Marintte isn't sure when she became so fond of Adrien, but she can spend all day staring at him. It's reminiscent of when she had posters of him on her walls as a teenager. Only this Adrien was real, and he's definitely nothing like the poster child that was sold by a PR company. She feels oddly protective of him even though he's the one that can have the whole world at his disposal in the snap of a finger. It's why looking at him is so calming. She knows he's not off getting hurt somewhere or getting sold a nightmare by his father.
It's a rough week in their office. Adrien still has meetings, and he starts going down to the lower floors to speak to workers and bring up a notebook full of suggestions. He's doing months of work in a few days, and she has to remind him to rest sometimes. He only rests if she lets him pull up his chair next to hers and watch her work while drinking tea. Occasionally, they will sneak a quick kiss in but it's always behind his closed office door.
With Adrien not there to distract her from work, Marinette has time to work and finalize her portfolio for the contest. The designs she chose were on the older side, but she redrew them to add a bit more details. Adrien went over them a loved them, but she knew he would. She's ready to scan and submit them, but she there's a part of her brain that remembers what it's like to be eighteen and constantly rejected.
Adrien grows more anxious as Friday comes to an end, and she notices it because he cannot sit still. He's talked all he possibly could to the workers. He is supposed to start drafting up emails to the people in the company that can help, but he starts pacing around between his and Marinette's spaces.
Marinette forces him to drink tea and bring his chair next to hers while she finishes up some digital files, and his leg bounces up and down the entire time. It's hard to hold one of his hands while typing, but she attempts it anyways. It seems to help.
Adrien jumps a little at the ringtone of his personal phone, and he quickly places his mug on her desk to check it. Marinette watches him closely, but his glum face cracks into a big smile. Seeing him smile has been a rare treat those days.
"Chloe had her baby," Adrien says and shows Marinette the photo of a baby loosely wrapped in a blanket in Chloe's arms. "It's a girl." Marinette takes the phone out of Adrien's hand to look closely. The baby is wearing the onesie Marinette made for Chloe's baby shower.
"She's so cute," Marinette cooed. Most babies look the same to her, but this baby who was wearing the bee patterned clothes she made is the cutest baby she's ever seen. "Do you know what her name is?"
Adrien takes his phone back to check, and he laughs before opening up his keyboard. "She always wanted to name her baby Mila, but she says Lila ruined it for her. She got mad at me once when she was really hungry and looking for a name. I told her Chloe Junior would be perfect, and she got even more mad."
"You guys really are like siblings," Marinette smiles as Adrien types out a text to send.
"Very much so," Adrien says fondly. "Nino, too. We've been calling the baby Chloe Junior this whole time." There's a quick response, and Adrien's mouth falls open a little.
"What's wrong? Is her name actually Chloe Junior?" Adrien grins, and he shows Marinette the screen.
Adrien: She's perfect. What's her name?
Chloe: Thank you! She looks just like me. Her name is Diane Adrienne. Some random lady off the street gave me the second name don't think so high and mighty of yourself. She smelled bad and didn't have a job. She was missing a tooth.
Adrien is definitely thinking high and mighty of himself, and Marinette is happy that he's happy. He asks, "Do I have to name my son Chlo-oh now?" Marinette makes a face, and he laughs again. It's good to have him back even if it's just for a moment. She treasures it.
"Maybe stick to something traditional like Louis or Emma so they don't get bullied," Marinette tells him. Adrien pretends to think about it for a moment, humming with his eyes up.
"I don't know. Chlo-oh Agreste-Dupain-Cheng kind of has a good ring to it." Marinette instinctively hides her reddening face behind her two hands, and Adrien lets out another belly aching laugh. One compliment and the lion is on top of the mountain. Adrien gently grabs onto her wrists to bring then down, still laughing at her reaction. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Let's change topics before your face catches fire."
"Please," Marinette rolls her eyes, Adrien's hands now holding hers on her lap. They're usually cautious about any physical affection outside of his office, but the workday is almost over, and it's Friday. Nobody goes to see them, and Kim who would usually barge in, already barged in earlier.
"I am happy to finally get some good news, though," Adrien admits to her. "I think it's the booster I needed to get through tomorrow." Gabriel comes home from Switzerland, and Adrien is set on seeing him. He's gone over a few game plans with Marinette a couple of times, but he still doubts himself as much as she reassures him it'll work out.
"Are you still nervous about seeing your father?"
"Yes," he says. He won't lie to her. She sees right through him, either way. "But I'm not afraid of him anymore." That's a big improvement from two days ago. Marinette lifts his hand up for a moment to plant a kiss on his thumb, and he smiles.
"Have you settled on what you're going to say?"
"I think I have. If it means my mom gets to come home and finally rest, I'll say or do anything, really." This entire situation still feels straight out of a science fiction book, and Marinette isn't sure she ever guessed this happening when she first started seeing how strange Gabriel was.
She says to him, "I wish I could make things easier for you."
"You already do," Adrien says. He reaches a hand over to fix her bangs in gentle motions. It's become a habit that he does, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't let her hair mess up on purpose sometimes. "Trust me. Tell me about your plans for the weekend." He is selfless, and she wonders how he still managed to be so caring despite it all.
"Me and Alya are going to have breakfast with our school friends to help plan out their wedding," she answers. It's something they finally settled on that morning. Adult lives are difficult to line up. Working at the same place as her boyfriend is the one thing that works out in their favor when it comes to going out.
"Isn't their wedding happening soon?"
"They don't want anything extravagant. They've been engaged for a while and decided to pick the date recently."
He smirks a little and asks, "Have you said you have a plus one?" He rests his hand back on her lap again.
"I did when I sent out my RSVP," Marinette says, placing his hand between both of hers as if to warm it up. She likes noticing small details in him and this week's detail has been exactly how much bigger his hands are next to hers. And... his forearms? She's not sure where she's seen that one before. "But I haven't said who." Marinette looks at the time on Adrien's watch and realizes her work day ended five minutes ago. "Oh. I should get going." She stands up for a moment and hears her chair get moved to the side, only to have Adrien wrap an arm around her stomach and bring her to sit down on his lap.
"Five more minutes," Adrien says and puts his second arm around her.
"Spend those five minutes praying nobody walks in here," Marinette says and adjusts her back against his chest. He puts his chin on her shoulder and gives her a squeeze. "You treat me like some sort of stress ball," she teases him.
"In a way, you do help with stress." This is how they've been spending the last few minutes of work in his office. She sits on his lap, and he hugs her in complete silence. She frees one of her arms to reach it back and plays with his hair. This is what peace is and somehow, it's still anxiety at the same time. He's so clingy because something is eating him alive, and she can't do anything to stop it. She just has to wait for him to get through it.
It clicks she doesn't want to leave him alone at all during this time. "After you find Gabriel tomorrow, you can come and find me," she tells him. Adrien seems to consider this for a moment, still as he holds her.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I might be a mess," he explains to her.
"I don't care about that." If she can live through whatever the hell life was throwing at her as a teenager and young adult, she can handle her boyfriend having a strangely existential conversation with his father. "I care about you. Just give me the word, and I'll be waiting for you."
"Okay," he doesn't give it another thought. He plants a chaste kiss on her neck. "I'll go straight to you when I'm done talking to him."
"You can always do that. Just so you know." She feels herself blushing, and she's not sure why. It's just her offering to be there for him. "Come and find me whenever. It doesn't just have to be during hard times."
Adrien chuckles in her ear and the sound makes her stomach drop a couple of floors. "Don't tell me that because I'll stick to your side like gum."
Marinette turns her torso to kiss the corner of his mouth, "You are obsessed with me."
"Tell me about those posters again?"