At some point in the night, Adrien had fallen asleep with his pillow against the car door and his blanket over his lap. So he hadn't even noticed when he'd crossed over the border, when the car was checked for any contraband, or when they were let through.

He only woke up when the sun had started to come up, unable to block it out as car windows don't exactly have any curtains. When he stirred awake, it was 5:30am and the streets looked a lot different. Different to the layouts of Paris and the street signs written in Dutch.

"Nathalie..." he muttered, still drowsy.

"Good morning" she replied, sounding tired herself.

"When do we get there?"

'There' being wherever they'd be staying, Adrien still didn't know a few details, he'd fallen asleep before he could ask.

"Soon... not far off now. Wanna get breakfast though? Fast food every so often won't kill you" Nathalie replied.

Wow, she was letting him have fast food? That wasn't something he father would allow. He says it's 'processed shit' and no model should be eating it. Sure, it may not be super healthy, but every so often as a treat won't hurt right?

"Yes please" he replied, suddenly much more awake now the thought of a treat was in his head.

By 6am they'd found a McDonald's and gotten some of the breakfast menu at the drive through, sitting in the parking lot to eat. Their pancakes were actually really good, so were the hash browns. Nathalie looked like she really needed the coffee, she looked exhausted.

"I'm sorry this was all so sudden Adrien... I couldn't just leave you behind and escape myself" she sighed.

"It's ok, I get it" Adrien replied, carefully pushing some of his pancake to the side to sneak to Plagg when Nathalie wasn't looking.

"You're taking it like a champ"

"I'm just... glad to be out of there. I mean, sure not seeing my friends for a while will suck but it's a price I'm willing to pay to be away from dad"

Nathalie sighed again, the fact she had to rip Adrien away from his friends was the part she'd grappled with the most. She really didn't want to take one of the few things that bought him joy away, but she promised Emilie she'd keep Adrien safe. And leaving him in his fathers custody, that wasn't safe at all. Far from it.

"You'll get to see them again... when this whole mess is sorted out. I know he's going to drag my ass to court over you... and it'll be a tough battle too. He's biologically your father... I'm just your legal guardian, but I'm fighting tooth and nail to keep him away from you. Adrien I know it'll be difficult but... when the time comes I need you to cooperate, tell the court absolutely everything he's done to you in as much detail as you can ok?" Nathalie explained.

"I understand..." Adrien replied.

It was in the quiet of the car and after some rest that Adrien was starting to really feel the situation sinking in. He'd just escaped his abusive shit of a father in the middle of the night with his mother figure, unprompted, left his home and friends behind. And while he knew this was for the best, and he was glad to be free of everything... he couldn't help but think about one thing.

What about Luka?

Would he ever get to see him again? Well, of course he would. When the whole mess is over he can go back to Paris... or maybe Luka can come visit in Belgium. Or he could Cat Noir himself over to Luka before then. But the big gaps between seeing each other coming up? They'd hurt. They'd be so so lonely. He saw Luka every week at band meetup, and sometimes a few extra times when he came to pick up Juleka from school or if there was an event on or something. He and Luka were always around each other.

Maybe... since everything is changing right now, he should finally tell her.

"Nathalie..." he began, his tone shifting telling her it was something serious.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"You can't tell dad about this... at least not yet..."

Nathalie gave him a look, this could be one of many things he was about to confess. Some kind of abuse she didn't know about, something bad Adrien had done in a heat of the moment thing, information he knew on his father that she didn't. She listened, whatever it was, she was here for it.

"I... I like boys. More than girls. I've had a massive crush on Luka for ages now... and I never did anything because I was scared of dad finding out. But... when all this is over and if he accepts my feelings... I can date him right?" Adrien admitted.

Nathalie was slightly taken aback, she had a hunch Adrien wasn't straight but she wasn't expecting it so straightforward and so... pained. He'd kept this for so long, because he didn't feel safe in the household with his father. The fact he was willing to tell Nathalie the moment they were away from him, told her that he'd trusted her with this all along, but that overwhelming fear of his father finding out... it kept him from confiding in someone he knew he could trust.

Nathalie just smiled, reaching across the centre console to give him a reassuring hug. One he gladly accepted.

"You date whoever you want. Fuck what your dad says, he'll be out of our hair soon enough anyway... plus, Luka is a good choice. I know he's trustworthy, I approve of him" Nathalie assured.

"Thank you..." Adrien replied.

"Plus, I'd be a pretty bad bisexual if I didn't accept someone of my own kind"

Immediately, Adrien perked up in shock.

"Woah wait- you too?" He asked, an exited grin creeping onto his lips.

"You really think I started working for your family because of your dad? Your mother was always the pretty one. If she didn't marry your dad I'd have married her myself" Nathalie replied, in a joking tone but she was completely serious.

Adrien just laughed, so many old memories suddenly making so much sense.

"Aaaghhh why did mum have to marry dad, she should have married you" He laughed.

"Oh I wish" Nathalie snickered.

Sitting in that parking lot in Belgium, they were starting a new life entirely with confessions and take away breakfast. Despite the hectic nature of running away from an abuser, there was a sense of peace in Adrien in that parking lot. With Nathalie protecting him and accepting him, he felt like things would finally be ok. And he was certainly very glad that his cool bisexual mother figure approved of his potential boyfriend choices.