His Fragile Heart (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Adrien opened the door to his mansion and stepped in quietly. He had just left his Chinese lesson. He closed the door behind him and started up the stairs.

He briefly glanced at his fathers' door before sighing and heading down the hallway to his room.

Plagg peeked his head out of Adrien's shirt pocket. "Are you okay?" the creature asked.

"Yeah," Adrien replied. He sat on his bed and stared out the window. Part of him wanted to confront his father about the scarf, but he didn't want to waste his time. He was a busy man after all and the issue was minuscule.

A knock was heard at the door and Nathalie entered, holding a clipboard. "Adrien, your father would like to have a word with you."

Adrien looked up, surprised. "Okay," he said.

He got up from his bed and followed Nathalie down the stairs and into Gabriel's office. He saw his father, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Adrien cautiously took a seat while Nathalie stepped out.

Gabriel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Everything okay?" Adrien asked quietly.

He shook his head. "No, son. It isn't."

"What's wrong?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gabriel lifted up a piece of paper and held it in front of Adrien's face. It was his Chinese practice paper.

"What is this?" he asked harshly.

Adrien inspected the paper. He didn't see anything wrong. "My Chinese practice?"

Gabriel slammed the paper down on the table. "Wrong! It's failure." He skimmed the answers on the paper with his finger. "Wrong, wrong, wrong."

Adrien widened his eyes and looked at the paper for himself. "But..."

"Were you even trying?" Gabriel asked. "This is completely unacceptable young man!"

"I'm sorry," Adrien mumbled. "I couldn't focus."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and sat back in his chair. "You couldn't focus? What kind of an excuse is that?"

"It's not an excuse it's the truth!" Adrien exclaimed.

"I want you to be successful, Adrien," Gabriel said. He gestured to the paper. "This is not success! This is garbage!"

Adrien dropped his head. "Okay. I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Go on. This better not happen again," Gabriel ordered. He turned in his chair and started working on his computer. Adrien left the room.

He sighed and went up to his bedroom. Sitting on his bed, he toyed with the blue scarf in his hands. He had never examined it so closely. Surely his father would have his name on the tag.

Adrien opened up a piece of the blue scarf to reveal the tag. It was flipped over. Of course! He should've located it sooner. Now he could know for sure that his father made it.

Adrien flipped the tag over and nearly lost his breath. The cursive name didn't read 'Gabriel Agreste.' Instead it read, 'Marinette.' Just like the signature on the derby hat she made for a class project.