Eleonore stared at Lovisa with a very surprised face. Her thoughts were unclear, Adrien couldn't know what she was thinking. He kept quiet, looking at her intently. He didn't know what to do, he had no idea what was correct. He just wanted her to say something, but she just stared at the grinning Lovisa. The only noise that could be heard was her playing with the keys of the house energetically.
"What are you doing here?" Adrien asked, clenching his fists, anger visible on his face.
He was so close. So close. Did she have to ruin this? He gave up his entire job for Eleonore, did she just have to ruin it? Did she have to go out of her way to get to Eleonore? Was this revenge for betraying them?
"Ah, nothing really. Mia didn't manage to trick us, you know. I counted on her wanting to go by herself. She really undermines herself, as much as she thinks she's selfish, she's actually quite selfless with this action, you know, trying to save everyone from the unknown doom that could be awaiting." Lovisa answered calmly and nonchalantly, like this wasn't anything to be worried about.
"If you know this could be doom, why do you still want to do it? You're endangering people with your stupid ideals, Lovisa." He answered quickly and harshly, more angrily than he might've done.
"Because it might not be doomed, Adrien. Maybe it's worth a shot." Eleonore spoke up, looking at Adrien.
Her face was scared. Scared of him. Eyes filled with tears and fear. She looked at him as if she didn't recognize him. It hurt. It hurt him so much. It hurt that he was so goddamn close. He was going to lose her, he knew.
"E-Eleonore..." Was the only thing he could say in this situation, he was at loss for words.
"You remembered, right?" Lovisa asked her, coming closer to Eleonore.
She backed away a bit though. Adrien saw that as a bit of hope. Maybe she'll forgive him. Maybe there was a shot.
"I... Do... Vaguely." She answered, her gaze switching between Adrien and Lovisa, as if she was unsure who to trust.
"You know I didn't do that because I wanted you to be punished. They told me they'd spare you if I told them everything I knew. I never thought their t-twisted idea of sparing you was to make you into a judge, I'm really sorry, I-I was desperate." Adrien spoke up, trying to sound calm, but the utter despair and panic in his voice was loudly audible.
"That's a lie. He's corrupted. You cried every night because of him, remember? He ignored you because of his job." Lovisa spoke in her sweet tone, she gave Eleonore a sympathetic look, trying to give her comfort.
"That's not true. You said you understood, Lovisa!" His voice got higher, actually pained that she said something like that, they used to be friends after all.
Lovisa looked at him with a genuinely apologetic look. She understood. She understood why he did that, it was all to protect Eleonore. It was good of him that he even kept their secret for so long, he was an admirable man... She felt bad doing this. She knew what the truth was. But it had to be twisted. She had to save Eleonore from this world, twisting the truth around a bit was a small bad deed for a huge good deed.
"I only said that. I know what the truth is. You betrayed all of us. You stopped caring for us a long time ago." Lovisa spoke as convincingly as she could.
This was very much making the plan go slower than it should be going. Eleonore wasn't even part of the plan. Lovisa thought she was destroyed a long time ago. It was quite the pleasant surprise when she found out she was alive and well. Although, the fact she was with Adrien was a bit of a deal breaker. Maybe she shouldn't have reacted this way. Maybe she should've just let Eleonore live in lies with him, but she cared too much about that girl. They're friends, she couldn't just leave her friend behind.
"Eleonore, yo-you're smarter than this. You kn-know who I am. I wouldn't betray you." Adrien stumbled on his own words, wanting to fall on his knees and beg for her not to leave him, but he didn't know how to do that or how to express that awful overwhelming feeling of it.
"How could you continue working for them after what they did to me?" Eleonore asked, her eyes filled with tears.
His stomach dropped.
He was losing this game, wasn't he? After so many years of winning in life and getting everything he wanted, he was losing now.
"I thought it-it-it didn't make sense to give up. I th-thought you wanted me t-to-to continue living my dreams." He hasn't notice he was crying, his tears were so soft and new that he couldn't, he forgot how that felt.
"You can see how much he respects you. I think it's time for a better life." Lovisa tried to get her to her own side, finally thinking she managed, but...
"Adrien, tell me the magic words, and I won't leave." Eleonore spoke up, something playful in her voice.
He got confused, not knowing what she meant by that.
"Lo-Look, I don't wanna play g-games now, pl-please, I-I-I-I just want you to stay, please, I can't bare this type of p-pain, Elle..." He could barely muster the words, he wiped his eyes, finally noticing he was crying due to his blurry vision.
But once he got a better look at her face, he knew what she meant. She had that warm huge grin on her face, like she was teasing him playfully. It warmed his heart up in a second. She was right, she'd never leave. He smiled his small shaky smile and spoke up, his voice trying to sound clear.
"I love you." Once he said it, he started sobbing, hugging her tightly, noticing he could do it now without being rejected.
He was really dumb. Once he said it to her, looking at her eyes, it wasn't hard at all. Why did he keep thinking it was? No wonder she cried all the time about him. It wasn't hard to be warm, it really wasn't. He was so thankful that she even gave him a chance after him being such a cold idiot.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He kept saying over and over again, crying as he hugged her as tightly as he could.
"I see I can't do much about this, huh?" Lovisa asked, her voice filled with sadness and regret, although it was still well hidden behind her soft childlike tone.
"Thanks for the care, Love." Eleonore smiled at the much shorter girl.
"I just wanted best for you, I hope you know that." Lovisa said, her smile fading finally, her pained expression showing clearly.
"Of course I do, you silly. Is there any way I can help you though?" She questioned her old friend.
"Not really. You should keep low now. Helping me would just put you in danger. Stay safe with your man." She giggled as she threw her the spare keys she had.
"I wish this wasn't the last time we see each other." Her purple eyes got watery once more.
"I mean, the plan can still fail and you can see me being judged publicly to being destroyed." She said nonchalantly as always.
"Sounds wonderful. Looking forward to that meeting, Love." Eleonore laughed.
"Ah, I missed someone getting my humor." She joined their hug oddly enough, feeling like the good old times again.
"It feels like school all over again. The only one missing is Ruben." Adrien spoke up finally, missing being buddy buddy with him.
"I'm pretty sure he'd try to break your nose again." Lovisa laughed, forgetting he already did get his nose broken.
"How about we go there with you? For our one last proper meeting?" He questioned her, making her smile genuinely.
"You really want your nose broken again, huh?" Eleonore commented, making them all laugh.
"It'll be worth it." He said firmly, knowing what their next step was.
