Lean on Us (LukaxAdrienxReader)

48 Hours

Adrien, sufficiently startled out of an immediate breakdown, slowly rose from the floor and splashed some water on his face to further snap himself out of it. He wanted to avoid looming at the mirror but his fear of someone seeing him looking as upset as he felt got the better of him. He tried to ignore the redness of his eyes and harsh flush of his face from crying. He took a few steadying breaths, thinking of Luka guiding him back to himself. He could almost feel Luka there when he closed his eyes, his hand around his waist and his hand over Adrien's eyes, "back to me, my love." And like that, Adrien came back to himself. He rolled back his shoulders before undoing the lock on the door to see Nino standing there, looking like he saw a ghost.

"Nino? Are you-" Adrien was swiftly interrupted by the boy nearly tackling him in a hug. "Hey," he put his hand on Nino's hat and pulled him closer "what's the matter?"

Nino's breath came out just as scattered as Adrien's had just moments before. "Juleka heard everything- she was- she was at her locker and- she told me what Marinette said-" he was panting, and Adrien just realized how sweaty he was- did he run here? "And you looked so shaky the rest of class so I came to make sure you were okay."

Everything? Even the part about Tikki? "What did she tell you exactly?" Adrien asked, almost breaking out into a panicked sweat. He hated Marinette, but he didn't want to be the one to expose her alter ego to the world. He wouldn't wish that kind of unwilling exposure upon anyone now that he was thinking more rationally.

"Just that she tried to use my breakup to get you back and that you told her off and stormed out- and that she used your dad to try and get the last word in." Nino said, slowly pulling away from the hug "I heard you crying so I wasn't sure if I should call Luka so I just kinda waited until I got the courage to knock."

Adrien visibly deflated from relief, too glad that Marinette wasn't exposed to be embarrassed that Nino heard him crying. He hugged Nino again, grateful for the company "You're a good friend, Nino."

The boy nodded, beaming "I know. Now you have to come to the library before they think you're skipping class."

Adrien sighed, "Okay, fine. But next time Marinette tries to approach me I want you to run interference"

"Deal."

***

Luka was busy doing his online course work, he was months ahead and he wanted keep it that way. He couldn't help but check his phone every few minutes, blaming his lack of focus on a gut feeling that something was wrong. He felt like he was waiting for a message from one of his partners, but he knew they were both busy.

So his surprise was open when he got a call from his sister of all people, she was never one to call him during school unless something was seriously wrong. He wanted to let it ring a few times just in case she hit the button on accident, but his anxiety wouldn't let it ring more than twice. The phone was pressed to his ear in a near instant "what's up?"

He could hear in the background that Juleka was standing outside the cafeteria, the noise muffled from the door but loud enough Luka knew it was definitely lunch time. Which means this is supposed to be a private conversation. "Hey, I have something to tell you but I'm not sure if I should."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's about Adrien." Juleka said, she sounded nervous. More than usual. "...and Marinette"

The name was enough to put a sick feeling in his stomach, his "gut feeling" being proved to be correct wasn't something he was looking forward to. "Do you not want to tell me in case Adrien wants to?"