Cinnamon and Vanilla

Chapter 1

Adrien rubbed his eyes and yawned as he made his way down the vast stairs of his house towards breakfast. If akumas weren't going to be the death of him, then the final semester of Lycée and his extracurricular commitments just might be. He was beyond grateful that Hawk Moth seemed to have been taking some time off lately and akuma attacks had been less frequent because he was already having to pull all nighters just to get his assignments finished on time on top of his photoshoots, Chinese, fencing, piano... He rubbed his temples as he walked into the dinning room where Nathalie was already waiting for him with his schedule.

The assistant watched as Adrien tried to stifle a yawn before sitting down. "Are you alright Adrien?" She asked with concern in her voice. "You look like you haven't slept."

"Assignment due today, but it's done, don't worry." He smiled at the worried look on her face but Nathalie wasn't buying it. She knew Adrien well enough to recognise that fake smile when she saw it, she'd been watching him do it his whole life. "I'll be fine Nathalie, nothing that a good coffee can't fix." He said, taking a bite out of his croissant. It didn't taste as good as the ones from Marinette's bakery, he mused to himself. "Where's father this morning?"

"He had to go into the office early. There's a meeting with the investors ahead of the launch of the summer collection." Adrien nodded, only really half listening. Leading up to the lucrative spring/summer period his father had been even more absent than usual with meetings and business trips. Nathalie lifted up her tablet, scrolling through the timetable.

"Your schedule for the rest of the week consists of piano practice this afternoon then tomorrow afternoon is fencing and revision work as usual, then Saturday there will be a photoshoot in the park." Adrien let out a heavy sigh.

"Can't I have just one weekend off? I haven't had a free weekend for weeks." He complained, his face dropping like a kitten that had just been kicked out into the cold. "Could you maybe talk to my father about it? I just want to spend some time with my friends before the school year ends."

Nathalie's eyes softened. It didn't sit well with her at all that a young man who was about to step into adulthood was still having to plead to have time with his friends. Despite the heavy workload that comes with being a Lycée senior, Gabriel Agreste had given little consideration to the levels of exhaustion that his son clearly was feeling, making no provision for down time from his overloaded schedule. Nathalie knew Gabriel had not been pleased with a lot of recent photos Adrien had done, and the evidence for that she felt was clear on the young blonde's face.

"Alright Adrien, Don't worry about it, I'll talk to him." She said, patting his shoulder. "Now you better get ready for school or you'll be late."

A short car trip, and one coffee stop later and Adrien made his way into his classroom, finding his best friends already seated in the home room. "Dude, you look like death warmed up." Nino laughed, offering his fist out for a bump.

"Thanks for that glowing vote of confidence bro." Adrien replied with an eye roll and a smile, connecting his fist with Nino's before taking another sip of his grande triple shot latte.

"Let me guess..." Alya interjected. "You were finishing your history assignment too?" The model nodded, then he noticed his bluenette friend with her head buried in her arms on the table.

"Is Marinette alright?" He queried causing Alya to laugh with a hand wave.

"Same problem as you. She's so snowed under with commissions and helping in the bakery she had to pull an all nighter on the assignment as well. On top of that she had been working on a dress to wear to her cousin's wedding only to find out yesterday the wedding has been called off."