Chapter Text
They're all quiet on the drive back to the bakery, and, when they get there, Adrien announces that he's going upstairs to take a shower. Plagg darts out of Marinette's purse and takes off after him, thankfully avoiding both Maman's and Papa's eyes in the process. Marinette watches him go, feeling like her chest is full of shards of glass. She hurts so much for her poor kitty, but there's nothing she can do. It's like Tikki said, all those weeks ago: there are some things that Ladybug can't fix, no matter how much she might want to.
"How are you doing?" Maman asks, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Marinette's ear.
"It was hard," Marinette says, leaning against her maman. It feels really good when Maman hugs her, and she lays her head on her maman's shoulders. What would it be like to attend a funeral for her parents? Awful, no doubt, but also not so... lonely. That's the only way that Marinette can think to describe it.
Adrien was alone all day. Nathalie may have been hovering around on the outkirts, but she wasn't really there. If it weren't for Marinette and Chloé, Marinette's parents and their classmates, Adrien would have been completely alone. No one else was there for him; everyone else was just there to be seen. She can't imagine anything worse than that.
"I know, ma petite. But you did so well. You were really strong for Adrien today."
"I had to be. He needed me to be the strong one for once," Marinette says. All those battles they fought, whenever Ladybug faltered, Chat always let her lean against him. Whenever she didn’t know what to do, it was his kind, uplifting words that kept her going. And now it's her turn to pay him back for all of those times.
Maman smiles. "You're both much stronger than you think you are," she says, which is eerily close to what Chloé said. "You and Adrien should take it easy tonight. I think Papa and I are going to go out for dinner... unless you want us nearby?"
Marinette thinks about it and shakes her head. "No, I don't think Adrien will be up for much tonight. Can we order pizza?"
"Of course. I'll leave you some money. Order whatever you like." Maman leans in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. "And you can feel free to sleep in your bed again tonight."
"Oh, uh, right," Marinette says awkwardly. "Thanks, Maman. Thanks for coming to the funeral and, well, for everything."
"It was our pleasure, Marinette. Adrien is such a nice boy. It's a shame he's alone in the world." Maman shakes her head. "We'll have to be his family now."
"Right," Marinette says, beaming.
"If you need us, call me," Maman says.
"I will. Bye, Maman."
Marinette heads upstairs to change as her parents leave, because she doesn't think Adrien will want to see her in the clothing she wore to his father's funeral. She lets Tikki out of her purse and then strips out of her clothing, tossing the dress into the back of her closet - it'll be a long time before she wears it again, if ever. Normally she tries not to give clothing away, preferring instead to repurpose the cloth into something new that fits better or is more her style. But in this case, she thinks she'll make an exception and just get rid of the dress and the bad memories it holds.
"Your maman was right. You did really well today," Tikki says as Marinette drops down onto her chaise.
"Ugh, Tikki, it was so hard," Marinette says, draping an arm over her eyes.
"But you did it for Adrien. I'm sure he really appreciates it."
"I'm sure he does too." Marinette moves her arm, peeking out as her kwami lands on her bent knees. "Do you really think Adrien will be okay? Maman and Papa both seem to think that he will, but they don't know the whole story. They don't know that Gabriel was Hawkmoth, or that he almost killed Chat and me so many times, or that Gabriel was abusive."
Tikki looks thoughtful. "I think Adrien will be fine with time, but I also think that both of you have been through a lot. Have you put any thought into Master Fu's suggestion to talk to someone?"
"Um, not really. I guess I could look that girl up now. What was her name again?"
"Dr. Mei Fu."
Mei Fu. Marinette grabs her phone and googles the woman. She gets loads of results right off the bat. Some, like research papers, aren't that interesting to her, since most of them are written in a dry, academic, highly technical language that goes way over her head. But others are. She starts off by finding Dr. Fu's website. It's fairly straightforward, with simple language that's easier to understand. There are plenty of customer testimonials, but Marinette’s shopped enough online to know that you can't go by those alone. She leaves the website and googles more reviews.
She's so involved with her research that she misses Adrien entering the room until water is dribbled over her forehead. She yelps in shock. "Adrien!"
"Sorry, were you busy?" he asks, all innocence, and drapes a towel over his sopping hair. Behind him, Plagg cackles and flies over to where Tikki is resting in her cocoon. Marinette hears a similar, startled squawk come from Tikki and rolls her eyes. Cats.
"You're a cat, not a dog," Marinette says, wiping her forehead.
He pushes the towel up to smirk at her. "Your cat, My Lady?"
The hint of uncertainty in his voice is like an arrow to the heart. "Of course you are. All mine. Come over here."
Adrien drops the towel on the floor and is on the chaise in the blink of an eye, curling up half on top of her. "What were you looking at so intently?"
"Dr. Mei Fu. It seems like she's pretty well renowned. Most of her reviews are positive," Marinette says, picking up her phone with her free hand.
He nods slowly. "I think we should talk to her."
"You do?"
"Yeah."
"I think we should too," Marinette admits.
They look at each other for a moment.
"Marinette?" Adrien says softly.
"Yes, Chaton?"
"I meant what I said at the funeral. I really want the two of us to keep Agreste Fashions going. Together. I can't do it without you."
Marinette's throat gets tight. "Adrien..."
"I can't do it without you," he says quietly. "I need you by my side."
"Is that a proposal?" Marinette asks, not sure if she's joking or not.
Adrien looks completely serious. "Yes. I'll buy you a promise ring for your next birthday. We'll have been dating for just over seven months by then, so no one will think that's weird. And then, for your 18th birthday, I'll buy you an engagement ring. If that's something you want, that is."
"Yes." Marinette doesn't even need to think about it. "Yes, Adrien. But I don't want to get married until we're through university, okay?"
"Of course," Adrien says, and for the first time in days there's a sparkle back in his eyes. "I just - I need to know that the two of us are going to get through this."
"Oh, mon minou, that was never any doubt. I love you. I love you so much." Marinette wraps both her arms around him, pulling him closer. "You're stuck with me."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Adrien says, nuzzling into her hair. "You know what I thought of while I was in the shower?"
"What?"
"We forgot all about the contest."
Marinette freezes, realizing that he's right. "Well, shit."
"Right?" Adrien sighs. "What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know..." Marinette is quiet for a moment, thinking. Their timeline for the contest was already tight, because she and Adrien were about three and a half weeks behind when they started. Add in the week and a half they've lost to all of this, and they're now five weeks behind. They've only got about five weeks until the deadline. Her heart sinks and her eyes start to prickle as she realizes how impossible that is.
Even if they devoted every waking moment to trying to make things happen, she doesn’t think they’ll make it. Not when they’re both going to be behind on schoolwork. Not when they both have to go back to school, and Adrien has to figure everything else out with Nathalie. He’s going to be exhausted, Marinette knows. His heart won’t be in anything that they try to design together.
"I think we should withdraw," Adrien says.
"You want to give up?" The idea makes her shoulders draw up around her ears in spite of the fact that she knows it’s probably best, but Adrien's shaking his head.
"Withdraw, not give up," he corrects, grasping her hand and bringing it in for a kiss. "Bugaboo, I would rather withdraw than submit something I'm not proud of. And we would have to skip school and devote every single second of our time over the next five weeks to get two designs fully completed. That's just not realistic."
It should be impossible to go from happy to sad this fast, but somehow Marinette's managed it. "I really thought we could win it," she says shakily.
"I think we could've too," Adrien says. "Maybe they'll do another competition next year. And if they don't..."
"If they don't?"
"We can pay for university. We have money."
"Adrien, I'm not going to let you pay for my education!" Marinette says.
Adrien half-sits up, looking down at her very seriously. "Marinette, it's not just my money. It's our money. You're my partner; as far as I'm concerned, everything I have is yours."
"You can't mean that," Marinette says weakly.
"I mean it with all of my heart. Please, Princess. I really want us to go to university together and do like Plagg said. I want us to tear my father's company apart. I want us to remake it in our image until people don't even think of Gabriel Agreste when they hear of Agreste Fashions. I know it can be done, but I can't do it by myself. I need you with me." He looks at her imploringly, so earnestly, with his heart written in his eyes.
She can't bring herself to say no. This is about more than pride. Marinette reaches up to cup his face. "Okay. If we haven't won any scholarships by the time we go to university, okay."
His face splits into a brilliant smile and he swoops down to kiss her. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me! It's gonna cost a fortune!" Marinette says.
"We can afford it," Adrien says, so easily that her heart skips a beat.
"Silly kitty," she mutters, rolling over and wiggling down until she can hide her face in his chest. Adrien chuckles. It's such a lovely sound, and one that she's missed. She thinks, hopes, that she might get the chance to hear it more now.