Forbidden Love That Wasn't

Adrien (part 1)

There were a lot of things forbidden to Adrien Agreste and most if not all of them could be classified as various subcategories under "Do Not Disobey Your Father." It didn't mean that Adrien never went against his father's wishes. If he could get away with it, he so did, but those cases were rare and not without a good reason. Most of Gabriel's demands were somewhat rational anyway. Plus, as Adrien was getting older and moved out, even those gradually diminished. As of now "Upkeeping Agreste's good name and reputation" was Adrien's most important responsibility but even he couldn't expect that to include "fake dating for the sake of appearing modern to the public eye."

It was an ordinary September morning. Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary was happening, and even his father's sudden summoning was not that surprising to Adrien. Gabriel had a spontaneous streak buried deep underneath his obsessive passion for planning, and sometimes it surfaced. It wasn't a big deal and usually, work-related. Not today, though. Today, Gabriel demanded that Adrien attended as many of the upcoming Paris Fashion Week shows as he could and at least one or two of its after-parties with a reputable, decent girlfriend on his arm. Adrien stalled. Then did something he rarely did – he protested. Gabriel argued back, and by the end of the meeting, Adrien understood that no objections from him would work because Gabriel was suddenly dead certain that a twenty-five-year-old son who didn't lack in either looks or fortune and remained single his whole life was turning to be a little embarrassing and quite frankly outdated. Adrien's "Most Eligible French Bachelor" status had suddenly become a burden to the family and the company and had been keeping them from moving in rhythm with the modern times, damaging their reputation.

"I don't care who you bring, Adrien," Gabriel finished their conversation. "Fake it, pay someone, start dating for real but I expect you to show up with a decent girl. Bring a guy if you want. I don't care as long as you come with someone who would clearly be more than just a friend. Do we understand each other?"

Not so secretly, Adrien suspected that the sudden culprit for such unusual demands might have been Chloe Bourgeois' suddenly highly publicized relationship with her newest boyfriend and her mother's innocent remarks in Gabriel's direction that "if there was nothing wrong with the children they should be getting hot and heavy at this age." Adrien wasn't the only one who'd noticed his father's facial muscles twitch at those words but he was probably the only person in the room who hadn't thought about Gabriel going as far as to suggest a fake girlfriend to save his face in front of his longtime rival.

To his luck, the Fashion Show had been scheduled in two weeks - plenty of time to find somebody. Unfortunately, Adrien didn't want just anyone. He didn't want fake. He wanted love. He wanted real, and he wanted potential. That was hard to find in two weeks. In truth, the only one he wanted was Ladybug, but just a few days ago Chat Noir had been rejected again, so she was out of the question. Adrien had thought that he had already accepted that Ladybug most likely would never look at Chat Noir as anything more than a good friend and a partner but he tried nevertheless. Again and again, at least once a year, Chat Noir would give Ladybug a simple black card with a green paw sticker on a front and his love confession written inside. A few days later she would inevitably give him a red card with Ladybug sticker in return. The rejection he almost anticipated would be written on the other side. It was almost like a tradition by this time, but it still hurt. It was getting a little pathetic, and even Adrien understood that. So, while his father's demand was shocking at first, as he stood there, silently listening to Gabriel's reasoning one thought hammered through his mind – Maybe it was the time for him to move on? Maybe this would be the much-needed kick in the butt? Perhaps it would end up being for the best? After all, what did he have to lose? Hesitantly, Adrien agreed to at least try.

With limited time, though, he had few choices. Paid actresses were an absolute No and Adrien wasn't naive enough to believe that a gorgeous stranger would appear out of nowhere and sweep him off his feet any minute now. Thus, an attempt at a real relationship was the only viable option for him and the only one Adrien felt comfortable with. For that, he looked at his friends, people he knew liked him for who he was and not what he had or what he represented. Realizing, though, that fake relationships could get very messy and ruin friendships, Adrien took his time to think it over. To the one he would choose, he would not be offering a fake; he would be asking for a real chance, and he had to carefully consider all of the risks involved.