Chapter Eleven: Party.

Parties, like balloons, can be great for a celebration or an apology.

Tuesday 11th February 2020. 08.30 a.m. Chloé's suite, Le Grande Paris.

"So, what do you think?"

Chloé did her best not to show any of her nerves as she waited for her father's response. The mostly uneaten yet decidedly mangled croissants on the plate in front of her were a testament to her turbulent emotions but she was certain that nothing showed on her face, just like he had taught her.

Mostly certain.

About 85% certain. Ish.

She took a sip of her latte just for something to do while she waited.

Across the table her father sat unmoving, straight backed in his chair, hands clasped on the table, staring at her as he considered her words. His expression gave nothing of his thoughts away and even as Chloé fought the urge to fidget under his scrutiny she admired his blank gaze.

When he wanted to, he had the perfect poker face. Sometimes it was helpful in his political dealings to let his emotions leak, sometimes he needed to keep everything under wraps. Her father had the skills to pull that off, and the knowledge of when the poker face was necessary, two things that Chloé knew she lacked but was determined to master.

"I think it's a wonderful idea."

"You… do?" Chloé didn't stare. She didn't. André smiled at her from across the table, relaxing enough to let Chloé see his sincerity. "So, you don't mind?"

"Not at all," he shook his head. André drained the last of his coffee and dabbed at his mouth with his napkin. Unlike Chloé, her father hadn't had any issues with eating breakfast. He stood up and straightened his suit and walked around the table to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I really do think that this is a wonderful idea of yours, my darling, and I'm proud of you for doing this."

"You are?"

His features softened then, pride very obvious but tempered with a large dose of self-blame. Something the Chloé had seen a lot of since they'd had words about her behaviour at the gala. Something she didn't want to see on his face ever again.

"Chloé, dearest, I'm sorry for not saying it more, but I am proud of you. All the time. My wonderful little girl," he smiled down at her and brushed her still loose hair out of her face. She hadn't bothered tying it up this morning. "And I really am proud of you with how far you've come. I love your idea, I don't mind you using the hotel today. Jean, Valentin, and Jeanne can help you coordinate things."

She smiled. "Thanks daddy."

"You're welcome." He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "It was nice spending this time together this morning. Why don't we have breakfast together for the rest of your holiday?"

"What about your meetings?"

André grimaced when he remembered some of the upcoming meetings and talks he had to attend in the next few days and he sighed. "I can reschedule most of them, but not all. I'm sorry, dearest. Would you rather we had lunch?"

"No," Chloé shook her head. "No, I want to have breakfast with you. Really. I just wasn't sure if you could give up all those meetings."

André smiled. "When I get to the office I'll rearrange all the meetings I can and I promise you we'll have breakfast together - and we'll have lunch together on those days we can't have breakfast. How does that sound?"

Chloé grinned at him. "That's great!" She stood up and wrapped her arms around him tightly, hugging him to her in a way she realised she hadn't in too long. "Thank you daddy."

"Any time. I love you, Chloé."

"I love you too."

He kissed her forehead again before leaving to see to his duties, and Chloé sank back into her seat. She felt lighter, happier, after that conversation with her father. She did love him and she was ashamed of herself for using him and his position for as long as she had, deceiving and lying to him to get him to do what she wanted. Chloé had been on a long journey of self-reflection ever since the gala and she was finally ready to start to change. Hopefully for the better.

She reached into her bag for her phone and her designer white leather purse. Ignoring the phone for a moment, she reached into her purse and pulled out a small plastic wrapped piece of red card displaying a tiny sweet inside. Her love heart from last week.

Be happy.

Honestly, Chloé had thought it was Mlle. Bustier's way of mocking her when she had seen it on her desk. Everyone else had things like 'awesome' or 'nice smile' or 'cool dude' and other complimentary statements, she'd heard them comparing them quite happily when she had slipped into the room, and yet she had this? Be happy? As if. Chloé hadn't been happy since the gala, since she screwed everything up so monumentally, since she realised that it was her own fault, since she realised she had no real friends.

She had been so certain that Mlle. Bustier had been mocking her…

… until Adrien and Marinette had found her at her lowest point, surely about to attract an akuma to her any minute, and they'd talked to her.

They hadn't been obligated to but they had. Chloé couldn't have given them anything in return for talking to her, no reward or bribe, since everyone knew her father had punished her by taking away her credit cards. There was no friendship between them that demanded they speak to her, she and Marinette had never been friends and she'd thoroughly burned her bridges with Adrien when she'd made those comments about his girlfriend.

No, they had spoken to her because they wanted to. Because they saw her suffering and wanted to change that.

Adrien had offered her his friendship again. A treasure more precious to her than any of the riches she owned and one that she thought was lost forever, offered up again so easily. And Marinette… well, she'd been truthful. She hadn't outright rejected her, something that Chloé probably would have done in her position, but she hadn't promised to become her new BFF either. She had promised her support though, and that along with her truthfulness was something Chloé sorely needed.

She might never be friends with anyone at Françoise-Dupont but she could be amicable. She could be happy.

Chloé smiled down at the sweet in her hands. She could be happy. She finally ripped open the packaging and ate it, grabbing her phone and starting to text.

It was time to work towards being happy again.

All across the city, phones lit up with her messages.

Tuesday 11th February 2020. 2.00 p.m. Marinette's room.

Alya scowled at the invite on her phone again and Marinette fought off an exasperated groan and started another mental countdown. Five, four, three, two, one…

"So you're sure this isn't a joke?"

Marinette sighed. "For the last time, yes!"

"Don't take that tone with me, girl." Alya snapped. "The last one we went to was a joke, I think I'm justified in asking that question."

"Once or twice and I would agree with you!"

Marinette had indeed asked herself that very same question when the party invite had come through to her phone. She'd pinched herself to make sure she hadn't been seeing things. She had even gone so far as to get Tikki to pinch her to make sure that this wasn't a dream and that the test said what it said.

[Chloé. 11-Feb. 9.00]: Le Grande Paris, 2.30 p.m., apology party from me to you to make up for the gala. Food and non-alcoholic drinks provided. Music and games for all. Stay as long as you want. No tricks, no gimmicks, no small print. Just a party.

It seemed that Chloé was indeed trying to reform and was starting by giving the school a real party.

It wasn't just her class who had received the invite. Marinette had been receiving messages all day from the rest of the school to check if Chloé was being sincere, texts, emails, IMs, just about every account of hers was pinging like mad as most of Françoise-Dupont tried to get in touch with her. Chloé had even personalised some of her messages, saying that this party was sorry for ruining someone's homework, or for threatening to get them expelled, or for any number of offences she had committed over the years.

Which is why Alya's frequent repetitions were getting particularly annoying after dealing with that same question all day. "That's the eighth time you've asked me the same question. My answer has not changed since the last time you asked me two minutes ago!"

Alya rolled her eyes and put her phone away, crossing the room to eye Marinette's outfit critically. She had invited herself over to help Marinette get ready but had spent most of the time complaining. Marinette knew her outfit was awesome anyway, and now that her make-up was finished it was time to do her hair and get dressed.

"Okay, okay," Alya sighed. "Maybe I'm going a little overboard here, maybe, but you can't blame me. Anyone else would think the same in my place."

"They did think the same." Marinette admitted. Their class, the rest of the school, even Marinette herself - everyone had questioned whether this was legit or not. "But they only asked one or twice, not eight times!"

"You've spoken to everyone already?"

Of course Alya would ignore the point she was trying to make. Marinette sighed and grabbed her hairbrush, pins, and bobbles, setting about the process of pulling her hair back into a low bun. "I checked in with Sabrina first, to make sure she was okay with this, then I called up a few others. I ended up interrupting Mylène and Ivan's date. I feel so bad."

"They were on a date? Wait, is this the one where he gave her the tickets?" Alya gasped then cackled. "Oh my god no wonder you feel bad!"

"I'm guessing Nino couldn't keep it from you either?"

Both girls rolled their eyes. Their boyfriends were terrible at keeping secrets. Ivan had confided in Adrien and Nino on their boys day out that he had managed to buy two tickets to Mylène's favourite play and he was going to give them to her on a special date sometime soon. Naturally, both boys had told their girlfriends the whole story when they got home.

Marinette was super happy for Mylène and also super upset that she had interrupted their special date even if Chloé's odd text had interrupted them first. "Yes, it was that date, yes, he gave her the tickets and she loved them, and yes, I feel so horrible right now."

"I'll have to ask her about them later," Alya grinned. She gave Marinette the thumbs up when she gestured to her hair for approval. "I only called Sabrina earlier. I didn't think to call anyone else."

Marinette paused with her hairbrush still in hand and wondered if she could throw it at Alya. "You called her and yet still asked me if this was okay eight times? After Sabrina told you the same thing she told me? That from what she can gather Chloé is 100% serious?"

Alya held her hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture. "So I'm a little over zealous. But Sabrina might have been slipping back into old habits so excuse me for double checking? Or, you know, octuple checking."

"I was concerned too, but I honestly don't think that she is. If she was she'd have gone to the party instead of going on that father-daughter day out with her dad."

"You're probably right," Alya conceded the point. "Man, she's lucky that was today. If she'd been in Paris today she might have ended up going to the party purely out of habit."

"True." Marinette had thought the same thing, hence why her first call was to Sabrina. But she was very proud of how far Sabrina had come over the last few weeks, and proud of her for saying no to Chloé's party. Marinette decided not to mention her theory that Chloé had deliberately arranged the party to happen today so that Sabrina would have an easy out and not have to see Chloé when she was still healing. It was better for both of them this way. "Sabrina says she's not sorry that she's missing it but she hopes we all have a good time."

"I hope we will too," Alya muttered and reached for her phone again. Marinette rolled her eyes when Alya was distracted and slipped her jeans off, grabbing the thick pair of black leggings she had chosen and pulling them on. Alya glared at the text on her phone against before shoving it back in her pocket angrily. "Girl, I still can't believe Chloé invited all of us to another party. I still can't believe you're dressing up for one of Chloé's parties either." She eyed the outfit that Marinette had half on.

"I am not dressing up!"

Alya snorted. "Babe?" she yelled.

Nino's voice drifted upstairs to agree with his girlfriend and proving that, as Marinette suspected, he was sat at the kitchen table and shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation. "I'm not allowed up there, M, you're totally dressing up."

"You're not allowed up here because I'm changing clothes Nino." Marinette scoffed. As if to illustrate her point she undid the buttons on her blouse and slipped it off, then stepped into her new summer dress and started pulling it up. She caught Alya's disbelieving stare as she pulled up the hidden zip set under her left arm. Marinette rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I was planning on wearing this today anyway. This is not because Chloé is throwing a party for everyone. It's the summer dress from my Superheroes collection and I wanted to see what it was like to wear. Plus, Adrien loves it when I wear green."

Marinette blushed a little giving Alya a sheepish smile as she admitted to that. She knew she was just giving Alya teasing material there but at least Alya didn't know the real reason behind her choice of wardrobe.

While she did need to see how the dress held up when she was actually wearing it, she was wearing it just to wind Adrien up. The dress itself was a muted pastel shade of the vivid green of Chat Noir's miraculous, with a pattern of black cat silhouettes around the hem of the skirt. The straps were black ribbon and the bodice was edged with black lace and delicate beading, and there was a matching ribbon and lace edging on the hem of the skirt. It would work beautifully as a summer dress, but it would also work nicely when paired with some black leggings, black ballet flats, and a black blazer as she was today.

No matter how she wore it, it was pure Chat Noir and Adrien was going to lose his mind when he saw her in it.

Marinette had been planning on a quiet piano lesson date with Adrien later, letting him see her handiwork and examine it up-close, but now she was hoping there would be a quiet corner of the party she could drag him into for a moment later on.

As predicted, Alya's eye lit up with a teasing mischief. "Ah, so it's Adrien you're dressing up for. Not the party."

Nino was her unlikely saviour as he stumbled up the stairs, hand clamped firmy over his eyes so he didn't see anything. "Adrien's coming? He's allowed out?"

Marinette pulled on the black blazer she had chosen to complete the look, and keep her warm on this chilly February day. "You can look, Nino," she gave him the all-clear, giggling when he slowly peeked from behind his hands to make sure it was safe. "And yes Adrien is coming. There is no way Nathalie would dare to stop Adrien going to a Bourgeois event, even if it is a purely party. He said he'd meet me there in-" she quickly checked her phone "-fifteen minutes."

Alya looked stunned. "Huh. What do you know? Maybe she is trying to turn over a new leaf this time. Getting Adrien out of his lessons is definitely a good deed."

"Oh, sure, now you believe me!"

Marinette huffed and grabbed her phone, slipping it into the pocket in the skirt of her dress, then grabbed the large bag she had carefully set to one side before Alya barged in. It had her purse, some lip balm, and a few other bits inside, but it was mainly to keep Tikki safe. And Plagg when he inevitably joined them later on. She peered it and Tikki gave her a thumbs up before she looked at Marinette's outfit and pointed at her throat.

Oh, right. The necklace.

Marinette slipped off her catbug necklace and heart charm that had been her gift from Adrien and reluctantly slipped it into her jewellery box for safe keeping. She hardly ever took it off, but right now she needed something different to complete the Chat Noir look she was going for. She grabbed the length of black ribbon with a small gold bell on that she kept safe in the drawer of her vanity and looped it around her neck, tying it so the bell rested just below her collarbones.

Perfect! Not only did it complete the look, Adrien would go cat-atonic over it.

She tried not to laugh at her own joke. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!"

Alya and Nino grabbed their bags and coat and followed her downstairs. She said a quick goodbye to her parents, who gave her a worried look even as they wished her a fun time. Even they were suspicious of Chloé's motives today.

They slipped out the back door of the bakery, fully intending to enjoy the short walk around the corner to Chloé's hotel…

… then stopped dead in their tracks when they found Adrien standing there waiting for them, holding a red rose and a chocolate rose in one hand.

Marinette should really have expected him to pick her up.

He was leaning against the car, M. Guérin behind the wheel, dressed impeccably in a smart black suit with a green shirt that really brought his eyes out. He had foregone a tie and left the top two buttons of his shirt open in what Marinette decided was a very good look on him, right before her cheeks turned pink when she realised they had accidentally matched each other. Her blush deepened when she saw him looking at her in utter adoration, not even realising that Nino and Alya were stood on either side of her.

Alya was trying so hard not to laugh at him but it was a losing battle and she burst into a fit of giggles, then fell into full on hysterical laughter when Adrien startled and turned towards them as he finally noticed there were other people there with his girlfriend. Nino collapsed against Alya and joined in with her hilarity. Marinette was sure her cheeks were crimson by now by how warm they felt, even though she very much liked the look in his eyes.

"He really does like you in black and green, girl. Hey sunshine."

Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it again and settled on waving hello to the other couple. This just made them laugh even more. He swallowed then cleared his throat. "Hey Nino, Alya."

Nino wiped a tear away. "It's fine, it's totally cool that you didn't even notice us - for that you're giving us a lift to this party."

"I would have offered anyway," Adrien mumbled, blushing.

"If you'd noticed us, you mean? Thanks sunshine!"

Adrien stepped aside, letting Alya and Nino climb into the back of the limo that Marinette was positive was the one from the night of the gala. She was also certain that Nathalie had insisted Adrien ride in it tonight for the sake of appearances.

Marinette watched as Adrien shut the door and walked towards her with that intense look in his eyes again. It was only sheer willpower that was keeping her knees from buckling right now. Damn, that was one hot look. She needed to dress up like this more often.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her to him, while offering her the roses. She giggled and took them from him with a gracious incline of her head, but the laughter died away as his now free hand trailed up the sleeve of her blazer towards her throat. His gaze was intense as he traced a single finger along the ribbon around her neck and flicked the bell, making it jingle delicately. Marinette almost forgot how to breathe. Yep, she definitely needed to do this again.

"Is this for me, my Princess?" he murmured, his voice gravelly with the beginnings of a purr.

She willed herself to stay upright. "Purr-haps."

Adrien groaned and leaned his forehead against hers. "You're trying to kill me, my love."

"Is it working?"

The purr began to rumble out of him, as he moved the hand on her necklace over her collarbones and around to cup her neck and pull her closer to him. Her eyes had almost fluttered shut when-

"Ahem!" Plagg stuck his head out of Adrien's jacket, cutting her boyfriend's purr off mid-rumble, and scowled up at the two of them. "I'd like to see my Lady before you start slobbering over yours, if you don't mind!"

Adrien set his forehead against hers and groaned again, this one a groan of pure exasperation. She could see the wheels turning as he thought up ways to get back at Plagg for this, even if she knew he didn't blame Plagg for wanting to be with Tikki when he could. Marinette shifted her bag so it was hidden between her and Adrien and popped the clasp open. Tikki stuck her head out and waved a quick hello, giggling at the look and Adrien's face. Plagg pounced on the roses in Marinette's hands, took the chocolate one, and leapt into the bag alongside Tikki. There was a tiny squeal of laughter as the bag closed behind them and Marinette couldn't help but giggle herself.

"We'd better get going too, mon amour. We'll probably have to help the others realise this is an actual apology party."

"But... that's what the invite said it was?"

Marinette wondered why he was so confused until she remembered that he had a completely different history with Chloé than everyone else did. He had taken her text at face value unlike the others. "We were just kicked out of the gala a few weeks ago, simply because she could," Marinette reminded him gently. "She's been really mean to everyone but you for years. You and I spoke to her on Saturday, we know she wants to change, but everyone else will have a hard time believing it. Some might never believe it."

"So when you said she could be amicably tolerant with others, that wasn't just so she didn't get her hopes dashed if it didn't work straight away?"

"Nope. I meant that is literally the most she will get from some people."

Adrien sighed. "Wow. How bad was she?"

"Bad." Marinette decided to leave it at that. She didn't want to rehash the past, not when she was looking forward to an afternoon filled with dancing with her boyfriend and partying with their friends. That would just put a damper on the whole evening. "We're not going to go over all of that. She wants to change and if she is sincere we won't hold the past against her, but forgiveness and friendship are different stories. Everyone will have to decide for themselves what they want to do."

Adrien looked a little conflicted but nodded. "I feel a little bad for her. I wish she could have friends."

Marinette smiled and leaned up to kiss him on the nose. "That's because you have a wonderfully kind heart and always see the good in people and want the best for them. It's one of the reasons I love you so much."

"One of the reasons? What are the others?"

"That is far too long a conversation when we're going to be late for a party, my kitten."

"Please?"

Marinette giggled when he brought out the kitten eyes and leaned up and kissed him properly. She could just about hear the beginnings of another purr when she pulled away. "That will have to tide you over until later."

Adrien smirked and used the hand still around her neck to pull her back in for another, longer, more lingering kiss. Marinette could feel her knees weaken again and leaned against him more heavily, sighing happily. Adrien broke their kiss before he could start purring properly because there was no way that was stopping if it got started.

"Okay, I'm good now," he teased.

Marinette scoffed and he just laughed. He took the rose from her hands and moved behind her, weaving the delicate flower into her bun then placing a kiss on the back of her neck right over the bell ribbon.

"You are beautiful, my Marinette." Marinette blushed at the worship in his tone and Adrien just chuckled. He offered her his arm. "Your carriage awaits."

Author's notes: Jean is the name of Chloé's butler, but Valentin and Jeanne are characters from my Just Another Day In Paris story, chapter 1. Valentin is the head butler, in charge of all other staff, and Jeanne is the blonde maid from the hotel you see in Pixelator.

The wifi died again last night so if it holds you might get two chapters today. Yay. If not, then just this one. Sorry folks. On the plus side, the new router will be here either later on today or tomorrow, so the final chapter will go up on time at least.

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yellow 14 - glad you liked it, I'm starting to really like writing Kim's character.