Merry late Christmas and Happy early New Year. Enjoy a slightly earlier update than I was originally planning...

Mariella by Khruangbin & Leon Bridges

"Mari, can we go together?"

Hey, this is really spontaneous but are you free today? Adrien messages me.

Whaaaat? Are you free today?

Haha. I have a photoshoot today until 1pm but wanted to see if you were around after

Sure, that works for me. Did you have something in mind?

Coffee?

In the afternoon!?

:)

Alright, let's do it. Any ideas?

You choose and I'll come to you… private driver and all.

Pompous arse

;)

Which is how I end up waiting for Adrien two hours later at a quaint café outside, enjoying the breeze and the sun on my legs.

Adrien waves as he approaches, a smile on his face. He sighs happily as he sits. "It's a beautiful day today, so nice and warm!"

"That's summer." I pour us both a glass of water from the pitcher the waiter brought out. "I'm actually hungry too so I'm going to get something to eat."

"So am I, I was thinking the same."

"Great minds think alike." I shrug, sitting back.

"Yeah. Speaking of thinking…"

"Oh no," I drawl.

He scowls at me. "I was thinking," he rolls his eyes, "you know how we're going to be attending the same uni?"

"No. I had no idea until now. It wasn't at all obvious to me—"

"You know, your sarcasm is going to get you in trouble one day." He glares at me, but his poorly hid smile gives him away.

I smirk.

He shakes his head. "Talking about me becoming a flirt on Thursday, let's talk about what happened to the stuttering and stammering Marinette! She's gone."

"Why do you care? Do you miss her?"

He smiles. "I love that we're this comfortable around each other, but there's a certain thrill in getting to this stage, so yeah, I miss it a little."

"I outgrew her." I do… get what he means to an extent, but I can't say I relate wholeheartedly to missing a stammering-stuttering Marinette. "You made me nervous." I laugh.

"Why?" He rests his elbows on the table.

"Because… you were you."

"Am I not still me?" He feigns offense and I roll my eyes.

"Obviously. But I guess I was a little intimidated by you… not to mention we didn't have the best start to our relationship." The whole Chloe-gum-on-the-seat incident has been long forgotten, but back then, it wasn't a good start.

"True."

The same waiter who brought the pitcher of water takes our orders as he walks past.

"So, what was this alarming thinking you've supposedly been doing?"

He lets out a puff. "Well, I don't know if it's such a good idea now that I remember how much of a bully you are." He pouts and crosses his arms.

"As if!" I mimic him.

"You want the truth?"

I nod.

"Well, it's kind of crazy—actually it's not. I've spent the last few days reminding myself that it's literally not." He huffs. "You know how you said last week you'd probably move out into a dorm and try to find someone to room with?"

"Yeah…" I confirm for him slowly.

"What if… we moved in together somewhere?"

I'm… genuinely shocked. Not because it's an outrageous idea, but because I, one: hadn't thought of it, and two: if he's suggesting it, it's likely a plausible possibility even with his father. I mean… the man did give me a shinning reference to the Paris School of Fashion, he must like me a little.

"D-does your dad know about this?"

"I told him I've been thinking about moving out. I was already thinking of asking you when he suggested maybe I move in with someone else. But he wants someone he knows and trusts, and I know you fit that criteria. My only real concern, the only reason really that he might and could say no is because, well… you're a girl."

"How shocking."

"I know, right? Absolutely outrageous for me to move in with a girl of all the people I know."

"How sexist," I say dryly.

"I haven't told him you're my first choice though. In fact, you're kind of my only choice." He rubs his neck. "Alya and Nino are definitely moving in together whether they have anything confirmed or not, and not only will they be on the other side of the city, they're also…"

"A couple."

"Exactly. I don't want to be third wheeling or imposing on or subjecting myself to… anything."

I understand his implication. "Of course not. I've been there before." I take a sip from my coffee as it's placed down in front of me.

Adrien's eyes widen curiously as he reaches for his mug. "You have?"

"Yeah." I laugh. "About two years ago. I let them go at it and then humiliated them in the morning, I'm nice like that."

"Yeah right." He snorts and I kick him under the table.

"No, but for real, I think they were both actually smug about it and I was the one properly humiliated." I shake my head. "This was before you were allowed out of the house for a night. You should be grateful."

"Even then, I think I still would've rather been with you as opposed to being in that stone cold, isolated mansion. But still at sixteen!" He shakes his head. "I know it's not uncommon, and god knows there's a few other people we know who have gotten frisky—"

"'Gotten frisky'." I cackle.

"by now," he finishes, flushing at my teasing.

I give him a sweet smile. "Are you… I don't know, upset about how things have worked out?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… well obviously we don't talk about it too much. I don't know whether you have or haven't—"

"Haven't," he clarifies, "and no." He sets his mug down. "I've been unstable for a lot of my life, it's not until the last year and a half that I've really started feeling… normal. Well, as normal as someone like me can feel."

"Someone famous?"

"Yeah…" he frowns, "somewhat famous."

I don't want to remind him that he literally has fans chasing after him in the streets if he's not careful. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point we were swarmed. I can see the media headlines already, Adrien Agreste on a coffee date with his girlfriend?, or something. Alya would get high off that shit, and Chloe and Lila would descend into fits of rage. I'd like to see all three. Alya's cackling, and then watch Chloe and Lila from afar through some telescope on a roof or something.

"Do you think I'd be upset if I had at this point?"

I set my coffee back down. "That really depends on you and your experience. It's why I asked, not everyone's experience is good—in fact most aren't, but maybe I'm just speaking as a woman for other women."

"And have you?"

I bite my lip. "Yeah, a little. It only happened like… twice." I shrug. "We knew each other for longer than when we dated, so it happened pretty fast. Probably faster than I was ready for looking back on it now."

"Luka?"

I nod.

"Has… there been anyone else since?" He asks shyly.

"Only one other, but," I shrug, "it was nothing of note. I haven't really sought it out."

"Why? You've had plenty of opportunity."

I bark a laugh. "You think?"

"Well… there was Luka and then—"

"Luka was… a long time ago. I could say the same about you and Kagami."

"True. Forget I said anything." He takes another sip. "So, what do you think of my 'thinking'?"

I smile. I love that we can have these conversations and move on to another so easily. They don't weigh us down. "I think it's a good idea. I'm open to it."

"Open to it… that doesn't sound like a yes."

"If all goes well in other areas, then you'll have my confirmation."

"So professional, so mature." He rolls his eyes, pushing his coffee to the side as our lunch is placed in front of us.

Adrien a salad, a lemon and sugar crepe for myself.

"Back on the model diet, I see," I tease.

He points a fork at me, playfully narrowing his eyes. "Now you see, if we live together, I'm going to need you to get off my back about that."

"You got it."

"And…" he flushes, "I might need some help grocery shopping for the first few times."

I wave away his embarrassment. "We can try and go together always if our schedules line up."

He nods. "Do you have a job yet?"

"Concerned if I'll be able to pull my weight?"

"Hardly. You're a responsible person, Marinette. You just mentioned schedules, so I was curious because obviously work will interfere with how our free time lines up, not just classes."

I sigh, finishing my mouthful. "Since I was fifteen, I've been doing freelance fashion work, simple things like alterations and also full outright designs. It pays well and I hope I'll have enough time to continue doing it." I've been babysitting too, but Manon, Chris, and Alya's twin sisters have grown up enough now to not need to be looked after anymore like how I used to. And school was too exhausting to get to know and grow comfortable around new kids, so I left that behind. "But consistently up until this point I've been working with my parents in the bakery. It's worked, but it no longer will when I move out. Early mornings, forty-minutes by public transport… It was great, easy even when I only lived upstairs. But I don't think I'd be able to continue it when I move out."

He nods. "I'm sure you're late enough as it is just sleeping upstairs."

I gasp. "Hey!"

He laughs.

"But," I interrupt, "just because, as you said, I am responsible, you should know this is the kind of thing I've been saving for. I have room to fall back on my savings until I can secure a job that'll cover everything."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Like I said. This is the kind of thing I've been saving for. Moving out, rent, groceries, all that good stuff. Furniture too, we'll have to do furniture shopping."

"I have a bit I can bring from home. Like my couch and stuff—you know the one. TV as well. But I'd rather you didn't worry about the money, I have plenty of that."

I laugh. "Adrien, I'm not a gold digger or a freeloader. I want to pay my way."

"I know. And actually, that's another thing we'll want to look for. A place with enough space for you to work comfortably."

"What do you mean?" I frown.

"Well, obviously you want to keep sewing and designing, right? You'll have to for your course too."

Ah, of course. "That's a good point." I shift in my seat, setting my cutlery down on my now empty plate. "Anyway, this is all stuff we have to worry about after we find out if this is possible."

"It's possible, it's just a matter of approval—even though we are technically adults now." Adrien puffs.

Adrien hums rhythmically to himself as he scrolls through page after page on his laptop, curled up on my chaise a few days later.

I swirl in my own desk chair, tapping a pen against my lip as I stare blankly at my monitor.

"Maman, Adrien's coming over." I'd popped my head in the bakery to let my parents know, mainly as a courtesy.

"Oh?" She flicks her gaze back to me as she hands over a paper bag to a customer. "You two don't have any more exams or assignments to work on though."

I roll my eyes. "I know but, Maman, he's my friend, and we're attending the same uni. We're going to be doing some research on it together, and even if we weren't he's still my friend."

"I know, darling." She pinches my cheek as she walks past. "Thanks for letting us know."

I haven't told them yet that I'm moving out, although I'm sure they won't be surprised by that… the kicker will be that it'll be with Adrien.

"So," I start, not meaning for my leg to bounce uncontrollably, but not really wanting to stop it, "what are we looking for." I pull up a document. "Definitely an apartment with two bedrooms."

He nods. "Obviously the other necessities, decent kitchen, bathroom, living space…"

"Dining room?"

He shrugs. "I'm a neat eater."

I smile. That makes two of us and eliminates a need to designate space to a table… at least for now. "Room for growth?" I end up answering my own question. "Depends how we want to grow I guess…" I hum. "If we want a table later… well, I'll put dining space down for something to consider."

He nods. "What about outside spaces? Balconies, terraces…"

"As nice as it would be… it might be a bit too ambitious for two uni students."

He gives me a cocky smile and I throw a pillow at him. "We're not blowing all your or my money on things we don't need right now."

He holds up a hand. "What about number of bathrooms? I'm happy to share if you want to cut costs… but I understand you might want your own space."

"I…" that hadn't crossed my mind, "I guess we can look at both options. But I think most places we'll find will have only one bathroom. I'm fine to share, I can keep my stuff in my room."

"You shouldn't have to—"

I shrug. "I keep most of my stuff in here already. I do my makeup and hair and all that in here anyway. It wouldn't be much of a change. As long as I have place to put my toothbrush, towel, and… keep my feminine hygiene in there… which is a dealbreaker for me. I'm not dashing to and from my room with blood running down my legs."

He laughs.

"I know you think I'm being funny, but it's a serious concern!"

"I know, I know! Nobody should be subject to what I'm sure is a mad dash." He shrugs.

Good. I give a him a single approving nod. "Laundry."

"Definitely, even if it's adjoining to the bathroom or kitchen."

I nod, adding to the list. "We might need to measure some stuff too. If you're going to bring your couch and TV, we'll want to make sure there's enough room for them." Because they're not exactly small…

He nods. "And enough space in the bedrooms." Oh yes, because his bed is also huge. "Which actually… what about wardrobe space, built in or bring out own?"

"Open to both." I shrug. "We'll need to get some furniture anyway." I start up another list for things we'll need, splitting it into three different parts, 'Marinette', 'Adrien' and 'Both'.

Under mine, I put 'bed' at the top.

Under both, I put 'fridge' 'toaster'… 'other kitchen appliances'… 'vaccum'. Maybe this would be better to split into sections… rooms more specifically.

"Are you any good at excel?" I look at him over my shoulder.

"Yeah." He sets his laptop aside and scooches me over on the chair, taking over my monitor for the time being.

That's another thing I should bring… my monitor.

I explain to Adrien my train of thought and he constructs the excel spreadsheet with those guidelines.

"Wow, look at you," I praise, impressed. "I had no idea you were such a wiz."

He smiles up at me, taking a drink from his water. "I don't know…" he shrugs, moving the seat from side to side, "kind of like it."

I pull a face and he pokes me.

The trapdoor to my room is thrown open and I jump, yelping.

"Want anything to eat?" My parents pop both their heads through, holding plates of food.

"Guys," I hiss. "What have I told you about barging in like that."

"Sorry, sorry." Maman smiles and Adrien and I approach to collect a few pastries. "What are you two up to?" She looks around our room.

Adrien looks at me, obviously wondering if I told them.

"I told you, we're researching more about the uni." I narrow my eyes at them. "Shouldn't you be tending to the bakery…"

They both laugh sheepishly. "Ah, yes…" They disappear.

Adrien smiles at me. "Not a bad excuse."

I puff. "God knows I've needed to come up with many in my life." Considering how often I'm late… hopefully that'll change with me attending uni. It will change with me attending uni! I'm determined to break that habit—if I can even call it that.

"Move in with Adrien?" Maman gapes at me.

Papa freezes. "How did this come about, Marinette?" Papa asks as I help him slide the cleaned and dried platter back into the glass display after Adrien's left and the bakery closed.

"Well, we had coffee the other day and he brought it up."

"So, it was his idea?"

I nod. "I don't know how I didn't think of it myself. We're both going to the Paris School of Fashion, we both have been wanting to move out and recognise it's beneficial to room with another person. It cuts down costs and all that. Not to mention Gabriel seems to know, trust, and like me." I shrug.

"It's not a bad idea…" Maman hums, turning around the 'open' sign so it reads 'closed'.

"But would you be rooming together or flatmates?" Papa asks. "Because if you're rooming together that could cause problems—"

"Tom, they're both respectable young adults."

"Exactly, Sabine, they're young."

"But not irresponsible." She wags a finger in front of his nose. "As Marinette said about Gabriel, I know, trust, and like Adrien, and you do too, don't try to lie."

Papa grumbles but doesn't deny it. "Well, if this does go ahead, we would of course have to meet with Gabriel Agreste himself."

My initial response would be 'he's busy', but… "I'm sure that can be arranged." I'm sure it will be arranged if this does go ahead as they've said. After all that Adrien said and how much we're already planning, I'm becoming more and more confident this isn't just a potential idea, but a likely one.

"Are you sure you'd feel comfortable living with Adrien?" Maman asks me sincerely.

I nod. "Yeah, I know I will. I think it'll be good for both of us."

Maman and Papa exchange a look. "Make sure this isn't just a spur of the moment decision. Instead sit on it for at least a few days, sleep on it for the next few nights."

"I have been thinking about it for days."

"That's great, sweetheart. But this isn't a small decision, moving out is a big deal and there's a lot that comes with it. Maman brushes my hair behind my ear. "If you come to us after you've given it a proper thought and still wish to go ahead with it, you have our full support, hun."

"I—well, I don't know about that—"

"Oh hush, Tom."

I take a deep breath before I push open the door to my room and take the foyer stairs down one shaky step at a time as nerves flutter in my abdomen.

I hesitate before swallowing and knocking on my father's office door. I swear, he spends every waking hour in here, save for the occasions when he's at the Gabriel office.

Nathalie opens the door moments later. "Adrien."

"Does Father have a moment?"

She turns back briefly before nodding and opening the door wider to let me in.

"What can I do for you, Adrien?" Father gazes down at me from behind his podium. He hardly ever leaves that spot full-stop.

"I wanted to talk to you about my situation while I'm at uni, Father."

"Your… situation?" A slight tilt of the head.

I take a deep breath and try to push the words out unchoked. "I want to move out." I may have lied to Marinette earlier about asking him before approaching her…

He raises his brows at that. I can feel Nathalie's surprise behind me.

"Why would you want to do that? You have everything you need here."

"I know. But I want to, and I found someone who I can live with."

"Mm?"

"Marinette. She's also going to the Paris School of Fashion—you gave her a reference?"

"Yes, I know who she is. You don't need to phrase it like a question."

"Sorry," I flush.

"There's no need to apologise."

"Okay." This… doesn't look good.

He sighs. "If you both desire to do this then I suppose we should organise a meeting between our families to discuss specifics."

I gape at him. "Really, Father? You'd let me?"

He gazes at me for a moment before setting down his stylus and approaching me. his face warms into a smile—an extraordinarily rare occurrence. "You're an adult now, Adrien, and I can tell this has stemmed from a mature line of thought. If this is your desire, and it works out for you, then I am happy for you—provided your safety and wellbeing is ensured of course."

I grin and crash into him. "Thank you, Father."

He pats me awkwardly. "Yes, yes. You're welcome, I suppose."

I look up from the design sketch I'm currently working on as the sound of an incoming call blares from my computer. I set my pencil down before accepting the call and Adrien fills the screen.

"Hey." He beams.

"Hey." I sit back looking at him suspiciously as I contemplate what could have made him so happy.

"I think my father approves of us living together."

"Really?" I raise a brow.

He nods. "I asked him earlier. He wants to meet your parents and set up a meeting between all of us to discuss specifics."

"Great."

"I think before it, we should actually look at some places and decide if they're an option. That way we can bring them to both of our parents at the same time and see if they think the area and space is good in general."

I nod. "I've already saved a few I like."

"Same."

We share a smile.

"Did you tell your parents?"

"Yeah." I nod. "They just want me to be sure, but they want to meet your father to discuss as well, so this works out perfectly."

My trap door flies open.

"Since it seems like you'll be moving out at any moment, shouldn't you spend as much time with your doting parents and play some Ultimate Mecha Strike Four with them?" Papa and Maman pop theirs heads up through my trap door.

I smile. "Hold on one sec, Adrien." I turn to them. "Absolutely! I'll be down there in five." I blow them a kiss and turn back to Adrien. "Sorry, that was my parents."

"No worries." He smiles. "I didn't realise you played with them too."

"I think I inherited their competitiveness, but I'm a self-made champion."

"Of course you are." He rolls his eyes.

We share another smile.

"Do you have an idea of when your father would be able to meet? Out of standard business hours is best for my parents."

"Probably at the end of next week." He winces. "It's been a busy week this week and I think it'll carry over not just to next week, but I'm pretty sure he'll be working all through the weekend as well."

That sounds horrible.

"But I'm ninety percent sure this is a go ahead! So maybe we can start discussing some likeable options?"

"Yeah! It's exciting. You don't reckon we should look to see what they have at the uni as well?"

"I already have. Not only is it not what we were discussing, but I don't think my father would approve… the dorms beat the whole purpose of me living with someone he knows and trusts."

I nod. "That's all good. Well, for the next few days we should figure out our budgets and then reconvene?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Great! Well… I'll catch you later then."

"See you." He hangs up.

I sigh. "His budget is going to be so much higher than mine," I whine. "I'm going to feel so bad." But I want it to be fifty-fifty, I won't settle for anything else. I want to carry my own weight.

I stare at my message train with Alya, I haven't told her or Nino yet about this. I'm not sure if Adrien's told Nino, but considering I haven't been bombarded with messages and calls from Alya, I'd assume he hasn't.

It's probably for the best until we know for certain.

We can even have a housewarming party! I realise, writing the idea down in the notes app among a few other things I want to do and look for. Well, it'll probably be more of a get together.

I wonder how Adrien's bodyguard and personal driver will work… is he going to be in our place, outside the door, outside the door to the building?

I shake the thoughts from my head. That's a future Marinette thing to consider, right now it's time to tune out and enjoy crushing my parents at video games…