Post by skyeknight on Jun 9, 2017 14:26:47 GMT
"End it."
End it. Meaning end him and Yang. End their relationship because his father disapproved. End it because his father said so. After all he and Yang had been through. He needed her. She needed him. Bow down again to the will of his father. Appease someone else. Again. Ignore his heart. His feelings. Again. Not anymore. He could no more end things with Yang than he could stop breathing. Unless she told him she didn’t want him, he couldn’t.
"No."
For the first time in his life a blazing fire raged inside of him. He glared at his father in a look that could only be hatred. He was happy with Yang. Happier than he had been in a very long time. The happiest he ever remembered being. His father wanted to take that from him simply because of Yang’s social status. It was all because she did not fit into his father’s plans of the ‘perfect little wife’ for Adrien – one that would bump his social status and their wealth. None of that mattered to Adrien.
"You will do as I say."
His father didn’t even know Yang well enough to start judging her based on social status alone. Yang never asked for him to use his money for her. She was strong and independent. His wealth hadn’t been of any importance to her. She liked him before the mask. She liked him when she thought he was just a good guy, trying to do good in a crazy city. She saw him for who he really was and didn’t judge him for it. He could feel his hands clenching into fists at his side, knuckles cracking, the skin going white from how tightly his fists were curled.
"No!"
His cry had been louder this time, full of the fury he felt. He was tired of playing the perfect heir. For once in his life, he wanted to make a decision on his own without being put down for it. He wanted to be selfish. He wanted to keep Yang. His father didn’t have to explain what he wanted Adrien to end. Perhaps that was what infuriated Adrien the most. He was happy for once in his life and his father wanted him to give it up.
"Don’t tell me you actually have feelings for her. She’s after your money, nothing more."
He had given into his father’s whims time and time again, all in an attempt to please the man. It was only now that he realized, nothing he did would ever please the man. He had let so much of his life be controlled. Because the one time he wanted to be selfish, the one time he asked his father to bend the rules for him, the man said no. Don’t even get him started on what he was saying about Yang. He felt a blinding fury boiling inside of him. Yang who felt bad he spent money on him. Yang who was afraid that he would leave because she was broken. Yang who’s smile alone made him feel like he could touch the clouds.
"You don’t even know her!"
"And how much money have you spent on this girl?" his father asked.
A lot. He had spent a lot of money on her, but he also donated a lot of money too, to random charities. His father had no problem with that because his ‘bleeding heart’ made the family look good and a lot of that could be written off as tax-deductions. Yang was no charity case. He spent what he did on her because he wanted to see her happy and healthy. He wanted to punch the man for only thinking of this in a money aspect. Yang might not have admitted it, but she did need help. Adrien was happy to give it to her, to take care of her on occasion, because she made him happy.
"It doesn’t matter."
"See? She’s already been leeching off you, taking advantage of you," the man sneered. "You always did have your mother’s bleeding heart."
"At least mother was around!"
"How dare you. I have provid-"
Except Adrien wasn’t listening. Not anymore. His father had never been around. Adrien lost his childhood to this man. He should have been at the park, playing catch with his dad, going to baseball games, going home late, of going to school and being proud over his good grades, of long weekend excursions with the man. Instead, Adrien barely knew the man in front of him and his father barely knew him. They were strangers simply living in the same house, only his father was using him to gain.
"No. You listen! You were never around! You never paid attention to me or what I wanted. For the first time in my life I’m happy! She makes me happy! I’m not going to let you take that away from me too!"
"Adrien I -"
"I’m done listening to you! I’m going to my next shoot."
Adrien stormed out without another word. He didn’t look back, if he had, he might have seen the pained expression on his father’s face or the way the man’s hand crept to his chest. A silent gasp leaving his lips. The door slammed shut behind him, sealing his father inside. He was silently fuming the entire car ride to the next shoot. He didn’t even know why he was bothering with it. Maybe because he liked having the funds to keep helping people. Or because he still wasn’t completely defying his father even if he was furious with the man.
But Adrien knew he would not let his father take Yang away from him. He would fight if he had to.
After he stormed out of his father’s office, Adrien had gone straight to his next photo shoot. He realized if he really wanted to make his point, he should have skipped the photo shoot, but some habits were hard to die. He wasn’t really feeling the photo shoot either. His heart wasn’t in it. He had to get dressed (occasionally multiple times) in front of his fashion team. Sometimes the clothes weren’t comfortable. Other times, they were tight, meant to hug and squeeze just right.
Then came hair and makeup. He didn’t see why they bothered with his hair. There was only times they could do his hair and make him look ‘sexy’ as they put it. When he posed, he didn’t make a ‘strange’ face. Smoulders that some models used only made them look constipated not attractive. No. Adrien appeared comfortable and confident, effortlessly posing himself as the camera man told him to.
Gone were the days where Adrien quivered in terror of the camera and the backdrops. His mantra wasn’t: don’t trip. Instead he was thinking of the next date he wanted to spend with Yang. They did have a standing pizza night agreement to ‘ruin his model diet’ but how to sneak away when he had royally pissed off his father was another matter entirely. Still, he was looking forward to curling up on the couch with Yang, binging on pizza and wings and movies he had been ‘deprived’ of according to Yang.
However, Natalie – his father’s assistant – burst into the studio, interrupting his train of thought, startling everyone in the studio because it had been so abrupt. It was so out of character for her. She was marching in like a woman on a mission and a solemn expression on her face. It had surprised the young man greatly, seeing as Natalie always had this way about her – this air of calm composure. Now she seemed to have lost that.
"I’m sorry." She said, "But we will need to conclude our business another time."
Complaints from the crew started up immediately. How they had fought to get Adrien for the magazine. How they had made all of these accommodations for him. How they had gone out of their way for him. It was about their sacrifice and their needs. But Adrien’s head was spinning. Natalie wouldn’t do this. This wasn’t like her.
"Natalie, what’s going on?"
His voice was soft, concerned. Something wasn’t right. Natalie didn’t interrupt his shoots for anything. She just didn’t do that. It would damage the Agreste family image if he would cancel things whenever he felt like it. Was it because of his argument with his father about Yang? Was it a punishment for ignoring his wishes? But Adrien didn’t even like modeling. He only did it because it was the only thing he was allowed to be good at. It paid well and if he wanted to keep being as kind as he was.
"Now is not the time. We need to go."
He nodded. Robotically, he followed her out of the room. Not even bothering to change out of the designer clothes he had been wearing for the shoot. Natalie was tight lipped and tense until they got to the doors, leading outside of the building. She stopped, turned and put a hand one either of his shoulders. The act alone made him feel like a small child being prepped for bad news like the family dog ran away or he wasn’t getting dessert after dinner.
"Adrien."
He looked up at her in surprise. Natalie never used his first name. It was always Mr. Agreste this or Mr. Agreste that. His mouth felt dry and his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. What was wrong? Had something happened? If things were so bad, where was his father? He might have been angry with the man, but he was always there when something important happened, even if he didn’t really pay attention. Adrien was an asset to the company and the family name. Appearances were everything.
"Your father… has passed away."
"Father is-?"
Dead.
Adrien stared up at her, as if expecting her to say it was a joke or laugh even. That wasn’t like her either, but his father couldn’t be dead. They were just together an hour ago. Yelling at each other. He had been so angry. Adrien had said some awful things before he left for the photo shoot. He had never lashed out at the man before then, but how could he not with all the awful things he said about Yang? He didn’t even know her. Agreste Senior had made a slew of horrendous accusations against her so naturally, Adrien rose to defend her.
"The media already knows. Tom and I are going to take you home."
Tom was his bodyguard. Adrien had rather spitefully nicknamed the man Gorilla when he was a child but the name stuck as Adrien grew older. Tom might even have responded to it if Adrien said it to his face. He squirmed under Natalie’s gaze. How could either of them want to protect him after the brat he had been? He bit his lip, trying to hold back the guilt. How could he call the mansion home after this? His father had died there.
"I… Thank you, Natalie. Please do as you see fit."
The mask was an easy role to play. Polite, distant, kind. Natalie seemed to see through his little act, but said nothing. Perhaps it was preferable to him sobbing over his father. Adrien didn’t feel like crying. Not now. He was too numb to start crying because he hadn’t even let it sink in yet. Her expression became more solemn. Her hands squeezed his shoulder before she turned him around, to face the doors, to face the media. But she was there; she was going to go through this with him it seemed.
"Keep your head down and don’t say anything."
They pushed through the double doors into a sea of reporters. Adrien gasped in sheer horror. He had been mobbed by fans a few times but this was infinitely worse. Cameras flashed. Video cameras were crammed and propped up all to get at him. Microphones were shoved into his face. Questions were being hurled at him faster than he could answer and it was all one big roar of noise. All of this was being televised.
Natalie was firm and slowly they started to push their way through the crowd except trudging through molasses might have been faster. The crowd pushed back, trying to grab him, hold him in place, and make him answer them. He was pretty sure his shirt had been torn by a reporter trying too hard to hold him back. They didn’t want him to leave without answering all of their questions, but Adrien hadn’t even had time to process what happened for himself.
His family tragedy was nothing more than a juicy media topic. He couldn’t even grieve without a camera in his face. Just as he felt like he was just going to curl up and cry a large hand grabbed him. He almost panicked, but found it was Gorilla. The man gracelessly shoved him into the back of the limo, but there was no time for gentleness, they needed to get out of there and fast. As soon as the door was closed, the reporters pressed up against the glass. The car began to rock from the force of all of the people trying to get in. Natalie had luckily squeezed in beside him. She put her hand back on Adrien’s shoulder. This was perhaps the most emotional he had ever seen her before.
"Drive."
To Gorilla’s, or rather Tom’s, credit, he carefully maneuvered the car through the screeching crowd of furious reporters. Those that realized where he was going scrambled to their cars – to beat them back to Agreste Manor. Adrien felt ill. For once, he didn’t want a camera in his face or a reporter trying to ask him deep personal questions. He hadn’t even had five minutes alone to process that his father was gone.
"Are you okay?"
Adrien shook his head. He was not okay. This was not okay. He bit his knuckles to keep back a sob. It shouldn’t have been like this. He could feel himself shaking, trembling under the need to cry. He couldn’t have five minutes alone to take in what happened. Natalie and Tom were looking to him in concern, but he was struggling to pull himself together. He was fighting against his need for a good cry.
Getting to the gated mansion was even harder. Reporters fought to try to get past the gate. A few of the hired staff were doing what they could to keep reporters back. He all but ran for the front door when the car pulled close. He hadn’t even waited for the car to roll to a stop, but Natalie was right behind him, urging him into the house. Tom stayed by the car, blocking the stairs with his car to keep reporters from following if they managed to get past the gate at all.
The sad irony was Chat Noir had no fear. He had run into a burning building for Sunshine. He was tracking Cinder for Yang. He would fight Thrax if she asked him to. But take away the mask and Adrien was just a scared young man unable to handle the sea of reporters that had dwarfed any crowd he had before.
Adrien slumped to the ground once he and Natalie were inside. Why? This was a nightmare. The very thing he wanted to protect Yang from. If she saw and realized that Adrien wasn’t worth the effort, he didn’t think he could make it. She was the only person he had left aside from the staff he paid. Who knew how far their loyalty went? Some of them it was only pocket deep. As long as he paid them, they would care. Natalie and Tom were exceptions because they had been with him since he was a child.
The young man was at a loss for what to do. He lost his father. The media wanted interviews, pictures, and something dramatic to line their wallets. He couldn’t leave the house with the media circling like sharks. He had no way of contracting any friends. He couldn’t even sneak out of the house in his usual ‘Chat Noir’ ways with the media camped outside of his house the way they were. He had no one to reach out to except his staff. Natalie looked at him with something that could only be described as pity and sorrow. He hated it and felt like he was being swallowed up.
The funeral was televised. As was the procession and the ceremony thereafter. It was disgusting. He had to open his home to every rich person in the city and the industry his father worked in, socialize and pretend he liked them. He also had to pretend their condolences meant something. They were more interested in who was taking over. There was blood in the water of the fashion industry. Unless Adrien made plans quickly, he was going to see his company go under water.
It was strange to think of it as his company, but it was.
He had to listen to a bunch of stuck up snobs (also known as his father supposed friends) complain about how Adrien wasn’t honoring his father’s memory right. Basically, Adrien catered locally and he was not serving the thousand dollar (per bottle) wine. He liked Nevermore. Thank you. And the demon bartender from Bourbon Graisse was wowing everyone who got a drink from him. It wasn’t like he needed caviar and filet mignon to show everyone how rich his father’s industry made him. The house did that.
The blond gave a heavy sigh and went out to the balcony overlooking the garden. He hated the suit he was wearing. All he wanted to do was curl up in bed and talk to someone who didn’t judge him if his answers didn’t sell magazines. Except Adrien Agreste had no one to turn to. Weiss was probably inside, stuck next to her parents. The LaFayettes would use this as a chance to network. Something good to come from Adrien’s ‘tragedy’.
He wasn’t ready for this sort of responsibility. He couldn’t lose the company. It was the only thing he knew how to do. If he lost the company and lost the income, then he would be without a job. Riches to rags. He was sure Yang could show him how to get by if that happened. Thinking about her sent a pang through his chest. He wanted to talk to her more than anything, but the media was preventing it with their constant interference.
The whole thing left him conflicted.
You really have a knack for writing tragedy, you know that
He'll really need to know who his friends are after this. 
