A/N: Thanks for sticking with me! The next chapter will answer a lot of questions, I promise! I've already started to write it and it's probably up tomorrow.
I hope you enjoy this.
7.
Something warm and wet on her cheek yanked Marinette out of her slumber. Everything hurt. For a brief moment, she wondered what had happened to knock her unconscious. She peeked through her eyelashes into a childish face. Hugo was grinning at her.
The sight of his blonde hair brought back the memories from the night before. Marinette felt like someone had hit her head with a brick. She had a pounding headache, a stiff neck and her mouth was dry.
"Hugo, get off her. Go and get some breakfast, alright?" Adrien's stern voice cut into her headache like a sharp knife. The weight on top of her moved. Marinette blinked. She moved to sit up only to be pushed back down by a pair of strong, adult hands. "Take it slow."
Marinette stretched, her mind still foggy from the night on the sofa. Her nose caught a whiff of something sweet. It made memories flood into her brain and she jumped up, panicked about having fallen asleep on duty. Dizziness hit her instantly.
"Told you to take it slow." Adrien pushed her to sit again. When Marinette's vision stabilized, she saw him offer her a glass of water with a white pill. "Here. Your head must be killing you. I swear, I need to replace that sofa soon."
"Thanks."
Marinette was dying on the inside. She couldn't believe that she had fallen asleep while "on duty" – it was embarrassing to say the least. The fact that she had been the last to wake up made it even worse.
Adrien eyed her warily. None of Hugo's babysitters had ever stayed the night. As a rule, they left once Hugo had fallen asleep, leaving the child alone until whenever Adrien arrived.
"It's 9:20. I called in sick on your behalf."
"Thanks… wait, what?" Marinette's head snapped up to look at the blonde man.
"Your friend err… Tikki, was it? said you should rest." Adrien watched how her expressions changed from confusion to frustration and from frustration to relief. She bit her lip, unsure what to say.
"I'm so sorry," she started just as Adrien offered: "Uh, pancakes?"
They laughed at the same time. "You first," he suggested taking turns. Marinette blushed.
"I'm so sorry…" she repeated. "For falling asleep like this."
"Oh, it's no problem!" Adrien smiled. It made Marinette's heart skip a beat. "Honestly, thank you for that. I always worry, when Hugo is home alone, even if it's for a short while."
"Alone?" Marinette couldn't keep the disbelief out of her voice. Adrien knew he had said the wrong thing.
"It's not what you think!" he exclaimed before she could get in another word. "He's not home alone… not usually anyway. When Manon can't look after her and everyone else is busy, Nathalie drives him to my office, but…"
"That's not a place for a child!"
"Exactly." Adrien confirmed. He was happy that she agreed on the matter. "And Manon usually leaves once Hugo's asleep."
"Is that Manon Chamack?" Marinette wondered.
"Yeah. You know her?"
Marinette's face turned so dark that Adrien felt glad for having sent Hugo away.
"I'm going to kill her," she muttered to herself. Louder, she added: "I babysat her when she was younger. She should know better."
"She's not that bad." Adrien defended her. Marinette rolled her eyes.
"Anyway… I'm sorry for that time too. You know, before. It was wrong of me to call you…" She tried hard to remember what she had said exactly.
"A ridiculous, irresponsible, good-looking parent," he quipped helpfully. Marinette's cheeks turned even redder than before. She was about to retort something in response, but when she saw the smile on his face, all traces of coherent thought left her head. He was beautiful.
"Well, that. I'm sorry for that," she managed to get out.
"To be fair, I think you were right. I am ridiculously good-looking."
"Don't forget irresponsible!" Marinette teased, breath hitching in her throat. Adrien grinned.
The woman stood up, breaking the spell before she could get too lost in that wide smile.
"I should probably go." She looked away, cheeks burning.
"Don't." Now, it was Adrien's turn to blush. "I mean, we have breakfast? If you'd like?" Marinette's heart was racing in her chest. "Hugo would probably kill me, if you left now." She felt a twinge of disappointment at his last words.
"Sure. Let me just call Tikki first…" Marinette looked for her bag and having found it, dug out her phone.
"I'll go check on Hugo on the kitchen, alright?" Adrien decided to give her the space for the phone call. Marinette nodded, already having pressed the call button.
"Good morning, Marinette!" Tikki greeted her cheerfully.
"Tikki, help me!"
"What's up? Enjoying your sick day?" Marinette knew Tikki was grinning even without having to see her face.
"Tikki!"
"He's cute, isn't he?"
"Yeah." Marinette sighed dreamily.
"So what's the problem?"
"I… we… He…. THAT's the problem!"
"The bakery can manage one day without you, Marinette. I was honestly surprised, when he called and said you'd stayed the night with him, but I'm happy for you. You deserve - "
"It wasn't like that!" Her face flushed to the roots of her hair. "I fell asleep on the sofa. Not whatever you imagine."
"One can always hope." Shrug. "But was he nice about it?"
"So nice. Like a dream." Then, snapping out of it, she moaned. "What should I do, Tikki?"
Tikki laughed heartily. "Enjoy yourself, sweetie. I've gotta go or I'll burn the macaroons. See you tomorrow!"
"No, Tikki, don't leave me!"
The beep marking the end of the call left Marinette as nervous as ever. She put the phone away with a smile and tried to fix herself up, then walked through the empty hallways to the kitchen. She could hear Hugo's laughter from a mile away and it warmed her heart. She opened the door with a shy smile.
"Malinette!" Hugo rushed to hug her.
"Good morning, Hugo! Did you sleep well?" She looked up at Adrien who stood by the stove, a pan in hand. He was smiling at them.
"Yes." Hugo released her from the hug to return to his seat. Marinette looked around. She decided to sit down next to Hugo.
"Pancake?" Adrien offered. Without waiting for an answer, he slid a fresh one on a white plate and placed it in front of her.
"A cat!" exclaimed Marinette in surprise. "It's very cute!"
"A special gift for taking care of Hugo last night. Tea or coffee?"
Marinette answered without a second thought: "Coffee. Milk, no sugar."
"Here you are."
"Thanks."
Adrien studied her face as she ate. Feeling his gaze, it had turned pink again. He thought it was sweet.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked. Two pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Figuring he meant her, Marinette replied: "Sure"
"It's about something Nino said…" Adrien explained, slightly embarrassed about what he wanted to know.
"What did Nino say?" There was a note of hesitation in her tone. She wasn't sure if she could trust Nino to speak mostly good of her or not and there were a number of things about her that were better not spoken about.
"Is it true that…" Marinette held her breath, "you want to be a designer?"
Even Hugo turned to look at her when she thought about the best way to answer that question.
"I… wanted to be one. In the past. But… things happened."
Adrien leaned closer. Hugo's hands flew to cover his own mouth to stop him from squealing childishly. Adrien was close enough to kiss her if he wanted to. Hugo knew that, because he had seen Manon's boyfriend do that.
"Is it because of what happened with Chloé?"
There was a smirk on Adrien's face. He expected her to laugh, to answer wittily, anything other than the reaction he got. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. You could have cut the tension with a knife. Marinette dropped the mug she was holding, spilling the remains of her drink on the table. The mug clunked against the wood, rolled a little and then stopped completely.
Hugo stood up as if nothing had happened. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and said he was going back to his room. The adults heard him, but didn't acknowledge it. It didn't matter. He was smart enough to know when to leave.
In reality, only a couple of seconds passed, yet for Marinette, it felt like forever. The woman's name had brought back memories. It felt like all air was sucked out of her lungs, but she told herself it was okay. She took a deep breath. She composed herself. She answered with a question of her own.
"What exactly did Nino tell you?"