Marinette glumly rested her head in her hand, flicking through channels on the TV but not really watching anything. "I guess it could be worse… you could be talking to yourself out of sheer loneliness…" She sighed again and clicked the remote again.
Suddenly, her eyes widened to the size of plates as she saw a very familiar face on the screen of a short news segment. She sat up at attention to see the boy who had only ever existed as a motionless painting with a beautiful smile and the greenest green eyes that ever greened. A painting she had to stop and take a look at whenever she passed by.
But now he was in full motion as he stepped off a plane and avoided cameras and questions inside the airport as he made his way into a waiting vehicle.
The ghost girl felt a pang of sympathy as she focused on his face for the short time he was in view of the cameras. He didn't look sad about the recent news of the passing of his father, he simply looked… empty. But most of all, he looked lonely. She could certainly relate.
"The young Agreste is said to be returning to the now empty Agreste household, and will be resuming his studies at…"
Marinette nearly choked on nothing but air with a loud gasp, looking wildly around herself. "H-he's coming here? This… this is the household, right? Uh-oh… oh, no… oh, no… what do I…" The camera on the TV caught a glimpse of Adrien gently brushing aside his beautiful hair from his eyes and for a second, Marinette's worrying stopped as she giggled and twirled a lock of ghostly hair. "Hehe… oh, Adrien…" She slapped herself. "Darn it, not now! I… I gotta get out of here!"
She shut the TV off and flew towards the front door. She phased right through it and floated across the courtyard. But as soon as she got up to the gate, she could no longer move forward. It was like an invisible force was keeping her trapped in the area. It had been this way ever since she had awoken to find herself a spirit wandering the halls of the mansion.
After several minutes of trying to force her way out, she gave up. "It's no use… this stupid invisible bubble or whatever is still keeping me here." Marinette sighed and retreated back inside. "No choice, then… if I can't leave and he's coming here… I'm just gonna have to make the most of it. Just gotta be confident and… and…"
A few seconds passed. "Oooooorrrrr, I could just turn invisible and hide in a corner forever." She shut her eyes and focused and her see-through body became completely invisible. She giggled to herself. "You're a genius, Mari…"
Then she remembered something and sighed. "Of course, I'm not the only problem they're going to have… thankfully, they're gone for right now. But not for long."
Adrien stared out the window of the moving limousine glumly as he watched the city pass him by. "Thanks for getting there in time," he said to Nathalie, who had been watching him.
"It was no trouble," she replied. "I had a feeling they would jump at the opportunity for a story, so I made sure to be there first."
"Well, it helped." He smiled at her before looking back out the window. "I guess it must have been a really slow news day."
"Or maybe you mean a little bit more than you think," Nathalie said with a small twitch in her lips. Not quite a smile, but almost.
"Yeah, that's what he would tell me," Adrien muttered, bitterness mixed with sadness filling his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Adrien…" She didn't know what else to say.
"It's okay. Does anyone know how it happened?"
Nathalie shook her head. "He was just… found like that in the house."
"I'm gonna miss him… miss them both. But… at least I still got you, right?" He gave her another smile.
Nathalie simply nodded her head before looking towards the front to see where the driver was taking them, and how close they were. It wasn't long before the old mansion came into view. "Home sweet home," Adrien said softly.
"What is she doing here?" Nathalie said darkly. Adrien followed her eyes to see a car sitting outside the gate, as if watching the house. It was out of their way, but still looked a bit suspicious. Audrey and André Bourgeois then began to step out. "What a time to not have our guards."
"Don't worry, we can take 'em," Adrien quipped.
Nathalie smirked slightly at that. "Just try not to acknowledge them," she said as the chauffeur opened their door for them to exit.
"Darling Adrien," Audrey exclaimed, placing her hand on his shoulder. "How good to see you again!"
"Very good to see you again," André put in unhelpfully.
Adrien gave Nathalie a look that said, "This is harder than you made it sound". It was made worse when Audrey took his chin and turned his face towards her. "H-Hello," he said awkwardly.
"Just a year and so much older," she said loudly, smooshing his cheeks with one hand. "Such a handsome boy."
"May we help you, Mrs. Bourgeois?" Nathalie asked. "You can let go of Adrien now."
"You're kinda hurting my face region," Adrien quipped as she quickly let him go. He rubbed his cheeks as Audrey stepped back.
"Forgive me, we were simply coming to welcome you back and to let you know that you are in our thoughts during these difficult times, and that we still wish to be of any help we can, despite our… differences in the business world."
"Appreciated," Adrien said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.
"And remember," André said. "If anything, anything at all seems… off or strange… you know we're here to help."
"Strange as in…?"
"Have a good night," Audrey called as she ushered her husband away back to the car.
"Well, that was weird," Adrien pointed out.
"Indeed. Let's just get you inside." Nathalie ushered Adrien to the front door, glaring suspiciously as the departing couple before heading inside as well.
"Now we wait," Audrey said to André as they entered their car with a smirk. "Let the ghosts have them. Once they realize they can't live here, something will have to be done about the house. Probably just destroy the ugly thing. And we'll be there when they do."
"I'm gonna head up to the old room," Adrien said to Nathalie as he lifted up his bags and started his way up the stairs.
"Alright. I'll be sorting things out down here if you need me."
As Adrien made his way up the steps, he didn't stop to notice that the painting of him on the wall had blue eyes instead of green eyes. As he passed by, Marinette emerged from her hiding spot, made herself invisible again, and began to follow him.
Wow, wow… it's Adrien Agreste… Adrien… he's so much cuter in person… As she looked him up and down, she found her eyes locking on to his swaying butt as he walked. Hehe… wow… Agh! Stop that! Stop that, Marinette!
She shook her own head and tried to fix the problem by deciding to fly in front of him instead, which only caused her to become hypnotized by his "greener than the greenest green" eyes. She was so bewitched she stayed completely still as Adrien walked right through her. She nearly gasped out loud.
"Whoa," the boy said softly, hunching his shoulders and gritting his teeth. "Who turned on the air conditioner?" He kept walking as Marinette let out a sigh of relief.
Agh, this is pathetic… it's been one minute. ONE MINUTE… and I'm already messing up my own plan. Of course, in the end, he'll either meet me or he'll meet *them*. That wouldn't be good. No, I need to stop doing this. Time to woman up!
She nodded to herself and turned around, only to find Adrien completely gone in the very long hallway. "Oh, for the love of…" She started checking room after room, not sure which one was his. When she finally found him, she realized Adrien's room was the same room she had always felt most comfortable staying in for some reason when she felt like sleeping. As a ghost, she didn't need sleep, but it was still possible. She never dreamed, though.
She peeked around the corner as he sets his bags down and made his way towards the bed. "Adrien Agreste… sleeps in my bed… well, his bed, but my bed too… our bed…" Marinette started to giggle again before slapping herself. Again. Not now, Marinette. You have a job to do.
She peeked again as Adrien prepared to let himself fall backwards on the bed. In a split-second, the invisible Marinette zipped towards the bed and her ghostly body took the form of a pillow! She looked like an adorable rectangle with a Marinette face. XD
With another thought, she made herself solid, and Adrien was resting his head upon her now. His hair feels just like it looks, she thought dreamily. Suddenly a fist interrupted her daydream. Oof! Ow! What the?!
"What's wrong with this pillow?" Adrien muttered, as he bounced his head on it and punched it several times, trying to flatten it out.
Of course, it didn't cause any pain to Marinette. But getting punched still didn't feel good! When it was over, Marinette felt like her eyes were spinning in dizziness. Thankfully, Adrien got up from the bed and she was able to retreat to get her senses back while he began to open up his bags.
Okay. Fun's over. Time to get this over with. Right here, right now.
Marinette slowly approached Adrien as he bent down to look through a suitcase of clothes, messily tossing them out so he could pick them up later (a/n: Me! Lol).
Come on, just say hi for starters! It's not that hard! She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She shook her head in annoyance and willed herself to speak at last. "I'm-mmph!" Adrien tossed a rolled up sock in the air behind him, landing right in her mouth. "Plegh!" Marinette spat it out immediately, and her eyes widened like dinner plates when it bounced right off Adrien's butt.
Both of them straightened up immediately, but Marinette felt frozen as Adrien whirled around to come face to face with her. His eyes widened in complete shock.
"Uh… hehe… um… hi?" Marinette said with a pathetic wave.
Adrien went crosseyed for a second before falling right to the floor in a dead faint.