The restaurant was almost empty, except for a party of two near the aquarium of fish that was molded into the wall, giving whoever sat there a view of the kitchen. Marinette smiled briefly at the person across from her, glancing down at her attire. She felt under-dressed as her date, Cole, hadn't told her where they'd be going for the night. But when the two had arrived, he smiled brightly at her and told her she looked fine.

While sitting at the table, Marinette began to think of the last real date she had been on, when her husband was still alive. Adrien had taken the time out of his busy schedule to bring her to a small café, giving the couple a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower. Two weeks later and she was standing in the funeral home. It didn't make any sense to her, why Adrien was covered in soot but she didn't seek out any answer because in her mind, what happened had happened for a reason and that everything would work out in the end. But now, sitting across Cole in a fancy restaurant that resided in the mountains, Marinette thought it wouldn't be a bad idea after all; dating again, she meant. Adrien always wanted her to be happy, it was something they talked about frequently, if one of them were to be fatally injured, then the other would find happiness again even if it meant they fell in love with someone else. Not that Marinette would love anyone as much as she did Adrien, but knowing that she could even if it seemed impossible to her at the time, gave Marinette a sense of relief in that moment.

If I'm happy to be here with him, Marinette thought, taking a glance at Cole, then why do I feel like I'm betraying Adrien? She shook the thought from her head as Cole opened his mouth to speak.

"See, I told you you weren't under-dressed." He said, motioning to another couple who had just walked in. They both were wearing jeans and simple sneakers, paired with a nice dress shirt. Marinette smiled softly.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one wearing jeans." She laughed. Cole gave her a grin in return and leaned back in his chair.

The two spent the next hour talking about anything and everything until their check came to the table. Splitting it in half, both went outside into the cool mountain air. They began to walk to the parking lot, each taking their own car there. As they made their way towards the vehicles, Cole stopped suddenly and looked up. Wondering why he had stopped, Marinette followed his gaze and found a magnificent view of the cascading stars above.

"They're beautiful..." she whispered, eyes moving back and forth as she took in the scene. Cole nodded in response and looked down at her, smiling.

"Almost as beautiful as you."

While Marinette thought the pick up line was cliché, she found it endearing nevertheless and blushed at the compliment.

Before either could say another word, Cole leaned in and pressed his lips against Marinette's cheek, making her face turn to the color of lobsters.

"I had a nice night."

"M-me too." She stuttered out.

"Would you, maybe, want to go out again some time?"

~•~•~•~
His bag rested on the floor near his bed, almost over flowing with clothes. He took another glance around the room, in case he had forgotten to pack something. Finding nothing of any importance, he zipped up the bag and sat it up.  A sigh left his lips, he would be leaving in a few minutes but he really didn't take the time to think about every possibility when he returned.

Eileen had sounded urgent on the phone hours ago, yet Adrien couldn't figure out why. Had Marinette gotten hurt? Or Hugo? Thoughts swarmed through his mind causing his head to hurt. Adrien sat down at the end of the bed and raked a hand through his blonde locks, sighing again.

"What if... she doesn't love me anymore?" He asked himself, his emerald green eyes closed.

No, Marinette would always love him, he didn't see a reason why she wouldn't. Except, you know, being involved in a fake death, the death being his very own but even then, Adrien could only see her upset for a few days. Naturally, he'd tell her everything he could, it was only fair. She'd already been through so much sorrow and pain because of the fake death and Adrien didn't want to rock the boat any further.

So it was settled, when Adrien had the chance and was finally home, he'd sit Marinette down and explain everything to her. Why he was presumed dead, why he could never reach out to her, what really happened, he'd tell her everything and not miss a single thing.

With his suitcase in hand, Adrien opened the door and stepped one foot out before looking over his shoulder. He had been in this place for years, never being allowed to go farther than the convenience store across the street as there were cameras always watching. His eyes noticed the can of black spray paint which he used to cover the lens of the cameras to make his escape.

"Don't worry Marinette," He said to himself and walked outside, closing the door and years of being watched and controlled behind him. He was returning, finally returning and there was no one to stand in his way of reuniting with his wife or child.

"I'm coming home."

~•~•~•~

{A/N: This chapter is pretty short but that's because I was suffering some major writer's block.

Next chapter should go smoothly!

Chapter Seven: coming next Wednesday

~miraculousduo♥️