𝓐𝓶𝓫𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽- 𝓐 𝓕𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂

𝐹𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈..?

"Do you sneak out often?" Adrien wondered as he and Félix walked through the foyer.

"Not really. My father hired a private investigator solely to track me down. It's easier to sneak out here than it is in London."

Adrien knew he had the privileges of wealth since he was young, but he didn't think of how lucky he was to have his father. It was true that the man had become distant since his mother's death, but who could blame him? More often than not, Adrien was complimented with comments of him being granted his mother's beauty. It never occurred to him that his father was a blessing as well.

Adrien rarely heard of Uncle Colt outside of media appearances and interviews. When he did, the source was always Félix. And while the news reported him as 'the man of London's future', Félix said quite the opposite.

He silently stepped into his room, observing everything he owned; from the Foosball table to the arcade games, to the stairs leading to his collection of books and CDs. All the glamour made him accustomed to upper-class luxuries that most of his classmates couldn't afford.

Lying in bed and staring at the high ceiling, Adrien wondered what living in a normal household was like. Returning from school and being greeted by loving parents and delicious home-cooked meals.

Adrien's mother tried to cook for the three of them, but it often tasted like the Michelin-starred restaurants they went to. He appreciated his mother's efforts, even if they had unexpected results.

As his mind drifted to sleep, a knock sounded at his door. He slid out of his black sheets and walked towards the door.

Adrien knew it could only be Félix or Nathalie, and wasn't shocked to see the latter standing in the doorway.

"Adrien, your father requested that I ask if you'd like to attend the film festival."

"When is it?" He asked.

Nathalie clicked on the tablet, which flashed an array of colors. "Next weekend."

Paris held a film festival annually, and Adrien went once with his mother when she started in the winning movie that year.

He hadn't gone since his mother's death, but it was a blue-moon opportunity for him to be able to leave the house. Maybe it was a good thing, the event being this soon; they would likely travel during the holidays.

"That sounds nice. Can you add it to my calendar, Nathalie."

She nodded swiftly as she held up her tablet. "Of course. Is there anything else I could help with?"

Adrien looked back at his room, a reminder of both his confinement and status.

"Are there any school committees I could join?"

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆🐞⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

8 missed calls and 15 texts later, Marinette realized Alya was ignoring her. She wasn't sure why, but they hadn't talked for the past 2 days.

Marinette had suspected it had something to do with her talking to Félix more often, but she still wasn't sure.

From all the stalking Alya did on Nino, Marinette remembered his Instagram and decided to text him asking what was going on.

Nino_On_The_Beat

What do you mean? She seems perfectly fine to me.

Marinettes_Creations

I'm not talking about you and her, I'm talking about me and her. Did she say anything about me?

Nino_On_The_Beat

I don't think so. Why don't you go and ask her yourself?

Marinettes_Creations

Because then she'll think I'm ignorant for not even knowing why she's ignoring me in the first place. Nino, she must have told you something, I mean she's your... what is she to you?

Nino_On_The_Beat

We haven't talked about that. I was going to but then she stopped calling me for a bit.

Marinette ended the conversation, getting no further in trying to find an answer to her friendship issue. If she didn't find an explanation soon, their friendship could end completely.

As a last resort, she scrolled her contacts until she found his name. She quickly pressed call before her thoughts could distract her.

Three rings later, a voice spoke through the other end.

"Hello?"

"Oh! Whoops, I must've pressed the wrong button! Silly me, I'm so sleepy at this time of night. I'll leave you alone now, I know it's late-"

"What's wrong, Marinette." Kagami responded with a knowing sigh.

"I... I don't know what I did wrong." She admitted. "We had never stopped talking for this long. Well, except for that one time Alya had to go to her grandfather's funeral. He hated phones, so there was a no phone policy at the wake and everything."

Kagami hummed in understanding at certain times, barely making any noise otherwise.

"So, you're saying that she stopped communication with you for an unknown reason?"

"Exactly!"

Marinette looked at the FaceTime and saw Kagami moving through several rooms, until she reached a bedroom. She placed the camera on her desk, and began unzipping her backpack.

"What are you doing?"

"Studying. I'm required to review my notes from class at least 2 to 3 hours every day." She opened a binder labeled 'Chemistry', that barely had anything in it.

"But we don't have anything to study for." Marinette furrowed her eyebrows.

"Such is the way of my mother." Kagami held up a pen and underlined a sentence on the lined paper.

"So, what do you think I should do?"

"Marinette, you know I'm inexperienced at discussing relationships. But if I had to give you some advice, I would say to study your opponent. Focus on body language and tone, see how it changes when you try to talk to her. That's what I do when I'm fencing."

Marinette thought Kagami was wise, but the fencing analogy almost didn't make sense to her. But it was better than nothing, and Marinette thanked her before hanging up.

Still unsure of what to do, Marinette climbed up into her canopy and slept the night away.