After a long journey back home to France Gabriel and his 'crew' arrived at the Agreste mansion.
And of course Nathalie immediately offered to stay so she could help with sorting out things for Adrien.
The designer liked the sound of that plus this way he'd also be around his assistant a little more so he accepted her kind offer whilst Martin got all emotional and angry.
He also wanted to spend time with her but seeing how his rival 'claimed' her first he couldn't do much about it.

So after a goodbye Martin went back to his own house whilst Nathalie stayed behind.

...

Once she was fully done with every single task Gabriel had given her the young woman made her way back to the office and knocked on the door gently not to alarm anything or anyone.

"Sir do you need any more help?"  Nathalie quietly walked in to see her boss getting up from his office chair and walking near her.
"No, not really."
"Oh alright then..." the assistant inhaled sharply before taking a step closer to her superior so now she stood right before him."...sir I-...I apologize for my latest behavior, I was very frustrated and-"
"-oh it's alright Nathalie, I'm not mad, in fact I'm glad you can show some emotions."
The designer smiled down towards her but Nathalie still continued to have a depressed expression which had more to say: "...well I-...I'd like to ask a favor from you sir." she shyly mumbled to which Gabriel nodded and encouraged her to continue "...because you're like...strong and...could you please...could you hit me?"
"Pardon?"
"I-...I'd like you to very strongly hit me...on my stomach in fact."
"Nathalie I-....I can't. I mean why on earth would you want me to do that?!?!"

The young woman stayed quiet for a bit, she looked to her left, then to her right, but still the designer stared at her confused.

"What's wrong Nathalie? I mean why would you need me to-"
"-oh come on sir! Don't ask questions just hit me! Punch me you pathetic excuse of a father! You-you horrible shitty husband who can't do anything right! No wonder Emilie died! If I were her I would've committed suicide the second I saw you! Just hurt me goddamn it! What does it take to make you mad?!?"
The assistant shouted but even then her boss managed to hold himself back and he only responded with:
"Nathalie...that hurt..." he turned away and took off his glasses to wipe away those salty tears "...that was just a little harsh..."

After a few seconds of collecting himself the designer turned back to face his assistant with that same old boring look he always had on, and there was absolutely no trace of his sobbing.

"I won't hit you, no matter how hard you try."
"But-...WHY CANT YOU DO ONE THING I ASK YOU TO!?!"
"I WONT HIT A WOMAN!"
"OH REALLY? BUT IF I WERE YOUR MOTHER YOU WOULDN'T HESITATE TO SLAP ME ACROSS MY DIRTY DISGUSTING FACE!!!!"

And just as she had screamed that Gabriel sighed. "Nathalie, you're really testing me aren't you?"

His assistant smiled in approval as she took one more step near him and was about to yell again but then the designer just covered her mouth (carefully) with his hands.
"Please don't say another word." He breathed looking down at his 'muted' assistant. "...now tell me...why do you need this favor? It seems sick."
"I just...it would solve a lot of things." She let out a barely audible mumble.
"If I hit you...on your stomach?...not to be curious but is this having to do anything with a baby?"
"WHAT-...n-n-no-o..."
"Nath, you're lying." Gabriel exclaimed loudly to which she shook her head vigorously but the designer didn't care and just continued to speak: "...I know you're lying! Don't try to hide it! B-but why'd you want to-"
"Because I never wanted this child!!"
Nathalie replied furiously as she 'tore' his hand off of her mouth and stomped away leaving Gabriel all by himself, but not for long, because right before she could've made it out the office the designer caught up with his assistant and grabbed her wrist.
"Nathalie! You better tell me exactly how this happened!"
"No! You're not the boss of-...fuck...well you might be my boss but you can't force me to say things!"
"I only want to help, and if I know I might be able to do so...please Nathalie please."

The young woman sighed turning back to fully face him and as soon as she did she hid her face in his chest.
Of course in response Gabriel immediately closed his arms around her so he could hold his assistant in a protective embrace.

"It's alright Nath, you don't need to worry."
"I do! B-because w-what i-if s-someone e-else f-finds o-out." She sobbed hopelessly to which the designer held her tight and carried the crying woman up to his room.
There he sat his assistant down onto the bed and kneeled in front of her, taking both of Nathalie's hands into his.
"So...is it Martin's?" Gabriel asked to which Nathalie almost screamed:
"WHAT NO! Oh god no...he has nothing to do with this."
"Oh...well then-"
"I-I'm not sure but I-I think...I think it's from...you know...back in London..."
"Oh 'him'."
The designer sighed as he glanced upon his assistant's miserable expression which clearly wanted to get rid of this 'thing' as quick as possible and forget everything that happened a couple of weeks ago.

"I just-...please. I really want it to be over." Nathalie began to speak but soon her words became inaudible and she was just whispering nonsense whilst quietly crying. "I don't want any of this!"
"I understand but I can't fix that with a punch. Trust me that would be more painful than the actual proper way to get rid of it."
"O-okay but then-"
"Well...I can take you to the doctor-" Gabriel suggested since he didn't know much about fixing 'such' a situation. But even to this solution Nathalie shook her head "no" and continued to sob:
"-How'd that look? Gabriel Agreste taking his assistant to abort a baby. It'd make great headlines in the newspaper."
"It would." The designer laughed to which he received a punch from his assistant who had suddenly fallen down from the bed and onto the floor where he quickly caught her with his arms. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be joking but I'm quite clueless you know."
"I know! And the problem is that I'm just as dumb as you...I mean clueless, not dumb...or actually-"
"Okay Nathalie enough with the insults!"
Said Gabriel clearly annoyed but at least this made the assistant giggle a little and once he had noticed that she liked the joke the designer laughed along with her.

...

Before they even knew it hours had passed by and now it was very late at night around 2 or 3am, still the assistant and her boss were in the same position on the floor laughing at dumb jokes and rumors.
But sadly this all came to an end when Nathalie had a sudden cough attack and she was barely able to speak.
"I-...that's-...hilarious-...oh fuck-..."
"It's alright Nath, just don't suffocate please."
"I-I-I w-w-won't..." she breathed again, normally this time. "I'm fine."
"Thank god...anyways it's getting late." Gabriel said as he assumed it was around midnight but once he glanced upon the clock he saw that it was actually much much later than he'd ever imagined. "Oh wow...it's 3am...maybe we should sleep."
"Yeah, we should."
The assistant mumbled with a blush but thankfully since it was dark in the room and her boss's eye sight wasn't the best Gabriel didn't see any change in her face.

"So Nathalie...which side of the bed-"
"I prefer right."
"Same...it's fine, you just sleep where it feels comfortable."
"You."
"Pardon?"  The designer almost choked on air as he'd heard that not so innocent mumble coming from his assistant.
"What?" Nathalie looked at her boss curious as if she herself hadn't just joked around a couple of second ago.
"I-..." Gabriel shook his head. "...I heard something...it must be my 'old age'."
"Definitely sir definitely."
"I thought I said no more insults!"
"Oh sorry." Nathalie giggled as she made herself comfortable in his bed and then turned to face her boss who looked back at her strangely.
"Didn't you want to change into pijamas or-?"
"Well I-...I don't know how Adrien would feel about seeing me in one of your shirts again."
"No problem. I'll just close the door so he won't get in!" The designer smiled as he thought he did something innocent and sweet by this but soon when Nathalie said "then he'll imagine other things." Gabriel realized he had messed up.
"I-...I don't mean anything in a weird way! And I can't help it if Adrien doesn't understand that we're just...friends."

Nathalie's heart dropped and so did her smile as soon as she'd heard that sentence.
She thought that they'd be at least a little more than 'friends' but apparently according to Gabriel they weren't.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" The designer worried as Nathalie turned away ashamed and just shook her head.
"No-no...can I just get a shirt please...this pantsuit isn't too comfortable."
"Of course, here."
"Thank you."

With saying that the assistant left to the bathroom so that she could change, and as she did so she doubted if Gabriel would ever love her.
Maybe he thought that she was still together with Martin so he wasn't even trying to get closer or maybe it was just because she was pregnant. Who the hell would want her now? Nathalie was in such a depressing state no one could possibly love her for what she had to offer; which wasn't much.

...

Once she was done with changing the assistant pulled the door open so aggressively that it crashed into the wall which made a terrible noise and caused Gabriel to jump a little.
"Nathalie...is everything alright?!" He rushed towards her but she just stepped back and avoided his touch.
"Yeah."
"That doesn't sound convincing-...or is it just your 'emotions' messing around?"
"Mhm yes my EMOTIONS!" She yelled all of a sudden which caused the designer to immediately shut up and fear the woman in front of him. "...S-sorry I don't know what that was."
"I-...it's fine. Emilie had a lot of these as well when she was..."

Oh of course he had to bring up that bitch.

Right at that moment Nathalie just wanted to stab Gabriel and watch him scream in pain as she would slowly drag a knife down his entire back but then-

"Nathalie? Are you listening?"
"LISTENING TO WHAT!?!" YOUR BULLSHIT ABOUT EM?!?!-..." the young woman yelled furiously but once she had realized what she'd said the assistant immediately apologized: "...I'm so sorry I know you love her and I shouldn't insult your wife i-it just slipped-"
"It's fine." Gabriel sighed as he turned away and walked to his side of the bed. "...but still, please don't talk bad about her! She did nothing wrong! It's me who's to blame!...sorry I got a bit emotional there."

Now silence fell upon them and none of the adults had anything to say, so they just both laid in bed on their own separate sides and didn't even dare to make eye contact.
But at least Nathalie did something to ease their situation, she spoke:
"So-...could you take me to the doctor tomorrow or is that too much of a 'risk'?"
"I'll take you there don't worry, plus I have a well trusted doctor who I'm sure wouldn't make any rumors or try to cause drama."
"G-great, thanks." Nathalie sighed partly in relief and partly in her misery.

To be continued-

Gosh I'm so sorry this chapter was absolutely horrible and I hate it too, but it's the only thing I could post so-