AN: Aha! Finally finished this chapter. It turned out longer than I expected! A fitting way to end, I think. Disclaimer: I don't own the lyrics to Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E".

Chapter prompts: Party/Balloons

Chapter Ten: L-O-V-E

"You look beautiful," Gabriel told Nathalie on the way. "I wanted to say that yesterday—er, sorry for not being very coherent."

He brushed a strand of her fringe aside, noting how much wearing her hair down suited her, and made a mental note to give her more reason to do so.

"Thank you, Gabriel." She adjusted his scarf slightly. "You look very handsome."

"You two are adorable," Adrien said. Nathalie shushed him as Gabriel felt himself blush.

He had to admit, he was a little wary about this party. When Nathalie had first told him about it, he had found himself considering going, though he hadn't been entirely certain why at the time. Now … now he was fairly sure he had been tempted by the thought of dancing with the woman he hadn't known he had fallen in love with.

I can't believe how blind I am.

Now they were together, however, he was a bit more anxious. This whole thing was very new and he wasn't sure how ready he was to be a couple at a Valentine's Day party in public. But since it was clearly important to Adrien they both be there, he had agreed. With butterflies in his stomach.

He looked back at Nathalie. She met his eyes and smiled; he felt himself relax a little. She always had that effect on him; could soothe his nerves with just a look or a gentle touch. In this case both, as she lay her hand on his. He placed his other on top, and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes with a blissful expression on her face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw Adrien grin, raise his phone and snap a photo. Gabriel pressed a gentle kiss on Nathalie's forehead, and heard the camera capture that moment too. It didn't bother him in the least.

The car pulled to a stop outside of the school. Gabriel saw colourful lights and heard music from inside.

He held the car door open for Nathalie, and offered her his arm. She linked hers in his, now beaming.

"They're outside!" Marinette announced to the crowd, and put her phone back in her pocket. Max held a finger over his watch, ready. Miss Bustier gestured to everyone to start mingling.

The moment Adrien and the new couple walked in the doors, Max started the clock, and Nino very subtly started a new record.

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore …

"Nice touch," Adrien mouthed at him from behind their backs, and Nino sent him a thumbs up back.

If Gabriel and Nathalie noticed that their arrival caused a bit of a stir, they probably didn't think anything of it. After all, Gabriel was both a celebrity and rarely seen in public. Plus they really did look like a couple, arm in arm and sporting their Valentines' couple scarves.

One of my best ideas, Marinette thought proudly. She wasn't even disappointed she hadn't created them herself.

They were both dressed to complement their scarves: Nathalie in a glittering silver dress, and Gabriel had swapped his everyday ensemble for a cream suit with a purple accents.

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

Both looked slightly nervous, but Adrien immediately started introducing them to people, chatting away to put them at ease.

"Mr Agreste, how lovely to see you again," Miss Bustier said, hurrying to welcome them.

"Thank you—er …"

"Caline Bustier," she said, shaking his hand

"Ah, of course."

She and Nathalie greeted each other with kisses on the cheek. "Thank you both for coming!"

"Caline, about that talk you were going to have with Adrien this morning …?" Nathalie began hesitantly.

"He filled me in." Miss Bustier winked at them. "I'm so glad it worked out. Enjoy the party!"

"How long did you bet?" Alya said in Marinette's ear.

"Five minutes. You?"

"Really? I bet the whole night. They're both as clueless as Adrien."

"Not anymore," Marinette pointed out.

"Oh, yeah … Huh. Maybe I should revise my bet."

"Too late; Max already started the clock."

"Ah, well." Alya looked from her to Adrien. "So, are you going to ask him to dance or what?"

"Penny!" Nathalie exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Jagged's performing here later in the evening," Penny replied as they exchanged kisses.

"Oh!"

"So, did you two have a good day?" she asked, smirking slightly as she looked across to Gabriel.

"Er …" he stammered, going red.

"Caline told you?" Nathalie asked. "Or … was it Jagged?"

Penny simply winked. "Love the scarves. Snap, by the way." She motioned to her own; a bold design of colourful zigzags forming hearts on a black background.

"Let me guess," Gabriel said. "Miss Dupain-Cheng's work?" So much for her being too busy with school. He had to admit, he was quite impressed at how elaborate Adrien's plan had turned out.

"Correct. Jagged said he loved her idea too much to not ask her for a version for us. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Gabriel said.

"Anyway, congratulations. We're very happy for you both."

"Thank you," Nathalie said.

The next people to ambush them were Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng. Nathalie warned Gabriel slightly too late that they were both huggers, and broke into giggles at the startled look on his face at being actually lifted off the floor in the strong baker's embrace.

"Tom, dear, don't smother him," Sabine said fondly.

"Ah—sorry," Tom said, putting Gabriel back down quickly.

"That's alright," Gabriel said, gasping slightly.

"It's a pleasure to see you both again. Together," Sabine added pointedly.

Nathalie chuckled slightly. "I really should stop being surprised."

"You know how it is; word gets around," Tom said vaguely. "By the way, I've got a great idea for a wedding cake—"

"TOM!" Sabine admonished as Nathalie and Gabriel both went scarlet. "Sorry; he gets a bit carried away at times." She gave him a gentle slap on the arm.

"Sorry," Tom said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to embarrass you both. Although, if you did happen to have need for—"

"Tom!" Sabine dragged him away.

"Er …" Gabriel cleared his throat. "Nathalie, would you like to dance?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

She took his hand, and they moved onto the dancefloor.

It had been a long time since he had done this, but Gabriel was an excellent dancer, and to him it was just like riding a bike.

With Nathalie in his arms.

She rested her head on his shoulder with a soft sigh. He lost the last of his nervousness as they moved to the music, closing his eyes and just appreciating the moment. The other people around them faded entirely from his thoughts.

Unfortunately the effect was broken after a minute or so as someone accidentally trod on his foot.

Gabriel winced, opening his eyes on automatic, and opened his mouth to rebuke the clumsy teenager, but Nathalie gave his arm a gentle squeeze and he let it go.

Turning his head away, he noticed a large group of people clustered around … was that an ice cream cart? In a gap in the crowd, he glimpsed the man standing behind it, who caught his eye and winked.

"Is that the legendary André Glacier?"

Nathalie lifted her head to see where he was looking. "I don't know. Possibly." She smiled suddenly, and he followed her altered line of vision. Caline Bustier was dancing in the embrace of a man he recognised as their waiter from the previous evening.

"That must be Jean," Nathalie said fondly. "They look very sweet together."

Gabriel glimpsed Chloé Bourgeois staring at the pair of them, her mouth slightly open. The sight was quite comical.

"Is it just me," Nathalie said a moment later, "or are there a lot of people watching us?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Gabriel replied. Besides him being a famous recluse, they didn't exactly look very platonic right now. He was just wondering whether to give them something to really gawp at and give in to his desire to kiss her, when he spotted the school principal talking to Adrien, Kagami and Marinette. All four seemed to be watching them, but when they noticed him looking, they all quickly turned away, looking suspiciously amused.

Gabriel looked around the room, catching a number of people's eyes.

Wait a minute …

"Nathalie," he said, "I think you might be onto something."

"What do you mean?"

"A lot of people are watching us … but no-one looks very surprised."

"What were you expecting? People passing out in shock?"

"Well, no; but it's almost as if … they were expecting us to be …"

Nathalie glanced around. "You're right. You don't think Adrien—"

"Did I hear my name?"

They both turned around to see Gabriel's son had crept up on them.

"You did," Nathalie confirmed. "Adrien, what is going on? Did they all already know we—"

Adrien put his fingers in his mouth and made a piercing whistle. The next thing Gabriel knew, a shower of red and silver balloons were falling gently around them as everyone around them let out cheers.

"They figured it out?" the girl from the Ladyblog said eagerly, rushing over.

"It took precisely twelve minutes, seventeen seconds," one of Adrien's other friends said, looking at his watch.

"Congratulations to you both," the principal said enthusiastically.

Gabriel looked at his son, who gave him a sheepish grin. "Adrien, you told everyone?"

"Um, yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't exactly tell everyone that you were now a couple, more like … confirmed the plan had worked."

"Wh-what? They all knew?"

"Not everyone here at the party, but everyone who was involved is here at the party."

"And how many people was that?"

"Um …" Adrien started counting on his fingers, then gave up and took out his phone. "There's thirty-two of us on the group chat."

"Group chat?"

Adrien grinned and showed Gabriel the screen, headed Gabenath Shipper Project.

"What … does that title mean?"

"I'll explain later."

"And all these thirty-two people were?"

"Let's see—there was everyone in my class and some others from school …"

A bunch of schoolchildren, most of whom Gabriel recognised (mostly from akumatizing them and their peers), waved at them.

"… the Tsurugis … the Bourgeois' … Mrs Césaire … Jean-Simon … Mr Damocles … Mrs Mendeleiev … André Glacier … the Dupain-Chengs … Jagged and Penny … and of course Miss Bustier."

"All three of you knew all along?" Nathalie said in amazement.

"Guilty," Penny said.

"But when I told you what Adrien was doing—and said it would never work—"

"We knew otherwise," Caline said. "The atmosphere between the two of you the day you came into my class proved enough. To myself and all the students. We were all eager to help when Adrien told us what he was planning."

By now both Gabriel and Nathalie were scarlet in the face, and Adrien decided to move the spotlight slightly off them for a moment to give them a moment to process it all.

"By the way," he said to the crowd, "who wrote that letter?"

"Didn't you write it?" Gabriel asked.

"No, I don't mean the letter to Nathalie. I meant the one someone wrote to me."

"To you?"

"Yeah; it's what gave me the idea in the first place." He looked around. "Anyone?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"May I see it?" Gabriel asked.

Adrien took the letter out of his pocket and handed it over. Gabriel raised his eyebrows as he saw it had been typed (not very skilfully) on his own letterheaded stationary.

"To Adrien," he read out loud. "Please do something about your father and Nathalie. They are very much in love but neither can see it. We don't think there's any chance they will realise anytime soon, so they need some help from someone who knows them well. They could both be so happy if …" He glanced at Nathalie. "… if Mr Gabriel could let go of the past, and Miss Nathalie could see he does return her feelings. With this love holiday coming up, maybe you could find a way to get them together? Love from someone who wishes your family well."

There was a weird silence after he had finished.

"Do you have any idea who wrote it?" Adrien asked. "I couldn't work it out."

"Er …" Gabriel and Nathalie glanced at each other. "Maybe."

"Who?"

There was an even weirder silence. "I think … that's a conversation for another day," Gabriel said, carefully folding the letter and tucking it in his pocket. "I promise, we'll discuss it."

"Um … okay," Adrien said, puzzled, but he could see that whoever the mysterious letter-writer was, their action had touched them both. Whatever he didn't understand, he trusted he would when the time was right. In the meantime, he was more concerned with celebrating the fact that the plan had actually worked (even if not quite in the way he had expected).

Behind him, he heard a furious whispered "No! Stop—!", followed by a sharp tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Marinette standing there, very red in the face, both her parents and Alya quickly withdrawing. "Um … hi," she squeaked.

"Hi, Marinette. Would you like to dance?"

"Yes! I mean … okay …"

Now (nearly) everything was out in the open, the attention finally dwindled, and the students and their families moved onto enjoying themselves, leaving Nathalie and Gabriel free to do the same.

Making a mental note to thank Duusu and Nooroo when they got home, Nathalie closed her eyes again and lost herself once more in her dream come true.

She couldn't remember when she had ever been this happy. Even before she had fallen for Gabriel; even before all of the things that had led up to his becoming Hawk Moth … love of any kind had been thin on the ground in her life. She had envied the Agrestes simply for what they had had with each other, and scolded herself for how unprofessionally fond she had become of Adrien. Those emotions had been painful even before tragedy had struck.

But now …

Now the two people she loved most in the world, had worked so hard for and risked so much to make happy again, were happy. And not because of admittedly questionable choices made by a supervillain, but in the way she'd secretly desired for months but never imagined could be possible.

It was no wonder she still kept questioning if she was dreaming.

"I love you," Nathalie murmured without opening her eyes.

Gabriel's arms around her tightened slightly. "I love you too."

She would never, ever not fall into ecstasy at hearing him say those words.

Nathalie opened her eyes again for a moment, just to satisfy herself that she was still awake and this was all real, and her eyes fell on a teenage couple dancing nearly. She smiled and nudged Gabriel. "Look at Adrien and Marinette."

He turned. "Are those two …"

"No, I don't think so," Nathalie replied. "Yet. I think Adrien takes after you too much in the romantic awareness area."

"Hey!"

"I'm starting to wonder if maybe we should give them a little assist."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "Like they did to us, you mean?"

"Not exactly like that, obviously, or they'll see through it straight away. But I'm sure we could think of something. They make a sweet couple, don't you think?"

"I suppose they do."

Adrien caught them looking, smiled and waved. Nathalie waved back.

Even though she'd known his intentions for days, she was still struggling to process how much work he'd put into this, the lengths he had gone to—even roping just about everyone he knew into it—to get her and Gabriel together. Now Nathalie was no longer distracted by worrying how it could go wrong, her anxiety had given way to an emotion she couldn't express at the realisation of how much Adrien had wanted them to be together. It felt like the biggest compliment of all time.

It was probably far too early in her and Gabriel's relationship to think of herself as Adrien's 'mother'. But now she felt free to admit to herself that she felt like one already.

Despite their consistently rocky relationship, which had been at an all-time low for over a year, Gabriel and Adrien seemed much more at ease around each other than she'd seen them for a long time … possibly ever. Adrien's plan wasn't just a compliment to her, it was one to his father as well; saying that no matter what, he loved Gabriel enough to do all this for his happiness.

Happy families, Nathalie thought with a small smile, closing her eyes again. It sounded insane that the three of them could be a family, let alone a happy one … but they really were.

Pinch me.

The End

AN: Okay, so I can confirm I will be expanding on this universe. At this present moment I can't guarantee what might be posted, and when. Before I get started on any of my ideas, I think I should really try and finish my other posted Miraculous WIPs.

Any companion fics or sequels will be labelled either as sequels for this fic or "Shipper Projects Universe" in the summary.