We didn't hang out that long at the ice cream shop...thanks to Mr. Psychopath staring at us during the entire 10 minutes we spent eating our ice cream through the window from inside the shop where he was sitting. Nino, who first noticed when the "psychopath" started to eye us, had become so paranoid that he made all of us feel extremely uneasy. The moment we put our spoons down was the same moment we picked up our bikes and road off as fast as we could down the street that led toward our neighborhood. 

When we reached the dirt paths that led to home, my chain suddenly popped. I tried slowing down but was only stopped by slamming into a nearby tree and falling sideways onto the ground. 

"Adrien!" I heard my friends gasp in unison as I felt my body begin to ache from the fall, my right hand stinging from being scraped by a stone. 

   I clenched my teeth to withhold the pain as I sat up and untangled my legs from the bike before holding my hand up for inspection. 

"Are you okay?" asked Nino when he and the girls descended from their bikes and walked over to where I had fallen with worried frowns. 

Marinette placed a hand on my shoulder as she knelt down beside me to look at my hand, but I involuntarily flinched when she did so. 

She drew her hand back quickly as if my shoulder was burning charcoal, her face growing bright red. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's okay," I interjected quickly, realizing that I made her feel uncomfortable without meaning to. "My...body is a little sensitive from the fall, that's all."

She nodded shyly as Alya asked, "Is anything else injured besides your hand?"

I shook my head no before replying, "My hand just got scraped a little, that's all."

"I wouldn't call that a 'little', dude," said Nino nervously as he pointed to my hand, blood slowly beginning to drip from the inside of my palm down onto the grass. 

    Alya used an old napkin she found in one of the pockets of her jeans to wipe my hand free from overflowing blood and a piece of fabric that Nino had ripped from his shirt to bandage my hand. 

"We really need to get home," she sighed as she tied the fabric gently but firmly around my palm. "I don't know if this is some supernatural stuff or whatever, but I feel like random bad things are happening to us after we saw that dude."

"Adrien just fell of his bike and got hurt. That could have happened to any one of us," said Marinette, though her shaky voice failed to hid her nervousness. 

"I knew something was wrong with him," said Nino as he placed his hands on his hips with an I-told-you-so expression on his face. "And you guys thought I was crazy for thinking that he was a psychopath."

"Well," Alya shrugged. "That was before my intuition started to kick in. And I was only half-kidding when I said this might be supernatural stuff. It's probably just be a coincidence. But still," she continued, her eyes brightening, "this would be an awesome story for the paper."

                                                                    ************

After saying goodbye to Marinette and Alya after passing both their houses (and promising them that I'll take care of my hand), Nino and I continued to ride down the road towards our own homes. As we approached Nino's house, I noticed a familiar car in Natalie's driveway.

My dad's car. 

Without a second's thought, I immediately asked Nino, "Can I stay at your place for a little while?"

Nino raised his eyebrow. "Don't you want to go home to take care of your hand? And won't your dad be upset if you're not home soon since it's getting late?"

I nodded my head to where Dad's car was parked in Natalie's driveway before replying, "He's having to much fun with Natalie to even notice I'm gone. Plus, the last thing I need is for him to fret over me and Natalie to pretend to be my mom."

"Well, in that case, feel free to step inside, bro." said Nino as we climbed off our bikes and wheeled them into the yard, where we then stood them up against an oak tree that was beside him house. "Where is your mom anyway?"

You just had to bring up the 'mom' thing, didn't you, Adrien? I mentally scolded myself while avoiding Nino's gaze as I walked up the porch steps towards the front door of his house. 

"Adrien?" asked Nino, who probably thought I didn't hear his question.

"Sorry, I phased out for a sec," I answered. I secretly hoped he wouldn't ask about Mom again.

I wasn't ready to talk about her with anyone yet.

Nino shrugged, as if to say 'it's cool', and walked in front of me to open the front door, pulling his house keep out of the pocket of his jeans as he did so. He fiddled with the key in the doorknob before realizing that the door was never locked in the first place. 

His eyebrows gathered in confusion, he open the door slowly. 

"Why didn't she lock the door?" I heard him mumble to himself. 

"Is everything okay, Nino?" I asked in concern when I noticed an expression of annoyance growing on his face. 

Nino groaned before replying irritably, "I told my mom about the psychopath lurking around our house and told her to keep the doors and stuff locked, but she didn't lock the door."

"Maybe she forgot?" I suggested, though he was barely listening as he stormed inside. 

I followed him into the house and to the kitchen, where Mrs.Lahiffe was stirring something in a pot on the stove with a wooden spoon, apparently still working on dinner.

She turned her head from the stove when we entered, greeting us with a tired smile. "Hi, boys. Did you have fu--"

"Mom," interrupted Nino, his voice alone revealing he was not in the mood for a meaningless chitchat with his mom. "Why didn't you lock the door?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey," she apologized. "I must have forgotten. I had so much on my mind today..."

"Yeah, well you won't be sorry when some lunatic comes barging into our house and kills us all," retorted Nino.

Mrs. Lahiffe sighed as she set the spoon down onto the counter. "Nino, don't be ridiculous. I know your on edge, and I already apologized for not locking the door. I'll try not to forget next time..."

"Oh, its always me who's being ridiculous at the end of the day isn't it?!" yelled Nino. "Because apparently not being worried about a potential psychopath barging into our house is not ridiculous, am I right? You always wanna know about what I'm doing in school or if I need my clothes washed or if  had enough to eat and tons of other crap, but you could care less about what freaks me out!!"

With that, he turned his heel and left, the sound of his footsteps on the stairs thundering throughout the house. 

An awkward moment of silence past. Neither Mrs. Lahiffe or I knew what to say. 

I knew Nino was more that just worried about some random creep who came to his house, but at the same time, he was somehow dealing with so much more that I could put a finger on. 

I wondered if it was his family issues that were making him take the "psychopath' situation so seriously. I didn't know much about what caused them to be so distant (or rather, what caused Nino and his dad to be distant from his mom), but from the way Nino lashed at his mom, I would say it was a possibility. 

I felt bad for Mrs. Lahiffe, and was a little upset at Nino for being angry with her. 

If only he knew how lucky he was to actually have his mom here with him, I silently thought to myself. 

But he would, in time, experience exactly what it was like not having his mother...and realize how much her presence matters so much to him and his Dad. 

The same way I did. 

(A/N):

Long time, no see my beloved readers!

Evil Unicorn: You know, you really should let me write a few chapters since you're always taking so long to write *smirk*

Haha...like I'm actually gonna let THAT happen anytime soon. You'd probably make Adrigami or Lukanette become cannon. Or worse... Have Alya and Adrien become cannon. *cringes extremely hard*

Evil Unicorn: Well, all those ships combined are WAY better than Nalya, I tell ya that. Why is that even a ship anyway?

Istg if you say anything else about my precious children I will have the entire Nalya army come for you...

Evil Unicorn: bRiNg iT oN XD

Anywaaaaays, thank you all so much for reading! Let me know what you thought of this chapter by dropping a comment below!

And feel free to become best friends with that little star up in the corner. 

Poor little star is so lonely fufu~

Have an awesome rest of your day/night and can't wait to see you guys in the next chap! Until then...

STAY MIRACULOUSSSSSS <3<3<3