Dead

Confidence

"Can Adrien stay the night at our house tonight?" Marinette asked her parents, walking up to them. Her parents stop talking to Lieutenant Roger and turn to us. They look between us and glance down at our hands, which were still intertwined.

"Are you sure, sweetie? I'm sure his father-" Marinette's mother began. I didn't want to be rude but I definitely didn't want to go home tonight.

"Please, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng? It'll be fine. My dad's usually busy anyway. He won't miss me." I assured her. Sabine brought her hand to her chest, as if what I said hurt her. I wasn't going to lie to them but I wish the truth wasn't so heartbreaking.

"No problem, son." Marinette's father tells me, and I turn to him. "We can set up the guest bedroom for you. But make sure your dad knows where you're going. I don't want him coming by our bakery again."

"Again?" I ask, turning to Marinette. She looks at me, just as confused.

"It's nothing. He just came by earlier asking if we knew where you were after finding out that Marinette was missing."

"He thought I was keeping Adrien away?" Marinette asks, sounding a little angry.

"Don't worry. We made it clear he wasn't welcome there anymore. But I don't want him stomping over there, upsetting our customers, looking for his son again. Or his partner."

"Partner?" I ask. Tom wraps an arm around his wife and points behind me. I turn to see what he was looking at and found my father talking to Nathalie. I always thought my father saw something in Nathalie but he always denied it whenever I asked him about it.

"Why don't you go ask?" Marinette says, squeezing my hand.

"Will you come with me?" I ask, nervous. I was afraid he'd start yelling and force me to come home if I went over there alone. Marinette smiles softly and nods.

"Let's ask Alya and Nino to come too. It wouldn't look good if he started yelling at a bunch of teenagers." Marinette suggests. I nod and we go off in search of our friends. We find them by one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower, Alya on the phone.

"Oh, here they are." Alya says, looking up. She pulls her phone away from her ear and presses a button on it. "Say 'hi', guys." Instantly, a chorus of greetings come from the phone in Alya's hand, each of them belonging to one of our classmates.

"One at a time!" Nino shouts, coming closer. "Rose, why don't you-"

"How dare you disappear on us like this again, Dupain-Cheng!?" Chloe screams. Marinette scrunches down like a mouse and looks ashamed.

"No offense, Marinette, but it did give us all a fright." Alix says over the phone.

A chorus of 'yeahs' came through and Marinette's expression turned sad.

"I'm sorry for worrying you all." She says, meekly. I could tell she was on the verge of tears so I squeezed her hand. She looked up at me and she visibly relaxed.

"It wasn't like she did it on purpose." I protest. "You think she got herself lost and didn't call anyone because she meant to?"

"What's your excuse, Adrien?" Kim calls out.

"I, uh, fell asleep." I chuckle nervously. "I was kind of tired today and passed out in a park." The class starts in on me, Kim making fun of me not getting my beauty sleep.

"Alright, I'm hanging up because my phone's about to die. See you all in class tomorrow." Alya says. An echo of goodbyes comes through the phone and Alya hangs up, sticking the phone in her pocket.

"What's up?" Nino asks, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. I glance at Marinette and she nods supportively.

"Marinette's parents said I could spend the night at their house but I have to tell my dad." I tell them, anxiously.

"So?" Alya asks, looking at me. "Walk up to him and tell him then. Why do you need us?"

"Als, you've never met his daddy-o, have you?" Nino asks, and Alya shakes her head. "That dude is wicked scary. He's really mean and is the kind of dude who takes pleasure in people's bad moods. Man is worse than Hawk Moth!" Alya whacks him and glances at me but I laugh softly.

"No, that's actually pretty accurate, I'd say. I'm surprised he isn't-" I stopped and looked at Marinette, eyes wide. Catching on, she whips her head around and I turn to find my father walking towards us.

"You have to come over tonight to discuss this, no matter what." Marinette whispers frantically to me. I nod and turn to face my father as he comes towards us, Nathalie trailing behind. Marinette takes my hand again and squeezes it, boosting my confidence. My father stops directly in front of us and immediately puts his hands behind his back, looking between us.

"We're leaving now. Come along, Adrien." He turns and begins to walk away, expecting to be followed. I almost do but Marinette's stops me. I look down at her and find a fierce expression of determination on her face.

"No." She says, calmly but forcefully. I look up to see my father stop and turn back to look at us.

"No?" He repeats, and I see his arms tense. "What makes you think you have a choice, Miss Dupain-Cheng?" My father asks, turning fully. Marinette turns to me and, taking my hand in both of hers, nods. I take a deep breath and turn to my father. He turns his gaze to me and I take a deep breath.

"Father, I will be staying at the Dupain-Cheng residence tonight. Please have Nathalie send me my schedule for tomorrow and have Gorilla come pick me up there tomorrow."

"Absolutely n-" My father stopped as Alya and Nino came up on either side of Marinette and I. I glanced at Alya to find her arms crossed, her eyes fierce, daring my father to take me away. I turn to Nino and find him with a similar expression, hands in his pockets, standing close to Marinette.

"Adrien will be staying with us tonight." Marinette speaks up. My father turns to her and he gasps, as if he saw someone else. I watch his lips form a name and a shiver travels through me as I realize what he said.

Emilie. My mother's name.

My father straightened up and looked down at us in turn, before his gaze stopped on me. He kept glancing at Marinette and it made me uncomfortable, especially if what I was thinking was true.

"Very well." My eyes almost popped out of their sockets as I heard the words come from him. "Adrien, you may stay at your friend's house tonight but I'd like to speak to you tomorrow." I hesitate, not liking the way he was watching Marinette. She obviously felt the same because I felt her hand trembling in mine. I squeezed it and shook my head.

"No. I'll let you know when I'm free, or I'll have my assistant contact you." I say, wrapping a protective arm around Marinette's shoulders. I feel her calm slightly and hear her draw in a small breath.

My father continues watching us, narrowing his eyes at our obvious intimacy. He nods slowly and, without another word, walks away. Nathalie looks back at us once more before hurrying after my father, tablet in hand.

As soon as they're out of sight, we all breathe a collective sigh of relief. We burst out laughing and I hug Marinette in excitement, proud of her for giving me the strength to finally stand up to my father. I notice Nino do the same thing with Alya, spinning her around.

"I'm so glad he left!" Marinette gasps, her eyes bright. They dimmed and she looked down. "Adrien... why was he looking at me like that?"

"I noticed that, too." Alya says, coming up with Nino. "It was creepy."

"I think it's because you remind him of my mother." I say and she looks up at me, shocked. I nod, solemnly. "We need everyone."