First off: Last chapter got screwed up, so if you haven't read it, go do it now! It's fixed again (I hope).

Okay I feel really, really selfish for saying this, but just so you guys know, I'm fine with anyone drawing fan art of my fic or writing little fan fictions about it! I'd love it, actually. I would love to see how you guys interpret everything and just sort of see what you guys saw in your mind's eye and stuff. I don't know, it's hard to describe, but I do know that it would make me happy and adore you guys even more! Seriously, you guys are all amazing and lovely and so supportive! I'm sorry I haven't been updating as fast on this platform as I have on others :/ If you're still around, thank you for being patient!

After I had calmed down, Adrien and I had spent the next hour or two talking on his couch. I never told him what happened, but I explained that it had to do with the Akuma guy we had fought earlier, although we both knew that whatever he was, Oogie-Boogie was not an Akuma. At least, not a normal one. Then eventually he fell asleep again, so I took him to his bed, tucked him in, and went to sleep on the couch. It was 2 o'clock in the morning, after all.

When I snuck out a few hours later, it was around five in the morning, and the early birds were just starting to wake up. I quickly jumped along the rooftops as Wolven, reaching my home in a matter of minutes. I quickly went through my room's window and sighed as the transformation disappeared, giving Neeks a piece of candy before going back to bed. I was just glad that it was the weekend now, so I could sleep in as long as I wanted. Neeks cuddled up against my chin, licking at it gently and slowly lulling me to sleep.

When I woke up again, it was well into the late morning, and I could hear mom singing and dancing in one of the other rooms. I guess that means her meeting went well. I stretched as I sat up, yawning softly before getting out of bed and going to take a shower. When I came out of the shower I got dressed and brushed my hair, walking out of my room with Neeks hidden in my pocket. I followed the sound of the music to the living room, seeing mom dancing around with a happy smile on her face. When she saw me she squealed and ran over, grabbing my hands and gently rocking me back and forth before spinning me around.

I laughed silently, grinning brightly from her infectious cheer.

"Jaspie, guess what?!" She squealed, making me give her a questioning look.

"I found a buyer! She's going to buy three of my paintings and even said she'd commission some after the exhibit!" Mom giggled, spinning me again before I spun her. "Plus, she was so attractive, like, wow. Too bad she's got a boyfriend." I nodded slightly, dancing with mom in a way that wouldn't over exert me too much. Really we just swung back and forth and kept spinning each other.

"Did you have a nice night? I hope you did. I wish I could have stayed with you so soon after the Akuma incident, but I couldn't pass up that chance." She said softly, letting me go after another spin so I could finally answer. I debated telling her about the nightmare, but I knew she would feel terrible for not being there, and she deserved this happiness. I grabbed my notepad and quickly wrote my response.

"I had a nice night. Got some homework gone, got some needed sleep." I wrote, smiling a little more. Mom smiled and paused the music on her phone. "That's good! You've been looking like a zombie lately." She said softly, brushing hair from my eyes. "Hungry? I was thinking about making some French toast for you today."

I nodded and gave her a thumbs up, so we went to the kitchen. I helped get out the ingredients, sneaking Neeks a small chunk of brown sugar when making the egg wash. Mom was talking about how the meeting had gone, and I was nodding here and there to show I was listening. As we started to cook the coated bread, Mom gasped softly and turned to me, eyes sparkling. "Oh, right! Show me the pictures from yesterday!" She said almost childishly, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet.

I smiled and shook my head at her behavior, pulling out my phone and opening my photo folders, pulling up the first of the photos. Mom took my phone and cooed over how adorable everyone was, laughing a bit at the picture of Nino trapped by Ladybug. When she reached the photos of Adrien she let out a wolf whistle. "Meow, he is attractive!" She said, giving me a grin like a cat who caught the canary. I blushed and hid my face in my hands, making her laugh again.

"Oh, come now, you have to admit he's pretty hot dressed like that. Do you have any pictures together?" I grabbed my notebook again after flipping the current piece of French toast that was cooking on the griddle.

"Go to my text messages. The one at the top is a group message with photos Alya took of all of us."

Mom went to the text messages as I had said and cooed even louder, placing a hand lovingly on her cheek as she looked at the pictures of Adrien and I together, at the very top of the chat. "You two look so adorable together! Seriously, just ask the boy out already!"

I blushed darkly and did the 'X' motion with my hands again, shaking my head. Mom pouted and whined before going through the rest of the photos.

"Why not? He's cute, friendly, attractive. You two clearly have something for each other, and it certainly looks like romantic affection to me."

I quickly started writing in my notebook, still shaking my head and blushing darkly. "He likes Ladybug, not me!"

Mom scoffed, setting the phone down and finishing up the food. "Please, he's sixteen in a few weeks, and she's most definitely the boy's first crush. He just thinks it's true love." She placed three pieces of French toast on a plate and I add some butter and maple syrup before going over to the table and sitting down with my notebook next to me. "He probably just likes her as a celebrity crush, but doesn't even realize it."

She sat across from me, leaning on her arms as she rested them on the table. "Now, his feelings for you on the other hand. I think he's starting to really like you. Just look at his face in this picture here." She pushed my phone towards me, the first picture of the group chat full sized on it. I studied it as I ate my breakfast, just looking at it before really studying Adrien's face.

The picture was most likely taken in a burst of photographs, because the timing was almost too perfect. It was the moment Adrien had caught me when I had stumbled from Alya's shove, my face flushed red and mouth slightly open in shock as I stumbled into him. My cape was fluttering in the air while his jacket followed the flow of air around his feet and wrapped around them slightly. One of Adrien's feet was placed a little behind him to steady the two of us. His arms had just wrapped around my waist, only blurry if you looked close enough, and he was smiling, looking at me instead of the camera. I noticed a little of the look he would give Ladybug in his eyes, his own cheeks tinged pink.

I blushed again and pushed the phone back to mom, not looking at her and focusing on my food. Mom laughed softly and sighed, and I could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke again. "Give it time. He'll grow to love you even more than Ladybug, and you two will be so adorable! I know you are both young and it's easy to fall in love, but I think you two will last longer than you think."

I peeked at her again from behind my bangs, and she smiled lovingly at me. "You look like you don't believe me."

I gave her a look that screamed, "Really?" and she laughed, shaking her head lightly. "Trust me! You two have known each other for what, a month? You already have a connection deeper than you normally would with friends you had known for a year. You're close, and I always thought it was better to marry your best friend rather than someone you could fall out of love with in a few years."

I hesitated a moment before grabbing my notebook, beginning to write in it. "Did you? Was he your best friend?"

Mom read what I wrote and sighed again, running her hand through her hair. "I thought I had. He had been so nice, remember?" She smiled sadly before biting her lip. "Probably not... You were so young then. He was so sweet, and kind, and he loved us more than anything." Mom lightly picked at a loose thread on her sweater, not meeting my eyes. "Then the... Secret in the company happened, and it changed him. He became so different. By the time he snapped and..." She trailed off, a haunted, devastated look in her eyes, "Well... At that point, all I had known was that I had married a murderer. I've regretted not leaving him since."

She leaned back, the ends of her sweater sleeves clenched in her hands, "And now," She sighed, tone suddenly tired, "He's dead. I'm just thankful that the change in him was slow enough you got to have a happy child hood and early preteen years." She gave me a sad smile and I reached over to give her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry I didn't divorce him earlier, I just... I wanted you to have a father for as long as possible. I had no idea he would try to- to hurt you like that."

I frowned and got up, walking over and hugging her, trying to convey that it wasn't her fault. I patted her head gently and comforted her much like she did with me. "Sorry," I traced on her back, "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no. It's okay." Mom moved back, giving me a watery smile. "I'm over it. I'm over him." She said determinedly, smiling again a moment later. "See? I'm bouncing back already." She gently patted my arm before lightly shoving it. "Now go back to your food. It's getting cold."

I nodded and went back to my spot, finishing my food a few moments later. I took my plate and washed it before putting it in the dishwasher, going back over to mom and hugging her again. She hugged me back and rubbed my back gently. "What would you like to go today? We can go look around the city, try and meet up with some of your friends, or whatever you'd like. But I want to spend a day with you today to make up for the time I haven't been around since we moved. I don't have any paintings to do right now."

I nodded, smiling. "That would be great." I traced on her back, moving away after a moment. "Let's look around a bit. You haven't really been around, right?" I wrote in my notepad, showing it to her a moment later. She nodded and smiled, going to grab her phone, wallet, and keys.

"That sounds wonderful. I'd like to see Tom and Sabine's bakery myself, actually. Maybe get to meet the Dupain-Chengs while I'm at it." Mom said with a smile as she pulled on a light jacket. I did the same, nodding again as I opened the door for her once we had our shoes on. I followed her outside and she locked the door, the chilly autumn air wrapping around us as we made our way down the street with no specific place in mind right now. We'd go to the bakery later, when we were hungry.

Mom hummed softly as we walked, looking around at all the different houses and stores. I flipped to a clean page in my notebook, writing carefully as I walked. "Tell me about last night's meeting. You said the lady was really pretty?"

After mom read the page she grinned, dodging a person who wasn't looking where they were going. "Oh, right! Madame Gosier was so pretty! She had lovely tanned skin and her eyes were such a deep blue- she almost looked like she could be a supermodel who wasn't super thin. She had a little chubbiness and that's perfectly fine, it just made her look prettier in my opinion. Her personality was beautiful, too! So caring, and passionate!"

I laughed faintly, nodding as she rambled on about her buyer, making sure she didn't run into anyone in her fervor, "We talked for hours as she asked me about the inspiration behind my paintings, and we kept getting off track and talking about you and her boyfriend. Oh! Guess what? Her boyfriend is an English teacher! Maybe you two can work together and improve your writing together." I smiled and nodded, thinking that sounded like a good idea. If he was nice, of course.

"We traded so many stories- it was more like we were best friends instead of buyer and seller by the end of the night! We even traded phone numbers!" Mom laughed and grinned, shaking her head slightly. "Man, I don't think I've ever made a friend that fast since high school!"

"Good for you, mom! When do I get to meet her?" I wrote, handing her the notepad and letting her read it as I navigated us through the growing crowd.

"We're thinking it'll be the exhibition, because she's taking her boyfriend to see my art there and both of their schedules are clear for then." She replied, handing me the notepad again.

"I can't wait to meet them." I smiled as I showed her what I wrote, and she nodded, smiling.

"Same here." Mom smiled and slung an arm across my shoulders. "Now then, show me the art stores!" She cheered playfully, pulling me as close as she could before ruffling my hair.