It seemed as though Emery always had somewhere to be: a meeting, club activities, an event, a favor he just couldn’t say ‘no’ to. It was like watching a bird trying to fly in five different directions at once—impressive, yet also extremely exhausting.

Adrien—on the other hand—had exactly one priority that stood above all else: Emery. Not that Emery knew that, of course.

As they walked through the nearly empty school hallway after the students council meeting, Adrien watched Emery shift his overstuffed binder from one arm to the other.

Emery never seemed to have a moment to himself. Hangouts were rare for them nowadays, and even those were mostly for class assignments and group projects. He spread himself thin, helping everyone but never stopping to help himself.

For over three years, Adrien had seen this pattern: the way Emery’s shoulders tensed and his brows furrowed as he scribbled down last minutes notes or carried too many things at once.

But even with all the social pressure, Emery was still such a sweetheart. He was polite and never spoke out of turn—he was a pushover, and many took advantage of that.

Adrien wanted to do more for him—wanted to say something—but was too afraid to add to Emery’s stress. The fear of confessing his feelings, of adding more pressure to Emery and making things more complicated, kept him quiet.

So he stayed close: picking up dropped books, carrying his things, walking beside him as silent support, and staying over late on school nights just to make sure Emery fell asleep.

Finally breaking the silence, Adrien let Emery to a quiet corner of the hallway, reaching his hand out to rub circles on the back of Emery’s neck with his thumb.

“D’you need a break?” Adrien asked softly. He wasn’t prying or being forceful, only allowing an opening for Emery to relax and calm himself down after working so hard.