All The Light We Cannot See

Bro-Days

Adrien had never been late for work since he first started. Not once. But today, he was.

He cursed under his breath as he fumbled with the keys. Once he got the door unlocked, he quickly went in and started his work.

He knew today was going to be a bad day. He had a gut feeling that it would be. His head was pounding, he was definitely hungover.

It seemed that as soon as he flipped the 'closed' sign over, people started coming in. A lot of people that came in, were regular customers. They would order a croissant for breakfast or buy a box of pastries to hand out at work.

When the morning rush died down a bit, he was able to slow his pace. It would usually pick up again during the afternoon rush when people were on lunch break.

Adrien was kneading out some bread dough when the door opened, signaling the chime of the bell.

Ding.

"Morning, dude."

"Good morning"

Adrien grumbled out the words to his best friend.

"You look rough, man!"

Adrien had dark circles under his eyes. He didn't have time to brush his hair before he left so he just ruffled it with his hands and fixed it the best he could on his way to the bakery.

"I feel it too."

Nino chuckled and leaned across the counter.

"We should do that more often! I had fun."

Adrien's hands stopped moving. He looked up at Nino and narrowed his eyes.

"I am never doing that again."

"Aw! Why not?"

He playfully punched Adrien's arm with a smile. The blonde couldn't understand how Nino had so much energy.

"I feel horrible."

"Only because you drank so much! And not to mention, you did have to come to work today."

Adrien deadpanned. That was exactly why he didn't want to go out last night. He knew he'd have work in the morning.

"I told you yesterday that I had-"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We should still do it again. This weekend? You don't work on weekends so-"

"No."

"You wouldn't even consider it?"

"I don't know, I can't even think straight right now."

"Ok I'll ask you again Friday."

Adrien rolled his eyes and started kneading the bread again.

"Do you need something?"

"Actually, yes. I need the usual."

Adrien shook his head as he put the dough into a bowl and covered it. He washed his hands and fixed three large pistachio macaron boxes.

Nino started to pull the money out from his wallet but Adrien shook his head.

"No, don't worry about it. I got you covered today."

"Really, dude?!"

Adrien nodded as he pushed the boxes across the counter.

"It's for taking me out last night. As much as I regret it today, I really needed it."

"Wow, man. We should have 'bro days' more often!"

The corners of Adrien's lips turned up.

"Whatever, is Alya coming in today?"

"Nope. She wanted me to come by and grab these for her. She has an appointment today and wanted me to meet her later."

"How many more weeks until the baby is due?"

"Uh, I don't know, like..."

Nino held his fingers up as he counted them.

"Two I think? Maybe three."

Adrien laughed as Nino shrugged.

"It's getting here fast! I'm happy for you guys."

"Yeah, I guess it is getting here fast. Alya is already starting to baby-proof everything."

"Already?"

Nino nodded, rolling his eyes.

"Anyways, I'd better get going. I'll see you later, dude."

"Alright, tell her I said hey."

"Will do!"

Nino pulled the door open as he balanced all three boxes on his other arm. When he finally left, Adrien let out a long sigh. He was happy for them but a little jealous of their relationship. He wondered where him and Marinette would be if she hadn't left. Would they be married by now? Maybe even have kids?

He shook his head at the thought. He was already having a rough day and thinking about her made it worse. He rested his elbows on the counter and ran his hands through his hair as he leaned on his arms with his head down.

He often wondered if she'd ever come back. Did she find someone else? Had she moved on? Those thoughts often crossed his mind.

He raised his body back up and looked down at his watch. It was only 1:30pm. He still had four hours left until he could close the bakery and go home. He'd already decided that when he got home, he was going to sleep.

~ flashback

"I don't understand why you don't just move on. She's obviously not coming back."

"You don't know that."

"Adrien, it's literally obvious."

The blonde haired girl threw her hair over her shoulder as she rolled her eyes.

"She will come back she's probably just... busy."

"Busy. Right. Keep telling yourself that."

Chloe pulled at the gold necklace that hung around her neck as she stood up.

"Anyways, I got to meet Sabrina. She's supposed to be filling out some forms for me and I need to pick them up."

"Alright, I'll see you later."

She paused for a moment before turning back to the blonde. She could see the obvious sadness that was washed on his face.

"Hey, Adrien? I know some people in New York. I'll try to get a word on her."

His face instantly lit up.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"As much as I hate her, yes. She makes you happy and I want the best for you. As a friend, of course. I still care about you."

"Thanks, Chloe. That means a lot."

"Yeah. Whatever. I still find it utterly ridiculous that she left like that."

She shrugged before turning back on her heel and strutting off. Adrien made his way back over to the Dupain-Cheng's to finish helping them serve everyone.

~

Adrien straightened his back and started on some more pastries. He was determined to leave as soon as his shift ended today. He already decided that he was not going to stay any later than he had to. He mentally dared anyone to come in moments before it was closing time.

He could barely concentrate on his work as his head started pounding again. He should've gotten some pain medicine before he came in.