Adrien, if you don't get off me right now I will use the yarn."
Adrien blanched at her. "Why?! It's so comfortable..." he whined.
Marinette glared at him. "I am exhausted. It is six am on a Sunday and we had a late patrol. I want to sleep."
"I won't bother you," he pouted. Marinette sighed, putting her head back down and snuggling into the pillow. He wrapped his arm around her torso and snuggled into her hair. She relaxed and felt herself sink into his grasp.
When she opened her eyes again, it was almost nine. She shot out of bed, waking Adrien up in the process.
She hurried to get ready, fixing her hair and changing in the bathroom. When she was ready, she hopped out and stopped in front of Adrien.
"You okay, princess?" Adrien murmured drowsily. Marinette smiled.
"Yeah, I have to work downstairs. You can stay here if you want."
"Okay...I'll come in from downstairs." he told her. Marinette tilted her head in confusion, but pushed the thoughts away. She was going to be late to help her parents if she didn't dash down right away.
With a quick greeting, Marinette put on her apron and immediately started baking with her dad. They had plenty of orders to go through before noon, when Marinette could finally go and spend some time with Alya.
Her hands moved on their own. She helped mix and grab ingredients from all sides of the kitchen, wiping away the flour on her forehead with an equally flour-covered sleeve. As her father put the bread in the oven, the kitchen started to smell like baking yeast, almost sugary.
She had to close a blind as time passed, the sun getting brighter by the hour. She switched to decorating pastries, moving carefully and slowly.
The door chimes jingled every once in a while, and Sabine took care of the orders. When Marinette heard her mother approaching, she understood what Adrien had meant.
"Marinette, shall we switch spots?" her mother asked with a knowing smile. Marinette blushed slightly and nodded, wiping her hands on her apron.
She glanced at herself before walking out and greeting Adrien, who rested casually against the counter. She hurried over to him with a bright smile.
"Good morning," she told him. He grinned at her, leaning in close.
"Good morning, princess." he responded. She pecked him on the lips quickly before grabbing a towel to clean the counter.
"Anything I can do for you?" she asked, almost mischievously. He thought about it, tapping a finger against his chin. His grin only widened further.
"Another kiss, please. How much?" he replied.
Marinette laughed. She kissed him again, placing a hand on his cheek and leaning over the counter. When she pulled away, she giggled again. "It's absolutely free," she whispered in response.
The door chimes rang. Marinette stepped away and looked towards the door. Nathaneal walked in, face half covered by his hair. She waved towards him, smiling brightly.
"Good morning, Nathaneal! How can I help you?" she asked.
"A loaf of sourdough, please." he responded quietly, pulling out his wallet. Marinette rang him up, Adrien watching from the side. Marinette grabbed a loaf from the back, wrapped it, and handed it to him.
"Have a nice day," she responded. "See you tomorrow!"
He nodded, looking away as he grasped the bread. Marinette tilted her head in confusion, but eventually looked at her feet. The door chimed as Nathaneal hastily retreated out the door.
Adrien walked around the counter and stood by her. He sighed. "Don't feel guilty for not returning his feelings."
Marinette raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "It's not that...exactly." she corrected. "I just don't blame him for hating me. There's probably leftover resentment from when I tricked him, and I feel bad for it."
"I don't think he hates you," Adrien disagreed. He glanced away. "He probably hates me though, because he did like you a lot and now you and I are together." He put his hands in his pockets and raised his shoulders. "I bet he still likes you."
Marinette shook her head. "I honestly doubt it," she responded, pulling one of her pigtails over her shoulder. "Oh, let me grab the baguettes from the oven."
"I'll come with you!"
Marinette and Sabine traded places while Adrien helped carry the bread into the bakery. Marinette took two trays of pastries each time she walked out, prompting both of her parents to fret and remind her not to drop them. Adrien laughed at her embarrassed pout.
An hour later, Marinette took off her apron and washed her hands. Adrien joined her as she grabbed her bag and headed out.
"I'm meeting Alya at the park now, so I'll see you later." Marinette told him gently. He nodded with smile.
"Can I walk you there?" he asked.
Marinette laughed. "If you want? Don't you have fencing later?"
"I want to spend as much time with you as possible," Adrien answered, seriously.
"Dork," Marinette giggled, nudging him with her shoulder.
"You're the dork," he nudged in response. They smirked at each other, strolling down the street.
As soon as they reached the park, Marinette pulled out her phone to text Alya. Adrien caught a frisbee flying towards his head and tossed it back towards the group of kids who were pretty surprised to see the model walking around the park. Marinette saw Adrien subconsciously glance around for paparazzi or photographers of the sort.
She gazed up, seeing Alya walk towards the park. Her eyes widened further when she saw Nino by her side, walking closely to her. She grabbed Adrien's arm and pulled him behind a tree. Adrien followed her line of sight, a little surprised by the sudden motion. Marinette gestured for him to be quiet, craning her neck to get a closer look.
Nino walked into the park with her, and they were laughing together. Marinette leaned in a little further, straining her ears to listen to them over the shouts and laughs of playing children. Nino waved to her and walked away, and Alya pulled out her phone. Marinette felt her phone buzz in her pocket, realizing Alya was looking for her.
"You can go back if you want?" Marinette mentioned to Adrien. He smiled and nodded.
"Okay, I'll see you later," he said, placing a quick kiss on top of her head before turning away and walking. Marinette crept out from behind the tree and walked towards Alya, trying to look innocent. Alya spotted her and waved, tucking her phone into her bag.
"Hey Mari! Ready to head to the movie?" Alya asked.
"Uh...yeah." Marinette recollected herself, remembering they were going to the movie theater. "Was that Nino?"
Alya raised an eyebrow. "Nino? Yeah, we bumped into each other while I was coming here. Why?"
"No reason!" Marinette said quickly. "Let's go!"
Alya looked a bit confused, but they headed out anyway.
"Dude, you're not being honest."
Adrien heard Nino groan over the phone. "I am being honest. We just ran into each other okay?"
"I don't believe you," Adrien hummed.
"Fine with me! You can deny the truth if you want."
Adrien laughed. "Fine, fine. But you looked like you were having fun, man. If you like her, I'd say go for it. I think she likes you back."
There was a long pause on Nino's end. "You really think? I kinda think she's just being friendly. She acts the same around everyone."
"So are we just ignoring the Christmas shopping stuff? Okay, well I don't think so. I think she pulls you to the side even more than Mari. I think she tries to impress you more than others."
"...really?"
"Really."
Nino sighed. "I'll think about it man. For now, let me just see."
"Yeah, yeah, there's no need to rush. Think about it though," Adrien responded.
"That's my plan. Catch you later, dude."
"Bye," Adrien heard Nino hang up on the other end. Adrien wasted no time in calling Marinette to tell her the information he had learned.
"Okay, yeah." Marinette laughed. "Thank you for doing that, you dork." She giggled again. "Yes, you are a dork. I'll talk to you later."
Marinette put her phone down on her desk beside the stitching she had been working on. Turning on her computer, she opened a new document and grinned. She saved it on her computer as Alya and Nino.
Just wait, you guys. I'll be sure to write your entire story for you to laugh at later.
"Marinette, Adrien hasn't had dinner here in a while. Why don't you invite him over?" her mother called from downstairs. Marinette looked away from her computer, in the middle of typing they aren't being honest about what happened in that cage to this day.
"Uh yeah, sure! I'll call him now." Marinette responded. She called him, and his response was an immediate yes. His father was planning to invite him to a company dinner but being at Marinette's was a decent enough alibi to escape.
Marinette giggled at his tone, absolutely elated and even more relieved. After hanging up, she changed into nicer attire and picked up her phone. Tucking in into her back pocket, she took a breath and headed downstairs. She felt a smile spread across her lips as she sniffed the scent of boiling soup and cooking vegetables.
She was not an amazing cook, but the skills her parents had taught her to bake were helpful enough. She took a ladle from her mother and grinned as she began to help with dinner.
Her father and mother were setting up the table when Marinette heard the bell ring. She jumped out of the kitchen to open the door. She chose to ignore the amused chuckles of her parents behind her as she hurried to the door.
"Good evening, princess." Adrien greeted. She saw his eyes widen for a second and internally grinned, proud to surprise him like that. Of course, she was also a bit nervous about dressing up for dinner.
"Hi, you silly cat." she responded, brushing a strand of her hair, loose for the evening, behind her ear. "Come on in." She also smiled to notice his nice dress shirt and pants.
"Hello, Adrien." her mother greeted. "Come in, sit down! We're having some Chinese food for tonight, if that's alright?"
"My favorite," he responded with a grin.
"And Sabine's is the best," Tom reassured. "How was your day? Anything interesting happen?"
"I think I got Nino to open up about his feelings. That's definitely interesting."
Sabine chortled. "Though I suppose he's still unwilling to ask Alya out, right?"
Marinette stared at her mother. "How did you know he was talking about Alya...?"
Sabine smirked as she slid on oven mitts and picked up the pot of soup. "Wouldn't you like to know, dear."
"Why do I feel like you're a secret agent?" Marinette said with an exasperated spy.
"Shh, don't tell everyone." her mother teased in response. The boys had a good laugh out of that.
They all ate together, Adrien complimenting the girls' cooking, Tom telling funny stories (sometimes at the expense of Marinette's dignity) and Sabine and Marinette picking fun at everyone.
Marinette felt like she probably should've expected what was coming.
A loud explosion shook the building. Marinette scrambled to pick up her phone, pulling open the Ladyblog. As expected, Alya was on the scene, filming a man in a colonial-looking army suit with a bayonet fitted onto a rifle, shooting erratically and causing explosions as he did so. "Révolutionnaire" was after the mayor for "not going to the roots of military tradition," whatever that meant.
Marinette cast an anxious look at Adrien. They were in no situation to rush out. Marinette looked at her mother and father, who were a bit shaken. Her mother looked at Marinette, biting her lip. Her mother then turned to her father with a frantic look, but Marinette had a feeling like her mother was faking it.
"Tom, we must go downstairs, make sure the bakery is okay." she urged. "Marinette and Adrien, you go upstairs. Be careful, and don't get hurt."
Marinette's jaw dropped. She felt Adrien grab her arm and pull her upstairs, and she clambered after him in a daze. She felt herself utter a "transform me" and knew she had jumped outside and into the battle, but her mind was completely absent. Her mind was back into her dining room, where her mother had made an excuse for her and Adrien to go upstairs and transform to go fight.
Somewhere in the back of her head, she was listening to Adrien calling her, rather, Chat calling her. He was asking if she was okay, and reminding her they had to take the akuma down.
Yet echoing in Marinette's brain was one thought only: She knows. Her mother knows. About her being Ladybug, and Adrien being Chat.
A/N
Hope this sort of made up for the wait? (Oh who am I kidding gahhh)
~Phantom-chan(not me)
And now some more cute photos that i found 😄