He couldn't figure out what was noisiest that morning; Plagg, his alarm, or his thoughts.

Adrien decided to settle on the latter, rightfully so, but his irate kwami quickly took over by throwing the mobile at his charge's head. A typical morning for one Adrien Agreste. Wincing, he plucked the device off his head to silence it. One nuisance out of the way, two to go. Robotically he sat up slowly, not sure if he even slept since he'd been catatonic for most of the night. Going through the motions he got his day started by silencing two out of three with a wedge of camembert. Padding over to the bathroom he took his time brushing his teeth, thinking of last night.

"Five years, huh…"

How was Marinette still alive? Wasn't hanahaki disease supposed to be this parasitic version of pulmonary disease? Some stupid wax poetic about love dripped overtop a very real, very fatal, condition that would kill the victim slowly and painfully. Adrien glared at himself in the mirror, brushing a little more roughly than necessary to clean his teeth, but he was too upset with the universe right then to care.

He wasn't stupid, he knew enough about the condition to know surgery could guarantee her survival but…

Resting his hands on the counter, he spat into the sink, thinking of his father and what he went through before and after his own surgery; what happened all those years ago when his mother vanished. As Gabriel was now he was just a shell of his former self, filling a hole with excessive amounts of work to cope. His passion was aflame but expressed in hostile tongue, lacerating anyone who he felt jeopardized his career. As he swished the mouthwash around in his mouth Adrien thought of Marinette who loved with everything she had and was always there for those in need. He thought of her future career, and how deeply in love with fashion she was. How deeply she identified with the hobby turned part-time job, a little online boutique that he and Alya have been promoting here and there.

Then he asked himself the million-dollar question… Who was Marinette in love with? Who was it that she'd been trying to win over for far too long? She was one of the most influential people in his life, constantly encouraging him to pursue his passions and being a steady shoulder to lean on in his exhaustion. Marinette had such a strong, beautiful, personality-how had she not won them over yet? Hell, he was won over and he was struck with the sudden revelation that he didn't know what his life would be like without her. Ever since he met her she'd always been a constant, and he always knew she'd be there just like the sun would rise come morning. There was an uncomfortable twisting in his chest, a painful realization that he wasn't sure if he wanted to ruminate over anymore.

Throughout the rest of his morning routine, he neglected to look directly at himself in the mirror.

During breakfast Nathalie gave him the rundown of his schedule for the day as he picked at his fruit. When all he responded with were noncommittal noises she dared to lower her tablet to get a good look at her employer's son. Adrien tried to quickly correct his expression and posture, he wasn't about to have this discussion with his father later-he's far too old to be putting up with his scare tactics anymore-but Nathalie saw through his facade, giving him a pointed look.

"If there are any problems with the schedule you are more than capable of letting me know, Adrien."

He sighed, "Yes, Nathalie."

His caretaker surveyed the room, then checked the time and hummed audibly as her fingers drummed the underside of her tablet. "We need to beat traffic if we're to make our appointment on time, so we'll finish this conversation in the car."

Adrien polished off what little food he could stomach that morning, following Nathalie to the car waiting for him outside. Honestly, he didn't see why he had to go to Agreste headquarters to get fitted, when the designer of his outfits lived with him. He suppressed an eye roll as he slid into the vehicle, waiting on Nathalie to prompt him to speak as she always did when she saw through him.

"I'm no counselor-"

"Nope."

"-but if you have anything on your mind," she paused, giving him another pointed look that dared him to say otherwise, "then I'll do my best to help work you through it."

Adrien stared out the window as they began to pull away, debating just how much he could tell her. Nathalie was Gabriel's eyes and ears when it came to all things his son, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to see that hollow look in his father's eyes. Adrien had once tried talking to Gabriel about how cruel he was being to his employees, how he was never like this, but instead received a tongue lashing. When Gabriel glared at Adrien from across the designer's desk there was an emptiness to his gaze that sent chills down Adrien's spine.

He bit the bullet.

"A friend of mine might need surgery soon."

"If you tell me their appointments I can rearrange your-"

"It's the disease father had."

If it wasn't for the soft purr of the engine the interior of the car would have been deafeningly quiet. Nathalie's countenance became grim at the sudden subject, and against company policy - to his great surprise - she turned her tablet off. Icey blues met green in what he realized was her undivided attention. Adrien turned to look at the Gorilla in the rearview mirror and even his stoic expression was marred with concern. They both knew how important his friends were to him, and the model couldn't help the watery smile.

"What stage?"

That got his attention- how many stages were there? Wincing he glanced back over to his caretaker and shrugged his shoulders, "I… don't know? She doesn't exactly know that I know. I, uh, caught her coughing up petals the other day. I'm just so confused, I only know a little based on what happened with father." He was wringing his hands, letting all his model composure go out the window now that he felt safe talking about it.

Pursing her lips Nathalie drummed her fingers against her tablet before speaking again, lowering her gaze away from his eyes, "Your friend seems to be in the later stages, unfortunately."

He felt a shift in the temperature of the car, and it was hard to breathe all the sudden. The movement of the car wasn't helping settle his nerves, but he settled on answering as robotically as he could. Nodding his head, he shelved the information away for later. He didn't think he'd be able to compose himself in time for his fitting if he thought too hard on Marinette… passing away.

"How… how does one even get hanahaki?" he stared at his open palms, tracing the lines of his hands with his eyes to keep him grounded.

"It's hereditary, actually."

Adrien snapped his head up in alarm, to which Nathalie raised her hand up to silence him before he could speak.

"You've been undergoing tests for years, thanks to your father. Your physician was asked to keep an eye on you every check-up. The gene seems to have skipped you, you're safe."

He exhaled a breath he didn't realize he was holding, finding the sudden buzz in his nerves both stimulating and exhausting. When it looked like he had calmed down enough she continued, "Your friend could be rid of her illness if she got the plant removed-"

Adrien shuddered.

"-but I'm sure you are aware that she won't be the walking embodiment of love manifest once she's off the table," he had a feeling she knew which friend he was talking about at this point, considering he only had a few female friends he kept in touch with, "and in the absence of love her other emotions will intensify."

His father's anger went unsaid.

"If… her love was returned then would she live?" Adrien looked at her hopefully, his ring biting into his skin as he fisted his hands in his lap.

"If both she and the object of her affections came to a mutual understanding, then yes. It's not quite as easy as the other person coming to the realization that they love her, though."

"Really?"

She nodded, "No one is quite sure how it works, just that it does, but the only way the plant will recede is if the patient has a physical manifestation of their love being reciprocated. A confession, a love letter, a kiss, so on and so forth."

There was a long pause in the conversation as she gave Adrien time to process the information she unloaded onto him. The model was thankful for the silence for once, mindlessly watching as Nathalie checked her watch and turned her tablet back on. They must be nearing headquarters. While a lot of this had to deal with Marinette, there was still something tickling the back of his mind…

"Nathalie, if father had married mother then why did he have to have surgery?"

A grunt from the front cut into the conversation as the vehicle came to a stop.

"It seems we've arrived."

So much for that, he thought grimly.