Penguin: I'm so sorry I didn't update yesterday guys! I had to stay up until 1 AM doing stupid shit ._. If I don't update when I say I will, it'll be the next day. So if I miss Monday, then the first update for the week will be on Tuesday and if I miss Friday, which I did, then the second update for the week will be on Saturday.

~Responses to MMTT~

Panteabooks: Well I can't say :P And Nino wasn't there for that. Adrien does what he wants. Nathanael's not really hiding anything... ;P And I'm exhausted, I'm running on 3 hour sleep.

Pinksakura271: Oh no, it's my pleasure. And thank you! :D Well, my week was crap, I almost wanted to pull my hair out. Sabrina was like the only character I could think of xD Well, they dated in their senior year so everyone knew about that xD Yup, he dumped her. Lmao xD

Solei Dragheart: Thank you! :D And We'll see about that. And thank you!

Cascade00: Nope. I know there's tons of girls who do. I find it cute too! Oh okay. Then yes, there's definitely smut. Later on. xD

Guest: Nope, not this time. It would make sense, but it's not him. And thank you! :D Whenever I write about him being sexy, I just imagine someone I find hot and drool xD

Aureii: That's an interesting answer. Lmao xD All will be revealed! I promise! I don't find it negative, you're fine! And I love you too! xD Next chapter is here xD And you're about to find out!

Marinette should have expected Adrien to live in a penthouse. Why did she expect anything else? The elevator doors opened up, and she stepped out onto the top level of the high-rise. Adrien was right at her side.

"No one can get up here without passing my guards." Adrien told her as his fingers curled around her elbow. Right then, she was glad to hear about that security. They entered the penthouse and Marinette's gaze swept around the place. Everything looked expensive. Everything SMELLED expensive.

And the view was exquisite. If she wasn't scared to death, literally shaking apart on the inside, she would have appreciated the view more right then. As it was, she just wanted to go someplace and collapse. The door shut behind them and she heard the sound of the alarm engaging.

Adrien's hands slid down her arms. Her bare arms because all she had to wear out of the hospital was her workout clothes. "You're safe, Marinette." Adrien's words whispered into her ear.

Marinette's fear deepened because she remembered HIM. The man in the dark, his mouth at her ear, his whisper. I will be the one.

She pulled away from Adrien and headed towards the big floor to ceiling window that looked over Chicago. Adrien didn't follow her, but his voice did. "I'm having a top-of-the-line security system installed at your studio. And a damn electrician is going to check your lights."

Marinette rubbed her arms. No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to shake the chill from her body. Her gaze stared out at the city. It seemed like she could see forever from this vantage.

"You don't have to drop your life for me." Marinette said, making herself speak when she just wanted to stand in silence. "I'm sure having me here, in your home…it's cramping your style." Marinette read the papers. She knew all about his many, many exploits.

Adrien certainly wasn't a man living in the past. He was too busy seducing in the present. That was why she didn't tell Nathanael about him. When Nathanael asked Marinette for a list of lovers in the area, anyone who might be fixated on her, Adrien was the last man to come to her mind.

He wasn't fixated on her. He was the one to show her to the door. "You aren't cramping my style." Marinette could see her reflection in the glass. She looked lost. Carefully, Marinette schooled her features before she turned back to face him.

"Won't the flavor of the week mind?" She saw him with some blonde just last week in the variety pages-

"Fuck it if anyone minds." He braced his legs apart and stood staring at her. Behind him, a fire blazed. When did he start that fire? "This isn't about anyone but you and me." He acted as if the last seven years didn't happen. But not once, not once, did he try to contact her. I missed you.

But she wouldn't tell him that though. She already broken her pride for him too many times. Adrien began walking towards her. His stride was slow, certain. She wanted to back up, but there was no place for her to go. She sucked in a deep breath and lifted her head and stared into his eyes.

"Nino called me when he was rushing inside that studio. He saw the lights go out, and he was worried. I was only five minutes away, already coming to see you, and I couldn't get that fast enough." This wasn't the first time Marinette was facing trouble. Back in Paris, Marinette had thought for certain that she was facing death.

The memory of cold rain, of constant pain, flashed through her mind. He didn't come to me then. "Seven years is a long time." Marinette said. She hated the softness of her voice. Why couldn't she act as if the past didn't matter to her. "A lot can change over all those years."

"And a lot can stay the same." His fingers curled under her jaw. "I want you just as much now as I did then. When I saw you in my office, the same need hit me. Lust tore through me the way it always does when I'm near you."

Marinette's hands were trembling. She lifted them and put her palms on his chest. Marinette wasn't sure if she wanted pull him closer or shove him away. "Lust was never a problem for us, though, was it?" Marinette whispered. His eyes were on her mouth. Memories of their past flashed through her mind. She could almost taste him.

"I was your first." Heat flushed her cleeks. "I thought about you over the years…" His confession jolted her. "I wondered what you were doing…who you were with…" His gaze was still on her mouth. Still hot. Her hyperawareness of him pushed the aches and pains from her mind. "You don't get to wonder about that."

Not when he was the one to tell her to hit the curb. He didn't have that right.

"There are things you can't control." His head bent towards her. "The way I feel about you is one of those things." She wanted his mouth. She wanted to run from him. "Adrien…"

His lips feathered over hers. Not taking. Not demanding. Soft. Gentle. "I can't have want I want tonight, I know that." His words whispered against her lips. "But you came back to me. And you should know…that changes everything. I let you go once. You can't expect me to do that again."

Let her go? Marinette pushed against him now. "You told me to get the hell out of your life." Marinette stumbled as she hurried away from him. "I knew what your dreams were. I wasn't going to stand in your way. You wanted the fame. You wanted to design."

His words froze her. Marinette looked back at him. "I gave you what you wanted." A muscle jerked in his jaw. "Isn't that what I've always done? Given you every damn thing that you want."

"No. You haven't." Because there was one thing she wanted desperately but never got. The faint lines near his eyes tightened. His face as a dangerous mask in the firelight. "What did you want?"

You. He was the thing she wanted most, more than fashion, more than Paris, more than getting out the hell that her life had been when she was a teenager. But Adrien didn't give her a choice. He took her choices away. "What. Did. You. Want?" He was coming toward her again. Escape.

"Where's my room?" Marinette's gaze flew frantically toward the penthouse. "I-I need to lie down." He kept coming. "You can't sleep; I have to keep you awake. Those were the doctor's orders; she gave me a whole list of rules for you to follow."

"I won't sleep." I need space. She spun away from him. Her head was throbbing again. She hurried down the darkened hallway. He was right behind her. She threw open the first door she saw. Not the guest room.

This room was masculine. Filled with heavy, cherry wood furniture. A massive bed. She could even see Adrien's suit coat flung on the bed-

She darted back around and found him in her path. His arms were up, blocking the door. "You have to stay where I can keep an eye on you." He told her, voice rumbling. "Y-you agreed to find the man who is-who is-"

"Stalking you?" Adrien finished. "Because that's what he's doing, Marinette. He's focused on you. He started by watching you, then by sneaking into your apartment. Tonight, he took things to the next level. He came for you. He touched you-" Her breath rushed out.

"He's dangerous. He hurt you tonight, and I won't let him hurt you again."

"I just want to rest." To stop reliving the past and the pain and everything. He took her hand in his and lead her to the bathroom. "Take off your clothes. You'll find an extra robe waiting inside." Marinette hesitated. "No seduction tonight, I give you my word."

She went into the bathroom. A robe was waiting, all right. Silk. Beautiful, ruby red. Marinette slipped out of her workout clothes and into the robe. She returned to him a few moments later, almost hating the feel of that silk against her skin. "I guess this got left behind by-"

"I arranged to have it brought here for you. Just like I've ordered my men to bring your clothes here. I want you to feel safe." He changed while she was in the bathroom. Ditched his clothes. Now Adrien wore only a pair of black pajama pants that clung low on his hips.

Her gaze darted over him. Wide shoulders. Strong chest. Way more than a six pack. Don't go there, don't!

Adrien lifted his hand towards her. "Trust me, Marinette." And she did. She put her fingers in his. Adrien led her to the bed and eased her down on the mattress. Then he wrapped his body around hers. "I won't let you sleep, but I will let you rest. Stop being afraid. Nothing can hurt you here." Marinette wanted to believe that.

She wanted to, so badly. But there was something she hadn't told him. She tried to tell the police in Paris, tried to tell the doctors there, but no one believed her. "I'll watch you through the night." Her heart stilled at those words. It wasn't the first time he told her that.

The first night she met him, he told her the same thing. After Ivan had-

Shut it out. She slammed the door before the past could hit her. But she remembered Adrien's words. That long ago night, she was so scared. And he said…

I'll watch you through the night.

Marinette didn't close her eyes, but her breath came easier as Adrien held her in his arms. The illusion of safety was a lie. Deep inside, she knew it. Physically, she could trust him- he wouldn't hurt her. But there was worse things in this world than just physical pain.

Much, much worse.

Penguin: Thank you guys for reading and enjoying! I promise, there will be an update on Monday. ON TIME. Unless a certain someone prevents me AGAIN.

BAIIIIII!