Chapter Text
“Welcome to the Agreste estate,” Nathalie says as I exit the limousine, “Would you like me to take your bags?”
“Sure,” I reply.
However, when she opens the trunk, the first thing she pulled out is my violin case, “Except for that. That, I can carry myself.”
I grab it from her and hurry inside as she picks up two other suitcases to bring in.
Inside the estate is spacious, though bare. Footsteps echo through the hallway before I can see their source, Adrien. He opens his arms for a hug “Félix! It's great to see you!”
I nod towards the violin in my hands, indicating my unavailability for hugs (thank the gods). “Hey, Adrien. It's been awhile.”
Adrien's arms come down, apparently not offended. “I know, right? We haven't seen each other since we were, what, 10?”
I shrug as if I did not know. When I first heard I was going to live with Adrien, I had counted back when we last saw each other and remembered it was indeed when we were 10, but I do not want to seem obsessive by knowing that.
Nathalie approaches us with some of my bags, “Félix, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room.”
I nod, and follow her as she goes down the hallways. Adrien follows me, while peering at my violin case.
“So Félix, what can you play now? Last time I saw you, you could barely scratch out a tune!”
“I don't really play anymore,” I tell him while turning away.
“Oh.”
We continue in silence for what feels like minutes.
Adrien breaks it. “So you're probably wondering what school is going to be like.”
“I guess.”
“The people there are pretty cool. You should meet my friend Nino, you'll like him. He's got this energy and enthusiasm for life I really admire,” I yawn as Adrien carries on describing his friends, “and there's Alya, who runs the LadyBlog, do you know about Ladybug? And Chat Noir? I'll explain later. Anyway, she's a good writer and her friend, Marinette, is good at design and video games and basically everything. Oh, and I should mention Chloé. She's the mayor's daughter, which has kind of isolated her socially. I mean, she's also got a personality issue-”
“Your room, Félix,” Nathalie says as she opens a door half way down a hall.
“My room is over there, by the way,” Adrien says as he points to the end of the hallway, “Feel free to pop in any time.”
“Thanks,” I say as Nathalie puts down my bags, “I'll be unpacking now.”
“Do you want help?” Adrien asks, friendly as ever.
I turn away, “No thanks.”
After Nathalie brings in the last bag, I hop onto the bed and lay down, resting my violin case next to my head. I know I should have been unpacking, as I told Adrien, but I can not bring myself to do so yet. The room has a bookshelf that is conveniently half filled, though mostly with encyclopedias and textbooks. I open one of the boxes I brought with me, half-filled with clothes and half-filled with books. I take out my favorite comfort book, Ella Enchanted.
I would never admit I adored it, and anyone who asked would be told it was an awful birthday gift from my mother years ago that I keep to save her feelings. But since I was young, I found comfort in the arms of Ella's exploits. I was thrilled by her cleverness, and entranced by the romance. When no one was looking, I indulged myself in the story. I knew I was too old for these sorts of fairy tales, but in weak moments like this I can not resist.
While Ella is at the (literal) giant wedding, a knock on the door forces me to shove the book under my pillow, “Yes?”
Nathalie opens the door, “Dinner is in the dining room.”
“Okay, I'll be there in a minute.”
She leaves, I finish my paragraph, and head down.
In the dining room, Adrien is already seated, he waves as I approach, “Félix! How is unpacking going?”
I shrug as I take a seat in front of a prepared plate, “Okay.”
“ ...So, what have you been up to these past couple of years?”
“Nothing interesting. School and stuff.”
“Oh.”
A silence falls over the table. Adrien looks towards his plate as he eats. He glances up, and when he looks at me, I avert my eyes. In a moment, I glance back and see he's looking at his plate again with a melancholy shading his face. It is my fault. I am a bad conversationalist, he probably dislikes me now. I imagine I should be disappointed, but my overwhelming feeling is relief. He will not expect anything from me like this. I would not be able to keep up with the pressure of conversing with him, especially considering he would get bored of me in a week or two.
I rush a little with my food to avoid extending the silence. As I get up to put my plate away, Nathalie takes it out of my hand. Without the dish, I head straight for my room. Adrien stops me, “Are you sure you don't want help unpacking? I would be happy to help.”
“No thanks.”
School is a drag. I meet too many people to remember all their names. The desks are meant to be shared by two people, but since all the people in my class were already paired up, I was put as a third on Adrien's desk. The other person who shared the desk is called Nino.
He greets me energetically, “You must be Félix! Adrien mentioned you!”
I nod.
“I'm Nino! So, you're sharing the desk with us?”
“I guess.”
“Cool,” His smile draws me to his eyes, which seem to shine gold in the light, “So what do you think of Paris so far?”
“It's fine.” I tell him as I glance away from his eyes.
“Fine? Just 'fine'? The capital of France, the city of romance, home of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and you say it's just 'fine'?” I am taken aback by his facetious confrontation, “Adrien! We'll have to show Félix what makes Paris great, since he clearly has not had a good impression so far.”
Adrien lets out a gentle laugh, the most relaxed I have seen him since I had reunited with him.
Not wanting to upset Adrien, I let Nino prattle on loudly, as annoying as it was. He continued on about the many merits of Paris, practically making an itinerary. As he sp eaks to me so friendly, it t akes all my willpower to prevent myself from shoving him away.
Thankfully, the teacher begins her lesson, stopping Nino's incessant chatter.
Adrien and I walk to the limo, Nino between us. This time, he was having a conversation with Adrien about some show or another. I naturally tune it out, as it had nothing to do with me. Suddenly, though, they are both looking at me, “What?” I ask.
“What kind of TV shows do you watch?” Nino asks.
I shrug, “I don't really watch TV.”
“No TV? Oh man, we're gonna introduce you to so many things!”
“That's not really necessary,” I tell him as I get into the limo.
Looking at him, he seems a little offended. Good, that will get him off my back. Adrien slides into the seat next to me, and waves to Nino as he closes the door. The limo starts.
“Félix… Do you not like it here?”
I shrug, “It's okay.”
“Do you not like me?”
I freeze.
Adrien continue s , “I thought we were friends when we little, and I understand if that doesn't necessarily transfer to when we're older, but… I was looking forward to having you here. I was hoping we could at least become friends.”
My brain figures out how to work, “No, Adrien, it's not you. It's me. You did nothing wrong.”
“ Than why can't we be friends?”
“I-… you wouldn't want to be friends with me.”
“Really? I was friends with you and happy about it. I want to be friends with you again.”
“That's what you say now, but later you'll see what a drag I am, and-”
“I want to friends with you, Félix.”
“Why would you want that? I'm telling you now that I'm an awful friend.”
“I just do.”
The limo pulls up to the mansion, I open the door before Nathalie or Gorilla can, “Sorry Adrien, I know you're trying to be nice, but I don't want it.”
I hurry to my room. Although Adrien seems determined to chase after me, Nathalie waylays him, “Your Chinese tutor is here.”
Adrien goes towards the living room as I escape into my room.
It starts to get late. I hear a knock on my door, and hide my book under my pillow. Without waiting for an answer, Adrien opens the door.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey.”
He walks nervously, but settles in on one of the chairs.
“So, um, you asked why I wanted to be your friend.”
“I know, 'you just do'. I don't care, Adrien, leave me alone, I'll be fine.”
“That's not it though!” Adrien says, louder than I had heard him speak before.
He realizes his own volume, and coughs before continuing.
“I said 'I just do', but that was a simplification. The truth is,” he hesitates, but decides to power through, “I'm lonely, Félix.”
I don't know what to say, his eyebrows are knit and his face downcast, brimming with rawness.
“I said I wanted to be your friend as if it's just a nice thing to do, but truthfully I just want a friend. Especially a friend to share this house with. Did you see my dinner table? Can you imagine eating at that long, empty table three times a day without anyone to talk to? And- and spending all day in this house, alone, not allowed to invite friends over, not that I have many anyway. When I heard you were coming to stay with us, I remembered back when we were children, when you would visit. And I remember playing games with you, and listening to you play the violin, and just having someone to talk to, to be with. And I thought: maybe that'll happen, maybe my days could be less lonely again.” Adrien gathers himself up, “So when I ask you to be my friend, I'm not asking out of pity. I'm asking because I need a friend right now, and I want you to be that friend. I know it's kind of selfish, and I'd be lying if I said something like, 'it's because you're special' or something because it's really because you happen to be living with me, but regardless I want to, so would you be my friend?”
I can not respond immediately, I am awed by his sincerity, and feel ashamed to do anything but answer in kind, “Adrien, I didn't realize you felt this way.”
He gave a light chuckle, “That's why I told you, so you would realize. You know, communication and stuff.”
I sigh, “You're a wonderful person. You might be lonely, but you're still great, and I… I'm sorry I've been pushing you away. The truth is, I don't know how to have friends. At my old school, there was some… stuff. And that stuff kind of forced me to learn how to like being alone.”
“What kind of stuff?” Adrien interrupts.
“Private stuff,” I sa y sternly, “Anyways, I've been avoiding friendship because… I'm afraid. Afraid I can't live up to people's expectations, that I'll be a bad friend. And I don't know if I can trust anyone because… Well, it's hard to choose who to trust. And I'm sorry I was rude to you. And I don't know how anything works but if you're willing to be my friend then… let's be friends.”
Adrien's face broke into a smile. “ So we're friends?”
“If that's how it works, then I guess so.”
“Then we are!” He opens his arms, “Hug?”
“Let's work up to that.”