When Adrien finally emerged from Marinette's bedroom, after taking a pretty much-needed shower himself, she was already sitting at the kitchen table, talking and laughing with her parents. That struck a chord inside him more than he'd care to admit out loud. While the sight of his loved one being carefree, happy, and the sheer luck of being allowed to see her like that did warm his heart pleasantly, the sight of a united family definitely stung a little. He did remember blissful mornings not too unlike this one, but they went back so long ago that their memories were faded, leaving only vague impressions and feelings instead of clear images. The last family meal that he could recall distinctly went back way before his mother went missing.

As if he was reading his mind, Marinette's father spotted him awkwardly standing in the doorway and snapped him right out of his nostalgic thoughts. "Hey there, son. You hungry?"

Adrien shyly smiled back, a little uneasy by the sudden attention focused on him. "I don't want to be a bother, sir, I will just grab something on my way to school..."

Tom tossed him a whole plate of various baked goods and motioned for him to sit beside his daughter. "Nonsense. Now sit down and eat."

He obeyed a little bit too fast, sending Marinette into peals of laughter. "Dad! You're scaring him!"

The huge man looked sincerely contrite, an expression quite misplaced on such a mountain of kindness. "Oops. Not intended. Sorry, son."

Adrien smiled shyly, a hint of sadness in his eyes that wasn't lost on Sabine and Tom, even if he was looking fondly at their daughter. "Actually... This is very nice. Thanks a lot. I'm not quite used to eating breakfast with... people."

Tom shot a knowing look at his wife before putting his enormous hand on the young lad's shoulder. "Son, you're more than welcomed to spend the night here as often as you want. You'll always have a place at our table from now on. And if things were to get more serious with my lovely daughter..."

Marinette bolted from her seat, her face bright red up to the roots of her dark hair. "DAD."

"What? I've been eighteen and in love too! I know how those things work! We didn't order you on eBay, you know!"

Now Marinette was clutching her hands to her ears, even redder than before if it was possible. "Not listening, Dad! I don't wanna hear it!"

Tom laughed heartily at his gem of a daughter acting silly, then returned his attention to Adrien. "Anyway, what I was saying is when the day come, I'll sleep better knowing you're both safe and warm here."

Adrien was so shocked by the kindness and acceptance of Marinette's family that all he could utter was a weak and almost inaudible, "Wow... t-thanks, sir."

"No 'sir' for you, son. It's Tom and Sabine from now on."

This time, the blond's smile was genuine and without a hint of sorrow. "That really means the world to me. Thanks."

Sabine chimed in, patting his arm reassuringly. "Nobody should be left alone. Even a golden cage is nothing but a cage."

Adrien nodded pensively before eating a few bites of his delicious croissant with a newfound appetite.

God, he really loved the whole package deal that came with Marinette. Everything about her, from her double identity as Ladybug, her mind, body, and soul, her ups and downs, to her welcoming family, was totally wonderful.

And there he was, only having an estranged father and his cold assistant to offer her in exchange-

"Shit."

Sabine raised an eyebrow quizzically. She knew about his strict upbringing, so it was likely out of character for him to swear like that. "Is something wrong, Adrien?"

"Natalie will be mad! She must've spent the whole night trying to find me!"

Despair could very easily be heard in his voice. Consequences would be terrible if his father found out about his nightly escapades. So far he'd been able to them a secret by never leaving before 11 p.m., and being back before 5 a.m. But this time around, he had messed up badly.

"Relax, boy," Tom said while helping himself to another serving of chocolate croissant. "You've come to help Marinette catch up on school work. You were both way beyond exhausted, so we lent you the spare bedroom. We live closer to the school anyway, so it made sense you'd walk Mari to school this morning."

Marinette raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Dad, we don't have a spare bedroom."

"Right, but this... Natalie, am I right? doesn't know that."

Adrien's eyes widened. "You called her, si-Tom? You lied to her to cover up for me?"

"I did. Yesterday evening. Everything's fine."

He couldn't believe his luck. He had gotten to spend the night sleeping with his loved one, and he wasn't even in trouble for it. "How can I even thank you, s-s-Tom?"

"Make my little girl happy. That's all I ask."

Adrien grinned at that, seeing as it was what he fully intended to do anyway. "Fair enough."

The remaining of the breakfast seemed like a fantasy come true to Adrien. Being able to touch her, hold her, talk to her was enough of a dream in itself, but it now came with the privilege of sustaining a rather entertaining conversation with her parents and eating a delicious breakfast obviously made with a lot of love. All things he only could wishfully dream of, up until today. To him, this morning was by far the best he had in years.

Time to get ready for school quickly came, with a sour reality check of its own. "Shoot. Gotta head home, after all, I hadn't planned on staying the night, so I don't have any clean clothes to change into. Can you tell Mr. Lebel I'll be late, Mari?"

The young woman looked at him with a mischievous smile dancing on her lips. "Actually, I think I can help with that."

This time, both her parents and Adrien were astonished. "You do?"

Marinette grinned, happy with the little stunt she pulled. "Come upstairs, Kitty, I may have a thing or two that would fit you."

"Alright, but no pink!"

"No promises!" she replied, her laugh laced with true bliss. She took his hand and led him back upstairs, leaving her parents alone with their knowing smiles and happy whispers.

---

Once they got to her bedroom, she quickly dug herself in her wardrobe, obviously searching for something very specific. Leaning on her bed, Adrien felt comfortable enough, channeling a little of his Chat Noir persona, to tease her a little. "You really do have men's apparel in there?"

The sound of her voice was muffled by her fabric surroundings. "Not much, but some pieces. You remember making fun of me as Chat because of all the Adr-well, all the posters of you?"

He smiled fondly at that memory. The lie she had fed him then was so weak that he had known all along it was bullshit. "Yeah, I do recall seeing my sorry face everywhere in here at some point. And you trying to convince me it was for inspiration purposes only. I didn't buy it a single bit, but honestly I thought you only were a fan. Never brushed my mind that you could have a real crush on me. You still had troubles talking to me back then."

She blushed, grateful he wasn't able to see her face and mock her about it. "Don't remind me of that, that's mortifying. Anyway, when I told you I was using these images for inspiration and designing, I was only half lying."

"Huh?" Now he was really confused. How can you half lie about something?

"Found it!" He heard her little victory shout from deep in her closet. He sat back down, curious to see what she was so eager to find that would, according to her, fit him. She emerged from behind some dresses and feathers that menaced to trigger his allergies, something carefully tucked under her arm. "What I'm saying is that, through the years, I managed to have an overall guess of your measurements... Gauging you roughly at school, and with all the photo shoots in the magazines, it wasn't really hard to figure out your size. Every time I do men's apparel, I base them on you."

She handed him a neatly folded sweater, knitted in a soft, thin cotton yarn. It was black as the night can go, with a single stripe of green to complement his eyes circling the v-neck. The knitting was so even he had to double-check to make sure it wasn't a bought fabric instead.

"W-What's this?"

"This was meant to be your Christmas gift. I intended to knit another scarf to make a set, but here you go."

Adrien's face fell immediately. "Another scarf?"

Marinette started nervously fidgeting with her shirt, refusing to look at him. "Haven't said anything about a scarf, have I now?"

His stare darkened. "Mari. I think we can agree secrets don't do us any good."

"Y-yeah..."

He took her chin, gazing into her azure eyes. "What's this scarf story then? Why did you say another scarf?"

She looked at him, infinite sadness clouding her blue gaze. "Remember that blue wool scarf you received for your birthday a few years ago?"

Adrien nodded carefully, not sure how to deal with the change in her attitude. She looked so uneasy and pained that he wanted to hug her and comfort her. "The one my father got me? Sure, what about it? Did he ask you to make it for me?"

She shook her head, unable to look at his expression now. "No, he didn't. I spent weeks creating the design, then I knitted it for your birthday."

He looked utterly dumbfounded. "B-but... Mari, why didn't you say anything?"

She fidgeted with her signature pigtails, looking out the window instead of him. "I was planning to. In my excitement to get your gift to you, I forgot to sign it. The next day, at school, I intended to tell you it was from me... then I overheard you talking to Nino about how happy you were your dad had actually remembered your birthday that year. I couldn't bring myself to break your heart, and besides, it was more than enough for me. My gift had brought you happiness."

He stared at her for a moment, trying to process what she had just admitted. Could she really be reaching this level of perfect? "Mari, you really did knit that scarf for me?"

"Maybe."

"And you kept it hush just because I was thrilled to think my dad had bought it for me?"

She was turning her back to him, refusing to face him. He took the opportunity to dig in. "Is there anything else I should know, princess?"

He felt her tense even if she was a few feet away for him.

"Nothing. I don't have anything else to tell you, Adrien."

He got up, embracing her with his long and slender arms. "Don't be afraid, love. I won't mock you, I promise."

She buried her face in his chest, breathing heavily. Embarrassment was clouding her features. "I may, or may not have sent you a Valentine's Day unsigned poem three years ago."

His eyes widened, remembering the perfect response to his own poem, signed with a real ladybug no less. "That was you? Should've guessed it. After all, I put my draft in the class garbage can, so it was bound to be someone from our class. I don't know why I haven't thought about that before. Anything else, my lady?"

She tensed a little more. "I may or may not have left an embarrassing voicemail on your phone rambling about how hot you were and how I couldn't manage to say a sentence straight in front of you."

He chuckled, his nose buried deep in her hair. "Never got it."

"That's because I broke into the boys' locker room and erased it from your phone before you even got a chance to listen to it."

This time, his smile was a little dark, sad. "Mari... Why did you hide all of this from me all this time?"

She hugged him even tighter. "I was terrified you would reject me if you knew I liked you. Scared you would choose her over me."

He kissed her jaw, unable to back away from her. "Don't you think it would have saved us both time and pain?"

She shook her head. "Well, you really were already in love with Ladybug, Kitty. What good would it have done us?"

He hugged her tighter. "Maybe I would have got to know you better without resorting to visiting you as an alley cat. And fall in love with you all over again."

She blushed even deeper. "We can't change the past. I'm just happy you managed to get me to listen to you and knock some sense into that thick mind of mine."

He grabbed her chin softly, forcing her to look at him. "You were hurt, Marinette. Don't belittle yourself like that."

She nodded softly before planting a light tender kiss on his lips. "Alright, Kitty, let's get you dressed for school."

Adrien pulled the knitted sweater over his head, amazed at how light and breathable the fabric was. And of course, it fitted him like a glove.

"Wow, Mari. It's beautiful."

She blushed a little. "Thanks. I have some white and plain socks I can lend you, but you'll have the wear the jeans you had on, I have yet to make any man's pants."

"Not a problem."

When they went back downstairs, Sabine couldn't hold back an exclamation of admiration. "Look at that handsome young man! You made that shirt, Mari?"

"Yeah."

Tom grinned. "Those fingers of yours really are magical, honey."

Adrien nodded, intertwining his fingers with hers, and Marinette blushed deeply, her mind reeling with all the implications such comment could hold in the young man's head.

Oblivious to her embarrassment, her parents shoved lunch bags in their arms and urged them out the door, wishing them a good day, inviting Adrien for dinner along the way. Once outside, Marinette blinked, unsure of what had just happened. "W-What?"

Adrien laughed softly. "I think your parents just adopted me."

"I sure hope not, that would make us brother and sister."

"And we wouldn't want that," he retorted, pulling her to him for a light peck on the lips.

"Let's get you to school, Romeo."

Without even realizing it, he took her hand into his before leading the way, a smile never leaving his face.

He was finally happy.