When Marinette and Adrien entered the room, both teens froze to see that it was empty, save for Nathalie, who was standing near his father's chair. He raised an eyebrow at Marinette but she simply bit her lip nervously in return, folding her hands in front of her.
"Nathalie, this is M-"
"Marinette." She finished, nodding her head with a stern look. Marinette smiled at her and nodded back, understanding that it was the way that she greeted people.
"How do you know?" Adrien asked.
"She's been here before, Adrien. Several times, if I remember correctly." Nathalie responded, clutching her clipboard she'd been holding against her chest.
"Oh, alright..." He said nervously. He never told Nathalie or his father that it was a girl who was coming to the house. His father hadn't met Marinette except for a few times before. He's caught him looking at her designs before, but never has he had a one on one conversation with her and himself. He smiled nervously at Nathalie.
"You never told me that you were bringing a girl here," Nathalie said. Adrien felt embarrassed as Marinette turned to look at him, clearly confused.
"Um, well you forgot to tell him that I was even bringing a friend in the first place, Nathalie," Adrien said, hinting that his father was going to be mad at both of them.
Nathalie nodded, appreciating Adrien's direct comment.
"Speaking of my father, where is he?"
Nathalie looked up at the clock. "He's running behind. We can take a seat and I'll bring snacks."
"Thanks, Nathalie." Adrien smiled and took a spot towards the middle of the table, ushering Marinette to sit beside him. She blushed and took her spot, pulling her purse onto the table so that Tikki could see what was going on. Marinette knew that Tikki wanted to be a part of her life as much as possible, and even if that was in secret, Tikki had been hidden her entire life. For a chance to see what Marinette does every day so clearly, it was the chance of a kwami's lifetime.
Nathalie had left the room and returned with some fruits and vegetables. She picked out the ones that Adrien was allowed to eat and gave the rest to Marinette. They thanked her and she left the room once again after getting a phone call. Adrien sighed and stared at his plate.
"I had to make a meeting with my own father and he doesn't even show up." He complained, picking up a piece of celery and twirling it around with his fingers.
"Well," Marinette said, placing her fork down for a second. "I'm sure he has a good reason."
Adrien sighed even louder and stuck the vegetable in his mouth, chewing slowly. Marinette had grown comfortable around Adrien and gave him silent support.
"Just remember.." She whispered, "Your father loves you. Even if he doesn't show it."
She paused to look at him. Adrien turns to face her, as she reaches for his hand.
"Because,"
Marinette barely realized how close she was to Adrien right now. It's how she acted every time someone needed help. He felt alone and unwanted. She didn't want anybody to feel like that. She grabbed his hand and squeezed, waiting for him to return the gesture.
"Love never has an ending." She stated.
Adrien stared into her deep blue eyes and felt himself leaning forward, but instead of continuing the conversation, she let go of his hand and turned to shove another strawberry in her mouth.
"These are good.." She whispered.
"You should have one."
"I can't. It's too much sugar. My photographer says I need to lay off natural sugar for a little bit."
"But he's not here right now," Marinette said, raising an eyebrow.
Adrien looked from side to side dramatically and took one from off her plate, popping it into his mouth.
"Mmm... They are good. Sweet like you."
Marinette's face lit up red and she turned to look at him with wide eyes. Yet, he seemed calm and continued chewing with his eyes closed.
Sweet like me?
It couldn't be true, but at that moment, Marinette felt like she had just fallen harder for the blonde boy she'd loved for so long.
.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.
Adrien pushed the plate of vegetables away from him. He felt better now that Marinette had talked to him.
She's such a good friend.
At that point, he didn't know what he would have done without the support of Marinette. He turned and looked at her as she finished the last piece of fruit, splitting it in half and offering him a part. He gladly accepted and stuck it in his mouth just as his bodyguard walked by the doorway. He nearly choked on the piece of fruit and Marinette laughed.
"I hope that my father didn't place any security cameras anywhere without my knowledge."
"Jeez," Marinette began, trying to hold back another chuckle, "You can eat fruit. There's not too much sugar in it."
Adrien shrugs in response. "Hey, my elders are strict."
"Elders?" Marinette burst into laughter again at his odd term.
"What's so funny? There's no other word for that."
"It makes it sound like you're calling them the elderly.
Adrien shook his head and chuckled. "No, it doesn't."
"Does too. How would your parents feel about being called elders? It would make them sound old." Marinette teased.
The words came out so fast that Marinette couldn't have stopped them if she tried.
Mom.
The word parents rang in Adrien's head as his memory of his mother painfully resurfaced. He looked over at the picture that hung on the wall. Marinette immediately burst into a string of apologies.
"Adrien I'm so sorry- I wasn't th-thinking, I'm-"
"It's okay, Marinette." He turned to face her and smiled. "But you're right. Elder is a funny word."
"What I meant was... try the word superior?"
"Right. My superiors." He shook his head in agreement. It was silent for a second as Marinette adjusted her purse that sat on the table next to her empty plate. She looked around for Nathalie, before offering to clean the dishes herself.
"Hey, where's the kitchen? I'll clean our plates." She offered, standing up and grabbing them in her hands.
"No no, it's okay. You don't have to do that. We should just wait here until father gets here."
Marinette nodded and sat back down, placing the plates on top of each other. She rubbed her palms on her skirt and scooted in her chair. The blonde boy who sat next to her stared up at the clock. The lights from overhead reflected in his green eyes and Marinette couldn't help but stare at them for a split second.
"If he ever shows up," Adrien whispered, startling the girl. She nodded in agreement before shaking her head.
"He'll show up! Right?" She asked, unsure. Adrien shrugged. "It's been twenty minutes. Where is Nathalie?" He said out loud to himself.
As if on cue, seconds later, Nathalie walked back inside, placing her phone in her pocket.
"Sorry for the wait, Adrien and Mlle. Marinette. Your father is on his way home right this instant."
Adrien nodded in relief and Marinette elbowed him lightly to prove that she was right all along.
"Let me take those-" Nathalie took the plates and stared at the uneaten vegetables left on Adrien's.
"Were you not hungry, Mr. Adrien?" She asked, suspiciously.
"Uh- No I wasn't." She eyed Marinette who looked away and pursed her lips.
"Mlle. Marinette, did you give Adrien any of the fruit?"
Marinette shook her head, stuttering.
"N-No of c-course not! I wou-wouldn't ever-I would never-" Adrien nudged her knee with his, causing the girl to stumble for more words.
"U-Uh,"
Adrien interrupted kindly, "What she means is, no Nathalie, I didn't eat the fruit."
The woman nodded and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear before exiting the room, carrying the plates. The two teenagers exchanged looks and chuckled. Adrien's chuckles came to a halt as Marinette continued on. She opened her eyes to see him staring behind her with a stern look. She widened her eyes and looked over her shoulder.
There stood Gabriel Agreste.
And he looked mad.
.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.
A/N: Hello dreamers! Whoops- someone upset Daddy Agreste- Anyways, I wanted to thank you all for being so kind and not criticizing my writing. It came to my attention that a part in my second chapter was missing. I rewrote it, so check it out. I'm also going through the chapters and editing them to finish them up. My official editor is working on those as well. So please don't mind the bad grammar and detail, for that will be fixed very soon. Thanks so much for all your support! And please, comment as much as you like. Reading your comments is really entertaining!
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