Unbroken

Chapter 12

"M'lady." Adrien exclaimed as he wiped his hands down his apron, or more specifically her apron. The pink frills of said apron were dripping in she wasn't sure what, but whatever it was seemed to have made its way into Adrien's hair as well. Plagg didn't look much better off. "I had planned to have all this cleaned up before you got home, but I misjudged the time and I overcooked the chicken and..."

"You ruined all the food?" Marinette asked in a daze, taking in the smell of the burnt meat. She placed the box she had been carrying on the floor and walked closer to the kitchen.

"Not all of it, well, at least I don't think all of it. I had Alya on FaceTime helping me, but it was a little more complicated than I thought. I'd seen you make it and you always make everything look so easy." Adrien said rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, don't worry about this. I'll clean up and go and get some take out and..."

"Take out!" Marinette suddenly snapped, her eyes blazing. Adrien took a step back and gaped. "You ruined all the food I had in the fridge that was supposed to last the weekend and now you want to throw more of our money away on take out? You're not living off your father's money anymore Adrien, that money in your account will only last so long and we won't see any dividends from that 20% share of yours until next financial year, if we see anything at all."

"But Bug..."

"Don't Adrien, just don't! Do you think I have nothing better to do than cook and wash and clean up after you? I'm working from daylight to dark and even beyond getting little more than a retainer wage, having to recreate your father's useless designs and watch as his sales continue to take a nose dive all because I'm stuck in the same stupid contract your in."

Marinette stopped her ranting long enough to see the wounded look in Adrien's face and she felt like the worst person in the world. She would have been lying if she hadn't admitted that suddenly living with another person like this hadn't been a massive change for her. She loved him, dear god she loved him with every fibre of her being, and he tried so hard everyday, but there were times like now where he seemed like he was nothing more than a stray little kitten, and she didn't have the energy for it.

Marinette slid down onto the lounge and buried her face in her hands, not even trying to hold back her tears. She became aware of Adrien crouching down beside her. He pulled one of her hands away from her face and gently placed a kiss to the back of it.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "I know I'm not very useful. Since Kagami went back to Japan I've tried to take up the extra patrols so you can get your portfolio work done, but I guess some cooking skills would have been more useful. I'll see if your mum can maybe teach me a few things so I can make at least one decent meal without it becoming a disaster." He gently brushed her bangs away from her face. "Do you think maybe I could just blame Plagg for it?"

Marinette heard Plagg huff in the distance followed by Tikki's shushing. Rubbing the tears from her eyes she looked at her husband, really looked at him and her heart sank to her stomach. He had obviously washed his face when he had come home and without the makeup she could clearly see the bags under his eyes. While she had been wallowing in self pity, she had forgotten that he had been spending every free moment he had at the bakery. Between fittings, photoshoot and fashion week rehearsals, Adrien had somehow been managing patrols alone as well as helping her parents. Mylène had suddenly left to join Ivan back on the Kitty Section tour, leaving them short staffed. Although not skilled, Adrien had been helping where he could, even getting up to be there at 4am some days to help make the bread before racing to a photoshoot at 7.

Yet somehow, despite the exhaustion and the fact she had just yelled at him, here he was, crouching next to her and trying his best to make her feel better.