A/N: Thank you all for all of the wonderful words and faves and follows! This chapter is mostly fluff and filler but enjoy it while you can! The next chapter won't be fluffy at all.
Adrien was shaking like a leaf as he headed home. His trembling hands were laced with Marinette's. To her credit, she was doing the best she could to soothe him, stroking the length of his thumb and letting him rest against her. But they both knew nothing would calm him down. The police had him and his father identify his mother's corpse and if his screams was any indicator, he was not in a good state. Even the apathetic Gabriel Agreste looked shocked, terrified even, as he rode beside them.
The car was dead silent through the ride to the Agreste mansion, the only sounds being the passing city and eventually the garage door opening. As soon as the car was parked everyone threw open their doors, eager to get out of the toxic environment. Adrien pulled Marinette out of the car, catching her as she stumbled out. Gabriel was already halfway to the mansion's entrance.
"I'm lifting the food ban," he announced quietly. He didn't stop walking. "Have whatever you want tonight." He moved silently through a door and disappeared from sight. Nathalie, lingering behind, shot Adrien what she probably thought was a sympathetic look, but to Marinette it just looked condescending.
"I'm sorry for your loss," she said before hurrying after Gabriel. The devastated look on Adrien's face tore Marinette's heart into pieces. Her free arm wrapped around his shoulders to pull him in closer as they walked up to his bedroom.
"What do you want for dinner?" he asked, voice numb. as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "The cooks can make us anything."
"I'm fine with anything," she replied.
"Are you sure? There isn't anything special you want?" She faltered under the sad look he was giving her.
"I, uh, I guess pasta sounds nice." He nodded and quickly sent a text message off before shoving his phone back in his pocket. "But really, we can have anything you want!"
"No, I've already taken up too much of your time. I want to do something special for you since I've ruined our date," he told her.
"You haven't ruined our date!" she said hurriedly, putting her hands on his shoulders but it was too late. Tears were welling in his eyes and Marinette tried to think of a way to stop the crying before it started.
"I can't even give you a good first date. I dragged you to a shoot and then to the police station with us and now we're having dinner at eleven. I can't do anything right. I just feel so useless with everything. When I saw her I just screamed and I couldn't . . . I made my father identify her. I panicked and I made him stare at Mom. I'm horrible! I can't believe I made him do that. And now I'm just dumping everything on you and you don't deserve that! You shouldn't have someone terrible like me in your life." As the words poured out of his mouth, tears leaked from his eyes until he gave in, full-blown sobs wracking his body.
"No! No, Adrien, we didn't know this was going to happen. You shouldn't blame yourself for all of this happening," she comforted him, pulling him into her. He tried several times to say something but only sobs and strangled noises came out. Eventually he gave up trying to say anything and only sobbed.
Marinette held him and fought back her own tears as he cried into her shoulder, arms nearly squeezing the life out of her body. There was something terrifying and something heartbreaking in his tears, in his body hitching when he gasped for air, in the primal screams that left his throat, ones that were so raw they made Marinette's throat hurt.
She let him release the pent-up sadness, fingers stroking his hair. Once he dwindled down they stood in silence, Adrien's whimpers filling the air and Marinette continuing to hold him as if their lives depended on it. A knock on his door wrested him from her. She caught the quiet sight that left his lips. He reluctantly let go and opened the door. A few people brought a dolly of food and Adrien murmured his thanks before wheeling it towards her and his coffee table.
"I didn't know what you liked so I just asked them to make a few different dishes," he said, voice hoarse. There had to be at least twelve different bowls of different kinds of pasta, most of which Marinette didn't even recognize. I don't even know where to begin, she thought as she sat down with him on his couch. I thought when he said pasta he'd just get spaghetti.
His spirits seemed to lift as they had dinner, making jokes about the people on set at the shoot and about Nino and Alya's most recent (and failed) date at the park. It seemed distracting him was the best way to make him heal, so Marinette did her best to keep conversations going. Some of them didn't even make sense ("What's your opinion on chickpea flour? Is it too pretentious?"), but as long as he didn't cry again, she was fine with spewing nonsense. After all, she'd done plenty of that in the past.
The pasta and bread went by quickly between of them and Adrien graciously cleaned up, putting dirty plates back on the dolly and wheeling it out of their way.
"So, uh, do you want to watch a movie or something?" he asked. "I . . . I'm not really sure how this date thing is supposed to go."
"A movie sounds good. Or a show. I'm okay with anything." He frowned.
"I feel like tonight's just been all about me. You choose what we watch."
"I suggested pasta for dinner. It hasn't been all about you," she reminded him.
"But it was all kinds I liked."
"I ended up liking them too. Just pick something you think we'd both like." She wanted to tell him to pick something that could cheer him up, but she didn't want to accidentally upset him. He gave her a sad, but thankful, look. Apparently he knew what she wanted to say. As she grabbed and spread out a blanket over her lap, he flipped through his library and brought up a show.
"Please don't laugh, okay? This show is really good," he said. She smirked and laid back on the cushions, pulling a blanket over her lap.
"I'm not going to laugh," she told him. He pressed play and made it full screen before sitting back with her, pulling some of the blanket onto him. "Love Live!?" she asked. He blushed and alarm flashed in his eyes.
"You said you weren't going to laugh!"
"I'm not! I just think it's cute," she said.
It took a while to get used to the high-pitched voices of the voice actresses, but the show was pretty cute. Three girls becoming pop sensations to save their school: what could be cuter than that? With the subtitles on, they were even able to sing-along together with the girls. Adrien, it seemed, knew all of the songs by heart and put her to shame.
As they plowed through the show, hours went by. Adrien gradually slumped closer to Marinette until she realized he had fallen asleep. There was a childlike innocence in him as he curled up to her side, burrowing into her for comfort and warmth. It was late, but Marinette didn't want to leave him.
Her parents would freak out if she didn't come home. Would they even believe her if she said she was going to Alya's for a sleepover? Would it just be easier to beg for forgiveness after the fact? She'd never acted out before and she knew her parents wouldn't think she was staying over for sex. Still, staying at a boy's house, especially when he had asked her on a date, was something her parents wouldn't allow.
But Adrien needed her. What if he woke up in the middle of the night and needed someone to comfort him? Helping him through this was more important to her than getting punished. She gently reached over him for her phone and texted her parents. They weren't going to be happy, but she needed to tell them what was going on. The last thing I want is them being worried about where I am, she thought. She sent the message to her mother and silenced the phone before chucking it across the room. She didn't want her phone blowing up and frankly, she didn't want to deal with the repercussions on her decision right now.
Readjusting to lie down more comfortably, she pulled Adrien closer and rested her head on his before turning Love Live! off. Her dreams were full of bleak waiting rooms and Adrien's screams.
The alarm clock went off far too soon for Marinette's liking. Adrien outright groaned and burrowed in closer to her, burying his face in the crook of her neck. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. What wouldn't she give to stay like this forever?
"Do you think we could sleep for five more minutes?" she asked, making him chuckle.
"I wish. But we're going to be late if we don't get up." Are you kidding me?! she thought as she checked the time when she and Adrien got off the couch. We have two hours until school starts! That's plenty of time to sleep in a little! Fighting back a groan, she slumped forward to rest her arms on her thighs. She hadn't realized how rumpled sleeping could make her clothes. It looked like she had been doing far more than sleeping last night. Her house was right around the corner but facing her parents this early wasn't something she wanted to do and wearing her clothes to school was out of the question.
"Uh, could I borrow some clothes? Or at least a shirt? I don't want people think I'm making a walk of shame, or something," she asked.
"Yeah, of course," he yawned. He motioned for her to follow him. He threw open a door, revealing the largest walk-in closet Marinette had ever seen in her life. "Feel free to wear whatever. You can even keep it if you want. I don't wear most of this stuff anyway." As Adrien picked out his own outfit, Marinette wandered around, fingers prying into clothes. Some of them (the ones from his father's lines) still had tags on them. I wish I had a closet like this back at home, she thought wistfully. She pulled a soft damask-printed shirt off a hanger and managed to find leggings that looked like they had never been worn before.
"I'm going to take a shower," he announced, clutching his clothes to his chest. "There's a bathroom down the hall if you want to take one too."
"I'd like that. Thanks." He gave her directions and she went off. Marinette found the bathroom a few doors down and locked the door behind her. Mr. Agreste really put some money into this house, she thought, looking from the marble counters to the large shower with frosted and embossed glass. Not to mention there were so many doors. She peaked behind them and found a toilet, a sauna (a sauna!), a dressing room.
Wasting no time, she went into the dressing room and stripped down. The cold air slapping her skin made her shiver. She hurriedly grabbed a fluffy towel from a stand and got into the shower. It took a few presses of random buttons and turning the handle several different ways before warm water came rushing out. A content sigh escaped her lips and she hurriedly started washing up. It was an alien feeling, taking a shower in someone else's home.
Once she was done bathing and getting ready for the day, she found Adrien waiting outside the door, eyes trained on his phone.
"I didn't keep you waiting, did I?" she asked nervously. He shook his head.
"No, you're fine," he replied. He handed her her backpack. "I just figured I'd wait for you out here." A mischievous glint shone in his eyes. "I can't risk you getting lost in here." She rolled her eyes and lightly punched his arm. It was moments like these he reminded her so much of Chat Noir that the resemblance seemed uncanny. "How about I lead you down to the dining room and we have breakfast?"
"That sounds fantastic." Just like Adrien's bedroom and the bathroom, the Agreste dining room was a spectacle in its own right. Marinette had only seem rooms this big and grand in movies. How can someone live here and eat here like it's no big deal?
They sat down and didn't have time to breathe before a few cooks came out of the kitchen door and placed several platters of pastries and fruit and assorted foods in front of them. She quietly thanked them and helped herself to a croissant. Taking a bite, she had to fight the urge to spit it out. It was terrible, but she didn't want to appear ungrateful. After all, he was feeding her and let her sleep and bathe here. The last thing she wanted to do was insult him.
"If I had known Marinette was living here now I would have had the room next to yours refurbished," Nathalie said coldly as her heels clacked sharply against the marble floor. He murmured an excuse under his breath, face bright red.
"I-I'm sorry, I fell asleep while we watched a show last night," Marinette replied hurriedly. Heat was burning her face and she knew it made her look guilty.
"Sure you did. I expect you two to be using protection and being responsible," Nathalie replied. She paused, cold blue eyes looking from Adrien to Marinette. "I'm not going to tell your father. But only this once, okay? If this happens again I'm not going to keep secrets."
"Thank you, Nathalie," Adrien said quietly. What? You're not going to tell her the truth? You're not going to argue with her, Marinette thought in irritation as Nathalie handed him a tablet and continued talking. You're just going to let her think we had sex?
"The photo shoot is going to go longer today. You're in five different segments. Marinette, we've still heard nothing from Nicole so you'll be taking her spot today. You're in six segments. Be prepared to change quickly."
"Yes, ma'am." Was this how Adrien spent his mornings? In a huge dining room eating gross food and getting his ear talked off by Nathalie?
"Mr. Agreste would like you to travel to the shoot with Adrien and stay near him or Marie-Christine. You still need to learn about what to do at photo shoots and he wants to make sure you're around the more responsible models," she said. Marinette nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Okay girl, you have to give me the details," Alya demanded as soon as the lunch bell rang. Marinette groaned and looked to see who was around. Only Adrien, Nino, and a few others Marinette trusted, but they were leaving the classroom quickly to go get something to eat. Marinette and Alya lingered, letting the boys go on ahead so they could talk. "You came to school with Adrien after a date! I have to know what happened!"
"Alya!" Marinette hissed. "Not here!"
"You can't just not tell me," she argued.
"It's not like that, okay?" Marinette dropped her voice. "We didn't have sex, if that's what you're thinking."
"What about other stuff?" Alya wiggled her eyebrows.
"No."
"Damn. I was really itching to hear something juicy."
"Sorry I dashed your hopes."
"So if you weren't doing the do, what did you guys get up to?"
"We had dinner and watched this cutesy anime before falling asleep."
"Nothing else?"
"Why are you wanting me to sleep with him so badly?" Alya laughed and shook her head.
"I'm not. I just expected it after years of sexual tension." She coughed. "I heard how they found and identified his mother. Were you . . . ?" Marinette slowed hard. She'd have Alya's teasing over this anyday.
"I wasn't in the room but I heard what happened. I was in the waiting room while they ID'd the body," Marinette explained. Alya shuddered.
"I can't imagine having to do that. How is he holding up?" Marinette shook her head. "At least he's got you and the rest of us. It's so weird they just found her body. She's been missing for a while."
"I know," Marinette agreed. "And she was found in such a public place. I can't imagine the police just missing her body all these years."
"Do you think someone killed her recently? That she's been hiding underground and something shady happened?" Alya asked in a hushed voice.
"Emilie isn't - wasn't - like that. I heard officers saying that when she'd initially been missing they found her blood and thought she'd been taken against her will. I don't think she left willingly,"
"I hope that's the case. Adrien doesn't deserve two shitty parents," Alya said and Marinette nodded. You got that right.
The remainder of school was uneventful as was the photoshoot. She and Adrien picked up more couple shots, these ones much less provocative than the ones done the day before. When the shoot ended and the Agreste's driver dropped her off at her parents' bakery, Marinette wanted to throw up. It's going to be okay. Just be honest with them, she told herself as she went upstairs and unlocked the front door. Her parents were sitting at the kitchen table and as soon as they saw their daughter walk in, they pounced.
"Marinette, what were you thinking?" Sabine demanded. "Telling us you're sleeping over at a boy's house and then not answering your phone all day?!"
"I'm sorry -"
"You had us worried sick," Tom told her. "Never ignore us like that again." Marinette nodded, trying to ignore the swelling in her throat.
"I promise." Sabine sighed and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
"I want to be clear. I trust you and Adrien but I don't think spending the night at his house is a good idea." Then that would mean you don't trust Adrien or me, Marinette thought. "Not to mention we're angry that you ignored us all day and came home so late."
"You're grounded for two weeks and when you're home, you have to give us your phone," Tom said.
"But Papa!"
"No buts. You can't do this to us, Marinette," Sabine said forcefully, "Once you come home from school, you turn your phone into us and you get it back as you go to school the next day. No friends and no outings for two weeks."
"Is this a bad time to mention a have a job?" Her parents gawked at her. "A model has been MIA at Adrien's shoot and they brought me into sub for her." Sabine sighed.
"How much is it paying?"
"One hundred euros a day. And the shoot lasts for five more days" Sabine glanced over at Tom.
"You can keep modelling, but we expect reports on when you're coming home and where you are," Tom said.
"Thank you, Papa, Mama," she said.
"Dinner will be ready in an hour," Sabine informed her. Marinette nodded and handed her phone over before trudging up to her room. As soon as the hatch was closed, Tikki left her purse and Marinette went into full ranting mode.
"How am I supposed to keep up with Ladybug duties if I'm grounded?!" Marinette demanded.
"How is this any different than usual?" Tikki asked. "Just sneak out like you usually do."
"But what if they come in and check on me and see I'm gone? Do you know how much trouble I'll be in if that happens?" she replied.
"What else can they do? You're already grounded and they've taken away your phone. They can't take away your tablet because of school work and you have everything on there," Tikki pointed out.
"Yeah, but I don't want to make this longer than it has to be!" she cried. "Two weeks is going to drag on. After the photoshoot I'm not going to be allowed to go on another date with Adrien!" Marinette groaned, burying her face in her arms. "This can't get any worse," she complained.
"Don't say that! You'll jinx yourself," Tikki said and Marinette sighed. The kwami had a point. It wasn't the end of the world but being grounded wasn't something good. It'd hurt her job as Ladybug and her social life, but as long as she could get through these two weeks without getting additional punishment, she'd be good to go.
Although Marinette's dreams were less terrifying than the previous night, she still felt unrested and wanted to go back to sleep. She wanted to go back to sleep and she wanted to cuddle with Adrien. That's all she wanted, but sadly, that wasn't going to happen. Marinette dragged herself out of bed and got ready for the day before trudging downstairs, Tikki hidden away in her purse.
A plate of croissants were on the table and she dug right in. Her parents were down at the bakery, thank God, and she was able to let Tikki out of her purse to have breakfast with her. The two ate in silence, letting the morning news fill the void.
"After discovering the body of Emilie Agreste yesterday, police have found another body of a missing model. Nicole Champlain, twenty-six, was found near the Louvre by security guards early this morning. Champlain went missing five days ago and had been reported missing by her boyfriend. Police are still looking for suspects and declined to speak with us about Champlain or Agreste's cases and whether or not they're linked." Marinette's blood turned cold. Nicole? Wasn't that the name of the model whose place she took? The one who Marie-Christine said had been ignoring her calls?
"Tikki, this . . . this can't be an akuma, can it?" she asked.
"It's true we've had murderous akuma in the past, but I don't know if that's the case. There are bad people in the world and it could just be some sicko and not an akuma," Tikki said. But bodies being found within the span of two days, Marinette thought as her blue eyes diverted from the news. That just doesn't seem right. Not to mention both had something to do with the Agrestes. First Adrien's mother and now a model in one of his father's photo shoots. Maybe Ladybug should look into the matter.