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"Her grandparents are the spawns of evil themselves. They definitely were made in a bad place," Adrien exclaimed, cleaning the prize counter's top.
"And that's coming from me! I used to be a havoc of nature! Mother Nature feared me! I set a bush on fire in the park and it...kinda got out of hand."
Alya was handing a little kid his winnings before she acknowledged the blonde. She raised an eyebrow, very curious to know more about the "setting a bush on fire" incident. Yet, she withheld that urge. She's sure Adrien wouldn't mind telling her some other time (not in front of Marinette, of course).
"I won't lie to you, it's going to be a really rough week," Alya said, earning a blunt look from Adrien.
"Gee, I feel so reassured," he sarcastically said.
"But," Alya continued, "I don't think Marinette would want anybody else to be by her side in this. I'm sure she really appreciates everything her white knight is doing to protect her."
"If I'm so much of a white knight, I should have been with her yesterday and today. But Marinette told me that I didn't have to go yesterday. Her grandma was doing an all-day review with her and couldn't be distracted," Adrien explained.
"Then, I'm supposedly going to an elite school and doing business today to cover up why I couldn't be there. I mean, it's not far from the truth. I did have school and had to work afterward."
"Why wasn't the dudette at school today?" Nino asked, approaching the counter with quite a few tickets. Alya started putting them through a machine to count them.
"Marinette was technically supposed to already be graduated when she was fourteen. After graduating, she was supposed to find a suitable suitor before her sixteenth birthday," Adrien answered.
He scrunched up his nose. The very thought of everything he just explained brought a bitter taste to his mouth. It was all insane! Adrien adored Marinette and her parents. Yet, those expired raisins she deems as her grandparents could go suck on a cactus.
"That's brutal," Nino said in disbelief, "Not cool."
"I remember her telling me that too. Her grandparents are demented," Alya commented before telling Nino his total of tickets. The DJ picked out a somewhat large teddy bear. Alya grabbed the bear and returned to Nino to give him his prize.
However, she stopped in her tracks when he was suddenly holding a bouquet and a smile spread on his face.
"Happy half a year, babe!" Nino chirped handing the flowers over to his girlfriend, "I won the bear for you as well. Don't think I didn't notice you eyeing it."
Alya's surprised face softened into pure joy.
"Really?" she squealed, squeezing the bear close to her and accepting the flowers.
"Yep! Also, I was wondering if you'd be my date to the dance?" he asked.
"Yes!" Alya shouted, earning a few looks in their direction.
Nino let out a breath of relief, having steeled his nerves. He assumed she would've agreed even if he didn't give her anything but Nino wanted to make it special for his girlfriend. It was her first school dance, after all.
While Adrien was happy for the couple, he was also dreading going to see the Chengs after work. He wasn't going to let Marinette down though—not by a long shot. He wasn't going to let her do this alone.
If Marinette could live with those soggy Cheerios for thirteen years, he could handle a few days. It's not like the Chengs were staying at his house for an entire week. Adrien felt really bad that the Dupain-Chengs have to deal with Marinette's grandparents pretty much every minute of the day for a week.
Another hour ticked by and the arcade was beginning to settle for the day.
Adrien was stalling time by attempting another set of failures. Paper after paper is thrown into an overflowing trash can he'll have to empty. Each note written, scribbled out words and entirely gave up on it. Repeat.
None of them felt right.
He cringed at some of them, wishing he could burn them on the spot. Others were close to something but just didn't meet what he wanted—meet what he truly felt and saw his crush.
"Why am I overthinking this?" Adrien grumbled under his breath. He ruffled his hair in agitation and tapped the eraser end of his pencil against his lip thoughtfully.
"I probably just wasted like seven trees worth of paper already trying to write a stupid note to my best friend whom I have a stupid crush on."
"Wow..."
Adrien let out an unmanly shriek and tried to fix it with a manly one. Nino was leaning against the counter, slurping on a slushy. He placed his frosty drink aside.
"...that's rough buddy," Nino finished after a long pause.
"I thought you left already," Adrien said, changing the topic. Yet, Nino wasn't going to let Adrien steer away from it.
"You thought wrong, dude. Luckily, I didn't because it looks like you are struggling with your love life," Nino said, glancing down at the scribbled pages in a notebook.
"Which I find very entertaining since you managed to date nearly every girl in the school except for the lesbians, Chloe, and your very crush, Marinette."
Adrien gave Nino a blunt look, sarcastically saying, "Gee, I'm so glad my sad love life is entertaining to you."
"Very funny," Nino agreed, earning a glare. Yet, the blonde's glare melted into a defeated look. Adrien hide his face in his hands, praying for a hole to open up beneath his feet and swallow him whole like a reticulated python.
"I'm sure they're not that bad. You're probably just exaggerating for nothing. You can be as bad of a drama queen as Chloe sometimes," Nino said before slurping on his slushy.
Adrien winced, "Please don't compare me to Chloe. That'd be an actual nightmare of mine coming to life. I've already got enough PTSD to last a lifetime. I don't need the added nightmare fuel to feed the flames."
Nino pursed his lips before humming in agreement. It was fair enough (even he had those types of nightmares. Long story short, he wasn't able to sleep for the rest of that night due to how horrid it was).
The DJ grabbed Adrien's notebook and looked at the lines that weren't scribbled out. He scanned the words on the sheet.
"Wow, dude..." Nino breathlessly started with amazement laced in his voice.
He looked at Adrien with the most dramatically-shocked face he's ever seen on his buddy's face. Nino's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he continued what he was saying.
"You suck at this."
"Tell me something I don't know," Adrien sarcastically scoffed, stealing away the notebook from Nino's hold.
Adrien kept it close to his chest. He had already embarrassed himself enough and didn't need to hear how bad it was from Nino.
"Look," Nino said, earnestly, "I can tell you obviously love Marinette-"
"L-LOVE?! Who said anything about love? I just have a crush on her," Adrien quickly cut off Nino.
"Uh huh," Nino said, not believing a single word coming out of his blonde friend's mouth. Nino rolled his eyes, "Sure, dude. If you say so."
"What I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted by a boy in denial," Nino started. He slapped a hand over Adrien's mouth when he was about to correct Nino again.
"...why don't you write about how you feel about her or come to understand her. Things you've come to learn that attracted you to her," Nino concluded his explanation.
He removed his hand but Adrien didn't say a word. Adrien thought over what Nino said and nodded.
"I guess, I can try," Adrien hesitated, staring at the messy notebook pages.
"Cool. Maybe, try to do a poem or something. You used to be pretty good at those. Girls eat that romantic stuff up more than a monster with unending hunger that feasts on everything," Nino advised.
"That was a weird comparison," Adrien commented.
"And yet, I still got my point across," Nino said.
"Fair enough," Adrien replied with a smile, releasing a breath through his nose, "Thanks, dude."
Adrien knew he could always count on Nino to have his back.
"Sure thing," Nino waved off, "and one last thing..."
Adrien intently listened, wondering what other advice his friend had. Adrien needed all the advice he could get at this moment.
"Don't be a wuss and get that puss."
Nino quickly walked away, barking with laughter at the reaction he managed to get. A tomato-face Adrien scowled at his retreating friend.
"You better sleep with one eye open tonight, Lahiffe! I know where you live and will commit arson on everything you love! Then, I'll slowly murder you with a spoon!" Adrien shouted at Nino, threats empty.
That's when Adrien spotted a little kid standing in front of the counter, holding some tickets and awaited to get some prizes. The little kid's face held fear on it before he started to cry his eyes out.
Adrien started to freak out. He wasn't very good with kids. He let out a groan.
This was going to be a long night.
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Adrien knocked on the door, letting everyone inside know of his arrival. He made sure he had a good posture and looked nothing less than neat.
Once he finished working, he changed into his dressy clothes and headed over to the bakery.
The door opened with the face of Sabine greeting him. The Chinese woman gave the blonde boy a soft, welcoming smile.
"It is very nice to see you again, Mister Agreste," Sabine kindly said, inviting the teen into the apartment.
"You and your family as well," Adrien replied as gentlemanly as he possibly could. His green-eyed gaze scoured the room, seeing Mr. Cheng quietly doing paperwork in the living room. Tom had been down in the bakery when Adrien arrived.
So, that left two people he had yet to see and it made him very uncomfortable that they might be together alone somewhere.
Who knows what Mrs. Cheng was doing to poor Marinette, probably torturing her?
"Where might Marinette be?" he asked, trying not to show his sickly nervousness. Yet, he could've sworn there was a twinkle of knowing in her eyes. Sabine gave him a sympathetic look; the feeling being mutual.
"She is currently in her room with her grandmother reviewing her lady etiquette," Sabine answered, "I was told you were the only one allowed up there once you arrived."
Adrien was a bit surprised by this but kept it hidden behind a calm-like demeanor. He wondered why he was the only one who was allowed into Marinette's room. He was slightly suspicious about this odd offer.
"Very well," Adrien replied. Without a second thought, he made his way up the stairs to Marinette's room. There was no way he was going to leave her by herself for another second with that witch.
Especially when Marinette probably has yet to have a break. If what Marinette told him was true, Mrs. Cheng has been reviewing Marinette all day yesterday and today.
Adrien rapped his knuckle on the trapdoor.
"You may enter," Mrs. Cheng's voice called from the other side. Adrien opened the trapdoor and entered the room. He saw Marinette sitting properly on a stool with a canvas on an easel sitting in front of her. She was painting something he could not see.
Marinette paused for a moment to look at him.
"Hello, Mister Agreste," Marinette greeted, exhaustedly. He could almost hear the relief in her voice. She looked completely worn out, dark rings evident under her eyelids.
"Quiet," Mrs. Cheng commanded, making Marinette shut her mouth, "You are to be focusing on your work. If he is too much of a distraction, you shall move to another area of the house for review."
Marinette gave a simple nod, frowning as she continued to paint.
Adrien felt his heart throb, doing everything he could just to simply not snap at the older woman.
He wished Marinette had gone to a different room. She would at least get a break from being in her grandmother's terrible presence. Yet, Adrien knew that Marinette wouldn't risk it for two reasons.
The first being she had to be obedient and not get into any trouble. One wrong move and everything would be over. The second, Marinette was too loyal to leave Adrien by himself with Mrs. Cheng. She would definitely feel guilty.
Adrien's hand clenched into a fist then immediately relaxed when Mrs. Cheng looked in his direction.
"Suitor, I would like to review with you as well," Mrs. Cheng said. The blonde did everything in his power not to glance over at Marinette.
"Of course," Adrien agreed, voice slightly wavering no matter how steady he tried to keep it. He sat on the chaise next to Mrs. Cheng and patiently waited for the first question.
They went through a few questions Adrien had no problems answering. Things were going smoothly until the very last question.
"Is there a day your parents are available sometime this week?" Mrs. Cheng asked, "I would like to meet with them."
Adrien was baffled by the question. He wasn't expecting her to ask or wanted to remotely have any contact with his parents.
"I-I can see if they are available tomorrow for dinner," Adrien answered, unsurely.
He hoped his father and Nathalie wouldn't mind the last-minute plans scheduled for tomorrow. Adrien was praying that his parents wouldn't mind helping in the scheme and pulling off some fake personas with only a day of practice.
Adrien could feel a cold sweat starting to form.
"Very good," Mrs. Cheng said before standing up, acknowledging Marinette, "Child, we are finished reviewing. You have exceptionally well and so has your suitor. I do expect that painting to be done by tomorrow night."
Mrs. Cheng had finally left the two teens alone. The thick air in the room seemed to lessen the moment the elder woman left, easing the tension in Marinette and Adrien.
"Man, I feel like I'm holding my breath when either of your grandparents are in the room," Adrien said, falling back onto the chaise. Yet, he didn't get a reply. The blonde looked over at Marinette in concern, wondering why she didn't answer.
Marinette seemed far from okay. She was stressed, tired, and wracking her racing mind to work.
"Marinette? Is everything oka-"
"This is a disaster!" She exclaimed in distress, "I apologize, Mister Agreste. I had no idea she would want to meet your parents! I should have known! Why had I not thought of that? Of course, she would want to meet them! I am so idiotic!"
"Woah woah woah," Adrien eased, approaching the anxiety-filled girl.
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Marinette, none of this is your fault. It's okay if it slipped your mind. I wouldn't expect you to get every little detail when you've been stressing over this visit ever since finding out about it. You are far from being an idiot. You're the smartest person in school. They made you class president for a reason. So, don't berate yourself when it's clearly a lie."
Adrien gave her a smile to which Marinette returned it with a small one.
"That is very kind of you. Still, I wish I had thought of it sooner. Your parent's visit may very well be the end of this plan working, no offense to them or anything. I am sure they are lovely people," Marinette said.
"That's right. She's never met my parents," Adrien thought.
He didn't talk much about them. So, Marinette didn't have any clue of what they were like or were like. There was nothing wrong anymore. Nathalie had always been good to them ever since joining the family. His father was growing better after getting out of his slump from losing his other wife.
Marinette didn't know any of that though, as many people didn't know his family history. The only ones that really knew were family members, Nino, and a few teachers.
Marinette still didn't even know why he had needed that prize money from the gaming tournament. Never questioned why out of respect for his privacy.
Without thinking much about it, Adrien tentatively raised his hand over the area where his mother's pin resided. The peacock pin was safely tucked away within the inner pocket of his jacket.
"Don't worry. I'll figure out something or my name isn't Adrien Anthony Axel Aaron Athenase Agreste," Adrien declared, earning an eyebrow raise from Marinette.
"Is that really your full name?" she questioned. Adrien felt an embarrassed flush paint his cheeks.
"Yes. This information will never leave this room or else I'll tell everyone that you only got an A instead of an A+ on a physics quiz once."
Marinette gasped in horror, "You despicable monster! You would not dare!"
"Try me, Princess," Adrien challenged.
"I will heed your word then" Marinette replied before jokingly asking, "So, do people scream when they address you?"
Adrien rolled his eyes, bluntly saying, "Ha ha, very funny."
Marinette giggled, causing a fluttery feeling to bloom in his stomach. Adrien loved Marinette's melody-like laughter. He could listen to it on a broken record for hours and never get tired of it. He'd do anything to continue listening to it.
He smiled before looking at the canvas to see what she was painting.
It looked to be a muffled forest-like background with rays of light supposedly going through the leaves' canopy. The main focus point was on a lavender-colored lily; a ladybug perched on one of its petals.
"Wow, you're a really good painter," Adrien complimented, "Why a ladybug? Usually, people use butterflies."
"Ladybugs are my favorite insect and are believed to be lucky. I wear ladybug earrings as a good luck charm," Marinette said, moving her hair to reveal the very jewelry, "Not only that, but I also love the color red. It's my favorite color."
"Well, you pull it off in all the right ways," Adrien wanted to say but chickened out.
He made a mental note to remember these little things about Marinette just like Nino said, being useful information for the future.
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