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Every Friday, Nino had dinner with his mom and Chris. Alya made fun of him relentlessly, but she came from a big family and a very different culture. (It was all fun, he knew; she’d never actually think he’s weird for spending time with his family.)
He’d grown up with just these two with him, and that meant when he moved out, he missed them a lot. (He also didn’t miss sharing a bathroom with Chris, or his mother’s incessant cleanliness, but mostly he missed them.) And Friday night dinners were his favorite part of the week.
Today, his mother had made couscous and his mouth was absolutely watering at it.
“So, Nino, how’s your friend doing?” his mother asked once they’d all served themselves. The words hid layers — and the layers definitely told him she was talking about Adrien.
Immediately, his body stiffened. He knew there were things he couldn’t tell anyone, most of all Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities, but of the four people who knew the full truth of what had happened, he was the least versed in keeping secrets, especially after someone overtly asked him. He ended up coughing in response just to keep himself quiet.
Once he was done, though, no one broke the silence, and all eyes were still on him. The house felt hot, too hot — why did the heat have to be on? Why must it be winter?
He took a breath, like Alya had guided him. One breath at a time.
“Uh, there’s not really much I can say about that....” he answered. “Adrien really wants privacy right now, more than anything.”
No one knew he was privy to classified information, and he’d be safest if he could keep it that way. Luckily, between the Ladyblogger, the heroes of Paris, Hawk Moth’s son, and even just plain Marinette, he was the least recognizable. (Despite Alya’s social media campaign for him to get an Instagram, he’d never been one for social media.)
But he couldn’t hide from his own mother and brother.
“Do you know what happened to Gabriel Agreste?” Chris asked. “I heard he actually got away with Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous and brought his wife back to life, it just didn’t kill him immediately.”
Nino rolled his eyes. Hard to keep your cool, except at something so incredibly dumb.
“No, that’s not what happened. And it’s way dumber than the real story, too.”
Immediately, the room fell silent. Nino heard his mistake only once he said it.
“So you do know what happened to Gabriel Agreste?” his mother asked, the words slow and meticulous.
“I —” Nino said. “I can’t talk about this with anyone. I’m not supposed to.”
He was one of three people who knew who wasn’t bound by a nondisclosure agreement, and he’d reassured Adrien that he was trustworthy a million times before.
“Chris, can you go to your room?” their mom said.
“What? That’s totally unfair!”
“Maimah, I’m not gonna tell you what happened anyway, so it doesn’t make sense. Please, just leave it be,” Nino interjected.
“Chris, go to your room, now. You can bring your plate, and I’ll let you stay up on the TV as late as you want tonight, but right now, I want to talk to Nino in private.”
The teenage boy grumbled and picked his plate up, leaving to his room, leaving Nino with his mother. Who was notoriously a gossip, who notoriously knew just the right words to get Nino talking.
“How have you been?” she said, her eyes soft. “I know this type of thing can be a lot on you, and you’ve never been one to keep a secret.”
He sighed. “I’m fine, Maimah. I promise. I have Alya to talk to about all of this, and Adrien has mostly been relying on... on other friends.”
“You’re getting enough sleep?” she asked. “You look tired.”
He was. Alya had spent the night before pacing around their bed mumbling to herself, and he’d pretended to be asleep because he’d rather she do that in the room than leave to where he couldn’t hear her, see her, talk her down when it got too much for her.
It never got to that point, but he still stayed awake until she finally climbed into bed and settled down at three AM. Even then, he couldn’t bring himself to rest until her breathing finally steadied.
But Nino had to be fine, at least in front of his mother.
“I’m fine, I promise. Why did you have Chris leave?”
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” she asked. “If you have something to say, I won’t tell anyone.”
Nino knew that wasn’t true. And yet he also knew that he’d been looking for someone to talk to since all of this started to weigh on his shoulders. He couldn’t complain to Adrien since it was his shit to deal with. Marinette had been focused on supporting Adrien throughout this, and Alya was equal parts trying to support Marinette and freaking out about the Ladyblog. (She’d had to step down from any and all reporting as soon as it was revealed that Hawk Moth was Gabriel Agreste, both out of respect for Adrien’s privacy and in the name of ethical journalism.)
He didn’t particularly have anyone to go to throughout all of this to support him... His therapist, of course, but that was just one person among the support system he’d developed, and now most people in that support system were rightfully consumed by other matters.
But still, he couldn’t betray Adrien like that. Not when so much was on the line.
Before he could say so, his mother added, “If Adrien... did something... that he regrets, you can trust me with it.”
Nino couldn’t stop his mouth from hanging open and his eyes from widening. Without doing anything, he somehow ended up pushing himself away from the table and standing.
“Adrien didn’t fucking kill Gabriel Agreste. If you must fucking know, he was a sentimonster, but that probably won’t change any of your preconceived notions.”
He turned and left, angry enough to not realize the mistake he’d just made.