Here's a short update for all you MLB fans! Finally having a little bit of conflict between the brothers. I'm so excited for the next chapter. I have a rough outline of what I want in my mind but I have yet to actually write anything.
There was only a couple of weeks left before school started. Adrien and Felix seemed to be out of sorts and Marinette could only watch their relationship crumble from a distance. It had all started a few nights ago when Felix was staying over at her house.
It had become a regular occurrence. Her parents had set up the guest room for him, while Tom would have glared down on any other member of the male gender who even dared to look at his daughter the wrong way, he was perfectly fine with the older blond boy being semi-adopted into the family.
He and Sabine had once even discussed taking Felix in, it didn't seem right that such a young boy had been banned from his family funds and living on his own. Dieu seul sait that the rent for an apartment at the heart of Paris would have been a nightmare.
They had brought it up to him once when Marinette was still at school. He had looked at them with such a sad smile it broke their hearts. 'I couldn't possibly impose' and 'I've always wanted my own place' and there was nothing else that they could say to convince the young man into staying with them.
Honestly, when Marinette had first told her parents about her online friend that she had met, Tom had been worried. His baby girl was only twelve and who knows what questionable and strange person was on the other side of the screen.
So he had sneaked into his daughter's room and spied as she was on a video call with the strange new penpal. He had expected another child of course, but he hadn't expected to see one with such sad eyes.
The boy's room that he could see from the view that the camera provided, was dull with plain grey walls and it was such a stark contrast against his daughter's own bright and cheerful, pink-filled room, every wall plastered with a drawing or some sort of photograph or other memorabilia.
Tom had quickly shut the hatch and climbed down the stairs, Sabine had looked up from the magazine that she was reading with a questioning rise in her brow. Tom could only shake his head with a smile. Sabine only cocked her head to the side in question before shrugging in acceptance. While Sabine was protective over her only child, she understood that her daughter needed to make her own friends, live her own life.
It was a school approved website that had been suggested to the children, in an attempt to create international relations. Sabine had thought it was a great idea, Tom… not so much.
Now, four years later the same boy with the no longer sad eyes sat across him, nursing a cup of hot cocoa. Felix had grown from the small and quiet recluse he had been at fourteen. The young man before him now held his shoulders back with pride and an easy grace in his step.
Felix joined them for dinner almost every night, the young blond even tried to pass Sabine and envelope with money, "Compensation for feeding me and boarding so often, Sabine." He had smiled gently but Sabine had only frowned and returned him the envelope unopened.
"You don't have to pay when you're a part of the family, Felix." and the look that crossed his face made Sabine's heartbreak. It seemed as if Felix had never received affection without expecting to return the favor.
"But, I-I'm not-" Felix stuttered, his eyes prickling as the unfamiliar feeling of tears gathering.
"You are family Felix. You're like a son to us." Sabine soothed, placing a hand on his shoulder. She smiled kindly at the young child, no matter his age he was still a child in her eyes. One who hadn't had a proper family since the death of his mother all those years ago.
Sabine couldn't imagine shipping her child away to study overseas simply because he was too smart for his own good. She let out a soft gasp when she suddenly found herself with an armful of crying, blond child.
"The guest bedroom is yours whenever you want it." Sabine smiled gently. "And no more of this money nonsense. If you want to help us out, you can start by doing the dishes after dinner." Feeling the nod, Sabine reached a hand to gently run her fingers through his hair in an effort to comfort him.
Tom stood and watched from the kitchen doorway, unwilling to interrupt the moment. It felt like he had a long lost son that had finally been reunited with. While it was obvious that Felix had feelings for his daughter, and normally the thought of it alone would have made him bristle, the idea of Felix officially joining the family only made a smile spread on his face.
But when Marinette started crushing on the Agreste boy in her class and Tom could only see the light that had been growing in the young blond's face across the screen begin to dim slightly. Tom had expected the boy he only knew of as Chat Chanceux to withdraw himself away from Marinette. Yet the boy still stood by his daughter. Offering her support and tutoring her as much as he could from across the screen.
It had been a shock to learn that Chat Chanceux was the other Agreste son that M Agreste had sequestered away, brother of the Adrien boy that Marinette had been crushing on. It was a headache that was just waiting to happen. Sabine had only placed a hand on his shoulder and comforted him as best as she could.
Their daughter was strong and having two amazing boys chasing for her affections shouldn't be a surprise. "Somebody is going to end up hurt and I don't want it to be our precious bun." Tom had huffed while preparing the batter for a batch of cupcakes that they were running low on.
"We can't protect her from everything, Tom." Sabine had chided. Tom could only sigh and resume his mixing. Sabine walked up to her husband and hugged him from behind, resting her head on his broad shoulders. "She's growing up and we need to let her."
"I just want to keep her safe, Sabine…" Tom sighed as he turned around to hold his wife in his arms. "I know, Tom." Sabine hugged her husband tight in her arms, offering him a measure of comfort with her warmth. "We'll be there for her." Sabine promised and Tom kissed the top of her head.
X
While Felix was feeling his grinch heart swelling, Adrien had decided he was about to get serious regarding his Lady. While Marinette had been out shopping with the rest of the girls from operation Flower Garden all those years ago, Chat Noir leaped across the rooftops of Parisian streets towards the famous Boulangerie.
Felix was in Marinette's room, with his laptop open in front of him as he typed out a business report for the Dupain-Chengs. While Sabine and Tom did their best, their records were messily kept and Felix was trying his hardest to keep the boulangerie accounts in order.
The now familiar thump of a body landing on the roof, made him look up to the skylight where the expected silhouette of Chat Noir loomed. A moment later the skylight opened and the black-clad hero dropped in.
The look of surprise crossed the masked face when he spotted his brother in Marinette's room looking as if he belonged there. "frère? What are you doing here?"
Felix looking completely comfortable as he lounged on Marinette's chaise, looked at his brother with an unrepentant gaze. "I'm working."
Chat Noir narrowed his eyes ever so slightly in annoyance towards his brother. While he had never had a healthy relationship with Felix ever since his brother had entered the prestigious school in England, he found that he hadn't missed his brother's snark.
"I meant why are you working in Marinette's room." Chat's tail flicked lazily behind him as he made his way to the computer desk and sat on the chair. "Detransformme moi."
Adrien reappeared in a blast of bright green light. Plagg floated wearily away down the hatch, phasing through the door without any trouble. Ever since Papa Ladybug had started leaving cheese buns in a bread basket for him, he never bothered to stay near his chosen when they visited the Boulangerie.
"It's comfortable." Felix replied with a shrug before he returned his attention to the laptop screen and the mess of numbers that just didn't add up. While the Boulangerie had been earning a steady profit, the numbers just didn't fall in place. It was giving Felix a headache that wouldn't leave until he managed to come up with a new system to help the Dupain-Chengs managed their accounts.
Adrien huffed at his brother before turning his attention to his phone, while Marinette was away, he couldn't do anything. And his brother didn't seem to be in a conversing mood. With his free hand, he started fiddling with one of the discarded pieces of work that Marinette had left on her desk.
"Does Marinette know that you're hanging out in her room when she's not around?" Adrien prodded. "She knows. I've done it before." Came the distracted reply. Adrien frowned as he continued to observe his brother from the corner of his eye.
"And she's ok with it?" Adrien continued. With a frustrated sigh, Felix saved his work and closed the laptop, turning to face his brother with an annoyed expression in his blue-grey eyes.
"Adrien, what's really bothering you?" Felix questioned with a sigh. Adrien shifted guiltily in his seat, knowing that he had interrupted his brother while he was busy. But the questions were running rampant in his mind ever since the movie date - well not a date, the movie outing, and the painful ache in his chest was back.
"I've been in love with Ladybug from the very first day. And to find out that my partner is actually one of my best friends, I just… I don't want to lose her to anybody." Adrien declared as he stood up to face his brother with determination.
"I don't like that she's so much more comfortable with you. I don't like that you're lounging here, in her room, like it's normal." Adrien looked away, suddenly feeling hesitant. Was he really unloading everything to his brother right now? Turning away slightly so that he could at least hide a little of his face from his brother's piercing gaze.
"I love her so much. I've finally found her, after two whole years of not knowing. And I hate that she has you in her life. I hate that you have a special place in her heart that I can't reach." Adrien's shoulders slumped as he hugged himself.
Felix sat slightly dumbfounded at his brother's outburst. While he had known that Adrien had finally realized that his partner in crime had been the girl he had been paying midnight visits to, it was still a hard pill to swallow that Adrien knew a side to Marinette that he would never experience.
Working with her to fight against Akumatized villains. Having complete trust with each other, even during his short stint as Ladybug he had been unable to allow himself to surrender the trust needed to Chat Noir. He didn't know if he had that with Marinette.
"That is not fair, Adrien." Felix started. "You know a side of her that I will never understand. You have spent many nights on her roof spending time with her that I will never be able to intrude." Felix crossed the short distance between the two of them and stood in his younger brother's personal space.
While Adrien had been fiery passion in his proclamation of his jealousy, Felix was a heavy storm that loomed over the room with his impressive height, dangerous blue-grey eyes boring into your soul.
"You have had the privilege to spend almost every day in her presence for the past two years while I have been content simply to observe from the other side of the screen." Looming over his brother, Felix could only stare into his brother's eyes and his lips curled into a snarl. "You do not get to talk to me about your jealousy when you have had every opportunity to woo her." Felix punctuated every word with almost venom.
"It is not my fault if you have wasted your chances." and with that, the older blond turned away to scoop his laptop in his arms and left Marinette's room without looking back or even offering a goodbye.
Adrien sat heavily on Marinette's computer chair and slumped forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head on his palms. The young blond groaned in frustration. What had he been thinking lashing out at his brother like that?
He knew better than anybody else on how he had squandered his chances with Marinette over the years and it was only when real competition appeared had Adrien finally gotten his head in the game.
How unfortunate that the opponent was his brother who had been in love with Marinette the entire time. As expected of the bad luck of the black cat. Speaking of black cats, Plagg phased through the hatch, mouth full of whatever cheese confection that M Dupain had put aside for the God.
"Let's go Plagg." Adrien sighed. The god only cocked its head to the side and stared at Adrien with its unnaturally green eyes. "Nah, I don't think so." Plagg dismissed the idea and floated away from Adrien and up towards Marinette's bed.
"W-wait, what?" Adrien spluttered in indignation. Walking towards the staircase to Marinette's loft bed. "What do you mean no?" The blond pushed.
"Exactly what it means." Plagg rolled its eyes at Adrien. "We just got here. I don't have the energy for another transformation." Adrien glared at Plagg with his lips pressed into a thin line.
"We've done back to back transformations before. What's the problem now?" Adrien crossed his arms as he stood at the foot of Marinette's bed. He didn't feel comfortable exploring the room without the girl around.
Plagg floated away from Adrien, phasing through the various boxes and drawers that Marinette had stashed away. "Plagg, stop it, don't go snooping through her stuff." Adrien took a tentative step towards God.
That is until Plagg (purposely or accidentally - he would never know) knocked over a box that held several folders. When the box fell, the contents of the folders were upturned and spilled across the floor.
Almost a hundred photographs of Adrien in various poses over the years scattered across the floor and Adrien could only stand and gape. His head quickly darted around the room and noted the now obvious patches of the wall where he supposed the images had been pinned up with bluetack before they had been taken down.
Adrien had never noticed the photos, not even when he came over to practice for the UMSIII tournament. He especially didn't notice them the time he came over when Felix first came home.
Did Marinette remove them because she was embarrassed? Feeling too many emotions at once, uncertainty, excitement, longing and bitter regret. Adrien quickly gathered the photographs back into their respective folders.
"Plagg, you shouldn't have done that." Adrien started in low voice. What did those photographs mean? Was Marinette really his friend? Or was he some unattainable idol. Was she also another one of his crazed fans?
Shaking the thoughts away, Adrien clenched his fist, transformed into Chat Noir and leaped out of the skylight onto the roof in a single bound. Extending his baton, Chat Noir vaulted off the roof and onto the rooftop of the opposite house. It set his pace and the cat hero began to run.
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, even if it's a bit on the short side. Do let me know if you've enjoyed it by leaving a review and as always, leave me puns and akuma ideas!