This is my @mlsecretsanta for @phantompierce-okamoto !
A note to Phantom:
I know I’m posting this at the very end of the posting period, and I hope you didn’t feel left out throughout all of the posting period. I’ve had a lot of commitments this month, so it’s been a little rough getting this done. But, I hope that the length of this will make up for it.
(It got a tinsy bit away from me... ^^; )
Anyways, Happy Holidays and I hope you have a wonderful new year. ♥
It was New Year's Eve, and Adrien was lonely.
His father had forbidden him from going out. Something about not being able to trust Paris enough for him to leave the house. He wasn't entirely sure how that was related to spending the evening at a close friend's house for a small class party chaperoned by her parents. But, in his father's mind, the threat of all of Paris partying in the streets was enough to keep him home.
Even if he, himself, was attending a gala half a world away.
Nothing about the situation made sense to Adrien, but what was he to do? He had considered sneaking out to the party regardless. It'd be pretty simple, especially with how understaffed the estate was today. But, apparently, his father had called Marinette's mother directly to inform her that he couldn't make it. So, if he suddenly showed up on their doorstep, the likelihood that she would inform his father of his escape was particularly high. Plagg had suggested sneaking in via Marinette's roof, but there was no way he could do that without raising suspicions as to how he got there in the first place.
Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time so far today, Adrien clicked on another video of someone trying to win the try not to laugh challenge. It was mostly just white noise at this point, but it at least distracted him some as he waited until he was tired enough to go to bed. Which, at this rate, wouldn't be for some time, but at least he wasn't just sitting there staring at his wall stewing anymore.
He was about eight videos into his little endeavor, and sadly winning the challenge himself, when an odd noise in the hallway caught his attention. Having a large mansion with servants meant that it wasn't unheard of to hear something in the hallway, but it was nearing ten and a majority of the staff were home for the holidays today. So, in theory, he shouldn't hear anything beyond his room…
Pausing the video he scooped Plagg up from where he had been lounging on a pile of papers and stuffed him into his shirt pocket. The kwami made a small noise of protest, but didn't say much more as Adrien cautiously moved to his door in an attempt to listen. For a few panic-stricken moments he stood there, ear pressed to his door.
But, as he stood there he couldn't pick up on anything.
Adrien stood there for quite some time, listening. Experience as Chat Noir over the past two years made him wary of opening the door, but also wary of leaving threats unknown. After a few minutes of standing there, straining his ears and hearing nothing, Adrien decided to just write it off as something in the background of the video he had been watching.
Chagrined at his paranoia, maybe he should take a break from patrolling for a few days, Adrien went back over to his computer. He was about to go over to his desk and resume his video watching when, all of a sudden, there was a knock at his door.
Adrien froze.
He could feel adrenaline as his body readied itself to either flee or fight. He wasn't entirely sure which would be better; pretending that he wasn't there or going to the door and punching the intruder in the face. He was about to stand, to do which, he wasn't sure, when a voice on the other side caught his attention.
"Adrien! It's me, Nino!"
Adrien let out a sigh of relief as the tension melted away, leaving him with a slight buzz of energy coursing through him. He clumsily leapt to the door and yanked it back with a bit more force than he probably should have. When he finally opened the door he found that, lo and behold, his friend was indeed standing there, arms full of bags and a big smile on his face.
"Nino? What are you doing here? How on Earth did you get in? Did anyone see you?"
Nino smiled broadly and held up a key with a Coach flower keychain hanging from it. "I'll tell you all about it in a moment, but I'm afraid that if I stay out here too much longer, someone is going to catch me."
"Sure, sure."
Adrien opened the door wider and let Nino in. The other boy immediately set everything in his arms down on the floor and let out a sigh. Adrien was quick to shut the door and as soon as it was securely locked, he turned and gave his friend his whole attention.
"Okay, so we were all pretty bummed when Marinette's mom found out that your dad didn't want you to come over. We actually almost called it all off, but Alya said that wouldn't be fair to the rest of the class so we went ahead and set up the party. A little before it was supposed to start, though, Chloe showed up.
"We were all pretty pensive about having her there, what with her history with Marinette and everything, but she was actually pretty chill. And, come to find out, she only came there to give us this." He held up the key to illustrate his point. "She told us about how your father had left you all alone for New Year's and we thought it'd be a great idea to bring some of the party to you!"
He smiled widely as he opened the bags to reveal treats and party favors galore. Adrien felt something in his chest tighten at the sight of it all. Nino continued to speak as he unpacked everything and placed it on his coffee table.
"Everyone wanted to come over and surprise you, but I was the only one who could sneak off without getting into too much trouble. Marinette's hosting the party so her parents would definitely notice if she left, Chloe apparently promised her dad that she'd spend the night ringing in the new year with him, and Alya has something with her little sisters in the morning so she has to get home early. They're all sorry that they couldn’t come over but with how much of a stealth mission it was to get in here…" He laughed. "I'm pretty sure we would have gotten caught."
Adrien rushed forward and gave Nino a big hug. He nearly dropped the noisemakers in his hands, but he readily returned the embrace and patted his friend's back. Adrien felt his eyes water and did his best to swallow them, lest he ruin the moment.
"Thanks, Nino. This— This means a lot to me. "
"Of course, my dude. " Nino squeezed him gently. "I couldn't let you ring in the new year all by yourself."
They stayed like that for a few moments longer than was probably necessary, but Adrien didn't really want to let him go, as silly as that might sound. He was sad when they finally pulled apart, but he couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across his face as Nino handed him a noisemaker.
"I don't know if we should actually use these, but I grabbed them anyways."
"Technically speaking it's supposed to just be me and the Gorilla in the house and he usually goes to bed early so… We could probably make a bit of noise without making him too suspicious."
"Good," Nino laughed. "I might have biffed it on the stairs up here. I was so sure that I was going to get caught…"
"I think that I heard that, actually. Gave me a bit of a heart attack, actually."
"Sorry about that." Nino scratched at the back of his neck, sheepish. "I guess I should have warned you about it. But I didn't know for sure if I was going to make it. And, if I got caught, I didn't want you to get in trouble, too."
"It's fine. I'm just glad you made it okay."
He turned to look at everything that Nino had brought with him. Besides the snacks, sweets, and party favors he spied a few movies and games. Tucked a bit behind the surprises, though, was a duffel bag and pillow. Adrien raised an eyebrow at them and watched as Nino kicked them out of sight behind his couch and laughed, nervously.
"Since the party was going to be pretty late, Marinette said that anyone could stay the night if they didn't want to go home so late. My parents wanted to go to a party tonight, too, so they were cool with the plan of me staying. The plan to surprise you was kind of last minute, though, so I just brought all of my stuff with me. I… I don't know if you're okay with me staying or not, but…"
"Of course!" Adrien smiled. "It might be hard to sneak you out tomorrow morning, but we'll figure it out."
"Great!" Nino reached down and fanned the movies and games that he had brought with him. "Now what do you want to do first?"
###
It took quite a while for either of them to become tired enough to call it a night.
They decided to watch a movie first and enjoy the treats that Nino had brought with him. It was a pretty typical movie, but neither had seen it yet so they were easily immersed in it. So much so that they didn't realize how close to midnight it was until the credits were rolling.
At that point, Nino outfitted each of them in novelty glasses and top hats and turned on a live stream of the event going on at the Champs-Elysées. Nadja Chamack and Jagged Stone were hosting the event this year and seemed to be having a good time. They watched in rapt attention. And, as the countdown ended, they blew on their noisemakers and cheered in the new year.
There was a beat of silence after they finished making so much noise. Adrien wasn't sure if it was his paranoia, or what, but he almost swore that they were going to get caught. But, thankfully, he never heard the loud footfalls of The Gorilla walking down the hallway. Once he was sure that there was no one out there, he went so far as to poke his head out, he found himself dissolving into a fit of giggles with Nino over the whole affair.
Shortly afterwards they went about setting up the new game that Nino had received as a Christmas gift from his parents. Adrien recognized it immediately as one that he already owned, but had never had the time to play. It was a pretty mindless game, all things considered, but it lent itself to more conversation.
Which, more than anything else, Adrien thrived on.
"You know," he said after a while. "This is going to be my first sleepover."
Nino paused the game and turned to Adrien.
"You've never had a sleepover before?"
Adrien shrugged. "I went to parties with my mom and dad, but since dad never really wanted me to do much outside of my activities it just… never happened. I remember a few of the guys at fencing or basketball have asked over the years, but dad's always been worried about my safety or whatever so…"
"Did you still ask if you could go?"
Adrien sighed and put his controller to the side. Leaning his chin on his hands, he continued. "I just always told them that I was busy and didn't even bother asking. I mean, what's the point in asking if all you ever get is no, right?"
"I guess…" Nino trailed off. He stared at the screen for a moment before something dawned on him and he whipped around to face Adrien. "Wait. Was he always this controlling? Even when your mom was around?"
"Yeah. At least with mom around she was able to convince him to let me out a bit more. But, I mean, he always had last say on everything…"
"That's brutal."
"Yeah…"
They lapsed into silence for some time, just staring at the paused screen. Adrien wanted to fix the awkwardness that always fell between them whenever his dad came up in conversation, but he didn't know how. He was always touched by how much his friend cared about him, but his dad was still his dad. And, while he certainly didn't like how controlling he was… he still loved him. Which was somewhat frustrating for Nino since his righteous anger always burned brighter than his own ever could.
"Hey, Adrien?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you want to do after lycee?"
Adrien frowned. If he was being honest he hadn't thought too much about that. His father had all of these plans set up for him to choose between, but none of them really appealed to him. Especially due to the fact that most of them involved studying abroad, and he couldn't imagine being able to do that while still being Chat Noir.
"I don't know. I kind of want to go to University, but all of the places that my dad wants me to go to aren't in Paris. He hasn't told me that he wants me to take over his company, but I'm pretty sure that from all of the tracks he has planned out that that's what he wants me to do."
"Okay, but once you're an adult he can’t make you do what you don't want to do."
"Right, but…"
"Look, Adrien." Nino set his controller down and scooted a bit closer to him. "I know you care about your dad, but you can't let him decide your whole life for you. I've seen how unhappy it makes you to do what he wants over what you want. And that's… that's just not fair to you."
Adrien dragged his hand down his face and groaned.
"I get what you're saying Nino, but, he's made it expressly clear that his 'plans' are the only plans that he's going to fund. If I decide to do something else, then I'm pretty sure he's going to kick me to the curb. I'm not sure how much of a choice I really have."
"You always have a choice. And, if he doesn't want to help you achieve your dreams, then I will."
"Nino, I appreciate what you're saying, but I couldn't possibly ask you to—"
"We —you, me, Alya, and Marinette— will all get jobs and rent a house." Nino's voice was thick and the quiet tone made Adrien's throat constrict. "We… We might have to save up a bit before we can start doing what we want to do. University, trade school, whatever it is. But, if we all work together then—"
Adrien felt a shock go through him as Nino reached out and took his hand.
"Then, we can make it you know? I mean it'll probably be hard for a while, but working a little hard to get where you want to be is a lot better than being stuck where you don't want to be forever right?"
Adrien didn't know quite what to say. Sure, he'd thought about going to University and doing something else… But any time those thoughts had crossed his mind, they had felt so impossible.
But, the way that Nino talked about all of this made him realize that maybe, just maybe, a future all his own was within his grasp.
"H-hey," Nino said. "I'm sorry I. I didn't mean to make you upset."
Upset?
Adrien reached up with his unoccupied hand and found that there were tears streaming down his face. He couldn't say that he was entirely upset by what Nino had said, though. So, why?
"I'm not?" He wiped at his eyes in confusion. "Sorry, I just. That kind of thing didn't really… um."
He cleared his throat. It felt like something was stuck there, making it hard to say anything. And, if he was being honest, the small squeeze that Nino gave his hand didn't help all that much either.
But, the open and patient look that his friend was giving him made it a little easier.
"I guess, the idea of being able to do what I want to do with my life is just, kind of overwhelming?"
"In a good way or a bad way?"
Adrien laughed, wetly. "I can't tell. Probably good, though. I mean, your idea sounds a lot more appealing than being shipped off to the best business school China can offer."
"Yikes." Nino winced. "He really wants you to do that?"
"It's either that, Harvard, or Oxford."
"Maybe it's just me. But, it's kind of weird that he's so controlling, but he's willing to let you go study abroad."
"I… I think that he's planning to branch out. I've heard him mention it a few times, but he's never said where specifically the new office is going to be."
Nino grit his teeth. "So, he's pretending to give you freedom, but what he's actually doing is planning to trap you in whatever city you choose to attend university. That's pretty low."
"Sadly, I wouldn't exactly put it past him."
Adrien’s hand fell from Nino’s as an uneasy silence fell over them. Neither really knew what to say so they didn't really try. They let it hang over them like a heavy cloud of uncertainty as they attempted to clear the level. It didn't take too much work, but it certainly didn't feel as much of an accomplishment as the previous three did.
Shortly after the two of them decided to call it a night. Shutting off the console, Adrien watched as Nino started to clear off the couch. He cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"You don't have to worry about cleaning up right now. We can do that in the morning."
Nino paused, noisemakers in hand. "I'm just picking up what's on the couch. I don't know about you, but I don’t think that these would be all that comfortable to sleep on."
"Are you planning to sleep on the couch?"
"Well, yeah. I mean I can sleep on the floor, but it doesn't exactly sound that appealing."
"But, my bed is big enough for two people."
Nino nearly tripped over the coffee table as he turned to face Adrien more fully. Out of habit, Adrien shot forward to steady his friend. Thankfully, Nino didn't face plant into the treats, but Adrien was pretty sure from experience that his legs were going to bruise a bit.
"Sorry. It's just, I know from experience that my bed is a lot more comfortable. And, since this is a sleepover I just assumed…"
"It's not really that kind of sleepover though," Nino laughed, his tone a bit higher than usual.
"What do you mean by 'that kind of sleepover'?"
"Well, you see…" Nino cleared his throat. "Best friends don't usually, uh, share beds."
"But, Chloe's told me about how she and Sabrina have shared a bed during sleepovers and they're best friends."
"That's… different."
"How is it different?" Something clenched inside of Adrien and he took a step back, hurt. "Is it because I'm—"
"No! Of course not! That has absolutely nothing to do with any of this." Nino groaned as he pulled at his hat in frustration. "It's different because… because…"
Nino looked everywhere but at him.
Adrien was so confused. If it wasn't because of his bisexuality, then what on earth could make his best friend uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with him platonically?
"Look, Nino, it's okay if you don't want to share a bed. I wouldn't want to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. If you want I can go get an extra blanket and—"
"It's different because Chloe doesn't have a crush on Sabrina!"
Adrien froze.
"I'm sorry that you're finding out this way. This… This isn't how I wanted you to find out." He pulled his hat off his head and started fidgeting with the brim. "But, I can't just pretend that sharing a bed with you wouldn't mean something completely different for me than it would for you. It felt like I was being dishonest with you."
Adrien stood there, dumbstruck.
As long as he and Nino had been friends, he had no clue about his feelings. He didn’t even know that his best friend had feelings for guys in general. Part of him felt ashamed of the fact that he'd never even asked about the type of people that Nino was attracted to instead of assuming based on the two crushes that he'd seen firsthand.
All the other parts, though?
Were absolutely ecstatic.
"It's… okay," Adrien started out slowly, unsure as to how to say what was going through his mind. "I'm sorry that I assumed—"
"It's okay," Nino laughed. "It's actually a pretty recent revelation."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Poor Alya. I called her up in the middle of the night freaking out because I didn't know what to do."
"Oh, yikes. How did you survive that?"
"A coffee on her desk first thing the next morning."
"Makes sense."
Adrien stood there for a moment, considering his best friend in front of him. Nino's friendship had to be one of the best things to have ever happened to him. And, more than anything, he never wanted to lose that.
But maybe…
Just maybe….
"Nino, you're my best friend. And your friendship means the world to me." Adrien paused as he watched Nino visibly deflate. He could guess what was going through his head, but he continued nonetheless. "And, if we're being honest, since I assumed that you would never be interested in me romantically, I tried to ignore that crush and move on."
"I understand." Nino replaced his cap and brought it down to shield his eyes. "If you want I can g—"
"The key word there is tried, Nino."
His head shot up.
"Look, I really don't want to ruin our friendship, but I also really like you, too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I don't want friendship and romance to be mutually exclusive. And, that I want us to be friends no matter what form that might take."
"I'm ok with that," Nino said as a small smile spread across his face. "does that make us...."
Nino yawned, and Adrien couldn't resist chuckling over how cute that made him look.
"It can make us whatever we want 'us' to be." He reached over and patted his arm. "But, we should probably get some sleep first."
"Right." He glanced over to Adrien's bed.
"Please don't feel pressured to sleep in my bed." Adrien scratched at the back of his neck. "Sleep wherever you want. I won't mind I swear. I just want you to feel comfortable."
"I'm okay with it if you're okay with it…"
A few butterflies came to life in Adrien's stomach at his words.
"Okay." He laughed airily. "I'll, uh… go get changed."
"Me too."
Adrien rushed off to his bathroom. He was pretty sure that Plagg was about to tease the hell out of him for all of this, but he couldn't find himself caring all that much. Almost every year the first day was one of the lowest parts for him. Feeling bleak and nearly impossible to get through.
But this year was shaping to be one of the best that he could ever imagine. There were so many possibilities and new adventures laid out before him…
He couldn’t wait to see what the year might bring him.
