OMG! You all really wanted this next part didn't you? My email notifications exploded overnight! I also heard a few interesting guesses, but none of them were really right.=^-^=

Ch. 8 - The Apology


Adrien awoke the next morning feeling strangely relaxed. He also noted it was odd Nathalie wasn't who woke him up. "Oh, right… Saturday." He reasoned aloud as he started to sit up. As soon as he propped up on an elbow he realized he was lying against something. Through his fuzzy vision he could make out a person in red with dark hair… "L-Ladybug?" He took his other hand, which he quickly realized had been wrapped around her waist, and rubbed his eyes. "No…" He started with a harsher blush. "Marinette…" The name came out a whisper, as if saying it any louder would suddenly wake him up for real. She was sleeping peacefully under a red blanket right alongside him… when did that happen? Last night, he remembered coming here, and he eventually ended up lying on her lap. She'd been so kind, and he gave her nothing in return. He could hear her breathing even over his own thundering heart beat. She looked so carefree, and relaxed. Did he have anything to do with that? Was it perhaps because she was lying with him?

He reached to brush some hair from her eyes and ended up tracing the length of her jaw after placing the lock of hair behind her ear. A feint hint of red dusted her cheeks a moment later followed by a smile that made him ready to forgive everything his father ever did if it meant he could see that smile every day. "You know, Marinette…" He started in a hushed tone knowing she couldn't hear him. "I'm supposed to pick an intern this summer to help me run the company. I'm not supposed to tell anyone though…" He admitted sheepishly. "My father is, basically trusting me to choose his replacement. The designer who would be head of his brand. It's a lot of pressure, but I thought I could do it… then I found out what that really meant. I was expected to propose to and marry that designer. I guess that was father's way of keeping it in the family." His tone was more somber now, but a small smile was still seen. "And that was terrifying until… until I thought of you." The sudden sound of an alarm made his heart nearly stop. "Wha!?"

Searching for it was hard given his position, and Marinette was already starting to stir. "Hmm..? Where…?" She groped the air with one hand as if her phone was floating nearby. "Tik… alarm…" Another glance showed her phone was actually on the floor beside them, but Marinette's arm was nowhere near it. He didn't know if this was the kind that turned off after a time, but he certainly didn't want some kind of misunderstanding with their positions. He reached over her slowly hoping to reach it before she woke. It was at times like these his Chat Noir luck would kick in, and it didn't disappoint. Marinette's hand brushed against his arm curiously. "Hmm? What's…" Marinette's eyes finally peeked open as her hand gripped his arm. "Huh?"

"I-… Your phone is on the floor…" Adrien finally pointed out as her eyes followed the arm and found him.

"A… A…" He blushed at her bewildered expression. She couldn't even get his name out.

"Marinette! Turn off your alarm and get up!" Sabine called from down the stairs, effectively knocking both teens from whatever awkward freeze they were stuck in.

"Yes, mama! I'm awake!" She called as she reached for her phone on the floor. Her face was still a harsh shade of red as she got up from the chaise and took up the blanket. She didn't remember falling asleep, but she did remember sitting with Adrien. "I hope y-you feel better now." She stated without looking his way.

"I don't know about my back, but everything else is fine… Thanks, Marinette."

"G-good, and… I'm still ready to listen if you want to talk. You don't have to of course, but-"

"I know." He cut in when her words became more frantic.

She gave a back glance, and smiled shyly. "Then… I'm glad."

"You know, Marinette, I don't think you really know just how wonderful you are. I just stumbled in without any warning yesterday, and you just let me in."

"N-no, my mom was the one-"

"I know that, Marinette, but what I was trying say is here. You didn't expect anything from me even though I was here uninvited. You didn't even make me tell you why."

Marinette turned to him and wrung her fingers. "You were obviously hurting… I didn't want to make it worse."

Adrien stood and took her hands in his. "It's the very fact you cared that much, that's what makes you wonderful." His father would have just ignored it, and Nathalie would have cared, but pushed him through it regardless.

"Y-you're giving me too much credit, Adrien… I-I doubt… I doubt I would have done it for… anyone else…"

Her voice trailed off to a whisper at the end, but Adrien still heard it. "D-does that m-" His phone's ringer cut him off as he turned to the chaise to find it with a quiet curse. It was his father, who he still didn't want to talk to. He hung up the call and almost immediately after, Marinette's ringer went off.

"Stephen?" She wondered what he could be calling her for. She was supposed to meet him after lunch, but it wasn't even 10 am yet. "Hello?" Her curiosity quickly shifted to panic as someone else addressed her. "M-Mr. Agreste?" Adrien joined her panic upon hearing the name. Had his father figured out where he went? Did he track his phone!? "Have I seen Adrien?" She repeated as she looked to the model in question. He gave her a pleading look and she quickly shook her head. "N-no, not since the fitting yesterday. Why? Did something happen?" He let out quiet breath of relief that she didn't give him away, and mouthed out a thank you. She smiled back as she responded. "Of course, sir. I'm sure he's fine, where ever he is. Adrien is a very responsible person." She blushed with the boy in question right in front of her. "Yes, I will be happy to let you know if I see him." The next thing Marinette heard was a busy tone and moved the phone away from her ear. "He just hung up on me…"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Sounds like my father. He doesn't do phone calls. It's either video or in person."

Marinette smiled softly at the irritated boy. "Well then, the very fact he made one for you must mean he's worried." Don't get her wrong, she had no love for the way Gabriel treated his son, but it could mean something for Adrien that he went out of his comfort zone.

Adrien didn't look terribly convinced but shrugged all the same. "I guess."

The next few seconds of quiet were interrupted once again by a phone ringing. It was Marinette's again. "It's Stephen… again…" She informed hoping it wasn't really Gabriel Agreste again. She took a calming breath before picking up again. "Hello?... Ms. Sancouer?"

"Nathalie?" Adrien whispered curiously.

"Yes… No, I just told Mr. A-" She stopped with a grimace. "His phone?... Right… I-I'll take a look around for him then…" Adrien could tell this phone call was already going differently than with his father. "Yes, of course. Thank you." This time she actively ended the call and looked incredibly guilty. "Um…"

"She knows I'm here, doesn't she?"

Marinette nodded. "She told me she tracked your phone, but didn't tell your father yet. She said you should consider going back home by noon before your father does something drastic. He's really worried about you."

Adrien let out a heavy sigh. "Of course she would track me. Why didn't I turn off my phone!?" He raged at himself before feeling Marinette place a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, Adrien, I'm not going to pretend to know everything about your home life, or that I understand how you feel. My parents are very different from what I know of your father. There is one thing I do know, though, and that nothing will change between you two unless one of you makes a move. If you want your relationship with your father to change, you will probably have to make that first move."

Adrien wore a pained expression as he balled his fists. "My father won't listen to me, and this problem was partly my own fault to be honest."

"Your father is a rational human being. I'll admit, he terrifies me, but if he cares at all for you, he can't afford to just ignore you. You need to make him hear you, Adrien."

"I'm coming in so you two better not be doing anything inappropriate!" Sabine announced before pushing open the trap door without a moment of hesitation. The scene she interrupted wasn't what she was expecting. She was hoping they would at least be hugging or something… Not that she encouraged her daughter to do racy things at her age, mind you.

"Oh, good morning, mom." Her daughter greeted as she pulled her hand from the boy's shoulder.

"Morning, Mrs. Cheng." Adrien added in as he forced a smile.

"Well, I have breakfast waiting for when you're ready."


It was nearly 1 in the afternoon when Adrien finally made his way back home, and only because Marinette encouraged him to work out the problem with his father. Since Marinette was meeting Stephen at the Agreste mansion, she went with him though he insisted on talking to his father alone. Gabriel stared him down from the top of the steps. He took note of Marinette trailing behind his son while looking around. "Stephen is in the studio. We will be having our meeting after I speak with my son, Ms. Dupain-Cheng." He gestured her to the door, and she gave a hesitant nod. He noticed a brief nonverbal exchange between the two of them before she was out of the foyer.

They were alone now as the tension mounted. Adrien could see his father was waiting on something, and decided to be the bigger man like Marinette suggested. "I'm sorry, father. I shouldn't have yelled at you for my own mistake, and I shouldn't have run out last night like that."

Gabriel raised a curious brow at his son. "Yes, and am I to understand you were at Ms. Dupain-Cheng's home the entire night?" Adrien nodded calmly. "Then perhaps I was mistaken about her after all." The designer remarked as he took a few steps down to his son. "This morning she told me she hadn't seen you last night. Now I come to find she was harboring you the entire time. She's obviously a bad inf-"

"Don't you even finish that sentence!" Adrien cut in with a sharp tone. "If you were worried about me at all, don't you dare say a single depreciating thing about her. She is the only reason I'm standing in front of you right now." The model finished with a much calmer voice but still with a slight edge.

Gabriel's connection to the butterfly miraculous made sensing negative emotions easy, and so he could tell his son was an entirely new level of angry than he was last night. He scoffed at Adrien's command. "You expect me to encourage her lying to me about my own son?"

"She only lied because she knew I didn't want to talk to you, so don't put that on her! As a matter of fact, you should be thanking her." The teen corrected.

"For what? Not harming you? Or perhaps not selling your state of duress to the tabloids?"

Adrien clenched his fists trying to control himself. "No, and if you knew anything about her then you'd know she would never do anything like that." He nearly growled. "Her family took me in last night without a second thought. She didn't even insist I tell her what happened, and I actually never told her, but she didn't care."

"Well you are my son, so of course-"

"No, father, and you know if it was really that, she wouldn't have lied about where I was. If it was you she wanted to please, she would have ignored my attempt to stay hidden when you were the one that called. When Nathalie called to say she knew I was there, I was still planning to stay away, but Marinette insisted I work things out with you. So here I am, father, and you better thank her!"

Needless to say, Gabriel was surprised by his son's tone. He'd never spoken that way to him before, and wasn't entirely sure what to expect next. "Whatever the case, Adrien, remember who you're talking to. I will not tolerate you speaking to me this way."

Adrien's expression shifted slightly back to a more familiar one. "Yes, father." The tone still sounded irritated, but sincere.

"Good, and I expect you to act more responsibly in the future. No more running away."

"With all due respect, father, I wasn't running away. I just needed some space. I don't think that was a lot to ask given the circumstances."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at his son's correction. "Your room has plenty of space, Adrien."

"My room is also a place that you can barge into at any time, father. I needed a place away from… all of this."

"So, you're telling me to expect more of this in the future?"

Adrien looked a bit surprised by the assumption. "No, I…"

The father let out a sigh. "Running out of the house without telling anyone where you are going will never be acceptable behavior, Adrien. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Gabriel nodded before gesturing to his studio door. "Now, I have a design meeting. You can either sit in on it quietly or wait in your room." He didn't wait for his son's answer as he headed towards the indicated door.

Adrien watched him go inwardly scolding himself for losing his nerve. He wanted his father to understand how he felt, and to stop deciding everything for him. "I can't believe you ditched me!" The teen turned to find Plagg up in his face. "I thought you were just going to see where your pal, Nino was, and then poof, you don't come back!"

Adrien took a good look around before answering. "I didn't exactly plan it, Plagg."

"So you didn't plan to spend the night with your girlfriend?"

"It wasn't like that, and you know it!" He whisper yelled with a harsh blush.

"Sure, sure, but honestly, you can't just go running off without me, kid. What if an akuma attacked, huh?"

Adrien let out a sigh, and suddenly felt a sense of déjà-vu. "Huh?"

"Don't huh, me. I'm serious here."

"Oh, no, sorry. I'll try not to do it again."

"See that you don't." The kwami affirmed as he jabbed his chosen's chest.


Inside the studio, Gabriel entered to find Marinette and Stephen trying too hard to look like they were in the middle of a discussion. It was rather obvious as he opened the door that someone was eavesdropping, but he couldn't say if it was both or just one. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette flinched at the call of her name and turned to meet his eyes. "Yes, sir?"

His stone wall demeanor did nothing to improve her nerves. "I will never approve of you hiding my son from me," She couldn't help cringing inwardly at his scolding. "But, that being said, I do appreciate you taking care of him. Thank you." Adrien entered the room right at those final words and was instantly confused. Gabriel paid no mind to him entering and walked up to the display board. "Now, on to business. For the procession of the Noble Miraculous the stage will accommodate having all on stage, but now that the Ladybug and Chat Noir piece will be going out together, a change in the lineup is in order."

Adrien took a seat to the side as his father explained on the board how the arrangement would change and what would be affected concept wise. He didn't really understand why that one little change meant everything else had to as well, but Stephen and Marinette seemed into it. Maybe it was a designer thing? At the same time, the three of them were so different too. His father and Marinette were like polar opposites, even. "I wonder if father was ever like Marinette?" He questioned just loud enough for himself.

"I couldn't imagine your papa-sicle ever being bright or cheery… Actually, I think I just gave myself a chill." Plagg remarked from Adrien's shirt pocket as he felt him shake.

"I guess it is hard to imagine…" Adrien admitted sheepishly as he continued watching the discussion. Marinette was moving around some of the pins to represent the dresses. Stephen seemed enamored with whatever she was saying, and even his father looked genuinely intrigued. She put the pins in place and made a spinning gesture with her hand before turning back to point at Adrien. "Huh?"

"Adrien, come here a moment." His father called which had Marinette a little flustered.

"It's not like we have to do it now, Mr. Agreste."

"No, I want to get a better idea of what you're saying now." He gestured to Adrien. "You and Marinette will represent the Ladybug and Chat Noir pieces. I'll play the Butterfly and Stephen can be the akuma piece."

"Akuma piece?" Adrien repeated as he thought back to all the ones he saw yesterday. He didn't remember one that was like that.

"I don't think you have seen it, Adrien." Stephen pointed out. "It is a piece Mr. Agreste had originally put together when he designed the Butterfly dress. They were supposed to complement each other, but then he'd decided on the rest of the collection to be dresses, and did away with the suit."

"Yes, until I decided to include Ms. Dupain-Cheng's design of course. She noticed it yesterday with the Butterfly's portfolio and asked about it." He then gestured to the board. "Now, show me what you meant before." Marinette blushed as she nodded and took Adrien's hand. "Um, over here please." She pulled him towards the door. "Now uh…. Place your hand…"

He figured out what she meant before she finished. "Oh, like we're dancing right?"

"Uh, a little. We're going to walk towards your father and you're going to take my hand to do a spin before we get to him."

The model was intrigued. He'd seen some pretty theatrical performances at fashion shows, but he'd never actually done one. His father didn't usually go too active with his models, instead wanting to accentuate the clothes with a screen display. "Okay… so, like this?" He asked as he started to escort her. About five steps into it; he reached for her other hand and pulled her closer to himself. He spun hard which nearly cost Marinette her footing.

"W-wait!" Adrien paused before he was about to put her into the spin. "Not quite like that, Adrien."

"Adrien, please keep in mind the dress. The ball gown is not something you can be too rough in."

Marinette nodded and held her arms out slightly to show the girth of the gown. "Let's try again only, a bit slower, and remember it's about this big around. Try to do something wider."

The model tried to imagine it before they got back into place. "So… Like this?" He asked as he escorted her again. He then took her other hand but kept her at arm's length with a slow spin. He ended by letting her other side go and pulling her remaining hand up so both their arms together formed an arch.

"Yes, I can see that." Gabriel stated with a nod.

"We certainly couldn't keep with the centered Butterfly theme from before with a suit in the collection." Stephen added in. "So for ours, I think she meant it like this." The designer stepped behind Gabriel who took a few steps forwards. Stephen followed and when Gabriel stopped before the teens, Stephen glided around him to arrive on his right side.

"Oh, I think I get it. It would be like a confrontation between the heroes and Hawkmoth on stage."

"Yes, with the other miraculous dresses displaying around them. The procession would start with the Butterfly dress and the akuma, and end with Ladybug and Chat Noir. They'd follow the edge of the circular stage and then the heroes could move to the center like we just did. Almost like telling a story with clothes."

"I'm sure every Parisian in the room will be excited." Stephen pointed back to the board. "We'll need to do a staging for this perhaps tomorrow. Several of our models will become very busy next week."


Dinner started as quiet as usual in the Agreste house. Nathalie waited at Gabriel's side in case he needed to address any business, and Adrien sat on the far end of the table basically alone. "Before I forget, Nathalie, did you contact the agents of our independent models?"

Nathalie gave a nod. "Yes, though I have yet to hear back from Tabetha's agent about tomorrow."

"Go ahead and try again. We need to make sure we do at least one run through before the actual show." She nodded and left the dining room to do as she was told though she did give Adrien a small smile as she left. "Adrien?"

The model looked up from fiddling with his food. "Yes, father?"

Gabriel wore a stoic expression as always as he spoke. "You were very emotional last night so I want to clarify what I said to you. It was not my intention to deceive you about that contract. When I spoke to Mr. Lahiffe a few weeks ago he brought my poor choice of words to my attention."

Adrien placed down his fork and sighed. "But if you knew then, why didn't you tell me?"

"Mr. Lahiffe argued it would be a good idea to wait until you realized your feelings for Ms. Dupain-Cheng first."

The model blushed at his words. "So… you listened to Nino?"

Gabriel nodded. "I allowed his suggestion time to prove its merit, though I don't suppose it was entirely successful. I'll leave his intentions for you to discern; you know him better than I."

"But… Why did you feel like you needed to go this far? I know you probably wanted someone with design talent to take over for you, and I guess having them marry me was your way of keeping the business in the family… but what if it didn't work? How could you know if a relationship like that could work out?" Adrien had taken an extensive look at that part of the contract and there was nothing about what would happen if the marriage was dissolved.

"I obviously didn't." His father responded without a moment of hesitation. "You're right in that I wanted a talented designer for an heir, and I did want the business to remain in the family. You may have noticed there were no exact dates mentioned in that Proposal clause of the contract, and that was because I intended to allow you a second try for next summer if this one didn't work out."

"But that's still asking me to decide who I want to marry out of a handful of people you picked, father." Adrien argued with more exasperation than anger.

"I suppose there was one more reason I decided to do this, but it has less to do with logic, and more to do with… a feeling I had."

The teen found the sudden softness to his father's expression odd. It wasn't very often he saw that kind of expression, and it usually related to his mother somehow. "A feeling?"

"Yes… You take after your mother." He admitted just showing Adrien's hunch was right; he was thinking about his mom.

"Oh…. Oh, I get it. Mom married a designer and so…"

Gabriel nodded to his son. "Yes, and it would seem that feeling was correct. You certainly are quite fond of Ms. Dupain-Cheng; enough to defend her without a moment's hesitation, even against me." His son's blush flared back up as he brought his hand to cover his face.

As if to save the teen from the awkward conversation to come, Nathalie returned to the dining room. "I was able to get confirmation for Tabetha. As long as our run through is finished by 3, there shouldn't be an issue."

"Good, and check in with Stephen about what he and Marinette will be doing for the week. He's no doubt planned to attend at least a few other shows by other designers. Make sure Adrien's schedule matches accordingly." He gestured to his son who couldn't even face their direction anymore.

"Of course, sir." The assistant responded with a slight knowing smirk.


My goodness, the fluff! This chapter is slightly reminiscent of Gabriel's Plot, with the interaction between Gabriel and Adrien. Personally, I think Adrien was more mature in this one. Anyway, there will be some consequences come next chapter. Any guess?=^-^=

Thank you for reading, and comments are welcome!=^-^=