He Can't Forget | ✓

15 | fight of the day

The enormous mansion Adrien grew up in was exactly how he remembered it—empty, chilling and unwelcoming. The only homely feeling he received when he entered was Nathalie's warm embrace, a kiss to each of his cheeks, and her proud smile as she gave him a steady once over, marveling and gushing over just how much he had grown since she last saw him as if she were his actual mother herself.

Adrien did consider Nathalie to be like a second mother, though. Upon his father's coldness and overall absence throughout most of his childhood, Nathalie had been there. She became family. Her and his gorilla-like bodyguard.

Nonetheless, he was happy to see her.

She had aged slightly since he last saw her, but her aging had done her well. A little bit of grey could be spotted in her bun. Her skin still looked young. Her eyes still looked just as bright even despite who she worked for.

"It's so great to see you again, Nathalie, and I can't wait to catch up..." Adrien was grinning as he pulled away from her second hug. "But I really do need to speak with my father. Is he here?"

The excitement in her features sobered ever-so-slightly. "He is." She answered, though she hesitated before adding, "But he didn't exactly call you here to catch up."

"I know." Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder. He too felt the disappointment rising as much as he wished it wouldn't. He knew why his father had summoned him here. It wasn't to catch up, and it certainly wasn't to rekindle any type of father and son relationship (not that they had one in the first place.) His father was simply going to lecture him about returning to Paris and leaving all of his sucess in someone else's hands.

Nathalie accompanied him to his father's office in silence. Adrien could even sense she was carrying her own weighted tension. When they reached the office doors, Adrien exhaled through his nose before lightly tapping his knuckles on the wood.

A muffled 'come in' sounded from the other end. With an encouraging smile from Nathalie, Adrien picked up whatever courage he had left dragging on the floor and opened one of the doubled doors.

His father was standing at his drawing board when he entered. Gabriel glanced up over the rim of his glasses as soon as he heard him come in. Almost instantly, Gabriel placed down his pencil, and suddenly, Adrien had his father's full attention.

He'd never had his father's full attention before.

The door shut behind him with a soft click, but in his ears, it boomed like a slam. Suddenly, he felt a bit trapped. His father's study was colder than he remembered. Swallowing nervously, he questioned, "You said you wanted to see me?"

"And you said you wanted to see me."

Gabriel didn't miss a beat. It was almost as if he had prepared for this meeting. Either way, he wasn't planning on making the first move, which was shocking, considering Gabriel Agreste was known to never miss an opportunity at lecturing his son.

"I have two things to say to you, and then I'll be leaving."

Gabriel arched a brow at that. "Well, go on then. I don't have all day."

Adrien's brows furrowed. "Firstly, I'm going back to America... like you wanted, so you don't have to worry about whatever lecture you've got up your sleeve regarding that matter." Surely, he thought said news would please his father, but Gabriel looked far from delighted. In fact, he looked... nothing. There was literally no emotion on his stone-cold face. In an attempt to regain his confidence, Adrien cleared his throat. "And secondly, you're a grandfather. So, if you're any interested in that title, congratulations or whatever."