Adrien sat with his head propped up with one arm. Whatever the teacher was saying was going in one ear and out the other.

Every time his eyes would shut for a longer period of time than deemed appropriate for school, Nino would nudge his side and he would jolt awake. Each time he let out a long breath through his nose, ignoring the concerned stare from his bench mate.

Even if he wanted to talk about why he was drooping every now and then, they were in class. Just because Adrien was likely to learn nothing from today's class, doesn't Nino have to.

At that thought Adrien sighed again. As quiet as possible, he ripped out a small section of his notebook and quickly wrote, stop looking at me like that, I'm fine. Pay attention. He discreetly slid the note across the bench into Nino's awaiting hand.

A few moments later the note came back, much to Adrien's annoyance.

Dude you look like you died, it said.

Adrien tore out another slip of paper, and wrote, early photoshoot, didn't get enough sleep.

I can see that.

I can see that you see that, focus on the class dude.

Are you okay? Adrien let out a silent groan on that one. At this rate they were going to get caught, and he didn't need a trip to the principal's office on top of sleep deprivation.

He hastily wrote, yes now pay attention before we get caught.

I don't believe you.

Adrien glanced over, and Nino rose a brow, tilting his head toward him. He rolled his eyes, discreetly pointing at the teacher. His capped friend only crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes slightly. His entire body language screamed, I've got my eye on you.

He's been hanging around Alya too much.

Either way he was right. He wasn't okay.

The very subject of his late night thoughts sat in front of him, thank you new seat arrangements for Lycée. His shoulders slumped again as he stared at the back of the bluenette's head.

Adrien's thoughts drifted back to the day before. Her words, her sincerity, and the genuine smile when she told him she thought he was one of the best people she ever knew.

Those words left a warm bubbly feeling inside him for the rest of the day. Coloring everything with pink. All the things that made the day horrible were colored over with that smile, those words, and her cute pink blush as she said them.

The words stuck with him when he went out later that night as Cat Noir, fully intending to find Ladybug. His father had been tracking her patrol schedule for weeks. At first they seemed random, that she went out whenever she felt like it, but his father, being the creative and focused man he was, was able to discern when her next patrol would be.

Therefore he sent his son out to ambush her, and take her earrings. Of course Adrien went out and went with it for now, but part of him, the part that held onto Marinette's words of praise and kindness prevented him from going any further.

Did he go out and search for Ladybug? Yes, he did, but half-heartedly. Partly because that bubbly feeling didn't go away and he didn't want to taint that with another bruise ridden fight with Ladybug, and because he wanted Marinette's words to be true.

He truly did hate leaving cuts and bruises on Ladybug after every fight. He hated to hurt people. Now he was intentionally hurting someone for a few jewels. Someone who clearly had the best interest of Paris at heart.

But once again when the doubt came, so did his father. He could sense the guilt and unease. So when his father called Cat Noir on his patrol, noting that he hadn't moved his position, he once again reminded him of why he was doing this, that they weren't just a few jewels.

They were so much more than that.

The reminder of what he was fighting for rekindled the flame of anger towards the "superheroine." The day he asked for her earrings, she refused, and since then every time he would try to explain, all he was met with was ferocious anger. Until he no longer tried, and tried again and again to take her earrings from her.

The moments of doubt were not lost on him, but either way, Adrien wanted his mother back. For him, for her, and his father. For the sake of their crumbling family.

So off he went. Searching the streets high and low. A few hours went by with no sign of Ladybug. Which only aggravated his father, which turned into anger when there were no possible victims of akumatization to lure her out.

Then Adrien found Marinette, cornered by a common thief holding out a knife, and that anger towards Ladybug turned into rage at this nameless man.

He felt so relieved that he was able to scare him off, that he forgot who Cat Noir was in the eyes of Paris. What he didn't know was that view also included Marinette.

"You are an evil! Evil! Man! And everything you do is evil!"

The words echoed around in his head. Such a contrast to the soft and kind words she gave him earlier. The pink tinge turned gray as he perceived the rage coloring her expression, such visceral personal rage, like he had personally hurt her.

The feeling of being stabbed in the heart returned and he nearly choked. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, refusing to let anymore tears fall. The last thing he needed was for her to turn around and see them, to give him all the care in the world and to try and fix it, when she couldn't.

It would only further twist the knife. Marinette was his best friend, more so than Nino at times. Both the soft expression and the look of pure rage tugged at his heart violently in two directions.

That wasn't the worst of it.

The worst was that he knew what that bubbly feeling from her smiles was, and he knew he could never act on it. It broke his heart. He will never be able to tell her, even if she reciprocated, because of his other personne.

If she loved him, she also hated him.

So when Marinette came up to him during lunch break, a box in hand with a little green bow tie matching his eyes. The knife twisted further, and his heart shattered at the earnest expression she gave.

"W-w-will you dance to go with m-me?" She stuttered. "No! Go to the me with dance!" She facepalmed then groaned, "Ugh, what is wrong with me."

Adrien gave a small smile, he missed her stuttering, but he also knew what the stuttering meant. She was nervous, and if she was nervous, that could mean only a few things.

"I-" Adrien choked out, her nervousness vanishing instantly in place of concern.

She tucked the box under an arm and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Are you okay Adrien?"

He stared down at his feet. The hand moved to his cheek, and she gently tugged upward until his gaze met her again. Oh her beautiful bluebell eyes were captivating, and he almost told her everything, but all that came out was a strangled choke.

"It's okay, you can tell me." Her voice was soft, comforting even.

"I-I'm-" A flash of rage in her eyes. "I can't."

There was disappointment in her eyes. "It's okay if you can't, just know that I'm-"

"No." He cut her off, rather harshly, but he could feel bad about that later. "I can't." He hesitated, he brought his hand up to the one resting on his cheek.

She let out a small gasp at the contact, and a little red blush colored her cheeks. Usually tingles would shoot up his own arm, then the rest of his body, but the words he said to her came to the forefront of his mind.

"You shouldn't judge people you don't know." Marinette knew Adrien, but not Cat Noir, yet she hated him. Adrien is Cat Noir, so what was the difference?

A lone tear slid down his cheek, and he tightened his grip on Marinette's hand and slowly pulled it away.

"I can't be around you… right now." The words came out choked and forced, but they needed to be said, for her sake, and for his.

Her eyes widened in shock, and a thump came from the floor. The box she was holding fell to the floor. The bowtie slipped out, and underneath it was a little pink heart.

Adrien's heart stopped. No, not now, why now! He wanted to shout, but nothing came out.

"B-but, why?" Her voice brought his eyes back up to her.

Hurt. They hurt. The kind of hurt when you lose someone. When your heart breaks. That made him want nothing more than to take back his words, and express his feelings.

Instead he dropped her hand, and turned away.

"Wait Adrien I-" She cried out, her voice breaking, but Adrien kept on walking.

He heard her say something else, but the words were lost on him, even if he had a feeling about what she was going to say.

Adrien didn't look back as he rounded the corner. He knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to turn away. Apologizes would spring out. But he couldn't, not now, maybe not ever. Not while she hated him, probably both sides of him now.

A small ding caused Adrien to stop a few steps after the corner. He pulled out his phone to see a text from his father, which only meant one thing.

Father: Well done, that girl will be akumatized shortly. Be ready for Ladybug.

His blood ran cold.

Adrien whipped around to the corner. He saw Marinette on the ground, tears pouring down her cheeks, the box at her knees. One hand clutching the pink heart, and the other the bowtie.

I did that, his heart told him. He hurt her, he was the one who did this. Maybe he really was evil.

He shook his head, he couldn't think like that right now. Marinette is about to be akumatized, he had to find the akuma before that happened.

There!

The purple and black akuma slipped in through the window closest to Marinette, and flapped toward her. Adrien growled. He will not allow Marinette to be a part of this, in no way at all.

A quick glance told him no one else was in the corridor. He ducked around the corner and whispered the transformation words.

Cat Noir bolted down the hallway. "Marinette move!" He shouted.

Marinette glanced up with confusion which morphed into shock as she spotted him bounding towards her. Just as she took a breath, the akuma flew into the pink heart and assimilated with it. The usual purple mask covered her face.

"No!"

Cat Noir threw himself to the ground and snatched the heart from her hand, ripping it to pieces. Marinette let out a gasp as the mask faded. The purple butterfly flew out of the torn heart.

"Cataclysm."

The akuma crumpled to dust.

Marinette gaped at the little ash pile that was once the akuma, and then at Cat Noir. He flinched at her gaze, waiting for the angry rant that sounded a little too personal.

"Why?" She breathed out instead.

Her eyes bore no rage, no hatred, just genuine confusion. He breathed a sigh of relief, the anguish was no longer there, which meant his father could no longer take advantage of her. Oh, he was going to get an earful later, maybe even more than that. Cat Noir shivered at that thought.

"Cat Noir?" Marinette asked again, and he realized that he never responded.

He took a deep breath, stood up and turned toward the window. He could feel her eyes on him with each movement.

He glanced back at her. "I guess you don't know me as well as you think you do." Cat Noir finally said with a sad smile.

Opening the window, he vaulted out without looking back.

"Your father would like to see you Adrien."

Ah, those words. Whenever he heard them he felt a multitude of confusing emotions. Some he wasn't able to identify until recently.

The first time he heard them since his mother passed, well, fell into a coma, it filled him with excitement. Father had closed himself off at the time. Any attempt at seeing him was met with cold refusal, which made mourning all the more difficult, and lonely.

Adrien thought he was calling him in order to spend some quality time, and to grieve together. All he wanted was to let Adrien know that he was adding more photoshoots to his schedule, along with more fencing and mandarin lessons.

He was excited at least to have a conversation with his father, but that excitement quickly died away as all the summons were to inform him of schedule changes, photoshoots, and piano check-ins.

Now every time his father calls for him, childish hope would fill him up, followed by cold hard logic slamming it down. Now that they were working together to steal Ladybug's earrings, most meetings were simply to inform him of a new strategy, or a lecture about Adrien's recklessness and inability to fight Ladybug properly.

Those days usually ended with his father transforming and a sparring match. Though the magical suits were nigh indestructible, Adrien always felt sore, sometimes he found bruises which resulted in more anger because oops now he can't do certain photoshoots.

So as Natalie stood in the entryway of the Agreste mansion, holding a tablet and a rare concerned expression, Adrien felt that same mix of emotions. This time however, that childish hope never appeared.

"Thank you Natalie." He replied simply, walking past her.

"Be careful." The words surprised him, causing him to stop and fully study her.

Natalie looked… tired. Suddenly he felt his shoulders slump as he realized how exhausted he felt.

"That bad huh?" Adrien gave a half smile.

Natalie took a deep breath, her normal composure returning. "He's waiting in his office."

He glanced at the door. "As always."

With an adjustment to his messenger bag strap, he stepped toward the door. He hesitated at the entrance, a hand raised. I did the right thing, he reminded himself. For Marinette. Although he didn't deserve her, he would always defend her with his life, no matter what. Even if that meant facing his father.

He thought of her courage, of how she's stood up to the likes of Chloe and Lila, even a few akumas. He needed to be courageous, like her and for her.

He knocked.

"Enter." His father beckoned.

Father stood behind his monitor as per usual, stylist in hand. Unexpectedly, he put it down upon Adrien entering the room, and eyed him coldly. Which told him how serious this was. Once he stood across from him, hands clasped behind his back, did his father speak.

"Explain yourself." His voice wasn't strained, nor angry. It was calm and collected, practiced even. His eyes held no fire, no malice, no rage, only ice. All that left a pit in Adrien's stomach, a gnawing feeling of dread.

"What do you mean?" Adrien's throat felt dry.

Father's eyes narrowed slightly. "You know what I speak of. Explain."

Adrien swallowed.

"Now."

He cleared his throat. "She's my friend."

His father raised a brow. "I've akumatized your friends before, why is this no different." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Father wasn't stupid, Adrien knew that, it was likely he knew why, he just wanted Adrien to admit it.

Adrien narrowed his eyes. "Yes you have and I hate it when you do that. They are my friends, and I should get a choice on whether they should be a part of this. Marinette will not be a part of this."

"Then why reject her?" Father countered.

Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it. He did not want to tell his father about his exploits as Cat Noir, nor that it hurt him that Marinette thought of him as a villain, as evil.

"She expressed interest, and I know you reciprocate that interest. The only reason you would have denied that of yourself was for your true mission, for who is truly important."

"Marinette is important!" Adrien raised his voice.

He seemed momentarily shocked, but the moment passed. "More important than her?" He gestured behind him, toward the art piece of Adrien's mother.

Adrien twisted his ring. "Mother is important, so is Marinette. She's important to me."

Father stared him down, hands remained clasped behind his back.

"Very well."

Adrien let out a breath, and opened his mouth to thank his father.

"It is a shame. Her emotions were powerful, she would have been a most exceptional assistant to our endeavor. Perhaps we would have succeeded this time." His father turned to admire the painting once again. "I will not akumatize your friend, however, I am going to have to pull you from school."

"Wha- father!" Adrien sputtered out, whatever courage he had dissipated as he stepped forward, a hand up. "Wh-"

"I cannot have you prevent akumatizations, therefore I am taking you out of school. Would you rather me akumatize your friend?" Gabriel's tone was almost mocking.

"Of course not, but-"

"Good. Furthermore I will not allow you to leave this house except as Cat Noir until you have captured Ladybug's miraculous."

Adrien's mouth hung open. The pool of dread suddenly felt like it was choking him.

"Do I make myself clear?" Gabriel demanded.

"Father!" Adrien choked out.

He turned around. Adrien took a step back. He saw it then. The fire, the rage. His gaze burned through Adrien, igniting his own fire.

"Do I make myself clear!" He repeated, voice tight.

Adrien pressed his lips together, and clasped his hands together behind his back, and fixed his eyes on his father's. Letting his own fire show through.

"Yes father." Adrien said, then spun around and marched out of the office.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think of chapter 2!

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