"6 months."

"That long?"

"Come now Adrien, in the scheme of things, 6 months is a drop in the bucket."

"I understand, but this is such short notice. I'm not trying to be ungrateful for this opportunity, but we have the intern coming in a few weeks and -"

Adrien gave an involuntary wince as the suitcase slammed shut.

"Adrien, it's an intern. In a company where we employee almost 900 people, soon to be hundreds more with this expansion. To be frank, one intern is not top priority. I expect you to go the office in the morning prepared," Gabriel sighed, turning to give his son what he hoped came off as a look of concern rather than pity. "My focus is on the company as a whole, and on you. You're...intelligent. It's my hope that the company I'm leaving in Paris will prosper with you leading it when I'm gone."

I'm being left alone. "Can I call if I need you?" Adrien managed, trying to keep the desperate edge from his tone.

"Someone will put you through if it's an emergency."

So that's a no. I'm supposed to do this alone."Have a good trip, father."

"You can do this, son." There was an awkward exchange where Adrien stepped forward for a hug to be met with a meager hand clasp to the shoulder. One more pitying smile for Gabriel before he was out the door, already on his phone about making sure the plane was set to leave. The door echoed loudly as it slammed behind him.

I power walked as fast as I could down the hall, my apartment door at the very end. I hastily inserted the key, fumbling through trembling hands. I practically tripped through the door, just managing to catch myself from falling by bracing myself against the door frame.

"Geez Marinette, calm down. Your posting isn't going anywhere," Alya's voice drifted from nearby couch. "Just breathe, girl." I shot her a dark look.

"How am I supposed to breathe when my life DEPENDS on this posting?" I heard myself wail in response, clutching at my chest as dramatically as I could muster. "This internship is everything. Where I get posted is responsible for opening the doors for the rest of my future! 5 years of schooling means NOTHING if I get an unknown." I could feel my chest heaving, my heartbeat pounding to the point of bursting. In all of my 23 years, I had never felt a fear akin to this. Even when facing and Akuma, I'd always known, deep down, I'd get the winning outcome. I wouldn't - couldn't- settle for less.

Alya blinked, taking a moment before heavily sighing. "Girl, chill. You're amazing. I'm sure literally every top company was fighting to have you as their intern. Come." She patted the spot beside her on the couch. "We'll pull it up together, and we'll celebrate afterwards no matter what happens. And even if it's a relatively unknown - I said if!" she clarified, throwing her hands out in stop motions as I felt my eyes widen, lip starting to tremble, already on the verge of tears, "Your work could definitely bring them to a known status. Either way, you get to graduate."

I did my best to sniff back tears, nodding as I made my way to the couch. I dropped down heavily, my back straight and stiff as Alya placed the laptop gently on my lap. "It'll be okay. You've got it," Alya said reassuringly, squeezing my hand with a smile.

"Right," I responded, giving a curt nod. I pulled up the browser, logging into my portal on the university site as I had so many times before. There was link right on the homepage, titled "Internship Posting." I brought the mouse over, letting it hover for a moment. "Just click it," I muttered to myself. "Come on." Taking a deep breath, I quickly clicked the link, the screen immediately loading to a short list along with instructions. There were only a handful of grad students along with me, so it took on a glance before I saw my name.

"GABRIEL!"

Alya winced at the screech that filled the apartment, but wasted no time in joining in with a screech of her own. "I knew you could do it!"

"THE GABRIEL AGRESTE! I can't believe it!" I tried to calm my frantic breathing. I had done it. All these years working to prove myself and I had landed an internship with a top fashion company.

"Wine party!" Alya declared, pushing herself up and heading into the kitchen.

"I can't believe it," I breathed, my smile threatening to break my face in half. "I'll be working with the Gabriel Agreste."

"Well...yes, and no."

"Excuse me?" I whipped my head toward Alya, narrowing my eyes at her grin as she leaned on the bar, phone in hand.

"It looks like Gabriel is going to be in a different branch for the next 6 months. You'll be working with none other than the Adrien Agreste."

"What?" my voice was shrill as I pushed off the laptop, tripping my way the short distance to the kitchen, snatching the phone where it dangled from Alya's fingers. There it was, a flawless photo of Adrien under the headline "Heir to the Gabriel brand to head Paris company while expansion underway."

"Head of the Gabriel brand, Gabriel Agreste, announced Friday morning that his 23 year old son, Adrien Agreste, would be stepping up to run the home branch in Paris during the companies expansion. It was rumored the end of last year the company would be expanding, and that's been publicly confirmed at this morning's press release. "My son is more than prepared to oversee the company in my absence. He's been a brand face for over a decade, and he and the company have grown together. There's no one I trust more. I'll be in touch, of course, but for the next 6 months, Adrien will be the face as well as forerunner for Gabriel."

I slowly placed the phone on the bar, pushing it back across to Alya's greedy fingers. "Well how awesome is that?" she said, her voice overly chipper. "You'll be working with Adrien for the next 6 months. Half a year. With Adrien. Together."

I massaged my temples, reminding myself to breathe slowly. "It's a large company. I probably won't see him."

"Or - hear me out - you could have a whirlwind romance."

"Alya," I scolded, pointing a finger at her. "This is for my career. My future. And who knows, what if I go to New York after, somewhere new?"

"Okay, fine. Fair enough. It's not like you still have massive crush on him or anything," she said with a shrug and she gathered two wine glasses from a nearby cabinet before heading to the fridge. "You're like, totally over that."

I could feel my cheeks burn as she gave me her know-it-all glance. "I mean, so I still collect his advertisements and maybe I still check his instagram like a few times…. But come on, it's been like… five years. His dad sent him to business school right away. He's been out or Paris for ages…"

"And now he just happens to not be coincidentally heading a company you'll be working at… for six months." She set the glass down in front of me. "Sounds like fate."

"A coincidence."

"A Miraculous coincidence."

I'd had two whole days to get ready. Two whole days of selecting outfits and planning what to say and how to act. Basically, two whole days to be a nervous mess.

Tikki was perched on the windowsill of my room, watching as I gathered pieces of clothing for last minute adjustments. I hadn't had any real akuma battles in ages, not since university. We hadn't retrieved Hawk Moth's miraculous, but he'd been pretty low since then. Occasionally I'd still become Ladybug for certain press events, and on restless nights. Even Chat Noir had been less frequent. We'd had a talk about a year into Hawk Moth's disappearance. Chat had said he still loved me, but we weren't fighting anymore - He wanted to still see me, without masks. I'd been a new 19, not even a year into Uni, already stressed with my workload…. I had shamefully blamed him for trying to add more stress to my already stressed out workload. He'd responded in kind - did Ladybug not think he had stress in his life too? Did she not want to try to be a team for the regular stressful things? She was his best friend - he needed support in the real world too. I'd burst into tears; he'd apologized, and instead requested Ladybug allow him a clean break. He needed time to get over her. He'd be leaving Paris soon anyway. He wouldn't patrol, but he promised to be a call away if trouble happened to resurface.

So basically, we hadn't parted well. And I'd always meant to call, but how did you broach that? And so I never did...and then a few months turned to years turned to graduation. But I still had Tikki…and she said Chat's Kwami, Plagg, said he was doing really well. So I accepted that.

"What do you think?"

"Everything looks perfect Marinette," she chirped. "You're going to do great. I'm really excited for you."

"Well of course you're coming with me!" I said with a roll of my eyes. I smoothed my skirt in the mirror, taking a quick mental checklist. Knee length black pencil skirt, high waist, 4 front buttons. Short Sleeve white button down, cuffs and color accents in red with black dots. Smooth sock bun, a few wisps near ears. Signature earrings, touch of lip color and light mascara and blush. Very understated but classic. First day was about meeting and not causing a stir. I grabbed my clutch and tossed it over my shoulder, holding it open as Tikki darted in gleefully. I slid on a pair or low pumps and headed out for Alya's opinion.

We'd shared a small apartment since starting uni. My parents (mainly mama) had happily agreed we do this, agreeing the independence would be good for us. Excitedly, we'd searched for a small and affordable place. I worked in the bakery after classes to help keep up my end, along with dress commissions and the like.

After an approval by a sleepy Alya, I found myself in front of the Gabriel offices far too soon. I took a deep breath, clutching my portfolio and placement information for dear life. I could do this. I'd face scarier. I just had to go in, talk to the receptionist, get my first assignment, and get through the day.

I pushed my way through the door, trying my best to keep composure as I made my way to the desk.

"Excuse me," I started, adding a smile as the woman looked up at me. "I'm here for my internship placement."

"Name?" she asked pleasantly, fingers poised over the keys.

I started to pull out my paperwork. "It's -"

"Marinette!"

I felt something in me burst, some fountain of emotion that'd be sealed off for years exploded love goop all over my insides the moment I saw his face as he exited and elevator from across the lobby.

His face was bright, older, handsome, elegant.

And, oh God, I was still in love with it.