Hello, my lovelies, miss me? Well if you didn't and just want to get on with the chapter that you guys have been pretty patiently waiting for(thank you) skip the next paragraph. If you actually semi-care about why I've been so inactive, well stay tuned because I'm about to give you my excuses. First: School. Second: Scholarships. Third: Finals. Fourth: I have to make major life decisions about what I want to do and what college I want to go to. Fifth: I like sleep... No but seriously, all of this crap has left me with little to do time to write, but now it's winter break and I don't have a life or friends who will come visit me *cough* *cough* (Dora) because they all live an hour and a half a way, so now I have some time for this. :'D.

*IMPORTANT INFO FOR CHAPTER* So all of you that just want to get on with the chapter, here ya go. I tried to make everything as accurate as possible but if its not please let me know, and I'll try and fix it. Ladybug and Chat Noir are not necessarily in this story, and I haven't decided yet if I will have high school aged Marinette and Adrien(their past selves) as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Just a quick disclaimer. Oh! Also, I just found out that Natalie's name is actually spelled Nathalie so I will be going back and fixing that. T_T

"Honeymoon?!?" Adrien managed to choke out, a rather incredible feat since he was still choking on the concept it's self.

"Yes, Adrien," Nathalie said impatiently. "Of course, it'll mostly be for publicity but I'm sure you guys will have some free time."

Adrien heaved a giant breath, about to let out a gigantic groan as he buried his face in his hands. But in a sick turn of events, he just had to blow out hot air, when Marinette cut him off.

"When were you thinking for the h-honeymoon, Nathalie." Adrien's cheeks burned when Marinette stumbled over the word "honeymoon", her eyes glancing up before deftly looking down. She seemed to be concentrating profusely on the phone that sat between them.

"About two weeks from toda--"

"Sorry, but I can't do that. I have a huge project due in two and a half weeks." Marinette cut off Natalie, causing Adrien to glance up in preparation for war; after all, Nathalie NEVER let him cut her off.

"Can't you get the work done before your deadline? Or I'm sure Mr. Agreste will allow an extended deadline." Nathalie responded calmly. Adrien's jaw dropped in disbelief; there was the slightest hint of frustration inching into her voice but nothing near the attitude she always gave Adrien. 

Adrien had to mask his laugh with a cough as he watched Marinette roll her eyes. He had never seen someone roll their eyes so hard in his life, and he use to hang out with Chloe.

"Nathalie, both you and I know, that Mr. Agreste doesn't do extensions. Besides that, part of the project is to have your designs walk the runway aaaaannnnddd I have clients already lined up who will not react well to an extended deadline either."

"Well can't you speed up the process and get it done a few days early?" Nathalie tried again, her voice almost a beg.

Marinette went silent. Even Adrien knew how impossible and rude it was to ask a designer to shave days off their time to prepare a line. Especially since, often the time his father gave his designers was the bare minimum. He had walked through the designing floor during the time nearing an important deadline; he could literally hear the stress from the zip! of the sewing machines, the cutting of fabric, the muffled curses from a pin prick and the occasional sobbing coming from a corner. The designers needed all the time they were given and asking a designer to shave not only an hour but days off their time was...

Marinette took in a deep breath, her chest expanding, before blowing it out in a sigh.

"Even if I could manage to do that, Nathalie, the quality of my line would plummet. And I still have to walk my designs on the runway on the designated date and time."

"Well." Nathalie huffed.

"Well, indeed." Marinette's voice had taken on tones far past irritation until it reached vexation.

"I suppose that we can move it until right after your project," Nathalie sniffed. "Would three weeks work for you?"

"Sure, that's fine. Nathalie. "

"Well, now that's settled, the question is where you want to take your honeymoon? "

Adrien and Marinette exchanged looks of panic. Trying and failing to communicate with their eyes, the line filled with silence.

"Of course, if you two can't decide, I'm sure Mr. Agreste and I can choose an appropriate place..."

Horror filled Adrien at the idea of his father picking a place for his honeymoon. He could already picture Nathalie suggesting a romantic getaway in the Bahamas filled with romantically cheesy crap that all tourist love to do.

"Lugano!" He blurted out. Marinette stared at him in part surprise and part curiosity. He cleared his throat.

"Lugano, Switzerland, Nathalie."

"Noted. Now this call has gone far past the time I scheduled it to, I will be stopping by later tonight to discuss the next couple of week's publicity outings and such. I will be there at seven, promptly."

"Okay." Adrien mumbled, his entire figure slumping as he buried his head in his hands. This was too stressful, he thought.

"Goodbye, Marinette. Adrien."

"Goodbye, Nathalie." Marinette's voice soft. Adrien looked up to watch her receding behind her own hands. Her eyes darker than usual and her hands came to tuck themselves under her chin. Her lips were pursed and her eyebrows scrunched together. Even after all of these years, Adrien recognized her thinking face.

It's odd, he thought, she's changed so much since our high school days. She's radiant, and confident, and mesmerizing, I mean she was all of those things back then but somehow now all of these attributes are more... pronounced. Yet, I can still see parts of her that I remember back then. The stuttering, the facial expressions, the warmth emitted from her, her smile...

But Adrien felt that Marinette had never been her truer self than she was currently. Or perhaps that's not right; maybe it was just that he was seeing Marinette for the first time. He leaned his head on his arm, hiding half of his face as he pondered over her.

Somehow, all those little quirks and the parts of her I was never able to see have come together to create...her. Its like she was a puzzle I never completed to see the full picture...I could never put all the pieces together...maybe because she hid some of them. I wonder why...

Well whatever the reason, he thought, the full picture is really beautiful. A small smile hidden behind the arm he was resting his cheek against. He watched as she seemed to come out of her own contemplative state.

"So, Lugano, huh?"

"Ah, yeah. I mean you like plants right? And Lugano has plants, so yeah." He finished lamely, hiding his burning face in the crook of his elbow. His other arm coming up to frame his face in an L shape with his forearm resting on his head.

"Sorry, I should have talked to you first but I just--"

"Adrien, it's okay, " She giggled. "I mean, I do like plants, after all."

"Urnnnnn," Adrien drug his hand down his face. "Obviously, there's more than just plants; there's museums and shops and a lot of places to hike, and lakes and--"

"Adrien, it sounds lovely. I was only teasing." Marinette said lightly, while laying a hand on his arm. He gave her a small smile.

"I, just-- it's not romantic or anything, like I'm sure Nathalie or my dad would want; but it's really pretty and its a lot of fun. It's kind of quiet and quaint. I was only thinking that, even though we will have to do some publicity stuff, at least we might be able to go and do something new, you know?"

"It sounds great, Adrien. I really love the outdoors and hiking and stuff, so it sounds perfect, " Marinette flashed him a bright smile. "Besides I'm sure I can convince Nathalie for some free time scheduled around the publicity ploys."

Adrien chuckled.

"Its true that I've never seen anyone bully Nathalie like what you just did."

"I don't bully, I convince." She pouted.

He responded with an eye roll and a smile. She gave him a playful shove back, laughing as she got up and started clearing plates from the dinner table.

"Ah, I'll help." A silence settled over them again, but this time it was a slightly more comfortable one than before. And even though the only sounds echoing through the apartment were clinks of dishes and the running water in the sink, Adrien felt a warmth spread in his chest as he loaded soapy dishes into the dishwasher. Companionship is kinda, really nice, he thought.

"So you've got a big project, huh?" He asked as casually as possible.

And just like that, it was as if he had opened the flood gates. For the rest of the chore, they chattered(more like Marinette chattered and Adrien listened) about her designs and her plans for this project.

He was so entranced by how animated she got when talking about her designs, he didn't even hear his door bell the first time. It wasn't until the ding's came in rapid succession that they both stopped, sheepishly, and went to answer the door.

Adrien hurried to the door and pulled it open. There stood Nathalie in her pants suit, red turtle neck, thin glasses and her indifferent attitude; huffing in annoyance.

"I'm sorry to make you wait, we were washing dishes and couldn't hear over the water. Please come in, Nathalie."

Even through her emotionlessness, she still managed to shoot him a glare that made shivers run down his back.

She swept in and her eyes widen as she took in the state of Adrien's apartment. Obviously she wasn't used to his apartment looking like a human being lived in it either.

"Would you like to sit down, Nathalie?" Marinette gestured to the couch. She had asked politely, but Adrien thought that he heard some wry amusement in there.

Nathalie cleared her throat and the emotion slid off her face, resuming her trained impassive expression.

"Thank you, but allow us to go to the table, please."

Marinette nodded. Adrien followed her as they went to sit down. Since there was only two chairs, he pulled up the ottoman from the living room two steps away. As he pulled up in between the two powerful women, he watched Nathalie pull out stacks of paper from her brief case.

"I came to discuss some of the outings that we have planned over the next two weeks, " She explained calmly and detached. "Let's talk scheduling first; Adrien, I, of course, already have your schedule but, Marinette, would you mind if we see yours?"

"Of course, I'll go grab it." Marinette pushed back her chair and hurried down the hallway. 

That left Adrien and Nathalie...together...alone. An awkward silence pursued between the two adults.

"So you and Marinette are getting along okay?" Nathalie said, her voice just a detatched as it normally was but Adrien could see her eyes crinkle a bit. The most prominent sign of worry from Nathalie.

Adrien smiled a bit.

"Yeah, Nathalie, we're okay."

And just for a second, Adrien could see relief flash in her eyes.

"Adrien! Did you unpack my purse?" Marinette called from the bedroom.

"The pink one?" He turned in his chair and called back.

"Yeah!"

"I think its in the closet! In the container with all of the other bags! Right beneath my shirts!"

"Ah! Thank you!" Her voice quieting as she came back to the table, carrying a pink purse. She sat down and pulled out a small colorful booklet. "Here is my schedule." She explained, opening to the current month. Adrien's eyebrows raised as he saw tons of markings all over the days. His eyes were drawn to the day marked WEDDING DAY  in red. There were no doodles of flowers around this day like the date marked SPRING FASHION DUE. There was no little party hats and streamers stickers decorating this date like the one that was marked ALYA'S BIRTHDAY. No, the only thing that illuminated the day marked WEDDING DAY was the big blocky red letters. And, perhaps, the small dots of separation and smearing of red ink; as if water had accidentally dropped...

"Sorry, my schedule looks a bit hectic at the moment. Even though we're only assistant designers we have to keep the same timelines as the regular designers, which means that our deadline for next years spring and summer fashion is this summer, of course." She was a bit out of breath as she tried to regain her composure after hurrying this way and that so much.

"It's fine, we only have two and a half weeks before the honeymoon so there won't be too many outings. We wanted to make sure to romantic dinner, a romantic walk, a romantic day of running errands--"

"How can running errands be romantic?" Adrien interrupted to ask in confusion.

"Please, Adrien, " Nathalie continued as if not even hearing him. "And of course you two will have to go out together and do normal couple things."

"Like what?" Adrien asked, indignant over the irony of referring to them as a normal couple.

Nathalie sighed.

"I'm sure the marketing team will come up with something Adrien, I'm only in charge of scheduling these things."

"Okay," Marinette murmured. "I think I can do the romantic dinner this Thursday night, between seven and eight. Will that be enough time?"

"It should be, what about the romantic walk on this Saturday at three?"

"Can't, I have an important fitting then. How about this Sunday, same time?"

"Adrien has a photoshoot, but I suppose that can be reschedule for earlier in the day..."

"Okay, what about running errands? That'll easily take an entire afternoon...I suppose on my day off, but I was planning on working then...I guess I can just work before."

"Perfect, Adrien only has a fitting in the morning that day."

"That's tomorrow, huh?" Marinette muttered, more to herself than anyone else but Nathalie nodded even so.

And before his eyes, all of Adrien's spare time and even some of his not spared time, was snatched by Nathalie's publicity schedule. Marinette's hand was a blur trying to write in all the activities on the correct dates. He looked over her shoulder in horror, they would barely even have time to sleep!

"Alright, that should do it. I'll call you if we need to reschedule anything. I'm leaving detailed instructions for each date."

"Thanks." Adrien muttered, light fading from his eyes as he saw the stack of papers she left.

"Here, I'll walk you to the door, Nathalie," Marinette looked up from her increasingly messy schedule.

"Thank you, but I'll be fine. Have a good night. Marinette. Adrien."

Marinette nodded and Nathalie gathered her brief case and showed herself out.

Adrien heard the door slam, but didn't even register it, as dates and events swirled through his head. A blank, dazed look decorating his features.

"Adrien?"

He heard Marinette's soft voice and vaguely felt her small hand on his arm. He turned his blank eyes on her face. As he looked upon her sad smile, and worry creased forehead, he recognized the numb look in his eyes mirrored in hers.

He stood up abruptly, disrupting papers and pens. Outrage building inside him as he watched Marinette tried to scramble to put the contents of the table back in order. He laid a light hand on hers, causing her to pause and look up at him, in both curiosity and confusion.

"C'mon, Marinette." Adrien turned his hand to cup hers in his.

"Where are we going?" She asked as he guided her up, nudging her side-wards and half pushing in her chair with his foot.

"To sleep" He took her by the hand and lead her to the bedroom.

"But it's only like 7: 50!" She protested halfheartedly.

"Well, with that schedule from hell, we're going to need all the sleep we can get." He squeezed her hand, trying and most likely failing to reassure her, but he still had to try. This isn't fair to her, he thought for probably the billionth time.

She was silent for a beat before her hand returned the pressure.

"Okay."

Adrien woke up early the next morning, or well, earlier than usual. But as he blinked sleep from his eyes and turned over, the petite girl that was supposed to be sleeping next to him...wasn't.

Maybe this was all a dream, he thought in his half asleep state. But even in the half conscious state, the weight of the ring on his finger was heavier on his heart than it should have been. He drug himself out of bed and into the bathroom. Not really ready to start his elaborate skin care and self care routines as he turned on the shower. He sighed as he stepped into the steaming shower, hissing when the hot water hit his skin. Waking up a little more with each scorching minute, he washed his hair and tried not to think about the grueling schedule set for the next few weeks. Hell, the next few months.

Just breathe, Agreste. He thought.

He finished in the shower and got dressed, completely ready for some coffee and some breakfast. 

As he walked out into the hallway, he stubbed his toe on that motherfucking plant. As he swore, he thought for the umpteenth time of poisoning it indiscreetly. But as he had done for the umpteenth time, he flashed back to Marinette yesterday when she had begged him to drag it from her sewing room back into the hallway where it had been originally because it needed the light and the hallway had a convenient little window at the very end on the wall, before the entrance to the bedroom. Through much cursing on his part, he finally succeeded in getting that stupid plant into the spot she wanted it. Panting and glaring at the plant, he had asked;

"Why do you even have such a big plant? Isn't it a little big to be an inside plant?"

Marinette had looked up from where she was clucking over the leaves to shoot him a look of amusement.

"Well, it wasn't big when I got it. In fact, when I first got it, it was quite small. It was a birthday gift, so its very special to be. But I don't think the person who gave it to me expected it to get so big." She had shot him a mischievous smile before continued. "Nor do I think that he expected that he would have to move it around his apartment years later."

He had been confused, until he had remembered that he had given her a plant many years ago. For her sixteenth birthday...but it had only been a single stem and leaf then. His eyes had widened as he took in the huge leafy plant before him.

"Fuck, I'm sorry."

She had laughed, "It's alright." She had reassured him. "But I must say Plagg here is a bit...demanding sometimes." She had laughed again.

"So this one's name is Plagg, I'l be sure to put that name down in my book of enemies." He had muttered.

Adrien smiled, even as his toe throbbed, he could still hear her laughter echoing through his head. He headed into the kitchen. He frowned as he plucked a yellow sticky note stuck the the coffee pot. The note read;

Dear Adrien,
Had to get up super early and didn't want to wake you. I'll be home around one-ish for our afternoon outing. Have a good day!

Love,
Marinette

He felt the coffee pot, it was still semi-hot. He glanced at the clock, it was 6:47 a.m.. She must have had to made this over an hour and a half ago, for it to be this cold. He mused. How early did she get up this morning?

He sipped his coffee, and his eyes landed on a plant in the window, (said window that was letting an insulting amount sunlight stream into the kitchen. We really should get curtains, he thought.) As he took another sip of coffee, his focus zeroed in on the plant. 

Another plant he had given Marinette back when they were teenagers. However, this time, Adrien remembered, that he had begged her to take it. Someone had given it as a gift, but after a few weeks the beautiful red and black flowers had shriveled and wilted. Marinette had taken it, of course. She never would have left it alone, she had this amazing (sometimes annoyingly so) ability to take something so far gone and bring it back to life. The thing about Marinette (or what he remembered)was that once something was broken, she wanted to fix it and it frustrated her to no end when she couldn't fix something. Maybe that was why he always kept his distance...  But here it was, abundant with the ladybird poppies and still in the black and neon green pot, covered with paw prints, that he had given it to her in. She had named this one Tikki. Adrien reached out and lightly grazed one of the bright colored flowers.

I wonder--His thought was interrupted by the Ding!Dong! of the door bell. He sighed. Nathalie was here to take him to that fitting for some line he had to model.

He turned away from Tikki, away from her color and beauty and faced the cold and harsh reality that was his life.

"I'm here!" Marinette doubled over gasping. Nathalie stood a few paces away, huffing and tapping her foot. They were standing in front of the Agreste manor, where they were just waiting for Marinette, who was ten minutes late.

"I'm sorry! We had an emergency at work! One of the models for next weeks show--"

"We don't have time! Get into the car, the press and paparazzi are already waiting for us at Boulevard Haussmann!" Nathalie's voice was shrill and Marinette winced when she had turned her back. Nathalie, none the wiser, continued;

"I have the shopping list Marinette, emailed me last night. We're going to Boulevard Haussmann for home items then we'll head over to Avenue Montaigne for some clothing items. I have approximately 3 hours planned for this shopping trip so we may have to be quick."

Adrien leaned back on the seat he was already in and groaned.

They had walked back and forth in front of the same couch for forty five minutes. Paparazzi taking one shot after the next, and Adrien thought he was going to gouge his eyeballs out if one more photographer told him to smile more brightly or embrace Marinette more tenderly. He mouth was already starting to hurt and his palms had surpassed sweaty into regions he had never known possible. He could tell that this photo shoot was taking a toll on Marinette too. If her smile had been a bit forced in the beginning, it was now comparable to an animal baring its teeth as it was being threatened. After a few more minutes, Nathalie finally agreed with the photographers that they had enough shots.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and felt the action mirrored in Marinette's small body next to him. Nathalie turned to them.

"Okay, go grab what you came here for, quickly. And remember to keep holding hands and acting like a couple!" She called after them quietly as they rushed off, glad to finally be free for a few minutes.

"Okay, we need to grab curtains, a few more throw pillows for the couch...dish soap and laundry detergent..." Marinette muttered, looking around frantic.

"Don't forget the soap for the bathroom." He reminder her softly. 

"Oh right."

Adrien and Marinette rushed around, trying to grab whatever they needed before rushing back to where Nathalie was standing, waiting to sweep them off to another arrondissement.

And so she did. They were put through three more torturous photo shoots, not including the natural pictures the photographers got of them "shopping"( which was really just the photographers taking pictures of them buzzing around trying to gather the items they needed.).

Finally, after a grueling three and a half hours, they were finally done. Nathalie was, finally satisfied and Adrien and Marinette were, thoroughly exhausted.

"You two did well today. Shall I have the car take you two home?"

"Actually Nathalie..." Marinette started, "I promised my parents that I'd visit them, since I was going to be out. So I'll head over to Avenue Hoche to do that. Adrien, you can head home, if you would like."

"No, no, it's fine I'll go with you."

Nathalie seemed to waiver a bit.

"Well, alright. I suppose that would be okay. Just remember that when you're out in the public's eye, you two are a very happily married  couple who is very much in love with each other."

"Got it, Nathalie." Adrien said shortly, not bothering to mask his obviously irritability. Marinette squeezed his arm that she was holding.

"Would you like to use the car?"

"Thank you, Nathalie, but..." Again Marinette hesitated and looked up at Adrien before seeming to steel herself in her decision, "I think that we'll walk. We both need some fresh air after all those stuffy shops. We're near Avenue des Champs-élysées, and besides its not that far."

"Okay, if you insist."

"Yes, thank you Nathalie. We'll see you later." Adrien forced one more smile to come to his lips before turning away abruptly, hurrying down Avenue George V.

He breathed another sigh of relief as they put enough distance between the car and them.

"Sorry, I should have discussed it with you first but I just need to get out of stuffy places."

"It's fine, I honestly don't mind walking at all. Besides its not that bad, it's only about one and a half miles from where we are right now, right?"

She nodded, her eyes half lidded from exhaustion. Her arm still wrapped around his with her hand on his bicep. With his free hand he lightly nudged the top of her head until it was resting on his shoulder.

"Long day?"He asked gently. He literally felt her body suck in a deep breath and release it.

"You have no idea." She muttered.

"There was an issue with one of the models, you said?"

And off they were, chattering and complaining about their workdays. Before they knew it, their feet had carried them to 12 Rue Gotlib. The Boulangerie Patisserie stood in front of them, and once again Adrien was transported back into his Lycee years where he had spent some time here, playing video games and eating pastries. He smiled fondly at the memories. Lights glowed within the little bakery, bringing warmth to the darkening environment through appearance and atmosphere alone. His reminiscing was interrupted by Marinette shifting from foot to foot at his side. 

"We don't have to spend a lot of time here. My parents just have to make sure that I'm, you know, content and well- fed, and all--"

"Marinette, it's fine. Besides, we can get some food while we're here."

She giggled.

"I've been hearing your stomach rumble for over an hour. We can grab some tartines and jam while we're here since someone refuses to buy coffee creamer."

"I'll have you know, most of the French population takes their coffee black!"

"Yeah, but most of the French population eats a tartine and jam with it and if they don't have the luxury of living above a bakery like my old high school self, then they get creamer and sugar."

Adrien grinned as he opened the door for her.

"Would you go in already so we can get something to eat and not argue about coffee?"

She giggled in response,

"Gladly."

Adrien followed her through the door, smiling fondly at her bouncing at her toes and waving at her parents. He, somehow, made it through the guilt of Tom shaking his hand and Sabine wrapping him in a huge hug. And he, somehow, reassured Marinette that the affection was fine after she apologized. Somehow, he made it through without breaking down and telling them it was all a fraud, that it was all fake. Somehow, he made it through holding Marinette's hand and kissing her on the forehead and murmuring I love you into her hair for her parents to see. Somehow, he made it through the look in her blue eyes when he had said it. Somehow, he had made it through buying bread and pastries. Somehow, he made it make to his apartment and through a rather quiet dinner.

It wasn't until he was lying in bed, surrounded by darkness, the soft breathing of Marinette next to him, that he left himself break.

Over and over again, the image of Marinette's face circulated in his mind. The look in her eyes haunting him. That look that knew he didn't mean those three words he said to her. Knew that all of it was fake. Knew that the guilt was gnawing at his heart. Knew that he was pitying her and himself. Knew that he didn't love her.

And, finally, Adrien let himself cry.

Somehow.

Notes: 

Plagg, aka that big motherfucker, is an Elephant ear plant in a red and black spotted pot and is located in the hallway, under a window and he semi-obscures the walkway to the entrance of Adrien's bedroom. I (hopefully) have pictures of the plant above but if for some odd reason that doesn't work here is a link to the image. 
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/23/28030115_6956325934.jpg
Tikki is a ladybird poppy in a green and black pot with black and green paw prints. She is located in the kitchen window. I should, also, have this pictured above but if I don't here is a link of the image. 
http://www.timetocraft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ladybird-poppy-open1.jpg

Tell me if these notes helped. If you guys don't like these end of chapter notes and want them discontinued tell me in the comments. If you guys want other things such as some vocabulary or something else, tell me in the comments. Whatever you want to say, tell me in the comments. I really do love and appreciate every single one, even if I can't or don't always respond. 

P.S. I HAVE NOT SEEN THE NEW MIRACULOUS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL PLEASE DON'T SPOIL ANYTHING I WILL WATCH IT SOON I PROMISE.