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Marinette hated it when Adrien was treated like this by his father. Another promise to let him go out was rescinded at the last minute, no reason given. She could hear the sadness in his voice as he apologised to Nino, as if they would ever be mad at him and not at his tyrant of a father.
He had done nothing wrong, he only wanted to be with his friends, away from his house and his endless duties. He did everything he was asked to do, kept up with his hectic schedule and it was still not enough. It was not fair.
Marinette couldn’t do much for him, as much as she wanted to, but there was someone else who could.
She wished she could bring some of Andre’s ice cream with her, but she couldn’t do it without risking it falling somewhere on her way there. So she bought two ice creams on a stick and inelegantly bit the packages to have her hands free. When she arrived at Adrien’s, she grabbed them gingerly so as not to melt them and waved at him with them.
His eyes lit up, as if he couldn’t believe his luck and she felt her stomach do cartwheels. She couldn’t believe she was doing this.
“Ladybug!” His voice was full of awe when he said her name and she could feel her cheeks warm up.
“Adrien. I have a spare ice cream. Do you want to share it with me?” She couldn't really explain how she knew that he needed an escape but he wasn't asking for her reasons as well.
He eyed the ice cream as if seeing it for the first time and she could read the hesitation in his eyes.
“I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered conspiratorially and it earned her a rare happy grin from him that for a second reminded her of someone else. But then he was nodding and all thoughts flew out of her mind.
Marinette handed him the ice cream and pulled him to her while unleashing her yo-yo. She tried to ignore his red cheeks otherwise she was going to splat them against a wall. She didn’t go far, a nearby rooftop was the best she could do but it was enough to give them privacy.
They settled down and started on the already melting ice cream.
“You don’t often get to enjoy this, right?” She supposed ice cream was not often on a model’s diet. He nodded while swallowing a bite.
“The ice cream is good, don’t get me wrong. But the company is better.”
And there, under the dark sky, she embraced the newfound power - that she could take him away from his cold home and his father and give him a few minutes of shared company and ice cream. It wasn’t much but he looked so happy that she knew it was worth it and vowed to do it more often.