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She was dozing off, she knew that. The questions that reporters and interviewers were asking Gabriel were blurring together, and Marinette could barely pay attention to them. She had been awake for nearly 48 hours at this point, having only gotten one hour of sleep before waking herself up and making as much coffee as she could to get to work on the current fashion line. The show it was going to be shown at was taking place the next day, she couldn’t take her time with it anymore.
Alright, she knew that she didn’t have to actually work that hard, but she felt like there was some sort of standard she had to exceed. She was Gabriel Agreste’s apprentice after all (and more, but no one officially knew that.) Of course, they suspected it, but neither of them had given anything to confirm a less than professional relationship, sticking with making sure to deny any and all questions about if they were a couple. Now was not the time to actually tell anyone.
She felt Gabriel’s gaze shift to her after a moment, and she shook her head after seeing his slightly concerned expression, giving him a small smile. She didn’t want him to worry. The preparations were nearly done and then she could finally, finally rest.
Unfortunately, their little silent exchange didn’t go unnoticed. A journalist turned his attention to Marinette, a smug look on his face.
“Miss Cheng, you seem ready to fall asleep over there. Is it because Mr. Agreste kept you up late in the bedroom?”
Her cheeks darkened immediately and her eyes widened. She was not prepared at all for questions that would be thrown her way. Actually, she could have sworn that at the start of the interview, everyone present was told to only direct questions towards Gabriel, not towards her. Which meant that now others would be asking her questions because of this sudden one.
Especially if it was going to be about her relationship with Gabriel.
“I-I don’t . . . I-I’ve been working hard on the upcoming show, I’ve g-gotten only an hour of sleep, and-"
“Miss Cheng, you’ve been Mr. Agreste’s apprentice for a few years now, though until recently we haven’t seen any of your own work. Did you only get this opportunity because of your actual relationship with him?”
“Th-that’s not . . . ! N-no, this isn’t like that!”
She was panicking, she knew that. She was stammering, she couldn’t look at anyone, let alone Gabriel. And now more of them were asking questions, the words blurring together again in her sleep deprived mind. Oh God, if she even dared open her mouth, then she would put them at risk, wouldn’t she?
“We told all of you which questions were approved, didn’t we?” Gabriel’s voice suddenly cut through the jumbled noise of reporters and interviewers talking over one another, sharp and clearly annoyed. He walked towards the first reporter that had directed a question towards Marinette, reaching forward to grab him by the collar of his shirt and pick him up off the ground. "Especially if they were going to be questions directed towards my apprentice. She’s been working hard on the upcoming show and has been nearly falling asleep where she stands, but she has shown far more dedication to this line of work than I have ever seen another designer display.”
The reporter didn’t know how to respond, unable to even nod in understanding. He hadn’t been expecting Gabriel to approach him and confront him specifically, let alone bring up the rule he had deliberately ignored. All he saw was a good chance to finally try and find out the actual nature of their relationship!
“S-sir, I-I’m sorry, I was just . . . That is. . ."
“Just what? Trying to find more things to plaster into a tabloid and smear not only my name, but the name of my apprentice? You are just one of many here today with a press pass to ask questions about the upcoming fashion line and the show they will be debuted at. You were not given a press pass to harass my apprentice.”
He set the reporter down, taking a step back and looking as calm and collected as he had just minutes ago. It was like his sudden outburst never took place.
“Consider that press pass revoked,” he added, resisting the urge to smile at the look of shame on the man’s face.
Marinette moved to stand up and say something when Gabriel walked over to her, gripping the back of the chair she had been sitting in during the interview. Had he really just done that? What the hell was he thinking?! Yes, the reporter had crossed a line, but . . . Dammit, maybe she just needed more coffee, she did not have the energy for this.
“G- Mr. Agreste, I- wh-what are you doing?!”
She felt her face burning when she realized just what was happening. Gabriel Agreste had just scooped her up, bridal style of all things, and in front of a crowd of people that worked for papers and magazines.
“Oh.” He looked back at the crowd. “And if you’d like to imply she got her position for any less of a reason than her capability to perform in this field, then I’ll have security personally show you the door.”
That alone signaled the end of the interview, Gabriel walking away from the reporters and towards the exit, not at all moving to put Marinette down. As he walked away, two of the bodyguards present approached the reporter to escort him out.
All she could really do was leave her arms wrapped around them, her head resting on his shoulder, watching the men lead the reporter away as the rest moved to get the rest of them to leave in a more polite manner.
***
“You didn’t have to do that you know,” she murmured, looking out the limo’s window. She was forcing herself to keep her eyes open, already going through in her mind what had to still be done. But it was hard to concentrate, and she just wanted to close her eyes and-
No! No, sleep was not an option right now, especially after all of that.
“They all knew what questions were permitted. He crossed a line as that was exactly one of the questions not permitted for this interview. I did what was best.”
She felt a hand on her knee, her attention shifting from the window to Gabriel’s face. She forced herself to smile at him, though she knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was worried about her, especially with her lack of sleep and how much energy she was putting into this show when she should be attempting a regular schedule of sorts. At “When we get inside, you’re going right to bed.”
“What?”
The limo stopped the moment the word was out of her mouth. She watched Gabriel move to exit before hurrying to open her door and step out. She wasn’t counting on suddenly feeling his arms lift her up again, just like at the interview.
“Gabriel!”
Anyone could see them out here, right? What the hell was he thinking? Reporters all over would be having a field day with this!
She gave no protests though, already knowing that anything she said would be ignored. She could complain later, especially if something was said in any papers or tabloids. Maybe then that would get him to reconsider doing something like this, especially since they weren’t exactly ready. They had enough trouble with the rumors as it was.
When she finally bothered to look around to see which guest room she was being taken to, she was shocked to see a familiar hallway leading to Gabriel’s bedroom. A room she only shared with him when no one else was around.
“G-Gabriel! That’s- You can’t- Y-you’re staff could see us!”
Gabriel chuckled, shifting his hold on her slightly to open the door to his room. “Mari, today is Sunday. Apart from Nathalie, no one else is here, and Nathalie knows about us, remember? We’re going to be just fine.”
He walked into the room then, stepping over to the bed and putting her down on it. Marinette moved to sit up, but he placed a hand on her shoulder to gently push her back down. Clearly there was no winning this, and she was finally admitting to herself that she was too tired to fight back and start working again.
“Now that you’re finally laying down, I’m going to get you some tea. You need your rest, Mari. You already push yourself as Ladybug and I don’t need you pushing yourself now. We can’t have you in this state and risk passing out from exhaustion while out saving Paris.”
She gave him a small nod, understanding exactly what he was implying. He didn’t need another lover dying.
Gabriel was already walking off before she could say anything in response though, and she was left on her own for however long it would take to make the tea. She could try to sneak out and head into the studio to try working on a suit she knew needing some touching up before it was done.
The second she pushed herself up into a sitting position though is when he walked right back in, a cup of tea in his hands. He shook his head when he noticed that she had moved to sit up, walking back over to set the tea by the bedside table.
“I’ve got you some chamomile tea, to help you sleep. We don’t need you waking up right away and jumping back into work, now do we?” he said, smiling slightly as he sat on the bed. He chuckled at the look on her face, one that seemed to accuse him of drugging the tea. “Trust me, dear, this will help.”
Marinette frowned, but picked up the cup anyway, taking a small sip to start with. “Seriously though, if I pass out because this is drugged, we might have to switch the planned line to a fairy tale one. Otherwise there’s no point in me being Snow White at the moment.”
“Well, you’re not eating a poisoned apple, so there’s nothing to worry about there. Besides, I picture you as more of a Sleeping Beauty.”
Her face flushed at his comment, any sort of response she was planning on giving him dying on her tongue. There was no way she could say something witty against that anyway! Marinette settled with drinking her tea, at least hoping that she could hide the red on her face.
Gabriel chose to not say anything about the blush, thankfully, pretending that he hadn’t even noticed it despite actually looking at her. As he waited for her to finish the tea, he talked about how well the designs were coming along, how the models were trying on the different outfits and that they were fitting wonderfully, how the show was going to be one of the best they would put on.
As he spoke, Marinette felt her eyes grow heavier and heavier. When she believed that they wouldn’t stay open, she put the rest of the tea back down and moved so she could lay down on the bed again. Gabriel’s voice was soothing to listen to, lulling her to sleep.
He stopped talking once he noticed that she had fallen asleep, a smile forming when he glanced down at her. He moved over, lips just barely brushing against her forehead in a gentle kiss before he stood back up.
“Sweet dreams, Mari.”