Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug, it's characters, or the movies.
Chapter 39,
Marinette tucked some hair behind her ear, and she took a deep breath. She was in her room, mentally preparing herself to hang out with Adrien and watch movies. She decided that it was best for them to watch their films downstairs in the family she'd be concerned with her parents being embarrassing or overbearing with their constant interruption; but lately she and Adrien have been so tense and awkward with each other, that she welcomed her parent's meddling.
"Honey, your friend's here." Her mother called up and Marinette's breath hitched and her heart started to beat faster. She looked at her beloved Kwami sitting on her desk and Tikki offered her an encouraging smile.
"Marinette, come down." Her father said excitedly and Marinette took a deep breath before doing as she was told. She walked down the steps and she saw her parents offering a tray of desserts to the blond boy.
"-And this is an Almond mascarpone creme chocolate cannoli, and this is mini chocolate Baklava, and a lovely chocolate papaya cupcake with a ruby-chocolate filling." Her mother pointed out and Adrien hesitated.
"Lots of chocolate." Adrien muttered with a smile and Marinette's father blinked.
"Huh, you're right. What about our strawberry churro with our warm wiped cream mouse for dipping; would you like that instead?" Her father asked and Adrien chuckled nervously.
"Whatever is fine, really, you don't have to go to so much trouble for me." Adrien said.
"Oh no, it's not trouble. We've got a whole store of goodness." Marinette's mother said and Marinette giggled and Adrien turned and stared at her.
"Hi." Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Hey." Marinette said. Her parents looked at both teens and realized how awkward this was- and not in the adorable way.
"Um, honey? Don't we have an order to bake?" Marinette's father asked and she nodded.
"Perhaps I'll be back with something to drink." Her mother said and they both went to the kitchen. Adrien and Marinette were left alone and it felt so strange.
"Are you, um... are you ready to watch some movies?" Adrien asked awkwardly and Marinette stepped closer to him.
"Yeah, um... what would you like to startwith?" Marinette asked and Adrien shrugged.
"Well, I haven't seen Secondhand Lions or Matilda, so whichever's fine by me." He said, hoping not to offend her.
"Ok, well, we have a digital copy of Secondhand Lions, and a DVD of Matilda, ah... somewhere... so maybe we can watch Secondhand Lions first." Marinette said and Adrien nodded.
"Ok, that sounds good." Adrien said and Marinette nodded.
"Good." She muttered. They both walked over to the couch, and Marinette turned on the movie. They sat there, in the glow of the television screen, trying to think of anything to ease the tension between them.
"It looks pretty." Adrien said.
"What does?"
Marinette asked and he shrugged.
"Texas." Adrien said and she nodded.
"Yes, it's very pretty." She agreed and there was another pause.
"You know, I'm glad my parents are so in love." Marinette said.
"Yeah, it's nice that you don't find it embarrasing." Adrien said and Marinette smiled a little at this.
"I do find it embarrasing sometimes. But it's better then the alternative. I mean that mother there, if you can call her that, left her son alone with two strange men she barely knows... I can't imagine going through that." Marinette said and Adrien looked away.
"I can." He said quietly and Marinette couldn't help but stare at him.
"Excuse me?" Marinette said and Adrien looked down at his hands.
"Well, I rarely see father anymore... instead he trusts me to the care of Nathalie and my bodyguard. Technically I have a personal chef who makes whatever I want, but I never see him." Adrien looked up at the tv.
"But my bodyguard usually stays with the car... and Nathalie spends so much time with father... so often I'm surrounded by a never-ending sea of silence... even if I screamed- who would hear me?" Adrien asked. Marinette simply stared again. It was one thing for Adrien to talk this way when she was Ladybug; as Ladybug she constantly saved Paris and it made sense for Adrien to trust Ladybug. But for him to be this real with Marinette... it may have felt odd, but it was really sweet too.
"That's rather poetic Adrien." Marinette said and Adrien shrugged.
"You know I actually like poetry. I use to write poems and short stories when I was younger. I really liked them, and I really liked showing them to my dad too- since he wrote me those children books, I kinda saw him as a writer." Adrien paused to smile and Marinette rubbed the back of her neck.
"Why... why did you stop?" Marinette asked and Adrien bit his lip.
"Well, I guess part of it was that father got famous, and he got more and more busy with his company. I would write something and try to show it to him, but he just dismissed me. Another is that... I use to show them to my mom and she loved them... so when I sit down to write, it makes me think of my mom and it makes me really sad." Adrien said and Marinette looked away. What could she say? Fortunately for her, this awkward pause was interrupted by her parents.
"Anyone thirsty? I've been playing around with this sugared dragon fruit smoothie." Her father said and they both grabbed a smoothie.
"I made some homemade chocolate dipped pretzels to go with it." Her mother said as she set down the little tray.
"This is all so nice." Adrien complimented but he was still sad from their earlier discussion.
"Are you alright?" Her mother asked and Marinette stood up.
"Thank you for the snacks." She said right before physically pushing them out of the room.
"Honey, what's going on?" Her father whispered and Marinette sighed.
"He was talking about his home life." Marinette said.
"Is something wrong?" Her mother asked.
"Is Adrien in danger?" Her father asked and Marinette bit her lip.
"I don't think he's in danger, but he's definitely lonely." Marinette said. she closed the door between them, but her nosy parents couldn't resist from cracking the door so they could eavesdrop on their conversation.
"I'm sorry about them." Marinette said and Adrien smiled at her.
"They don't really bother me. It's nice that they haven't forgotten us." Adrien said and Marinette hesitantly tucked some hair behind her ear.
"Have you tried talking to your dad about... being able to spend more time with him?" Marinette asked and Adrien let out a disgusted scoff.
"Well, that would require us actually being in the same room. I've asked Nathalie about it, but he's just too busy to acknowledge me. Remember when we went to the theater?" Adrien asked and Marinette nodded.
"Heh, Kinda hard to forget going to the movies dressed in my PJs." Marinette said and Adrien chuckled softly.
"Well, I tried talking to my father earlier that morning. I wanted to ask him if I could see mother's movie... I asked him if I could have a few minutes of his time to talk to him about something, and you want to know what he said?" Adrien asked, a mixture of bitterness and sadness in his voice.
"What'd he say?" Marinette asked.
"He said 'I'll tell Nathalie to let you know as soon as I'm available.' and who knows how long that would have taken." Adrien said and Marinette looked away.
"Maybe... maybe I could talk to my parents about letting you stay with us for a while." Marinette offered.
"I appreciate it, but I'm not sure father would like that." Adrien said and Marinette bit her lip, still not looking at him.
"That's... not what I meant, exactly." Marinette said. A tense moment passed as Adrein realized that she was offering up her home to him.
"If I were to leave home, father would just send my bodyguard or Nathalie after me. They both know how much I value your friendship; so if they found me here, they'd surely bring me back." Adrien said.
"I suppose you're right. And since there are so many of your followers, if they saw you, they would spread it all over social media." Marinette said, turning back to him.
"Man, sometime I wish I lived in a place that wasn't so modern. All the cell phones and cameras following my every move. It'd be nice to take it slow for once." Adrien said crossing his arms. Hearing Adrien, Marinette got an idea and she furrowed her brow.
"Adrien, I'd like to give you something." Marinette said and she stood up.
"I'll be right back." She said and she walked up to her room.
Though as it turns out, she wasn't the only Dupain-Cheng to get an idea. Marinette's father looked around for his cell phone.
"I can't believe that poor sweet boy has to deal with such emotional neglect. I get so angry at people who abuse their children." Her mother vented after closing the door.
"Not to mention the fact that emotional abuse is so much harder for others to detect because you can't physically see the cuts, bruises, and scars. And I'm not saying that physical abuse isn't a serious issue or anything, it's just frustrating that others don't realize that emotional abuse tends to be endured longer, and many times it effects their victims longer then physical ones... who are you calling?" She asked her husband whose been rather silent throughout her rant, instead of trying to calm her down.
I'm calling my father." He said and she was completely thrown by this response.
"Really? Why?" She asked and he shrugged.
"Can your think of a more 'not-so-modern' place where a famous model can live undetected by social media; where he can take things slow, and not be ignored, then my father's?" He asked and she blinked.
"Would your father really take Adrien in?" She asked.
"My father may be many things that I don't like. We stopped talking for years because I preferred to use a more modern type of flour. But, as much as we don't agree, I've always been impressed by how willing he was to help out total strangers- especially children. If dad doesn't have the room, he'll make room." He said.
By this time Marinette returned from her room, and she sat on the couch once more.
"I'd like you to have this." Marinette said, handing him something.
"A notebook?" He asked and he held it in his hands. It was a Ranboo-Styled hardbound book; with the black and white standing side-by-side with a cartoonish crown in the middle, and red and green 'jewels' along the top and bottom of the notebook.
"I guess it's a little dorky, but I do a lot of journaling and I find it very relaxing. Perhaps you may find journaling useful to rediscover your old love of writing. Even if you don't write more poems or short stories, journaling is still very therapeutic." Marinette said and for a moment, Adrienn just stared at the book; sorting out his feelings.
"I... I really appreciate this Marinette. Thank you." Adrien said and Marinette did a small nod.
Then the two turned back to the television and enjoyed their movie night.