Me without you-MLB

A new Gabriel?

Gabriel Agreste was livid. Once again, Ladybug and Cat Noir had defeated his Akuma. He couldn't understand how a couple of teens were always able to find a way to ruin his plans. At this point, he was not sure what else to do. Not even finding another miraculous and combining it with an Akuma helped him succeed. Why couldn't the universe understand that he just wanted to see his wife again?

Gabriel was tired. He had fixed the peacock miraculous and combined it with the moth miraculous, causing the akumas to be ten times stronger but still had managed to fail. Not only that, but due to the use of the damaged miraculous, Natalie was still sick and under bed rest. Gabriel felt guilty. After all, if she hadn't tried to help him, she wouldn't be in this situation now.

Every time he looked at Natalie, his heart broke. Yes, that's right, he had feelings. Gabriel only masked them with a cold demeanor so that people wouldn't pry in his life. The truth was that even though he loved and missed his wife, his lifelong assistant Natalie had stolen a piece of his heart. But even then, he did not want to give up. Not just for himself but for his son. Adrien needed his mother just as much as he needed his wife.

Gabriel knew Adrien loved and missed his mother, and all he ever wanted was to make Adrien happy. Gabriel was never the one to know how to parent, that was all Emily, and without her, both he and Adrien were completely lost.

After his trip to New York, Gabriel felt as if he needed to find a different way. Maybe he needed to move on? He was not completely sure yet, but he didn't think about it too much since he decided to spend time trying to feel less guilty by making sure Natalie recovered quickly. He felt that it was his responsibility. Natalie had always been loyal, and she would do just about anything for him. Gabriel secretly admired that about her. Not that he would ever say it out loud.

Earlier today, Gabriel realized that he had not thought of becoming Hawkmoth at all today. He was distracted caring for Natalie that even when he felt negative emotions, he ignored them to stay by Natalie's side, and to be honest, being close to her made him feel oddly happy. Almost complete.

Not only was he distracted by Natalie but also by his son. For the first time in a long time, Gabriel had noticed his son's actions. Ever since Adrien returned from his trip to New York, he had been acting differently. Gabriel couldn't explain it, but the more he watched Adrien, the more he realized his son had a sparkle in his eyes. The same sparkle Emily had when they were together. Adrien looked happy?

Well, that was until last night when he noticed his son sneak out of the house, only to come back oddly disappointed. Gabriel wondered what had happened but didn't ask since he was not certain on how to even speak to his son without upsetting him. When he noticed Adrien had left, he could've sent his bodyguard after him but decided not to since he seemed happy.

Adrien, on the other hand, had not noticed his father's company. He was too busy wrapped up in his world to notice that his father was around and to be honest, he didn't think his father cared. Gabriel hadn't shown he cared before, so why would he now? I mean, he had to make an appointment just to be able to speak to his father. How messed up was that?

The thing is that Gabriel did care. Well, in his way, that is. During these past two days, he would constantly check up on Adrien silently and even noticed him staring at a picture of his pigtailed classmate once or twice. What was her name? The girl that made that feathered derby hat for his competition. Oh, that's right, Marinette! Marinette Dupain Cheng.

Gabriel remembered the look in his son's eyes when he had sent the car over to bring him back home early. Adrien looked broken! He remembers how his son stared at his classmate with a look of hope in his eyes as if he wished she had asked him to stay. "I wouldn't mind being stuck a little longer with a friend like you" those were his exact words to his friend. Was Adrien in love?

Gabriel was confused. Did he really miss so much of his son's life? When had Adrien grown up? And wasn't he dating Kagami Tusuri? Had they broken up? Of course not, Mrs. Tusuri would have called to express her disappointment by now, and Gabriel knew they couldn't afford that it would hurt his business. He had expressed to Adrien how important this was. In fact, he was the one who told Adrien to agree with this relationship, but he thought Adrien also wanted this. He never once complained. Could he have been wrong? Was Adrien in love with his pigtailed classmate instead?

Gabriel wanted to know. He wished his son would trust him with the details, but Adrien seemed distant. Had he made it so difficult for his son to talk to him? Had he really pushed his son away from him? Part of him wanted to change that, and last night he took the first step.

Last night Gabriel decided to bring up the name of Adrien's pigtail classmate to see his reaction. Making up an excuse of needing another derby hat, he asked about Ms. Dupain Cheng. Upon the mention of her name, he was shocked to see how Adrien's eyes lighted up and sparkled brightly. His smile grew so big as he spoke of how talented she was it reminded me of how I looked at Emilie when we first dated. Gabriel always thought Adrien hardly smiled because he missed his mother but had he been wrong? Had his son came to terms with his mother's disappearance and now had a new reason to be happy? If his son had done so, should he?

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Natalie was awoken by the loud sound of footsteps running in the hallway. She slowly got up to come across Adrien. "Adrien, you seem excited" Natalie stared at the young boy who was basically trying to run out of the door. "Hey, Natalie, sorry to have woken you up. You really should be resting. But umm y-yeah I am just really excited to see my friends. Anyways, bye Natalie." Adrien answered, practically jumping in the car. Natalie smile and walked back to the room to see Gabriel waiting for her. "Yes, sir, he definitely is happy."

Adrien jumped with joy in the car. He couldn't explain it, but the thought of seeing Marinette's bluebell eyes and gorgeous smile made him feel warm inside. Oh, how he wished he was the only one she looked at. Wait, what? No, Adrien, you have a girlfriend. Marinette is just a friend, right?

The car had barely come to a stop when Adrien had already opened the door and ran out. Adrien stopped in front of the steps as his eyes spotted his best friends Nino, Alya, and wow, is that Marinette? WOW, she looked Wow! "Beautiful," Adrien mumbled quietly. Marinette certainly looked breathtaking.

"Adrien are you going to talk to them, or are you going to drool at the sight of your giiirrrrrllllfffffrrrriiieeeeennnnddd??" Plagg teased. "Shut up Plagg, Marinette is just a friend. You know I am dating Kagami," Adrien responded, annoyed. *Yet he didn't deny he was drooling* Plagg thought.

*Wait, was Marinette early?* Adrien thought. *Who cares? She is here, and she looks absolutely gorgeous. Snap out of it, Adrien, you shouldn't think that about your friend. It doesn't matter if she is smart, gorgeous, caring, and- wait, what? * Adrien snapped out of his thoughts and not being able to wait any longer he ran towards his friends.

"Marinette!"

(Okay everyone, get ready for the heartbreak! Sorry but things have to happen. Don't hate me! Also just wondering what you thought so far. Should I add some fighting scenes? Maybe some LadyNoir? Talk to me. Comment below.)