Alright, here we go! Chapter 6 is up and running!
Three days later, Adrien called and let her know that his fever had broken, but his father insisted that he make up what he missed.
Soon, a carnival was being held near the Louvre where the Roue de Paris was set up. Marinette's entire group was there. There were booths and stalls with all kinds of activities, food, and games. A few other rides aside from the ferris wheel were set up, too.
"Check all of this out!" Alya said as she took pictures of everything that was available.
"So many games," Marinette spoke as she looked around. "Cornhole, darts, water gun and water balloon games, skee-ball stands. They have almost everything here."
"Good thinking, letting everyone go off and do their own things here at the fair, then planning a time and place to meet up later, dudette. This way we're not losing our patience with each other." Nino responded.
"Yeah, I'm already getting selfie and video messages from everyone else," Marinette reported as she brought up pictures of everyone's enjoyment. "Rose and Juleka are at the stuffed animal-making stand, making toys for the children's hospital."
There was a picture of Juleka holding a stuffed, purple/magenta tiger, while Rose had a plush pig in hand.
"I got a message, too. Marc and Nathaniel are at an airbrush tattoo station," Zoé said as she pulled up a picture of the two boys getting airbrush tattoos on their arms and the back of their hands. "They look amazing."
"Not surprised that Max and Markov are at that chess video game," Nino added as he showed the girls a picture of Max and Markov creaming other people at a chess video game. "They're great at what they do."
"Everyone is great at what they do." Marinette said.
Marinette heard the jingle of a bell, and a jolly, boisterous voice of laughter. Marinette looked up and said, "Hey look. There's André!"
There was a large man with a cart, who was serving ice cream cones to couples who were surrounding him.
"Not surprised that he's here as a vendor," Nino said as he looked over the list. He put his arm over Alya's shoulder. "Does my sweet vixen want a sweet treat?"
"I'd love it, Nino," Alya giggled. "Hey Marinette, wanna get some?"
"I would, but I don't wanna third-wheel," Marinette responded. "You go on ahead. I'll find something else to do."
"Okay, girl." Alya said as she and her boyfriend went over to the ice cream stand.
Marinette gave a nod before walking around aimlessly. Everywhere, she saw people having fun with each other, either in groups or in couples. Standing in the middle of everything, she looked at her surroundings, feeling isolated in such a big group.
Marinette's face fell as she thought, 'It's too bad Adrien's not here. His father must've packed his schedule for the day again.'
She was so lost in her thoughts, that she got jolted out of them when she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist. Marinette shrieked and began squirming, only to hear a familiar laugh coming from behind her.
"Surprise, Princess!" The voice chortled.
Marinette turned her neck around and saw that Adrien was there, hugging her from behind and giving her a smile.
"Adrien, what are you doing here? I mean, it's always great to see you, but didn't you say you were booked today?" Marinette asked, both delighted and surprised to see her boyfriend.
"My piano instructor cancelled due to an emergency, and my Chinese teacher is on vacation, so I have some time to spare. Thus, here I am!" He laughed.
Marinette smiled and said, "That was lucky."
"It is," Adrien responded as he let go of Marinette so she could turn to face him. "I'm glad I could make it. This is my first time at a carnival or a fair!"
"You've never been to one? Not even with your parents?" Marinette asked, only to wince.
"No." Adrien admitted with a shrug.
"Should've known," Marinette murmured. "But now you get a chance to experience the fun of a fair!"
"And it will be even more fun with you," Adrien responded with a husky whisper in her ear. Marinette's skin got pleasured goosebumps. "So, what shall we do first?"
Marinette heard a popping sound coming from her right, and she turned to face where it came from.
She saw the balloon dart game. There was a couple at the booth and the vendor there handed the boy a huge stuffed animal. He gave it to the girl standing next to him. She received it with joy and hugged it.
"Hey, that looks like fun," Adrien spoke. "Let's go!"
He grabbed Marinette's hand and ran for the booth. Marinette's heart started going a mile a minute at his touch, but for once, it felt good. Like her fears and anxieties were on the other side of the globe.
They lined up. Predictably, Adrien's presence drew attention to them. While Adrien wasn't actively making himself known, Marinette could see the people pointing and staring at them, gossiping at the sight. Adrien ignored all the chatter around them, and Marinette sidled up closer to him to hide.
Feeling her get closer to him, Adrien put his hand on her arm for a side-hug.
While waiting in line, Marinette looked at the board explaining the pricing and rules (€1 for three darts, €3 for five), before her eyes drifted to the available prizes. There were mostly stuffed animals, but they also had paper gift card vouchers for different shops. For younger kids, candies were hidden in some of the balloons.
Adrien noticed where Marinette was looking and asked, "Have you played balloon darts before?"
"No. Have you?" Marinette asked in return.
"No, but those prizes look great. I'll win one for you!" Adrien said.
"Serious?" Marinette questioned.
"Sure am!" Adrien said as he put down €3 for five darts.
The booth operator handed Adrien the darts, and he looked at the prize wall, eager.
Marinette watched, tempted to bite her nails. Adrien missed his first three shots. Marinette looked up at the prize wall, and saw that just to win the bare minimum prize, you only had to pop one. She started feeling herself sweat, anxious.
'I know he can afford to play more rounds, but still...' Marinette thought.
Adrien held up the second to last of his darts, and he aimed at the largest balloon that was on the board. The man running the booth was looking at Adrien, his body language betraying nothing.
Adrien threw the dart, and it hit the balloon with a big, loud pop, revealing a paper gift card to a high-end restaurant. Marinette clapped in delight, saying, "Nice shot!"
"Thanks, but there's one more balloon to burst to win the game." Adrien chuckled before clicking his tongue and winking at Marinette. She blushed.
Adrien threw the last dart, and it popped a medium-sized ballon - this one contained a variety of small, paper-wrapped candies.
"Congrats, young man!" The vendor said as he handed the prizes in a reusable cloth bag over to him.
They began walking the fair grounds again.
"You did a great job back there, Adrien." Marinette said as he took out one of the candies (a spearmint choupette), unwrapped the paper, and began eating it.
"Did I hit the bullseye of your heart, Marinette?" Adrien teased.
Marinette laughed at this, reaching for a strawberry choupette, unwrapping it, and starting to eat it.
*WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!*
The pair turned around and saw that there was an Ultimate Mecha Strike X stand, and it was a one-on-one competition. Like with the balloon darts, there were prizes to be won.
"They have the latest Ultimate Mecha Strike game?! I'm in!" Marinette said as she ran off to the stall.
"I didn't know you liked this game." Adrien spoke as he came up next to her.
"Are you kidding? My dad and I play this all the time whenever possible!" Marinette responded as she picked up a controller.
Another girl came up on the other side, and gave Marinette a stare-down before picking up her own controller. The game started, and the two girls started going at it. Adrien stared, red-faced and speechless, as Marinette and her opponent were dishing out dirt to each other on the screen. A crowd was gathering, one side cheering for Marinette, the other side cheering for the other girl. The group got so big that Adrien was pushed to the outside of it. The round seemed to go on for a long time, but in the end...
*PLAYER 1 WINS! PLAYER 1 WINS!*
Marinette won the round by a small margin, but her score was enough to win. The crowd, even Marinette's opponent, cheered for her as the vendor put a medal over Marinette's neck.
She walked over to Adrien, and she saw his face was still red.
"How was that?" Marinette asked, a sultry smile and eyes on her face.
"Wow, when you said you were good at this game, I didn't think you meant that good." Adrien chuckled as he looked at her medal, which was shinning in the sunlight.
"You don't know the half of it," Marinette giggled. "I even beat Max, and he'd been training for a school-wide tournament for a whole year! Even though I didn't play to try out, Max came after me and insisted we team up for it! We won the tournament!"
"That's amazing!" Adrien responded as they began walking around again.
"Yeah, but I gave Max most of the credit. He was the one who put in the training. I was just lucky." Marinette confessed.
"Marinette, it can't be just luck," Adrien reassured. "You've had a fair amount of practice, too, playing with your dad."
Marinette's face tinted red in response and she said, "Good point."
The pair did multiple activities together - they played cornhole, which ended in a tie. Marinette went into a photo stand-in where the picture was of a girl in a ladybug-themed jumpsuit. Adrien took pictures on his phone, laughing.
"You look so cute in these pics, Marinette!" He chuckled as Marinette came out from behind and walked back to him.
"Why don't you go behind that one with the black catsuit?" Marinette teased, thumb-jerking behind her.
"Gonna take pictures?" Adrien asked, a sly look on his face.
"Yes." Marinette said, pulling out her phone. Adrien laughed before running behind the catsuit photo stand-in.
Once they were done, they were showing each other the photos they'd taken, laughing at the faces they were making.
They came upon a strength tester game, and it was designed after the Eiffel Tower. Ivan was there, and he'd slammed the hammer onto the plank. Unsurprisingly, he hit the bell without a problem, and won a stuffed dolphin that was roughly twelve inches or larger. It came from a toy company made the stuffed toys with 100% recycled materials.
"Here you go!" Ivan said as he handed the dolphin to Myléne, who hugged it and started jumping up and down, singing the toy company's praises. Ivan laughed. He and Myléne gave Marinette and Adrien a wave "hello" before moving along, hand-in-hand.
Adrien got a mischievous expression on his face before turning to Marinette.
"Check me out, Princess," He said, rolling his tongue. He approached the game, rolled up his sleeves, cracked his knuckles, and stretched his hands before picking up the hammer. "Time to show you my brawn!"
He raised the hammer over his shoulder before slamming it down... Only for the puck to get up to 40, and the bell was at 100. Adrien turned to face Marinette, his eyes closed while giving her an embarrassed smile, while rubbing his head and chuckling.
Marinette covered her mouth, holding back laughter.
'All that bravado, and all he scores is a forty? That's funny!' She thought as Adrien put the hammer down.
"I guess I don't know my own strength." Adrien joked.
Marinette gave a laughing snort, the irony palpable.
"Let's get going, silly!" Marinette laughed as the two of them left the strength tester behind to check out some of the other attractions.
Other games and activities included an airbrush tattoo station, playing with bubbles, bumper cars, and a swing ride. Adrien was sitting in one swing, holding Marinette's hand. She was in the swing next to him.
"Never been on one of these before!" Adrien said, raising his voice so Marinette could hear.
"Really?" Marinette asked.
"Really! This is so much fun! It's like I'm flying!" Adrien cheered as the ride tilted.
Once that ride was over, the two of them got their bearings and kept walking around. They got themselves a large cotton candy to share, each taking pinches of it off the cone and eating it. They came upon a churro stand and got a portion of those to split, too.
"Yum!" Adrien said as he took another piece off and ate it.
"Let me guess: first time trying cotton candy?" Marinette asked with a laugh.
"You guessed right, Marinette!" Adrien confirmed as Marinette took another bite of the treat. He took a churro out of the basket they'd gotten.
"Adrien, go easy on the churros!" Marinette laughed as she watched Adrien dunk it in the chocolate dipping sauce, and chomp on it.
"I can't help it, they're so good!" Adrien said.
"You're gonna get chocolate all over your face!" Marinette giggled.
"Then you'll just have to... clean it off." He joked, leaning in closer with a seductive expression.
Marinette blushed at what he was implying, and she shook her head before saying, "We got napkins to use, don't we?"
Adrien deflated at that before saying, "Yeah, we do."
Soon, they were sitting across from each other in one of the ferris wheel cars.
"This is a nice way to relax after all this fun." Marinette said as she laid against the seat while looking at the fair from out the window.
"It sure is," Adrien responded, his eyes stuck on Marinette rather than the scene outside the window. "It's a nice change of pace from Chinese and piano classes."
"Nathalie showed me some of your schedule when you got sick," Marinette said, still watching the scenery change as they rode the wheel. "I saw that there weren't many openings."
"Yeah, it's been like that since my mother passed away..." Adrien confessed.
Marinette looked at him in surprise and asked, "Your mom?"
He gave a nod and responded, "Ever since she died, my father hasn't been the same. Cold, distant... Micromanaging my life without actually being there for me when I need it."
"I can't imagine that happening with either of my parents if the other died too soon," Marinette confessed, looking down. "If anything, they'd probably keep me a lot closer."
With a tart scoff, Adrien spoke, "Wish I had a family dynamic like yours. I'm sure Kagami does, too."
Marinette gave an agreeing nod. A few seconds of quiet, and Marinette heard Adrien stand up before coming over to her side and sitting next to her. Instead of looking him in the eyes, Marinette kept looking out to the scene. Adrien put a hand on top of hers, causing her to blush. She turned to face him, and she saw that he was giving her that same affectionate, grateful expression he'd given her when she vented to him about her fears after the photoshoot. His face was beet red.
"Marinette, enough about depressing stuff," Adrien requested. "Let's just enjoy this moment."
He started leaning in, puckering his lips. Marinette, feeling a little bolder, also began leaning in, when the ferris wheel car came to a halt, and it opened. They looked at their surroundings, seeing their ride on the wheel was over.
Adrien gave an awkward laugh and told Marinette, "I guess that's that."
"The others should be waiting for us. Shall we?" Marinette asked.
Adrien's phone started going off again, and he picked it up. He moaned.
"The Gorilla's on his way here," He complained. "Time for me to go home. I'll get in touch soon?"
"Sure." Marinette said, a little disappointed.
Adrien helped Marinette off the ferris wheel car before giving her one last hug. Marinette hugged him back, no inhibitions this time.
She felt him kiss her cheek before pulling away, and with great reluctance, he started walking towards the car in the distance. Marinette held her kissed cheek and watched him go.
A few days passed, and as usual, Marinette and Adrien's communication consisted of video phone calls, romantic texts with emojis, and pictures. Adrien even sent her a few paraphrased poems, such as Endymion by John Keats, and How I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
On one particular Saturday morning, Marinette was up in her room, working on a dress she'd been commissioned to do. She had the sketch in her hand as she looked at the fabric on her table.
"Okay, so the violet fabric goes here on the pattern..." Marinette murmured to herself as she looked over the fabrics.
Different shades purple - some of it was lavender-purple jacquard brocade satin that had a sheen double-sided floral pattern, which was going to be the focal point of the dress. The darker purple was also satin, but it had a matte finish to it.
The dress was designed to look like a modern formal dress. It had a v-neck, bracelet sleeves, the dress was drawn with an empire waistline and an A-line silhouette, and the skirt was mid-calf length. The design also had a large spray of roses made with the lavender fabric. The largest of the flowers was closer to the upper left part of the bust. Roses in a range of smaller sizes climbed up the left shoulder and down near the lower right of the bust, closer to the waist.
"Fabric, thread, patterns, and measurements are all done!" Marinette said.
She took her fabric scissors out to get started, only to hear a loud clattering noise coming from the bakery.
Like a rabbit running from a wolf, Marinette dashed downstairs, she opened the side-door to the bakery and asked, "Everything okay?"
"Yes, honey," Sabine said as Tom picked up some empty sheet pans that he'd knocked over. He put away a few of the ones that had some dents in them. "We're just busy."
"No kidding. You two look frantic. What's going on?" Marinette asked as she watched her parents bustle about the bakery, a little faster than normal.
"We just got a huge order to cater!" Tom said as he threw a sheet of macarons into the oven meanwhile Sabine was working on serving customers.
"Huge?" Marinette asked, a smile on her face. "That's great!"
"It is! Take a look at this!" Sabine added as she stepped away from the register to hand Marinette a copy of an invitation.
"Huh?" Marinette asked. "The Diamonds Dance? Isn't this one of those high-end VIP parties for the wealthy, social elite?"
"Yes, but even the upper crust can't resist our Dupain-Cheng pastries!" Tom chortled as he kept piping macaron batter onto the next pan.
Marinette had to laugh in acknowledgement. The Bourgeois family had ordered from them in the past. And there were multiple times where they had to turn away the mayor because they were out of something. The poor guy had to leave with his tail between his legs, knowing his wife and daughter would throw a fit over it.
"Well, I'll leave you to it. I have a dress to work on." Marinette said as she went to go back to her room.
"Actually, sweetheart, we are going to need your help at this party," Sabine responded. "This is going to be a big event, and we don't have anyone else to serve the desserts."
"I get it." Marinette said with a light sigh while looking at the invite.
When she got back upstairs and went back to work on her dress, she called up Alya on her PC.
"The Diamonds Dance?" Alya asked. "What about it?"
"Well, my parents got hired to cater desserts, and they're going to need me there to help," Marinette explained as she started making the fabric roses. The rest of the dress's pieces were done and ready to be put together. "Any insights on it?"
"It's one of those hoity-toity snob parties for the upper class. The types that look down on working people, like Chloé. It's an annual event that's hosted by Gabriel Agreste, with only the people he deems important enough on the guest list." Alya informed. Marinette could hear computer keys clicking in the background.
"Let me guess: Chloé's going to be there?" Marinette questioned.
"Yes, but that's no shock. Kagami might be there, though." Alya assumed.
"It really shouldn't matter who's there. I'm only going to help my parents serve desserts." Marinette responded while putting down the largest rose. There was a pile of fabric roses on her desk.
"I'm surprised you weren't invited," Alya commented. "You ARE Adrien's girlfriend, and you DID save his life. You'd think M. Agreste would want you there as his way of showing some gratitude."
Marinette gave a noncommittal hum, and said, "If he was grateful, he would've said or done something a long time ago."
"True that." Alya laughed.
"Thanks for the info, Alya," Marinette said as she got to the next rose, which was somewhat smaller. "Now, I gotta finish this dress."
"That's cool. My parents need me to watch the twins, since Nora's out at a match again. I'll see you at school!" Alya said before hanging up.
Marinette went back to working on the dress. As she sewed all the pieces together, and arranged the fabric flowers on the bodice, the gears of her imagination started turning. Her in a formal gown, similar to the one she wore for the photoshoot, with Adrien in a formal black suit. It was just the two of them, waltzing to romantic violin music.
After finishing the dress, Marinette looked over her work, proud of the outcome.
"There, it's done." Marinette said as she sent a notification to the customer who ordered it.
But her eyes wandered to a sketch that was pinned to her cork board. She looked at it and smiled, getting an idea.
The evening of the party, Marinette and her parents were at the Grand Palais, where the event was being hosted. The guests were wearing white, formal attire, including masks that doubled as QR code invitations as a security measure.
Marinette herself was wearing a waitress uniform. It consisted of a black shirt, a pink shirt with a white apron that had her signature flower pattern. She was wearing black nylon stockings and shoes, had her hair in a bun atop her head, and had a white lace cap. She had a platter of macarons in hand, colored to match the theme of the party. Her parents were at a small table with more macarons on hand.
Marinette looked around at the party. Alya had it right: a lot of upper class people and their kids were in attendance. As speculated, Chloé was there, giving Marinette a wicked sneer, but the young designer just ignored her and made the rounds with the cookies.
'This party is so glamorous.' Marinette thought, looking at the aesthetics of the event.
She kept looking around as guests came and went, picking up the macarons to eat. While some of them were her peers, giving her disgusted looks for being there, Marinette wasn't paying them anything other than a polite smile.
'Alya was right - this IS one of those snob-fest parties. I can see why Zoé's not here.' Marinette thought.
She looked around. While she saw Gabriel Agreste in attendance, Marinette paused. For a moment, she could swear he glanced at her, but she wasn't sure, since he was also wearing a mask.
She kept walking the room and serving the cookies. But she wondered, 'Where's Adrien? This is his father's function, isn't it? He should be here.'
"Mlle. Dupain-Cheng." A voice greeted.
Marinette turned to see Nathalie, who was wearing a white women's suit that went with the dress code of the party.
"Oh, Nathalie! Hi!" Marinette greeted as she held the tray out. "It's good to see you again. Would you like a macaron?"
"Merci, but I actually need you to come with me for a little bit." She said, putting her hand up to say "no thanks" to the macaron.
"Huh?" Marinette asked, only for Nathalie to give her a "come on" gesture.
Marinette put the platter down and followed Nathalie out of the party room. She could swear she could hear Chloé laughing in triumph.
"Is something wrong?" Marinette asked as she and Nathalie left the room.
"You're not properly dressed for the party," Nathalie stated with a small smile as she held up a garment bag on a hanger. "You need to get changed."
Marinette blinked in surprise.
Back inside the party, everyone was mingling, with Tom and Sabine working on serving the guests. The door opened again, and everyone looked towards the entry. But everyone's eyes bulged out at the sight.
There was Marinette, wearing the same dress and shoes as the rest of the girls. But she didn't have a mask or makeup on. She looked around and saw everyone staring.
"Marinette!" She heard a voice call, and Marinette looked up to see Adrien, dressed in a formal white suit, walking right towards her.
"Adrien?" Marinette spoke as he was soon less than two feet away from her.
He looked her over, his smile slowly growing as he took her in with his eyes.
"You're just as beautiful now as you were during the photoshoot," He murmured, his voice loud enough for only her to hear. "Maybe even more."
Marinette's face tinted red, before telling him, "Merci."
A waltz began to play, and the lights dimmed. Marinette looked at Adrien, who was returning her smile with his own.
He held his hand out and asked, "May I have this dance?"
Marinette looked at his hand before looking up and saying, "Are you sure?"
Adrien gave a firm nod. Marinette, her hand jerky, put it into Adrien's. He led her to the dance floor, and he helped her get into a waltz position. His hand was on her hip, and her hand was on his shoulder. They lifted their locked hands up.
"Never waltzed before..." Marinette murmured.
"Just follow my lead." Adrien said as they began to dance.
They kept their eyes on each other, ignoring the stares from everyone else. As they moved along the dance floor in slow, fluid motion, Marinette started getting more comfortable with the movements.
"I'm glad you're here," Adrien said, his tone sweet and gentle. "This party would've been so boring without you, my Princess."
"Really?" Marinette questioned, blushing.
"Really," He responded with a tender smile. "Convincing my father to get your parents to cater was worth it."
"Wait, you had your father hire my parents just so you could get me here?!" Marinette asked while they kept dancing.
"It was the best idea I could come up with." Adrien admitted, sounding embarrassed.
"You couldn't have just asked your father if I could come?" Marinette questioned, befuddled.
"I tried, but he wouldn't hear of it," He sighed. "And I wanted you here more than anything. Thus, here we are."
Marinette looked out of her peripheral vision and saw the other rich kids (Kagami notwithstanding) giving her dirty looks. She swallowed a lump in her throat before looking back at Adrien. Seeing his smile, the same one that would ease her insecurities, her heart melted.
The music stopped, and barring Chloé, everyone was giving them formal, albeit displeased applause.
The pair made distance and Adrien gave a bow while Marinette curtsied.
"That was a great dance," Marinette laughed as she began to leave. "Now, since I'm here to help my parents, I should get back into my waitress dress and-"
"Please don't!" Adrien said as he grabbed Marinette's hands to keep her in place. He brought her closer, and put her hands around his neck. "Stay with me for the whole evening?"
Marinette craned her head to face her parents, who were giving her smiles and nods.
Marinette turned her face back to Adrien just as another slow song started to play. He put his hands on the small of her back, pulling her closer, and looking her in the eyes.
Marinette's heart skipped another beat, and she let herself relax in his arms. They listened and swayed to the music, isolated in their own little mental cloud of happiness. To Marinette, the scent of his cologne - a blend of sandalwood and jasmine - was a weighted blanket to ease her nerves.
'I thought this was like a fairy tale before, but it definitely feels like one now.' Marinette thought, feeling peaceful.
A few songs later, Adrien had taken Marinette aside so they could take a break.
"I've never been a guest to one of these events," Marinette said as she looked at the scene. "Now I understand why you'd be bored."
"Yeah," Adrien said as he ate a macaron. "These parties aren't much fun. Putting on airs all the time gets tiring. I was tempted to skip." Adrien confessed.
Another slow song started playing.
"Shall we?" Adrien asked as he stood up, holding Marinette's hand.
"Yes." Marinette responded, giving him coquettish eyes and a matching smile.
Adrien once again led Marinette out to the dance floor, but Marinette's foot caught on something. She ended up flailing her arms and screaming, knocking Adrien and herself over. But Marinette tried to catch herself, only for her to land on her arm in an unnatural position.
"OW!" She shouted, wincing in pain.
"Marinette!" Adrien said as he sat up to try helping Marinette.
But a heel pinned Marinette's arm down, and she once again yelped in pain.
"Hey, ow!" Marinette shouted.
Liquid was dumped onto Marinette's head, and she coughed at it. She looked up and saw Chloé, who was once again giving her a wicked smile.
"Not the belle of the ball anymore, are we, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé cackled. "Covered in sparkling juice, your hair and dress a complete wreck?"
She put more pressure on her heel, crushing Marinette's arm.
"Stop it!" Marinette shouted.
"You're hurting her!" Adrien called as he stood up and got in Chloé's face. "Get off of her and apologize this instant!"
"As if! I don't need her forgiveness, and her feelings are meaningless to me. She's just a commoner who dares step out of line!" Chloé spat. "Everyone here is only tolerating her presence because she's hired help. Otherwise, she has no right to be here, dancing with royalty!"
"She has every right to be here! I wanted her to come!" Adrien insisted.
Marinette gave a another scream in pain. Adrien winced.
"Father, kick Chloé out, please!" Adrien called to his father, who was up on another platform. Gabriel was about to answer, but...
"I'm staying! She's the one who needs to be kicked out!" Chloé shouted, pointing at Marinette. "In fact..."
The uppity blonde stooped down, broke her glass on the floor. Chloé raised her arm...
"NO!" Adrien hollered.
The following day, Marinette was up in her room with Alya, and watching the reports about the Diamonds Dance.
"Wow, this is bad," Marinette said, moaning in distress while glancing at her cast-bound arm in its sling. "His father is going to have a conniption..."
The video of Adrien calling Chloé out for hurting Marinette's arm was going viral. Sure, Adrien wasn't going berserk or getting physical, but seeing him that angry was a sight to behold. Everyone was commenting on Adrien's decorum, with a nonviolent, yet scathing dress-down of his former friend and the rest of the upper-class kids. And how he gracefully got Marinette out of there and to the ER.
Both Zoé and Kagami (the latter intervened and pulled Chloé off of the pigtailed designer) had called her later on and asked if she was okay, and several people commented on Marinette's social media, wishing her a fast recovery and offering to delay their orders so she could heal. And her parents, fed up with Chloé's antics, filed a lawsuit against the Bourgeois family, with almost everyone supporting the Dupain-Cheng family.
"Forget that, girl! I can't believe Chloé did that to you! She's always been an unrepentant brat because her dad's the mayor, but this is crossing the line!" Alya growled, gesturing to Marinette's injured arm. "I'm grateful that it's only a sprain and some stitches, but that's your dominate arm! How are you going to get your commissions done?"
"I can do some research on adaptive sewing tools," Marinette said. "And maybe you and the others can help me?"
"Absolutely, girl," Alya agreed. "Count on me! I'll even help you write your class notes while your arm heals up."
"Thanks, Alya." Marinette said.
"...So, how's Adrien taking this whole thing?" Alya asked, sounding worried.
"He's angry, which is a given," Marinette stated with a shrug. "He said he'd come by and take care of me."
"Just like you took care of him when he got sick?" Alya teased.
Marinette blushed and responded, "Y-Yes."
Her phone started ringing, and Marinette used her left hand to pick it up. She didn't recognize the number, but her instincts told her to answer the call. Using her thumb to pick up the call, she put it to her ear and asked, "Hello?"
"Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, this is Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste." The calm, stern voice said over the phone.
Marinette's blood froze and she felt a cold flash wash over her.
"M-M. Agreste?" Marinette asked, almost dropping the phone.
"I believe we need to have a little discussion." Gabriel said to her.
And BOOM! That's it for this chapter! Hope it was worth the wait!
Now, coming up, Marinette is faced with a task she's worried about for a while - talking to Adrien's father! What does he have to say?! What will he do?! Can Marinette face him down?!
Sorry this took so long. I've been having a block on what else is going to happen in this story, as well as trying to come up with a Halloween-themed one-shot for this. Also, I'm trying to hash out details for a story where the plot centers around Marichat/Adrienette and Kagargos/Féligami as it were.
Hope you're open to offering plot bunnies for this story or other ideas. I could REALLY use some help.