Chapter Thirty-One

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I couldn't sleep.

After I told Adrien what went on in my head, I left for my room and told him that I needed some space to think.

Now sleep wasn't coming. No matter how much I tried.

Maybe it was because I kept thinking about the voices I heard earlier.

Were they talking about me? Well, probably.

Did...did they do something to me?

Are they actually the reason for my memory loss?

If they were, I don't think I could forgive them no matter what they try to say.

My throat then started to feel quite dry, so I threw off the covers and slipped out of bed. I slowly exited the room and headed to the kitchen.

I almost had a heart attack when I saw Adrien sitting at the island with papers spread out in front of him.

"Jesus Christ, Adrien!" I exclaimed causing him to look up at me.

"Marinette? Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I should be asking you that question," I told him as I opened the fridge. "I couldn't sleep. Now why aren't you sleeping?"

"Same. Sleep wasn't coming," He replied, lowering his eyes to the papers in front of him.

I poured myself a glass of cranberry juice before walking over to where he was. I then took a seat beside him. "Whatcha doin'?"

He casted a look of amusement my way before answering, "I'm looking through the papers that Matilda gave us earlier."

"What have you read so far?" I took a sip of the juice. I almost forgot about those.

"I just started reading through the requirements for adoption and so far I'm seeing basic stuff. I haven't answered any of the questions though. We should do that together," He explained, skipping through the papers.

I placed the cup on the counter before picking up a pen that was laying in front of him. "Let's do them now then. By the way, what time is it?"

Adrien glanced at his phone. "Almost 11."

"That's quite early," I stated. "Let's begin."

It took just about an hour for me and Adrien to finish going through all the papers that we got from Matilda. Some of the questions that were there we had to leave them out because we didn't have any answers. Like one that asked us what schools do we have in mind to put Emma in or if we would get her home-schooled. 

There was this specific requirement that said they would have an agent come in to our house to see if it was okay enough to accommodate a child. That made us realise that we still had to buy a house. 

A lot of things were slipping my mind these days....

So much is going on and I can't think straight anymore.

"We are going to stop here," Adrien stated, taking up the papers from in front of me. "I can practically feel the stress radiating from you."

"We can finish them now though," I tried to persuade him, but it didn't seem like it was working because he continued to pack away the papers. "Adrien."

Adrien rolled his eyes playfully at my whining. "Do you think we made the right choice by starting the adoption process? We have a lot on our plates already. The wedding is barely two weeks away."

I started to rub my temples. "I don't even know what to think right now, to be honest. Let's just....go with the flow and see what happens?"

"That doesn't sound like you're too sure, Princess," He narrowed his eyes. 

"Whatever," I sassed. "Are you sleepy yet?"

"Not even a little bit," He replied.

"Can we go through the houses that your father is suggesting?" I asked while I played with his hair. I don't know how his hair was this soft. I kinda understand Emma's obsession with it. His hair was a bit longer than how it was in his high school photo. It looked nice. 

Why was I just commenting on this?

I don't know.

"Okay, I'll go get my laptop," He said before heading to his room. Not even a minute later he was back.

After turning on the device, he told me that his father sent a total of ten houses, all of which were in gated communities like I requested.

"Based on what he told me, the houses are at least a thirty to forty-five minute drive from the company, so it won't be a problem to get there," He exclaimed, going into his email. 

After about thirty minutes or so, we narrowed the choices down to three houses. 

The first one was a three story house with six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a small backyard and it was only slightly modern.

The second house was a bit 'ancient'. It had brick walls and it was huge from the out side picture. Based on the information we got from Gabriel, the house had four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge dining room and kitchen, as well as a fairly large sitting room. This house had a chimney! I hope Emma doesn't believe in Santa Claus...

The third house was on the fully modern side. This house was a two story house. It had five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a guest house and a pool! There was a huge kitchen inside, perfect for me when I need to do my baking, and a large dining room and sitting room. There was even a basement and a laundry room.

"I like the last house," Adrien stated while looking over the pictures.

I nodded eagerly. "Me too!"

"Sounding very excited there, Princess," Adrien grinned. "Should I tell my father that we are choosing this one?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "I want to see these three houses in person before I choose."

"Understandable," He nodded, shutting down the laptop. "I think we're done here."

I groaned. "And I'm still not sleepy."

He shrugged. "Wanna watch a movie til we fall asleep?"

I nodded as I stood.

Soon after we were curled up on the couch together (because it was oddly cold tonight and Adrien felt warm so.....why not?). I was comfortable with my back against his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around my waist.

We were currently watching Mulan. 

I actually wanted to watch The Princess and the Frog, but he wanted to watch Mulan. After a hardcore game of rock-paper-scissors, he won.

"Hey, Adrien?" I suddenly called out.

"Hmm?" he hummed in response.

"Can you tell me about high school? Like the time we spent together and how I got to know you?" I asked, my eyes dropping to my blanket covered lap.

"Well, at first, I wasn't even allowed to go to high school," He started and my eyes widened.

"Really?!"

"Really," He chuckled. "I was home-schooled for almost all my life. My first day at school was when I met you. I actually saw someone put gum on your seat and I was trying to get it off when you walked in and started to accuse me of putting the gum on your seat. You didn't even let me explain."

My cheeks flushed. "I-I, um, sorry about that then."

"It's okay now, Princess," He laughed. "I don't remember much, but I think you started to give me the cold shoulder. I felt horrible. I mean, it was my first time attending school and there was already someone who didn't like me? That sucked."

I don't know why, but my head started to hurt a little bit. It didn't hurt as much as earlier so the pain was tolerable.

"I remember telling you that I was only trying to remove the gum from your seat one rainy day after school. I gave you my umbrella too. You were so clumsy back then. The umbrella closed down on you. I remember it like it was yesterday," He laughed and I joined in. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. "You became all blushy and stuttery when I came around after that. At first I had found it weird, but after a while I understood why you were like that."

He then began to tell me all sorts of things that happened throughout high school, he made sure to remind me of all my embarrassing moments too. It felt nice to hear all of this. Was this what my parents and Alya were afraid to tell me? Nothing bad was happening like what they said would happen...

I realized that the headaches that I am getting now are happening because I'm beginning to remember some stuff.

"Why did we lose contact with each other though?" I asked, turning to him.

He lowered his eyes. "Well after we graduated, you confessed to me."

My eyes widened and my face got hot. "W-what?!"

"You told me that you had feelings for me," He said with a small smile. "I was happy you told me that, because I kinda liked you for the longest time but I didn't know how to say it. Sadly, I had to tell you that my father was sending me to Russia for six years. Four years for school and the other two years for some sort of training."

"What kind of training?"

"Modeling, since I had been doing it for so long, and self defense for some odd reason. He said that I needed to learn how to hold my own against others. At first I didn't understand, but the time I spent in Russia made me understand. Now I can shoot any gun you put in my hand and I can beat any opponent. I actually hated my father for doing that to me. He cut me off from all my friends saying that they would still be there when I got back," He sighed. "Now, I am sort of grateful."

"I see," I muttered. "That's why I didn't remember you."

He nodded. "When I came back, the first person I got reacquainted with was Nino. Then Alya. I tried with you, but your parents kept you away. I was shocked when they suggested an arranged marriage."

"Wait," I stopped him, furrowing my brows. "Alya said she never met you before and now I know that we all went to high school together. Why was she lying?"

Adrien's eyes widened. "I don't even know. Come to think of it, she always avoided talking about you when we met up. I didn't know why, but I had always found it strange."

"I hope they have answers for my questions tomorrow," I frowned. Nothing was making sense anymore. I don't think I know who to believe anymore. The only person that was now being fully honest with me was Adrien.

"I'll make sure to be there," He assured me.

A yawn then passed my lips and I returned to our earlier position with my back against his chest.

"Getting sleepy there, Princess?" Adrien asked and I nodded slightly.

"A little bit," I answered softly, fighting my eyes to stay open. "I have one more question."

"Shoot."

"You said that you liked me back when I told you I had feelings all those years ago," Another yawn passed my lips. "How about now? Do you still like me?"

I felt his lips brush my forehead as I closed my eyes slowly. "I'll answer that question really soon."

I hummed, feeling myself slipping away. "Well, I really like you."

Next thing I knew, I was asleep.

* * *

My heels clicked on this floor as I made my way to my parents' office.

Adrien had to go see his father for a quick second so he said that he would meet me there. I think Alya was already waiting in the office with my parents.

When I finally arrived at their office, I took a deep breath and knocked before entering.

My parents were having a whisper conversation with Alya, but immediately stopped when they saw me.

"Mari!" Alya exclaimed, rushing over to me and pulling me into her arms. I was having severe trust issues after some stuff I remembered last night.

I kinda pulled away from her quickly, trying not to seem suspicious.

"Adrien will be here soon," I told them and they all looked confused.

"Why does he need to be here?" My father asked with narrowed eyes.

"I asked him to be here," I answered. "Is there a problem?"

He let out a sigh before shaking his head.

I headed over to where my parents sat and Alya took a seat beside me.

"Your father told me that Luka is back," My mother spoke, giving me a shaky smile.

"Yeah, he came to my house," I mumbled, folding my hands on my lap. I had so many questions for them but I didn't know how to ask!

"Have you been experiencing anything weird?" Alya suddenly asked and I didn't miss the glare my parents sent her.

"Well, I had a weird dream the other day," I started. I actually didn't want to tell them about the cabin dream, but I decided to just come clean. "It was in a cabin and I was tied up-"

"You told me that you hadn't been having any weird dreams," My father cut me off.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything over the phone, Dad," I rolled my eyes even though I know it was far from the truth.

"Go on, Marinette," My mother spoke.

"And last night I had some severe headaches and I heard some voices," I told them and watched for their expressions. My father stayed stone faced while my mother and Alya got slightly nervous.

What could that mean?

"I know why you're having headaches," My father said. "I expected them, so I told Alya to prepare some special tea for you before coming today."

"Special tea?" I asked warily.

Alya stood and headed into a room before returning with a cup of tea. "This will make the headaches go away immediately."

The headaches were there to show that my memories were coming back, not that I told them that though, they were indeed painful, but I didn't want them to stop. I want to remember, I really do. I actually don't care about the pain that comes with the memories....

Alya held out the cup of tea to me and I hesitantly took it with shaking hands. The tea was steaming. I lifted it to my nose and took a sniff.

Drowsiness hit me like a truck.

What the hell was in this tea?

I then lowered it and placed it on the table. "On second thought, I can live with a few headaches."

"Drink it, Marinette," My father said sternly, his eyes boring into mine.

Okay, I felt scared.

"I don't trust it," I replied, staring right back at him. "I will not drink it."

"Do it now, Alya," My mother said calmly and I got confused.

I turned my head to my best friend and saw her holding a needle.

I immediately shot up and backed away from them.

This was not happening right now.

* * * * *

I am here and I am alive!

My devices are back up and so am I!

Word count: 2530🙃 I really want to hit 3000 words in a future chapter but I don't want to overwrite.

How was the chapter today?

What are your thoughts?

I am literally half asleep. I started writing this chapter at about 9:30 pm and I finished at 11pm. Good. I should be heading to bed soon though. "School" tomorrow.

We have passed "Just As We Were Married" with the most chapters!! That book had Thirty chapters and it is completed. This has Thirty-One and isn't finished yet. This may be my longest book y'all!!!

#Q&A 👀

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Until next time,

Bye bye little butterflies 😘❤️.