I will love again

Part 17 - A bit of family life

"Uhm", Adrien now cleared his throat, "maybe we should take our dessert to my room?", he suggested.

Marinette agreed instantly and they quickly left the room to get out of the danger zone.

"Why are you angry now?", Nathalie asked as soon as they were alone.

"Really? You have to ask?", he growled.

"Please don't tell me, it's because I accidentally called you Mr. Agreste! I can't deal with a grown man acting like a child on top of everything right now. I...", she stood up and clang to the table with her hands. "Would you excuse me please? I don't feel so good suddenly, and as I still have some work to do, I would like to lie down and rest a bit before I get back to my desk."

He got up from his chair too and followed Nathalie through the large dining hall and into the corridor.

"Gabriel, what are you doing? Why do you follow me?", she asked while she turned around and looked at him.

"Just go, I am taking care that you get to your room and don't pass out or something like it. And I don't think that conversation was finished yet, so I'm coming with you and we can talk while you lie down", he spoke much calmer now.

"Fine, you won't give up anyway", the young woman snarled at him. They walked the remaining few steps side by side. Gabriel was unusually reluctant and let her choose the pace, held the door open and even stayed in the hallway until she asked him to come inside.

"Would you please come in and close that door, Gabriel? I won't get any rest if you keep stalling. Didn't you give me the order to take better care of myself?", she now even mocked him.

The still concerned man now began to realize, that he might have been a little overreacting and that he only made it harder for the woman he so adored. So he just entered and shut the door, waiting for her next move.

He stood there now and gazed out of the window while Nathalie went into her little bathroom. She came back a few minutes later, kicked her shoes off her feet and climbed into her bed, stretching in relief to then turn to her side and place her right arm under her head.

The assistant cleared her throat quietly.

Gabriel turned around and looked at her, a soft smile playing his lips, as he saw her relaxing as soon as she had curled herself up into her sheets.

"May I sit down?", he asked calmly and pointed at a spot right next to her on the mattress.

Now the young woman rolled her eyes.

"Do I have to say 'really' now?", she scoffed.

The tall man chuckled lightly, as he sat down beside her.

"I am very sorry Nathalie. I shouldn't have been so....well....annoying all the time. I would never forgive myself, if I made you more miserable with my...rather....."

"Childish behaviour?" the female suggested.

He raised his eyebrows.

"I would've said 'immature' but well, yes. I didn't mean to hurt you even more with my behaviour anyway."

"It's alright, I hurt you too", she whispered her voice a little rasp now.

Gabriel gazed down at her halfway closed eyes and her deepening breath and gave her another loving smile. Then he caressed her cheek and placed a quick kiss on it.

"We can talk about Adrien later, you just get some rest", he hummed gently.

The exhausted woman wanted to object, but then just thought, she would be far more capable of having a discussion with him after a little nap. So she just made a tiny noise to show she agreed: "Mhm", then closed her eyes and was already drifting off to sleep.