"Emerald!"
She turned to see Adrien jogging towards her. Even though he moved casually, the worry in his eyes was clear. His coat fluttered a bit in the breeze, and his reddish-gold hair was messy.
And despite the chaos of her day, he still looked like someone who had just walked out of a beautiful painting.
"Hey," he said, slightly breathless as he stopped in front of her. "I've been trying to reach you. Is everything okay?"
Emerald blinked, momentarily unsure how to start. "Yeah… no. Kind of."
He gave her a tilted smile. "That's not a helpful answer."
"I know," she muttered. "I'm sorry."
"For ignoring me or for giving me half a sentence?"
"For… both." She looked away for a second, exhaling deeply. "Adrien, I… I wanted to say this in person. I'm not going forward with the arrangements."
He blinked, his smile faltering. "Oh."
"I'm sorry," she added quickly. "It's not you. Really. It's just… everything going on at the moment. My pack, the attack, Darius… It's not the time."
