Breakfast
It was the D-Day, it was the day they were going to present the presentation about bullying and sexual harassment and perform their sketches.
Adrien was on his feet before the alarm clock went off. During his morning routine he started to exercise his lines. He sneered, he glared, he put on a sly smile, he checked his menacing and taunting look. The boy was rather satisfied. He was never asked to do such looks on the photo shoots, but his practise as a model definitely helped.
"Ready to taunt your girlfriend?" Plagg teased.
"The only thing taunting is the smell of your cheese." Adrien replied while he pinched his nose, so the sound of his voice was rather unusual.
"I thought you were impersonating few taunting personas." The tiny black god of destruction floated out of Adrien's reach and swallowed the whole Camembert triangle he was given.
"You are right about them, but that does not make your cheese smell any nicer." Adrien retorted as he checked his school bag and got out from his room. He was finishing his breakfast when Nathalie appeared with his schedule and raised eyebrows.
"Good morning, Adrien, you are early today." She greeted.
"I have to be early today, for the presentation." The boy replied calmly. He hid all his excitement about the whole project.
"Does that mean you are finished with it and we can resume your normal obligations for the next week?" Nathalie asked without looking at him.
"Actually, no, we should probably plan it for the next week too." Adrien replied as he feigned disinterest. In fact, the boy hoped he could make those joint sessions with homework and studying and playing games more frequent in the future even after the assignment was finished. "We have to see what will be the outcome from today."
Nathalie frowned but said nothing.
Adrien hopped over to the waiting car. To his initial terror, Nathalie followed him, but then she let him go away without her.
"Take us to the bakery, please." Adrien asked with a wide smile once they passed the entrance to the Agreste mansion.
"Marinette, you have a presentation with Adrien today." Tiki chirped to wake up her sleeping chosen.
The girl was on her feet so quickly she felt dizzy.
"Not so fast Marinette,." The tiny goddess of creation warned her chosen with teasing lilt in her voice as she floated to her face. "You might wish to open your eyes before you try to climb down the ladder that leads to your bed."
Marinette squinted her eyes open and then closed them instantly.
"Can't, too bright." She moaned in protest.
"If you fall, you do not get to perform with Adrien, nor help him with his problems." Tikki knew what to say to motivate her chosen.
Marinette blinked her eyes open and yawned.
She got herself ready in no time and leaned over to give the mannequin a kiss before she opened the hatch door and went down from her room. She went to the kitchen to fetch some breakfast but was met with a surprise. Because there, at the table in her kitchen sat none other that Adrien Agreste and ate a piece of pastry.
"Good morning Marinette." The boy greeted her as soon as he noticed her approach.
"Adrien! Mood gorning?" The girl squeaked. Great. All those efforts and she could still stammer and mix the words up in front of him. The boy smiled and attributed it to the early morning.
"Sorry, your parents said it was okay to wait for you here and told me to help myself, so I did." The blonde boy looked at her gently with those warm green eyes that she almost melted on the spot. "They warned me you are not a morning person." He chuckled when he noticed her dazed expression and complete absence of any further reaction.
"Sorry." She muttered. "Good morning Adrien." She squeezed out. Correctly. Yes. Victory.
She approached the table, slowly and carefully. It would have been soundlessly if she did not stumble into a chair before she pulled it out to sit across the boy.
The food was on the table, the milk and the juice, there was her favourite bowl that she used for cereal as it always was for her breakfast, that was what her mother left her on the table each morning if she was not able to be there herself.
"Sabine said that you have everything you need here on the table." Adrien shrugged as he munched on a croissant. The piece of pastry was disappearing quickly, while Marinette still had to reach for her food.
The truth was, she was not really hungry. The nerves and the anticipation of the presentation they were supposed to have the first thing in the morning somehow smothered any other feeling, like hunger or sleepiness.
"You should eat something, Marinette." The boy offered her the box of pastries and she took one, absent mindedly, before he took more food.
She was eating in silence and stared at the boy before her. The boy before her was obviously hungry and deprived of anything that a home should give him. She used to idolize him, because he was perfect, but now she knew how unhappy his life was, and somehow, with all that, she loved him even more. She smiled gently at him.
Adrien offered her milk as he was filling his cup. She nodded and pushed her cup towards him.
"I like your family, Marinette." The boy smiled so gently, his eyes were warm and green. "You are all so full of love and care for each other and everybody else."
"And food." She teased. Then she covered her mouth. Did she just tease him? That was awful. But the boy laughed. So she laughed with him. She needed to laugh her other thoughts away. Because there was that brief moment when she heard 'I like you' but then she heard the rest 'r family'. Her brain was too overwhelmed.
"Yes, and that too." He added.
They ate in silence for a moment.
Adrien remembered his photo with a heart on it. He knew he would never stop loving Ladybug. There was no way. Marinette was his friend, he needed a friend like her. He wanted a friend like her. He wanted her in his life. Was he so selfish? Because he wanted to keep her for himself.
Marinette kept staring at her food. She would remind herself to eat from time to time. There was Adrien Agreste in her kitchen eating breakfast with her before school. It was the same boy she fell in love with and it was not the same boy presented on all of those posters she had. She always knew those posters were just reminders, she kept only those few pictures that seemed closer to his genuine self, but now she knew even those were far off.
And there was a girl he loved (and did not like his jokes). Marinette was certain that the girl was Kagami. And she knew Kagami had feelings for him too. That is why she let them have their ice cream. For her, it was meaningless to stay in the way of happiness of her two friends. Because that was what they were, her friends. If she pushed, she would have lost two friends and gained nothing because she knew he loved someone else.
"Are you ready for the show?" The boy asked nervously, it was obvious the nerves got the better of him too. He took one more piece of pastry. "I suddenly feel nervous, it helps me to have something to eat."
"Actually, I was so nervous that I was not even hungry. But it is getting better now." She sighed as she stared at her plate.
They were sitting and eating in silence for a moment.
"Huh, it is time to go isn't it?" Marinette huffed out reluctantly as she noticed the clock on the wall.
"I have not even noticed." Adrien smiled apologetically. "I let my driver leave me here so we can walk together to school. It is nice weather and all."
"We should really start right away then." Marinette jumped to her feet and collected the plates from the table.
The girl took a cookie from the box and sneaked it into her purse on her way out. The boy had fed his kwami long ago, before she descended the stairs that lead to her room. He knew that was the only way to keep him silent.
"Bye maman, bye papa." Marinette greeted with a wide smile.
"Have a nice day at school." Tom replied as he passed a box with food for lunch to Adrien with a gentle smile. The man winked after the boy took it.
"Good luck with your presentation today." Sabine greeted and waved after the two teens while she was tending the counter in the busy bakery.
"Was that Adrien Agreste?" A customer whispered.
"Adrien Agreste is eating in this bakery?" Another customer squealed.
"That was my daughter's classmate." Sabine replied with a polite smile. "They have a presentation for a project in school."
Tom arrived and carried a tray with fresh pastries.
"I am telling you, that was Adrien Agreste." The fist customer repeated the claim louder.
"A supermodel eats in your bakery? That is a great promotion." The second customer told Sabine.
"As far as I know, no supermodels eat in this bakery." Tom replied with a smirk and left. "Only really hungry boys." He muttered to himself later.
"Please do not start any rumours." Sabine begged. "We do not want a lawsuit from his brand." She added as an explanation. She also did not want cameras, journalists and fans snooping around the bakery and her family.
The two kids were blissfully unaware of the events that unfolded in the bakery after they left. They had other concerns on their plate.
"Do you think this will work?" Adrien asked about their plan, the presentation and the acts.
"I don't know. I hope it works for you." Marinette shrugged and walked along the boy.
"Chloe will get it. She is not stupid." The boy said hopefully.
"She also knows she is a bully and is proud of it." The girl sighed. "But it should work for you."
"This is not just about me you know." He replied. "I feel so selfish."
"You are not. Besides, it was nice of you to provide the examples to play." She knew it was also brave of him to expose himself like that, it was a big deal for her, his deal seemed bigger.
"Yeah." He sighed, he would prefer so much more if he had none and he was more and more aware of each time he was made feel uncomfortable by his father's associates or in the photo shoots.
"You are also very brave, Adrien." She added shyly.
"It is you who are brave and stand up to bullies." The boy smiled gently at her and she blushed. "And you are helping me stand up for myself now. Thank you Marinette."
The girl was slightly loosing control of her legs as they started to turn into jelly and she still had to walk up the stairs that lead to the school gate and all the way to the classroom. And she should tell him something, she had to reply to those nice words.
He noticed she slowed down and stumbled a little. He caught her arm just above her elbow.
"Hey, don't get scared now." He whispered.