Chapter 21: Knowing

"The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."

-Rumi

Adrien laid in his bed, staring at his ceiling thinking about the huge step that was taken today. Just about everyone knew now or would soon know about them. It was nerve wracking but also so relieving that he wouldn't have to hide his affection anymore.

Adrien's first heads out that this was the case was a phone call from Alya an hour or so after the girls had been deakumatized.

"You're dating my bestie and Luka? You sly dog."

Adrien laughed. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now. Have you told Nino?"

"He was gonna be my next call."

"Can you hold off then? I wanna tell him myself."

He could hear Alya's pout over the phone. "Ugh, fine. But I'm so happy for you! For all of you! I knew it was only a matter of time for you and Marinette though. She's been in love with you for so long." Adrien smiled before she continued. "You like her too, right?"

"Of course. I really, really like her a lot. I can't imagine my life without her."

"And you won't hurt her? Because if you do, I'll punch those pretty green eyes out and mess up that adorable model face of yours."

"No, never. I promise. I love her so much that hurting her is the last thing I'd ever want to do."

There was a slight pause. "You love her?"

It took a moment for Adrien to realize what he had said and his own breath caught in his throat because he truly did.

He loved Marinette.

It felt like it shouldn't be such a big surprise to him as it was in that moment. He had always cared about her and knew that his feelings definitely went deeper than a crush, but for some reason him being in love with her hadn't crossed his mind. He'd known instantly with Luka. There was no mistaking it from the moment they kissed in his living room that day. But, just as always, Marinette had snuck up on him and into his heart and he hadn't even noticed until now.

He was in love with her.

"Yeah, I do." He said quietly, his heart glowing from the warmth filling his body.

Ayla squealed in his ear. "I'm so happy! Okay, now I'm gonna call and threaten Luka! Bye."

The call ended and Adrien felt lighter. There was a sense of relief Adrien felt and it only felt greater when Luka texted him soon after that he was telling his family and Adrien resolved to tell his.

That afternoon, Adrien invited over Nino and broke the news. Nino laughed and hugged him tightly.

"About time! That girl's been crushing on you since forever." Adrien blushed. Apparently everyone had known about this except for him.

When Nino left, Adrien resolved to tell his father. He wasn't sure what the reaction would be, but knowing that his father had previously discouraged friendships with people not of their status made him nervous. Accepting him didn't mean he was going to accept his partners.

Using the confidence he'd been gaining, Adrien went to Gabriel's studio. This time, he found his dad sitting at his desk with a picture frame in his hand. It felt a little... off. Adrien had never seen Gabriel not designing or sketching when he was here. "Father."

Not looking up from whatever picture he was looking at, Gabriel greeted him. "Hello, son. Do you need something?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I've started dating."

Gabriel nodded. "Is it the young man and lady you've been hanging around lately?" More than a little surprised, Adrien nodded. "Luka Couffaine, son of musicians Jagged Stone and Anarka Couffaine, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of professional bakers Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng. Not the most advantageous of matches-" Adrien felt his anger rising and opened his mouth to defend his loves but Gabriel continued. "- but the two have made you so happy over these last few months. I would love to meet them both."

Adrien deflated and tried not to show too much shock. His father knew of them and he... approved? "So you're okay with me dating them, both of them?"

"Of course. I told you I accepted all of you." In a rare moment, Gabriel smiled- a genuine smile Adrien hadn't seen in over a year- and he waved Adrien over. Adrien moved closer to him and sat in a chair next to the desk. "You mother and I also had a nontraditional relationship for a while."

Adrien's ears perked up. His dad rarely spoke about his mother and even more rarely spoke about their relationship. "Really?"

"Yes." Gabriel's eyes glazed over as he looked into the past. "She was very much into free love and following her heart. When I met her, she was in a polyamorous relationship with some of our mutual colleagues. Once she developed feelings for me, she explained it to me and I agreed to try it out for a while. We enjoyed the company of quite a few people for the first few years of our relationship."

Adrien stunned by this admission. Never in a million years had he thought that his father- the stern and uptight Gabriel Agreste- would be in such a relationship. He had so many questions burning in his throat but he didn't want to ruin the moment as he had done when they'd been at his mom's statue so he remained quiet.

And... he didn't really want to hear about his parents' sex lives even though he was as curious as a cat.

Gabriel continued. "Eventually I realized I didn't really fit into that lifestyle and had only done so because I loved her. When I told her, she said we could be exclusive. I told her I wouldn't keep her from what she enjoyed just because I didn't enjoy it." His smile softened and he gently stroked the frame in his hand. "However, she remained by my side alone because, as she put it, 'There isn't any more room in my heart for anyone else '. That was, until she found out she was pregnant with you." Gabriel handed the frame photo to Adrien who was surprised to see it was of his mother holding him when he was a baby. His eyes teared up and overflowed when looked up to find Gabriel regarding him with a look of love that Adrien hadn't seen since he was younger. "Emelie was always about love and being free to love. Love was the foundation of our brand and for raising you and I let my own aspirations and plans deter me from what she and I had built here together. What we built for you. So I promise, son. I will care more about you and your decisions. The brand, our name, our status means nothing if I cannot share them with you, my son whom I love dearly."

Knowing his father felt this way was amazing, but the all engulfing bear hug his father wrapped him in was even better.

Later that night, the trio found themselves cuddling in Adrien's bed. Adrien had walked them in through the front door and it had felt amazing not to hide it.

"Everyone knows now." Marinette whispered as she hugged Adrien's waist.

"Everyone knows." Luka confirmed from Adrien's other side.

"So I guess that makes us... official?" Adrien questioned and Luka laughed.

"We've been official for two months, babe. People didn't need to know for us to be official."

Oh. That made sense. "So how long were you two official before us?"

"Six months." Marinette answered after checking with Luka.

Adrien whistled. "Six months? I can't believe you lasted that long. It was hard for me not to say anything or kiss either of you in front of everyone these last two."

"But now you can kiss us whenever you want." Marinette smiled.

"Does that include wherever I want?" Adrien flirted with a wink.

"Maybe." She teased back and kissed him for good measure before settling back into his side.

There was a long silence where they all just... laid there, soaking in each other's presence. None of them felt the need to fill the silence with random words or actions. They all just... were. Adrien had never felt so comfortable in his room where he normally felt suffocated and stifled by the silence and emptiness. He knew it was their presence that changed that and he was so grateful.

"Thank you." He murmured as he kissed both of their foreheads.

"For what?"

"For being here."

"Just that?"

"Just that." Marinette and Luka shared a look and cuddled him harder. This seemed to break a dam inside of him and words began to flood out. "My room always felt so... empty. Isolated. Has ever since my mom was gone. It felt like my own personal prison that I could never really leave. But now that you're here, it doesn't feel that way. It still has the same silence, same things, same memories but somehow you being here changes it. Actually, you being here changes everything." He smiled softly at the two. "You both have changed my life, in a good way. In such a huge way that I'll never be able to thank you for."

"You don't have to thank us."

"Exactly." Luka smiled and moved up to kiss him. "We're glad to have helped. Just know that you've changed us too."

Adrien's eyes widened. "Really?"

Luka gave him another soft peck. "Really. I love you."

Adrien couldn't stop his smile. "I love you, too." He turned to Marinette who was watching them with her head against his chest and a soft smile. Cupping her cheek, he brought her up to their level as well. "And I love you."

Her eyes widened and he grinned as her cheeks flushed. "Oh. You don't have to-"

"No, Marinette. I love you. I know we haven't said it just yet but it doesn't make it any less true or real. I love you." He saw her eyes water before she brought her lips down on his.

"I love you, too!"

He broke away and grinned. "And apparently everyone in Paris knew, except for me."

She giggled. "I mean... Well, yeah. I wasn't exactly subtle about it." They all laughed.

She was absolutely right, now that Adrien thought about it. All signs had pointed to it but he was just so oblivious that he never caught on. "I'm sorry for not realizing it sooner."

She shook her head and twined their fingers together. "It doesn't matter. We still ended up here and that's what matters. It means that we were meant to be together." She reached across and grabbed Luka's hand. "All of us."

"Then I'm glad I found you. I can't imagine my life without either of you in it."

Marinette intertwined their fingers as Luka did the same with his other hand. "Then don't."

"Because we're here and we're not going anywhere."

And knowing that was the best thing he could ever ask for.