Chapter Text
"Féliiiiiiiiix!"
Adrien gets no response. Not that he ever does. Félix is always caught up in a book, and a TV program, and a cup of tea, and a podcast, and a radio show, and a bingo game all at the same time, and as such, never hears it when Adrien yells out at him. The only upside to it is that Adrien can simply walk into a room, and because everything is so loud and distracting and Félix is somehow so focused, he'll jump when he finally notices his cousin. The downsides start right after that though, when all Adrien can do is stand in the center of the room and stare at Félix. He calls this habit of Félix's 'making sensory overload nests', and for rightful reason. Even if the only thing turned on is the TV, the scent of tea is still impressively strong and the turning of pages is too much of an interruption. Félix can do it as quietly as he wants, but Adrien will still pick it up. And on top of all that, of course Félix needs the brightest lights to read under. Adrien can't say he hates having so many things to keep his head occupied, but the problem is that it happens at the wrong time. He forgets everything he could have ever needed to say, and Félix laughs at him. At least, he does if Adrien isn't holding a dead mouse. That's when Adrien gets to laugh at Félix.
"Féééééééééééliiiiiiiiiiiiiiix!" Adrien calls again, as if he's going to get a response the second time. Maybe one day he will, but that day isn't today. Which… is odd, actually, since there are no noises playing anywhere in the house. Not even a radio or a podcast. Félix should be able to hear Adrien, and yet he still doesn't respond at all. Adrien doesn't even hear any movement of clothes against furniture or turning of pages. He decides to wander around the house in a search, opting out of yelling for a bit. Maybe he can scare Félix without a mouse again, just for fun. He checks the combined kitchen and dining area first, and finds nothing there but a single plate next to the sink. He examines it further, and finds that it has a few crumbs on it. The obvious assumption is that Félix had toast, or a sandwich, or something with bread in it when he got home last night, but Adrien has no way of knowing. Not with how late Félix has been getting home as of recently. Sure, sometimes Adrien finds himself getting really sidetracked when trying to buy food, but he's never home as late as Félix has been. Hell, Adrien has been asleep before Félix has gotten home for most of the week, if not longer. It's starting to impact Félix's sleep too, Adrien thinks, and he's starting to worry.
Adrien checks all the bathrooms next, but each one he checks shows no signs of life. The doors are all wide open too, so no one is even hiding behind them. Or behind a towel, or in a washing basket, for that matter. There isn't anyone in any of the closets when Adrien checks either, not that he expects Félix to be there. He isn't even sure Félix knows what hide and seek is, and he can't imagine someone like him playing it now. Maybe when they were younger, sure, but now? Félix plays bingo and trivia sometimes and that's about it. If Adrien is lucky he'll find Félix playing along with a game show on TV. Adrien finds a little spider crawling over one of the towels in one of the cupboards he searches, and he doesn't hesitate to pick it up and let it run between his hands. He swaps them around every now and then to keep his new friend with him, and wanders around to Félix's bedroom. That's about the only other place Adrien can think that he could possibly be, aside from his room, for some odd reason.
The door to Félix's room is ajar when Adrien walks up to it, so he pokes his head through it, completely ready to attack his cousin with the spider friend he's made. But… Félix is dead asleep, without even so much as a snore. Adrien almost thinks he's actually dead, until he sees his chest start to rise. Seeing him asleep at this time stabs something through Adrien's heart. Guilt? Concern? Sadness? It's something, maybe a mix of somethings, and it has Adrien going outside to release his spider friend. He can't scare Félix awake, and he especially can't do it if he's sleeping at what's probably about ten in the morning. Adrien hasn't checked in a while, but enough time has passed that it feels like it should be about ten. And usually Félix makes a point of being awake before eight.
Once Adrien has gotten rid of the spider, he makes his way back inside and directly to Félix's room. Sure enough, the clock in there tells him that it's already half past ten, which is about half an hour of extra concern that Adrien lumps into the amount of time Félix has already slept in. This is the latest he's slept during the past week, and Adrien is starting to fear that if he doesn't intervene, it's only going to keep getting later. He sits on the bed where the bending of Félix's knees make a spot, and tries to gently shake his cousin awake.
"Félix, wake up," Adrien beckons, a hand on one of his shoulders. He stirs at the movement, but doesn't completely respond. He doesn't roll over yet either, and Adrien furrows his brow discontentedly. "Fé, it's ten thirty."
Those words seem to make Félix realise something, and he rolls onto his back, rubbing his eyes. "You're fucking with me again aren't you?" Félix asks, trying to sound displeased. He just sounds tired, though, and Adrien can't help softening up a little and laughing as he stretches his limbs. He picks up the pair of glasses that Félix has left on the nightstand and carefully puts them on his face so he can read the clock.
"You tell me." Adrien smirks as Félix sits up a bit, and then turns to the opposite side of the room. He promptly groans, and throws his head back dramatically. "Is something wrong?"
"Why would something be wrong?" Félix asks, completely dodging the question. He gives Adrien the same skeptical glance that Adrien is giving him, but his holds less concern.
"I could give you a list, Fé. But I don't want to give you a list. I want you to trust me, if you can, with whatever it is that's happening. I mean, that's why we came here, isn't it? To move on and trust again?"
Félix nods along. "Well, the only thing wrong is that I slept until ten fucking thirty, so don't worry too much," he responds, rolling his eyes at himself.
"That is out of character, but it's not just that. I can tell it isn't. What's wrong, Fé?" Adrien asks, watching as Félix sits up. He turns to hang his legs off the side of the bed, and Adrien realises he's still in that sweater and those pants he always wears. Adrien is almost convinced he has five of those same black and white sweaters. Félix turns his head from where he'd been looking down at the rug he'd gotten last week, and puts on a smile.
"Nothing. Don't stress about it." Félix then gets up from the bed, but Adrien isn't at all convinced. He recognises that smile, the way Félix is brushing off Adrien's concerns. The same thing happened before Adrien managed to get Félix talking about how bad he felt for Adrien doing all the work around the house while doing nothing himself. There's something going on, Adrien just can't figure out what.
"Félix, I know there's something you aren't telling me," Adrien begins, following him out of the bedroom. He continues talking as they make their way into the kitchen. "Do you want the list? Is that it?"
Félix doesn't respond, so Adrien continues. "You come home late, sleep in later, go out all the time, and on top of all that, you sleep in your clothes? You never do that! You know you can tell me what's going on, right? I mean, who am I going to tell?"
"Adrien, I can assure you that nothing is wrong," Félix says, sounding very official as if this is some kind of formal investigation. Adrien almost wants to be mad as he turns on the kettle, but he knows getting immediately heated won't take the conversation anywhere. Félix takes out a mug and grabs the teabags from the top shelf as if nothing is going on.
Adrien takes a deep breath before he talks, trying to keep calm. "If nothing is wrong, then why didn't you take the time to change clothes last night?" he asks, his voice a little lower than it was before as he leans back against the kitchen counter. Félix puts the teabags back before he mimics Adrien's lean against the counter, and crosses his arms like Adrien is already doing. He takes a moment to search his cousin's expression before answering.
"I was very tired when I got home last night. That's also why I slept in."
"How late home were you last night?" Adrien asks without missing a beat.
"It must have been about… two am," Félix answers, as if that's a normal time to get home. Adrien tries not to act too surprised at just how late he was, because the reality is that this has been happening for ages. The problem is that he's starting to get later and later, and that it's starting to effect him more and more.
"Why?"
The kettle finishes boiling, and Félix turns to it immediately, pouring the hot water into his cup. He does his little routine with the tea bag, in and out of the cup and then around in the water, before moving to the fridge.
"I was busy-"
"Doing what?" Adrien asks, raising his voice a little. There's an edge of concern to it though, and it does stop Félix for a moment before he opens the fridge. He gets a milk bottle out and leaves it open, moving back to the counter where his tea is. He fills the remaining space in his cup with milk and walks back over to the fridge before he even thinks of responding.
"Running errands." The fridge door closes, and Adrien waits for Félix to turn around before he gives him a 'seriously?' look.
"Errands? At two in the morning? Félix who the fuck is having you do anything at that time of night?!" Adrien can't help the way his voice raises. He's confused, and upset, and all he wants is to understand. But he can't. He's apparently not allowed to. And he thinks he's rightfully mad about it. Félix doesn't even react to the louder speech though, just picks up his tea and swirls it around in the cup before blowing on it to cool it.
"My boss."
"Marley?!" Adrien's mouth falls open, and for a bit he just stares at Félix. He almost can't be upset in that moment that Félix is lying to him. There's no way Marley of all people had Félix running errands that late. Adrien almost wants to laugh at Félix, and tell him he's crazy for thinking that lie was at all believable. "Look, I don't know many people in this town, but I know Marley enough to know that there's no way she's having you do her business at that time of night. Hell, at that time of night I don't think she would be making her own effort to do anything unless it was life or death."
Félix doesn't respond, just stares wistfully out of the window.
"So you're telling me I could call Marley right now and she would know exactly what I'm talking about?" Adrien asks, raising an eyebrow at Félix.
"Please don't…"
Félix goes to say something else, but he stops. Adrien decides he won't let him find his words. "Why? Because you're lying to me?" he asks, and Félix begins to stumble.
"I-… We both had late nights. She's probably still sleeping," Félix tries, but his voice is unsteady enough that Adrien knows he's not being honest. He shakes his head in disappointment, and then drops it to let his eyes trace the pattern of the tiles. He lets himself calm down for a moment before he says anything else. The last thing he wants to do is yell at Félix in anger. He knows neither of them will be able to handle it.
"If you're going to go back to lying, at least make it believable," Adrien mutters in addition to what he said earlier, and Félix immediately turns back to him.
"I don't want to lie to you Adrien—"
"So you admit it? You're lying to me?" Adrien interrupts, and Félix stops in his tracks.
"Adrien, I—"
"I thought we moved out here so we could stop lying!" Adrien exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air with an exasperated look to him. "We were starting anew! We were being honest! With ourselves, the people around us, and… most importantly, each other…"
Félix tries to wash back tears with a sip of his tea. Adrien has nothing to hold his back though. Instead, he just turns to walk away.
"Come find me if you decide you can tell me the truth. But know that I won't be expecting you," Adrien mutters, just loud enough for Félix to hear. He waits a beat to see if Félix will have a sudden change of heart, but when he says nothing, he just leaves. Félix can only stand where he's been left, choked up and sorrowful.