Author's Note: This is a fic based off of a comic written and drawn by hogeky on tumblr by the same name. Please go there to view images and support her comic!

Permission was received to write this fic.

… one look at this chapter in the comic and I had NO IDEA HOW TO WRITE IT so… here.

I had to close this fic's document for so long because I had to start a new job and lesson plan like nobody's business. I'm not finished… but I didn't really want to do work so. HERE'S CHAPTER 8! :D

Adrien didn't know what to do after having had the best breakfast he'd eaten since… well, the best breakfast he'd eaten in a long time. It was somewhat sad to think about, but it didn't cancel out how wonderful it was. Mornings felt better this way. They felt warmer and fuller and better.

He could tell Marinette didn't think much of it. No one in the family thought much of having breakfast together. They didn't have to. And he didn't think any less of them for not openly being grateful for what they had. He was sure they were always grateful to be together, even if they didn't say; assured by one another's presence, comforted by the fact that it was a normal and happy morning.

He just wished he could always have… this.

"Marinette, you should go get dressed or you'll be late!" Sabine pressed from the kitchen sink.

"Okay Maman!" Marinette replied. Without paying much attention, she rose from the table, brought her emptied plate to her mother and began to make her way to the stairs. Panic struck Adrien as he realized she was about to leave. Quickly, he reached out to grasp the edge of her shirt.

"Uhm… Marinette!" he called. When she turned to look at him, he suddenly had trouble explaining himself. His gaze drifted to the floor occasionally as he spoke. "I don't… I don't want to go home and risk running into my dad. And, I didn't exactly prepare to stay the night… so, I was wondering if you could let me borrow some clothes so I could go straight to school."

Marinette hummed thoughtfully. She wanted to help, but she didn't exactly have any clothes off hand that would fit him. Though, maybe she did.

"I've got an idea!"

Adrien emerged from the bathroom and into Marinette's room clad in a simple green sweater with a zippered breast pocket, and a pair of skinny black jeans.

"Marinette, these look amazing!" he exclaimed, admiring himself in the mirror. She smiled and slipped away to change as well, leaving Adrien to pose dramatically before his reflection to best regard the clothing. He hadn't been so excited to receive new clothes since… well, since he first started modeling. "I can't believe you had something like this made for your personal collection."

"Calling it a collection might be a bit of an exaggeration…" she muttered modestly, returning to her room. They had been clothes she designed specifically to be a bit baggy and large on herself. She was only lucky that they had fit him so perfectly. Adrien spun around to face her, wanting to fully express his enthusiasm.

"No really, thank-." At the sight of Marinette entering the room, Adrien's words trailed into emptiness, his jaw falling a little slack.

"So…," she began, clearly nervous, yet amused by his silence, "how do I look?" Marinette's clothes were carefully chosen as the outfit she would have worn on her first theoretical, hypothetical, imaginary date with Adrien. She had had it prepared for a while now, and it was finally of use. She simply hadn't known that this was how he would have come to see it. The sleeves on the light pink blouse were rolled up a third of the way, and it was tucked loosely into a darker, and bolder, pink A-line skirt. Black heeled boots tied the outfit together in a comfortable, cute, and classy look.

But what really pushed him over the edge was the sight of Marinette's hair flowing freely around her, shaping her face so kindly that he had to remind himself of what it meant to be coherent. It was true that it wasn't the first time he had seen her hair down, recalling the night he had rescued her and her pigtails had been torn away, but this was different.

"Amazing!" Adrien blurted, his voice rushing out with a breath before he could even think of what to say. "You look amazingly beautiful!" Every word was genuine, and he couldn't have thought of any other way to describe her. Clearly, Marinette knew what clothes complimented her, and what styles she best suited. It showed greatly her talent in design. In a way, Adrien was proud to say that she looked beautiful.

It wasn't until her cheeks turned a vivid red, and she slapped her hands to her face to hide them that he had realized how forward he might have come on.

He had most definitely sounded like he was flirting with her. Not that that would have at all been a bad thing. And it was not as if he had not been honest with her. Truly she was beautiful. And her clothes were beautiful. Both were beautiful. Not that her clothes had made her beautiful. She was inherently beautiful, regardless of the clothes. There hadn't been a time when he hadn't thought her beautiful. And the fact that he was only now telling her this did not necessarily mean that he was flirting with her. But again, not that he would never flirt with her! It was only that, he had never considered. He was her friend. And there was Ladybug. But if not… "I-!" Adrien stuttered, trying to form the words to amend the situation.

"Adrien! Nathalie is here!" Sabine's voice rang from the lower levels. Marinette's visage was still flushed when he tried to use her mother as a reason to diffuse the tension he had created. He smiled, rubbed at the back of his neck, and reached a hand out to her.

"Let's go, I'll give you a ride to school."

"N-no, you don't ha-!" Marientte faltered, her limbs refusing to cooperate as they appeared to try and stop her head from falling. His smile grew.

"Don't worry about it! Come on," he insisted, taking hold of her hesitant hand, "I want to spend more time with you."

After that day, we started spending a lot of time together, getting closer and closer with every passing moment.

Even with Chloe on my heels, nothing could ruin my time with him. Nothing could take the smile from my face. Nothing could remove my desire to make sure that his smile never left his.

Even with Chloe, and even with that letter.

It wasn't difficult to convince Alya and Nino that we wanted to sit together.

It wasn't difficult to convince them that we needed more excuses to be together.

And it wasn't difficult to convince anyone that we were happier together.

But even despite the happiness that grew more than I could have ever imagined, I knew there was no avoiding the inevitable.

I didn't realize it at first, but every moment I spent with Marinette only made me feel that I was growing very attached to her. And that it would hurt to let go.

And that I had no desire to let go.

Going out with Nino and Alya was more fun when it she was there.

Modeling clothes was more fun when she was there.

Everything was more fun when she was there.

Everything was more fun. And warm. And happy.

And I could tell that all she did was care about me, and look to me to make sure that I was okay; to make sure that I was happy. And, even though I hadn't realized it before, it was all I had ever wanted, and all I had ever craved. It was what I've missing ever since… ever since mom left. And she somehow gave all of that to me.

Looking back, it wasn't just having breakfast with her family that had made me feel this way. It was her. It was always her.

Being with her, I'm happy.

And things were finally getting better.

"Done," Marinette announced, mostly for her own benefit, as she sat at her desk in her empty room, looking down at a sealed, pink envelope. Tikki flew to her side and stared at the two envelopes that sat side-by-side, each a little foreboding, considering the mood. Marinette had finished her letter; she had finished her response. Her eyebrows furrowed, a fresh wave of anxiety filling her chest.

"Marinette, are you sure?" Tikki asked. "You know you can't just-."

"Tikki," Marinette interrupted, not needing anything to make her worries worse, "I know. But it has to be done."

Her eyes wandered over to the photographs that newly decorate the area around her desk. Pictures of her and Adrien littered the space, the most recent being one they had joyously taken in a photo booth. But her favorite had been framed, and sat squarely on next to her computer. In that one, his arm had been wrapped around her shoulders, and they were looking at each other. He had thrown up a peace sign, and although everything about the image looked friendly, she felt that it was so much more than that. It looked to her like development, and closeness, and trust.

Marinette sighed heavily. "I just can't go on like this anymore."

Author's Note: I'd like to point out that I have no idea what is in her letter, and that I am not privy to any future things, so… hopefully nothing I've written so far is contradictory to what will happen.