As sunlight streamed into his bedroom, Adrien felt a sharp pain digging into his ribs. The stabbing pain remedied only by a surprising warmth surrounding it. Half asleep, he groggily opened his eyes, expecting to find his phone or some other object that he left in the bed when he fell asleep. His mind jerked his body awake, to find a small figure curled up at his side. 

Adrien's heart raced with panic, in his sleepiness, not understanding why there was another person sleeping next to him. 

Marinette.  His brain supplied. 

Oh right, he had gotten married yesterday. Marinette, his wife, was sleeping next to him. 

He blew out a breath only to suck it back in; trying to calm his heart beat. The hysteria draining from his body as he relaxed back into the bed. Shifting, Adrien tried his best to not wake Marinette as he moved into a more comfortable position where a spine wasn't jabbing into his side. He held his breath as he moved, only letting it out when he realized that she wasn't going to wake up. 

He continued this process of small, insignificant movements until he laid on his side; Marinette's back barely touching his stomach. Raising his head up onto one hand, Adrien lost himself in thought, finger coming up to absentmindedly play with a strand of dark hair that curled between Marinette and him on the bed. 

I wonder if I used to do the same thing to Mom, when I was little. She always used to complain about my sharp elbows and knees... A nostalgic smile found its way on his cheeks. It seemed that was one thing that still hasn't changed; Marinette always found ways to remind him of his mother. Not that Adrien minded; he liked being reminded that  someone once loved him, that he was once happy. Besides, at least when he remembered his mom, he could see her face again. 

He realizes how sad that sounds, which is why he never told anyone about how he felt. They always expected him to feel bitter about how she's no longer here.  But what they didn't realize was that; yes, Adrien is sad that she is gone and his current emotional state was pitying; but when he flash backed to a happier time...he only felt happy, perhaps a bit nostalgic. He never blamed his mom for her death. At least she left him joyous memories that allowed him to look back upon them when the world no longer held any color for him. 

Perhaps that's why Marinette always reminded him of his mom...Marinette was once his color after all. 

Thinking about that, he flashed back to his Lycee days. A time of smiles and laughter.  A time of a birthday party with blue scarves; A time of getting his ass beaten in video games; A time of cheering on a friend during a race; A time of a movie turning to horror;  A time of a long lost book and games of Simon Says, of perfume and rock music,  of pink high heels and ruined soup, of toy dolls and  the zoo, of knights and dark cupids, of copycats and robots, or derby hats and smartphones, of mimes and mummies, of a blog and headphones, of umbrellas and rain. 

Times where modeling and pretty faces were a sliver in the great swirl of colors. 

Through all of his reminiscing, Adrien didn't see Marinette's breathing change. He didn't see her body start to shift. He didn't even see her turn over on her back to watch Adrien play with one of her dark curls.  

"Good morning." 

Adrien's body jerked in surprise, his hand slipping from under his cheek causing for his face to plant into his pillow. 

"Mmph, guoof moring." 

He heard her giggle and picked his head up in time to watch her get up and head to the bathroom. Groaning at his stupidity, he dragged himself up and made his way to the kitchen. 

Pouring blackness into his cup; he contemplated making Marinette a cup of coffee but upon realizing he had no idea how she liked her coffee, he decided against it. Sitting at the table that now had two chairs instead of one (Natalie ordered another for him last week), he buried his head in his hands. 

"Not a morning person, huh?" Marinette's voice was painted with amusement as she entered the kitchen. 

"No, coffee's over there." He gestured with the one hand that he wasn't using try and gouge out his eyeballs as if it would help with any of his problems. 

"Where's the sugar?" 

"Over there" Adrien pointed to the counter between the stove and microwave, perpendicular to the counter that held the coffee maker. 

"Thanks." A pause as Adrien heard the clink of a spoon against a cup as it mixed in sweetness into the bitter blackness.  "Do you have creamer?" 

"Nope." His gaze jerked to her as he heard the *clank* of the spoon fall. The look on her face showed her obvious distaste over the statement. 

"You don't have creamer?" She repeated her question. 

"No?" He answered hesitantly, bewildered at the way she was looking at him like he was insane. 

"What do you put in your coffee, then?" 

"I don't? I drink my coffee black." He watched her nose scrunch in aversion as he took a rather large (larger than normal) sip from his cup. 

"You poor child, you have been corrupted." Adrien snorted at her dramatics, but decided to play along; 

"What the black of the coffee is consuming my soul?" 

Mock horror filled her face as Marinette came to rest her hand on Adrien's shoulder. 

"Adrien, I think we need an exorcism. I'll get the priest." Her voice gravely serious. 

They stared at each other, their faces rigid masks of sobriety, neither willing to drop their mask before the other. But Adrien had years of practice of hiding his true emotions, Marinette didn't stand a chance. 

To her credit, Marinette gave Adrien a run for his money, but even she couldn't last against Adrien. Her lips started twitching, she closed her eyes against Adrien's raised eyebrows, trying to get control of her emotions. But soon her hand came up to cover her mouth as her body began to shake with hidden giggles. Before long she gave up, and let her laughs escape. Adrien allowed himself to grin as he watched her come undone, her fingers quavering in mirth on his shoulder. 

Finally, still giggling, she moved to the other side of the table with her coffee cup. 

"God, it wasn't even that funny."  

"You sounded like, Alya, there for a minute." He joked. 

"Thanks, I was trying my best to channel the drama queen." 

Adrien grinned at her again before taking enough sip of coffee. Marinette had finally composed herself enough to take a drink of her coffee without choking on it, but her cheeks were still rounded in a smile she couldn't get rid of. 

As the adults drank their coffee, awkwardness settled in. Adrien normally started his mornings alone and never had to make conversation within his own house (house? suite that is still attached to his father's house? Can that be called a house? Maybe a playroom?). He let his eyes flicker from the steam drifting from his cup to the girl across from him. The awkward silence continued until Adrien felt like he was choking on it. 

I have to say something, anything. But what do I say? God, she must think I'm so lame, I mean I am bu--

His inner thoughts (read anxiety) was interrupted by a small cough and a pained smile from across the table. 

"So, any plans for the day?" Her voice was overly bright, as if trying to hide the fact that they were married strangers which only succeeded in pointing it out more. 

"No plans for me, thank god, Natalie finally gave me a day off." Another sip of black. "What about you?" 

"Mm, well my stuff should arrive today, so I'll probably just be unpacking. And you know, getting acquainted with your apartment and everything." 

"Ah, I'll help with your unpacking." 

"Oh! Y-you don't have to! I didn't mean-- I can--"

"Marinette," Adrien started softly, "It's alright, I want to." 

"Okay." 

Another awkward pause. 

"Well, I'm going to go ahead and shower. You know, get ready for the day." 

"Sure, sure. I'll, um, watch for your stuff." 

Marinette nodded before moving to get up. Looking a bit unsure, she turned back to Adrien. 

"I, um, put the cup in the sink right? Do I need to wash it?" 

"No, no. You can just rinse it and put it in the dishwasher." 

"Ah, okay." 

The awkwardness settled over them like a heavy blanket as Adrien heard the water run. He pointedly looked down into his cup as if he was suddenly very interested in his coffee as she crossed the kitchen and living room into the bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, Adrien dropped his head into his hands once again and groaned quietly. Little did he know that Marinette mirrored the action behind the bedroom door. 

"And I'll just need you to sign here, sir." 

 Adrien nodded as he took the clipboard and pen from a nameless man who was here only to drop off a faceless woman's belongings. 

"Alright, we'll just set these in here. Do you mind leaving the door open for us?" 

"Sure thing." He murmured as he handed back the clip board. He watched as the man took it back to the truck and started to unload boxes with the help on another man. He scurried out of the way as they began to move boxes into the living room. 

Adrien watched as boxes filled the room, scattered here and there, with markings on them dictating the contents; such as clothes, fabrics, pictures, sewing, and one, oddly enough, marked with lights. Busy with thoughts involving what the light box entailed, he didn't realize the moving man fluttering around him; hopping from foot to foot anxiously. 

"Um, sir?" Adrien turned to him, a small smile apologizing for his inattention and gesturing for the man to continue, "what should we do with the plants?" 

"Plants?" Adrien questioned. The moving man beckoned him to come outside. And the sight that met Adrien left him gawking in surprise. 

Thirty plus plants greeted him as the men looked at him in mirrored confusion and amusement. Plants of all sizes littered his drive way, from a cactus in a three inch pot to a big leafy plant in a red and black, spotted pot that looked like it weighed fifty pounds. As he stared around, shock was replaced with beguilement and endearment. 

Chuckling, he headed back inside, calling over his shoulder; 

"Bring them in." 

Marinette's panicked voice called his name across the apartment as he and one of the moving men struggled with that large leafy plant Adrien had noted earlier. 

"What was that?" He called back, swearing under his breath as a gigantic leaf hit him in the face yet again, the moving man looked around at him helplessly as they searched for space to put the plant. 

"Over there, in the hallway." He grunted to the other man as he waited for Marinette's reply. 

"How--turn--in shower--its--big--overflow?" Marinette yelled from behind the door.

"What? I only got half of that!" He yelled back, working to set down the plant in the hallway leading past the bedroom to the spare rooms. 

"Turn off--do---use---blue knob--hurry!" Adrien could hear the annoyance and frustration leaking through Marinette's voice. 

Adrien straightened up in satisfaction, exchanging smug looks with the moving man as they had finally sat down the plant where there was space and wouldn't block anything. He was about to turn back to go see what Marinette needed when he heard the bedroom door open. He heard the moving man cough, and looked up with a frown to ask if he was alright, when he saw the blush on the man's face. His eyebrows raised in surprise, he quickly turned around as he heard stuttering. 

"H-h-how do yo-you turn o-f-f-f th-the goddamn-n show-wer?" 

Adrien easily understood the man's reaction as he saw Marinette. She was standing in the hallway; three feet away, in front of the bedroom; soaking wet and with only a towel wrapped around her. Her dark hair was loose and Adrien was close enough to see the water dripping off the strands to run down her skin and disappear into the towel. Her entire face was flushed with red, her embarrassed flush continuing down to decorate her freckled shoulders and to meet the top of breasts just barely peeking out of the white fluff of the towel. 

It took Adrien three seconds to process that Marinette was standing there wet, naked and only in a towel. It took him five to realize that there was still two other men standing there staring at her.  It took him seven to react. 

He quickly gripped her wet (nude ;) ) shoulders, and gently pushed her back into the bedroom, calling back to the moving men before closing the door; 

"Alright, it seems that we're done moving everything! You can go ahead and head out!" 

The door closed with a click, Adrien took in a big gulp of air as Marinette's cheeks burned an even brighter red. 

"T-the s-s-shower," She stuttered, a habit she thought she left back in high school, "I d-don't know h-how to turn it off, and- and I-I'm-m-m afr-afraid that, that it's g-going t-t-to overflow. I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't realize th-they were still h-here." 

"It's okay." He tried to comfort the girl who was nearly in tears due to the embarassment, but he wasn't sure how as anywhere he would touch...

"A-Anyways," Get away from those thoughts, Agreste. He thought, "let me show you how to turn it off." 

With a hand on her covered, lower back, he steered her into the bathroom. There he showed her how his shower dials worked as she looked over his shoulder. He couldn't blame the poor girl for not being able to figure them out after all, his dad insisted on getting the fanciest, most expensive, most complicated fixtures for his en suite apartment. 

"Thank you. I'm sorry. " Marinette sniffed, not meeting his eyes. 

"Its okay, don't worry about it." Adrien rubbed her lower back again, trying to comfort her the best that he could. He was about to leave to let her get dressed, but hesitated as he remembered something she once did when he fell into a puddle at school and nearly cried from embarrassment. Steeling his resolve and with his fingers still pressed onto her lower back, he leaned in and kissed her head. 

"Hurry, and get dressed; we have to figure out what to do with all of those plants." He murmured into her hair before quickly exiting the bathroom. He closed the bathroom door, and let out a deep breath as his cheeks burned and his heart raced. But amidst these troubling physical complications, a smile grew on his face and he left to go try and organize the boxes a bit. 

"You name your plants?" Adrien snorted as he unpacked her sewing machine and put on his old desk. A week ago he cleared out one of the spare rooms that was his office, but that he never used. He wanted Marinette to have a space to call her own. And when she arrived, she decided that she would convert the space into a workroom. 

"Of course! Each one of them are vastly different after all!" 

"They're plants!" 

"So?!" 

"Okay, okay. If you say so." His smile mischevious as he looked over his shoulder. Marinette scrunched her face before throwing a puff ball at him. He turned around in time to bat it out of the air. 

"Such a cat." She murmured under her breath. 

"Hmm? What was that?" 

"Nothing." She said innocently, but Adrien could see the smirk bleeding through her features. 

He grabbed the bag of puff balls and started launching them at her. Left with no ammunition, all Marinette could do was use her hands to defend herself. Her small body shaking laughter. 

"Alright, alright! I surrender!" 

Adrien paused; his arm pulled back, taunt. He gripped the fluffy puff ball in his hand as he held it back farther, and watched as Marinette shrunk away, giggling. 

"Promise?" 

More giggles. 

"Yes." 

"I don't believe you." His eyes narrowed as he watched Marinette give a fake gasp. 

"Adrien, I'm hurt." Her expression becoming angelic as she batted her dark eyelashes up at him. Her blues eyes peaking through, expecting him to cave under that hypnotic look...Adrien didn't want to admit it, but it might have been working. 

"Fine. But I'm watching you." He sniffed and turned back to finish unpacking the box he was currently working on.

Marinette laughed out loud. 

"C'mon, we need to finish this so we can have dinner." 

Adrien made a sound of agreement. They had been unpacking all day and this was the last room. They had unpacked her clothes, hung them up in the closet; shoes and a number of other things covering the previous, unused floor. And suddenly makeup and facial cleansers covered his bathroom counters. Most of her boxes, went into this room; Mannequins, bolts upon bolts of fabrics, two sewing machines, countless boxes of threads, and needles, and measuring tapes. The walls were covered with images torn out of magazines, collections carefully cut out of catalogs and pictures of Marinette and her friends; some Adrien recognized, and many that he did not. 

Oh, and the plants. Many of the smaller plants were in here, as well as two large ones (including that fucker who weighed fifty pounds). Plants were scattered around his apartment too. A couple of succulents in the bathroom,  a small lemon tree sitting in the corner of their bedroom, medium sized plants and flowers strewn all around the kitchen and living room. Adrien was pretty sure that she even managed to sneak a few into his workout room. Its not that Adrien minded the plants, in fact he loved them, but he just wasn't used to having so much...life around. 

Adrien's focus zeroed in on the only box they hadn't unpacked; the box labelled lights. He went to stand by it. 

"Hey, Marinette, what's in this box?" He called, only able to see her butt as she crawled under the table where her sewing machine sat, trying to plug in it. 

"Go ahead and open it." Her voice muffled. Adrien looked down at the box before tearing off the tape. As he opened the box, his bafflement only increased. In the box was...lights (shocker). They almost looked like the Christmas lights they put on the Christmas trees in the mall during December, but these were a bit more delicate looking. The plastic surrounding the wiring of the small light had more detail, little shapes and patterns etched it it. 

He looked up as he heard Marinette's laugh, she was looking up at him and his confusion from the floor. 

"They're decorative lights. My mom calls them fairy lights." 

"What do you do with them?" Adrien was still trying to grasp the concept of these "fairy lights". 

"You string them up on the walls."  She responded, getting up to stand at his shoulder. She pointed to the walls, and Adrien let his view be guided with her finger. 

"Why?" He asked, bewildered. 

"They look pretty." She said simply, Adrien looked at her, bewilderment still etched on his face. 

Marinette blew out a breath. 

"I don't know, they just...kind of make me feel warm. Like they're little lights twinkling at me in the darkness, giving me all of their light...even if it isn't much...I just really like them, I know it sounds stupid." 

"Its not stupid." Adrien's voice barely above a whisper as he looked at the small lights with a new look of preciousness. 

Marinette glanced between Adrien and the lights before she spoke; making her voice as soft as his,  she asked; 

"Will you put them up for me, Adrien?" 

He nodded, setting the light down gently before leaving the room. He reentered with a chair, nails and a hammer. As he positioned his chair, he grabbed the hammer and nails and climbed up onto the chair. 

"Can you hand me the lights?" 

Marinette fed him the string of lights. The only sound between them the *boom* of the hammer as it connected with the nail.

"Am I doing this right?" He murmured to her as he strung the lights up onto the nails. 

"Yup! They look perfect." 

After a few more minutes of silence and hammer noise, Marinette voiced hesitantly; 

"Um, would you mind if I started dinner while you finished this? I'm not really doing anything anyways." 

Adrien chuckled before replying. 

"Not at all, the faster dinner is done, the quicker I get to eat."  

As Marinette left, all that could be heard in the apartment was the sound of hammering and the slight humming of happy blue eyed girl. 

By the time Adrien was finished, Marinette was almost done preparing dinner. He grinned as he saw the impact she already had on his apartment. Warmth emitting from the plants placed on coffee tables and counters, pictures scattered around made it seemed like people actually lived here, blankets piled on the couch and occupied one of the chairs seemed to glow with a emotion he couldn't place. And there in the middle of it all was Marinette; ingredients littered the counter as she stirred something in a bowl, pans dispersed all over counters,  something on the apron she had unpacked. Never had his home felt so much like...well, like a home. As he watched her search through cabinets, attempting to set the table, he smiled to himself again before going to help her. Their exchange was silent, other than Marinette asking where the plates were. And before long, they sat down to eat. The awkward silence started to settle over them again, when Adrien's phone rang. 

The name on the caller ID: Natalie. Adrien sighed. 

"Sorry." He mumbled to Marinette. She gestured that it was fine as he picked up the phone. 

"Hello? Yes, Natalie? Huh, okay." Adrien pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker, placing it on the table. 

"She wants to talk to both of us." He murmured quietly to Marinette and saw her nod. 

"Hello, Natalie." 

"Hello, Marinette. I apologize for interrupting your evening but I had something important to discuss with both of you." 

"It's fine, Natalie." Marinette said at the same time Adrien asked: "What do you want to discuss?" 

"I'm calling to discuss the details of your honeymoon." 

Adrien choked. 

Author's Note: So I'm baaackkk! And with the longest chapter to date of 3809 words! (Don't quote me on that) This chapter is laced with a ton of metaphors, subtle hints, and hidden angst; have fun finding them, my children! Mwahahaha 

I need help 

Love, 

Cutesylittledemon