Moving On?

Root of the Problem

*Updated 3/19/24*

"She doesn't deserve this, and now I know you know that."... Felix said to Adrien.

Adrien stood a bit straighter, his words less shaky. Determination coursing through him. "I know, she doesn't deserve to hurt like this one bit. If I could just only find a chance to talk with her, then maybe I'd be able to figure out once and for all what started all of this. Find out what it is I did to upset her, and make sure I never ever do it again" he said.

"Is there anything you can think of that might've upset her? Or can you truely not think of anything you might've done to cause her original upset with you?" Felix asked. Right before Adrien could respond, Felix added into his statement, "Think. When did she start icing you out? And what happened around that time,".

Through Adrien's silence, there was a shift in the air. And it didn't go unnoticed by Felix. "What, what is it?" he asked Adrien, hoping and needing him to say something relevant.

With his hand on his chin and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Adrien went still. "I mean... but no... it couldn't be..." he thought out loud. In his mind, replaying his selected moment over and over like a broken VHS tape.

Starting to get impatient from the lack of communication, Felix urged Adrien to speak up. "What is it? Just say something!".

Fully turning to face Felix, Adrien was able to finally voice his suspicions. "Right before you came and I got the cold shoulder, there was one day in particular that still doesn't sit right with me and I feel awful..." 

Adrien began telling his story, Felix fully engaged. "... After de-transforming from the aftermath of an akuma, I happened to see Ladybug who was bringing people back to the school. I ran up to her to say hi, but most importantly to ask her if she knew if Marinette was safe. It was going great until Nino started teasing me about liking Marinette..."

But quickly Felix interrupted Adrien's story telling, "Just making absolute sure I'm following correctly. You said Ladybug was there for everything that happened and is about to happen?"

"Uhh, yeah, she was," Adrien said, answering Felix's question.

"Alright. Carry on"

"Okayyyy? Anyways, oh right, Nino. Nino teasing me had much more confusing affects on me than I thought it would. It just really caught me off guard. At the time, my feelings were more scattered, and my growing feelings towards Marinette made me feel guilty. Like I was cheating on my feelings for Ladybug..." Adrien explained further.

Felix was trying so hard to keep it together. If only Adrien wasn't blind, he might've actually figured out that his conflicted feelings only apply to one person, making them not so confusing.

Adrien continued with his story. "...and as Nino was teasing me about liking Marinette, I just felt so overwhelmed, so guilty, so much so that just to get him to stop talking, I told him that he needed to drop the conversation, and emphasized the fact that Marinette is, or at least was, my friend. Just a friend and nothing more..." Adrien explained to Felix. Grabbing his head with his hands in frustration. "... Although the only reason I called her just a friend was to try and convince myself!"

Listening to Adrien talk was promoting some very vivid daydreams for Felix that involve grabbing a spork from the cafeteria and stabbing himself in the eye so he wouldn't have to watch this train wreck titled, 'Adrien finally realizing his feelings'.

Not only is what Adrien said something he shouldn't have said in the first place, but he unknowingly told his crush, the 'love of his life', his 'solemate' that she's just a friend and absolutely nothing more. Way to crush someone's soul. No wonder she stopped talking to him. Felix thought to himself. And obviously it's not like he knew that was Marinette. But still, he could've been nicer about it.

Then snapping back from his thoughts, Felix realized Adrien was still rambling on. "... but I'm not sure how she would've found out about it. I've just felt awful since the moment I've said it, for so long. And really, I've wanted to apologize a million times over, but I didn't know how to bring it up since I don't even know if she knows about it in the first place!", Adrien said, finishing his dump of emotions.

Agreste looked to his cousin to gauge his reaction towards the situation. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he was thinking. Unfortunately for Adrien, there was no sympathy, nothing comforting about the look his cousin was giving him. Whatsoever.

With one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed, Felix deadpanned to Adrien. "Yep, that'll do it..." he said. Completely dumbfounded by his cousin's idiocy.

"You really think she knows?" Adrien asked, fearing the answer he already knew was coming.

An image of Marinette and Ladybug switched between each other within Felix's mind, confidently backing up his opinion on the matter. "She definitely knows," he said, putting his hands in his pants pockets.

The hyperventilating mess in front of him started talking to himself, "You idiot. What was I thinking?! I wasn't, that's what! Wait... how would she know?" he said, looking back to Felix.

For a moment, his eyes went wide, realizing the obvious correlation in his head was not exactly a secret that could be revealed to Adrien. Rocking back and forth on his shoes, Felix tried to think of something. "I... maybe... You said Nino was there too?",

"Yeah, he was the one teasing me," Adrien replied.

"Well then maybe he let it slip in front of Alya, and then Alya told Marinette" Felix said, lying right to his face. With no remorse at that. A simple white lie of that proportion was well justified in his head to keep Marinette's secret from slipping out.

"Of course, it makes perfect sense!" Adrien said as he thought about it more. "I have to make things right, she has to know I didn't mean it, that I only stupidly said it due to my own confusing feelings... but how do I bring it up?" he asked.

Felix raised his eyebrows at Adrien, shocked that he was expecting any further help. "Why are you looking at me? I can't tell you HOW to fix it. I just wanted to make sure you knew WHAT to fix. It's your mess, and you've got to make it right..." he said.

As he was walking away, something deep within him was fighting back to the surface. A feeling, stable but as fleeting as a dimly lit candle that's on its last line of fuel, sympathy for Adrien. Before completely walking away, he told his cousin, "I know you have the strength to make it right", immediately walking out the door, and straight towards the cafeteria. Back to Marinette.

Walking back to the lunch table, with the back of Marinette's hood in sight, Felix looked across the table to Alya and Nino. Alya looked over back to Felix, and with her mouth forming a tight line across her face, she shook her head side to side. Worry written all over her face.

The more the table came into view, Felix could see that Marinette hadn't even eaten anything on her plate.

Taking his seat right next to the hooded girl on her right side, Felix leaned his right elbow on the table, using it to prop up his head, and slid it farther onto the table. Enough to see the shadow of Marinette's face.

"Marinette, I'm really worried about you. I may not know what happened, but whatever it was, you still need to eat. If not for yourself, then for me" Felix told her, thinking, and if not for me, then do it for Paris.

For the first time that day, she finally looked him in the eyes. He could feel the drop in his chest. How it hurt him, knowing how much she was hurting.

Thankfully, she then looked away and looked towards her plate. Starting to eat a bit of her lunch. Not all of it, but some was enough.

Feeling a light tap on his right arm, Felix turned his head over to Alya. Without saying anything, she mouthed the words "Thank you" to Felix. He responded with a single nod.

...