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“-so I was grounded for a while after that,” Nino said. “Not that it mattered, with a broken wrist.” He seemed almost proud of his childhood shenanigans, which baffled Adrien.
Adrien hadn’t had a chance just to hang out with the guys for a while, but a cancelled fencing class had him hanging out with Nino and the other boys for an hour. Somehow, the topic had turned to childhood misdeeds- who had the craziest story about getting into trouble, or who had been punished most often for bad behavior.
My father would think of them all as delinquents, he thought fondly. But they weren’t that bad, from what they’re saying.
“Oh, I got it from my aunt, once,” Kim said, puffing out his chest. “She got us all pizza as a treat, and gave us one to take home. I wanted it all to myself, so I licked every slice.”
A chorus of groans and “Dude! Gross!” filled the room.
“Not as gross as after. She punished me by making me eat the whole thing right there, when I’d already had dinner. You wouldn’t believe the stomachache I got.” Kim was smirking. “So I kinda won anyway, ‘cause I got the pizza.”
“Hey, Adrien! What about you?” Nino leaned over the back of the chair. “As strict as your dad is- I bet you were a holy terror as a kid!”
Adrien tried to think of a time he got into serious trouble. Escaping his minders to fight akuma didn’t count, since he wasn’t caught- and the book he borrowed from his dad had been found and returned, so the pulled-from-school thing wasn’t that bad. “Not really. I wasn’t allowed to get into trouble.”
Nino looked like he was having a hard time processing that. The other boys also wore confused faces.
“Dude, not allowed? Nobody’s ever allowed to get into trouble; they just do!”
Adrien shrugged. “I’ve always been surrounded by people- my parents, my bodyguard, Nathalie. It’s hard to get away with much when you’re constantly watched. Except in my room- and there’s not a lot of opportunity for trouble there.” He thought some more, as the boys glanced at each other. “I guess you could say the worst trouble I ever got into is the reason why I have a bodyguard in the first place.”
Nino cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t remember it, but my mom told me-“
A summer in Greece was the perfect getaway, Gabriel thought. Emilie had been after him to take a vacation anyway, though building a fashion house from scratch meant a lot of long days. Things were just beginning to take off; word had spread of the fledgling designer who was setting the hot new trends, and with Audrey Bourgoise’s support, things would be even better. He could afford to take a little time with his family.
Emilie turned her head as they walked down the street. “This has been wonderful, Gabriel. It’s so good to see you relaxed, and Adrien-“ Suddenly she stiffened, as Gabriel realized he hadn’t heard his three-year-old’s voice in far too long-
“Adrien?” he called, looking around wildly. Adrien should have been easy to spot, with his bright blond hair and green shirt. But no; there were no signs of him anywhere nearby.
The two of them turned and pelted back the way they had come, scanning the street around them for a flash of blond hair around knee-height. “The butterflies,” Emilie panted beside him. “He was staring at the butterflies earlier; maybe he saw another one and got distracted-“
Gabriel saved his breath; he was angry at Adrien for wandering off, angry at Emilie for not keeping a closer eye on their son. But he was even more angry at himself; what kind of father lets their son disappear? Anything could have happened to him!
His mind spiraled off into disaster scenarios- Adrien lost and crying in the city, with no one to care for him; Adrien running into the street and being hit by a careless driver; Adrien taken by someone who put children to unspeakable uses- Gabriel’s breathing became harsh as he kept searching.
Emilie grabbed his sleeve to stop him. “There!”
Across the street, in a small plaza, Gabriel saw his little boy sitting on the edge of a fountain. He didn’t seem hurt, but his face was puckered as he stared up at a woman holding his hand. The woman was speaking to him in Greek; she was shabbily dressed and clearly had poor hygiene.
Then Gabriel’s heart dropped as the woman tugged Adrien’s hand and he slid off the fountain’s edge to stand next to her. Clearly, this woman was going to take Adrien away, to who knows what fate!
They bolted across the street, heedless of the traffic. Emilie called Adrien’s name as she ran up to her son, sweeping him up into her arms. Gabriel hugged his wife and son, glaring at the unkempt woman. How dare she try to take Adrien away?
The woman babbled something incomprehensible, as she took in Gabriel’s glare, and backed away from the young family. She disappeared quickly into the gathering crowd, away from the uniformed police officer approaching the group.
Adrien seemed to be all right; as his mother inspected him, he picked up his parents’ distress and began to cry. He threw his arms around his mother’s neck and held on as she clung to her little boy. Gabriel decided at that moment that his son would never be in danger from anything or anyone again, whatever that took.
“-so that’s why my dad did- everything, I guess. Why I didn’t go anywhere without the Gorilla, why I was homeschooled for so long, why my father built my bedroom to keep me entertained- I guess he’s so afraid I’ll disappear again, he’ll do anything to keep me safe. It got worse for a while when Mom disappeared, but…” He shrugged.
The boys were all staring at Adrien now. Finally, Nino spoke up. “Dude, you were three.”
“Yeah…” Adrien thought that had been obvious.
“That’s a heck of a punishment for just wandering off.”
Adrien blinked. “Well, I don’t think he thinks of it as a punishment, exactly. More like a way to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.”
“But it was a punishment,” said Ivan quietly. Adrien turned toward the bigger boy, wondering where that thought came from. “The way we keep criminals from doing the same bad things over again is to jail them, right? Your dad may not think that’s what he’s doing, but he is.”
“So, what- going to school is like parole?” Kim asked, a befuddled look on his face. “Who goes to school to get away from jail?”
It shouldn’t have been funny, but it was- all the guys broke up at the idea that school was an escape. Even Adrien gave a courtesy chuckle at the absurdity. But now that he thought about it, it did seem like he’d been punished all his life for something he hadn’t realized before- his parents’ fears.
He shook his head. At least he had ways out now, and people he could turn to when the bars got to be too much. It wouldn’t be forever. And maybe, just maybe, his father would realize his son could handle any trouble that came his way.