< Friday >

"Breakfast! Breakfast!"

Marinette groaned as one of her eyes opened. She then sat up and looked around, remembering that she was in her room.

"Breakfast!" Amelie repeated continually as she walked towards her. "Breakfast!"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Marinette stepped one foot on the floor. Not just her back, but her whole body was still sore from having to run around all day, avoiding questions from people about her and Adrien. "Oh shoot!"

"What?"

"Today... Today is Alya's 18th birthday!" Marinette had her mouth hanged opened, and then she silently whispered. "I forgot to get her a birthday gift."

"Lets have breakfast first, and then we'll talk about it," Amelie said calmly. "By the way, I know you've already had so many people talk to you and ask you questions about it, so I'm not going to mention the kiss you shared with Adrien that someone caught on camera."

"You just did," Marinette rolled her eyes with a small smile. But then her smile faded as Amelie started leaving the room.

Is Amelie... The one who caught us on camera? Nah! It has to be Bette!

But Bette left... Didn't she? Maybe she came back and and caught us. Yeah it had to be her!

Marinette finally got out of bed, yesterday filling her brain. She didn't want to really think about it, but she couldn't stop thinking about it either. That kiss... It had been perfect. Okay, not perfect, but she just never expected her first kiss to be with Adrien. And she hadn't expected Adrien to be the one to close the gap between them, kissing her.

"Even if I like you... I can't date you..."

His words came back to her head as well. It was confusing at first; after all what did Gabriel have to do with Adrien and his love life?

She wanted to find it unfair, but in a weird, twisted way, she sort of understood where Gabriel was coming from.

"Marinette, you coming?"

"Yup!" Marinette yelled back. She quickly changed her pj's into a comfortable outfit that she was going to wear for the day, before she exited the room, walking to the kitchen.

"Maybe you should bake a cake for Alya," Amelie was suggesting as she put the food on the table. "I'm sure she would love a cake. Anyway, I'm going to call the rest to come have breakfast."

Marinette nodded and watched as Amelie left the kitchen. She looked at the food on the table, only to see that Amelie had left her phone on the table. The phone was also turned on.

Soon the phone got dark, signalling that it was going to turn off soon. Marinette didn't know what got over her, but she tapped on the phone, getting it to be bright again. Maybe the reason why she was so interested was because Amelie had a picture of her and Adrien kissing in the woods. Or maybe it was the fact that when she accidentally clicked on the app 'Camera', it showed the latest photo Amelie had taken, and it was exactly the picture of her and Adrien kissing in the woods.

I can't believe it! It was actually Amelie that took the picture and shared it around for the entire Parisian to see!

When she heard voices, she turned the phone off and went back to her spot. Amelie came back with Clara and Celia, saying that Adrien had slept over at Plagg's and Nino's room, while Savannah had left early in the morning to her friends. Marinette didn't seem to mind.

"So Marinette, how are you feeling?" Clara asked as she took a seat.

"Tired," Marinette sighed. "All these people asking me questions I don't want to hear."

She remembered when she was little, and she had always wanted to become popular. So she started working her butt off to get to where she was now.

Mostly the reason she did it was because she suddenly remembered that when her real parents were leaving her, her mother had told her to not let anything get in the way of her dreams, and she had listened.

Being famous wasn't necessarily a great thing either. You had all these people asking for autographs, and all these people asking questions and wanting you to answer them truthfully.

Marinette remembered when she had come to school, and everyone was all over her, telling her how great she did at her show, or how awesome she was to win the competition, or how lucky they would be to be just like her.

Soon she had held a press conference, saying that she appreciated all these, but needed them to stop as she was not going to drop out of school, but was not going to keep going to school to have people circling around her. Soon, most of her schoolmates stopped and it relieved her.

"I feel so bad," Clara said truthfully. "I mean, big deal, you kissed a guy. Why is everyone so obsessed with your love life?!"

"Not just any guy, but Adrien!" Celia exclaimed. "I mean, people are just excited because they've always shipped Adrien and Marinette together." Celia sighed as she turned to Amelie and Marinette. "Clara is the only girl I know that isn't really interested in celebrities and their lives. She didn't have a Lady-Blog account, so I helped her make one."

"Whoa! Girl, you are going to love Lady-Blog!" Amelie said with a promising smile. "Anyway, before I forget... Today is Alya's birthday, and I'm insisting that we bring her a gift."

"You tell us this now?!" Clara covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Well whatever. At least Celia and I already got her birthday gift."

"Shoot, you have? I haven't even gotten her anything."

"I'm sure you'll think of something, Marinette," Celia assured, grabbing her fork. "Now let's dig in!"

~~~

Adrien woke up with a headache. He saw Plagg laying carelessly on the floor and he instantly felt bad. Because everyone knew Adrien hated sleeping on the floor, Plagg had offered him his bed and he had gratefully accepted it.

It had been awkward when they were hanging out. Luckily Plagg didn't get mad at him; he actually kept his promise and didn't lash his anger out on him. But no matter how many times Plagg said it was okay, Adrien knew it wasn't.

When Plagg had first told him he liked Marinette, he was shocked, because he too liked her. But he hadn't said anything, because even if he liked her, he couldn't really have a go at her. So he gave Plagg the chance.

When Plagg asked for help, he didn't know why he had agreed to help him; he just had. Maybe it was because he wanted to be there for his friend, or help him get something he wanted. One thing for sure, it was because he cared.

A knock instantly came on the door as he walked to open it. Opening the door, he surprisedly found Miss Bustier behind it.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Adrien. I just came to inform you that your father is here."

Adrien could feel his heart thumping faster and faster. This was what he feared the most; his father. He hadn't expected his father to come here, but if he did, then that meant he had already seen the pictures of him and Marinette kissing. He was going to get extra pissed off if he knew Adrien was the one who made the first move—twice.

"W-why is he here?" He tried not to stutter as he spoke.

"He didn't tell us why," Miss Bustier was already preparing to leave. "But he asked us to bring his son over."

"Alright, I'll be there in 10 minutes." Adrien shut the door and turned back to his friends; Plagg, who was still sound asleep, and Nino, who was beginning to wake up.

Adrien took his phone out to see if there were any new text messages from Gabriel, maybe telling him that he was coming. Surprisingly there was.

☆☆
☆☆10:34pm|G - you'll be heading home on Friday. I'll come to pick you up☆☆

Adrien widened his eyes in shock. This message was sent last night, so that means Father had heard about me and Marinette earlier than that.

He couldn't leave. He had planned on staying the full time, even though there was practically only one day left. And on top of that, it was Alya's birthday today. He wanted to be here for her, even though he and Alya weren't exactly that close.

"Hey Adrien, where are you going?" Nino was rubbing his eyes as he slowly stood up from his bed.

Adrien sighed. Even though he didn't want to leave, he knew he was going to leave. There was no point fighting his father. Once Gabriel had made up his mind, don't expect him to change it.

"My father is here. I think he saw the pictures of me and Marinette," Adrien quietly explained. "He must be so mad, so I'm probably going home today."

"Want me to come with you?" Nino was already standing up, and Adrien couldn't bring himself to say no, so he just nodded.

Soon the two boys were leaving the cabin, Plagg still sound asleep in his room. As soon as Adrien stepped outside, he felt all of his nervousness kicking in again. He wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing his father.

"There he is," Nino pointed at the man who stood, busy, talking to Miss Bustier, Gorilla standing right behind him. "Adrien, maybe you're wrong. Maybe it's not about the kiss."

"It's going to be about the kiss," Adrien slapped his forehead. "My father has a Lady-Blog account."

"Oh well then, you're so done for," Nino shook his head as they neared closer to Gabriel.

"Adrien!" Gabriel didn't look at all pleased to see him. "I'm sure you already know what this commotion is all about. I don't have to explain, especially in front of everyone."

Adrien nodded, not wanting to make eye contact with his father, or anyone for that matter.

"Head to the limo. We're heading home!" Gabriel spoke sharply at Adrien. He turned to Gorilla and both men began walking away with Adrien walking in front of them.

As soon as they were far away from the others, Gabriel turned to Adrien again. "I told you, but it seems like you love disobeying me instead!"

"I'm sorry, Father. I tried, I really did!" Adrien looked away. "I tried not to get close to her, but how could I when she lived across from me. I tried not to kiss her, but how could I when I still have that big crush on her?!"

Gabriel didn't say a word after that. They got to the limo, and Gorilla opened the door, allowing Gabriel and Adrien in, before he slid into the driver's seat.

"What would be my punishment?" Adrien blurted out.

"This is your punishment. I don't want to go too hard on you. Anyway, next week, you'll be staying home from school. I figured... Maybe the more you're away from Marinette, the more you lose feelings for her."

"But what if I don't-"

"Do you really think you have a say in this?!" Gabriel tried not to raise his voice. "Just stay away from her. If I have to keep you in for a month, I will do that! And besides.. I was planning on replacing Marinette as my assistant."

"What?! You can't do that!!" Adrien couldn't believe his ears. "Marinette has always wanted this. You can't take it away from her just because of the mistake I made!"

"If Marinette is my assistant, she would need to come over to the mansion sometimes, and I can't have her in the same place as you!" Gabriel explained. "On Sunday, I'll tell her that she's getting replaced."

"I... I... Who are you replacing her with?!"

"I don't know yet, but if you have any ideas, don't hesitate to come to me."

Adrien clenched his hands into tight fists as he looked away.

I'm so sorry, Marinette.
It's all my fault!

~~~

Word Count: 2040 (including this)
- Edited -