Vanished (Lukadrien) • Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 10 | family matters

Luka was right, once the allegations hit the news there's been a media frenzy. Just over a month of Adrien being missing and the case has blown up even more than it was before thanks to the allegations of abuse against his father.

Luka worried that it was worse than Adrien had suggested, he ran away and everything so clearly something was wrong in that household. But apart from keep an eye out for him and cooperate with the investigators, what could he do?

Cat Noir hasn't shown up to any fights recently either, so wherever Adrien was he was clearly busy and focused on surviving on his own rather than joining the akuma battles. Honestly who could blame him? He's just trying to live right now.

Sitting out on the deck of the boat, he'd hit a musical block. The whole situation was stressing him out and the only notes he could seem to conjure up were broken melodies that didn't flow right. He held his guitar, but didn't strum it, mind blank with nothing but the weight of Adriens case in it.

He was snapped out of his daze hearing talking down the other end of the boat, his mum and dad had been trying to make amends recently. He's been seeing his dad a lot more, which he was glad about. Obviously being fatherless for most his life left a scar, but he was at least glad that now things were seeming to latch up and Jagged was at least trying to be more involved now.

"Yooo what's rockin my boy?"

Luka jumped slightly, not realising his dad had walked up to him.

"Oh! Hey dad..." he replied.

"What's with the ultra depresso look man?"

"It's just... well..."

How did he even begin to describe the feeling of knowing someone you cared about so deeply was missing, potentially abused by his father and could be in danger? Lukas sadness seemed to flick a switch in jagged, and his usual rock and roll attitude dropped a bit as he sat down beside his son.

"What's up kiddo?" He asked.

"It's been a month now... Adriens been gone a whole month with no sign of him. And then the allegations against his dad come out and make the whole situation worse. It's dangerous for someone as young as us out there alone but he's god knows where all alone! He could be in danger, hurt, sick and no one knows. But at the same time it's not safe for him to come back because of his dad... I just wish I knew where he was so I could at least ask if he's safe" Luka rambled.

Jagged knew of the situation, all of Paris did. It was all over the news after all. He knew that it was clearly hard on Luka knowing his band-mate and friend was missing. But what do you even say in this situation? It's not every day someone close to you goes missing so he couldn't even imagine the feeling.

"I'm sure you're not the only one worried sick man, even if his family aren't what the seemed to be, all his friends are clearly worried. All his fans are worried, practically all of Paris is. With this many eyes on the case surely he'll have to turn up at some point right?" Jagged said.

"That's the part that worries me. Even if he does turn up... there's no telling if he'll turn up safe. He could turn up sick, injured, as a hostage or even in a body bag. As long as he's alive and safe I don't care what happens. I'd rather know he's safe and never see him again than have him show up clinging to life you know?" Luka replied.

It was a complicated situation to go through as a teenager, life was already confusing enough as a teenager but with this thrown on top of it, it make things harder. Luka couldn't blame Adrien for running away, he needed to be out of his household and fast. But that didn't change the fact it was scary to his friends to know he could be anywhere in any situation, even dangerous ones.

"The police questioned you right? You did all you could with what you know. Don't beat yourself up over it, no one could have seen this coming. Sure now that it's happened people have noticed things in retrospect but in the moment those things just seem like passing comments you know?" Jagged reassured.

There was one thing that got to Luka the most though... and he hadn't told anyone because he didn't want to potentially out someone or speculate about personal matters. But he just couldn't hold it in anymore, it was killing him.

"When I was questioned... the cop told me I wasn't a suspect. But apparently his dad thinks I was a 'bad influence' to Adrien. Even though the police think that's a load of crap, it makes me wonder if his dad thought we were dating" Luka began.

"Dating? Why would he think that?"

"The police know that an argument happened the night he vanished. So the argument had to be painful enough to prompt him finally snapping and running away, and with the comments about me his dad made... the police think maybe Adrien accidentally came out during the fight and his dad didn't accept him. His dad calls me a bad influence... then the police connect this into it... his dad must have thought there was something between us. I don't want to like... out Adrien or speculate on his personal identity but when he's missing and there's abuse allegations it's hard not to think about the possibilities" Luka finished.

Jagged thought for a moment, he knew the case was serious. But he didn't know it was this serious. He knew why the cops would have kept this from the media, outing people is dangerous.

"Was there something between you?" He asked.

Luka thought for a moment, not expecting the question.

"I mean we weren't dating... if that's what you mean?"

"Even if you weren't offical, was there something there that would have lead his dad to think that?"

Luka thought again, was there? He'd always been friends with Adrien since they first met, and after he broke up with Marinette he did seem to be closer with Adrien. The original intention was to get Marinette closer to him, but it did end up morphing into it just being the two boys spending time together.

"We did spend a lot of time together, and found excuses to hang out a lot. We did get a lot closer after I was akumatized and after he and Kagami had that bad breakup... I mean, I care for him of course, and he has the prettiest melody when he's passionate about something. There's so much more to him once he comes out of his shell and he's able to flourish without his dads control over him. We were... closer, best friends I'd say. But maybe there was more to it.. I guess there was something there that we didn't notice at the time..." Luka rambled.

"The fact you were able to give a whole speech on it tells me that yes, there was something there but you were both caught up in other things you didn't notice at first" jagged replied.

Did... Luka have feelings for Adrien? No he couldn't... Marinette did. Marinette was the one who wanted him but... he'd be lying his he said being with Adrien didn't make him feel happy and safe. He cared for Marinette still, obviously. The broke up on good terms, they were still friends. He felt kind of bad for essentially stealing her crush but he couldn't deny it, he did have feelings for Adrien.

"I guess I did have something with Adrien. Maybe that's why I'm so much more worried about him..." Luka sighed.

"Look son, I know this is a complicated situation. I know that feelings especially as a teenager are hard. And even if I can't relate to you completely since love with a girl is a different experience than love with a boy, I do know one thing: it'd make a killer song man. Music therapy has always been your way of expressing yourself, tap into that. Get it all out through song and once you've processed it and are thinking more clearly, you'll not only feel better but be able to focus on helping find him better. If it's meant to be, you'll meet again" jagged reassured.

Despite being a bit of an airhead sometimes, and even after the rocky past they had together, it was clear that nowadays Jagged was really trying to be a better dad. Luka was grateful for that. Feeling a bit better after talking it out, he wrapped his arms around his father sharing a comforting family hug.

"Thanks dad... I needed that"