Chapter 58
Adrien and Marinette saw Nathalie to the door then went to the bakery. Marinette was surprised to see her father standing beside her mother at the till, Usually he was kneading bread at this time.
"Give me a moment with them?" Marinette asked.
"No problem." Adrien said and watched her walk over to them. He realized that she must have been apologizing to them from her body language. He smiled as he watched Tom envelop her in a hug. As he watched he took out his phone and dialed.
"Maman, Papa, may I talk to you for a moment?" Marinette asked softly when she walked up to them. She fiddled with her fingers at her waist, and looked down shyly. When she was met with silence, she forged on ahead. "Papa, I. . .I want to apologize for yelling at you before. I know you were only looking out for my safety and best interest." she said, finding she had to blink her eyes to clear them of tears before she looked up at her father. "But I love him, Papa. You were tearing my heart out when you told me I couldn't see him anymore, and something inside me snapped, and I almost said something to you that I would have regretted for the rest of my life." she said, and was surprised when she was enveloped in her father's arms, as then held her close and one hand patted her back.
"It's alright, baby, I know you could never really hate me." he soothed. "But you are right, hearing you say that would have hurt, very very much."
"Ah, good, you two have made up." Sabine said, as her husband and daughter hugged. "I called Alya, so she can cover the front while we have a talk, and lunch."
Marinette nodded, and as they headed over to where Adrien was her stomach growled loudly.
"I kinda skipped breakfast." she said sheepishly.
"Well then it's good I cooked plenty." Sabine said as they entered the kitchen/dining room. "Tom, Adrien, take your seats while Marinette and I get things.
Adrien sat across from Tom at the table and was nervous at the lack of a smile on the big man's face.
"Oh, Papa, stop trying to scare Adrien away." Marinette scolded with a laugh as she placed a bowl of soup in front of each of them, and a bowl at the places where Sabine and herself would sit.
"If he scares off that easily, he doesn't deserve you." Tom said giving Adrien a grin and a wink.
Adrien sighed with relief as he used his spoon to cut through the cheese and bread on the top of his bowl, as he watched Sabine and Marinette take their seats and do the same.
Adrien managed to gather a spoon filled with bread, cheese and the rich onion soup underneath and blew on it before putting it into his mouth.
"Sweetie, are you alright, was the soup to hot?" Sabine asked in alarm when she saw the look on Adrien's face.
Marinette chuckled. Having been with her boyfriend at times when he was given either a sample of, or a full home cooked meal she recognized the look. She watched as he swallowed and kept his eyes closed for a moment.
"No, I'm fine, it's fine. It's actually the best french onion soup I've ever tasted." he gushed.
"If he reacts to just my soup like that, what's going to happen when he tastes my stew?" Sabine wondered, drawing a laugh from Marinette.
The meal went smoothly with Marinette actually doing most of the talking, relating her experiences from the night before. She and Adrien were carrying small bowls of assorted fruits, finishing off their deserts when they all moved to the family room to talk.
"What's this?" Marinette asked, seeing a small shipping box on the end of the couch.
"That model, Kira, I think her name was." Sabine said. "She dropped it off saying it was for you.
Marinette looked at it curiously, wondering what Kira would send her in the cube shaped box. Taking a file from her bag, she slit the tape on the top and pulled the flaps open. She gasped softly when she saw the contents, and started looking through them.
"What is it, Mari?" Adrien asked.
"Well, now I know how those two thugs recognized me, and tied me to the gala." Marinette replied. She reached into the box and started putting magazines and tabloids on the coffee table. "Mode, Bazaar, Vogue, oh and this one is cute." she listed as she set them out.
All had one thing in common. They had pictures of Marinette in her gown and headlined her as being a new force in the fashion industry. The one she thought was cute was one of the newspaper like tabloids with the headline. 'The New Power Couple in Paris.' below the headline was a picture of her and Adrien walking intimately close to each other. She recognized it as when they were walking in the Butte aux Cailles before Adrien had gotten her the bomber jacket.
Sabine cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, as she had picked up one of the magazines and opened it to the article about her daughter.
"It appears that Adrien Agreste has made a excellent choice in girlfriends." she read. "Not only is she a beauty that any modeling agency would love to have, but she has a sharp and creative mind in that lovely head of hers. Marinette Dupain-Cheng absolutely stunned the fashion community with her foursome of designs presented at last nights gala. At the tender age of seventeen, and as a freelance designer, she was deservedly awarded Designer of Note. This young lady will be a rising star to watch closely in the coming years."
"I've always told you that you were good." Adrien said. "Now publicity like this brings us to what happened earlier, and what we can do to prevent it." he added, then looked toward the door to the room. "Sean, Colleen." he called.
"Afternoon, Lad, Lass." Sean said as he and Colleen entered the room.
Marinette nodded her greeting to them. "How will they help?"
"Myself, Fiona and Mary are now your protective detail, as Sean, Michael, and Declan are Adrien's." Colleen answered.
Marinette stared, stunned at the redhead for a moment. "Umm, that won't work, I can't afford to pay you."
Sean gave her a smile and a wink. "Trust me, Lass, you can."
Marinette was tapping on her phone as Sean spoke. "Even if you're only a couple thousand euros a month, I. . ." she began but cut off when she saw what was displayed on the screen. "What the hell?!" she gasped, then looked over at Adrien, her eyes wide. "There's almost two million euros in my account! Where. . .?"
"Look at your deposits." Adrien prompted, and he watched her pale when she saw. "Your three dresses from the gala are back ordered for two months already, and almost two hundred of your gowns have been ordered." he said softly. "Congratulations, no single designer has had a run on their designs like this in the history of Gabriel Fashions."
After a brief moment, Marinette shook herself back to the here and now, and turned to where Colleen and Sean stood. "Thank you, I accept your offer." she said, and saw the look of relief that swept over both her parents.
"Excellent." Sean said. "Well then, we're on the job starting oh, about a week ago."
Colleen stepped over and put a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "I do have one request, Lass." she said. "Please refrain from becoming Ladybug when you decide to run off. I can't keep up with you then."
The six people in the room shared a laugh at that.
"I promise." Marinette said, blushing. "So that means I can leave the house now?" she asked her parents.
Tom and Sabine shared a look. "Yes, sweetie." Sabine said. "We saw at the gala how good they are, when that Lila Rossi girl lunged at you." she explained.
"So, does that mean we have to reveal ourselves to the others on the team?" Adrien asked.
Sean sighed heavily. "I'm afraid so, yes." he said. "I understand why you want to keep the number who know to a minimum, but them knowing will help when there is an akuma attack, so they can let you find somewhere to change." he explained.
Adrien was slightly surprised to see Marinette nodding in agreement. "I'm trusting you to have people that can be trusted not to pass on our identities." she said to Sean. "That not only protects me, but my parents and friends as well. Adrien and I are trusting you with our lives, and I'm entrusting you with theirs. Please don't fail me."
"Well, now that that is all straightened out, Tom and I need to get back down to the bakery." Sabine said. "Alya said she wanted to talk to both of you."
"Okay, Maman, just send her up." Marinette said, then headed up to her room, with Adrien following. "You up for some more Ultimate Mecha Strike?"
Adrien chuckled softly. "Actually, no thank you, but I'd rather just sit and snuggle with you for a while." he said blushing sightly. "I'm still catching up on not losing you."
"Aww, my poor kitty." she said and sat on her fainting couch and patted the cushion beside her. When he sat, she pushed him down so he was laying back against the reclined section, then all but lay on top of him, her head on his upper arm as she nuzzled against his neck. "This better?"
"Much." Adrien said as he put his left arm around her shoulders, and his right hand lay on the small of her back.
"Marinette, you up here?"
"Yeah, come on up, Alya."
They both watched as the redhead came up through the trapdoor, and Adrien felt the chuckle rumble in Marinette's chest at the look Alya made.
"I'd tell you two to get a room, but you already are in one." Alya said.
"You better not be here to cause more trouble."
"Plagg, that's enough." Adrien admonished his kwami.
"No, Plagg, I'm not here to cause trouble." Alya said softly. "I'm here to apologize to the both of you. What I did was inexcusable. I should have discussed the article with you in private, Adrien. Your referring to me as paparazzi was correct. I was acting like those vultures, and doing it with my two closest friends. I can't imagine the hurt I caused you, but I saw the reactions." she paused for a moment then sighed heavily. "Adrien I thank you for your restraint, I saw how much you wanted to lash out, to try to hurt me as much I had hurt you with my stupidity. How are your palms, by the way?"
"Palms?" Marinette asked, as Adrien tried to slide his hands under his thighs, keeping them from her sight.
"A little sore, but alright." he said, then looked as Marinette shifted her position.
"Kitty, let me see." she prodded. She watched as he reluctantly brought his hands into her field of view, and she gasped softly at seeing the crescent shaped marks where his finger nails had bitten into the skin.
"At least I didn't lash out at her." he said softly, then inhaled sharply as Marinette brought his hand up and kissed his palms softly.
"Knock, knock. Can I come up?" Nino called from the trapdoor.
"Of course you can." Marinette called back.
"Thanks." he said. "I come bearing gifts." he added.
"What are those?" Adrien asked seeing the two boxes that Nino carried.
"We don't know, they were dropped of by a courier." he replied, handing one to Adrien and one to Marinette, then sat in Marinette's computer chair while Alya took a seat between Adrien and Marinette.
"They're from Bill Smathers." Adrien said looking at the routing label.
"The photographer?" Marinette asked as she stripped the tape from the top of her box. Opening it she took a sheet of paper from on top and read it. "Some shots I thought you might like, the flash drive has the entire shoot on it. Congratulations, Bill."
While Marinette was reading, Alya lifted a framed picture from the stack. "Wow, this is amazing!" she gasped looking at it.
Marinette craned her neck around and looked at the shot. Marinette was wearing a sleeveless knee length dress which was white with a floral pattern, and Adrien was wearing a white outfit. The shot had been taken when they had been walking along the Seine, and Marinette's head was turned toward Adrien and she was laughing.
"Wow, Mari, this is just wow." Nino said, then turned the frame around that he held so the others could see it.
"Yo, girl, that is hot!" Alya gushed, then looked over and saw that her bestie was blushing.
The shot, from Adrien's box, was one of the more static ones from the swimwear shoot. The bikini was dark blue and the top had a sheer pink drape over the front and the bottoms had a matching skirt. It was obvious that Marinette had been facing away from the camera, and had been told to turn back toward it. The drape and skirt had flared out, revealing the suit itself, along with Marinette's curves, but what really made the shot was the look on Marinette's face.
"Bill told me to turn and look over my shoulder and to give Adrien a sultry look." Marinette explained. "What do the red and green dots mean, Adrien?" she asked referring to a set of three small dots in the bottom right corner of the shot.
"They're indicators as to whether or not the shot is to be included in the catalog or online." Adrien explained. "The first one is Bill's, the second Nathalie's and the third is my father's. Why?"
"Well, Bill said no and so did Nathalie, but your father's dot is green."
"That means that it will be included." Adrien said. "You gotta admit that it is a beautiful shot." he added. "I know that Nathalie went along with Bill's recommendation, but I wonder why he didn't want it included." he mussed.
"Here's one for Mari." Alya said holding up a shot of Adrien and Jake. Adrien was wearing a dark blue swimsuit, and had a towel slung over his shoulder as they walked toward the camera. "That's a candid shot, and I'd guess that he's looking at you." Alya commented. "At least I hope so with that look." she added, and she and Nino shared a laugh at how Marinette and Adrien blushed.
"At least I know why Bill didn't recommend this shot." Marinette said. "He didn't take it but one of his assistants did." she explained. "I was talking to Bill when this shot was taken.
Just then Marinette's phone chimed with a message notification.
"It's from Nathalie." she said, opening the message. "Yeah, that figures." she said under her breath. "A makeup and hair styling team will be here in about an hour to get us ready for the press conference." she told Adrien.
"That's our cue to leave then." Alya said. "I'm sure you're both going to want to grab showers."
"True." Marinette said looking at the time on her phone. She noticed that Adrien went with Nino to the trapdoor, while Alya leaned in close to her.
You okay?" the redhead asked. "You seem off somehow."
Marinette gave her a smile. "I'm fine, I just want to talk to Adrien about a couple of things."
Alya nodded her understanding. "Just remember those pictures were fake."
Marinette nodded, relieved that her friend accepted that as what was bothering her. "I'll call you later and fill you in on a few things."
"You better." Alya said. "I want deets on last night."
Adrien looked over at Marinette when he heard her laugh, then turned back to his best friend. "I'm fine Nino, I just want to talk to Marinette to make sure everything is good between us."
"Are we good, Princess?" he asked as he came up behind her. He was surprised when she turned toward him and wrapped him in a hug.
"Yes, kitty, we are." she said.
"So, what's bothering you?"
Marinette rested her head against his chest for a moment, listening to his heart beat. "A couple of things, actually." she finally said. "When we take down Hawk Moth, what's going to happen to you?" she asked, looking up at him. "I mean you're not eighteen yet, and he is your only family."
Adrien let his hand trail up and down her back as he thought that over. "Well money wise I'm set, even if I can't access my trust funds." he replied. "I guess I could apply to become an emancipated minor, or have your parents declared my temporary guardians." he added. "What else?" he asked, and saw her blush before she pressed her forehead against his chest.
"It's silly." she said. "You're going to think I'm weird."
Adrien hooked his index finger around her chin and tilted her head up to see her face. "I promise you I won't."
Marinette gave a small huff. "Well, this." she said tightening her arms around him. "Most of the time while Alya and Nino were here, all I wanted to do was reach out and touch you." she said. "Not to necessarily to hold your hand but to simply touch you." she explained. "See, I told you you'd think I was being silly." she added when she felt him chuckle.
"Well then that makes two of us being silly." he said. "Nino noticed the look on my face when Alya sat between us." he told her, then chuckled. "I almost asked her to move, so yeah I'm silly too."
"Well, you are both recovering from an emotional shock." Tikki said floating up beside them. "One that almost split you up, and you're reacting as your personalities would suggest." she explained. She sighed softly when she saw the look of confusion on her chosen's face. "Marinette, you give your support and show your affection but touch, giving hugs, holding hands, and other supportive touching." she continued. "Adrien, you're very receptive to such gestures, providing they are sincere and, to be honest, from Marinette."
"So because we were almost separated, we simply want to be in contact with each other." Adrien said.
"To prove to ourselves that we're staying together." Marinette added.
"Exactly." Plagg said. "From what we've seen it simply human nature."
Marinette and Adrien nodded. "Alya was right, we probably should grab a shower before the makeup team gets here." Marinette said.
"In that case, ladies first, since your longer hair will take longer to dry." Adrien said with a smirk.
