𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐑, miraculous au

Chapter 22

I was forced into a seat beside Cadence and Charlene, a few chairs over from Adrien, who was now having an animated discussion with Russell and Charlie about a man named Antoine Griezmann. I listened to the easy chatter around the table as I ate, trying to put all that had happened over the past few days from my mind.

When I was with this family, it was easy to forget what brought me to Adrien in the first place. It felt like I belonged here, with these people who treated me as if I were actually a member of their family. More to the point, I liked being with them all. I liked being with Adrien. It is entirely messed up that it had taken him possibly getting into too much trouble to bring us together. If I had just gotten over my nerves and hadn't been such a wimp last year, then maybe this wouldn't have happened at all.

"Attention, everyone!"

I looked up from my plate as Charlene got to her feet, wine glass in hand, and the chatter around the table immediately died down. I didn't know what kind of announcement Charlene was about to make, but I wondered if it had something to do with her private chat with my dad.

"So, I'm pretty sure it's no surprise that these have been a rough couple of days," she began, taking a deep, steadying breath. "Félix and Adrien were in a slight accident, Shane had to get stitches, and Adrien has had to stay under the same roof as Gabriel."

"Jerk," I heard Cadence mutter under her breath.

"Well, after speaking with Marinette's father," Charlene continued, beginning to smile, "they have agreed to let Adrien leave with them up until we can get a lawyer against Gabriel. Until we can help Adrien."

Applause erupted around the table, loud enough to garner attention from half the people in the Church. It made my heart happy to see how much Adrien's family cared for his safety.

I glanced over at Adrien as Charlene took her seat after leaning over to hug her brother Charlie. I could see he had a white-knuckled grip on his fork as he picked at the mashed potatoes on his plate, but the expression on his face was actually relaxed. That had to be a good thing.

Adrien looked up then, catching my gaze, and the smallest of smiles pulled at his lips.

Definitely a good thing.

When I'd eaten everything on my plate, I excused myself and made off in the direction of the desserts.

When in doubt, always go for dessert.

I grabbed another plate and dumped a handful of cookies on it, followed by a few squares of brownies, and a big piece of vanilla cake with pink buttercream frosting. This would absolutely upset my stomach, but I didn't care. It looked too good to pass down.

I forked off a bit of the cake and happily chewed away as I returned to my seat. I only made it a few steps before Félix suddenly appeared in front of me, a somewhat mischievous smile on his face. His blonde hair was slicked back in a formal kind of fashion. He was wearing a nice dark shirt and matching slacks, hands resting in his pockets. He looked rather nice.

"It's good to see you've showered," I said, grinning, throwing his normal cocky humor back at him.

His smile falls, "I shower daily, thank you very much." he said before reaching over to snatch my desserts. He dumped the plate on a nearby table and wrapped an arm around my waist, steering me toward the dance floor.