Phantasmagoria

Adrien replayed the memory over and over in his head. He's never meet someone who'd cry out of panic, it was always out of happiness and never something else. He debated whether going to face you again, but he would be able to live with himself if he made you cry again.

The notification from his phone, pulling it out, there was a message from an unknown number.

I'm sorry for what happened in the laundromat, my sister is deadly shy and scared of strangers. She's embarrassed about what you saw, so on her behalf, I want to extend an apology. 

Adrien read the note, now he felt guiltier about his actions. He should've been more calmer, but he couldn't he was curious about you.

When he first met you, he saw how you shrank away while trying to hold your ground against his female classmates. And then you fell on Marinette (who bumped into him), he offered his hand but you didn't take it and left when the girls asked if he and Marinette were okay.

That's when he found your journal, he assumed it fell when you did. It was decorated both in the front and back cover, there were quotes, stickers, fabric, and some doodles adorning it. Sadly there was no name, so he pondered if his opening of such a personally designed journal was correct. In the end, he decided to open it when he got to his room, but his mind lingered with the possible invasion of privacy if he dared open the journal.

"You're going to stare a hole in that journal..." Plagg teased him until he finally gave in and opened it.

“You see, one loves the sunset when one is so sad.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

That was the first thing that greeted him when he flipped the cover, he remembered reading that book some time ago. There was a picture of you, he took in that image, he'd only seen your back and hair but never your front. A younger version of you was standing there with another girl.

He flipped another page, this time there was a note dedicated to someone. It never stated to who you were writing, but you wrote your name in the end.

"Love, Y/n..." Adrien said the words, it was a parting letter you wrote to someone. Who was this person that you wrote so beautifully about?

He continued to flip the pages, sometimes tears threatened to spill from his eyes, and other times he found himself laughing at the little memories you decided to write about.

We got kicked out of school, the administration couldn't understand that there was no money to pay for tuition this month.

Milla forgot to put milk in the batter, so we ended up with a solid pie that could rival a Nokia.

He finally reached the page that was dated, it was from a couple of days ago and the last entry. This time there was a quote and a journal entry.

“I dream. Sometimes I think that's the only right thing to do.”

― Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

We moved again, I hope we can stay longer this time. It's the only thing we had left, I want to continue chasing the dreams Milla and I had when we lived here.

That's why he couldn't contain his excitement, and that is also why he mentally chided himself for not knowing better.

"What's gotten you spacy?" Nino asked his friend who gave him a shy wave. "Something wrong?"

"N-nothing... just some stuff."

"Like what? I'm always ready to give some advice if that's what you need."

"Well..." 

Adrien told him about finding the journal, and the distress he caused when he returned it. His friend intently listened, he even hid some of his laughing fits when he heard how the Adrien Agreste made a girl cry out of fear.

"Sounds rough dude, but her sister did apologize right?" Nino stated and saw his friend nod, "If she's as shy and anxious as her sister said, then there's not much you could do about it." He gave the blond a soft pat in reassurance.

"I still feel guilty, after reading her journal, I feel like I have known her for a while... But now I feel like a stranger."

"Why not give her space? You could also take a step further and wash your clothes at her business, if her sister is there maybe you can get closer to journal girl."

Adrien thought about it, it was a good idea. You only knew him as 'the guy who returned her journal and made her cry', so if he frequented the place doing laundry he might catch you working. Would seeing him more make him less of a stranger to you?

"I like that plan, now I just need to find something I can wash."

"Why not your fencing gear? No one would think twice if you wash sports equipment."

"Which leads me to our next problem, how do you use a washing machine?"

"Not a problem, let me give you the rundown!"

Nino began to explain how to use a washing machine ad Adrien took notes. Who would've thought that laundry required such precision?