Marinette groaned and rubbed her eyes as she stared at her to-do list. I'm never gonna get all this done in time. She thought, wondering how on earth things had piled up so quickly. The number of things needing her attention seemed to be multiplying, and she only had a week and a half before everything needed to be done. Not to mention, she was still working full days at the studio for another week. As she let her head thud against her desk softly, she wondered if Adrien was feeling as stressed as she was.
-Meanwhile-
"PLAGG! Where did I put the museum tickets?!" Adrien had effectively turned the entire apartment inside out. He had been through every drawer, every box, every folder. There was still no sign of those all-important pieces of paper.
"How should I know?" Plagg drawled from his perch, "Why do you need them anyway?"
Adrien growled as he shuffled through the items on his desk again. "I want to put together one of those memory boxes for Mari with stuff from our engagement, wedding, and honeymoon." "Whatever." Plagg responded, shoving cheese in his mouth. He didn't really care about Adrien's little love bird project. "Anyway, weren't you supposed to meet Nino today to talk about the music?"
Adrien's eyes widened and he snatched for his phone. One look, and he began to scramble for his shoes. "We're gonna be LATE!"
-Across Paris-
"Natalie, do you know where the stapler is?" Gabriel Agreste was in the middle of his work day. "Natalie?"
Still no answer. Curious, he stepped out of his office and peered at her desk. Her computer was running an update and her work was left on the desk, but she was no where in sight.
He wandered back into his office and put some things away while he waited for her to return. As he placed a few folders back on his shelf, his eye caught sight of something that made him stop for a moment.
There, immortalized in a silver frame, was a younger, less argumentative version of his son. He stared at the image for a short time.
"It's in nine days, Sir."
Natalie was standing in the doorway now, tablet clutched tightly in her hand. She walked in and set a stack of mail on his desk. "Do you know where the stapler is?" He didn't address her statement. He knew what she was talking about.
"I'll go get it." She answered shortly before stepping out. He tore himself away from the picture of Adrien. He had more recent photos, of course. But those were hard to look at. Adrien had grown up, and he still couldn't figure out when it had happened.
Natalie came and put the stapler on his desk, before leaving without a word.
He looked through the mail she had brought earlier, discarding most of it. The picture on the shelf caught his eye again. His resolve weakened. He pulled open a drawer where the invitation was hidden. On the outside of it, a single note card had been attached. He read its words subconsciously.
If you're not there yourself, I don't want you represented at all. -Adrien
-Let us return-
Nino wasn't surprised when Adrien was late. The last few days, his friend had been up to his knees in random things that he needed to get done. Nino knew the feeling. He had been the same way before he married Alya.
"Hey, Dude! What took you so long?" Just because he understood, didn't mean he wasn't going to dangle it over Adrien's head for a minute.
"Ugh! I'm a wreck, Nino! I can't find the tickets I wanted to put in the memory box." Nino raised an eyebrow, "The ones from your engagement?"
Adrien had proposed to Marinette outside of the Louvre. It made for a great picture; the giant glass pyramids towering behind them as the sunset shone through them casting a brilliant pattern on the ground around Marinette and Adrien. Nino had been a bit ashamed at his own lack of planning.
"Yes! Those tickets!" Adrien said with a look of total gloom. Nino thought for a moment. "Marinette has them." He said, mostly certain. "What?" Adrien perked up immediately. Whether that was due to the hope of finding the tickets, or simply the sound of Marinette's name... Nino wasn't sure.
"I'm pretty sure she does." Nino continued, "She said she wanted to save them for later. Alya mentioned it the other day." A visible wave of relief washed over Adrien. "Thank goodness." Adrien said with a smile, "I was freaking out." Nino laughed at him in a good natured manner, and Adrien colored a little at the cheeks in response.
"Dude, you are smitten." Nino said as he chuckled. Adrien sighed in a dreamy tone, and Nino's laughter intensified. "She's so perfect." Adrien cooed, "I can't believe I get to marry her."
"Speaking of..." Nino said, hoping to get down to business. "Here's what I have put together so far."
They went over the list for about 20 minutes, making a few changes here and there, but mostly just getting things finalized. Then, they ate lunch and talked for a while. At a quarter past noon, Nino's phone chimed.
"That would be the misses." Nino said with a laugh. Alya was asking what he wanted for dinner. "It's been four months, and I still can't get over going home to her every night, eating her cooking — you are gonna love married life, Dude."
Adrien chuckled, he was ready to test Nino's theory. He was ready to prove it true.
"Marinette is coming over to the apartment tonight with more of her stuff." He answered, stirring the contents of his cup with his straw. "The whole place is starting to look more like a home. Some of her clothes are in the closet. Her favorite foods are in the pantry. There's a dress form in the office and a rug we bought together in the living room. I'm so ready, Nino. So ready."
Nino looked at his friend with a fond smile. Over the years, Adrien had changed a lot. Who once was a sheltered and friendless (okay so there was Chloe, but Nino didn't like counting her) child, was now a confident and independent man. He remembered the day Adrien had first moved out. Mr. Agreste had been fighting against the prospect for weeks. Eventually, Adrien had just quit asking for permission, packed his stuff up, and left.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He heard Adrien ask, concern etched on his face. Nino blinked back into reality. "I'm just happy for you, Dude. You deserve this."
