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Adrien sat outside the room where the student council was having their after-school meeting. He could hear their muffled voices and them shuffling around inside. Yet, he chose to focus on writing in his notebook.
There was a pile of crumbled papers next to him. It continued to grow when he crumbled another sheet and thoughtlessly tossed it onto the pile. He groaned in annoyance.
"Why is this so hard?" he questioned to no one. His head fell back against the wall he was resting against and tried again at accomplishing his task.
Then, he heard the door creak open and a few of his classmates filed one-by-one out of the room. He could hear Marinette's voice drawing closer.
This caused the emerald-eyed teen to panic, glancing between the door and his pile of failures.
Adrien quickly stuffed all the crumpled pieces of paper into his book bag and zipped it shut. It earned him some odd looks from Max and Nathaniel. But they didn't question him on his strange behavior.
Max was extremely aware of Adrien's feelings for the class president. It was a no-brainer ever since the gaming tournament and in the months since then. Plus, most of the class (even Nathaniel) noticed how close the two had become.
Some thought it was bizarre how two polar opposite people, who had a mutual distaste for each other in the first place, could grow so close. They supposed opposites attracted. Others that knew better saw right through Adrien and Marinette as if they were glass.
It was just too bad that Marinette was oblivious to Adrien's crush on her. Max theorized it was due to Marinette's lack of understanding of socialization and expressed feelings. She didn't know what his flustered or gibberish hints were supposed to mean.
Max honestly couldn't think of what other conclusion Marinette could have come up with. What else could she possibly think of Adrien's change and didn't she find it strange? Did she ever question it?
"Adrien, what are you doing here?" Max asked, having a sneaking suspicion that he already knew.
"It's nothing, ner—I mean, Max," Adrien corrected himself, still somewhat frazzled.
Max and Nathaniel both deadpanned before glancing at each other. That was Marinette's cue to walk out of the classroom and spot the three boys lingering outside it. She smiled at the blonde sitting on the floor.
"Ah! Mister Agreste! Thank you for patiently waiting!" Marinette spoke with gratitude.
"I see nothing has arrived," Max muttered under his breath, earning a snort from Nathaniel and a glare from Adrien. Marinette didn't seem to catch onto the comment though as she turned to her fellow student body.
"Mister Kurtzberg and Kanté, I would also like to thank you two for your hard work today," she added, "I do not know if we could accomplish some of the crucial tasks for the dance without you both."
"It was no problem, Marinette," Nathaniel said, waving off her compliment, "For how much you do for this school, it's the least we could do."
"Affirmative," Max agreed, "If you need any sort of assistance with anything, don't be afraid to ask."
Marinette's cheeks grew rosy from their modesty (making a certain blonde fume a little).
"That is very generous of you two. I hope you both have a lovely rest of your evening," Marinette said, waving Max and Nathaniel off. Adrien stood from the ground and slung his backpack on his back. There was an effective crunching sound due to how stuffed his bag now was.
Adrien winced at the sound and felt sweat instantly form along the top of his forehead. He stiffened when Marinette gave him a curious expression.
"My, how much homework are your teachers giving you?" Marinette asked before narrowing her eyes at him, "Unless you are lazily stuffing papers in your bag without putting them in folders once again."
Marinette placed her hands on her hips while Adrien was scrambling his thoughts for an excuse. A light bulb flickered above his head when his princess so obviously gave him one.
"O-Oh...yes. YES! That's what it is! My homework, of course! Why would it be anything else? This is my school bag so it has schoolwork in it," Adrien stammered, nervously. He shrugged.
"I guess, old habits die hard but I'm working on it," he concluded his lie.
Marinette stared at him as if her bluebell eyes could see straight through his soul and read it as easily as a children's book. Yet, he couldn't look away, or else that would be a sign that he was lying.
Adrien knew how much Marinette hated liars, having learned that lesson from...
"What was her name again? Vulgar? No, I think it started with an "L." Looney, maybe? Linda?" Adrien thought, attempting to remember Marinette's old enemy. He soon gave up, too worried about what was presently happening to care about the girl he could care less remembering the name of.
"You are lying to me," Marinette pointed out, making Adrien stiffen.
"Marinette, we really should get going so we have enough time to practice!" the blonde quickly dodged Marinette's statement and began to shove her toward the exit.
"Mister Agreste, why do you need to lie about what is in your bag?" Marinette continued to probe him for answers, "Is there something else I should be knowing about? Are you being bullied?"
Her last question was filled with concern. Adrien let out a sigh and stopped pushing Marinette to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Look, it's not something I'm ready to tell you about yet but I will once I am. I promise that I'm not getting bullied or anything bad like that. So, can we just...get off that topic," Adrien explained.
Marinette slowly agreed by nodding her head, "Very well, Mister Agreste. I will leave you to it."
Adrien gave a grateful smile before finding the courage to wrap an arm around Marinette's shoulders.
"Cool, let's head over to your house then," Adrien said, having forgotten about the issue of going to Marinette's house.
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"Mama! Papa! I have returned from school with Adrien," Marinette called after opening the building's side door.
Adrien's brain instantly fried once Marinette mentioned her parents. Luckily, he had unwrapped his arm from Marinette's shoulders (much to his disappointment) so she could unlock the door.
"Shoot! I forgot about her parents!" Adrien thought, frantically trying to gather his bearings. This was the first time he was going to meet Marinette's parents. He had to prepare himself for anything and everything.
Sure, Adrien did remember glancing at Marinette's old man laying unconscious in the hospital bed. But the blonde was too focused on fixing his mistakes to get a good look.
There were a few things he learned about the Dupain-Chengs from Marinette talking about them. They were very sweet (which was ironic since they run a well-known bakery) and kind people. Marinette only talked well about her parents, never once having a complaint.
That did ease the tension in him but not by much. For all he knew, they could be nice but also very protective of their daughter. He had to make a good first impression and woo them over!
Adrien quickly combed his fingers through his hair to make it look nicer. He fixed his leather jacket to be neater and straightened his posture. He pulled off a charming smile that could make any woman swoon.
"I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!" an entourage of voices cheered him on in his mind. If these people are as nice as Marinette says, then it shouldn't be so bad.
His confidence immediately deflated when a giant walked around the corner.
This male was probably about a foot taller than his boss at the arcade. Adrien immediately felt intimidated and gaped like a fish out of water.
"I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this!" his inner monologue screeched in fear.
"Oh, I'm screwed," he simply said to himself, quiet enough for only him to hear.
"You must be Adrien," the giant greeted with a bright smile, "I'm Mr. Dupain but you can call me Tom."
The emerald-eyed teen did not see the actual gentle, teddy bear side of the large male. Adrien saw a savage, beast-like bear that could chomp off his head with one clean bite.
Adrien stared at Tom in fright, mouth opening without any words withdrawing out of it. His hair puffed out from its neatly-combed state and back into the messy mane of locks.
"Tom! Do you know where Mister Ramier's order of bread is? Oh!" a Chinese woman gasped when noticing they had company, "You must be Adrien!"
Adrien's frightened gaze turned away from Tom to who he assumed was Marinette's mother.
"Y-Yes," Adrien managed to squeak out. The woman at least looked a lot less terrifying and seemed to be more of a gentle soul. He couldn't help feeling relaxed in her presence.
"Marinette, why don't you take Adrien up to the apartment? I'll be up there as soon as rush hour is over," Sabine explained, guiding her husband back into the kitchen.
"As you wish, mother," Marinette said before shifting her gaze over to a petrified blonde. She frowned at her friend's state.
"Mister Agreste, why do you look as if your spirit has left your vessel?" the raven-haired teen questioned. Adrien still had a stupefied look on his face as his attention was brought to Marinette.
"Are you sure your dad isn't a part of the secret service and not a baker?" he asked, genuinely concerned for his life. Marinette's face wrinkled taken aback by the question.
"Whatever had given you a thought such as that?" she asked.
Adrien didn't know how to answer. So, he gestured to where her father walked off and made incoherent noises. Marinette just stared at Adrien, trying to figure out what he was trying to tell her through his gibberish. Yet, it only annoyed her after a minute of Adrien doing so.
Marinette rolled her eyes and grabbed the bumbling blonde's wrist.
"Come now, we will go do our homework while we wait for my parents," Marinette said, leading Adrien upstairs to an apartment. Said boy was madly flushing from the simple contact.
"How come I could handle practically side-hugging her from school to her house without being phased but end up blushing at her holding my wrist?" he thought. What was Marinette doing to him? Sometimes, he could be as slick as melted butter or as giddy as a kid in a candy store.
It just didn't make any sense!
"Feelings are weird." he decided in his mind.
The two teens entered the apartment. Adrien scoped out the place while Marinette entered the kitchen area.
"Would you care for any refreshments?" The raven-haired girl asked, looking at what was all in the fridge.
"I'm good but thank you," Adrien answered, setting his bag down near the door. He noticed a few shelves with pictures and couldn't help looking at them. There was one picture of an infant Marinette but the rest were from when she was in her teen years.
In one of the pictures, Marinette was wearing fancy clothes while her parents were in their usual clothes. She looked like a rich kid taking a picture with middle-class people. Marinette stood stiff and straight with a frown on her face. Her hands were clasped in front of her.
Adrien couldn't help frowning at the sight of young Marinette like that. He couldn't believe her grandparents would twist their own grandchild into a perfectionist and suck all the youth out of her.
Marinette has definitely changed a lot since the day she came.
Adrien could remember Marinette arriving in 7th grade. He assumed she would have been around thirteen years old when she returned to her parents and attended their school.
To the entire class (including him), Marinette was a sophisticated oddball. Everyone was pretty uncomfortable in her presence at first. She didn't really fit in anywhere and became an outcast. She was even bullied by a few people. He hates to think he used to be one of them.
It was a rough few years in the beginning but she slowly began to wiggle into people's hearts. The properness everyone had found weird became rather endearing.
Now, everybody adores Marinette and she became the class president. Marinette won't stand to see anybody else being bullied by Chloe the way she used to bully her.
Adrien smiled at the thought. He found another photo of Marinette a little bit older. She had a genuine smile on her face as she ate a cookie (probably for the first time in her life).
How could anyone be cruel enough to take such innocence away?
"Oh, yes! I had just recalled something I need to inform you about, Mister Agreste!" Marinette notified, gaining the blonde's attention.
"What's that?" He asked, joining Marinette at the table.
"My grandparents will expect us to do charity and volunteer work. So, my parents and I found a few things. A retirement home, an orphanage, and tutoring at the school. My grandparents said they will provide for anything we want to give such as toys and snacks at the orphanage," she explained.
"Okay," Adrien said, "Did you have any ideas on what you wanted to give?"
"Well, my grandparents had already ordered the necessary amount of toys to gift so we do not have to worry about that. My parents offered to bake cookies but I do not know what sort of beverage to give them," Marinette said, "Water is a boring drink and I do not know if any of the kids are lactose intolerant."
"What about apple juice?" Adrien suggested, "Kids love that stuff."
"Apple juice? I have never heard of it," Marinette replied, earning a wide-eyed look from Adrien.
"What?! We've gotta change that," Adrien declared, "but that's a later problem. What would we do at the retirement home."
"It is pretty simple. We just have to help, converse and have fun with the elderly," Marinette said, "Finally, we tutor those who struggle with learning whatever subject they are struggling with. Each event will be around an hour long and on different days."
"Man, I can't believe how much we have to do within a week just to please two ancient relics," Adrien scoffed, crossing his arms, "This is pretty ridiculous."
Marinette let out a sigh, "That is probably the nicest way of describing my grandmother and grandfather. I do encourage you to not ridicule them while they are visiting."
"Don't worry, Princess. You'll see how extraordinary of a gentleman I can be," Adrien said, sitting properly on the seat with a suave grin. Marinette let a soft smile grace her lips. She couldn't help tussling his hair a bit.
"Indeed," she agreed.
Adrien's grin thinned out as his face flushed. He looked down at the table's top, his heart pounding against his chest.
Marinette returned her hand to her side before seriously stating, "My grandparents will be here the day after tomorrow. We will unfortunately not be able to get as much done as I wanted too but hopefully, it will be enough to fool my grandparents."
"And I work tomorrow at the arcade too," Adrien begrudgingly said before shrugging, "I'll just go over whatever I can when I'm not busy. Maybe, I can try to pull an all-nighter again."
"Do not go to extremes, Mister Agreste. Your health and job are not worth my troubles," Marinette scolded the teen boy. She seriously didn't understand what was going through this numbskull's brain!
Adrien was going to have to be practically spotless of flaws for a week. He'll have to be in tip-top shape and completely focus on the character he was going to pretend to be.
Not only that, Marinette especially didn't want Adrien to overwork himself. It wasn't his problem nor would it be his fault if the plan were to flop. He shouldn't have been involved in the first place!
Still, it was very sweet of him to volunteer his assistance to help her stay in Paris.
It shows his growth from what he used to be. If Adrien still acted like his immature self, Marinette would've had to do something for Adrien in return. Now, he was voluntarily helping her without anything in return.
She couldn't help finding his change admirable.
Adrien looked at Marinette with a fond smile. He ruffled her hair a little. Marinette would've batted his hand away and glared at him for messing up her hair.
For some reason, she did not mind. The raven-haired girl didn't understand why her heart suddenly spiked at the contact.
Maybe, she was changing a bit too. Although, she couldn't picture what her evolution would turn out to be. Marinette was still in her cocoon phase, not knowing what kind of butterfly she'd turn into.
"Relax, Princess. Your troubles are always worth it," the blonde replied.
Marinette gawked at Adrien in amazement before thinning her lips out. Adrien had been a smooth talker and flirt. He was probably just using his little tricks to reassure her.
Right?
Yet, Marinette swore he was being genuine and honest just now.
Marinette forced a small smile on her lips.
She trusted Adrien to do his best. Yet, will his best be enough? Will her grandparents fall prey to his deceiving act or will they immediately notice their ploy from a mile away?
Although, it wasn't as much of a ploy as it was a scheme.
Marinette was just really scared of losing everything that made her so happy.
"Very...very well," Marinette said, unsurely.
The hairs on the back of Adrien's neck stood. He didn't need his sixth sense to tell when his closest friend was weary.
"Marinette is there something wro-"
Adrien didn't have time to finish his question when the door opened.
"Okay, we're here!" Tom announced his and his wife's presence.
Spooked by the man Adrien feared most, the teen instinctively scrambled off the bar stool to stand on his feet. Sweat laced his lace and he gave a salute while saying, "Sir, yes, sir!"
The Dupain-Chengs were each taken aback by Adrien's odd behavior.
Adrien looked at all the eyes that were on him before sheepishly clearing his throat.
"I mean...hi there Mr. And Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. Glad you can join us," Adrien nervously greeted. Marinette was the first to snap out of her stupor and pinched the bridge of her nose.
As if Adrien couldn't have made her even more worried than she already was. She was proven wrong.
Sabine blinked in surprise before a soft smile blossomed on her lips. Somehow, it eased Adrien's nerves a little and didn't feel so out of place in this household. Sabine's smile alone made it feel like a warm welcome.
"It's so nice to meet you dear. Marinette has talked about you a lot," Sabine said with a slightly teasing tone.
Adrien felt a jolt move through his veins like electricity in wires. His heart leaped but wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. His face turned beet red, warming up like a stovetop.
"Mother!" Marinette scolded, embarrassed.
"Well, I hope all good things," the blonde replied, now earning Marinette's scolding. Adrien thought her pouting was adorable.
Sabine merely continued to smile before heading to the kitchen to whip up some snacks.
"I have yet to hear anything bad about you, son," Tom replied.
Adrien glanced over at Marinette, feeling prideful that he has made a good impression on his crush. This was very...motivating and inspiring to hear. It gave him hope that Marientte just might like him back. Yet, he couldn't be too egoistic about it.
The best part, her parents seem to like him so far!
Marinette groaned into her hands to hide her rosy cheeks.
"You know," Sabine started, placing a tray of goodies down, "this is the first time Marinette has ever invited a boy over."
"Can we please move on to a different topic? We need to discuss what we are to do when grandmother and grandfather stay for the week," Marinette said, sternly, "Adrien is not going to be here for very long and I would like to be as prepared as possible."
The room went silent.
Adrien and Marinette's parents all frowned with concern when Marinette seemed a little on edge (for good reason). Marinette fidgeted in her seat and fiddled with her fingers nervously.
Adrien had never seen Marinette look so...so small and panicked. Even when she was crying, she was very strong. Yet, Marinette has sunken to the point she didn't look like the mighty, independent class president anymore—didn't look so much like herself.
This was a new side Adrien has never seen. He was afraid that this was only the beginning of her change. He was starting to think she would revert back to the dull, lady-like girl back in 7th grade.
Adrien won't let that happen. He knows that Marinette was starting to find herself and loving who she was becoming. If Marinette was sent back to China, she may never be able to be herself anymore. Her entire life might be based only on lies and a fake facade.
He knew how much Marinette hated liars and to become one herself...
Well, that only made Adrien more determined not to let that happen!
"Marinette," Adrien spoke, earning the raven-haired girl's attention. Adrien gave her a sure smile and a thumbs up.
"I promise, I'll do my best to keep you here in Paris. I won't let some expired raisins take you away."
It was such a silly reassurance that Marinette would've scowled at him in the past. Yet, she couldn't help feeling touched and let out a giggle.
"Careful, Adrien. Those are my parents you're talking about," Sabine warned. Adrien stiffened up, having forgotten about Marinette's parents being there. He was so focused on Marinette, it slipped his mind.
But once he looked at the two adults, he saw amusement sparkling in Sabine's eyes and Tom trying to hold in his laughter.
"Expired raisins," Tom repeated the teen's nickname for the Chengs, laughing, "I'm going to use that from now on when they're not around."
Sabine hit her husband on the arm but continued to smile. Adrien could tell that Sabine liked the joke too.
Adrien couldn't help celebrating his small victory to gain the parent's approval.
"Yes, I earned some more brownie points with the Dupain-Chengs," the blonde thought, mentally fist-pumping.
"Alright, back to what we were doing," Marinette said, now smiling. She felt all her confidence soak back into her.
She may still feel like a shaking leaf but was glad she had Adrien by her side instead of a different boy. She didn't think any other guy could be as splendid as her closest partner in action. She couldn't imagine another person playing the role of her suitor.
It almost felt...natural.
Marinette glanced over that the emerald-eyed boy next to her, seeing him in a new light.
Then, she shook her head.
"Focus, this is no time to be...doing whatever I was doing," she thought before submerging herself in the conversation.
One week, two grandparents, and many things that could possibly go wrong if they slipped even the slightest bit. This birthday week was going to be like a challenging game of chess against experts. There were a lot of risks placed on the table. But so long as Marinette had her team, they may have a chance.
A slim, hanging by a thread over a cliff sort of chance but that thought counted.
Marinette would take as much hope as she could get right now and place all her faith in her team.
"Alright, this is the plan for the week..."
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