34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

"Master Fu," Marinette said as she sat at the small table in his treatment room. Tikki and Wayzz hovered nearby talking amongst themselves. "I need to ask you something."

He poured them a cup of tea. "About Chat Noir?"

"Yes." She took her cup from him and enjoyed the pleasant warmth. "He knows about you now."

After taking a sip, he nodded. "I saw the interview."

"You did?" She blushed. She'd been kind of hoping he hadn't seen her reveal him and the wish. "Are you mad?"

"You can't change what's been done. Besides, Hawk Moth already knows about me, and everyone already knows how important the Miraculouses are. Now they know just how special they are."

"Wait. Hawk Moth knows about you?"

He hummed in acknowledgement, then took another sip. "Do you not like your tea?"

She'd completely forgotten about it, and immediately brought the small cup to her lips and drank. The smell was better than the taste. "What if he met with you?"

"Hawk Moth?"

"Chat. What if you explained why he can't use the Miraculouses? I'm sure he'll listen to you."

"You're sure?"

She nodded.

"You think he'll believe me, someone he doesn't know, doesn't trust, and hasn't built a relationship with?"

Now that he put it that way, no. Her excited posture slumped. "But shouldn't we try?"

"And who's to say Hawk Moth won't use the opportunity to attack me? He knows of me and would, no doubt, want to claim all of the other Miraculouses."

"We have to try something." She threw up her hands in exasperation and almost spilled her tea. "What we're doing isn't working. Him asking to see you was the first time he'd talked to me in nearly a month."

"Or did Hawk Moth command him to do so as part of a larger plan?"

She sighed, her shoulders slumping even more.

After a long moment of him staring at her, he said, "Your desire to help him is admirable."

Expecting another rejection, she let her gaze fall to her tea.

"Marinette."

She looked at him.

"And, because of that, I'll do my best to help as well."

Pulse jumping, she sat up straighter. "Really?"

He nodded.

"Great! I'll tell Chat you'll agree to meet at a specific location. Somewhere out of the way just in case Hawk Moth tries anything. And—"

He lifted a hand for her to stop. "But you must be prepared for this not to work."

"It'll work. I need him back so we can take down Hawk Moth."

He just continued sipping his tea.

Putting her cup down, she said, "I'll let you know when."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah. Adrien is expecting me soon."

He tensed. "Adrien?"

"My roommate." She beamed, thinking about their planned date. "Adrien Agreste."

Master Fu flinched, spilling his tea. The hot liquid splashed his hand and he swore under his breath.

Tikki and Wayzz flew over as Marinette rushed to help him. "Are you okay?"

"I thought I saw a bug."

She scanned the room, but didn't see anything. "You're afraid of bugs?"

"Spiders. It was big." He studiously avoided his kwami, whom now hovered over his shoulder.

Tikki just shrugged.

Marinette picked up the cups and teapot, trying not to giggle. "I'd take care of it for you, but I don't see any spiders."

"It's okay. the commotion probably scared it off." He watched her, brows creased in worry. Even his kwami seemed troubled. Were they both afraid of spiders?

"I can look for it real fast before I go. It's no trouble."

"No. No." He had her place the tea set on the desk. "I'll be okay."

She shrugged and moved to the door. Tikki followed closely behind.

"Marinette?" Master Fu asked.

She faced him.

"How long have you been seeing...this boy?"

"We've been roommates for a little over a month."

"And you two are close?"

She blushed. "We're dating now, actually."

He swallowed.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes. Of course." Was he sweating? "Come back as soon as you set a time with Chat Noir."

She nodded and said her farewells.

oOoOo

After yet another akuma attack, Ladybug dodged Chat Noir, changed back to Marinette and rushed to meet Adrien for their date. Couldn't she just have one day without someone trying to attack her? Just one?

She rushed through the restaurant's doors and stumbled into a person. "Sorry," she said while continuing onward.

The person laughed. "Marinette."

Adrien? She turned and beamed at the sight of him. "Hey!"

"Where were you?"

"I...was just running some errands."

He nearly started laughing again. "No. Where were you just now? You didn't even see me."

"Just distracted, I guess. I have a lot going on."

"I know. I barely ever see you."

The hostess gestured for them to follow her, and Adrien interlaced his fingers with Marinette's. Her heart thudded offbeat. "I've missed you," she said.

He looked at her like he wanted to kiss her and she knew the feeling 'cause she really wanted to kiss him.

The hostess had them sit, passed out the menus, then left.

Adrien reached for her hand and she let him have it. "I've missed you too."

Sighing, she turned to mush under his gaze.

"What's that look for?"

She straightened and smoothed out her face in case she looked stupid. "What look?"

"You seemed. I don't know. Content or something." He looked embarrassed.

She squeezed his hand. "That's because I am. And, honestly, I still have a hard time believing we're together." God, now she was blushing.

The waiter came and went with their drink order, and Adrien didn't let go of her hand. She was totally okay if he kept holding her hand for the rest of her life.

"What are you doing later today?" he asked.

She held back a yawn. "Your dad actually wants me to come in later."

"But it's Sunday."

She chuckled. "Is Adrien Agreste, famous model and heir to the Agreste enterprise, whining?"

"It's not really an enterprise, and...maybe I am." He winked at her, making her heart stammer offbeat. "I was hoping we could see a movie or something."

A massive yawn escaped her tight hold despite her best effort to contain it.

"Or maybe it would be better if you took a nap."

She definitely needed one. Gabriel and Hawk Moth were both unforgiving tyrants. "I'm okay. He'll eventually ease up once he realizes I'm serious about this."

Adrien's gaze drifted to the side, then stayed fixed on something. Then he smiled.

"What is it?" She twisted around and found her parents walking in. Guilt shot through her and she spun back around to dip lower in her seat. "Hide."

"Why? I like your parents."

"Because..." She hadn't told them they were dating. With everything going on, she didn't even have the time to help with the bakery. Not to mention her mom had left several messages for her to call back. And she had never gotten around to it.

"Adrien?" her mom asked as she neared them. "Is that Marinette with you?"

Marinette sat up straight and faced her mom. "Hey. I'm sorry for not calling you back. I've just been really busy."

Her mom touched her shoulder. "It's okay. I knew you would have less time when you started the internship and university."

Breathing out, she could finally return the soft smile her mom graced her with. "Hi, dad." She glanced at him to find him staring at her hand. No, her and Adrien's hands. Still intertwined. Marinette swallowed.

Her mom elbowed him. "Isn't it a funny coincidence to find them here when we were just talking about them." She bowed slightly to Adrien and he tried to bow even lower, which looked pretty amusing with his head practically on the table.

He gestured to the seats on either side of them and said, "Would you like to join us? We haven't ordered yet."

"Oh, no," her mom said. "We don't want to intrude."

Tom took the seat right next to their hands and Adrien finally let her go. Marinette drew her brows together and looked hard at her father. He didn't even seem to notice.

"Well, okay then," her mom said. "Thank you for the offer, Adrien." She walked around and took her place on the other side of the small table. "How's the internship going?" she asked Marinette.

"Fine. How's the bakery, dad?"

He finally took his attention off Adrien, whom was growing more nervous and confused by the minute. "Business is up. A lot of weddings."

"Speaking of," her mom said, and Marinette prepared to tell her how Alya and Nino were doing, "are you two an item now?"

Marinette coughed on her inhale. "A what?"

"An item. You know, boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Well…" If she said yes, he might think she was being too clingy. But if she said no, he might think she wasn't really into him. "Um…"

"Yes," Adrien declared. "At least I think so." He looked at her in question.

She nodded and smiled from ear to ear. They were officially together. Now, she definitely wanted to turn to mush.

"How does that change your living situation?" her dad asked, more gruffly than she'd ever heard from him.

Someone kicked Marinette and she flinched, yelping in pain.

Her mom grabbed her arm. "I'm so sorry. That was meant for Tom." She finished the sentence with her own hard look at him.

"It's okay." She reached under the table to rub her calf. "It's a valid question."

Her dad lit up. "So you're moving back home?"

"What?" she asked, stunned. "No."

"But—"

"And, as a matter of fact"—she crossed her arms—"I'm going to move into his room."

"You are?" Adrien's voice came out all squeaky.

Her father asked the very same question but with a bit more heat.

"No. Come on, dad. You know me better than that."

He breathed out and leaned back, finally relaxing. "I do. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." Releasing her arms, she settled back as well, then realized Adrien was watching her intently. "What?"

"It was weird. For a moment, there you reminded me of someone."

"Oh, really? Who?"

He looked away, then chuckled. "It's silly. You'd just kind of reminded me of Ladybug."

She tensed, then tried to cover it with a laugh that echoed in the room. The restaurant's constant drone of noises stopped and people turned to look at her. Cheeks on fire, she stared at her napkin, then plastered on an innocent smile and forced her gaze to meet Adrien's. "That is pretty silly."

"Don't sell yourself short," her dad said comfortingly. "You could easily be a superhero."

"Yeah and they'd call me Klutz Girl." She took a gulp of her water.

"No. You have the heart of a superhero. You're kind and headstrong."

"And crafty," her mom added. "You've always been good at coming up with plans."

Marinette laughed harder. She hoped it wasn't coming off as forced. Then, the waiter came to them and she grabbed her menu to hide behind it. Finally.

Just as they ordered their food, their phones buzzed an akuma alert. "Oh, come on," she exclaimed before realizing what she was doing.

Everyone looked at her, including the waiter.

"Well, there's been so many and it's disrupting traffic." Not to mention her life.

Her mom looked at her phone. "It's far enough away, it shouldn't cause a problem on the way home."

"That's...good."

Everyone ordered, though Adrien seemed a little distracted. He kept looking at his phone.

"Is something wrong," Marinette asked.

"Actually, my dad is near there. Is it okay if I excuse myself to call him and make sure he's okay?"

"What a thoughtful young man," her mom said. "Go on. No need to ask."

Adrien stood and gave Marinette a kiss on the cheek before making his way out the front door. As soon as he was gone, she told her parents she had to use the restroom, thankful she didn't have to make herself even more suspicious looking in front of Adrien.

AN - We finally have Master Fu involved. The chapter had some plot setup, then some fluff with her parents. Still kinda plot too, though. Since now marinette and Adrien are official. Because that's going to lead to something…

There are people binge reading, sharing the story with their friends, reading at prom, and I'm just so tickled by all this. And I've reached 300 favorites! Thank you so much, everyone!

Much love to my sister! Just a little over a week until I see her!