Marinette giggled softly as Adrien almost squealed in delight when he took a bite of his salad. They were seated on the terrace of a small cafe, enjoying the nice weather of the summer afternoon. She could tell from the shadow lingering into his eyes that he still had something on his mind, but he was visibly trying actively to lighten the mood between them, which she was grateful for. Smiling broadly, the blond gestured to her and her untouched meal:
"You really weren't going to come back? Playing hard to get miss Dupain-Cheng?"
She could tell he regretted the words as soon as they were out, but Marinette knew fairly well they had to sort it out sooner or later for the sake of their budding friendship. After all, it takes two to tango, and Adrien hadn't been the only one in the wrong. The young woman took a second to organize her thoughts, before offering shyly as she stared intently at her hands resting in her lap:
"I've been having second thoughts about quitting for the whole weekend, but I honestly thought it was already too late to fix this mess, at least professionally. After my dramatic exit on Friday, I didn't think I would be welcomed in any Agreste building anytime soon. You don't turn your back on Gabriel Agreste and walk away unscathed in this industry."
Adrien's gaze softened:
"Nobody knows. Temper tantrums are quite common in fashion, so a slammed door isn't something people pay attention to. I actually genuinely expected you to show up this morning and planned to sort things out with you then, so I didn't follow through with your… how did you put it again?"
Smiling faintly, she repeated:
"My dramatic exit."
"Very well put Mari, couldn't describe it better even if I'd tried."

Looking up at him, she noted his blatant smirk. He was teasing her openly, and it warmed her heart to no extent. It had been a very close call but they had avoided the worst for their friendship and partnership altogether, all thanks to Adrien who had been mature enough to swallow his pride and take the first steps toward her. It wasn't fair of her to let him take all the blame:
"I know you feel guilty for what happened Friday, Adrien, but I'm liable too. True, your attitude last week hurt me, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I abandoned the ship without warning. I reacted childishly and bolted out instead of trying to talk things out like a grown woman should do."
"I wouldn't have listened if you had tried to Mari, countered Adrien. I was… what was it? Busy sulking like an emo teenager?"
He was grinning openly at her, his eyes glistening with mischief. Marinette knew it was his way of letting her know that he wasn't mad at her, and it made her feel even more guilty if anything:
"Still, I'm sorry. I'm not that good at establishing new healthy relationships, as Nino probably briefed you on if he knew we were going to work together, knowing him. But I want this to work, and if the first half of last week has shown me the real you, then I really want us to be friends. I wanna get to know that Adrien, and learn to trust you like you deserve to be. I…"
She trailed off, unsure of how much of her heart she was willing to bare in front of him yet. Looking at his kind green eyes, she remembered the way he had taken care of her on the night of the wedding, of how much comfortable she had felt in his company on their researching field trip the previous Tuesday. She decided to let him in a little further.
"I missed you. I know it's silly, we've been friends and colleagues for barely a week, half of which we've both spent brooding, but I really did."
"I did too, our office was awfully empty this morning, he answered quietly. I'm not used to working with someone that actually gives a damn about my mood, it might need time to adjust to a little."

Marinette offered him a sad smile. She knew Adrien had always been a loner and not by personal preferences. His father was an absent figure in his life, and the only close friend he had growing up was Nino. What a pair of socially handicapped beings they made together. That thought made her chuckle out loud, earning herself a raised eyebrow from her partner that was not so subtly trying to sneak out bites of her plate:
"What? It's delicious and you're not eating at all!"
The blackette shook her head, the remnants of her laugh spread on her lips:
"It's not that, help yourself… It's just… look at us. Adrien Agreste, socially inept because he spent his whole life living like a recluse, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, complete freak-out package with severe trust issues and hopelessly plagued with an irrational fear of love."

Adrien suddenly frowned, fork halted mid-air, and she instantly regretted saying anything about their common flaw. Maybe it was a sore subject for him?
"About that, Mari, have you spoke to anyone present at the wedding this past week?"
Taken aback by the unforeseen change of subject, Marinette stared at him for a second.
"I don't really talk to anyone apart from Alya or Nino, so no. Why?"
The young man looked apprehensive all of a sudden, looking everywhere but in her eyes. Anxiety filled the young woman's stomach, breath abruptly hitching in her throat. Had she done something foolish and didn't remember? Did something awful happen? She tried to keep those feelings at bay, this was not a time for a panic attack, she didn't have her medication with her since she hadn't needed it for months. Probably sensing something in the air shift between them, the grassy green eyes finally found hers back, and the young man smiled at her reassuringly just as if he had picked up on the panic taking over her nerves:
"I think you should know what happened after you left. I genuinely believe I made every man in the knowing present in the room very jealous that night."
Confusion filled Marinette's brain, blissfully successful in pushing the anxiety aside. Her silence seemed to prompt Adrien to go on:
"You're right in assuming Nino told me about what Nathanael had the nerve to do to you. Last Sunday, when I asked him where you had vanished to, he asked me not very politely to stay away from you. When I declined, he tried to punch me…"
The designer gasped at that, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as she hadn't meant to, as Adrien resumed:
"I avoided it easily and he missed. I, however, did not. I'd give anything to see what his jaw looked like Monday morning."

A dam in Marinette's heart broke hearing those words.

Back when it had happened, the young woman had stubbornly refused to press charges against Nathanael to spare herself from reliving her nightmare over and over again along the tedious procedures. She hadn't considered herself strong enough to go through a trial, seeing as she was getting random panic attacks daily at that time and often more than once a day. So she kept it hush. The only people in onto the secret were a few classmates and her parents since the singular sight of Nino dragging the pants-less redhead down the university corridors would've been hard to explain without telling at least part of the truth. But her refusal to go to authorities also had meant her aggressor had walked away from the encounter without any form of consequences for his acts apart from being yelled at by Nino and Alya. Up until the moment Adrien's knuckles had met with his pretty face. She had never been too keen on condoning violence, but in this particular instance, the fact that Nathanael had been on the receiving end of a long deserved punch in the face felt oddly relieving. Without thinking, the young woman threw herself at Adrien in a bone-shattering hug, burying her face in the crook of his neck. At first stiff in the weird and uncomfortable embrace seeing they were still seated, he was quick to relax into it and wrap his arms comfortingly around her lithe figure.
"Thanks, she managed to whisper softly as he nodded against her head, thanks for standing up for me."
"That's what friends are for, aren't they?"

Marinette nodded, still hugging him tightly. His presence by her side was weirdly comforting enough on its own, and she found herself smiling into their hug.
"Hey Mari, about what you said earlier?"
"Which part? I did an awful lot of talking."
He was still holding her, and she didn't try to pull away.
"About us both being socially disabled. Maybe that's why we got along so well from the start. We're not afraid to let our inner freak out in front of each other."
She laughed, finally breaking the hug and regaining her place in front of her half-eaten plate:
"That must be it. We should start a freak club. I'll be the president, given I'm far worse than you."
Adrien gave her a weird look when she made that statement but didn't reply.

Marinette finally ate the remnants of her meal before they headed back to their office in a considerably lighter atmosphere. Taking her seat in front of her drawing table the designer glanced back at Adrien who was already burying himself back into his dear numbers, their fight long behind them. Their eyes met, and they both smiled warmly at each other before eagerly going back to work.

Things were back where they were meant to be.

A/N I think my mailbox is currently on sickness leave because of a burnout. If I'd known readers cared so much about my baby Adrien's feelings, I would've waited until chapter 16 was ready before posting chapter 15 and posted both at the same time. Marinette's apologies just HAD to be done from Mari's POV, hence the two separate chapters for their make up.

Keep reviewing and commenting, it motivates me to update sooner!