Chapter 4
*Adrien's POV*
I didn't get home till 7am. After the sun rise, we fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms until about 30 minutes ago. We transformed into our alter egos, packed the pillows and blankets into Ladybug's yoyo and then kissed goodbye with the promise to see each other later.
I flew into my window to hear Natalie's knock on my door.
"Adrien, are you awake?" she asked through the door.
I quickly de-transformed and called for her to come in.
"Morning Natalie. Please don't say that I have a last minute addition to my schedule. You said that Father agreed to give me a day to do anything I want, even meet friends outside the house, if I accepted the Style Queen award," I pleaded
"No, you're fine Adrien. Sounds like you already have plans. I just came to tell you that your Father's eating breakfast in 5 minutes if you want to eat with him."
"Oh yes, I'll be down. I do actually have something to talk to him about. But don't tell him that I'm coming because otherwise he'll make an excuse like he normally does."
"Sure, see you downstairs in a minute then." Natalie then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I quickly got dressed and then went downstairs, skipping down each step.
As I walked into the dining room, my father looked up from his coffee and raised an eyebrow.
"You look chipper today," he pointed out in his normal monotone.
"I am, I'm surprised you noticed. But on that point I do have to tell you why I'm so happy," I replied nervously.
"Of course I noticed. You were whistling when you walked in. Rather uncharacteristically. But go ahead, what do you need to say?" His frown deepened.
"Well erm, yesterday during the Akuma attack Marintette and I got trapped in an elevator together and after talking for a while, we discovered that we both have had deep feelings for each other for a while that we hadn't acted upon. As a result, Ladybug and Cat Noir may have caught us, uh how do I say this to my father, erm snorking." At that, Natalie spat out her coffee, bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Snorking, noice Brooklyn 99 reference there! But all kidding aside, I'm glad that you two idiots finally realised your feelings for one another. I could even see that she had a massive crush on you, bigger than a fan girl crush, and that you have an incredibly soft spot for her," Natalie exclaimed, carefully wiping away her spilled coffee. My father was looking at us a little dumbfounded.
"What's your point Adrien? I seriously doubt that you made such a scene walking in here over a measly kiss." voiced my father.
"You are right. Marinette is now my girlfriend and I'm going to be leaving for her place in an hour to spend the day with her, Alya and Nino. I also have full intentions of taking her on many dates and spending a lot of time with the girl I love, so I'd really appreciate if you could dial back the photoshoots to only the really important ones and allow Marinette on whichever set's she'd like in order for her to gain exposure to the professional fashion world. And it was not a measly kiss" I blurted, quickly biting into my pastry once I'd finished speaking. My father looked at me incredulously. I could not read the expression on his face.
"I think that's reasonable. You obviously care about this girl a lot more than you did Ms. Tsurugi. One condition though. Gorilla has to know where you are at all times so that he can be nearby. He doesn't have to be attached to your hip but he does have to be within a radius of you," he answered after what felt like an excruciatingly long time.
"Thank you father. I'm not entirely happy about the Gorilla, but I guess that's slightly fair. I'm now going to get ready to go. Good day father." I left the room with a wide smile on my face.
*Third Person POV*
Gabriel and Natalie watched as Adrien virtually danced out of the room, his phone already out to dial Marinette to tell her the good news.
"That was good of you sir. I can tell he's really happy. He's walking around as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders," Natalie said as she refilled her coffee mug.
"Yes, it was good of me. But he looked so much like Emilie at that moment that I had to give in. Plus it gives us another opportunity to akumatise some jealous heartbroken classmates. Or maybe we can finally get Ms. Dupain Cheng, even though it would destroy Adrien, which is not what I want," Gabriel schemed, his brain hurting at the jumble between his desire to get Emillie back and his fatherly oath to protect his son.
"Maybe you should keep the akumatisations to a minimum when they're out on dates. That way Adrien still gets to fall deeper in love and enjoy his teenage years and you can protect him that way," suggested Natalie.
"Hmmmm, that's a good idea. I won't akumatise anyone this weekend anyway. We need to form a new plan that will actually work. We were so close yesterday before we got outsmarted by teenagers. Ugh I hate those wretched superheroes."
"Ok then. Let's get a move on. We will succeed one day sir."
"Yes we will."
With that, Gabriel and Natalie got up and went to Gabriel's office in order to start working on a new plan and do a little more designing for next year's spring collection.
A/N: I just have to mention the Brooklyn 99 reference back there. I can't really imagine straight laced Natalie watching it enough to understand that reference, it's not incredibly obvious, but we never know, she may enjoy a good laugh to brighten up her pretty joyless, working for hawkmoth days!