Too Young For Love (On Hold) ~ A Miraculous Love Story

Chapter 16: Checking In

"Kid, what are you doing?"

Adrien sauntered down the sidewalk. Over the years working as a model for his father's company he'd grown used to public praise, with people gushing over him and taking photos of him to send to their friends and peers.

But after all the years he'd been gone from Paris people didn't seem to recognize him anymore. More filled out with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he was far from the youthful boy he'd used to be. If only Ladybug could see him that way, no longer the boy who'd let her down, but the young man who wouldn't.

"I'm going to see Marinette," he replied.

Plagg peered up at him from inside his blazer and frowned. "Are sure you're gonna see her? Or are you just showing up for the kid?"

Adrien sighed. "I just want to make sure everything's okay with him. Besides, he hasn't even gotten the chance to meet Adrien."

"Talking about yourself in the third person? This whole mess has really made a mess in that big old head of yours. Stick with cheese. You buy it, you eat it and you get another one. So much less complicated."

"First of all," he replied, "I'm the one buying the cheese, and secondly, there's nothing wrong with me wanting to get to know Hugo a little better. He's Marinette's son after all."

"The son who isn't yours."

Adrien swallowed hard. The truth had been hard to deny, but he'd managed somehow. Of course meeting Hugo hadn't made things any easier, with his cheeky smile, sparkling eyes and unsatable curiosity, he was practically perfect.

He stopped outside the bakery. With the sun out fully, he could see the lack of changes made to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It still had the same bright yellow wording printed against the glass with shelves filled with delicious pastries reading for the ceiling.

And he remembered Marinette's balcony, the times he'd gone up there after an akuma attacks and saving her like he had from The Gamer. It felt like so far away now, back when they were children and stressed about homework assignments instead of bills and other mouths to feed.

Like another world.

Adrien walked in the bakery and the bell above the door jingled to announce his arrival. Tom looked up from the counter, wiping it clean from flour that had managed to cover almost everything in front of him.

"Adrien, what a pleasure it is to see you back!" Tom marched around the cash register and made his way towards Adrien, grasping him in a tight hug and raising him slightly off the floor. Adrien wheezed, trying in vain to keep the larger man from crushing him.

"It's good to see you too, Sir."

"Sir?" Adrien's feet touched the floor again and Tom took a step back. "No need to be so formal, now, we've known each other for years. I even baked your birthday cake."

The last one he'd ever had in Paris during his sixteenth birthday. Ironically it was Chat Noir themed, with a little figurine of him shaped like Manon's old dolls. It'd been one of the best birthday's he'd ever had.

"Grandpa! Are you done yet? We need to put the cake in the oven." Tom moved back and Adrien found himself at a loss for words.

Hugo was dressed in a little chef's outfit with a tiny hat and flour covering his entire face. White power caught in his hair and his little fingers were stained with food coloring. Hugo's eyes widened as he looked up at Adrien and, for a moment, Adrien worried whether or not he'd recognize him as the late night superhero.

"You're tall." he said.

Tom laughed softly, patting the boy's back encouragingly. "Hugo, I'd like you to meet someone very special." He gestured to Adrien and the blonde waved awkwardly. "This is Adrien Agreste, one of your mother's best friends."