ADRIEN

"Are you sure that you are okay, Adrien?" She asks again and I chuckle showing how amused I am. She hasn't stopped worrying and asking questions for the past hour.

"Marinette, I told you that I'm fine!" I show her by poking my cheek which is a bad move since it still hurts like hell. "Ahh..." I wince because of the pain.

"See?!" scolded Marinette, "You are not yet okay!" She grabs the ice bag on the chair and she gently makes it touch my face. She applies pressure and now I am starting to blush by how close our faces are to each other. She must haved noticed my red face since she moved the ice bag away from my face. And she leaned closer to look at me.

"You must be feeling cold, aren't you?" She asks, "Stupid me, I didn't even think of covering you with a jacket or a shawl or something..." she gets up from her seat and she opens her bag to look for something. After a while, she brings out a shawl and puts it around me. I wrap it tighter around me and I can't stop touching the fabric and its paisleys.

"It's so soft..." I murmur and she giggles then places the ice bag on my cheek again.

"I made it." She announces.

"No wonder why its stitches are unique..." I whisper, "Your classes in the fashion academy were all worth it."

"Yeah..." She replies, "All worth it." She refuses to look at me and now I know why she is acting that way.

She never got to finish schooling.

I stopped funding her studies ever since we separated...

But I can change that. I can take her back to fashion school...

"Mari..." I reach for her hand but she immediately stands up and claps her hands. "Okay!" She says, forcing a smile. "let's fix your stuff and leave your office already! Let's go home..."

"Mari, listen..." I call her again and she stops moving around to look at me. "I can..." I hesitate, should I be doing this? Should I fund her studies again? But if I offer that to her, she would find it as an insult...

"I can...I can take you home, Marinette." Stupid Adrien! You are so stupid, you coward!

"I can take a cab..." she mutters.

"Then I will ride the cab with you-"

"No!" she interrupts, "I'm fine. I can take care of myself...you know what? I'm just going to walk home!" she gathers her stuff and I immediately stand up and grab her bag from her.

"Hey! Give me my bag!!" I raise her bag and she just stands still, not doing anything. She grumbles as she crosses her arms. "I'm not falling for that trick, Adrien..."

"What trick?" I ask innocently and she rolls her eyes.

"You want me to jump and try to reach for my bag. I know that you're mocking my height. I'm not falling for that, babe!" she exclaims and her eyes immediately widen out of shock. I am in shock, too. Her face started to turn red starting from her ears and ending with her nose. I scratch the back of my head, the both of us avoiding to look at each other.

'Babe' was one of our terms of endearment toward each other before.

Honestly, it's nice to hear the word again.

"I-uh...I..." she stutters and I immediately hand her her bag. "Here's your bag..." Babe. I continue in my mind.

"Thanks..." she says breathlessly. "I have to go now..."

"Well I'm coming with you." I immediately fix my bag and put a baseball cap on my head. I'm now ready to go.

Just as I reach Marinette, she places a hand on my chest and gently pushes me away. "Like I said, I can take care of myself..."

"Marinette," I say softly, "you helped in treating my bruise. Let me make it up to you. And," I continue, "I have to see you enter your house..."

"Why do you have to see me enter?" She asks with a scowl and I sigh, trying to be patient with her.

"We just witnessed a shooting, Mari. And I'm sure as hell that you're going to take a cab. So now you trust a cab driver rather than me?"

"Ugh! I'm fine, okay? I'm not wavered by the shooting and I'm in a perfect condition unlike you!" She says, raising her voice.

I grab her arm and hold it firmly. She look right into my eyes and whispers, "I should be the one bringing you home, Adrien...I have to take care of you-"

"No." I immediately reply. "It's now my turn, Mari..."

-------------------------------------------

"I wish I never left my car at home..." I grumble, starting to realize that Marinette lives in the other side of Paris, far away from the building of the art exhibit.

There were not a lot of police left in the art exhibit. After all, everything was planned. Also, the guy that Marinette saw getting 'killed' was in fact alive since he wore a bulletproof vest under his disguise the whole time. That gave her relief.

"Now look who's complaining." Mari chuckles and I look down at the sidewalk. "I wasn't complaining..." I say, bashfully. "I never realized that it was late already and you're going to arrive home at a later time. I can tell that you're exhausted, Mari..."

"Stop." she whispers and at the same time, she stops walking.

I stop once she stops and I walk nearer to her. "What's wrong, Mari?" I ask and she doesn't look at me.

"Stop calling me that...I don't like it.."

"Why can't I call you by your nickname? Almost everyone calls you by that name!" I say annoyingly.

"Yes, that's true! But I don't like it coming from you!"

"Is it because we used to be together?" I scoff.

"Yes!" she says, sternly, "I think that you should not call me by my nickname because first of all, we are not friends!"

We are not friends? Not even the slightest bit of friends?

"What? We have been working together and talking to each other for two months..." I say in disbelief.

"No, I have been working for you for two months. And when we talk, our topics aren't about each other. It's always about work!" she poked my chest everytime she would enumerate her points.

"You sound like you want to spend more quality time with me, Marinette." I teasingly smirk at her and she gasps.

"I do not!" She retorts but her face shows otherwise, she started to blush again.

Oh my God. Are we really fighting on a public sidewalk? Anyone could hear us!

"Adrien, I'm trying to point out that there should be a line of fomality between us. We have to be civil and not really close to each other!"

"Gosh, you're such a drama queen!" I shout as I roll my eyes. "All that drama should stay in the past. It's been 4 years, Marinette! Can't we at least start anew?!" I shout and I can hear someone nearby shushing us and telling us to 'get a room'.

Embarrassed, the both of us walk briskly away from the area where we fought.

I don't know how many minutes have passed but I'm sure that we have been walking for a long time without talking to each other. I look around me and I sigh in awe. The buildings around me are lit up with different colors of lights.

"Wow..." I sigh in awe and Marinette looks up to see the buildings, too.

"Amazing, right?" she says breathlessly. "They light up their buildings every Friday night. It's like a reminder that at the end of the day, we should show that work never fazed us and that we should strive to give our very best at all times..."

"And do these lights help you?" I ask quietly.

"They keep me sane...and they also help me forget about my present problems..." She answers in a hushed tone. "You're right." she continues and I look at her, baffled.

"What?"

"We can start anew..." she whispers, not looking at me.

"We can?" I ask excitedly and she nods her head up and down. "But," she says, turning to look at me, "we are still 'acquaintances'. Not friends."

I chuckle, "I can start there..."

"So..." she says as we continue to walk, "that painting at the back of your art exhibit..."

"Yeah, what about it?" I smirk at her. She's talking about my painting that I made for her.

"Are you going to sell it?" She asks bashfully and I smile, imagining what her reaction would be when I give her the painting.

"No." I answer cheerfully. "someone is asking for it and I said yes to that person's request. Why are you asking?"

She looked deflated after hearing what I said. "Oh." she whispers and she refuses to look at me.

"Yeah..." If only you knew that I am giving it to you.

"Anyway," I say, trying to change the awkward atmosphere, "How are mom and dad?" I ask.

"W-who?" she stutters and I realized what I just said.

"Uh...I-I mean how are your pa-parents?" I clarify my question.

Stupid Adrien! You can't just call them 'mom' and 'dad'! You have no right to anymore!

"They're doing good..." She whispers, "well only mom..."

"Your dad?" I ask curiously and she just shrugs her shoulders. "Oh my! I'm tired!" She exclaims, clearly trying to change the topic.

Are we really jumping from one topic to another? How awkward can this get?

"Hey..." I stop her from walking farther than me. "Something's wrong with your dad?"

Her dad and I were really close before. Actually, up until now, he still invites me to drink beer with him.

"He's..." she hesitates, "he's sick."

He's sick? He doesn't look sick when I see him...

"Marinette, he's sick?" I ask to make sure that what I hear was correct.

"Yes, he is. Can we talk about something else, please?" She asks, clearly irritated. "Oh wait, we're here." I look up to see a tall apartment building.

"Oh. We're here." I say, disturbed by the thought of Tom being sick.

"I'll go ahead, Adrien." She immediately opens the glass door, leaving me standing on the sidewalk.

"Wait, Marinette!" I shout and I run to where she was standing. She closes the glass door and waits for me.

"About what happened in the art exhibit," I start and she listens attentively, "it was never your fault..."

"It was.." she whispers, "stop trying to make me feel good about myself. I screwed up."

"You were brave. And you don't know how much I admire your bravery..." I insist and her eyes started to tear up.

"Then if I was brave, I should have been the one that the chief fought with...not you..." she says quietly "I was so worried, Adrien." she continues, as she reaches out to touch my cheek. On instinct, I turn my head to the other side to hide my bruise.

"Adrien, allow me..." she whispers and slowly I turn my head to look at her again. She places her hand on my bruised cheek and she gently caresses it, careful not to put too much pressure on it. I start to blush once she started to stare into my eyes.

I clear my throat and she lets go of her hold on my cheek.

"I should go..." she whispers and I hold her arm to stop her, once again.

"Where do you want me to send the painting? Here or to the bakery?" I ask and she looked puzzled.

"I'm sorry, what? What paint- Oh!" She exclaims after understanding my question. "Well, you can send it here- Wait! Hold up! You're giving it to me?" she asks, surprisingly.

I just shrug my shoulders, "It really is meant for you. I mean, I did paint it for you...do you want it?"

"If you would give it to me, I would accept it. But if you decide to give it to someone else, then I'm okay with that."

"I would take that long explanation as a 'yes'." I conclude and she just smiles timidly.

"You should go inside, Marinette..." I say as I open the door for her.

"Will you just be walking home?" she asks, not entering the building.

I let go of my grip on the handle and I reach into my pocket and take out the toy she gave me 2 weeks ago.

"This guy will protect me." I announce and she chuckles as I press its button at the back.

"Go to sleep now, I'll be fine. Don't worry..." I open the door once again and she enters the building.

As I start to walk in the opposite direction I feel something hugging me from behind and I immediately turn to look at the person behind me.

"Oh God! You scared me, Marinette!" I exclaim and she just smiles bashfully.

"Thank you for tonight," she starts, "tonight was a crazy night for the two of us but you helped me relax and enjoy the night."

Now it was my turn to act all shy. "Just doing what acquaintances do..."

"Yeah...acquaintances, I remember...Good night, Adrien."

"Sleep well, Marinette." And I smile while pushing her back to the building.

"Oh Adrien! I almost forgot!" she exclaims, letting go of my hold. "You can still call my parents, 'mom' and 'dad', you know...I mean, you were like a son to them. And you still are concerned for them."

"Really?" I ask excitedly and she giggles while nodding her head up and down. "Thank you, Marinette."

"I'll be going now.."

"You should go now, Marinette. I'll see you tomorrow-"

"You are not going to work tomorrow, Adrien." she interrupts, "your cheek has to heal first."

"Right...I'll see if I can set an appointment with a doctor. Go Marinette, sleep tight." pushing her once again to the direction of her apartment building.

"Why do you keep on pushing me back to my apartment?" she complains, "anyway, good night Adrien." she whispers as she heads back to the building without looking back.

Acquaintances? It is so clear that the both of us know that we are more than that.

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Hi :) I just had to make a chapter that would satisfy my feels haha Did this chapter satisfy your feels? I hope you enjoyed it!

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P.S. tomorrow is my last day of exams and I haven't studied yet HAHA I'm screwed!