Dinner
It was just after Amelie and Felix met Adrien and the rest of the class in front of the school. There were awkward glances towards Felix from the rest of the class. Adrien got invited to join his aunt and cousin, but his classmates did not approve.
Adrien was happy to see his family in Paris, he was really pleasantly surprised to have his aunt and cousin there, although she reminded him of his mother, but he wanted to say no to their offer, he needed an excuse. He held Marinette's hand firmly. And Nino put a hand on his shoulder.
"We have just settled in Le Grand Paris." Amelie continued her invitation to Adrien. The woman looked open and inviting, but Adrien knew her eyes were calculating. He never doubted her sincerity in inviting him and loving him, but there was always an idea of something else there.
Chloe perked up for a second at the mention of her father's establishment where she also happened to live. She exchanged a glance with Felix. Then she frowned. The other boy was always dressed up for an occasion, but in a boring way, she still had to see something on him that would impress her.
"If Adrien wants to stay in Le Grand Paris, he can stay with me." Chloe countered. But it was clear to her, after everything she heard and saw from his recent voyage, that her childhood friend preferred other kinds of accommodation.
"Actually, I was just going to Marinette's" Adrien replied quietly and carefully observed his cousin who barely spoke since they arrived. He felt awkward, because he was genuinely happy to see his aunt and cousin, but there was that nagging feeling in his chest, or maybe Plagg just scratched him?
"Of course, you can go and pick up your things there." Amelie smiled widely and carefully folded her hands. "But you just spent two weeks with your beautiful girlfriend and I thought you might like to meet with what's left of your family." No emotional blackmail there, right?
"I intended to stay with her for dinner and then I would go to Nino." The boy continued in a quiet tone. He hid his fear well, but his friends could sense it. He did not know what was he afraid of, save the fact that he knew now that Felix was a sentimonster.
Adrien liked his aunt, he even liked Felix, in spite of the stunt he pulled the last time the boy came over for a visit. He was actually happy that he still had some family left. But if he stepped forward and went with her, sooner or later she would have taken him back to London, away from his lady.
Marinette sensed the same fear, the way she clutched onto his hand told him so. She observed Amelie and Felix carefully. The boy had green eyes and blonde hair, but his eyes were cold and his hair was combed slick along his head. His posture was stiff and his clothes only accented that further.
"Well." Amelie clapped her hands again. "I do not want to interfere with your prior arrangements then." The woman settled down. She had plans and she was not loosing patience easily, besides, she wanted to be on good terms with her nephew.
Marinette felt guilty for separating Adrien from his family. This was not a good start.
"Why don't you join us for dinner?" Marinette stuttered out. Her parents would definitely approve of that, it was a good kind of start for them, to host a dinner and meet.
Felix almost gaped. That was not what he expected. Then he checked himself. That was exactly what he should have expected. That girl claimed to be in love with his cousin, she recorded her admission, and then he saw just how much she suffered in that fight against his Hawk Moth uncle.
"That is really kind of you. We have been to that cute little establishment your parents are running and they were still busy. I'm sure they haven't even started on the dinner just yet. Why don't you come over to the hotel for dinner? My treat." Amelie smiled widely, she knew how to turn things around.
Marinette gaped. That was a fancy dinner at a fancy place, for sure expensive and beyond everyday expenses, something reserved for really special occasions, like a family reunion after some life turning events maybe?
"Actually, if you agree, why don't we all meet up there and I can invite your parents and your bodyguard? What do you say?" She smiled. "And then you can go for a sleepover to your friend, I'm sure you two have plenty to talk about and we can rest because we had a really long day."
Felix looked relieved, he had a long week not just a day. A phone call to the bakery and a few messages to the bodyguard and the dinner was settled. Tom and Sabine agreed and after they closed up the bakery and dressed up, they were off to a dinner at Le Grand Paris with Adrien in best Marinette designed clothes, because he would never wear Gabriel again, and a rather nervous girl.
They were given a table by a window and slightly on the side, the best choice possible, it gave them a view and possibility to talk without being overheard. Adrien felt grateful, he was certain that Chloe had her fingers in that. Marinette was impressed as well as her parents.
Felix chatted with his mother while they waited for their guests, but once Adrien got there, the boy kept his usual disinterested facade while he studied everyone around. Well, Adrien's bodyguard was the usual quiet giant and the boy himself was the usual cheerful self.
Well, slightly more than usual cheerful him, it was somehow more, smiles were wider and more goofy and reached the boy's eyes, it was like when they were kids and played together and made fun of the adults, a touch of mischief and a dose of concern.
Felix was never interested in persons like Marinette nor her parents. They were bakers, he never knew any bakers but he never had a wish to meet any. And then there was this girl who so easily admitted her love to his cousin over that video message.
Adrien insisted that Marinette should sit between him and Felix. Adrien beamed at them, Marinette looked at her hands and Felix flinched away for a moment before he schooled himself into a pretence of friendliness. He was going to have fun with that girl.
They talked about the trip to China, of course, and Felix was appalled by the accommodation and the travelling conditions that Adrien was obviously happy about. They talked about snoring on the train and how Adrien had cooked instant noodles.
Amelie complained about how she needed a driver and a bodyguard in Paris. Her own refused to move from London and preferred to find a new job. Fortunately, there was an experienced bodyguard and driver just looking for a new job at the table.
Amelie seemed far more open to listening to different experiences than Felix was. She observed the photographs with interest and she never failed to notice that Adrien was perfectly fine with everything, he never complained about the quality of food or his bedding.
"Your mother loved it when we went there for a photo shoot." Amelie smiled gently. She was careful not to stir any negative emotions, but Emilie was her sister and she dared to talk about her even in front of her son. "We rather enjoyed our time there."
Adrien beamed. He wanted to hear more about his mother, he wanted to talk about Emilie with someone who knew her, with someone who was not his father. He would really like that. And his aunt was an excellent source of information, and perhaps the only.
"She loved travelling when we were kids, she loved art and acting even more. That is probably the reason why she also took modelling." Amelie sighed. It sounded as if the sister did not approve that particular choice or interest, or perhaps there was something else behind that.
Adrien could relate. He did not hate modelling. But he did not like it either. Well there was one occasion when he really really did not like modelling and that was that photo shoot with Lila, but it was for a good cause, so he crushed the feeling and smiled.
One surprisingly pleasant dinner later (if you ask Adrien), one really extravagant meal later (if you ask Tom and Sabine), one meal later (the bodyguard), was there food? (Marinette) and one awkward meal (Felix) Amelie concluded that they all had got along just wonderfully.
"Good evening everyone, may I join you?" Chloe actually asked the question, but she did not even wait for an answer before she sat down next to Felix.
"No, you may not." Felix replied with a smirk. It was not a secret that he found Chloe irritating and obnoxious, and he never bothered to find anything in that girl that would make her worthy of his acquaintance, but then again, he seldom did it for anyone, perhaps never.
"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, this is my hotel, anyway … " Chloe was about to say something.
"Your father's hotel." Felix corrected her flatly.
"My family hotel." Chloe pouted.
"I would hardly call this a family hotel." Felix teased.
"Well it is my family hotel, as stylish and extravagant as my family is, what did you expect?" Chloe retorted.
"If you think pretentious and over the top, as well as annoyingly posh, irritatingly luxurious and obnoxiously expensive while I do not find anything interesting or worth my time, attention and money, then you are right, it is just like you." Felix retorted.
Chloe scoffed.
"Anyway, we are not staying here for long." Amelie spoke calmly. "I intend to move in the Agreste mansion as soon as it is allowed by the authorities." She smiled and folded her hands before her. "Of course, Adrien, you are welcome to live with us."
"What do you mean welcome? That used to be his home … " Marinette trailed off, she reacted on instinct, Adrien grabbed her hand to stop her, of course, she wasn't thinking, he did not want to live there any more.
"Well that's Adriekins home, not yours." Chloe added helpfully while she glared at Felix. "Besides! Officially, both Adrien's parents are alive, and … "
"I don't want to live there, I do not want to step one foot inside the Agreste mansion, do whatever you want with it, take whatever you want, live there, sell it, make it a museum or a mausoleum, see if I care." Adrien cut Chloe off.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"I was hoping that you would still like to go back to your old room, Adrien." Amelie spoke calmly.
"No" Adrien brushed her off. He did not want to go back in there. His father kept the body of his mother in a lair in that house, he was not going back, he couldn't, that was just too much to ask from him, but he could not just say all that. Marinette understood, her parents knew so they understood that too.
"Anyway, Felix, since you moved in here, how do you plan to continue your education?" Sabine cashed as she tried to change the subject.
Felix was not sure if he should answer or not. It was his mother who made the plans anyway, it was not his wish to join the class that his cousin had attended, save he might play them for fools once in a while.
"Felix?" Marinette inquired, she sensed there was something going on with the boy beside her. "Are you joining our class?" Felix did not respond a t first, he shifted in his seat slightly and opted for a poker face as he was almost determined to hide that until he actually appeared there.
"You are, aren't you?" Adrien smiled and then stiffened, of course he was happy to have his cousin in his class, but Felix obviously did not share the feeling and Adrien clearly remembered how Felix pulled that nasty prank on Adrien's friends.
"Of course you are joining our class, that is the best class for you, since I am there, of course." Chloe swung her pony tail and checked her nails.
Felix snorted. He was so disappointed in himself that he did that, he usually had much better control over his reactions.
"Of course there are several people that you might consider below our class." She continued. "But I assure you they can be useful." Adrien glared at her, she shrugged and looked back at Felix.
"Oh yes? I am sure I could find some interesting use for them." Felix smirked, 'like being a subject of one of my pranks' he smirked.
"Felix is going to join Adrien's class first thing in the morning." Amelie replied to Sabine because her son refused to give back a straight answer.
"You are not going to pull again any such prank like you did the last time Felix!" Adrien warned through gritted teeth. "You are not going to hurt my friends just to have fun. And you are not going to pretend to be me and put me into trouble."
"Why not cousin? You used to like pulling pranks like that over your own father?" Felix teased.
"That was different." Adrien protested.
"Because he was Hawk Moth?" Felix hit the bulls eye.
Adrien clenched his fist. It should not hurt that much, he was used to the fact, it was just that Felix was doing this to hurt him, obviously.
"You know what, if you decide to join us, I have the perfect seat mate for you. Her name is Lila." Chloe scoffed. Of course, Chloe was aware of the presence of a teaching assistant next to Lila. "You two would get along just perfectly." She expected an epic fail in her scheme.
"Chloe, you can't be serious. Lila is a manipulative liar." Adrien retorted.
That caused Felix to suddenly raise his interest into the girl. He missed much of the commotion after the reveal of the fact that his uncle was Hawk Moth so he was not aware of the stunt Lila pulled just after the fight and his mother considered that irrelevant.
"She definitely sounds more interesting than any other friends of Adrien I've met so far." Felix noted with a dose of sarcasm in his tone.
"She has a teaching assistant." Marinette mouthed to Adrien while the other two teenagers kept bickering. For her, that meant that the two were not able to sit together anyway. Adrien took notice of the reminder and understood what she wanted to say.
Finally, Chloe decided she had enough and with her last comment she walked away and swayed her hips. Felix did not bother to look away from the scene the blonde heiress presented, although he still despised her personality.
It was time for Adrien to go to Nino's. The two teens shared a 'good night' and separated. Marinette with her parents. Adrien walked with his bodyguard. She felt her heart beat in her chest with each step she took. Adrien felt the pain of separation was over him.
Marinette sighed. It had to be done. They had to be separated. They were not able to live their lives attached to each other. She was going back in her room and he was going to live with Nino. They will see each other in school. They can meet each other in the evening if they transform.
Adrien did not really bring all the stuff to move in with Nino. He brought the clothes he had for the travel, now washed and clean, and he brought his school books. That was sufficient for the first week or two until he settled what to do with his things from the mansion.
Chris insisted on tagging along all around the flat. The little boy was obsessed with his brother's friend, the boy who defeated Hawk Moth, his own father. To Chris, this was as if he met one of his favourite action figures brought to life, and now the boy was ganging out with his older brother and slept in the gust room.
Yes, Adrien settled for the guest room. Basically, if Nino's parents wanted to take the boy into any kind of custody, they needed to ensure that the boy was going to have his own room. So they played by the rules.
The two boys talked until Adrien was too tired to continue due to the time difference and the time he was used to, he fell asleep and Nino listened to the music on his headphones for some time before he finally decided it was time for him to go to bed too.