𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙞𝙚𝙨 ♡ 𝙇𝙞𝙡𝙖 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞?

Chapter Four: Socially Awkward & Grimoires

Lila looked off as she and Adrien sat on opposite sides of the bench.

'This is awkward'

She clenched her hands into fists as she laid them on her lap. Trying to ignore the TV character that was sitting next to her, frankly, she's doing a pretty good job—

"Um–" Fucking damn it.

Lila presses her lips in a line and peeks at the blonde from the corner of her eye, not turning her head to face him.

"Are you okay? This morning you—"

"I'm fine," Cutting him off, Lila forces the words out of her throat before clearing it, turning her head even more away. It was obvious to practically anyone that the girl was uncomfortable with the boy beside her.

And that's not something Adrien was used to. Tapping his finger against his bag, he peeks at the girl beside him. He was analyzing her body language with ease.

It was closed off, Uncomfortable, Nerves high.

But why?

That's what he wasn't getting, why? Although it wasn't any of his business, his curiosity was slowly getting the best of him. Could it have been because of her almost getting akumatized? Maybe... but when he thinks about it, before that event she seemed almost... not all there.

Why was he thinking so deeply about this?

Adrien leans his head back with a silent sigh, letting it rest against the back of the bench. He came here because he thought no one would be around, that way he could read the weird book he took from his father's stuff with no one looking. Another peek was sent to the girl next to him, her head still facing away from him. He stared at the back of her head for a second.

Did she even know who he was? Now that he thought about it, this was one of the rare times when someone didn't immediately want his autograph. She even ran away from him!

Clearing his throat, "Uh..." He watches as Lila takes a sharp breath through her nose before slightly tilting her head at him.

"My name is Adrien," He gave her what he hoped to be a welcoming smile, and he waited for the girl to give her name in response. The silence was the only thing he was answered with.

Lila takes another breath before fully turning her head towards the blonde.

"Lila," Adrien nodded his head in acknowledgment before it just went back to an awkward silence. Lila continued to take deep subtle breaths to keep her heart calm. Biting down on her lower lip, she taps her nails against her lap out of anxiety. As much as she wanted to get up and leave the model by himself, Lila also didn't want to go back to the place that was supposed to be her so-called "home".

Which one was the worst of the two?

With her mind made up, Lila began to stand up from the bench to walk away and find her way back—

"Wait!" Lila turned her head with wide eyes as she stared at Adrien with a surprised expression.

Why did he do that?

Why did he just do that?

Adrien stayed silent momentarily as he watched the girl do nothing, but stare at him with slightly wide eyes. Seemingly waiting for what he had to say, scratching at the back of his neck, Adrien tried to come up with something to talk about with Lila to get her to stay—

Why was he trying to get her to stay?...

He blinked at his thoughts.

It's not like he knew her personally or anything, besides helping her twice this morning, though one from his hero counterpart. He had no reason to have her stay but—

"Is that Nyctography?"

"Excuse me?"

Adrien stared at the girl with a confused gaze, not exactly knowing what she just asked.

"Your book," His eyes widened, and he turned his head down to the book that had fallen out of his bag without him noticing, a random page open showing off a language that Adrien could not decipher, narrowing his eyes slightly he picked the book up and held it out somewhat for Lila to see.

"You know what this is?" He asked her as he flipped through the pages of the book. Lila took a glance down at his book before looking back up at the boy and nodded her head.

"Yeah, that's Nyctography. A cipher made by Lewis Carroll in 1891," She states before turning to look down at her hands to not see Adrien's wide stares at her.

"I... used to be very interested in different ciphers," She trailed off as she fiddled with her fingers. It was silent for a moment before Adrien suddenly stood up, book in hand, and came close to her.

"Could you translate for me!" Lila stared at him with a shocked expression.

"Huh?"

Her big mouth.