Wayhem refreshed the page for the third time in the past minute. The forums loaded down his screen, each one filled with Adrien Agreste fans panicking about his every move and breath.
A popup appeared in the bottom right corner of his screen. When he saw it, Wayhem clicked through his tabs to find his email.
A new message from Adrien sat in his inbox, a reply to a question Wayhem had asked earlier that morning.
The reply was short, along with an apology. Adrien was busy all day with photo shoots and probably wouldn't be able to get to his phone later in the night.
Wayhem nodded, even though Adrien wouldn't be able to see it. He knew that Adrien had an incredibly busy life and accepted that he couldn't drop everything for one person, even if that person was his number one fan.
Wayhem sent another reply to Adrien and logged off the computer. Adrien had mentioned a photo shoot in the park. Wayhem had decided to pay him a visit to cheer his idol on from the sidelines.
Wayhem rushed down the stairs. He shouted a goodbye to his mother as he passed the kitchen and grabbed his bike on the way out.
The park drew nearer and nearer. Wayhem could make out the shapes of cameras, portable changing rooms and crates upon crates of equipment.
A sudden dark shape flew in front of Wayhem's face. He panicked, thinking it was an akuma and he might hurt Adrien if he became a villain. That couldn't happen, and Wayhem would do anything to prevent it.
"Get away from me, you evil butterfly!" Wayhem waved his arms around in front of his face, scrunching his face up as he tried to think of everything positive.
Of course, when you take both hands off your handlebars and close your eyes, you are more than likely to crash your bike.
Wayhem and his bike flew through the gates of the park, Wayhem still flailing, and crashed into a tree just past the portable changing rooms set up for the shoot. As soon as he hit the ground, Wayhem flew upright, looking around.
Adrien was staring at him from where he was posing in front of the fountain. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Just thought I saw an akuma and got distracted. No injuries, so don't worry about me." Wayhem waved his hands in front of him, trying to get the attention of almost everyone in the park away from him.
From a park bench, Gabriel squinted angrily at Wayhem before turning back to his phone. It started ringing and instantly, his personality changed. He was no longer the cold man people knew him as. He was friendly and didn't belittle the person on the other end of the phone. A completely different person.
When he hung up, he walked over to Adrien and the photographer. With a few harsh gestures and some even harsher expressions, everyone around them started to pack up, despite only working for under half an hour.
Adrien smiled sadly at Wayhem before he was led out of the park by Gabriel, a firm hand on his son's shoulder.
Wayhem watched them go. He has ridden all the way to the park, only to be forced to turn around and head home. Whatever Gabriel had heard on that phone must have been important.
Trying to be optimistic, Wayhem reminded himself that now he had more time to scroll through the Adrien Agreste subreddit he had found earlier this morning.
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Adrian stood in front of Gabriel's desk. He was waiting for his father to talk, possibly to explain why he has showed up at the photoshoot and ended it so suddenly. The last time he had been so involved in Adrien's life was before Emilie died.
Gabriel looked up from his paperwork, ending the uncomfortable silence in the room. "We are to be flying to America and Canada for a campaign. Apparently, you have gained quite an American following and I think it's high time you visit them in person. It will help sales tremendously around the world and you can meet business associates."
Adrien was confused. Why now would Gabriel want to introduce Adrien to people across the world that had some standing in his company? It was the beginning of Spring, surely companies and fashion designers had bigger things to do.
"We leave next week and don't return for a month. As you will miss school, I feel it would be appropriate to take a familiar person with you. I will give you a few days to choose. Tell Nathalie your decision when you reach it."
Adrien walked out. Gabriel had finished his sentence and instantly started ignoring Adrien again. Nothing new, Adrien just knew that was his cue to leave.
When he reached his room, Adrien grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. He scrawled the words 'Trip' on the top of the page and started to write a couple of names underneath it.
When he finished, he had a list of practically everyone in his class. He crossed out all of the girls except Chloe, knowing his father wouldn't approve. Leaving Nino on the list was a push, too, considering what had happened on his birthday.
Adrien stood up from his desk and walked to the door. The list was clutched tightly in one hand, almost to the point of being scrunched up.
Nathalie was walking down the hallway towards him. Adrien called out to her. "Nathalie! I have a list of people for my father to consider for the trip."
"Thank you, Adrien. I will take it to your father for approval. You can wait in your room." Nathalie took the list and kept walking.
Adrien turned back to his room. He decided to use the empty block of time to scroll through the Ladyblog. Maybe he would reply to any emails Wayhem had sent him.
Three days later, Adrien was staring at the piece of paper he had given Nathalie. It was now covered in neat lines of red pen, and at the bottom was Gabriel's uniform handwriting.
'I do not approve any of these. You must have a new choice by the end of today.'
Adrien crashed down onto his bed. If his father didn't approve of anyone on that list, who would he approve of? The pickings would be slim, possibly non-existent.
Nathalie knocked on Adrien's door. "Your father would like to see you in his office to discuss your choice."
Trudging down the hallway, Adrien's mind raced. There had to be someone with a redeeming quality that would impress Gabriel. He just had to think of them.
The door to the office was open when Adrien arrived. His father was sitting behind his desk, waiting for him. "Have you made your choice yet?"
"I have someone in mind. He is a fan of mine, he helped the heroes to protect me when our bodyguard was akumatised. His name is Wayhem." Adrien hoped mentioning Wayhem saving his life and being a fan would persuade Gabriel.
"That would be more acceptable than your other suggestions..." Gabriel thought for a moment before deciding. "Get in contact with Wayhem and determine whether he is available for the next month. That will be all."
Adrien pulled his phone out of his pocket and emailed Wayhem as fast as he could.
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Wayhem jumped into his chair. Another email from Adrien has just arrived. The computer had been open for hours, but Wayhem had moved away from it while he worked on his Adrien collage. It was getting quite large, over a hundred cut outs of Adrien stuck together. One day, he could use it to cover the wall across from his bed.
The email was short and straight to the point. Adrien was leaving the country for a month to do modelling for his father and needed someone he knew to accompany him.
Wayhem screamed.
Adrien Agreste, THE Adrien Agreste, wanted him to spend an entire month in another country while he was doing modelling work for his father. He hadn't asked anyone else, he had asked Wayhem. His number one fan.
Wayhem was ecstatic. He rushed down stairs to find his mother. "Can I go to America and Canada for a month?"
His mother looked up. "What do you mean? How will you get over there?"
"Adrien Agreste is going there for a month and has offered to me with him!" Wayhem was practically dancing in excitement, but his mother was less convinced.
"I'll need to talk to whoever is in charge."
One short phone call between Gabriel Agreste and Wayhem's mother later and Wayhem was packing a bag, even though he still had plenty of time. He just wanted to be sure that he had everything for the month he would be gone, including as many Adrien fan items as he could fit amongst the clothes.
He circled the date he was leaving in his calendar in the biggest circle he could, and set a timer on his phone. To say Wayhem was excited was an understatement. He was absolutely ecstatic.
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"Have you ever flown before?" Adrien put his bag under the seat in front of him.
Wayhem shook his head, and replied, "Only once, but I was too young to remember it."
"I guess that means I have to make your trip memorable then."
Wayhem wanted to say that just being in the seat next to Adrien was making this the most memorable thing of his life. But that would probably be slightly too obsessed sounding. Wayhem kept silent.
A flight attendant walked over to them. "If everything okay here? Do you need me to bring you anything for the trip?"
Adrien beamed at her, using his fake model smile. "Everything is perfect, thank you!"
The model seemed to go a little red at his smile, which was a little strange considering Adrien was still a child, before scurrying off.
Adrien and Wayhem sat down in preparation for takeoff.
The plane started to rumble beneath them. Flight attendants stood up to demonstrate safety procedures and the pilot gave a short message about the weather and their flight.
Wayhem watched the demonstration for a few minutes, but felt his eyes dragging back to Adrien. Gabriel has given them first class seats and sat a few rows away from them, so Adrien and Wayhem were on their own.
The plane began to taxi down the runway, picking up more and more speed until the wheels left the tarmac and they were in the air, heading straight towards the cheery clouds dotting the sky.
Adrien plugged a pair of headphones into his armrest and leaned back. A movie began to play on the screen on the head of the seat in front of him. Wayhem just sat silently and marvelled, fangirled even, over Adrien. He was trying to be discreet, but it didn't work in the end.
"Everything okay, Wayhem?"
"Just... just looking at that movie, um, it seems interesting."
Adrien smiled at Wayhem before leaning over towards him. Wayhem gasped sharply. What was Adrien about to do? Would this moment, right now, thousands of feet in the sky, start their lifelong love story?
Adrien reaches his hand out and pressed a few buttons on the screen in front of Wayhem, turning it to the same movie that he was watching. Wayhem turned red. What on earth was he thinking?
Adrien turned back in his seat to continue watching his movie. Wayhem scratches through his bag to find headphones so he could watch the movie in front of him. He couldn't turn it off, not after he told Adrien that he was interested in watching it. It would look strange.
Wayhem leaned his head back against the headrest. Even though he didn't manage to rise above the rank of extreme fan, Adrien had personally invited him on this trip. He still had a month to make Adrien see him as more than a fan, maybe even more than a friend.