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Receiving a call from François Couperin Middle School about Hugo inciting a fight in class was the last thing Adrien had expected that Thursday afternoon.
He almost hadn’t believed the headmaster when he said so over the phone, and Adrien insisted it couldn’t be his son. Hugo was too kind and caring to act that way, and his son even refused to hurt a fly; that’s why it had come as such a surprise to Adrien when he found out it was true.
The car ride home from school was silent and cumbersome at first, with Adrien thinking of how he’d start this conversation. He still wanted to believe it was all a huge misunderstanding, and he usually preferred for Marinette to handle these situations.
Adrien wasn’t the best at holding Louis, Emma, or Hugo accountable for their mistakes and often let them get away with things; it didn’t help that he was terrified of ever being too stern with them, just as his father was with him. Even though most people saw his father as the amazing fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, they failed to see the facade he put up, and never truly understood just how brutal it was for Adrien to grow up with him.
In short, Adrien always played ‘good cop,’ Marinette was also ‘good cop,’ but ‘bad cop’ when she needed to be. Nonetheless, she was still gentle and kind with their kids, even when they were being reprimanded.
Unfortunately, she was away on business for the day, and wouldn’t get home until later tonight, meaning Adrien had to talk to Hugo about this.
“Dad, I didn’t have a choice,” His son began as confidently as he could.
Adrien kept his eyes trained on the road and sighed. “I’m just really disappointed, Hugo, this doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”
He pulled into the driveway of their house, as the two got out. Hugo clutched his backpack straps, following Adrien inside.
“I know, but you don’t get it! It was all Evan’s fault! He copied my art during free-draw, and everyone started complimenting his art instead of mine-“
“But that isn’t an excuse to start a fight with someone,” Adrien shook his head, placing groceries away into the fridge. “You could have really injured your classmate— you could have gotten hurt as well.”
“Well, I’m fine, so it doesn’t matter,” Hugo muttered in annoyance.
Adrien laughed in false amusement, turning to face his son. “‘It doesn’t matter?’ Evan has a black eye, and I wouldn’t blame his mother if she decided to try and get you expelled!”
Hugo stayed momentarily quiet, as Adrien recollected himself.
“Well, you and Mom fight bad guys too, so why is it okay when you do it, but not me? You’re such a hypocrite, Dad! I wish Mom was here—“
“Hugo, your mother and I don’t fight people just because they copy our drawings. We protect the city from danger, which is an entirely different thing,” he explained calmly.
“That’s literally the same thing!”
“Okay, you know what? You’re grounded for 2 weeks. Hand over your devices.”
“That isn’t even fair! I just explained to you that it was because he copied my drawing, he deserved it!” Hugo shouted back, crossing his arms in defiance.
“But that doesn’t mean he deserved it, Hugo. No one deserves to be hurt over a minor inconvenience. Didn’t we teach you that it’s better to talk about our feelings with others?” he offered gently. “You two could have talked it out, and maybe you could have also shown your classmates your drawing.”
“That’s just a load of mumbo jumbo that you don’t even follow.”
Adrien had lost his patience at this point. “Fine. If you want to continue arguing, you’re grounded for a month, meaning no devices and you’re going to write an apology to Evan!” he snapped. “Go to your room, now!”
He immediately regretted it, seeing Hugo’s defiant stance and expression falter, his eyes filling with tears. Hugo had given up arguing, but at what cost? Adrien shouldn’t have gotten angry like that; he had never gotten angry like that ever before at his kids.
Adrien had done everything he could to not become his father. But even by doing that, it seemed like Gabriel’s tight grip still lingered and haunted Adrien . He still remembered the constant fear and sadness instilled into him by his father, and how he vowed to never act the way his father did.
But he was not his father. He never would be. Nonetheless, that belief only crumpled up in front of Adrien, and guilt overwhelmed him as he watched Hugo’s reaction.
“Hugo, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, shaking his head at himself. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way, that wasn’t fair.”
It was too late. He had already become the monster he feared ever becoming, and Hugo probably already perceived Adrien differently.
Was it really inevitable all this time?
Hugo stared at his father for one more moment, then running into his room and slamming the door.
Adrien began to internally panic, pacing around the kitchen. He just acted like how his father would, what was he thinking?
Suddenly, the garage door swung open, Marinette walking in with a radiant smile on her face.
“Honey, I’m home,” she joked, walking over to press a kiss to Adrien’s cheek. “The event ended earlier than I thought.”
But after doing so, she saw a distressed expression on his face, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“Hey are you okay? What happened?”
Adrien looked away from her in shame, not wanting to admit what just happened. Marinette carefully cupped his cheek and lifted his head up to meet her gaze.
“You know you can always tell me anything, right, Chaton?”
“Yeah…I know,” he smiled weakly, placing his hand over hers before hesitantly moving away from her touch—as much as he didn’t want to. “How was the fashion show?”
“It went really well,” she answered, setting her bag down. “But I wanna hear how your day was.”
Adrien knew he couldn’t withhold what happened today, especially if Hugo’s classmate’s mom contacted Marinette.
“Hugo got in a fight at school today…and I..I think I was too harsh on him.”
“What? Our Hugo got in a fight? But he wouldn’t even hurt a fly!”
“That’s what I said!” he laughed softly. “But I talked to him, and he admitted it was because some other kid copied his drawing during free-draw…He’s convinced he did the right thing so I…I just lost my patience at the end and grounded him,” Adrien said, looking away again. “I’m so sorry Mari, I shouldn’t have flipped-“
“No, hey it’s okay, you did the right thing. I could talk to him later about it, and help explain why what he did was wrong,” Marinette reassured him.
“He probably thinks I’m a horrible dad…It’s like for that one moment, I became my father,” he chuckled sadly. “It just sucks because I never wanted to become like him-“
“Adrien, you’re not your father. Parenting is hard sometimes, and you just did what you had to do. I promise you you’re nothing like him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. If you were, you wouldn’t be here fretting because you grounded Hugo.”
He smiled a little, his guilt beginning to dissipate. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“I know I’m right. I always am,” Marinette teased, ruffling Adrien’s hair. “We can talk to him about this together if you’d like. How long did you ground him for?”
“Yeah, I think I really would like that,” Adrien replied. “I kinda grounded him for a month…Maybe we can reconsider that if he’s open to a calm conversation.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”