Chapter Seven:

Sunday Morning

I felt a little bad about the loud laugh I let out at the look on Adrien's face. The shocked expression he had after I said I was his long lost sister was priceless. As I laughed he frowned and turned bright red which only made me laugh a little more.

"I-I'm sorry. I forget that my dry humor sometimes makes it hard for people to tell when I'm joking." I said as my laughter died down.

"That wasn't very funny." Adrien said crossing his arms.

"Oh don't pout. How would you not know if you had an older sister? Surely your parents would've at least mentioned their missing daughter." I said taking a sip of my milkshake.

"So what was the real reason for the big sister comment?" He asked again.

His frown hadn't gone away so I switched gears. I would be honest and straight forward with him. Then I could switch subjects to him.

"Well, I was thinking about the comment I made about not being able to replace your dad, which is still totally the truth. I was thinking though; you don't have any siblings so maybe I could be like your older sister. I have some experience in the role, but I never did have a younger brother so that would be different. It's up to you though. Ya wanna be my little bro?" I asked trying to keep my tone playful.

My cheeks were burning a little. It sounded stupid when I said it out loud to him and it was embarrassing. I almost hoped he would say no so I could pretend I never said something so odd.

"I mean…" he looked away a little awkwardly.

"Adrien, if you don't want to it's cool. We'll still do this every Sunday. It was just a silly suggestion." I said soothingly.

"It's just, you're right. I never had a sibling. What would even change between us?" Adrien asked.

"Oh. Um, well, since I would still have to have the professional relationship with you not much most days. We could always annoy each other more like we always did but does that work in this context?" I muttered questioningly.

"What?" He asked.

"Sorry, just thinking out loud about me and my siblings. I mean, it would mean we could come to each other about our problems. Complain about our parents. Ask for advice. Most of the time being a sibling is just bugging one another when you're bored though. At least in my family it is." I said smiling fondly at the thought.

"I like the sound of everything besides the bugging each other part." Adrien said smiling once more.

"Aw, but that's the part I'm best at." I whined playfully.

The waitress came over and gave us our food. I had gotten 2 blueberry pancakes. Adrien had gotten pancakes with banana and a tower of whip cream. I would be in so much trouble if anyone found out I was allowing him to eat so much unhealthy food in one sitting. If it actually started showing I would have to put some restrictions on our Sunday meals but he was young and would probably work it off with all his athletics.

"So, speaking of being able to talk about our problems and ask for advice; anything new and exciting with you?" I asked.

"Not really. If there was you would know. You have to make my schedule." He said shoving a spoonful of whip cream in his mouth.

I cringed at the action. I always hated the way people ate whip cream by shoving as much as possible in their mouths. Made me feel sick honestly. At least he wasn't spraying it from a can straight into his mouth though. I shook away the thoughts.

"Dude, we had decided Sundays would be for non-work related things though. Do you really have nothing school related to talk about? And there's no way at your age you don't have some kind of drama with your friends you want to talk about." I said.

"Um, I mean I guess there's always some Chloe drama but she's gotten loads better since she became Queen Bee." Adrien said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I suppose becoming a hero and saving Paris could change someone." I said softly as I took a bite of my waffle.

"Yeah." He said a little solemnly.

I don't know if I had upset him or if he just really didn't want to talk about Chloe.

"Well, what about…what was his name? Nino?" I asked.

"Yeah, Nino is my best friend." Adrien said chuckling a little.

"Don't laugh at me. I'm bad with names, its lucky I got his right." I said pouting. "Everything cool with him? No friend drama?"

"No drama on the Nino front. He's too chill to really have any drama. At most he may have a little drama with Alya since she's always putting herself into danger following akumas around. She's always in search of some content for the LadyBlog." Adrien said smirking.

"Alya is his girlfriend right? And I think I remember Marinette's parents talking about her too so she's probably Marinette's friend too?" I said questioningly.

"Yeah, she's Mari's best friend." Adrien said.

I wasn't sure what it was but something changed when I mentioned Marinette. His face softened and his smile changed. His voice was different too. Maybe happier wasn't the right word but it was the closest I could get to defining it.

I leaned forward and rested my chin on my hand.

"So what about this Mari?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"What about her? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked seeming concerned.

"I don't know, what's your relationship with her? This is the first I've heard you talk about her but if your best friend is her best friend's boyfriend you have to have interacted with her some." I said.

I smiled at how similar his situation was to one I had been in years ago. I guess everyone really does go through similar experiences no matter where they are in the world.

"I mean, Marinette is amazing. She's a really good friend." Adrien said cheerfully.

"Huh. A really good friend?" I asked tilting my head.

"Yeah, on my first day of school we had a misunderstanding but at the end of the day we resolved it and since then we've only gotten to be better friends. She's really nice and creative and always stands up for her friends." He said happily.

"And she's just a friend." I said disappointedly.

"Well, yeah? Why does that seem to upset you?" He asked worriedly.

"Oh, it doesn't really. I just thought maybe there was some gossip there. As an adult alone in the city I don't get to hear much. But hey, at your age you don't have to be interested in anyone." I said taking another bite of food.

"Well…" Adrien said his face turning red as his voice trailed off.

"Ooooooooh?" I questioned smirking. "Who's the lucky girl the model has his eyes on?"

"I-I'd rather not say but she's an amazing girl. She's smart and beautiful and brave. I love her." He said.

I tried to hold back my cringe at that. In a way it was cute, a kid saying he loved someone he had a crush on but love is very different than having a crush.

"Um, she sounds cool. Are you friends with her or something?" I asked.

"I guess. I think what we are is different than friends but that's probably the best way to describe what we are." He said.

"You're worrying me kid. What's another way to describe your relationship with this girl?" I demanded.

"Um…I guess…partners?" He said sheepishly.

"Partners? Well, are you doing anything illegal? Like, you aren't partners in crime right?" I asked.

"No no! Not like that. More like…in…class." He said awkwardly.

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously but before anymore could be said an explosion went off down the street. I jumped to my feet and my hand instantly shot out and grabbed Adrien's wrist. I still wasn't sure what was going on but this kid was not leaving my side.