Adrien looked up and promptly lost his breath.
Marinette had just walked into the bakery through the back door wearing low black strappy wedges with rhinestones running the length of a couple straps. She wore a black pencil skirt, with bright pink stitching along the seams, that stopped at her knees. Tucked into that was a bright pink blouse with three quarter length sleeves, a row of black buttons down the front, with 3 top buttons left open. Black stitching ran around the collar is a wave-like pattern. To temper the almost business-like attire, the teen had her hair falling down her back in gentle curls, one side pulled back and clipped behind her ear.
Next to her, his perfectly tailored black slacks and custom fitted lime green dress shirt paled in comparison.
Had he said she was beautiful before?? Right at this moment, that didnt even begin to describe his girlfriend.
God... His girfriend.
Just thinking it made his heart threaten to flutter out of his chest. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined dating the most beautiful woman in all of Paris!
I mean, he had pined for Ladybug, had loved her, and had hoped to be in this exact situation with her. But deep down, a small part had known it wouldnt happen. He still thought she was the bravest, most selfless, greatest hero in Paris. She just wouldnt be his.
And right at this moment, as he gazed at the beauty that was Marinette walking towards him, he didnt even care. Not even a small part of him would rather be with Ladybug instead of Marinette.
"Wow Marinette," Adrien began, "There are no words."
Marinettes giggle was music to his ears.
Taking her hand, he bent to place a soft kiss on her knuckles, his smile never leaving his face. He stood and pulled her to him, close enough he could place a chaste kiss on her pink lips and wrap an arm around her waist.
Turning to her parents, he said again, "I'll have her home by 9, I promise."
And with that, they climbed into his waiting towncar and waved at her parents as they pulled away.
Reaching his house, Adrien helped her from the car, and led her up the front steps. As they reached the door, it opened before he could even reach for the knob.
Adrien was stunned to see his father at the door, instead of the stoic looking Natalie.
"Father," Adrien began, "what a surprise. I thought you were working until 5?" he asked.
Gabriel glanced at his Son for a brief moment, before his eyes roamed to Marinette. It seemed he was judging her, and Adrien shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other nervously.
"Yes, that was the plan. When Natalie informed me you would be picking up Marinette at 4, I had her clear my last hour." With that, his father arched a brow. "Is that a problem?"
"Of course not, Monsier," Marinette piped up. She extended a hand as she continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Agreste!"
Gabriels lip quirked slightly. "I'm sure. A pleasure to see you again, Miss Marinette." And with that, extended his hand, encompassing Marinettes tiny one with his own.
"You have quite a talent young lady. It is most intriguing."
With a blush, Marinette stammered a Thank you.
"Perhaps sometime you would grant me permission to look through your sketchbook." He had yet to let go of Marinettes hand, to which Adrien was becoming extremely uncomfortable about. What was his father trying to get at?!
"It would be an honour, Mr. Agreste." Marinette beamed.
Giving a brief nod, his father finally released his girlfriends hand. "Please, Marinette, call me Gabriel."
It was comical how wide Marinettes eyes grew. He was shocked by his father's casualness as well. As far back as he could remember, his father had never invited anyone to be so informal. Of course, there were a select few who didn't follow etiquette, and called him by his given name, but his father was displeased every time.
Again, Adrien couldn't help but stare at his father, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Was this a trick?!
"Thank you, Monsier- I mean Gabriel," she fumbled slightly, obviously not fully recovered from her initial shock.
Turning, Gabriel gestured towards the living room.
"Come, let us sit, get more comfortable. I will send for refreshments."
Marinette glanced at Adrien, uncertain. Adrien had wanted to have some alone time with her! Why did his father suddenly take an interest now?!
With a resigned sigh, her nodded at her, and they made their way to the living room. Marinette glanced all around her, taking in all of her surroundings as fast as she could.
He tried to see it through her eyes. What would she think about the cold, gleaming marble? Or the way nothing was out of place, with no personal touches anywhere? Did it look as museum-ish to her as it felt to him? The living room was no different. Plush sofas in stark white, white walls, and the marble floor from the foyer continuing into the living room. No personal pictures on the wall. No knick knacks anywhere. A shiny black baby Grand piano was sat in one corner, a few armchairs sat next to a fire place. And 2 loveseat and 2 armchairs sat in a circle around a round coffee table.
Adrien guided her with a hand on the small of her back to a loveseat, and when she finally sat, he took the seat next to her.
Not even a minute later, his father walked through the door, followed by Natalie carrying a small tray with a tea pot, a Pitcher, cream and sugar, and multiple teacups and glasses.
Gabriel took a seat in an armchair as Natalie set the tray on the coffee table, and inquired as to their preference.
With that done, Natalie backed out of the room, and it was just the 3 of them left, sitting in awkward silence.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo
Gabriel made sure to keep a close eye on his son and his new, very recent, girlfriend. He knew he had surprised them with his being available like this. That had been the plan. He had wanted to see how the girl would react.
He had been disappointed.
She had hardly appeared phased at all. Not like his son, who had appeared extremely uncomfortable and suspicious.
Well, he had a right to be suspicious. This was, in a way, a test for Marinette.
He had played like he didn't remember Miss Dupain-Cheng when Adrien had first said who his date was with, but in all honesty, he knew very well who she was.
Nobody who returns his lost book, and admits she thought it was photos of his son, skipped by his radar. After that, he had watched her very closely. No way was he going to let his son be taken advantage of by some fan!
Which had been precisely why he had followed them during their first date.
Yes, he had followed them himself. Well, with Natalie driving. It had been something that he could not delegate. Nobody else would know what he was looking for.
He had even given up on 3 potential akumatizations in favor of following and observing their whole date. That had meant sitting in the back of his car with binoculars, behind a bush with binoculars, and having a table at the Eiffel Towers restaurant, far enough away, but not out of his sight. He had wished he had had the forethought to plant a big on Adrien somewhere, so he could hear them. But no matter.
While he had liked what he had seen, he had needed more data. And personal interactions with them.
And if she had taken the book, was there anything else she had done? Had she told Adrien about the book incident? If she hadn't, did she ever plan to?
Was there a way he could subtly bring it up and see her reaction? A promising thought. He would have to watch for a proper opening.
He observed them, sitting next to each other on the loveseat across from him. How their thighs touched, and Adrien fought to keep his hands in his own lap, and Marinette would glance his way and blush.
They certainly seemed smitten with each other. And everything Marinette did seemed genuine.
She certainly didn't seem the type to do drugs, or even look like she could physically overpower anyone to rape them. Or even the type to consider raping someone.
Although, his son looked like he wanted to tackle her and never let go.
Which could be a problem if Gabriel deemed Marinette unfit to date his son.
A bridge to cross at a later time.
Xoxoxxoxoxooxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Marinette was internally freaking out!
This was so awkward! What was she supposed to do now?! Adrien was sitting next to her, shooting her sideways glances and small smiles, and Gabriel was sitting across from her, with cool, assessing eyes. Like he was trying to state into her soul!
Could he tell how nervous she was?! Did he notice the small strain in her smile? Or the nervous ticking of her one eye?
No, Marinette, breathe, she chastised herself.
You can do this!!
Just have to think of something to end this aweful silence!
"So Gabriel, would it be rude of me to ask about your next fashion show?!" That was safe right? She was an aspiring designer. He a world renowned designer. It's natural to be curious right?! Right?!
Gabriel merely lifted a brow at her enquiry.
"Certainly not, Marinette. It's moving along nicely. I have garnered inspiration from some surprising sources this time around." He took a sip of his tea and watched her over the rim.
As usual, talking about fashion was exciting for the teen, so it was no surprise her face broke out in a huge smile.
" That's wonderful! I can't wait to see it! It's what, 4 weeks away now?" she asked for confirmation.
"That is correct." He answered smoothly.
Still beaming, she asked, "Did you get anymore inspiration from that book I returned to you? I'd love to know which pieces in the past were inspired from that."
Suddenly, nodody was moving. Adrien had gone stiff beside her, and Gabriel had stilled, and he looked shocked.
What?! What had she said?!
Going over he last words, she realized... Damn. She had slipped up!! What to do, what to do?!?!
Fluff it off, fluff it off!!!
Don't let them know it was a slip. Pretend like it wasn't a secret for 3 damn years!
Trying to be as cool as possible, Marinette looked between the 2 males with a look of confusion.
"Did I say something wrong?" she asked when the silence continued. Good. That sounded normal. And she was confused by how they were both acting.
They both turned to stare at her, and she kept her slightly puzzled expression on her face.
Adrien was the first to unfreeze.
" That was you? You returned the book?? Did you take it from me? Why would you do that? " he seemed to be working up to being mad, so she cut him off before he could jump to conclusions.
"Whoa, Adrien. Calm down." she sent a glance briefly towards his father.
Gosh, what had she told him again?!
Oh well, it had been a lie. She could stick mostly to the truth now. Sorry Lila, wherever you are these days, I'm not going to cover for you forever!
"You were in the library with Lila, and you dropped your bag. I saw Lila slide the book under the table when it fell before she picked up your bag and gave it back to you. I saw her in the park after school, and watched her throw it in the trash, so when she left, I fished it out." it had all been pretty smooth up to this point. But now to lie a tad.
"I was going to give it to you at school the next day, but you didn't show, and I heard from Chloe it was your dad's book, so i just brought the book back to him. And I may have lied about how I came across it, since I didn't know Lila well at the time, and didn't want to get her in trouble." she glanced at Gabriel to try and gauge how he was reacting, and just saw his raised brow over the rim of his cup.
Glancing back at Adrien, she continued, "I asked your father not to tell you it was me since, In my head, I thought it made me come across as stalker-ish."
A small blush appeared on her cheeks, as it always did when she remembered how she kind of did used to almost stalk Adrien!
Adrien just continued to stare at her. Not saying anything. What was he thinking?! Why wasn't he saying anything?! Was he mad at her? Did he think she was stalking him?!
Her tumultuous thoughts were interrupted by clapping. Both teens looked up to see Gabriel had set his teacup down and was slowly clapping, a pleased smile on his face.
"Father?"
"Well done Marinette." he praised. "I had wondered if that was a secret you had kept to yourself or not. And whether you were really simply an eager fan, just wanting to get at my son anyway you could." he stopped to pick his cup back up before continuing.
"It was actually quite selfless of you to not want to get someone else in trouble, despite how it would make you appear. I really do commend you on that."
Marinette face started to warm with her blush, and she lifted both hands to cover her cheeks.
"Oh, Mr. Agreste- Gabriel, i didnt do it to gain favor with anyone. I didnt want someone else to get in trouble, and i just wanted Adrien to be allowed back to school. I didnt really think of how It would make me appear to you." That part, at least, was all true.
Adrien seemed to have found his voice when he spoke gently," Marinette, you did that, for me?!" he lightly placed his hand on hers where it rested on her lap.
" Of course Adrien. I knew how much you loved going to public school. If i could fix that for you, why wouldn't I??"
Had he really been that oblivious to her crush in the beginning?! Jeez.
She noticed his eyes start to glimmer, like he was holding back tears. It must have meant more to him than even she had realized.
"Thank you Marinette." he said gently, before cupping one side of her face and drawing her to him for a gentle kiss.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo
The rest of the time before dinner passed with little excitement. After getting over the emotional mess of Marinette's confession, Gabriel had asked about school and how she got into designing and what things she liked to design most.
It had intrigued and shocked Gabriel when the girl had mentioned the book so casually, considering how she had asked him to not say anything at the time. When she was telling the story about it, he had tried to gauge her facial expressions and actions for any hint that she was lying, but other than some apparent anxiety after having mentioned it initially, everything else had seemed genuine.
He remembered Lila, and knew from experience how vindictive and jealous she was. It was why she had been a perfect target to akumatize many times. So Marinette's story was completely believable from that aspect. And while he could tell she was downplaying how much she had liked his son at the time, that was of minor importance when paired with the rest of the story.
Well, Adrien, it would seem your allowed to keep this one after all. And what a good choice! Well done.
And he internally clapped to his sons good choice.
Xoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo
Dinner was announced, and Adrein was so glad to get out of that living room!
It had started out tense, and then after Marinette confession, he had gotten a bit more emotional than he should have.
How had it escaped his notice that Marinette had been looking out for him for a really long time?
And not just with the book. The book made him rethink every interaction they had ever had in a different light.
Like making him that scarf for his birthday, and letting him go on thinking it was from his dad. He'd figured it out last year that it was from her instead, completely by accident! She had been wearing a bright red scarf one day, and he remembered thinking at the time that he wasn't aware his father had put out a line of scarves, and then Alya had complemented her on her skills. Marinette's scarf had had a pretty intricate design on the seam of one side, and it had made Adrien curious.
So he had gone home at lunch to check out his own and, sure enough, on the one end was the same intricate design in white. It wasn't as noticeable against the blue as her black on red, which was how he had gone almost 3 years without noticing.
After the bowler hat contest, he knew she signed her work. The intricate design was actually her name, upside down.
She had let him go on thinking it was from his dad. Probably because he had been so happy about it. He still hadn't told her he knew.
Honestly, could she get anymore perfect?!
In the dining room, Adrein sat on his father's right, Marinette on his left. He was a little put out they weren't sitting next to each other, but at least this way he could stare at her during the meal without being obvious about it!
The meal was placed in front of them, and they started out in relative silence, as they all focused on eating.
They were almost done when his father asked Marinette about her plans for after school. Where did she plan to go to school? What program was she thinking of entering.
It seemed this line of questioning was leading up to something, and Adrien wasn't sure if he should be suspicious of the outcome or not.
"I've applied to a few places, all in Paris. I don't really fancy moving." she admitted bashfully. "And I'll do fashion design, and then a Business Administration course."
There was suddenly a gleam in his father's eye, and his lips lifted in a smirk.
"Father..." Adrien started in a warning tone.
That gleam didn't leave Gabriel's eyes, and he all but ignored Adrien, as he gazed at Marinette intently, before stating,
"But you could skip all of that with an internship under a world renowned fashion designer. Like me."
Marinette eyes grew big, and she stole a glance his way quickly before turning back to his father.
"So, tell me Marinette, how would you like to intern under me instead?"
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Marinette opened her mouth, as if to speak, and then closed it, without saying anything. She tried again, with the same result.
Had he- Gabriel- Mr. Agreste- Adrien father- really just offered her an internship? Under him?! Her idol, the King of Fashion?!
She knew the ladybug miraculous gave her luck, but this seemed too good to be true! He didn't even know her. At least, she didn't Think he did. How could he? Was this just because she was dating his son?!
No, they'd been dating less than a week. What sane person offers that kind of an opportunity to his sons very recent girlfriend??
Gah!! She was internally freaking out!!
What should she do?! What should she say
So naturally, the words that tumble from her mouth: "Are you serious?!"
One perfectly groomed brow rose. "Do I look like the joking sort, Marinette?" she was asked in mild amusement.
He sure had a point.
Jeez!
JEEZ!!
This was a dream come true!
"Wow," she blurted out inelegantly.
"By all means, take some time to think on it." Gabriel offered.
"I just - wow." was all she could get out.
Adrien, who had been silent thus far, finally piped up. "Wow father, that's really generous."
Glancing towards his son, Gabriel smirked.
"I have been known to be generous from time to time."
Marinette glanced at Adrien. Oh how she wished he could read her mind! She was floundering in shock! Could she convey accurately, with facial expressions alone, that she needed help here?!
She tried to lift an eyebrow slowly, and nodded her head slightly towards Gabriel, and gritted her teeth under her smile.
Adrien just looked confusedly at her.
Oh, damn it.
She looked back at Gabriel, who had lifted his wine glass and was swirling it in his glass, watching as it went.
She cleared her throat gently, drawing both men's attention. She channeled all of her grown up, non stuttering, brave ladybug skills, and asked what was really on her mind.
"C-Can I ask, why me?"
Well, most of her non stuttering skills.
Without missing a beat, Gabriel stared at her for a moment, tilting his head to the side.
Finally, "Why not you? You have won every contest I have ever put forth, and i have seen more than that of your designs. It's true, some are a bit rough around the edges, but what I see intrigues me. Why wouldn't I snatch you up before someone else has the chance to realize what I have?! True dedication is harder to come by than you might think. And of course, there is also the fact my son is smitten with you."
Adrien startled in his chair, and glanced her way, before quickly snapping his eyes back to stare at his father.
Gabriel continued.
" While it may not seem like it, I do, in fact, love my son very much. And his happiness means everything to me. While he is only 18, usually by this point teenagers have dated many people to find their right fit. Yet, Adrien never has. Until you, my dear. Which leads me to believe you are special to him, Marinette. And since I am well aware he has no real interest in fashion, who better to tailor as my successor than his potential wife? "
A choking sound could be heard, and both Marinette and Gabriel turned to see Adrien pounding on his chest frantically. Gabriel reached over and pounded on his back, at the same time she asked if he was alright.
" Fine," he croaked, reaching for his glass of water and taking small sips.
"That's a bit presumptuous, father," he spoke up, throat still a bit scratchy.
"Perhaps. But it works in my favor, regardless. If you two don't work out, I still gain a successor. If you do, even better!"
How like Gabriel to have a backup plan. And have no qualms about voicing it!
So, no pressure.
Ya right!!