“Adrien, please wait.”
Carlo had been trying to catch up to Adrien without success, but he finally plucked up the courage to grab his arm and make the dark-haired boy look at him. He slid his hand over Adrien's arm, feeling the heat through the fabric of his shirt. His fingers moved cautiously, as if he were afraid Adrien would disappear if he let go, and finally clasped Adrien's thin, pale hand until Adrien abruptly pulled away.
"Please don't do that. They could see us and start stupid rumors," Adrien warned annoyedly, causing Carlo's brow to automatically furrow. Remembering how they used to hug or hold hands in the past as they walked down those hallways, Carlo stepped forward and grabbed Adrien's hand, dragging him into an uninhabited office against his will.
"Is it because of your friend that you don't want anyone to see us?" Carlo asked with a hint of frustration after closing the door.
"What does he have to do with this?" Adrien replied, frowning indignantly at Carlo's insinuation. Carlo sighed internally, clenching his hands tightly to control his emotions. He knew that if he continued like this, he would lose the opportunity to talk to Adrien again. With effort, he decided to swallow his angry words.
"I don't want to talk about him," Carlo began, trying to change the tone of the conversation. "I want to thank you for the help you gave in my brother's kidnapping."
"You don't have to thank me for anything," Adrien replied, softening his expression slightly. "Elio and I have a good friendship, of course, I was going to help him. And if there's nothing else to discuss, come on, we have work to do."
Adrien took a step forward to leave the room, but Carlo intercepted him, positioning himself between him and the exit.
"I know, but still, I want to express my gratitude," Carlo insisted, leaning against the door and locking it with his hands. "You won't get out of here until you accept a dinner with me as a thank you."
"Then let's stay here until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." Adrien crossed his arms and turned to look for a place to sit. Although there were no chairs or furniture, there was still an old desk. He walked over to it and sat down on the wood after cleaning it with the handkerchief he always carried with him. He crossed his legs and arms, looking at Carlo determinedly.
He wished so badly that he had heard those words of invitation in the past, but at that moment they only caused him repulsion.
"He's like a spoiled child, Adrien," Cedric's voice echoed in his memories. The night before they had been having a bottle of wine, watching some movie, and talking about trivial things until the conversation unconsciously turned to Carlo Mancini.
"What do you mean?" Adrien had asked as he took a sip of wine.
"It's simple," Cedric replied, setting his glass down on the side table, looking away from the screen to look directly at him. "He's looking for you now because he feels replaced. He's like a child who doesn't want a toy, but when he sees another child has it, he gets angry and insists on getting it back just because he hates that other people touch it."
At first, Adrien had thought Cedric was exaggerating and just seeing things where there were none. However, Carlo's recent behavior made him reconsider, making him think his friend was right.
"Are you thinking about him?"
Carlo's hoarse voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He had been so engrossed in his memories that he hadn't realized when the other person had approached him, and was now less than fifty centimeters away.
Carlo's cologne, the one that used to drive him crazy, reached his nostrils, making him want to kiss him and bite his neck with desire. However, he bit his inner cheek and forced himself not to give in to his carnal desire.
"Yes, I'm thinking about him."
Carlo frowned and moved a little closer. Unconsciously, Adrien spread his legs, letting Carlo position himself between them. Carlo smiled sufficiently when he was close to Adrien and placed one of his large hands on the other's strong thigh, while the other hand was placed on Adrien's chin.
"No, I mean, yesterday we were talking and…" Adrien's breath hitched as he saw the person he had loved for more than four years in front of him with a look that confused him.
Carlo didn't look happy, but he could have sworn there was a different glint in his eye, a glint he had never seen before.
"When you are with me, Adrien…" Carlo whispered as the hand on Adrien's chin moved to the side of his face, cupping it near his ear, and the other ran down his waist, surrounding him and making their bodies cling even closer. Adrien swallowed hard and wanted to put his hands in the middle to push him away, but only managed to clutch Carlo's jacket a little tighter. He had to admit that he was still weak in the face of Mancini's closeness.
"When I'm with you… What?" he managed to whisper. Carlo's thumb caressed his cheek and his eyes travelled from his gaze to his lips and back again three times before meeting his eyes directly.
"When you are with me, you are forbidden to think of him or any other imbecile."
With those words, Carlo brought his hand to the nape of Adrien's neck and forced him to kiss him. His kiss was rough, his teeth bit hard on Adrien's lower lip, causing him to open his mouth and allow Carlo's tongue to enter. His hand tightened on Adrien's waist, running down his lower back to caress his buttocks shamelessly. Although it had not been even a month since he had tasted his lips, he felt as if more than a year had passed without tasting the sweet cherry scent of Adrien's lip balm.
Adrien, caught in a mixture of confusion and desire, allowed himself to be carried away by Carlo's kiss, though inside there was a struggle between reason and passion. His hands rested tentatively on Carlo's shoulders at first, but then clung to his shirt as if seeking support amidst the maelstrom of emotions that washed over him.
The kiss was a storm of sensations for both of them. Carlo, with his hand firmly on the back of Adrien's neck, directed the intensity of the kiss, while Adrien struggled internally between temptation and guilt. There was a voice in his head whispering to him that this was wrong, that he couldn't get carried away by desire when his feelings were at stake and he risked losing again.
However, his own desires and complicated emotions were dragging him in opposite directions. He had missed Carlo's closeness, the familiarity of his gestures, the way his body fit against his. And even though his mind told him to stop, his heart raced at the intensity of the moment.
When they finally separated, Adrien stared at Carlo with a mixture of bewilderment and longing in his eyes. Carlo, for his part, did not let go of Adrien's waist, maintaining his closeness and letting the silence between them speak for itself.
"I can't do this, Carlo," Adrien whispered, looking away and trying to regain control of his emotions.
"Why not?" Carlo replied, his tone softer than usual, but with determination in his words. "Don't you want it as much as I do? We're alone here, with no one to judge us or stop us."
Adrien sighed deeply, feeling the weight of the situation on his shoulders. He knew that what they were doing was risky, that they couldn't just ignore everything that had happened between them. But at the same time, the attraction and love he still felt for Carlo pushed him forward, tempting him to get carried away by the moment.
"I want it, Carlo, but… I can't ignore everything that's happened," Adrien confessed, desperately searching for a way out that didn't involve hurting himself more than he already had.
Carlo gently caressed Adrien's face with his thumb, trying to calm him and convey a sense of security.
"Then let's not ignore what happened. Let's face it together, Adrien. I don't want to lose you again," Carlo declared, a glint of determination in his eyes.
The room was enveloped in a tense silence, full of unexpressed but palpable emotions in the air. Adrien and Carlo faced a crossroads, where they had to decide whether to move forward together or let the weight of the past separate them forever.
Adrien looked at him, feeling a mixture of fear and hope in his chest. He knew that the decisions they made in that moment would have a profound impact on their lives, but he also understood that they could not run forever from what they felt for each other, if it was not just a whim for Carlo.
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