SLOWLY FALLING FOR YOU (α∂яιєηєттє)

Chap. 16

I unlocked the door to the mansion, knowing full well that Father was going to be extremely mad because I hadn't gotten home in time. I also had a photoshoot today, but had decided to not show up because I wanted to hang out with my new friends. If I explained that to Father though, would he understand from my point of view, or would he be the same harsh father I'd known all my life?

I entered the mansion to immediately hear voices. One of them belonged to Felix, the other belonged to Chloe and the last was Nathalie's voice. I walked to the living room, where the three of them sat talking, and when they heard me come in, they instantly looked at me. Chloe started walking over first, before hugging me, like we hadn't seen each other in months.

"I missed you, Adrien," she muttered, "you're barely home anymore, and when you aren't, you're always with your new friends. You never make time for me anymore." She took two steps away from me, tears pouring out of her eyes like a waterfall. I just stood there and stared, not knowing what to say.

"Chloe, why does Adrien always have to be with you?" Felix folded his arms as he shook his head. "He has a life, he likes his new friends. He doesn't always have to be with you. Now stop crying and deal with it!" Felix rolled his eyes as he walked past us, walking up the stairs to my room.

Chloe huffed, angry at the words being spoken to her. "I never really did like that cousin of yours. He never understands, and for some reason, he already hates me. I never did anything to him!"

I didn't say anything to that. Instead I turned to Nathalie and asked her where Father was. She gave me the shocking news that Father wasn't home yet, which was quite unusual because Father liked coming back home early so as to get ready for my photoshoot. He must be working late today. Father barely worked late, so it really surprised me that he was willing to let my photoshoot pass today.

"Anyway Adrien, there's something else I would really like to talk about with you," Nathalie motioned for me to come closer to her, and when I did, she folded her arms. "I didn't want to talk about this before you came home, and I certainly don't want to push this conversation till later. It's all over the news now." When she said that, I wondered what she was talking about. At first, it didn't click, but when I looked back to see Chloe, having teary eyes all over again, I suddenly understood what it was about.

"The kiss. . . with Marinette?" I pretended I wasn't sure of what Nathalie meant as I just stood there, waiting for her to give me more information. I couldn't believe that the news of me kissing Marinette was already all over the news. It actually started to worry me, as I wondered what Marinette would think of all this. She may have played along with what I was doing, but there could have been a possibility that she didn't like it at all.

"Why would you. . .go and do that? You know your father told you not to worry about dating right of this age," Nathalie was still folding her arms, but I wasn't sure if she was just pissed off for what I had done, or just worried that I was going to get into trouble for it. "And Marinette of all people? A baker's daughter? You also know that your father doesn't like you getting mingled with these type of people. Marinette is one of the owners of the bakery, and if you're dating her, who's to say that you're not disobeying your father and eating unhealthy pastries behind his back?"

I knew she had a point, but I didn't want to admit to her that I'd already eaten the pastries from that bakery. I just shrugged and told her it wasn't going to happen, before turning around to head to my room. Chloe was still standing there, hand on the door knob, like she was determining whether to leave now or stay for a bit longer. Her face looked wetter with tears than it had been before, and I could actually see the snot coming out of her nose. She turned away quickly though and opened the door to leave. I wasn't sure whether to feel bad for her or just be glad that she's finally learnt her lesson. Maybe both. Trying to forget about it, I headed upstairs.