Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  Kagami seemed excited about tonight. Marinette doesn’t really know why, however, if one of her closest friends is excited, she is also excited. So, she did what any girl would do before going on a date. She showered, did her makeup, ditched her usual ponytail and straightened her wavy hair and made sure to actually style her bangs. She even put on the nicest outfit in her closet, which was actually way harder of a task than she anticipated. Marinette was a stylist and yet her most difficult client seemed to be herself. Eventually, she settles on a simple tight red dress that brings in her waist and cute black heels that make her ever so slightly taller. It didn’t matter the size of the heel she wore, Marinette would always be the shortest in the room, so there was no point in killing her feet in heels way too tall.

  Once she finished, she checked the time and saw it was almost 9 pm. Kagami said he would be here around 9:30, so she had a half an hour to sit around anxiously. Marinette waited and waited and 5 minutes before 10 o'clock, she finally heard her door bell ring. She jumped up from her seat nervously, rushing over to the door to open it quickly. Unfortunately what, or rather who, waited on the other side was the most irritating part of the night so far.

“Adrien? What the hell do you want?” Marinette blurted the minute she processed Adrien Agreste was standing right in front of her.

Her and Adrien Agreste did not get along. They have not got along since high school. Everybody who has ever known them has known this about them, except Felix and Kagami apparently.

“Oh, it’s you,” Adrien sighed, “Felix set me up on a blind date and all he would tell me is the address. Please tell me you have a roommate.”

Marinette scoffs, crossing her arms as she leans against her door frame, “Unfortunately for the both of us, I do not.”

“Christ. You gotta be kidding me, I’m going to kill Felix,” Adrien huffs. 

“Well I’m not really ecstatic about it either, but you don’t need to kill Felix. He probably had no idea,” She furrows her brows in annoyance. 

“Oh, he knew,” Adrien responded and Marinette made a face like she wanted him to elaborate, “He’s my cousin and one of the only people I was allowed to talk to out of school, so trust me, he knew.”

“You talked about me to him?” Marinette questions and the look Adrien gives her is enough to answer that question without any real response, “Ok fine. Felix is really your cousin?”

“You couldn’t tell?” He asks genuinely. 

“Well,” She pauses to look Adrien up and down. He looked the same way he did in high school, except he grew into his baby face. Marinette wanted to roll her eyes at the sheer fact that the most annoying guy she knows happened to be rather attractive. It’s part of the reason she couldn’t stand him, but she’d never admit that. Both Adrien and Felix had the same jaw, same hair color, and same nose. Other than that they were completely different. While Adrien has green eyes and is more muscular, Felix has blue eyes and is more lanky. Their styles were completely different as well, “now  that I’m really looking at you it’s more apparent. You still look different enough for me not to notice right away”

“Maybe all the times you tripped and fell on your head back in the day is finally catching up to you,” He smirked letting out a small chuckle. It was true Marinette was clumsy back then, and still is, but that comeback was lazy, even for Adrien.

Marinette reacted with a deadpan expression, “Aw, are you proud of yourself for that one?” 

“Not my best, but there is a lot more where that came from, so don’t worry,” Adrien shrugged.

“Oh, I’m sure there is. I find it surprising how Felix is so well rounded and you are so… you,” Marinette makes a gesture with her hands and shrugs a bit to emphasize her point.

“What?” Adrien stares back.

Marinette groans, “I just mean, you are some rich entitled snob who hides behind this laid-back funny guy persona.”

Adrien laughs, “Oh please. If you think I’m an entitled snob then I’m surprised you don’t hate Felix’s guts”

“Felix is a gentleman. Far better than you are,” She spits back, hands now on her hips. 

Adrien responded, sarcasm lacing his tone,  “Oh really? I wonder if we are talking about the same Felix. Please enlighten me and tell me an example. I would love to hear about how you think you know my own cousin better than I do.” 

“For one, you can tell he respects women from how he treats Kagami. A quality you obviously lack being that you used to think it was funny to put gum on girls’ chairs,” Marinette hisses back. Now, that was a lazy response on her part, but she didn’t care. He was pissing her off and wanted him off her porch as fast as possible. 

“Oh come on. How many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t do that? It was Chloe,” Adrien rolls his eyes.

It was their last year of middle school and Adrien’s first day of public school after being homeschooled his whole life. Chloe Bourgeois was the one who had elected herself the responsibility of showing him around based on the fact they were childhood friends. No one objected because it would be stupid to stand up to Chloe, so when Adrien Agreste came waltzing in, everyone made sure to steer clear. 

Marinette made an extra effort to stay away from him because she was the one who got tortured by her the most. If it wasn’t a comment about how she dressed, it was about how her parents were bakers or who she was friends with. She didn’t want to add another thing to the long list of things she was already made fun of for. 

So, when she walks into class one day and sees Adrien putting gum on her seat, she knows he is just like Chloe. Of course he is and Marinette certainly did not need another Chloe in her life.

“Even if it was Chloe, which I’m sure we can debate about for hours, the fact of the matter is you still stayed friends with her despite the fact you knew she was the biggest bully in school. One can only assume that you condone that behavior,” Marinette says matter of factly. 

“That’s the problem with you. All you do is make assumptions. Well, Marinette let me tell you something. You don’t know anything about me. You have not the slightest clue about who I am, yet you will continue to make assumptions like those to justify why you don’t like me. Honestly, I think it’s time you grow up and admit you don’t have any genuine reason to dislike me!”

“Fine! I don’t like you and I don’t have any reason for it! If that is what you want to delude yourself into believing, go ahead, see if I care. It won’t matter because I don’t plan on seeing you ever again.”

Adrien rolls his eyes, turning away as he walks back to his car while Marinette groans, slamming the door. She immediately picks up her phone and calls Kagami.

“You and Felix owe me big time, Kags, seriously.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

They did in fact have to see each other again. Loads of times. Like at Felix and Kagami’s engagement party where both Marinette and Adrien got asked to be the maid of honor and best man. Obviously, they couldn’t say no so that meant they saw each other more times eventually leading up to the wedding where they had to walk down the aisle together. They saw each other at every party Felix and Kagami would throw since they bought a house together. They saw each other at Kagami’s baby shower where they both fought to give the two of them the best gift. If Felix and Kagami were involved, somehow they’d get dragged into seeing each other.

Now, they were together again, squeezed into the backseat of Kagami and Felix’s car with baby Bridgette squeezed in the middle of them. An annoying children’s song played through the speakers and Felix and Kagami happily sang along.

“Thanks for going with us to pick up the cake and decorations,” Kagami smiled, speaking loudly over the song.

“Oh, no problem!” Adrien laughs, poking Bridgette’s belly with his finger. She laughs, gripping onto his finger, “I would do anything for this princess.”

Felix grinned brightly, “Marinette, be sure to tell your parents how grateful we are for the cake.”

“I will,” she replies. It was nice seeing the two of them so smiley. Being parents changed them so much, sometimes she forgets how they were before Bridgette or even before they started to date each other. 

Finally, they arrive at Felix and Kagami’s house and begin to help them set up for Bridgette’s first birthday party. They manage to get through it with minimal problems. Obviously, Adrien and Marinette couldn’t help but make a few jabs at each other. 

“Thanks for your help again. We don’t know how’d we get through all this without you two,” Kagami expresses her gratitude, for what seemed like the millionth time, by handing them each a glass of wine and smiling brightly.

Kagami and Felix rarely smiled. Even after they started to date, it was a once in a blue moon thing even though they were so in love it was disgusting. After they had Bridgette, it was like a switch flipped which always made their friends laugh since Kagami and Felix never seemed like the type to have kids. They are just too awkward around children. One time, Marinette watched Felix get suckered into having a tea party with their friends, Alya and Nino’s daughter and he complained about the croissants being plastic.

It wasn’t like they completely changed though. They were still Kagami and Felix. Stoic, posed, blunt and socially unskilled. Now, they just liked singing nursery rhymes in their very monotonous voices which surprisingly was really good.

“Yes. We are very appreciative,” Felix adds, holding out his glass of wine for them to clink theirs against. He turns to the baby he has hoisted on his hip, “Say thank you, Bridgette.”

“Felix, I don't think she knows how to say thank you,” Adrien chuckles, confused. 

“Obviously, she’s a baby,” Felix responds dryly before making Adrien roll his eyes in response. 

“She is being so stubborn when it comes to talking. She has barely even babbled Mama or Papa,” Kagami sips her wine as she caresses her daughter’s head, fixing the little bit of black hair she has on her head

“She’ll talk when she has something to say. Don’t worry too much, Kagami.” Adrien reassures, taking a sip out of his glass. Kagami shrugs and sighs at Adrien’s words before getting distracted by the ringing of the doorbell. She perks up happily, dashing over to open the door for the guest.

“At least her inaudible babbles sound more intelligent than anything that comes out of Adrien’s mouth,” Marinette remarks, smirking at Adrien as she takes a sip of her own wine. 

Adrien looks at her deadpanned, “Don’t be so pretentious.” 

“You hear that, Bridgey? Uncle Adrien learned a new big word! Can you say pretentious?” Marinette teased while she got up and gestured for Felix to hand Bridgette over to her. Felix laughed, shaking his head as he handed his daughter over.

Kagami walks back into the kitchen with the first guests of the day, Alya and Nino with their twins, Olivia and Mateo. The twins run over to Adrien first which makes him shoot a snarky smirk Marinette’s way. Marinette just rolls her eyes, standing up to greet Alya and Nino with the baby. She pulled Alya in a big hug first, kissing her best friend’s cheeks. 

After Alya and Nino arrive, all the guests start to roll in slowly but surely. Bridgette is being passed around between happy family members and Felix and Kagami are mingling to the best of their abilities. They had invited some neighbors over to get to know people in the neighborhood  and seemed to be enjoying it, for the most part. Marinette and Adrien however were not.

Marinette was stuck in a circle of moms from the block talking about their children and spouses and she sat there awkwardly just listening. They tried to include her in only when they noticed she was getting up to leave the group, so she wasn’t able to find her way out. Adrien, on the other hand, was practically being thrown into the arms of every eligible bachelorette (and a few married women) possible. At one point, he looked up at Felix from across the room and pleaded for him to help him. This earned the response of a small smirk and sip of wine from Felix before he turned back to his own conversation that Adrien knew he was pretending to enjoy.

Despite the awkward conversations and situations, he was having a good time. Especially when he finally escaped and got the chance to talk to Nino and Alya. Marinette was there too, unfortunately for him, but he used it as the perfect opportunity to tease her. She smacked him in the back of the head by the end of it, but it was so worth it. It reminded him of high school. The four of them always found themselves together. Alya and Marinette were best friends and Nino and Adrien were as well even though Marinette heavily disagreed with Nino’s choice of company). Nino and Marinette were childhood friends, so all of them would find them in situations together. The situations only became more frequent when Alya and Nino started dating, much to Marinette and Adrien’s dismay.

Eventually, Marinette started to hang out with Kagami more because of the sheer amount of times she was seeing Adrien. Alya and Nino were cool, but she just couldn’t take being around him any longer. Kagami was nice to be around and she had just moved to Paris. Plus, Kagami always preferred to hang out one on one rather than in groups which worked out for Marinette just fine. 

A few years later, Kagami got married to Felix. Besides the fact he has blood relations to Adrien, Marinette found him ok. He seemed a little off-putting and stuck-up at first, but she thought that about Kagami when they first met and she ended up being cool. So, she gave him a chance. 

Now here they are, 12 years later. Marinette is crouched down by a high chair with Bridgette in it, separating her from Adrien who is crouched on the other side. They are both looking up at Alya who has a camera pointed at them. All three are smiling big and bright as everyone around them cheers for Bridgette.

“Sorry, one more,” Alya instructed. Marinette held her smile, but this time looked towards Bridgette. As she did, Adrien looked at her right in the eyes before smudging cake frosting on her cheek.

“Adrien!” Felix shouted, half-annoyed, half-amused. 

Bridgette laughed along with Adrien as Marinette pouted at him. She wiped the frosting off her cheek before reaching over to smear it across his shirt. He flinched away, but Marinette managed to catch him, “You’re so childish.”

“This picture came out so cute,” Alya comments before Adrien could respond, turning her phone around to show the two of them. Alya was always a great photographer. She always knew how to capture the best moments. 

The picture she showed them was absolutely adorable. Adrien and Bridgette were looking at Marinette laughing, their smiles nice and wide. 

Alya even managed to capture just the right moment before Marinette’s expression turned sour. She looked surprised, but her happiest smile is still very much plastered across her face.

“I love it,” Kagami says, “I’m going to get it framed.”

“What, why?” Almost simultaneously, Marinette and Adrien ask, standing up with their hands on their hips and their brows furrowed.

“For Bridgette,” Kagami answers, matter of factly, “obviously she needs a picture of her favorite aunt and uncle.”

Marinette and Adrien mutually decided not to  debate that.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

The weekend was over and Marinette was dreading going back to work. It’s not that she hated her job. Actually, she was working in the industry she had dreamed of being in since she was little. Fashion was rough if you weren’t at the top of the pyramid. Marinette felt as if she was slowly but surely working her way up. Soon enough, she would be her own boss and wouldn’t have to work for Audrey Bourgeois. Marinette didn’t originally work for Audrey. She never would willingly, but the original fashion PR company she worked for merged with Style Queen.

 So now she is stuck in a job she wants to leave but simply can’t afford too. At least Audrey seems to have taken a liking to Marinette which allows her to work better events. Right now she is currently taking a few models’ measurements in order to make sure what they are wearing at an upcoming fashion show for Audrey’s newest line fits them perfectly. Marinette is already exhausted after the first few models, but luckily a familiar face is next. 

“Juleka!” She exclaims, pulling her old classmate into a tight hug, “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

Juleka hugs back, kissing her cheeks, “Hi Marinette. Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve actually been traveling a lot.”

“I must have missed your name, I didn’t know you were modeling this event.”

“Then I guess it was a nice surprise,” Juleka smiled and Marinette nodded in agreement. 

Marinette gestured for Juleka to undress, and Juleka complied, standing in front of her with arms raised. Marinette wrapped the measuring tape around her, jotting down measurements as she went along. 

“So, how’s Rose?” Marinette questions, trying to make conversation.

“She’s good. She is happy I’m back in Paris, finally,” Juleka responded, “It was kinda hard to do long distance, so we were on a break for a bit, but we are finally getting back in the groove of things.”

Marinette nodded, “That’s good. I can’t imagine you two not being together. It’s too weird.”

“Same. I missed her.”

A brief silence fell between them as tension lingered in the air. Both of them knew why and that it was bound to be brought up, yet they weren’t quite sure who had the guts to bring it up first. 

Marinette gave in, “What about Luka? How is he doing?”

Luka was Marinette’s ex-boyfriend. They didn’t necessarily end on bad terms, just awkward ones. 

Luka also happened to be Juleka’s brother.

“He’s good! So good. He is doing his music,” Juleka replied, “He is actually in the process of recording his new album now. It’s going great.”

“Really, wow. I’m so happy for him,” Marinette grins, finishing up taking the last of Juleka’s measurements and hands her a robe.

“Yeah, I’m happy for him too,” Juleka says, sounding as if she wanted to say something else before hesitating. They are quiet while Marinette tidies up and while she does this, Juleka finds the courage to speak up, “He is looking for a new personal stylist you know. I’m sure if you give him a call, he’d consider you.”

Marinette cringes a bit at the thought of calling Luka, “I don’t know, Jules. Don’t you think it’d be weird?”

“Maybe a little, but he cares about you, Mari. I’m sure you two can get over the initial awkwardness,” Juleka reassures, “Promise me you’ll think about it?”

Marinette sighs, “I’ll think about it. Promise.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon,” Juleka says before disappearing into the dressing room.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Later, Marinette is sitting on her coach shoving Chinese takeout in her mouth while she stares at Luka’s contact on her phone. She taps the side of her phone with her pointer fingers, contemplating hitting the call button. 

Marinette thinks about what Juleka said about Luka caring about her. It made her wonder if he still asks about her. Or if he still worries about her like he used to. It made her stomach hurt and she didn’t know if it was in a good or bad way.

She stares at his number for a few seconds longer before just clicking it. She sits up, her body now more tense as she listens to it ring.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

Four ri- “Hello?” a familiar voice comes from the other end. He sounds surprised.

“Hi Luka! It’s Marinette.”

“I know. I saw the caller ID.”

“Oh, yeah,” She giggles, nervously, “Obviously”

Luka laughs too, “So, is everything alright? Or do you just like bothering people at 11 pm on a weekday.”

“Funny, but I thought famous rockstars would be up all night doing whatever rockstars do.”

“Not this rockstar.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I was actually wondering when you’d call.”

“Huh?”

“Juleka told me she saw you today.”

“Oh..” Marinette chuckled, “Yeah. We were talking about you.”

“Oh yeah? About what?”

“About how you needed a new stylist.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I actually-“ Just as Marinette began to explain herself, her phone abruptly rang, interrupting her with an incoming call from another person, “Uh, sorry Luka. I’m getting a call. It looks important I’m going to call you right back.”

She didn’t call him back that night. 

Chapter Text

Felix Fanthom and Kagami Tsurugi were pronounced dead at 12:18 am.

The first person Marinette calls is Adrien.

When Adrien sees her contact name show up, he practically jumps from his spot in bed. He let it ring a few times trying to think of all the reasons Marinette would have to be calling him this late at night. No matter what, it had to be bad. He hesitantly accepts, nervous to find out the reason for her sudden call.

When he hears her crying on the other line, he jumps out of his bed for real.  

When he arrives at the police station and locks eyes with Marinette, everything snaps into focus. The haze that clouded his senses on the ride over, disappears as reality hits him at full force. The put-together Marinette he knew was gone and instead he sees tear-stained red cheeks and a disheveled appearance that proves this isn’t some twisted joke. Felix and Kagami are dead.

He feels a wave of sadness envelop him as he walks towards Marinette. When they are close enough to each other, she gives him this pitiful look and Adrien breaks. He sobs, pulling Marinette into a hug. They had never hugged before, for obvious reasons, but her first instinct was not the push away or pull back. She froze, in shock, before slowly wrapping her arms around his waist, letting him cry. 

They met back at Kagami and Felix’s place and Adrien used the spare key Felix gave him to open the door. The silence and emptiness waiting for them as they stepped through the front door hit them like a truck. 

“I am going to call Social Services. I want to know what’s going on with Bridgette,” Marinette said to break the silence.

Adrien nodded, “Good idea. She’s probably so scared right now.”

He sat on the couch in the living room and looked around. He doesn’t know how much time passes before he is hearing Marinette start to argue with the woman on the other line.

 “I do not care about the protocol! We want to see our niece tonight. Do you even realize-“ Marinette shouts then groans, “Yes. I will be here at this number. Thanks for nothing.”

She hangs up, slamming the phone on the coffee table before she sits down with her head in her hands.

“What did they say?”

“They said they can’t do anything until tomorrow morning,” Marinette sighs.

“Ok, I’m sure she is fine. She is probably sleeping right now and tomorrow we’ll be there to pick her up as soon as we can,” Adrien reassured, “Let’s just go to sleep and reset.”

“You’re right. We just need sleep,” Marinette agrees, standing up, “I’ll take the guest room and you can take theirs.”

Adrien shakes his head and pats the couch, “I’ll just stay here, by the phone in case anybody calls.”

“Alright. Goodnight, Adrien,” Marinette replies. 

“Goodnight,” Adrien responds. She turns to walk out the living room, but stops in her tracks as she hears him say, “Thank you, Marinette.”

Marinette looks at him staring up at her and acknowledges the thanks before walking away leaving Adrien alone in the living room. 

When Marinette wakes up the next morning, she feels stuck to the bed. She has slept in this guest room hundreds of times and every time she was woken up to the sound of walking around or a baby crying. Now, all she heard was the fan whirring around. When she finally gets the strength to get up and walk downstairs, she goes to check on Adrien. She walks into the living room and sees Adrien staring at a framed picture on the fireplace mantel. 

“Adrien?” She says, but he doesn’t move, “What are you looking at?”

“A picture,” He answers, not taking his eyes off it. Marinette goes over and peeks to see what it is so fascinating about the photo. It’s a picture of him and Felix as kids with their mothers. They look around 8 in the photo and their mothers are crouched down on the ground, hugging them tightly while grinning nice and wide at the camera and Felix and Adrien are laughing, trying to escape their grasp. It’s a beautiful photo, “My father took this. He tried to bribe us into staying still, but we just wanted to go play.”

Marinette looks up at Adrien and she feels sorry for him. For so long, she has only seen him as some rich brat, but as she looks at his pale face, he is just a little boy who has lost more than she can imagine.

First, his mother, Emilie Agreste.  She was sick for a long time before she passed when he was 16. When she did, that was all anyone could talk about. She was a famous actress after all. When Adrien returned to school after being absent for a week, people didn’t stop talking. Just would whisper about it as if he didn’t know what they were talking about. It took awhile to die down.

2 years later, Gabriel Agreste had passed as well. That news coverage on it lasted far longer than Emilie’s due to the suddenness and the mystery behind it. The cause of his death was never made public, but people speculated for months. Adrien was out of school for a while after that. When he came back, he was the same bright and cheery boy he was before.

Marinette recalls those being the only times she ever truly felt bad for him. Until now, of course.

Before Marinette could come up with a response, Adrien put down the photo in its spot, “Their lawyer called. He is coming over now and wants to talk to us.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

“First, I want to say I’m extremely sorry for your loss. I’m sure this is an extremely difficult time for the two of you,” Their lawyer starts, “Now, I’m sure both of you have some questions.”

“Bridgette. I think we both are most concerned about Bridgette. What happens to her?” Adrien questions.

Their lawyer nods, “Yes. I’ve already handled most of it. All that is needed from you is to go and pick Bridgette up and bring her here. They said it’s best for her to be in her own environment at this time.”

“Of course,” Marinette replies, “So, does Adrien do that or…?”

“Adrien can, yes. Preferably the both of you should go though as you are both her new guardians,” he answers. As the last few words escape his mouth, Adrien and Marinette freeze. They take a second to digest the new information before responding.

“Pardon?” Marinette blurts.

“The both of us?” Adrien says at the same time.

The lawyer looks confused, “Did Felix and Kagami not discuss their guardianship arrangements with you?”

Marinette and Adrien look at each other as if to find out if they knew what he was talking about before looking back at the lawyer. 

He looks back at them, dumbfounded, clicking his tongue, “While preparing their will, Kagami and Felix granted you two guardianship over Bridgette in the event that they should both pass.”

There’s another pause. 

“I’m sorry, but are you sure they named the both of us? At the same time?” Marinette leaned forward, pointing between her and Adrien.

Adrien laughed anxiously, “I assumed they would put Felix’s mother.”

The lawyer sighed, “Listen, in all honesty, I highly advised them against it, but they were adamant and quite frankly a little scary. I know it’s overwhelming but there are options. However, they have a lot of faith in the two of you. Obviously, they feel like you both are the best options for taking care of their child.”

Both sharply inhale and slowly exhale. It’s quiet as they organize all the thoughts and feelings bouncing around in their mind at the moment. 

Marinette speaks first, “What are the other options?”

Marinette loved Bridgette, but this was not how she dreamed of starting a family. Hell, she had a lot more dreams she needed to accomplish first before even thinking about having her own family.

“So, you could always say no, of course. Or, like Adrien said, there is always Felix’s mother. I’m also pretty sure-“ 

“What if only one of us wants to honor their wishes,” Adrien interrupts. He didn’t care if Marinette didn’t want to help take care of Bridgette. He knew he could do it on his own. Felix needed him and he would do anything for it to work, “What would happen then?”

“That would be no problem since they named you. I’d set up a court hearing to grant you temporary custody and it’d be as easy as that,” He smiled in response to Adrien’s question. 

The rest of the meeting was a blur. He talked about finances and briefly mentioned them living under the same roof which caused a small argument between Marinette, Adrien, and the lawyer. Much to Marinette and Adrien’s dismay, it was concluded that it was best to move into the couple’s house for now, for Bridgette’s sake. Every decision they would make now had to have Bridgette’s best interest at heart. It is going to take a while to get used to.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

They go to pick up Bridgette after their conversation with the lawyer. After what seems like mountains of paperwork, they finally see a social worker walk into the room with Bridgette. Adrien abruptly stands for his seat, rushing over to pull her into his arms. She cries in his arms the minute she sees him. 

Marinette observes from afar for a few seconds. As she watches Adrien rock Bridgette in his arms to soothe her, everything becomes so much more real. Her brain keeps tricking her into believing everything will be alright, no one was going to pinch her and wake her up from the most painful dream ever. This was reality. The man and the baby in front of her was her new life. 

They arrive back home and immediately Bridgette knocks out. While she naps, the stress starts to hit Marinette. Her mind is racing at a million times its normal speed. She can’t relax, anxiety quickly taking over her body. To distract herself from her own brain, she bakes. Marinette begins to take all the ingredients and pots and bowls she needs to make a cake out of the cupboards and lays them out on the island in the kitchen. 

As she is carefully measuring the dry ingredients, Adrien walks in with a book in his hands, “I was in Felix’s office and found this baby book. It kept going over the importance of having a routine and I wonder if they wrote Bridgey’s down anywhere. Kagami seems like the type to do that right? Do you know if she did?

He places the book down on the table before giving Marinette a confused look. She doesn’t answer him, but instead continues to measure the flour.

“Did you hear me, Marinette? What are you even doing?” Adrien scoffs. 

“I’m baking,” She simply responds without even looking towards him, just moving onto the wet ingredients.

“Does this seem like the best time to be baking?”

“I’m not fighting with you during my baking time.”

“I’m not trying to fight!” Adrien complained, “I’m trying to talk to you about Bridgette and you are making a cake”

Marinette cracked the last egg into the bowl, throwing the shell onto the counter in frustration, “Kagami didn’t even mention she was leaving her kid with me if she died. Do you really think she mentioned Bridgette's routine to me?”

“Forget it. I’ll just look in Felix’s office again,” Adrien threw his hands up in defeat, “but I’m not going to be the only one trying here for the next 17 years. You have to put some effort into this whole thing too.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she started to mix the contents in the bowls together slowly, “If you think we are going to last longer than one month like this, then you are more delusional than I thought.”

“Excuse me?” He crosses his arms.

“Do you really think we are going to get through living in this house together without wanting to strangle each other?” Marinette argued.

Adrien clicks his tongue, “Since when are you so pessimistic?”

“No, I’m being realistic. I don’t know what world Felix and Kagami were living in when they thought we were the best for Bridgette, but they were sorely mistaken,” She laughs. 

“Maybe we aren’t the best for Bridgette, but I sure as hell know I am,” Adrien shot back. He walks over so that he is on the other side of the counter from her, “I get you rather not do this Marinette, so if you don’t want to just say that. I do not need you”

“It’s not about whether I want to do it or not! It’s about what I think I can provide for Bridgette, what I think WE can provide for her,” Marinette clarifies, her tone more firm and annoyed. She groans as she spreads butter all over the cake pan, hoping Adrien would just leave her alone already. 

 “I can provide for her perfectly fine,” He grunts back.

Marinette stops what she is doing and looks at him right in the eyes, “What is it that you do again? You took over Agreste after your father passed, correct?”

“Yes. You style D-list models for a woman you hate, but I don’t comment on your profession. Are you trying to imply something?” He moves in closer to her. They are both leaned against the counter, their faces are as close as they could be with it in between them. 

“I’m just curious as to how much time your father had for you. Running a business must have been a lot of work, I doubt you saw him around much. Taking care of a child isn’t just about having the money, it’s about being present too. I’m not sure you had the best example to go off of,” She spit. It was an unfair assumption, but the look on his face was enough to prove her right. He narrowed his eyes at her and tilted his head to the side with his mouth slightly agape in disbelief. She never saw him quite this angry before. Over the years, Marinette has earned her fair share of scowls and shouts from Adrien, but this was different. His face had turned red. He was fuming.

“You don’t know anything about me or my life,” Adrien hissed in response. He pulls back and walks away. He grabs the book off the table on his way out, stomping out of the kitchen. Marinette sighs when she hears the front door slam shut. She flinches at the loud noise, anticipating the baby to wake up and start crying, but instead it stays quiet. Marinette returns to baking in silence.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

“Please, Bridgette, just eat," Marinette pleads, her frustration becoming more evident as she drops the little bowl and spoon onto the tray of the high chair. Suddenly, the front door swings open, and Bridgette's tears stop as her attention shifts to Adrien walking in. He stops at the entrance of the kitchen, observing the scene in front of him before moving toward the two of them. He pulls a chair from the dinner table over next to Marinette. Adrien  sits, grabs the bowl and spoon, and offers Bridgette a bite of the mushed up carrots. She opens her mouth and immediately puts the spoon in her mouth. 

Marinette watches them with a frown on her face while Bridgette smiles up at her. She turns to Adrien,  “Where did you go?”

“The porch,” He responds, scooping up more food for Bridgette. 

Silence takes over while the tension in the air thickens. Marinette knows she shouldn’t have hurt his feelings to make a point and the guilt from their previous fight lingers throughout her. She wants to be stubborn, but it was eating her alive from the inside, “I’m sorry.”

“Hm?” He hums, still not looking in her direction 

“You’re really going to make me say it again?” She groans and Adrien looks at her with his brow raised. His eyes on her makes her freckled cheeks flush pink, making Marinette turn away in embarrassment.

He lets out an exasperated breath, “Just stop acting like you know me. You always talk to me as if you think I’m hiding behind some persona when I’m not.”

“I’m sorry,” Marinette sighs, “I just usually have my guard up with everyone, not just you.”

“Really? You always had so many friends though,” Adrien responds. The way he says it sounds like he is trying to call her bluff though she knows that wasn’t his intention. What confused him the most was that if Marinette acted the way she does with him with everyone else, then why was he the only one that wasn’t able to break her down?

“You learn to trust the people you have gone to school with your whole life,” She shrugs.

“Ah, so you actually didn’t like me because I was the new kid and you didn’t know anything about me,” He says as if he has finally cracked the code to a safe that has been locked for years

Marinette shakes her head before elaborating, “Of course not. Alya was new and she was one of my best friends. I didn’t like you because of the people you associate with.”

“We had the same friend group though,” He responds, confused again.

She squints her eyes at him, “You know who I’m talking about.”

“Oh.”

“Have you ever heard the saying ‘a friend to all is a friend to none?” Marinette scoffs, more playful than angrily. 

“Yes. The person who said that probably was  allowed to have more than one friend growing up.” Adrien replied nonchalantly. He had said it so casually, but Marinette felt her heart break. Only one friend?

She looked up at him with a frown, “You were only allowed to have one friend?”

“My father didn’t see the point. Anymore than one would be a distraction,” Adrien shrugged. He refused to look back at Marinette. His eyes stayed focused on Bridgette despite the fact hers burned into the side of his face. He didn’t want any more pity, like he has got from everyone else for years and he most certainly didn’t need it from Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

“Why Chloe?” She asks and he can tell it's genuine, so he looks at her. When Adrien’s eyes lock with hers, he doesn’t see the same sorrowful expression usually worn by the people he talks to about his upbringing. Instead, Marinette’s eyes are filled with curiosity. Marinette Dupain-Cheng wanted to know him. The thought seemed silly and unbelievable, but the proof was right in front of him. She wanted to know more about him and he could tell just from the look on her face. 

Adrien hesitated before speaking. She seemed like she wanted to know, but would she care after she knew or would it add fuel to a fire of things he could use against him. Marinette tilted her head, waiting for a response which made him give in, “Family friends. We were forced together, but it’s not like I had anyone else. Maybe Felix, but we didn’t see each other as often as I saw Chloe. Plus, after Chloe started school she could have ditched me, but she didn’t. She never stopped being my friend. Now I know, she didn’t actually have any new friends to ditch me for anyways, but it still felt nice knowing she would always be there.”

“You shouldn’t have felt obligated to be her friend after you knew the truth,” She sighs. Her tone is not filled with irritation like it usually is and it makes Adrien’s stomach turn. Marinette is actually listening, not trying to make a stance against him.

“It’s not that simple. I cried in Chloe’s arms enough times to realize that,” He gulps, looking away from a second in nervousness. Adrien looks back at her only to see the same expression from before plastered on her face before admitting, “I feel like you think I stayed friends with her just to piss you off.”

Marinette shook her head, “I didn’t think it was a personal attack or anything, it just upset me you were deciding to live in ignorant bliss, I guess. Your kindness seemed ingenious.”

“I’m sorry. If it changes anything, I wasn’t living in ignorant bliss. Chloe and I would get into huge arguments over the way she acted. She’d change for a few days, but it never really stuck until I told her I’d stop being friends with her for good,” He confesses.

“When was that?”

“The year she left for New York.”

“Are you serious?” Marinette laughs. She laughs.  Adrien couldn’t believe it. He was able to make her express an emotion other than discontent. 

“Bad timing on my end,” He chuckles, “I love Chloe and all, but I was happy when she left. I finally was able to become better friends with Nino then.”

“Do you still talk to her?”

“Um, yeah, I do,” He answers, reluctantly. In order to find a way out of the conversation, Adrien picks Bridgette up, high enough in the air to sniff her diaper. He cringes at the smell, “Oh Jesus. I’m going to get her cleaned up for bed.” 

Marinette stands with him, “Do you want me to help?”

“I think I just want some alone time,” He begins to walk out the room before turning to Marinette, “Oh, and Marinette, I forgive you. You were right about my dad anyways.”