The large iron gates loomed before the two of you, casting shadows like those of prison bars across your faces. Your Maman was grinning eagerly at the scary black eye that was extended from the wall face at you. Natalie's voice had rung out, declaring that the two of you could enter. You shouldered the bag closer to you and grasped the handle of your main suitcase, so much that your knuckles gleamed white. The rest of your family's things would arrive in boxes later on as you only had a couple of days to pack and move out of the apartment.

With a clang, the doors sung open slowly and a long stone path led you to a flight of stairs. The two of you stepped through and with a more abrupt slam, the gate was closed. There was no going back now. Taking a deep breath, you continued behind your mother and walked up the stairs to a stately door that was flung open. Natalie spoke from within, "Come on in. We were expecting you already."

Maman laughed and walked right in; struggling to catch your breath, you followed in step as Natalie closed the doors behind you. You heard heavier footsteps echoing from in front so you looked up to see none other than Gabriel Agreste himself walking down a massive staircase that took up most of the entrance hall. He had a bit of a smirk on his face as he addressed the two of you. "Welcome to this humble house. This was the least of what I could do to remedy your situation." He looked at Maman. "Your husband and daughter have been more than excellent employees of mine. I'd hate to lose all of that."

Your Maman was beaming but you knew what those words really meant. His company would take a hit if one of his main models suddenly suffered in performance or vanished completely. This was all for his own gain, although you were surprised that he wasn't just trying to find someone to replace you. He finally reached the bottom of the stairs and was heading over to you two when Natalie stepped in front of them and spoke up. "I'll take them down to their rooms, sir. So they can..."

"Wait just a moment Natalie. Our model employee is not going to be staying in the lower quarters. Instead she will take the spare bedroom." Gabriel had cut her off rather strictly and Natalie blinked in confusion before merely nodding.

This made you very uncomfortable however, you didn't want to leave the side of your Maman, especially in this strange new place. "Um... thanks so much Mr. Agreste but... I don't know if I should..."

His face whipped towards you and you instantly regretted talking. Those clear blue eyes could freeze anyone in their tracks and inspire fear in the strongest of them. "I mustn't have to insist now. It's not just for you, it is for my own convenience as well. With you living in the same hall as Adrien, I can address both of you much easier when it comes to my work. Now..." He turned around and glanced over his shoulder. "I will lead you to the room."

Your Maman gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying after Natalie while you sighed and picked up your bags to follow Gabriel upstairs. You had honestly forgotten about his son, Adrien Agreste. You saw him around a bit at work, but didn't interact with him much since the two of you were in different departments. At least the two of you had something to talk about. You grimace to yourself.

He led you to the right down the hallway and directly to the second to last door on the left. The place was so massive, you were going to have to do something so you could remember this one was in fact your room and not one of the others that were spotted along the entire sprawling hall. He opened the door to a room that was pretty much the size of your former apartment. Your jaw dropped in disbelief and you stepped past him to look around at everything. Windows lined the far wall and a small gallery overlooked the room, the only way to access it a ladder. There was a full bathroom in the left wall and the only furniture to adorn the place was a stripped bed towards the back, a couch in front of a TV set, and bookshelves along some of the walls.

Closing your jaw and swallowing your shock, you set your bags down on the floor by the bed and turned back to Gabriel, not sure what he was making of your expression. You finally manage to form a smile and nod at him. "Thank you so much Mr. Agreste. This is... so much more than I ever could have needed."

He smirked back at you and began to close the door. "Once Natalie has finished showing your mother around, she will come to you and do the same. Don't stay up too late tonight as tomorrow morning I will need to have a word with you about a new design I've been working on. Natalie will give you the time and the room." With that he closed the door and you took the moment to fully absorb the new room that was to be your home. So impressive. It was a shame you had no one to share it with.

Already feeling the pangs of missing your Maman, you started to pull things out of your bags to make this place truly yours. Blankets, clothes, small figurines, more books... you piled everything that you could pack within those couple of bags upon the bare mattress. Everything else of yours would be arriving within the next day in a bunch of boxes.

You had managed to put all of your essentials into the bathroom and had located the closet when you heard a small tapping at the door. That must be Natalie. You went over and pulled on the handle to reveal that your guess had been correct. Without showing any emotion she showed you around the house bypassing most of the rooms much to your disgruntlement. You at least knew where the dining room and Mr. Agreste's office were, which you guessed was all you really needed to know. Pausing in front of his door, she handed you a small note that had a time printed on it; 9:00 a.m. After you pocketed it carefully, she led you down to the live-in employees area and the kitchen where your Maman was hurriedly rushing about and putting her special cooking equipment into the already overstocked cupboards.

She noticed you and stopped what she was doing to run over and grip you in a hug, spinning you about. "We are living like royalty now! I still can't believe this is happening!"

She put you down and went back to her things and you laughed. "Neither can I, Maman." You decided to not tell her about the increased work-load you were about to have with Gabriel's demanding schedule. "You should see my room later, it's like triple the size of this kitchen."

Your Maman giggled. "Oh I can't believe that. Why would a bedroom need to be that huge?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely roomy. I can have like three parties going on in there at once." You were obviously joking but she scolded you.

"Don't abuse his hospitality now..."

You laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "I was kidding, I don't have anyone to come over anyways."

She shrugged and twirled a whisk in her fingers. "Can't be too careful. Who knows, you might become friends with that Adrien fella." Before you could say anything she pointed down a hallway to the side. "My room is the third on the right if you ever need to come down and talk to me. Ahh!" She had you in a hug again. "It's like you're grown up and moving out!"

Smiling you broke away and turned to head out. "I'm just a couple stories above you Maman. I'm sure Natalie showed you were my room was. I'm never far." Saying your farewells you noticed that Natalie had in fact disappeared, leaving you to find your way back to your room on your own. With a tired sigh you noticed that it was nearing the late afternoon, your Maman would be starting the dinner here soon enough.

Retracing your steps, you managed to find your way back to your room. So you wouldn't forget, you found some sticky notes and tape and fashioned a little pastel blue star which you then attached to the center of the outside of your door. Now you would never lose your room. You started to put away your things as much as you could before you realized that dinner should be ready downstairs.

Feeling a bit nervous, you found your way to the main hall and stood in front of the large picture of Gabriel and Adrien in their mourning clothes. You looked around but couldn't remember which way was to the dining room. The amazing smells of your Maman's cooking wafted through the air, but it wasn't enough to find your way. Before taking another step, one of the large double doors opened suddenly and you jerked your head toward the noise, clearly startled. A boy about a foot smaller than you stepped through them sporting a mane of soft yellow hair and lively green eyes. He was the boy in the picture behind you, Adrien.

He looked up and saw you standing there and he stopped in his tracks, tilting his head in clear confusion while the door softly closed behind him. You both blinked at one another before he managed to speak up. "Who... who are you?"

You cocked your head and swallowed. He didn't know? Wouldn't have Gabriel told him? "I... I'm sorry. You probably don't remember me at all, but I'm the head model of the women's department. We kinda work together for your father."

A realization seemed to hit him and he began walking towards you. "Oh, no I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have remembered." He laughed as he reached you at the top of the stairs and held his hand out. "Now we can formerly meet. I'm Adrien Agreste."

Smiling you took his hand and gave it a shake. He managed to talk again though before you had the chance to say anything. "What brings you here though?"

Your smile faded and you wrapped the hand you just shook with his around your other arm. Looking away you told him about the circumstances your family fell into after your father died and what Gabriel had offered you in order to get back on your feet. Shyly looking up, he had an expression of disbelief on his face. "Wow, I'm so sorry... I'm glad things are working out now though but..." He scratched his head. "My dad... he wouldn't normally do anything like this. He's so stubborn and he doesn't really care about anyone else."

You shrugged and then decided to get the two of you on your way. "So um... I know it is dinner time, but I can't seem to find my way back to the dining room."

Adrien blinked and smiled, deciding to just not think about his confusing father anymore. "Oh yeah sure, of course, just follow me."

He led you down a short hall into an open room that had a long table in the center adorned with many chairs. It seemed so odd considering the lack of residents in the house. You took a quick mental note of the directions, determined to commit them to memory so you didn't have to resort to help again or get hopelessly lost in the house. Surely you'd get the hang of it sooner or later. He sat on the far end of the table and you sat opposite him, leaving the chair on the end open. The food had already been set and your mother nowhere to be seen.

"You said your mother is the new chef? She's probably taking something to my father right now..." He had already started grabbing some food and had undoubtedly noticed you looking around expectantly. "He always eats by himself, he never joins me here. You might as well eat."

You smiled nervously and began helping yourself. He complimented your mother's cooking, digging in with gusto. Shining with some pride you finished your meal, neatly stacking the used dishes at the end to make it easier for Maman. Adrien was already heading off to his room, giving you a wave goodbye. Not too sure what else to do, you headed back to your own room as well to continue unpacking.

Turning on the lights, you were happily surprised there wasn't a ton of glare from the window. Carefully, you set up your violin and sheet music in a corner of the room close to the TV and then moved to make the bed so you could actually sleep that night. There wasn't much left to put up and so you finished unpacking within an hour. You flopped onto the bed with your pajamas on and favorite book in hand, turning on a lamp atop the end table for better light. Exhaustion slowly settled over you and without really paying attention, you fell asleep with your face on the pages.