I Trusted You

Irritation

Adrien peeked inside the door of his mansion, entered quickly, and sighed in relief. Thank goodness his father wasn't-

"Adrien, where have you been?"

-there.

Adrien cringed. Busted.

"Uh.... outside?" Adrien quipped.

Gabriel shook his head and rubbed his temples.

"Adrien, I am very disappointed in you. I do not recall you asking me for permission to go out. Did you?"

He hung his head. "No, father."

"Go to your room. You will not be going out for a week."

"But father-"

"You will come back home immediately after working on your project."

Adrien looked despondently at his father and ran up towards his room. He sank into his bed.

Plagg flew up to him. "Kid, are you okay?"

He sighed. "I'm fine, Plagg. I'm used to this by now."

It wasn't the punishment that hurt him. It was the fact that his father was always too busy to spend time with him, and when he wanted to hang out with his friends, he'd try to put a stop to that too.

He pulled up his blanket and tried to sleep. He didn't bother to ask for dinner.

Neither did Plagg. He felt bad for his owner and decided to skip his supper, which was Camembert, to not disgust him.

Adrien had a deep sleep that night.

The next day was dull for Adrien. He had a hard time paying attention to the lesson, got scolded a few times, and to top that all off, he had to continue working on the project.

With Lila.

They had scheduled the project at Lila's house, since Adrien didn't want to face his father until he absolutely had to.

Lila sat on her bed, and Adrien sat after. Marinette stood awkwardly in front of them.

"Oops, sorry Marinette, there's no space here! You can sit on the floor, though."

Marinette scowled, but listened to Lila as there really was nowhere else to sit. Adrien looked at her and frowned at Lila. Though, he didn't want to say anything.

"So, Adrien, we really should hang out more often!" Lila suggested, ignoring Marinette completely as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. Marinette rolled her eyes and went back to her work.

"I can't. I'm not allowed to go out for a week," Adrien replied curtly.

Marinette looked up, concerned. "What? W-why?"

"I snuck out yesterday, remember? I can't hang out." Though, he had no doubt that even if he wasn't grounded he would absolutely not hang out with Lila.

"Oh." Lila frowned. "Next week, then?"

"Can't. I won't get time."

"The week after?" She said hopefully.

"No."

"The week after that?" Lila was getting frustrated.

Adrien glared at her. "I said no, Lila! Why is everything so hard for you to understand?!"

Marinette gawked at Adrien. Lila was astounded.

He went back to his work, not bothering to apologize for being rude. He didn't care what Lila thought of him.

Marinette glanced at Lila, who was also looking down at her work. She wondered if Adrien was alright. The way he had just acted was out of character for him.

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated on his work. He could see from his peripheral vision that Lila would occasionally peer at him. He ignored her.

They worked in awkward silence for a while, until Lila couldn't take it anymore. "I'm going to get a snack. Would you two want some?"

They both shook their heads. Lila walked out, closing the door behind her. She didn't care about the fact that Adrien and Marinette were alone in the room. She just wanted to escape the heavy silence for a while.

Marinette chewed on her lip, contemplating what to do. She didn't want to trigger Adrien any further, but she wanted to know if he was alright.

She hesitated a bit, before asking, "Adrien, are you okay?"

Adrien turned to her. She could see the faint bags underneath his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine."

He was not. She could clearly tell he was indeed not fine from his downcast expression and the way he had yelled at Lila a few minutes prior. However, she didn't want to push, so she kept her mouth shut.

Marinette looked at her presentation. She had made the text glow, just like Adrien had asked her to the last time they were working. She smiled faintly.

Lila reluctantly entered the room again, and the heavy silence was continued. For once, it was peaceful with Lila.

Adrien saw what time it was and packed up his belongings. "I've got to go. I can't have my father mad at me again." He left.

Marinette and Lila looked at each other. They were thinking of the same thing.

"Why was Adrien acting out today?" Marinette asked.

"Must've been my fault. I was the one annoying him. " Lila said, not sounding proud.

Marinette was dumbstruck. Lila, being genuinely sorry? That was unheard of.

Lila and Marinette were definitely not cordial to each other, but there was one thing that they both loved.

Adrien.

Lila looked at the time. "You should go as well. It's late."

Marinette nodded. She packed up her bearings and left.

Lila was actually not being nasty to her. Then again, it was at the cost of Adrien's happiness.

Neither of them wanted him unhappy. But for different reasons.

And Marinette, especially, didn't want to see anyone suffer.

Especially if it was Adrien.