on and closed his eyes, resisting the urge to stroke himself out of fear that he'd lose it right then. She continued to talk as he finished, still keeping space between them. "But I'm not a good girl, so I'd much rather ride you and see how fast I can make you come, pretty boy." His eyes snapped open to see her grinning wickedly at him, removing her hand from where she'd apparently been touching herself.

Fuck.

At this point he'd be lucky if he lasted another minute, and she wasn't even touching him.

Then she was on top of him, lowering herself on his cock in one quick movement. Adrien gasped, a tremor of pleasure rocking through him.

Shadybug let out a low moan as she waited just a moment, adjusting.

She began moving with fervor then, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her, not even to try and prolong the moment.

Ladybug had often played a part in his fantasies over the years, though Shadybug had replaced her in those since the time he'd met her. Watching her moving up and down on his cock, suit split up the middle, breasts bouncing with every movement as the heat of her surrounded him, and Adrien knew he was done for.

"God, Shady. I can't hold– I'm going to–" He cut off as he felt the pressure quickly come to a head within him, groaning out a curse as the pleasure surged through him in a white-hot burst. He panted as she slowed above him, meeting her movements with thrusts of his own as he rode out the aftershocks.

Shadybug looked extremely pleased with herself as she came to a stop, slipping off of him. "That was fucking hot, pretty boy."

Adrien took a moment to catch his breath, carefully peeling the condom off and tossing it to the side. Still dazed, it took him a moment to realize she was moving away from the bed, as though to leave. He lurched forward, taking her hand in his before she was too far away. "Hold on; you didn't finish, did you?" he asked, confused. He knew he had been distracted, but he thought he would have noticed if she came as well.

She looked back at him, a hint of her own confusion swirling amongst the heat still in her eyes. "No, of course not."

Shaking off the pang of embarrassment at her tone, Adrien tugged lightly on her hand. "Can…can't I help with that? You don't have to leave."

Her mouth opened very slightly as she stared at him. "You…would want to?" There was a vulnerability in her voice that pierced him through.

His voice hesitant, he asked, "Did...none of the others you were with…"

"No." It was clear from her answer that she was less bitter about her past experiences, and more shocked by his own response.

The thought saddened him, and he longed to show her it didn't need to be that way. "Oh. Well, I would very much like to keep touching you, if you're okay with that, at least." He once again used his thumb to caress the back of her hand, hoping to coax her back to the bed.

Surprisingly, he succeeded. She hesitated a moment before walking back to him. He tugged her down to the bed beside him and leaned over her to kiss her before she could change her mind. She reacted slowly at first, until his roving hands helped to heat her back up once again. She moaned against his mouth when he lightly pinched her nipple between his fingers, and trembled as his hand lowered to the skin showing right below the top of the rip in her suit. Enjoying the feel of her bare skin against his hand, Adrien pressed his hand lightly against her stomach, getting beneath the cut edge to wrap around her waist.

When he eventually moved his hand back to the front, he lowered it further, and Shady tore away from his mouth to gasp in a breath. Adrien took advantage of the new angle, kissing along her jaw to her neck and biting down just as his hand reached her lower lips.

He may have been inexperienced, but Adrien had spent a lot of time reading online, so he had a good idea of what to try to make her feel good.

She cursed and went taut at his slow ministrations. He explored further, using the ample wetness to smooth his movements against her skin. He found her entrance and dipped one finger in, then two. He searched for another spot after that, hoping he'd be able to find it.

When she let out a loud moan and bucked her hips slightly, he knew he'd found the little nub, circling it slowly with his finger as he continued kissing her neck. He lingered there for some time, marveling at her reactions. Eventually she started writhing, and when he used his teeth to scrape against the skin of her shoulder, her breathing turned to pants before her moaned words grew louder. "Oh my god, yes, fuck, fuck, I'm…god, Adrien–" Hearing his name sent a thrill through him, though not as much as seeing her face as he sat up and watched her come from his touch.

Her eyes remained closed as her breathing slowed. Adrien brought his hand up until he reached the top tear in her suit, hooking his thumb underneath as he couldn't take his eyes off of her face.

She let out a soft huff of air. "Guess I got a first too. Never been with someone who actually cared before." His grip tightened slightly on her as he fought a desire to pummel whoever had made her think she didn't matter. Her eyes popped open, the emotion on her face seeping away as she met his eyes.

"I need to go," she said blankly, sitting up and moving away from his arm.

"You could stay," he said.

"I can't. I'm a mess. I'll see you tomorrow, Sunshine." Her tone returned to normal, but Adrien fought to keep from asking her if she was okay, afraid to push too much at the moment.

"I'll see you in the morning, Shady," he responded.

She paused in his doorway, turning her head slightly. "You can call me Shay," she said quietly.

Adrien smiled softly, though he knew she couldn't see him. "Goodnight, Shay."

She shut the door behind her.

A/N: Progress for these two! Hope this chapter turned out alright! Shoot me a review if you liked, I appreciate them all!