Adrien laid down with Marinette on his giant, over-sized couch. He had long since discovered his recent favorite hobby of being a big spoon, and thankfully Marinette equally enjoyed it as well. The television was going in the background, but neither of them were actually paying attention to it. Adrien had his eyes closed, snuggled against the back of Marinette's head, his arm wrapped closely around her stomach. After a while, however, he started to notice something different.

Every time Marinette would breathe in, and her stomach was supposed to expand like a normal human being, he could feel her muscles tense and stop her movement.

"Marinette? Are you alright?" He asked, quietly.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," She answered, moving her head a little, "Why?"

"Your stomach feels like you're super tense. Are you, like, stressed or something?"

"Oh, th-that…" Marinette mumbled, turning back away, her fingers fidgeting lightly.

"What's wrong?" Adrien repeated, growing concerned.

"Well, it's a little hard to explain." She answered, waving her hand dismissively.

"Are you alright?"

Marinette nodded slowly, giving him a clearly forced 'mhm!'. She was never good at acting.

"Marinette, what's up?" Adrien sighed, propping himself up on his elbow to properly look at her.

"Well… To put it simply?" Marinette started, still staring away, "Living in a bakery does have one huge downside…"

Adrien tilted his head, confused for a moment. She was silent, and he started to put the pieces together. He figured out why she was embarrassed to admit it, why she was holding back her stomach, everything.

She was self-conscious.

"Marinette…" He sighed, resting his forehead against the back of her neck, "You know how beautiful you are, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" She laughed to herself, but shook her head against her words.

Adrien let out a disgruntled groan, and wrapped his arm tighter around her.

"Stoooooop," He whined, "You're perfect, and I refuse to hear otherwise."

"Adrien," She chuckled sadly, "You realize I've been losing some space in my clothes lately. And it's even worse when I wear that stinking skin tight Ladybug outfit."

By the time she got to the words 'even worse', Adrien was already groaning loudly again.

"And this is a problem, why? It's more to hug!"

"But, Adrien-"

"But nothing!" He interrupted, louder than he intended, "You're amazing! And like I said: More to hug! You know how much I love hugs, Marinette, so this is a win-win!"

"It is not a win-win," She laughed, this time genuinely, "I just need to cut back on those cupcakes."

"Whatever you do is fine by me, as long as you're happy. Eat more of them, eat less of them, I don't care, as long as you're okay. Alright?" He reminded, his voice serious.

"I know," Marinette started, turning to face him now, "Thank you…"

Adrien nodded, staring at her lovingly. He meant every word he said, she was perfect! So what if she had a little extra squish around her waist, he loved it!

"You're beautiful…"