Stuck In A Bakery (With You), Chapter 12


A gentle knock at a door produced no immediate response the next morning.

"Marinette?" called Adrien, quietly. "Are you awake?"

I see that there's a light on in her room, so I think she's up? he pondered. But she's not answering.

Cautiously, he cracked the door open much as Marinette had opened his the night before... then just a little more...

His blonde head peered through the opening and he called her name once more. Still getting no response, he opened it far enough to step into her room, and found himself seemingly alone. Craning his neck, he attempted to tell whether Marinette was up in her bed or not; it was hard to tell. A hint of a bulge could have been her sleeping form, or just a trick of the light and a pillow or a bunched-up bedsheet.

And I am NOT climbing up there to find out.

Or...

He looked over at the bathroom door... and that, too was closed, with light showing through the crack at the bottom of the door. When he took a couple of tentative steps forward, he heard the sound of the shower running inside.

Ah! he realized. She went ahead and got her shower first today; I must've slept a little later than usual. I'll just head back downstairs and...

...

...My legs won't move.


A rush came over Adrien, one that he was not entirely proud of but that was largely inevitable. A vision came to his mind, a reminder of what he'd felt the night before, while lying in his bed with a lovely young lady tucking him in...

"Then stop tingling, and go to sleep," Marinette had giggled at him. "Good night, Adrien," she had smiled...

...and then a sweet and gentle kiss had touched his forehead, like a tiny angel's wings brushing against it, and that tingling had become a raging flame.

Two sides of Adrien's brain began shouting loudly at each other. The dominant side demanded that it was time to leave, now, before the bathroom door would open and a towel-clad Marinette would dig a hole through the wall with her bare hands in her urge to flee the scene. She had been much more dressed last night and nearly had the same reaction. She would FREAK if she caught you here now. It is the gentlemanly thing to do. It is the ONLY thing to do!

The other side, controlled by his teenage hormones, argued its case. Hey, wait for just a minute! The door's still closed. I am not finished cataloguing every... little... detail about this for later reference! The sound of the shower running, the warmth of the door...

Why are you close enough to the bathroom door to feel that? the dominant side snarled, resending marching orders to his legs, which continued to resist but made marginal progress towards the exit.

The pleasant scent of soap or shampoo... that's lavender, I think, the teenage boy side continued, undaunted. Though I can't... I won't... I shouldn't form a mental picture of behind that shower curtain right now.

Nope. Not going to do that. No. Not going to even think of picturing the sweet angel who kissed me last night, who was the focus of all my dreams last night, who's in there right now without-

He heard a small creaking sound, likely the faucets being turned... and then the sound of running water ceased abruptly.

For a split-second, Adrien imagined his eyes shooting out like an old cartoon character's...

...and then he leaped out through the door as if jet-propelled, closed the door behind him, and beat feet down the stairs as quickly as he could. He was pretty sure that the sound of his brain screaming I TOLD YOU SO! would drown out any creaking of the stairs.


A bathroom door opened a moment later, slowly, and a towel-wrapped head peered around it.

"...Adrien? Was that you?" asked Marinette, cautiously.

Seeing no one and getting no response, she shrugged and closed the door once more, resuming her morning routine.

A short distance away, Tikki let out a small sigh of relief, followed by some quiet laughter.


In the afternoon, Tom and Sabine grinned at each other during a quiet moment.

"Quite a difference, hmmm?" marveled Tom. "Not as busy as in normal times, but who would expect that now? But much better than the last few days have been."

"I agree!" Sabine said. "A pleasant surprise."

"Maybe not so surprising," interjected Marinette, ducking her head in from the kitchen with a grin.

"Is it?" asked Sabine. "The mendiants you and Adrien made look delicious, and your father's marjolaines came out perfectly... but how would people know about them? We haven't exactly had a lot of word-of-mouth this week."

"Oh, ye of little faith," her daughter replied. "Someone took it upon himself to create some. Look!"

She handed her phone to Sabine, who reacted with some surprise. When Tom gave her a questioning look, she passed it over to him, and he saw a picture of Adrien and Marinette smiling over a tray of freshly-made mendiants. Beneath it was the text of an Instagram post:

adrienagrestebrand

Hello there, Paris! I hope that you all are well and staying safe. If your baked goods supply is running low... Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie at 12 Rue Gotlib is open and full of deliciousness.

"What is this?" Tom wondered.

"Adrien thought of a different way that he could contribute," smiled Marinette. "Free advertising... with a very large audience! He's got over six hundred thousand followers."

"Six hundred thousand what?" continued Tom. "Is that a lot? It sounds like quite a lot of something."

"Accounts that follow his, so they'll see anything that Adrien posts there if they're watching their phones. My goodness, Marinette!" Sabine replied, looking startled. "That is a gigantic following!"

"I know! I have at least... a few dozen, I think," Marinette beamed. "Swipe to the next one."

When Tom swiped to the next post, he saw Adrien feigning exhaustion, pulling two fresh loaves of bread out of the oven on a paddle:

adrienagrestebrand

Baking is very hard work! Knowing how AND actually doing it. But don't worry... I'm just helping temporarily. The Dupain-Chengs know precisely what they're doing, and they've made many wonderful things today!

"Not a bad idea... do we have one of these Instathings, Sabine?" asked Tom.

"I don't think so. Maybe we should," Sabine replied. "I put updates on our Facebook page when I think of it." She turned to Marinette, looking thoughtful. "I appreciate the efforts..." she continued, "but is this the right message to send in this situation? I mean... we are open, and we would like customers, but we want them home and safe, too."

"We thought of that, too," said Marinette. "One more post."

The next one showed Marinette and Adrien side-by-side, each with paper masks over their faces.

adrienagrestebrand

First things first, though. marinettedesigned and I remind you; if you're not well or might've been exposed, PLEASE be smart and stay at home. Give us a call and send someone else to pick up what you need!

"...Not bad," conceded Sabine. "And that explains all the phoned-in orders we've gotten today!"

Adrien poked his head out of the kitchen as well. "...You showed them?" he asked Marinette.

"Yeah, I did. What do you think?" Marinette asked, looking happy and hopeful.

"Thank you very much, Adrien! This really did make a difference for us today!" Tom declared, handing Marinette her phone back. "Though there is one other thing. I'm not sure if you thought about it before you posted these..."

As if on cue, Sabine's phone began ringing. She answered it, pleasantly... then her face turned quite alarmed.


"I am calling to inform you that Mr. Agreste has seen your advertisements today featuring his son... and he is absolutely appalled," declared Nathalie, in a rapid-fire verbal assault. "For one thing, we have entered into no formal business arrangement under which either the name or likeness of Adrien Agreste may be used to advertise your place of business, and for that alone you have placed yourselves into a very actionable position, Mrs. Cheng. I hope that you comprehend the gravity of this situation."

"I..." gulped Sabine, drawing the attention of all in the room. "We didn't..."

"Furthermore... when we arranged for Adrien to remain in Paris at your residence, we did so under the impression that you would safeguard his health as had been promised," Nathalie challenged her. "Not to put him to work in your kitchen like a common laborer. Not to put him into contact with customers who might have been exposed to the virus! The mere fact that your business remains open, you are exposing yourself to customers and you are then associating with Adrien is endangering Adrien's health. Perhaps his life as well! Your negligence is astonishing, Mrs. Cheng, and it will not go unanswered."

Adrien watched Sabine's frightened reactions carefully and made an educated guess. "Nathalie?" he mouthed to her, and stiffened up when she gave him a fearful nod.

"We will send someone to pick up Adrien within the half-hour. I hope that you have no long-term plans for your business, as once our legal team has done their work, I fully expect that we will own-"

Suddenly, Nathalie heard a rustling over the phone... followed by a different voice.

"You are going to tell me what you just said to her... right now," declared Adrien.


Marinette watched as Adrien frowned listening to Nathalie's tirade, then approached her shell-shocked mother. "What did she say?" Marinette whispered.

"She's furious. She thinks that Adrien being anywhere near the bakery is endangering him, exposing him. She's talking about legal action!" gasped Sabine.

"WHAT?" Marinette shouted. Tom stepped forward, reaching out for Sabine's phone, but Adrien gestured for him to stand back.

"Nathalie... you will listen to - you will listen to me right now. I will say what I need to say about this," he declared, with Gabriel-esque authority ringing in his voice. Tom stopped in his tracks, Marinette froze... and apparently, so did Nathalie, as Adrien continued without a pause.

"They did not 'put me to work in their kitchen.' I volunteered. Every single day that I've been here, and I will do it again every other day that I'm here, because I wish to. I am staying away from direct customer contact, by their request, because they are doing everything they can to keep me safe," Adrien stated. "They are housing me, they are feeding me, they are caring for me as if I was their own son. They are putting themselves at risk by having me here, because for all they knew, I might have been exposed before I even visited the other day!"

He listened to a brief response from Nathalie, then barked at her, "They are not taking advantage of me in any way. I offered to compensate them when I found out how long I might be staying here. This is a tough time, and money is going to be tight for everyone, and here I am as an unexpected burden for them, but they wouldn't even think of listening to me about that. They opened their home to me, they opened their hearts to me, because that's the kind of people they are. They think of others first every single time, and that's something that I wouldn't expect you or Father to fully understand."

"No, maybe that's not fair of me to say. I know that you're scared, and Father is scared, and everyone is scared right now. I wouldn't even be here right now if this whole situation wasn't deadly serious... But I put those posts up today because I felt inspired by the Dupain-Chengs. They're doing their best to play their part, to help any way they can, whether it's me or it's a hungry customer or it's you and Father by keeping me safe and sound. That's who they are."

He looked straight at Marinette as he added, "That's the kind of person that I want to be."

Just before disconnecting the call, Adrien concluded, "And if my father had called me to ask me why I posted those pictures today... or just to ask how I was, or if I was feeling healthy, or how he was coping, or if he felt any symptoms, or anything else these past few days... I would have told him that, too."


The room fell silent.

Adrien handed the phone back to Sabine. Softly, in a complete reversal of the commanding voice he'd used with Nathalie, he murmured, "I am so sorry, Mrs. Cheng. You cannot believe just how sorry. I didn't mean for any of that to happen when I... I didn't think first."

"No, Adrien, you did," she replied. "You thought of us first before thinking of yourself. That is the kind of person that you are."

He stepped forward, seeing an invitation in Sabine's demeanor, and she wrapped him up in a hug, closing her eyes.

Adrien laid his head on her shoulder, his breathing coming heavier, and the room fell silent once again.