"Chat Noir! The akuma—the akuma is hidden in the—"

Adrien woke up just before the hero could tell him where this "akuma" was. He sighed quietly, running a hand through his blonde hair before sliding out of bed. He smiled at his cat, scratching beneath his chin as he laughed. "Good morning to you, too, Plagg," he greeted, kissing his furry companion's forehead.

Plagg meowed and hopped off the bed, curling up in front of his food bowl.

He rolled his eyes, sliding into his slippers. "Alright, alright. Love you too, buddy," Adrien snorted, uncorking the food container and filling Plagg's bowl with dry and wet food. He scratched Plagg's head again and pushed his food bowl forward. "I'll have to buy you this brand more often since you like it."

Checking the time, Adrien sighed and prepared his clothes for a shower. He had an hour to get washed up, eat breakfast, and do his morning exercises with Chloe. Living independently from his father was unsettling and strange to adjust to, but with the help of his friends, Adrien managed to live without his controlling father.

Nathalie was kind enough to wire him money each time, apologizing whenever she discovered Gabriel trying to contact Adrien despite their agreed-upon terms. He was grateful for her help, repaying her kindness and inviting her over to catch up when she wasn't busy with work.

Adrien quickly showered, making a note to buy a cheaper shampoo the next time he ran out. As expected, Chloe sent him several messages, asking if they wanted to skip their morning routine and grab a coffee before their classes.

Sure ^-^ just swing by my place and i'll be ready

plagg also says hi <3

Chloe and Adrien had repaired their friendship during the final years of middle school. He remained at her side, encouraging Chloe to finish her therapy sessions instead of bailing the moment she felt called out for her actions and her (terrible) coping mechanisms. It had been a struggle, and Chloe wanted to ditch her sessions several times, often crying to Adrien after an appointment and cursing her therapist to the heavens and back before she calmed down and passed out on call. He couldn't even imagine how much of a toll it took on her, but it was worth it, and he was proud of her.

He slipped on his brown blazer, scratching under Plagg's chin one last time as Chloe honked the horn while pulling up. "I'll see you later, Plagg. I'll have Nathalie come by and feed you again," he chuckled, earning a muffled meow from Plagg.

As expected, Chloe waited for him in the car with a bag of fresh pastries and her phone in hand. "One ice, vanilla caramel latte with light ice and extra caramel with your requested buttered croissants," she rattled off as Adrien dropped his bag in the back seat.

"What would I do without you, Chlo?" Adrien grinned.

"You'd probably be stuck with your usual circle of nerds. I don't know, doing loser stuff," Chloe shrugged, finishing the rest of her black coffee.

"Chloe," Adrien warned.

Chloe held up her hand defensively, locking her phone. "Oh, calm down. It's just a joke, you know that," she said, starting up the car and adjusting her rearview mirror. "But my point still stands. You would still have your nerd friends. They're... tolerable and want the best for you, but they aren't me. I'm irreplaceable," she grinned.

Adrien snorted playfully but silently agreed. "Well, it's not the worst thing you've said about my friends, but an improvement."

"I'll remember that for the future."

As they enjoyed the early morning and waited for the classes, Adrien thought about his friends and the challenges they'd overcome. How they were willing to help him escape his abusive home, and now, he had a stable support system and people to rely on.

He was a lucky man.

"Oh, that reminds me," Chloe suddenly said, finishing the rest of her breakfast sandwich and shoving the trash in the center console. "You said you were looking for a club to join. I thought you would enjoy the free time you have now?"

"I love my free time, but it gets a little lonely with just Plagg," Adrien admitted, scratching his neck. "That and I've been looking into transferring to another college overseas. I figured it would look good if I was more involved with school activities."

"We'll get to your club-hunt later because we never talked about you leaving France," Chloe pointed out. She ran a hand through his curls of blonde hair, slumping against her seat with a sigh. "That's—do you not like it here anymore? Everyone you could ever love is here."

Adrien sighed. "It's not that. I just want to see more—I want to see what's out there before..."

"Before what?" Chloe prompted.

"Before I settle," Adrien finished quietly. "I love Paris, and it'll always be my home, but I want to explore. I want to just get away for a while and not feel like my existence is tied to my father, and I'm still living in his shadow."

Chloe chewed her lip, clenching the steering wheel. "But what... what if you leave and don't come back?" she whispered in an uncharacteristic voice, lowering her gaze.

Adrien gently shushed her, taking her hands off the steering wheel and squeezing. "We aren't there yet," he said softly. "It's just an idea, but it's not set in stone. I would tell you before deciding to do something drastic like that."

"But you said," Chloe started, swallowing back her tears and closing her eyes. She paused, pressing her forehead against the leather steering wheel with a wet sniffle. "You just said that you want to see what's out there. What if you like out there better and you don't come back?"

"I would still keep in contact with you," Adrien promised, wiping away her lingering tears. "Even still, I haven't made a final decision about whether I'm going or not. It's up in the air, okay?"

Sniffling, Chloe nodded and rubbed her eyes, blinking back her tears. "I'm sorry," she choked, fanning her eyes and slumping against the seat. "It was a stupid thing to get worked up over—"

Adrien frowned. "It's not stupid to be upset—"

"But it is stupid!" Chloe snapped, shooting Adrien a dirty look. "It's stupid that I'm getting so upset over something perfectly fine. People come and go, and I'm getting so worked up over it."

He touched her hand, allowing her to squeeze as hard as needed. "Remember your breathing exercises?" Adrien asked.

Chloe huffed through her nose but nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Try that. In through your nose and hold for four. Out through your mouth and hold for four," Adrien instructed with a smile.

"I hate these stupid exercises," Chloe complained, gripping the steering wheel, but she breathed in like Adrien instructed, listening to his voice and focusing on counting down. They repeated this two times until she settled down and her grip loosened.

Adrien patted her shoulder, smiling. "Feel better?"

"Yeah, I guess," Chloe said, checking the time and starting up the car. "Again: sorry for freaking out like that. It's just... hard. I feel so weak when I get too emotional," she confessed, "and I know that my mom..."

"I know, but you're making progress, and that's the important part," Adrien smiled, buckling up and finishing the rest of his coffee. "I know you've been through a lot, Chloe, and I am proud you've been consistent in therapy these past few years."

He watched Chloe struggle with her intense emotions and helped her work through the motions. The worst he had seen Chloe was when she tried to fix her relationship with Sabrina. From what he was told, they ended up having a healthy conversation. Chloe properly apologized for taking advantage of her kindness and exploiting her talents since elementary school. Sabrina accepted her apology and was glad they had a chance to talk things over, but she wasn't ready to continue a friendship with Chloe just yet, and it may be a few years before she even considered being in her company.

Adrien had never seen Chloe so distraught in her life, trying to soothe her as his friend spiraled and engaged in self-destructive behavior. Talking her down from a literal edge was not something Adrien expected, but he was glad to trust his gut the one time.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Chloe continued the methods her therapist encouraged her to use. She finally managed to calm herself down after a few more minutes, squeezing Adrien's hand and sighting. "I'm sorry," Chloe repeated, her shoulders losing all tension as they drooped, her voice wrecked. "This sucks," she grumbled, "how are you so..."

"Put together?" Adrien finished.

"I was going to functional, but that works," Chloe shrugged, checking the time. "I mean, I've never seen you spiral out of control. You always seem so happy despite everything that Uncle Ga—I mean, your dad put you through. You just seem so... happy? I'm jealous of you."

Adrien opened his mouth and promptly shut it, swallowing roughly. "Well," he started, wetting his lips. "I wouldn't say I have it all together. I'm so used to always pushing it aside and smiling that I forget about it."

"Well, that's no good," Chloe snorted, stepping out of the car. "Maybe you should look into therapy, too. It might be good for you, too," she said.

"I'll look into that."

As they entered the college, Chloe made a noise. "Oh, I almost forgot: you said you were looking for a club to join, right?"

"Yeah. Anything works," Adrien smiled. "I want to expand and get new hobbies. I never got to experiment since my interests were 'useless' and 'unbecoming of an Agreste' and all that other nonsense."

Chloe hummed, twirling a strand around her manicured finger and rolling her head to the side. "I see... well, you could always try the literature club," she suggested. "We—they need new members, and I told them I would help bring in new people. It might be slow, but I heard it can be fun. "

"I'll look into it," Adrien smiled as they parted ways for their morning classes.

━━━━━ 「𖨠」━━━━━

As their final classes let out and they parted ways, Adrien checked his messages from Chloe.

srry for cancelling last min—sum came up

but we can meet for dinner later at my place

He wasn't too concerned, agreeing to the later plans. This also allowed him to snoop around campus and check out the other clubs. Adrien was most excited to visit the dance club and see Nino. Apparently, they were working with the music club and would showcase their combined skills at this month's creativity festival.

Now that he remembered, it was that time of year when the students from primary to secondary school would get a chance to showcase their creative skills. Adrien never had the opportunity to participate since every year, Gabriel pulled him from school for the entire week, and coincidentally, there was always an annual trip they took overseas to meet with other companies. He tried begging his father to let him attend one festival, but his requests were always denied, and he hated breaking the unfortunate news to his friends.

The question was finding a good club.

Any club he joined now, Adrien would feel awkward. Outside of his primary school friends, Adrien hadn't interacted with other students and found it hard to branch out and form new connections. The one time he attempted, Adrien embarrassed himself and had to leave earlier, despite the others telling him he was fine and accidents happen.

He occasionally peeked into the rooms, shyly waving at the roomful of people and rejecting their offers to join. Of course, he declined and said he was looking around before moving on to the next room. Finding a club with few people was hard, and from what Adrien could tell, everyone already knew each other, and he would hate to intrude.

"Ah, maybe I should call it quits," Adrien sighed, frustrated with his incompetence and inability to connect with his peers. It was difficult, and while Adrien acted like he had everything together, he was frustrated and upset with himself for not overcoming these obstacles and allowing these weaknesses to get in the way.

Maybe he did need to go to therapy sooner rather than later.

Just as he was about to give up and go home, Adrien passed a cracked door with a pink poster plastered to the front.

Join The Literature Club Today at 3:30 For A Poetry Slam!!

Writing poems didn't sound awful, and Chloe mentioned that this club lacked members. Adrien smiled, feeling his luck turn around as he pushed the door open. He was greeted by three girls, one of them being none other than Chloe, and his other two classmates, Marinette and Kagami.

"Adrien?" Marinette sputtered, cheeks flushed red as Chloe hid her face and grumbled quietly. She turned to Chloe wide-eyed, "Is this who you meant? That you were inviting Adrien?"

Adrien sheepishly chuckled, scratching his neck. "Ah, have I done something to upset you?" he asked.

"No. Marinette is just embarrassed because most of her poetry is about y—"

"Oh, we have a new guest?" Another girl chimed in, shutting the door behind her as she waltzed in with a stack of paper, various, aged books, and a plastic container of sugary, gooey treats. She circled around Adrien, placed the items on one of the empty desks before waltzing in front of him with a giggle.

She gasped, clapping excitedly. "Oh! We had a few classes together in primary school," the brunette smiled, smoothing out her navy-blue skirt.

Upon seeing Adrien's quizzed expression, she smiled. "I transferred back to Italy after year four and came back during the summer this year. It's Lila, remember?"

Adrien almost didn't recognize her. She no longer styled her hair blunt bangs and two shorter pieces framing her face. Instead, she grew her hair down to her thighs and pulled back into a high ponytail with a large, orange bow and two strands of hair framing the side of her face. They hardly interacted with each other in primary school, but Adrien found her to be rather interesting.

"It's been a while, I'm sorry," Adrien sheepishly said, clearing his throat.

"Don't worry about it. I was gone for such a long time and we never interacted much in our earlier years," Lila smiled, pulling up a chair. "Are you thinking about joining the club? It would be so nice to have more people joining."

"Would it be alright if I just sit in for a session and decide from there?" Adrien asked.

"The more the merrier," Lila grinned, sitting atop one of the desks with crossed legs. "Welcome to the literature club. I hope you enjoy your time here, Adrien."