Not long now until I start my graphic design course, I'll still try to update this on a regular basis but you must understand that my course is going to be my top priority from the 8th of February till the end of 2017 ;) Don't worry I won't be giving up on this, I'm just letting you know in case you get less frequent updates from me. :)

So...I've been really enjoying this story myself, been thinking of how the rest is going to plan out and oh man it's just exciting thinking about it! :D I can't wait for you guys to find out about it! ^^ Also, I was thinking with this story I explore all four ships, now obviously I've been like the show and haven't really explored the Ladybug x Adrien ship but I might be soon, you never know *giggle* ;D

Anyways, 10 Chapters already? This story is definitely making progress, I am really glad to see so many of you joining me on this exciting ride, the fun doesn't stop now! XD

Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon

Chapter 10 – Confusion and Hurt

Marinette shook her head in disbelief, thinking that this was another one of Chat's attempts to flirt with her like he most likely did with every girl he saw. She smirked at him in a tease, looking down at his hand holding onto hers as she let go, disturbing the black cat a little.

"I know you?" Marinette scoffed. "All I know is that you're a superhero, you're flirtatious and you're Ladybug's partner." She explained, not revealing anything else that she knew.

Chat did have a point with Marinette knowing about Chat aside from Ladybug, but he didn't know that she and Ladybug were one and the same. So deep down Marinette knew Chat was right about one thing but she kept it buried. Marinette knew the boy to be more than just what she told him just then. Cat Noir was confident, sometimes dim-witted, brave, friendly, putting other's needs before his own, respectful, and overall a team mate in their battles against Hawkmoth's akuma attacks.

Looking down, he could see that Marinette was not taking this seriously, but he knew ever since he discovered Marinette's feelings towards Adrien that she did know him a lot on one side, and had some insight to his super hero life too, but did not know about Adrien and Chat Noir being one and the same.

"I'm serious, I have a feeling you know me in my personal life too."

Immediately regretting saying that to Marinette as he mentally banged his head against a wall, Marinette parted her lips slightly as an eyebrow was raised.

"What does that have to do with anything? You're not going to reveal to me who you really are, are you?" She asked, beginning to worry in fear that she may discover Chat's secret identity tonight.

He looked up at the worried Marinette, he knew he shouldn't have said that; it gave her the impression that he was going to talk more about his personal life with her and reveal his secret identity to her so she would understand better. He didn't want to do that to her, although he knew well that she liked his secret identity, it was Ladybug whom he really wanted to reveal himself to.

Shaking his head, he looked down, rubbing his hand against the rough texture of the chair. "No, I just needed someone to talk to. I didn't want to bother Ladybug..."

Smirking, Marinette teased in response. "So you came here to bother me?"

Lowering his eyebrows at her in response, he sat up straight and took in a deep breath. "Look, I know for a fact that you have a well functioning family. I envy you; I wish I had that luxury of two parents greeting me every morning." He sighed, closing his eyes slowly as he thought about after all this time his mother was with him but both of his parents barely spoke a word to him.

Sympathy flowed right through her, which was all she could feel for the black cat. She was truly sorry about his personal life being so saddening to bear; she only wished she could help somehow. But she didn't want to spend too much time with him since little did he know that she spent the most time with him than anyone else outside his personal life.

Scooting a little closer to the cat, she looked down as she stuttered a little. "Look, maybe I could help you somehow. I could give you advice about how your parents are supposed to be there for you and communicate and care." She suggested.

Brightening his mood with widened eyes, Chat nodded with a smile and accepted the suggestion. "Tell me everything you know."

The pair moved to her room, before Chat came in Marinette made sure that Tikki was hidden first, and then she allowed Chat to climb down and sit on her bed. Before Chat could listen to Marinette's advice he looked at the wall, seeing one photo of himself in his normal form on her wall. It made him smile a little before he snapped out of it with Marinette's voice suddenly becoming louder.

"Are you listening?" She questioned suspiciously, pouting as she bent her back to lean in to his face.

Chat chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and gesturing towards her that she could continue to speak. Marinette stood straight, giving a subtle smile as she continued to talk. The black cat read every word from her pink glossy lips as she paced across the room thinking hard of what she could say.

"The most important thing is communication, be honest with them and tell them how you feel. I would suggest all of you getting together somewhere outside the comfort of your own home and just being with each other, away from the stress of home and work." She advised, using gestures to give more emphasis on her advice.

As Marinette continued to give advice about how a family works from her own experience, Chat was caught off guard, staring into Marinette's magnificent blue eyes. He never realised how blue and sparkly they looked before until now. They had that same sparkle as Ladybug's; these two girls were certainly special.

"Chat? Why are you looking at me like that?" Marinette asked in slight disgust and worry.

Caught off guard for a moment, Chat shook his head as he returned back to reality. He could see Marinette towering over her with her expression in suspicion as her hands lay firmly against her waist.

"Nothing, I just...after all those times I saved you I never really noticed, you have really pretty eyes."

Blushing slightly in thought that he might figure out who she really was, she pressed a hand against one of her cheeks as she bit her lower lip. "Oh...well thanks." She said shyly, before realising this was Chat talking to her and not Adrien. "Okay, we're here to talk about family stuff remember?" She reminded, pressing her lips together into a smirk as she raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Chat replied nervously, looking away for a brief moment before Marinette continued.

Marinette talked to Chat for another good fifteen minutes before she approached her first tiring yawn, it made her stretch in response as she felt her body needing a good amount of sleep. Standing up, Chat started to move towards the door that led up to the balcony.

"Sorry, but I think you'll be fine with all the advice I've given you so far." She assured him with half open eyes, indicating that she was getting sleepy.

Smiling as he got back down, he turned to her. "Thanks Marinette, I hope your advice works." He said, holding her shoulders in a thankful gesture.

Marinette smiled, she couldn't help that Chat sometimes had that adorable look on his face when they were out there battling akumas together. She shook it off her mind as soon as Chat left her room, she didn't want to think of Chat in that way, even if she knew that Adrien's heart belonged to her alter ego. She plummeted onto her bed in thought, too tired as she saw midnight approaching from her clock. So she went to sleep without getting changed as Tikki came out of hiding and snuggled up against Marinette's head on her pillow.

The next day, Adrien woke up with confidence, he was sure that Marinette's advice would work on both his father and mother, he knew it was going to take great lengths to get their family together and happy again, but he was willing to try. He knew that no one else was going to try so he had to fix the broken bonds in his family.

Walking out of his room, fully dressed, he looked around for Nathalie and not seeing her in sight. He frowned as he made his way to the dining room for breakfast. Then, as he entered the room, his eyes widened in surprise that he saw his breakfast there and Nathalie standing there in casual clothing, smiling at him with her hands clasped neatly in front of her stomach.

"Good morning Adrien." She greeted as he sat down, planting a kiss on his head.

He was nothing but confused in that moment, since the day before and with the events of his father keeping something hidden from him about his mother, he didn't like it one bit and was going to get to the bottom of everything. He wondered why after Nathalie left in her monotone voice yesterday she was now back to when she revealed she was his mother, it made his brain buzz in confusion.

Smiling slightly, he greeted her back as he began to eat. Then he realised that he hadn't been given his schedule for the day, it concerned him slightly since he would receive a schedule every day of the week, including the weekends. He wondered why Nathalie hadn't given him his schedule for the day yet.

"Hey, where's my schedule?"

Widening her eyes at the sound of the word, she gasped in disbelief. "A schedule? You run from a schedule?" She asked, seeming to not realise that Adrien was like this every day.

This was only getting more suspicious, and raising more questions than answers that made Adrien's mind run wild with thoughts trying to understand why all of this was happening. His mind fizzed with wonder of why Nathalie didn't know about the schedule she gave him every day, almost like she had amnesia or had been brainwashed.

"You give me a schedule every day." He implied, raising an eyebrow.

Nathalie had no idea that her own son's life was based around a schedule handed to him every day. At first she assumed that he made the schedule himself, but no seeing that it was made for him without him knowing what the day was going to bring him, made her question why he was being raised like this. She narrowed her eyebrows in thought, hating to see and know that Adrien was living like this.

"No, I can't let you live like this." She stated with determination.

Adrien could see that she was truly his mother; he knew his father wouldn't act like this and say things like this unless they were on a negative note. He lowered his head, continuing to eat his breakfast as Nathalie sat beside him.

After placing his cutlery down, Adrien felt the touch of a warm hand. He looked up to see Nathalie looking at him with an assuring smile.

"Don't worry; you're not going to be living like this anymore." She assured him, widening her smile as she clasped his hand.

Looking up at his mother, he smiled, his eyes watering slightly as he could see in her hidden green eyes that she truly cared about him. He knew now that it was only his father that he had to mend the bond with, he should've known when the advice was first given to him.

"Yes he is Nathalie."

The pair turned, catching Gabriel standing at the door with his hands hidden behind his back as he normally would. As he approached them, Nathalie's shocked expression remained the same, while Adrien narrowed his eyebrows in anger, annoyed and confused as to why he was hiding things from his own son.

"Father, why are you hiding this from me?" He asked, almost snapping at his father.

Gritting his teeth, Gabriel stared down his son, disgusted and annoyed by his disrespectful attitude towards him. "Adrien, you will not speak like that to me again. This is not a discussion that is open to you." He informed, making each word pierce through Adrien's feelings.

Feeling like he didn't want to lose his mother again, he stood up and wrapped his arms around Nathalie's arms tightly, in protection that he didn't want to lose her. This made Gabriel reach the breaking point, his tolerance level had exploded; he wanted no more of this.

"I am not losing my mother because you won't tell me why she acts the way she does around you!" He cried, burrowing his head into his mother's arm.

Nathalie did nothing in this situation; she warmed up to Adrien's affection and love towards her, but froze and said nothing as Gabriel glared at her and Adrien in deep anger and betrayal.

With his eyes twitching and his hands clenched so tight that his nails pierced the skin of his palm, he stormed up to Adrien, who didn't grow frightened in the least of his father's behaviour.

"She is not your mother, and I have had more than enough of this! You are banned from seeing Nathalie again, she is now fired!" He snapped, pointing a sharp finger at the woman, who only had the expression of shock and betrayal in her eyes as they started to water.

Feeling his heart race with burning anger, Adrien stepped forward. "No, father. No more secrets! Tell me what's going on right now!" he demanded, putting his foot down.

Gabriel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples forcefully as he grew more frustrated and annoyed with his son. "Go to your room, I never want to hear this again." He said, in a calmer more relaxed tone, before he looked at Nathalie with a nod.

With those words, Adrien growled at his father as he stormed out of the room, slamming his bedroom door shut after he entered. He fell into his bed in deep tears.

Acting on Gabriel's wishes, Nathalie nodded as her monotone expression returned. "I will clear my stuff out immediately sir; it was an honour being your assistant."

Turning his back towards the woman, Gabriel lowered his head with his eyebrows narrowed. "Get out of my sight."

A few hours later, Adrien was still angered and upset about what his father told him and what he did to Nathalie. He truly had the worst father in the world, and only wished he could rid of his anger. Plagg did everything he could to make him feel better, but not having much experience himself with the past Cat Noir's he had he wasn't much of help as he wanted to be.

"Sorry Plagg, but if only you could help my father understand that family is more important than strict rules and work, then everything would be fine." He said, caressing his mother's photo with tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Adrien laid back down, feeling so lost, hurt and confused. He wished his life could be simpler, that he could put Marinette's advice to good use, but didn't know how. He was extremely confused as to why his mother acted like his mother and then when Gabriel was around she acted like his assistant. It was almost like she was brainwashed.

That word echoed in his head, it had to be the reason why Nathalie behaved in such a monotone way around everyone all the time, and yet now she was acting like a normal person, suddenly discovering after all this time that she was with her son. Gabriel must have somehow brainwashed Nathalie into acting the way she did, he had to figure out why, and his curiosity wouldn't sleep until he knew the whole truth behind it all.

"I hate these secrets, I've only kept one secret from him and that's only to protect him!" He cried, referring to his double life as Cat Noir.

Plagg sighed as he rested himself on Adrien's shoulder. "I don't know why your father acts this way, but now I think you should find your mother before she's lost forever."

Sighing at the thought of that actually working, Adrien shook his head in doubt. "I don't think that'll work...he's probably around her right now keeping his eyes on her on something. I just wish there was something I could do to fix anything, and even as Chat Noir I can't do anything!" He exclaimed, falling back into his bed, making Plagg float upwards.

Then suddenly, Plagg felt a vibrating motion ring through his body. The familiar buzz of someone trying to contact him. "Um, Adrien?" He asked in between the vibrations, which sounded and felt much like a phone ringing. "I think someone's trying to...c-contact you." He forced out, wanting the buzzing to stop.

Sitting up, Adrien raised an eyebrow in confusion. He wondered why Plagg was buzzing all of a sudden, but then taking what Plagg just told him into account; it meant that Ladybug was contacting him. Plagg couldn't hold it in much longer, he answered and Adrien greeted in worry.

"Ladybug? What's wrong?"

"I need you here, quick. The location is attached to your baton; meet up with me as soon as you can!" She exclaimed with a hurry, before an explosion was heard in the background, making Adrien cringe and Ladybug move.

Wondering what was going on, he assured Ladybug that he would be there as soon as possible, and as soon as Ladybug hung up, Adrien transformed into Cat Noir and left the building towards Ladybug's location.

In front of the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug was dodging the attacks of yet another akumatised victim, but she was struggling on her own, she hoped that Chat would turn up, but as soon as she thought of that, a black figure stood in front of him, protecting her from the attacks. Chat was in front waving his baton in a circular motion to protect the two of them from harm.

Then, the akumatised victim stopped attacking, Chat waved his baton and positioned himself ready for battle, he examined the victim to figure out who they were. Then, with widened eyes as his jaw dropped, he realised who this akumatised victim was.

"Mother!?"

Oh God...why do I keep on doing that!? XD Well I did tell you guys things would be getting intense now, remember? ;) Also sorry for the lack of fluff in this chapter, but this was more to do with Adrien's family. I know I've been writing more about Adrien in this story, it's because his life is far more complex and open to more theories and speculations than Marinette's is.

But don't worry, more fluff is to come soon I assure you. I'm just covering all the bases. ;) See you guys soon! ^^