Work Text:
At almost eighteen Adrien could say that he was a very happy teenager, or better, a very happy young man.
Although difficult at first, fighting for the right to go to collège had been incredibly helpful in his relationship with his father, allowing the severe and over protective man to slowly realice that Adrien was more than capable to manage his school assignments without neglecting his job as the face of the Gabriel Brand and more importantly keeping himself safe in spite of the occasional Akuma attacking Paris.
That came with more personal time with his father, less time stock with the Gorilla or Nathalie and getting the chance to choose his favorite extra curriculars: The fencing that he'd always enjoyed and kept him fit for his super heroining activities; Playing the piano, that now included both rehearsal for the sporadic Solo Recital as practice with Luka's band and actually having some free time to spend with his friends, been able to choose who he got to hang out with, which was what mattered the most to Adrien.
Getting the last one pass his father's approval was extremely tough, but he had succeeded mostly thanks to one particular classmate who was the first not to be considered a bad influence but rather a very (VERY) good one, so if she hang out with a certain DJ and his aspiring journalist girlfriend, then they should not be as bad as Gabriel had judge in the beginning.
That she shared his father's pawssion for fashion (pun intended) and that she had won lots of the design contests from his and some other companies was very helpful in the acceptance of her presence in the Agreste mansion; but really the icing on the Marinette Dupain-Cheng's cake for his father was the fact that it was her who pointed out that even if Adrien was as creative as a korat, he could very well be a perfect fit for a Management position in the fashion industry.
Internships in his father's office during vacation had proven her right, not only because of his organizational skills, focusing capacity, outstanding mathematics capability and expertise as a model that allow him to look at the industry from a very complex and complete point of view, but because he actually seem to enjoy it, a lot. He was actually considering it as career path and had already come up with several ideas on how to improve some areas of the company.
Been able to have a much needed quality time with his father was just a plus, and of course he would keep on modeling for him because it seemed to make his dad happy and he didn't mind it that much since he got a saying on the schedule.
He was so grateful to and for Marinette. Bonding with her over time had been amazing, they had such good memories together. Most of them were unplanned and some a bit awkward with her been intimidated by Good knows what when he started school (the Gabriel Brand he presumed at first, maybe a celebrity crush after getting to know her better). But as the time passed and because their best friends were dating, Adrien got to hang around Marinette more and more and was able to see first hand the amazing person everyone seem to like (except Cloe).
One of his favorite moments with her was the umbrella incident. He remembered it with fondness especially since he founded odd that not even Alia knew about it. It had been embarrassing for her, sure, but he didn't think that would stop her from sharing everything with her best friend, so the fact that this had been kept private between them made it that much especial to sherish.
The time he left his house without permission only to be caught and followed by an horde of scary fans was also a good one. He spend half a day scaping with her, was the target of his akumatice bodyguard, got to be saved by his lady and got to watch his Mother's film, which now he could see whenever he wanted.
The Marinette part of the story, however, was what he liked to remember the most this days, laughing embarrassed of himself. Some gentleman he had been, not even offering his over shirt to his surely braless friend when she tried to hide him. Instead Shamelessly checking her out almost ogling her on the fountain, tackling her into the train, dragging her around the streets of Paris wearing only her pijamas and forcing her into a movie theater with a towel as disguise only to miss the hole movie, get dangerously close to the Akuma and have her picture plaster all over social media in the world's worst clothing choice to be portrait as the girlfriend of Adrien Agreste.
When he was ask by Alya to help translate for her uncle he had found the experience both fun and surprising as he never expected her Chinese to suck so badly, but the memory came in handy a couple of years ago as the perfect excuse to spend alone time with her once he started noticing his own little crush.
Those study session were amazing. she would tease him, get flustered, fall sleep more than was appropriate and sometimes wouldn't seem to make much progress, only to surprise him later on the week knowing the entire lesson, as if she could concentrate better on his pointers but without having him around.
So many memories with Marinette as the reserved boy and also his bolder alter ego.
One night in her balcony with chat sorrowful for the missed date with his lady; the dance they shared on Cloe's party; working with her in stopping Nathaniel's akumatization, all the times he saved her, especially from the gamer since it was on the same day he got to play video games in her bedroom for the first time and eat some pastries; all of her birthdays, including in the top three the one when he gave her his charm, the pool party from her fifteens and last year's when he got to organize a fancy dinner for her, her family and some close friends.
The list was long, he could go around for days, even weeks pointing out all the times they shared and thinking so much about it lately was making him crazy.
He needed to talk to someone about it, the problem was with who. Admitting any of this to Ninno would not only get him teased but it could result in Alya surely hearing about it and Marinette by extension. No way, it was to risky.
Maybe it was time to test his new closeness with his father and see who much of it could transcend to a more personal ground.