Second Chances

boundaries ----------->chp16

Adrien looked at the clock for the umpteenth time in the past hour. He was running late and being late to the event his father was hosting would be absolutely embarrassing.

"Will you calm down?" Marinette said.

And then there was Marinette. She seemed to have done a one-eighty since lunch, reverting to her normal, relaxed state instead of being wound up like a spring. He absently wondered what Alya did. "Sorry," he said. "I got a late start on dinner for Emma."

"I could have brought something," she said. "I should have brought something."

"You're fine," Adrien said, hastily throwing on his overcoat. "I should have started earlier. Now where are my car-"

Marinette held up his car keys and his wallet, which Adrien took in relief.

He didn't expect her, however, to straighten his overcoat, smoothing it out along his shoulders in a strictly professional manner. "Take a breath," she said, reaching up to undo the black bowtie that did not want to remain straight. "You're getting worked up over nothing. You'll get there in plenty of time."

His heart was doing very not-acceptable things right now as he stood shock still out of habit while Marinette fixed his hair. He felt like he was fifteen all over again, standing still like the model he'd been raised to be and getting flustered of the attentions of a girl.

But experiencing those two things at one time was a very new feeling to him.

"There," she said, smiling at her work the same way the designers used to do. "Now get going."

Adrien managed to give her an appreciative smile-or at least he thought he did-hoping that his face wasn't red. "Thank you." With that, he headed into the kitchen where Emma was eating her dinner in order to give her one last hug before he left. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, daddy," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

He pulled free and kissed the top of her head. "Have fun with Marinette."

"I will."

There was a comfort in that as he then ran out to his car. He practically sped to get to the event, but he made it just in the nick of time, taking his seat right before the clock struck six and garnering a strict look from his father in the process.

"Sorry," Adrien quietly apologized. "I tried to get here as fast as I could."

His father hummed. "Well, you are technically on time."

The dinner began, Gabriel starting off with some speech that Adrien didn't care to pay attention to. It was for show, anyway. Just like Adrien's smile as he pretended to pay attention to his father. This pattern continued for the entirety of the night. By the time ten o'clock rolled around, Adrien was exhausted from playing his least favorite game: navigating facades. Unfortunately, someone dropped their guard for a mere second and began a verbal sparing match with Mr. Rossi, obligating Adrien to enter the fray.

Adrien did his best to defuse the quarrel between the two investors, a task made twice as difficult by the way Lila was hanging on his shoulder begging for him to stop the madness. He managed to complete that task, managed to avoid Lila's 'kiss of appreciation', and managed to get himself sent home by his father.