Adrien showed up five minutes early on Tuesday, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. They were still nice, of course- pretty much everything he owned was designer, and impeccably tailored to boot- but they were much more casual than the outfit he had worn the previous day.

He had realized once he got home that, besides making him completely overdressed, his button-up shirt and slacks had been pretty much been the stereotypical 'meet-the-girlfriend's-family' outfit. There was no way to undo that first impression (not that it should be that big of a deal, now that he had corrected people- or tried to, at least), but it was just another reason to go more casual.

"Come on in!" Tom's voice called, and Adrien jumped and looked around. He didn't spot Marinette's father, which was odd.

"Look up," Plagg suggested, and Adrien did. Sure enough, Marinette's father was waving at him from the third-floor window. Adrien waved back and followed Tom's instructions. It didn't take him long to jog up the stairs and join the family at their kitchen counter. Sabine pushed a plate of toast towards him as soon as he sat down.

"We were just talking about how we're going to do today," Tom said as Adrien spread jam on his toast and started to eat. "The family is a little too large to go places all as one group, so we were talking about splitting it up into two groups."

Adrien paused mid-bite. He had an inkling about where this was going, and while it made sense, he didn't particularly like it. If he was the one translator in the group and he had to leave for an akuma attack, he would be leaving Marinette in charge of a group she couldn't communicate with very well. "...okay?"

"Sabine and I would lead one group, since Sabine knows Mandarin and I don't," Tom continued. "You, Marinette, and Wang would lead the other. We would also put Marinette's cousins- you know, the ones you were talking with yesterday- in that group. That way, you have a group that's a little more able to take care of themselves if something happens, like an akuma attack."

"That...sounds doable," Adrien said, chancing a glance at Marinette to see her reaction. She was watching him, which made Adrien think that she and her parents had already talked it over and their plan hinged on whether or not he was comfortable with it. "Do people know about the akuma attacks? I know Mr. Cheng didn't seem familiar with them at all when he first arrived."

Sabine cringed, and Adrien wished that he hadn't added that last part. It was probably still a sore spot that Marinette's great-uncle had been turned into an akuma such a short time after he arrived in Paris. Still, Sabine answered. "We mentioned it yesterday, yes, and it sounded like my uncle had brought it up before they left. I'm sure people will still panic a little if a supervillain gets too close, though."

"People who have lived here their whole lives still panic quite a bit," Adrien pointed out, remembering all of the times he and Ladybug had to put their fighting on hold to usher a few terrified civilians out of a building. It didn't happen for all supervillains- some had less of an effect on the general populace than others, and then there were some of the supervillains that people were just curious about until they got a little too violent. "Hopefully there won't be any akuma attacks while they're here."

"Yes, we hope so as well," Sabine said, filling a cup with juice and passing it over to Adrien to have with his toast. "But it's best to be prepared. We told everyone yesterday to just get out of the way if there's an akuma in the area, and all of them seemed to understand. You shouldn't run into any huge problems, even if there is an attack."

Adrien still couldn't help but feel a little nervous, even knowing that his group probably would be able to take care of themselves in the event that an akuma showed up. His absence would definitely be noticed unless the group scattered. And if the group scattered, his translator abilities would probably be needed even more.

He would just have to hope that nothing happened.


Their group got through a tour of the Eiffel Tower, a walk around the Arc de Triomphe, and were about halfway through a tour of Notre-Dame when Adrien's phone beeped a warning about an akuma. Suppressing a grumble, Adrien pulled out his phone and scanned the announcement. The akuma- Linecutter, it was called- was apparently making its way through Paris' main tourist attractions, sending dozens of terrified visitors fleeing in all directions. Adrien could only guess from the name and targets that Hawkmoth's most recent victim was probably a tourist fed up with the lines. The victim probably hadn't made any advance reservations or pre-ordered tickets-a necessity during the summer months in Paris- and had probably been set off by seeing people who had made those prior purchases getting through long before they did.

"Marinette, there's an akuma," Adrien murmured, tugging on his friend's arm. Her head snapped around to stare at him. "It's headed this way. If there's a safe room here-"

"There's probably a few rooms that are out of the way," Marinette said. Her expression had turned anxious as soon as what he had said sunk in. "We can ask a worker. Really, there should be some sort of alert system here so tourists can be alerted before an akuma gets here."

Adrien nodded in agreement. As Marinette headed over to the nearest worker to ask about where people should hide, Adrien worked on rounding up their group. He cast a nervous look over his shoulder as he heard the first screams. They were muffled, still outside the building, but definitely close. He would have to slip away soon.

"Is there an- what do you call it- an akuma attack?" one of Marinette's cousins asked. "Should we be leaving?"

"Just follow the cathedral workers," Adrien said, pointing to the man Marinette was standing by. He was waving at the groups milling around and pointing towards a staircase as he called for people to follow him. "He'll take everyone somewhere where the akuma probably won't go."

The girl nodded, and then she joined the rest of the group, passing Adrien's instructions on. Adrien watched as Marinette's relatives murmured among themselves and then turned as one to follow the guide. Wang Cheng led the group, and Adrien brought up the rear, where it would be easiest to slip away. He couldn't tell where Marinette had gone, but she was probably hidden among her family members. Even if she wasn't, Adrien didn't need to worry. Marinette could take care of herself. She was usually the one to lead evacuations at school, after all.

As the group rounded the corner, Adrien caught sight of a sign for the bathrooms. He paused, and then dashed towards the abandoned bathroom. The door closed a little too loudly for his comfort, but they were in the middle of an evacuation. Hopefully no one would come investigate.

"Time to transform, Plagg," Adrien said, opening his bag and shaking the tiny god out. He glanced around one last time to make sure no one was nearby before he transformed. "Hopefully Ladybug is nearby. I want to get this fight over with before too many people notice that I'm missing."


As it turned out, Ladybug was nearby. She was already locked in battle with the akuma when Chat Noir arrived on the scene.

"I thought you were going to be busy this week!" Chat Noir exclaimed as he batted away a flurry of admission tickets. At one point he would have been weirded out, but he had long since gotten used to weird and unexpected things being weaponized.

Ladybug spared him a glance. "I was in the area. And you must have been too, I'm guessing? I only just got here."

"Uh-uh-uh! No questions about my wanderings as a civilian, my Lady!" Chat Noir teased. "...but yes, I was in the area."

He didn't miss the way Ladybug's lips curled upwards in amusement at that. The next moment, she was all business. "The admission tickets pack more of a punch than it looks like they could. I saw them knock a car several meters down the road."

"Avoid getting hit. Got it." Chat Noir flipped easily out of the way of another flurry of tickets and landed lightly on top of a lamppost. He glanced over at Notre-Dame and then back at Ladybug. "How fast do you think we can get this finished? I'm a little worried that the people I was with will notice that I'm gone and ask questions."

"Yeah, same here." Ladybug unhooked her yo-yo from her hip and started to spin it. "This guy doesn't seem very smart. If we keep moving and move fast, we can probably confuse him and get in a hit."

Chat Noir nodded, focusing in on the akuma. They could do this. They would take down the akuma with the same single-minded focus that they always did, and he would get back to Marinette's family before they could even notice that he was gone.

Hopefully.


Adrien groaned as he checked his watch as he jogged down the hallway in Notre-Dame. The fight against Linecutter hadn't been the longest that they had ever had- it definitely wasn't even close- but it hadn't been their shortest fight, either. It had taken nearly thirty minutes to tangle Linecutter up and break the possessed item. The akuma had been a little more slippery than Ladybug and Chat Noir had originally anticipated, but at least it hadn't wanted to flee and hide from the fight like some akuma sometimes did. Still, the fight had gone on for long enough that he was fairly certain that his normal "bathroom" excuse would get a response of raised eyebrows and questions about whether or not he had some sort of stomach ailment.

"Adrien! Over here!"

Adrien turned to see several of Marinette's cousins waving at him. Their parents stood behind them, looking equal parts concerned and amused.

"I'm so sorry, I went to the bathroom during the evacuation and then I couldn't figure out where everyone was, so I just stayed there until the fight was over," Adrien fibbed quickly, pasting on his best innocent smile as he joined them. It felt a little strained around the edges.

"Uh-huh, sure," one of the girls drawled. "You know, Marinette showed up just a minute ago with the same excuse. She vanished at the same time you did, too."

"And we all know that that isn't at all suspicious," her sister finished with a wide smirk, ignoring Adrien's puzzled expression. The whole group of cousins giggled, some of them wriggling their eyebrows at each other. This only seemed to increase their hilarity, much to Adrien's continued confusion. He wasn't sure what they were implying.

"A word of advice, young man," one of the nearby aunts said in between her giggles. "If you're going to sneak off with Marinette to cuddle and whatnot during akuma attacks, you need to get better at excuses and you definitely need to stagger when you leave and return more. I don't know how your friends haven't noticed already. Good job on not looking like you just spent half an hour making out with Marinette, though."

"Yeah, I need to know how you do it," another cousin added in. She glanced over her shoulder towards her mother, making sure she was out of earshot. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "The lips are always what gives me away when I go make out with my boyfriend. So, how-"

"All right, guys! We're going to move on and explore the Palace of Versailles," Wang Cheng called, drawing the attention of the entire group. Marinette stood by his side. "Do we have everyone now?"

There were noises of assent, and then the group started moving. Adrien quickly detached himself from the group of cousins and busied himself with rounding up the back of the group, head spinning. They thought that he had taken the cover the akuma evacuation provided to sneak off with Marinette and... well, by the sounds of it, they thought that he and Marinette had spent the entire time kissing.

Apparently his efforts to straighten out the mistaken impression that he and Marinette were dating had all been in vain. Clearly no one in Marinette's family believed him in the slightest.

He had to admit, though, that it did sound a little suspicious. Two teens, vanishing at the same time for half an hour and then reappearing within minutes of each other? And on that note, what had Marinette been doing during that time?


Adrien managed to avoid further questioning from Marinette's second cousins for the rest of the day. Thankfully, the akuma attack had happened mid-afternoon and after their last tourist stop, it was time for the whole group to reunite for dinner. With the much larger group all together, it was easy for Adrien to hide among the assembled adults.

"I heard that you guys ended up being near the akuma attack," Tom said when he spotted Adrien. "Did everything go all right?"

"Oh yes," Adrien said quickly, hoping that Tom hadn't heard too much from Adrien and Marinette's group. He really didn't need Tom thinking that Adrien was trying to secretly date his daughter. He rather liked his friend's parents and really didn't want to get on their bad side because of a simple misunderstanding. "I got the alert on my phone before the akuma reached the cathedral and Marinette alerted one of the workers so they could guide everyone to safety before people started panicking."

"Very good," Tom commented. "...and I also heard that you and Marinette went missing for a bit?"

Shoot.

"I needed to use the bathroom and I didn't know how long the akuma attack would be going on," Adrien said, using the same excuse he had used a million times before. It hadn't worked on Marinette's extended family, but maybe that was just because they were determined to see a relationship between the two. "I figured I could probably catch the tail end of the tourists going into the safe room, but by the time I was done the entire place was on lockdown, so I just hid in the bathrooms until Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated the akuma."

"Always a good plan not to go venturing out during an attack," Tom commented. "And I wouldn't be surprised if Marinette might have tried to get a glimpse of the akuma to get a photo or two for Alya. I've heard that Alya was very concerned about how her time abroad will impact the Ladyblog."

"Oh, she figured that out a couple weeks ago," Adrien said immediately. "Alya asked one of her friends in her journalism club to take over the Ladyblog while she's abroad. She asked Marinette and I, but I wouldn't be able to get away if I had something scheduled-" lies, since he could and did get away every time there was an akuma attack, but that was neither here nor there- "and Marinette babysits all the time, so she can't exactly go charging around after an akuma."

"Thank God," Tom said emphatically. "I'd have a heart attack if Marinette was out there running around akuma attacks like Alya does. She's always been good about helping others get out of the way and then staying hidden herself."

Adrien blinked. While he rarely saw Marinette hanging around during a fight, he definitely saw her pretty regularly after the battle was over, even when the akuma attack had been nowhere near where she normally would be. He had figured that she was just better at staying out of sight- and out of trouble- than her best friend was. Still, Adrien wasn't going to say anything to her father about that. As long as Marinette practiced common sense and stayed out of the akuma's way most of the time- which she clearly did, with the possible exception of that time with the Evillustrator- then there was no point in causing her parents unnecessary stress.

He did wonder if Marinette's parents had ever found out about that particular "date", though.

The group headed down the sidewalk en masse, heading towards the restaurant that they had selected. It wasn't a fancy restaurant- in fact, it was one that Adrien had never been to, because his father preferred fancier venues. It made sense that the Cheng family would go there so that they wouldn't break the bank eating out, but Adrien had to absently wonder what Wang Cheng would think of the food.

At the restaurant, Adrien stuck to Marinette's side as they found their seats. He had noticed that she looked like she was flailing a bit whenever she was left to face her family on her own, and he didn't want her feeling lost like that all through dinner. Sure, maybe she could sit by her mother or great-uncle instead... but maybe Adrien wanted to spend more time with his friend.

Yes, he knew that that would just spur on the rumors. No, he didn't particularly care. Sure, it was a bit embarrassing that Marinette's family members were assuming that he had spent the entirety of the akuma attack making out with his friend, but it didn't really matter, not in the long run.

Besides, it was worth it. A little bit of teasing in return for getting to hang out with one of his best friends and her family for an entire week?

That was a deal Adrien would take any day.

"My dad wasn't bugging you, was he?" Marinette asked anxiously as they settled down in their seats. "He likes teasing my friends sometimes."

"He was just asking about the akuma attack," Adrien assured her. "I'm sure they were worried our group, but everyone stayed well out of the way."

Marinette looked mildly guilty for a moment, and Adrien wondered again where Marinette had been during the attack. He suspected that Marinette's father was right about her sneaking off to get photos for Alya, but if she had then Adrien would have to get her a medal for staying out of sight and out of harm's way, because he had not spotted her at all while fighting Linecutter.

"I just hope that none of our group gets akumatized while they're here," Marinette said. She snagged a menu from the middle of the table and opened it. "That wouldn't be any fun."

"No kidding." Adrien knew that if one of the group got akumatized, it would be really hard for him to get everyone herded away safely and then escape himself, all without being spotted or attacked himself. "We'll just have to hope for the best then, I guess."

A waiter arrived, taking in the large group with a wince. He started taking drink orders and Adrien turned his attention back to the menu, reading over Marinette's shoulder. There were a few things that looked good, honestly, and he couldn't decide between them.

There was a background hum of conversation at the table as people perused the menu. Some of it was just translating the menu so people could decide what to order, and some of it was talk about their day. Adrien just let himself soak it in, too used to silent meals at an empty table.

If it wasn't so rude to do so, Adrien would be tempted to invite himself over to Marinette's house to join her family for dinner more often. They talked to each other, having proper conversations rather than just rattling off a schedule for the rest of the day before vanishing off into the next room. It made the meal more than just a chunk of time to sit down and eat so that he wouldn't be hungry later on.

Adrien used to have proper family meals like that, before his mother went missing. Not every night- sometimes his parents were busy or out of town- but often enough.

"Adrien, did you decide what you want?" Marinette asked, turning to him. She looked startled to find him so close to her, right behind her shoulder. "I'm torn."

"There's two things I'm torn between," Adrien admitted, leaning back a little so he wasn't in Marinette's space quite so much. He pointed to the two things he was looking at. "They both look so good!"

Marinette giggled. "Those were what I was looking at, too," she admitted. "They sound so good!"

Adrien looked over at her, then back at the menu, an idea forming in her mind. He had sometimes shared his food with his parents- well, his mom, mostly- when they went out, so they could try out more than one dish. If Marinette would be comfortable with that, then they wouldn't have to choose what to order. "Do you want to order one and I'll order the other and we can share?"

For a moment, Adrien wondered if he had said something wrong- if there was some social cue that he had managed to miss as usual. Marinette's eyes had gone wide and her mouth hung slightly open. Then she gave herself a little shake and hit him with a dazzling smile.

"Sure, let's do that!"

"Great!" Adrien grinned back at his friend, oblivious to the looks they were getting from the rest of Marinette's family.

This was going to be a great meal.