A/N: I am so sorry that this chapter took me so long to get out. I promise I wasn't purposefully trying to drag out the suspense, this last week was just very busy for me. So I'll try not to keep you waiting much longer with a long Author's Note. R&R, thank you all so much for sticking with this story and giving me all the lovely support, I'll be back soon with another chapter! XOXO

'Don't black out. Don't black out. You have to stay awake. What happened?'

He remembered opening his door and Marinette standing there. She said that she had to get away from her husband and that she thought of Adrien first. He remembered not being able to stop himself from hugging her and trying to calm her down. And then he felt his heart stopping when they kissed. It felt like being shocked with a thousand volts of electricity the moment their lips touched. He had been so nervous about actually doing it because she was married and they still didn't know each other enough to warrant such an action. But she had leaned in so he started to as well; just something about it seemed to fit so perfectly.

'Stop closing your eyes. Fuck, has breathing always been this hard?'

Adrien heard the elevator go off behind her and had opened his eyes to see who had followed her up. He had been expecting Alya but when he saw Félix his mind went blank. That was the last person he had been expecting to catch him kissing Marinette. Nor was he planning on her husband to be holding a gun in his hands. His first thought had been to protect Marinette, keep her safe and alive. In his mind his life was hers to forfeit just as long as she was okay.

'Damn it Adrien stay awake! Don't. Black. Out.'

He didn't really feel it at first. The adrenaline coursing through his body had dulled the initial shock. It wasn't until he tried to take his first breath after the fact that all of the pain racked his body. Muscles had been ripped apart and his lungs felt like they were on fire plus something felt like it was broken. He wanted to scream out but he started coughing instead and instantly he could taste blood. What was worse was watching as it spread over Marinette's face.

'What's going on?'

He could hear screaming and yelling going on around him, but he couldn't make out much of what was being said. He knew that Marinette was calling out to him so the other voice had to be Félix. He couldn't hear any details but he assumed Félix was trying to get her to leave. Adrien started fading out of consciousness for a brief moment but brought himself back when he heard a scuffle going on next to him followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. They were fighting, he guessed, but he was starting to fade out again.

'Marinette…'

Adrien snapped back to conscious with the sound of another gunshot. No, no, no this can't be happening! She's supposed to be okay! He has to get up, he has to- He's stopped in his attempts by coughing again, feeling more blood come up than last time. That's not important, though, make sure that Marinette is still safe. A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder. "Adrien!? Adrien don't move, I'm calling an ambulance!" Wait, she's okay? Then who shot the gun? Doesn't matter, she's okay, she's fine, she's alive. He closed his eyes once more relieved to know that she was safe.

'Thank God.'

-oOo-

The sound of a heart monitor beeping next to him was the first thing Adrien heard when he came to in the hospital. He tried to take in a deep breath but winced as he only expanded his lungs maybe halfway before they started hurting. Alright, short breaths it is. Slowly he opened his eyes, squinting as the bright lights flooded his vision, hissing a little as his eyes adjusted. Eventually he was able to open them enough to actually look around the room.

Blindingly white walls, a bunch of different medical equipment, monitors, and a bluenette asleep in the chair next to him. It wasn't until he stared at the top of her head, that being the only thing he could see as she was folded over on the bed, that he remembered why he was even in here. Adrien smiled softly at her, lifting his hand up to gently run it over her hair. As he did so he looked her over the best that he could, making sure she didn't have any cuts or bruises, when he noticed that she had taken her wedding ring off. Good.

His hand jumped when he heard her murmur something in her sleep, turning her head around to face him while her eyes fluttered open. There was a moment of recognition before she practically shot up in her seat. "Adrien!" She exclaimed with a wide smile, tears instantly forming at the corners of her eyes. "Oh thank God, I was so worried." She said, reaching out for his hand which he took happily. "Good morning to you too, Princess." Adrien rasped out with a light laugh. Man he needed some water or something.

She smirked at him, shaking her head a little bit. They were silent for a few moments before he spoke up again. "What happened afterwards? I heard another gunshot go off, are you alright?" He asked her finally, again quickly scanning over her to see if he could spot any bandages. Marinette nodded, tightening her hold on his hand in an attempt to calm him. "Yeah, no I'm fine. I...after he...shot, you he tried to drag me away with him but I fought back. In the process he dropped his gun and then I…" She paused, taking in a deep breath. "I got to it before he did and…" She trailed off, apparently unable to finish what she was saying but Adrien was able to put two and two together.

"Is he…?"
"No, I think I only grazed his arm. But it was enough to cause him to run. I didn't bother following him, I was more worried about you."
"I see. Has he been caught?"
"No… no one knows where he is, but they're looking."

Adrien nodded quietly, looking down into his lap. The thought that Félix was still out there made him sick to his stomach but he had to trust the authorities with this. They'll find him, he just has to be patient. It's not like he could go after the guy right now anyway despite the fact that he really wanted to. He heard Marinette let out a long sigh so he lifted his head to look up at her. "You shouldn't have done that, Adrien...I was so scared…" She whispered.

"Hey…" He lifted her hand up as he kept speaking, his breath hitting her knuckles. "Just cause I 'shouldn't have' doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again in a heartbeat. I will do anything to keep you safe." When he finished he pressed a soft kiss against her fingers. "But why? We've only just started to get to know one another and that's no-" She was cut off by him putting a finger over her lips. "You saved my life once, Marinette." He moved his hand up a bit more to cup her cheek. "That's more than enough of a reason for me."

Marinette was beaming at him. Sure, she was still completely mad at him for using himself as a meat shield, but it was clear by the look in his eyes that she'd never be able to talk him out of being so reckless. "You're an idiot…" She breathed out, nuzzling into his hand. "Probably." He joked back, running his thumb over her cheek softly. Should they be this affectionate to each other already? Two weeks of texting back and forth almost non stop plus a few small encounters with each other physically doesn't usually lead to something like this. It just felt so normal, like they should have been doing this from the beginning.

Eventually Marinette carefully pulled his hand off to lay it on the bed next to him. "I need to go tell the nurses you've woken up, and I'm sure Nino and Alya want to know too." She said, standing up and turning to leave. The bluenette paused when she noticed an odd look crossed his features but she couldn't tell if he was sad or worried. "I'll be right back, Minou." She said with a smirk, reaching out to gently scratch at the top of his head. He relaxed a little at her words, leaning his head up into her fingers. Quickly she dropped her hand and stepped out of the room, sending him one last smile before disappearing into the hallway.

-oOo-

A few days later he was finally released from the hospital with some powerful painkillers and a doctor's order to stay in bed as much as possible, keep the cigarettes to a minimum, and no shows until the broken rib was healed as it would take longer than the collapsed lung he suffered from thanks to the bullet wound. Nino drove him back to his apartment and Adrien was glad to see that the landlord had cleaned up the mess out in the hallway. His friend helped him get inside even with the blond saying he'd be fine on his own.

The drummer was pretty persistent, though, getting him settled in on his couch. "Alright, you need me to grab you anything, run to the store for you or something?" Nino asked as Adrien slowly shifted to lay down completely on the sofa. "Nino, seriously, I'm fine. The doctor didn't say I was going to need twenty-four hour assistance. Go home, dude." The blond said with a quick smile. Nino paused for a moment before he let out a sigh. "Yeah, alright. Just, shoot me a text or something if you need help." Adrien grinned. "Yup, thanks for getting me home. I'll see you later."

Nino nodded, tossing him a quick wave before walking out of the apartment and shutting the door behind him. Adrien, now alone with his thoughts, cast his gaze up to his ceiling. Gradually his eyes shifted to stare at his pack of smokes resting on the coffee table. He reached out for them but paused as his fingers touched the box. "I already had a hole in my lungs…" He muttered as he dropped his hand to the floor. What was he supposed to do now that he was basically on bed rest for the next six weeks?

With a grunt he lifted himself up to a sitting position, carefully swinging his feet around to plant on the floor. Just as he was about to stand his phone went off, alerting him to a new text message. He fished his phone out of his pocket to look at who it was but he was left a little confused as the message was from a number he hadn't seen before. Opening it up he was surprised to read that it was from Marinette.

[Hey, make it home alright, Minou? I got a new phone/number since the police haven't found Félix yet.]
[Yeah, all safe and sound. Nino took me home.]

Adrien leaned back onto his couch, smiling down at his phone. It was a little adorable how much she cared for him.

[You hungry? I'm staying with my parents for now and they have some left overs from the bakery I could bring you.]
[That sounds amazing.]
[Good, I'll be there soon!]

The guitarist dropped his phone lightly onto his chest and went back to staring at his ceiling with a wide smile. Part of him wondered if he should be worried about how fast his heart was beating. Moving as slowly as he could he pushed himself off his couch after placing his phone onto the cushions and did his best to clean up his apartment. Not that it was dirty by any means but for some reason the idea of Marinette actually being inside made him feel like everything had to be perfect. He wasn't able to do much but he was somewhat satisfied with the result by the time he heard a faint knock on his door.

Opening up the door he was greeted with the sight of Marinette standing there wearing a lightweight, black sweater with the words 'Meow' written across it in bold green. Hiding underneath it was a matching green skirt that fell just above her knees along with a pair of black flats. She had a woven basket hooked over her arm, the scent of freshly baked goods quickly wafting up to invade Adrien's senses. Before he had a chance to verbally greet her his stomach growled loudly, causing the blond to instantly flush a bright red as Marinette held her free hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh. "I hope I brought you enough food." She teased.

"I'm just gonna go hide in my bedroom and never come out." Adrien said with a low groan, stepping aside so Marinette could enter his apartment. She giggled lightly at his words. "Aww, don't be embarrassed." She said sweetly as she walked inside, Adrien closing the door behind her. Marinette moved to his couch as she looked about his living room. It looked much nicer than she expected the apartment of some rocker to look like, neatly organized and actually decorated. Mostly with various posters but they were framed which made it look a bit nicer than having them just tacked to the wall.

Sitting down on his couch Adrien followed after her but paused before sitting down. "Ah, can I get you anything to drink?" She smiled up at him with a nod. "Just some water, please." He nodded, walking into his kitchen to grab a pair of glasses and filled them both up with ice and water. When he returned she had set the basket down on his coffee table and had started to unload a few containers full of different pastries, mini quiches, cookies, and the like. "How much did you bring?" He asked wide eyed as he sat down next to her, setting the glasses down. "Well, I figured whatever we didn't eat now you could just save and have to snack on later."

"Thank you." He said softly. Marinette felt a soft blush dusted her cheeks but she ignored it to finish setting out all the food. From there the pair happily dug into all the food that she had brought over, Adrien feeling like he'd melt with how delicious everything was. "Oh my god, all of this is amazing, I might just go move into their bakery." He said, nearly moaning out happily with his cheeks full of quiche. It took all of her self control not to choke on her own food in laughter.

As they continued eating they'd occasionally pause whenever a topic of conversation broke out between them. Adrien loved how easy it was to talk with her and was glad to notice how comfortable she was around him. It seemed that they shared a lot of common interests but a small portion of him wondered if they truly did. All of that conditioning from Félix may have taught her to say that she liked things she really didn't just to appease someone else. He didn't want any of that, he wanted to know the real Marinette, so he did his best to focus on anything that made her unique. When the conversation ever took a turn towards something that only she really liked he made sure to pay extra attention and would urge her to elaborate more on them. It was a small gift to himself to watch how she would light up taking about something like fashion design, a hobby she had stuck with after Félix pushed her down a different career path.

She'd become so animated, moving her hands about in the air as she spoke, mimicking certain motions whenever she'd talk about a certain kind of stitching. Some of this he remembered sort of when he modeled for his father but it was much different coming from Marinette. "So, do you have a favorite designer? Like, someone you look up to or that you're inspired by?" He had asked at one point. She paused for a moment to think it over. "Well, for the longest time I had always really liked the designs from Gabriel Agreste." Adrien's heart stopped. "But a few years ago, after some family issue he kept secret from the public, his work sort of took an odd turn. He lost a lot of his popularity and I think he announced his retirement after the fashion week last year."

Adrien chewed on his inner cheek at this news. After walking out on his father he didn't really keep tabs or check up on him. They still hadn't said a single word to one another since that night. Did his leaving really cause his father to retire? He doubted it, it wasn't like his father was really the emotional type anyway. Marinette seemed to notice that something was bothering him, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" She asked, snapping him out of his thoughts to look at her. "Yeah, no, I'm fine. Sorry, the painkillers they gave me have me spacing out from time to time." He lied. She probably didn't buy it but she didn't press the issue either.

When they had finished eating, despite Adrien insisting that he put everything away, Marinette forced him to stay on the couch as she took everything to his kitchen and placed the food in his fridge. On her way back to the living she pulled out her phone to check the time, shocked to discover how much time had passed. "Oh, wow, I didn't realize how late it was. I should probably head home." She said as she picked up the now empty basket. Adrien pushed himself off the couch, although he was a bit sad to have her leave. Part of him was tempted to ask her to stay but it was a bit too soon for that.

He walked her towards the door, opening it up for her. "Thank you for coming by, and for all the food. I can't wait for breakfast in the morning." He said with a wide smile. She returned it happily. "Anytime. And if you need anything don't hesitate to call me, I'd be happy to come by and help you out. It's the least I can do since...you know." She muttered, trailing off a little at the end of her sentence. The guitarist let out a small sigh, pulling her to his chest with one arm around her waist. "Stop feeling bad. It's not your fault. I told you, I'd do it all over again if I had to." Marinette was quiet as she rested her forehead against his chest, nodding slowly but she still felt like what had happened to him had been completely her fault.

The whole reason she had even shown up at his apartment that night was because Félix had seen all of the text messages they had been sending to each other. Of course, to her, they were completely innocent but according to him she was clearly cheating on him. It probably didn't help that when he had followed her she was kissing the man she claimed she wasn't having an affair with. If she hadn't of let her emotions get in the way and gone somewhere else then Adrien would have been fine.

Slowly she pulled out of his embrace, managing a smile, and took a few steps back. "Good night, Adrien." She said softly, raising her hand up in a quick wave. "Good night, Marinette." His voice matched her own as he spoke in an almost whisper. She turned and made her way towards the elevator, holding her finger over the button to call the metal box up. Adrien stood in the doorway, watching as she walked down the hall for a few seconds, his fingers drumming on the door frame. When the doors opened and she stepped inside he leaned back into his apartment and shut the door, turning to lean his back against the wood.

"That...was probably one of those moments where I should have kissed her…" He mumbled to himself. He had wanted to, so badly, but he wasn't quite sure if he should have. And especially since their first one ended so poorly a do over was certainly needed. Maybe it was just the hopeless romantic side of him that wanted it to be special? Who knows. With a yawn and dragged his feet towards his bedroom and carefully collapsed onto his mattress, being careful of his ribs.

-oOo-

The next morning Nino walked up to Adrien's apartment building, pausing before entering the building as something lying on the sidewalk caught his eye. "Who the hell leaves an empty basket in the middle of the sidewalk?" He asked himself with a raised brow, walking inside with a quick shake of his head.

A/N: Probably should have warned you the suspense is not over!