Adrien was incredibly excited. Today was the day he and Marinette would be playing video games in his room and everything had to be absolutely perfect.

Moving all his games onto the desk that contained his computer as well as an extra chair for Marinette, Adrien stepped back and decided that snacks would be needed for their game day.

But what did Marinette like? She never ate any meals with him and the few times he did see her, she hadn't eaten much of anything. In fact, the only time he could recall her eating anything, was some berries that the staff had brought out alongside some of her own baked goods as a snack for them to eat the last time Chloe was there to play.

Not really knowing what to offer Marinette, Adrien decided to head downstairs and ask the kitchen staff if they knew anything; after all, they were the ones that brought Marinette her meals every single day.

As Adrien made his way towards the kitchen he saw Marinette walk out of her room. She looked down and was tugging her jacket closer to herself while quietly mumbling something. She headed downstairs and appeared as though she was about to head towards the front doors.

"Marinette!"

Adrien's sudden call for her startled Marinette so badly that she stumbled the last few steps of the stairs, resulting in her crashing face first onto the floor. Feeling panicked and guilty for causing Marinette to fall, Adrien rushed down the stairs towards her to help her up.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette! I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, Adrien. I'm okay."

Marinette got up from her position on the floor and rubbed at her face in an attempt to sooth the pained skin. Adrien offered her a weak smile before looking down at the floor, ashamed that he had accidently hurt the girl due to his panic earlier.

"Was there a reason why you called me?" Marinette asked, noticing the sad look on the blonde's face and the way he tensed up when she spoke.

"Uhm, I was just curious about what you were doing today." Adrien hesitantly replied; he didn't know if she remembered their promise or not and didn't want to bother the girl if she really did forget, even if he would be a little sad if that were the case.

Marinette stared at Adrien for a bit before answering him, "I was going to go outside and think for a little bit before coming back in and play games with you like we promised."

"You remembered?" Adrien asked; awed that Marinette actually kept her promise and would actually be playing with him that day.

"I always keep my promises, Mi- Adrien. Always." Marinette offered him a slight smile before heading towards the door and giving him a quick wave before she disappeared outside.

Happy that Marinette really hadn't forgotten about their promise, Adrien skipped all the way to the kitchen to complete his original quest.

After asking the staff if there was anything in particular that Marinette liked to eat, Adrien was disappointed to learn that they didn't really know much either. Whenever the meals were brought up for her, they found that she ate very little of it and the only thing that she ever requested for was fruits, specifically berries if there were any. They hadn't seen her eat any of her own baked goods either; apparently, Marinette baked because she wanted to and not because she wanted something sweet to eat.

At a complete lost over what to have for snacks, Adrien just decided on the fruits even though they weren't exactly gaming material in his opinion. When everything was just about ready, Marinette came back into the house and Adrien all but dragged her into his room to start the games.

As the day progressed, Adrien genuinely thought that the day had been amazing. Everything was so fun with Marinette around, and she was amazing at video games; she beat him at almost every game! Sometimes, he even caught her staring at him with a small smile and that only made him happier; maybe Marinette did like him after all.

But then he put in the game 'Ultimate Mecha Strike' and everything went downhill from there. He didn't notice it at first, but Marinette had tensed up when the game began. It started off small, normally when he put a game in and they had to choose a character to play as Marinette was normally quick with her decision, but with this game Marinette stared at the ladybug themed avatar for a long time before ultimately deciding on the butterfly avatar instead. As usual, Adrien picked the NAD01 as his character and their match commenced.

Looking back on it now, Adrien should have realized that Marinette had been incredibly easy to beat at the game and he should have questioned the ease of it at the time. He should have realized that Marinette had gone deadly pale when he picked the cat-themed avatar, should have realized that Marinette was virtually frozen in her seat almost the entire duration of their fight, should have realized that her breathing became more frantic as he beat her and uttered the words, 'Purrfect victory, huh, Marinette?'

He should have realized all the signs that pointed to a possible panic attack, but he didn't. Adrien could only watch in horror as Marinette sobbed and screamed in front of him; drawing her body closer to herself and yelling about something that didn't make sense.

Adrien was so horrified at the sight before him, he didn't realize his parents had ran into his room followed by Nathalie and the Gorilla. He was only aware of their presence after he saw his mother kneeling besides the hysterical girl to try and calm her down, but that only made Marinette wail louder.

Marinette's sobs became so loud and desperate, that Adrien couldn't help but wanting to reach out for her and hug her; to comfort her in any way that he could. The only thing preventing him from doing so, however, was the way she reacted to his mother. If his mama couldn't comfort the girl like she had before, then how was he supposed to help her when he was more than likely the cause of her panic attack?

The people inside of the room could only watch in silence as the little girl before them completely broke down before she eventually stopped crying due to exhaustion. Once they were all sure that Marinette was asleep, M. Agreste picked up the tiny girl and carried her back to her room while Mme. Agreste stayed behind to question her son about what had happened. Nathalie ushered the Gorilla downstairs and assured the staff that Marinette was just emotionally stressed that day and she should be fine by tomorrow morning.

Everyone in the manor silently pitied the small boy that had apparently caused Marinette's attack; they all knew how excited he had been about that day, and with the way it had ended they were concerned for both children.

Once his pére came back from Marinette's room, Adrien silently listened to his mama explain to his father what had happened. His parents talked for a little bit amongst themselves before assuring Adrien that Marinette is fine, and that if he wanted he could talk to her tomorrow. After his parents left his room with quiet good-byes and soft reassurances, Adrien decided for himself that he would try to stay as far away from Marinette as possible; he didn't want to cause her anymore pain.

However, despite having a strong resolve on his decision Adrien was still sad that he couldn't become friends with Marinette and quietly cried to himself that night. The next morning, Adrien woke up to a platter of croissants on his desk.


After living one year with Marinette, Adrien realized how much weaker she was compared to him and Chloe. She was small and skinny compared to them, and he heard many of the adults whispering amongst themselves about how frail Marinette was. How she looked like she could break into two if she fell the wrong way. How her body got more delicate as time went by in that one year. How easily she bruised even though her falls and bumps didn't appear to be too hard.

Adrien found that fact to be terrifying, and the white butterflies that always seemed to trail after the girl didn't help matters at all; if anything, they just reinforced Marinette's delicate appearance. The combination of Marinette's weak health, soft appearance, and panic attacks reinforced Adrien's resolve to stay away from the girl for fear of hurting her by accident.


On the second year, Adrien found out that his parents had bought Marinette's old home and gave it to her as a memento of sorts. At the time, he hadn't understood what memento meant but had understood that it was very important to Marinette, but Chloe didn't appear to be as understanding and had made a stupid comment about how the building must have been old and dusty by then and was therefore not a good present. He had gotten into a particularly nasty argument with her and was upset that his only friend had made such an insensitive comment.

He found a platter of croissants in his room the next morning.


The third year was a surprise for the entire Agreste household. Apparently, Marinette was somewhat of a 'fashion prodigy' which translated to her being very good at fashion designing. Adrien hadn't really understood why his parents were so hyped up about this revelations until his mother explained to him that this would be the perfect opportunity for Marinette to relax and move on from what happened to her parents.

Still, Adrien couldn't help but feel a little bit envious at the way his father and Marinette interacted. Marinette seemed to be somewhat relax with his pére and sometimes his pére would cast looks of pride and adoration towards her when she showed him a particularly good design or completed making a certain cloth item. That year, he woke up to quite a bit of croissants on his desk but the number of the pastry on his plate varied from one to two.


Adrien noticed several things on the fourth year. One of those things being Chloe's sudden attachment towards him and constant need to have him over at her place. The second thing he noticed was that Marinette was very pretty. He remembered that year as the strangest year of his life.

He understood that Marinette was a pretty girl even before that year, but for some reason he didn't fully realize it until he saw Marinette scolding Chloe for being inconsiderate about his personal space. Of course, an argument broke out between the two girls but eventually Chloe gave in and apologized to him before glaring at Marinette and walking away, clearly annoyed but not willing to start another argument with the noirette.

Another thing that happened that year was that he joined fencing, at his pére's insistence, and so did Marinette. Their rides from the house to fencing practice was the only time they were together and were usually quiet and awkward, but Adrien couldn't help but feel slightly happy that he got to spend some time with her despite them not really talking to each other. Of course, he also learned that Marinette wasn't very good at fencing and was unusually frustrated with her performance despite being patient with everything else.

He also remembered that Marinette got bruises easily; this clearly didn't just worry him as he has heard his parents talking to her on several occasions about possibly doing something else besides fencing, which she – fortunately and unfortunately – rejected.

Oh, and he also found out that he loved it when Marinette's hair was down.


On the fifth year, both Adrien and Chloe found out about what happened to Marinette's parents. They had died in a car accident when they were on their way to a party that Chloe's father had been hosting at the time. Chloe vaguely remembered that party as her worst birthday party because the pastries hadn't come in at all that day and her father had sent her away to her room after she had made an insensitive comment about how late the bakers were being, not knowing about the tragic accident.

Chloe had been extremely shy to go to his house that year and avoided seeing Marinette as much as she could. Adrien had tried talking to Chloe and telling her that Marinette would understand; after all, Marinette was a very kind and considerate person and she must have known about what happened to her parents better than anyone and had still decided to become friends with the blonde girl.

When Chloe still refused, Adrien was sad that his childhood friend could potentially lose a friend in the only other person in his life that was important aside from his family; even if the noirette didn't know just how important she was to the male. The next morning, Adrien found another platter of croissants in his room.


The sixth year since Marinette lived with him, Adrien finally learned that all of Marinette's smiles were sad. All the times she had been smiling throughout the years that she had been living in the Agreste manor had been tragic smiles that showed the pain she held within her, pain that he hadn't understood until his mother's disappearance.

Earlier that year, his mama went missing and the remaining Agreste family fell apart. His pére alternated between being in his office or at the police station, demanding that they do everything in their power to find his mama. Marinette and Nathalie were forced to take on the majority of his pére's workload from the company while maintaining control of the household staff. Meanwhile, Adrien threw himself into his classes while at the same time helping the company maintain its public image by becoming its head model and spokesperson; asking the public for any information they could give in regard to his mother's disappearance during public conferences or interviews.

By the end of the year, his mother's case was abandoned and pushed aside for newer cases. His pére locked himself in his office and only came out when it was absolutely necessary. Marinette's weak health eventually overcame her and she was forced to rest for an entire week after she collapsed from lack of sleep and nutrients as well as stress. Adrien could do nothing but mourn in silence as he continued his lessons and followed his father's strict rules. Not once did he wake up to fresh croissants in the morning that year.


So, I said "screw it" because I really wanted to post tomorrow's chapter today. It's shorter than the previous chapter but I hope you guys like it regardless. If not, please tell me why you guys' don't like it so that I'll know what to avoid in the future. Also, I keep on forgetting to ask but would anyone consider betaing for me for my future chapters? If you're interested please let me know!

Thank you everyone for commenting, favoriting, and following this story. I really appreciate it!

Oh, and next week's chapter might either be late or early. It depends on how much free time I have because all my midterms are coming up next week and I am super stress about my Organic class.