Behind the Mask (Book One)

Chapter 17

(Adrien's POV)
I wake up the next morning to a knock on my door.

"Adrien?" Nathalie's voice says from the other side.

I sit up, feeling pain on my side.

"Yeah?" I respond.

"School is starting soon. Your bodyguard is outside"

"Okay, thank you"

I climb out of bed, still sore from yesterday. I change out of my pajamas and Plagg flies over to me.

"Are you okay?" My kwami asks.

"Father is in prison now..." I look down, "Not that I miss his beatings or anything, but he was my only family left"

"It's for the best," Plagg says.

I swing my schoolbag over my shoulder, "Yeah, I guess so"

I walk down the flight of stairs to find Nathalie awaiting me at the bottom. She noticed my sad face and frowned.

"Adrien, I know you're upset about your father being in prison," she begins, "But this is better for you"

"I know," I say and keep walking.

I open the front door and climb into the backseat of the car. Suddenly, Gorilla hands me a croissant, catching me off-guard. I look at him and he smiles. I thank him and take the croissant. As always, Gorilla doesn't say anything and heads to school.

I've been skipping breakfast and lunch for the past year or so. Ever since depression came into my life, I've lost my appetite. To be honest, I'm really not in the mood to eat anything after the incident yesterday, but Gorilla never does things like that.

I guess one good thing is that since Hawkmoth is in prison, I don't have to worry about being late to class because of an akuma.

And though it will take a really long time to recover from all this, I know I have Marinette to support me on my journey of healing.

(Marinette's POV)
Adrien steps out of his car and I run over to him.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey," he answers back. There was sadness in his eyes and his voice was dead.

"Are you okay?"

What a stupid question. Of course he isn't! His father was arrested and his mom passed away!

He nods, "I appreciate you for caring"

"Yeah, no pro-"

I was cut off when he pulled me into a hug. I could sense everybody looking at us with surprise (and Chloé's anger). I relax and close my eyes, hugging him back.

"Thank you for everything," he whispers and tightens his grip on me.

We pull away after a couple seconds.

"Well, I'll see you later," Adrien waves and walks off.

"Wow, girl," Alya approaches me, "You didn't stutter when talking to him. What's been happening between you and Adrien lately?"

My face turns a deep red, "N-nothing. D-don't worry about it"

Alya pats my shoulder and walks away. I stand there and smile.

I'm really glad Adrien trusts me enough to let me in. Life has been so unfair to him. He's been through so much and he doesn't deserve what he's gotten. I can tell it's going to take a long time for him to recover from this. But no matter what, I'll stay by his side. I don't care what it takes or how long it takes, I'll always be there for him. I'll make sure he's not alone and he knows there's someone who cares.

~

Adrien and I are sitting in a practice room together again. We didn't play a duet, though. Adrien just wanted to talk.

"It's hard to accept that both of my parents are gone," Adrien says sadly, "Sure, my father abused me physically and emotionally, but I can't hate him... He's my father"

"I'm sorry," I say quietly.

"He was never like this until my mom passed away"

He takes a deep, shaky breath. I could tell he wanted to cry.

"It's okay to cry," I remind him, "Don't hold your tears back. Just let them flow"

He nods and his tears escaped. Seconds later, he was bawling into his hands and I scooted closer until our shoulders were touching.

"You'll get through this," I say softly, "You're a strong person"

I stayed there for a while, feeling the warmth of his shoulder on mine.