𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐑, miraculous au

Chapter 18

"That's not a good idea. At all."  

I knew talking to Charlene about Gabriel could've been something undoubtedly risky, but I had to do it. And besides, I knew how I could temporarily get Adrien away from Gabriel, but I needed help.   

"You just have to trust me on this one, Adrien," I told him, cutting my eyes to his. Adrien looked as if trusting me was the last thing he wanted to do.

His eyes were narrowed, his posture rigid, and everything about him screamed overprotective, and all for his aunt. His breathing was a little ragged as he deliberated over an answer for what felt like several minutes.

He finally gave an exasperated sigh and said, "If you make her cry, or hurt her in any possible way, I swear to God you won't ever see us again."  

I flinched backwards at Adrien's harsh, abrasive tone and the urge to take off sprinting was more than overpowering. But that wouldn't do me any good, because this was something that had to be dealt with right then and not sometime later.  

Adrien's threat would definitely become a reality, I knew that, but I couldn't take the chance of not doing this. 

"I can't promise that," I admitted, thinking of mine and Charlene's conversation on Wednesday night. "But I can promise that I'm going to help."  

Adrien looked taken aback by my words and I turned and climbed onto the bus that just pulled up before he had a chance to say anything else. I slipped into a seat while Adrien sat beside me.  

When I finally reached the front door of the salon, I was breathing heavily and my heart was pounding. The door was unlocked and I could hear the sounds of Taylor Swift playing from the inside.

By my surprise, Kai and Shane were seated on salon chairs, chatting and giggling like usual, oblivious to the fact that something horrible had just occurred. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw them, alive and well and unharmed. Snakes hadn't tried getting to them, yet.  

Adrien slammed the door shut behind us and Charlene turned towards us in surprise, looking shocked to see us standing in the waiting area.  

"Marinette, Adrien," Charlene said in a surprised voice. "What brings you here?"

Before I had the chance to answer, the boys all whipped around, shouted "Marinette!" and then took off running to tackle me in a tight hug. 

"Hi, boys," I said quickly, returning their hugs, then turned back to Charlene. "I need to talk to you, Charlene."    

Maybe it was something in my voice that made Charlene realize that this was going to be no simple conversation. She must have known what was coming, because her already pale face turned even whiter and I could see her swallow hard. Her eyes were already bloodshot and shinning and I hoped she wasn't going to cry. I really hoped she wasn't going to cry.  

"Adrien." Charlene addressed her nephew in a hard, firm voice. "Go get the boys ready for school."  

"But what about our haircuts!" Shane exclaimed loudly.

"You'll get them later," Charlene said. "Now go with your cousin." 

Adrien scooped Kai up into his arms and ushered Shane towards the back, but not before turning back to me with a serious look on his face. 

"I sure hope you know what you're doing." He muttered warningly before taking the boys into the back.

Yeah, I thought with a mental sigh. I sure hope I know what I'm doing, too. 

I set my bag on the couch in the waiting area and walked further into the salon, toward Charlene. She was leaning up against a counter with her arms crossed and she had definitely seen better days.