Alex didn't know how he was going to face Adrien. How he was going to tell him that he was separating ways with him. It all sounded horrible. He was trying to come up with something, but time was going by quick and nothing that seemed at least a little bit easy was coming to mind.
"We should probably get going." Lovisa stated, looking at Ruben with a smile.
"We should. It's time." Ruben stated firmly.
Lovisa gave all of them hugs, soft small hugs, even though Eleonore literally squashed her. Adrien only patted her back affectionately. He was quiet, as he didn't know how to handle these situations properly.
"See you some other time?" Eleonore asked with a smile.
"Maybe in the future, who knows." Lovisa gave a little devilish smile before turning her back to them.
"I'm waiting for you at the gates." She told him, joining Alex's dad and Mia who were waiting.
"Watch yourself, alright?" He told Eleonore as he patted her head very softly.
"I will, I will. No one can hurt me with Adrien by my side." She smiled at her husband, who seemed very satisfied with her sentence.
Ruben only rolled his eyes and sighed. He looked at Adrien in the eyes and grinned.
"I know that's the truth. I'm still gonna tell you to take care of her." Ruben punched Adrien's shoulder, it was his standard body language, but it was still harshly.
"I understood that after the fifteenth time in these fifteen minutes, Ruben." Adrien deadpanned, growing tired of the same sentence every two minutes.
"Better safe than sorry, Marais." He joked around.
He gave one last serious gaze to the two of them. It really did hurt. He didn't understand how Lovisa was so natural at this. She did it all so happily and made everyone feel at ease, while he was holding back breaking down and crying. He'd almost just stay with the two of them.
"I..." He started, but he didn't know what he was even going to say.
"Goodbye." It was best to just end it, this was prolonged for too much anyway.
Adrien thought it was over with goodbyes, feeling a sense of relief from that tension. That was, until he saw Alex. He was standing there as if he was next in line. He looked embarrassed and ashamed, with his yellow eyes looking at the floor. Adrien didn't understand what exactly he was so embarrassed of.
"What's the problem, Alex?" Adrien questioned, not understanding.
Alex looked up with eyes filled with tears and desperation. Adrien didn't know why, but immediate realization hit him. That look told him enough. He felt disappointed. Disappointed and oddly hurt. Very, very hurt.
Alex tried to speak, but no words would come out. It was obvious the guilt was eating him up. Adrien didn't even need to hear anything, he just knew.
"Why are you joining them?" Adrien asked, his voice obviously pained.
"I... I have nothing to do here." Alex told him, trying his hardest not to cry.
Adrien was struck by a feeling of guilt.
"You're right..." Adrien sighed and looked down.
Even he felt tears now. He didn't know why he felt so hurt and betrayed now. This all made sense, why did he feel this way? It made this unnecessarily hard.
"I'm sorry. You had such a bright future as a Caretaker... If only I hadn't gotten you caught up into this..." He said in a soft tone, obviously trying to control his voice.
