Starlet • Lukadrien [Miraculous]

Chapter 26 | critical acclaim

The book had hit shelves last week. And given it was the first thing Adrien had released in several years of silence post the arrest of his father, it went flying off shelves. It took him a while to finally come up with a title, but right before he sent it off to the publishers, it finally came to him. Starlet. A young person with aspirations to become a star. The title, just like the main character he'd based on himself, was a complete lie. He, and his character, never wanted to be a star. It was forced onto them, and by giving the book such a title, it'd be a stark and ironic contrast. The reader goes in thinking it's a story about an up and coming starlet, only be faced with the horrible truth of child abuse in the entertainment industry. That many of these 'starlets', never even wanted to be one.

Typically, authors are told not to read too many reviews outside of ones from beta readers and professional literature critics. Because any old Joe on the internet can call their blatant hate and discrimination a 'review'. While someone with an actual degree in writing will be able to tell you the strong and weak points of your work in a professional way that will help you grow. But Adrien was too curious, after seeing his book had become a trending hashtag, he gave in and had a little peek. And just as he'd intended, those who were quick readers and already finished the book were in emotional shambles after reading it. Their rose tinted sunglasses of the entertainment industry had been torn off and shattered on the cold, hard ground. Fans of his weren't blind to the stark parallels between the story and his real life experiences, making long emotional posts about how horrible they felt knowing that Adrien and so many others in the industry had been abused that way all along. Fellow victims sung their praises for both accurate depictions of abuse and the raw venerability it took to write about something they could relate to and were still processing themselves. He'd gotten just the reaction he was looking for.

Shock, outrage, anger, grief, empathy, horror. Not at him, but at the situation he'd written about. A situation that was all too real for so many people, happening right under everyone's noses.

Naturally with a reaction like this and the pivot he took from model to hiding from the public to author, people wanted interviews. While Adrien has become sick and damn tired of doing them back when he was a model, he was willing to do a few now. Because the topic wasn't about his father's newest collection or fangirls poster walls of him, but his book. Some had been scheduled, and he just knew that the topic of where he'd been and what he'd been doing in the years he'd been in Italy would come up. And he knew that Luka would come up. People knew that he'd reunited with his high school friend who also happened to be the son of a rock star, they'd been spotted out together a few times now. And while Luka wasn't really on the same level of fame as his father was, he did have a bit of a following just from the fact he was said singers son, from his work in kitty section as a teenager and through being close with Adrien. He'd gotten an influx of followers from Adrien fan accounts both as a teenager when they first became friends, and when they were first spotted together in Italy. Luka wasn't a stranger to the public, but he was more obscure. You had to know about Adrien's friends or Jagged Stones family to know who Luka Couffiane was.

But both he and Adrien knew that it was a matter of time before their relationship and subsequent engagement got out.

"Are you sure? I mean, fame isn't all it's cracked up to be" Adrien asked.

"I know, but there's no way we're going to be able to hide it much longer. Plus, I want the world to know you're off the market and I snagged you" Luka replied.

They sat at the table together, talking while Adrien was signing some copies of the book to send out to people who'd ordered special edition copies.

"It'll probably be a big deal online, I mean, no one knows I'm dating let alone engaged. To a man too" Adrien muttered.

People knew Adrien wasn't straight. That had been essentially forced out of him during his father's trail, as it was part of the reason why he was getting abused. He had to out himself in order to complete his testimony. It was both terrifying and liberating. Terrifying because he'd barely told a soul and now the whole world knew. Liberating because he FINALLY didn't have to hide anymore.

"I'm barely online anyway. I post like once a year" Luka chuckled.

"True, you are allusive"

"That's my Viperion skills showing"

"Just... be ready to suddenly have the entire internet digging through your entire digital footprint" Adrien warned.

"Not like I have much outside of music stuff anyway" Luka shrugged.

Just like Luka to be so calm about something Adrien would be having a heart attack over. Sometimes he wondered if the man produced adrenaline at all, he was never nervous... and very rarely had Adrien ever seen him angry either. Outside of the two times he was akumatized, he couldn't even remember the last time Luka had any shake in his mental stability. Oh to be as calm as Luka...

"I don't know how you're so calm about this" Adrien said.

"I don't care about the words of strangers. The only person whose opinion matters to me is yours... and I suppose Jules when it comes to nail polish recommendations" Luka replied.

Adrien snickered, he couldn't deny the expertise of Julekas nail polish knowledge. Even he'd gone to her for opinions on it before. Trust the goth with long claws to know the best brands.

"Don't overthink it, fuck what people say about us. We're the only ones that know what happens behind our doors, and we're happy aren't we? Just get it out of the way so you can focus on the book, you deserve all the praise after all the work you put into it" Luka assured, grabbing his hand across the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"See, this is why I need you in my life. You have optimism and logic" Adrien replied with a smile.

"Someone has to keep you from those anxious spirals"

What would he do without Luka, truly? How had he survived those years apart?