"Future Rewoven" Book 3 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 21: Ice Cream Talk. André's Always Helps, Doesn't It?

"So, Bro, how have things been going this summer?  I've hardly seen you!" Nino said to Adrien as he took a big bite of ice cream.  He had been glad to find out from Alya that he could just come on his own sometimes to get André's ice cream- that he didn't always have to go with her.  André's was the best in the city and he wanted to have it a lot more often than Alya did.  The only rule was that if André somehow gave Nino ice cream that was no longer about Alya, he had to tell her immediately.  Or else!  Nino didn't expect that his sweetheart ice cream was ever going to change as he was still completely into Alya, even though her "or else" made him a little nervous.  There were a few other parts of Alya's personality that made him a little nervous, too, but he figured that was part of the excitement of their relationship.  He was good with that!

Nino focused his attention on Adrien, realizing that he never responded to his question.  "Adrien?" he said, waving the little ice cream spoon in front of his friend's face. 

Adrien rapidly blinked a few times and then took a bite of his melting ice cream before saying "Good.  It's been pretty good.  It's just . . .  Marinette and I had a fight the other day . . ."  He trailed off, not sure he exactly wanted to talk about it.

Adrien was surprised when Nino nodded and said "You mean the one about your dad?" Nino had asked it before thinking about who he had heard that information from.  He took another bite of his ice cream and closed his eyes in appreciation.

"How do you know about that?" exclaimed Adrien.

Nino's eyes shot open, just now realizing that Ladybug had been the one who filled Alya and him in on it and that Adrien would probably not be too happy to find out that Marinette had talked to a superhero about it!

"Oh, um, . . it's just . . ."  Nino grasped for a explanation but was saved when Adrien came to his own conclusion.

"I suppose Marinette talked to Alya about it and then Alya told you.  I sometimes forget that can happen," said Adrien glumly.  Nino just nodded, staying quiet to let Adrien go with that reason.

After a few moments of silence Nino felt compelled to offer his advice.  "She's just worried about you, you know.  Kind of hard not to do that about the people we care about.  And—" Adrien tried to interrupt but Nino put an hand on Adrien's arm to stop him and then continued. "Hear me out. Your dad's not really been the most trustworthy guy in the past. You can't say that's not true or that some of his choices haven't been the best ones for you.  We all remember how unhappy you used to be when you lived with him- lonely from having no family around, not able to go out and see your friends, told what you could and couldn't do, at your dad's whim for pretty much everything.  Your dad wouldn't even let you have a birthday party with your friends!  So, don't be mad at us for worrying about you.  We all see how much happier you are now and don't want things to change for the worse, you know?  And we like getting to hang out with you- not, like, a video version of you!"

Adrien laughed at that.  It certainly was more fun to actually hang out with his friends and not just appear on a screen that someone carried around.  And that was too close to being his father, who used to often be carried around on a device by Nathalie, so he could interact with people but not interact with them.

"Yeah, you're right.  I'm just really hoping his changes are real.  I would like to have a family again," said Adrien sadly.

"Dude!" said Nino, giving Adrien a light punch on the arm for what he considered to be a ridiculous statement.  "You've got a lot of family!  Marinette and her parents, me, Alya- we're you're family, so don't say we're not!  And then there's all of your friends.  It's not like it was, right?  We're all here for you.  Having the same blood doesn't always make a person your family.  At least, not your real family- those are the ones that are always there for you. Who want the best for you, not the you they want you to be- but the real you."