Miraculous Endgame

Questions and Confessions

That night Adrien and Marinette produced design after design for their outfits. The pair decided to wait to actually make the clothing until another day because it was 1am and they had only just finished the plans. They headed to bed and soon the sun was rising- ready for another day of drama.

They headed to school and were immediately thrown questioning looks. Somehow, it had gotten out that Adrien was staying with Marinette and rumours had started to spread, but by the end of the day tomorrow the truth would be released to the public and things would be even worse. Marinette was saddened that her friends were avoiding her, just two days earlier they were laughing and planning operation wink with her and now they shunned her because of Lila. It worried her but he's had to keep strong, for Adrien.

In a few hours it was lunch and Marinette headed back to her house with Nino, Alya and of course- Adrien. They were nervous, they had to ask them to write a court statement but couldn't tell them why, they had discussed possible lies to coverup the truth but they decided it would be best to not lie. They were trustworthy after all, right?
Nino and Alya took a seat on Adriens make-shift bed and Marinette sat on the steps next to Adrien which led up to her bed.

"we have something to tell you" Marinette blurted out, not sure how to start the conversation. She was nervous, her knee brushing against Adrien made a cherry red appear on her cheeks but this was no time to flirt.
"you you two dating?" Alya replied, completely calm.
"yeh " Adrien replied at the same time Marinette said "no". They shot each other an embrasser look, both now flustered they began to ramble
"i mean kinda, i thought?" Adrien began
"well i mean- we never" Marinette panicked "it's not that i-"
"i don't want to assume but?" Adrien said carefully. They couldn't exactly talked about this openly in front of Nino and Alya. NINO AND ALYA! The pair forced their mouths shut as they turned to face their friends sat with a smug look plastered across their face.
"pay up" Alya said without removing her eyes off of Marinette, but holding her hand out towards Nino
"hey! they didn't confirm it yet!" Nino protested. Alya, now turning to face Nino said
"fine! but get your money ready because we both know it's going to happen!"
"what're you guys talking about?" Adrien questioned, still red with embarrassment. He had just assumed they were dating. 'I mean they kissed so that meant they were together right? But Marinette kissed Chat and they weren't dating? Shit.' Adrien thought to himself and then realised he actually had never asked Marinette to date him officially. He probably just confused her more.
"we made a bet- i bet you two would never confess to each other and she bet that you would" Nino replied, pulling Adrien from his trance. Meanwhile- Marinette was in a daze of her own. 'Adrien thinks we are a couple? ME AND ADRIEN? A COUPLE?'
Her mind raced, suddenly she remembered the more important topic in question.

"Adrien, we will talk later, but right now we need your help" Marinette said, turning serious and walking over to Nino and Alya. The couple gave each other a look before turning back to Marinette
"what's up?" Alya asked, also turning serious. Adrien walked over to Marinette and gave her a nod to say 'go ahead' before going and taking a seat at her desk where he rummaged around her draws looking for something. Nino gave Marinette a questioning look and she continued
"Adrien's dad, he's... lost custody of Adrien"
"what? how?" Alya questioned.
"we, can't exactly tell you" Adrien spoke up. Alya knew not to pry on this one, it seemed serious and she should trust her friends.
"are you okay dude?" Nino asked worriedly
"yeah, at first everything was a shock but uhm, i think things can work out" his voice shook making him seem unsure about his answer.

"what do you need us to do?" Alya said, grabbing Nino's hand. Alya was shaking and both Adrien and Marinette noticed. They had no idea Alya cared this much for Adrien and everyone seemed shocked by her response to the news. Adrien walked over and handed them both two forms from Marinette's draws.
"for me to stay in Paris i need to convince my Aunt and the courts to let me stay, we haven't figured out where i'd stay but that can be sorted out after all of this. My Aunt said i should get statements from friends to submit as evidence, and i was hoping-"
"of course, you don't even need to ask" Nino interrupted.
"so what should we write about?" Alya questioned
"just what Adrien means to you, and why you want him to stay" Marinette replied.

"who else is writing statements? you're not exactly the most popular at school at the moment?" laughed Alya who seemed to be calming down after hearing the news. Marinette and Adrien gave each other a worried look, they knew their options were limited and hoped this question wouldn't come up.
"well so far just me and my parents..."
"but with your letters and Chloe's that'll be more tha-" Adrien got cut off
"Chloe? Nino asked. "She's pure evil dude"
"Chloe stood up for us the other day at school, she may be a bit difficult but she cares about Adrien and they've grown up together. And that's what we need, we need to show off Adrien's connections to the city and that he has people here that care for him" Marinette protested.

Adrien admired her with all his heart, she was doing all of this- even working with one of her worst enemy's, just to help him out. Gosh- he was head over heals for her.

They skipped last period and all worked on their statements, with a little help from Tom and Sabine they were finished by 4pm when Adrien got a voicemail from his Aunt.

"hello Adrien, me and Felix just arrived in Paris, Sabine told me you are with your friends so i won't bother you, i'm staying at the Mayor's hotel and will see you tomorrow. Feel free to bring your friends to family court, it'll help your case if the judge sees you interact with them. Love you lots and see you soon darling"

Adrien always admired his Aunt but now she was just a living reminder of his almost dead mother. Her voice pained him but he knew she was the only family he had left. He shot her back a quick message before returning to his friends

Thank you Aunt Amilie, see you tomorrow x

It was now around 6pm and the group had stayed for dinner at Marinette's to work on the dresses and suits for the ball. Of course at this point Alya and Nino knew Hawkmoth had been defeated and so did Adrien and Marinette. No one mentioned this though, they acted as if they were just being prepared for the ball to come along at any moment- hence the making of the outfits. Marinette offered to make Nino's suit as well and of course he accepted the offer. He made a fuss about having to dress up but soon relaxed as Marinette took his and Alya's measurements, taking amusement in being the centre of attention. Adrien helped and soon it was his turn to be measured.

"want any help down there?" Alya called down from Marinette bed, Nino's head resting on her shoulder as they snuggled up to play their favourite game.
"no! i'm all good!" Marinette replied, wrapping the tape measure around Adrien's chest. Adrien blushed and turned his head in hope of coving up his flustered expression. Marinette's hands lingered on his chest as she measured him, the tension building between them was getting to her as well. She stepped away and wrote down the number. This was nothing new to Adrien, he had people touching him all the time so why was he so distracted right now?

Marinette knelt down, placing a hand on Adrien's stomach to steady herself on the way to the ground. Her hand moved over his abs and she blush, quickly moving her hand off. She wrapped the measure around his thigh and wrote down the number. She did this to the other side but at one point she looked up at him. Her eyelashes fluttered and bluebell eyes glistening as Adrien looked down at the compromising posting she was in.
"Wow." is all he could think. Except he said it out loud.
"wow what?" Alya called down, still glued to her game. The sexual tension listed between the two and Marinette stood up in front of him before walking over to the desk
"oh uhm- Mari's designs" Adrien lied. He was sure he had flushed a deep shade of red and immediately walked over to his bed to sit down.