What About Us?

Chapter 16: I Want To Tell You The Full Story

~Adrien~
"Alya forgave me. I'm shocked, I was kind of a jerk for not texting her back." "Kind of? You were a huge jerk." I say as I put the pastries in the oven. "Too harsh dude!" I chuckle as the door to the bakery opens.

"Mail delivery for Adrien Agreste." The mailman says as he hands me an envelope. "I didn't order anything." "It's from the King and Queen." "You got a letter from the royals?! What does it say?" Nino asks as he rushes to my side.

"Chill Nino. They're probably just telling me to stay away from Ma-" I stop when I notice the man still standing there looking through his mail bag.

"Nino Lahiffe?" He asks as he pulls out another envelope. Nino furrows his eyebrows as he takes the envelope from the mailman. "Thank you." We say as the man walks out. "I got one from them too!" Nino says excitedly as he tears it open. I roll my eyes as I do the same.

"A masquerade ball? Awesome!" "Awesome? What's awesome about going to a party with a bunch of royals who hate people like us." "Your girlfriend is one of those royals!" "So is yours." "Alya and I aren't official." "Yet." "Hopefully soon." He says.

"So are you going to go?" "I don't know Nino. I don't want to get Mari in trouble." "Dude we're not sneaking in this time. They sent the invites specifically to us. That means they want us there." "Don't you think that's a little weird?" "Why would it be weird?"

"Do you not remember how upset the Queen got when Marinette invited us over?" "You're right. Do you think Marinette or the Queen sent the invites?" "I'm not sure. I'll ask Mari the next time I see her." Nino nods. "Well I have to get going. I'll see you later dude." "Bye Nino." I say as he walks out of the bakery.

~Marinette~
"Hey Chlo! What are you going to wear to the ball?" I ask holding two dresses against my body to see which one looks better as she walks into my room. "I can't make it. I'm going back home." "No! I completely forgot!" I say and throw the dresses on my bed.

"Don't leave me!" I shout as I pull her into a hug. "I don't have a choice Dupain-Cheng." "Please Chloe. I can't be alone again." "I'm sorry Marinette." "I'll be back in 2 months." "That's too long!" "I'll call you everyday." "It's not the same as you being here."

"I have to leave Dupain-Cheng." I wipe my tears as I pull away from the hug. "I'll kill you and Alya if you don't call me everyday." Chloe giggles. "And we'll kill you if you don't answer." "Hey! I always answer. It's not like I have anything better to do here."

"Chloe! We're leaving!" Her dad shouts from downstairs. "Go with the pink one for today and the blue one for tomorrow." She says pointing to the dresses. "I was thinking the exact same thing!" She giggles and pulls me into one last hug before she leaves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Marinette, dinner is ready." Tikki says as she walks into my room. "Thank you Tikki. I'll be down once I put on my shoes." Tikki nods and walks out of the room.

~~

"It's about time you join us." "Sorry mother, sorry father. I was putting on my shoes." I say as I sit down. "Excuses are simply not acceptable." "I'm sorry."

"Your mother and I were just discussing the terms of your punishment." "You were?" "We find it best to relieve you from it. You are now allowed to leave your room."

"Really?" They both nod. "Thank you." "But if you continue to be late for dinner we might have to reinstate it." "It won't happen again." "Good. Now if you excuse us, we have business to attend to." My dad says as he and my mom stand up from the table.

"But what about dinner?" "Enjoy it Marinette. We'll be back soon." "But-" "We'll just be in the throne room. Don't be so clingy." "Oh- okay." I say as they walk out of the room.

"You want me to bring the food to your room again?" Tikki asks sympathetically. "Um no it's fine. I wasn't really hungry anyways." "Marinette-" "It's okay Tikki. I'm going to go for a walk." I say with a fake smile before walking out of the room.

~~

"Mari! You're not wearing your disguise!" Adrien says as I walk into the bakery. "It's fine. I don't care if I get caught." "Is everything okay?" "Yeah I just wanted to see you." "What happened?" "Does something need to happen for me to see my- boyfriend?" I whisper the last word and he smiles.

"Of course not but-" "I wanted to invite you to a masquerade ball." "So you didn't send the invite then?" "What invite?" "Nino and I got an invite to the masquerade ball and we assumed it was from you." "I didn't send anything."

"That's weird." "Not that weird." Nino says as he walks over to us. "Almost everyone in town got an invite." "Now that's just crazy! No offense but my mother hates commoners." "Maybe she changed her mind. I am really charming after all." Adrien says and I roll my eyes.

"That's impossible. Once she has her mind set on something she doesn't change it." "Can we talk about this upstairs or something? People are taking pictures of you." "A few pictures never hurt anyone Agreste." "I don't want you to get in trouble Mari."
"Fine. Let's go." I say with a smile.

~Sabine~
"Your Majesties?" "You may enter." I say. The guard opens the door and walks in. "Her Highness has been spotted in town square walking inside a bakery." I look at Tom to see what he thinks we should do.

"Send guards to keep an eye on her so she comes to no harm, but do not let her see you." "Yes sir." The guard says and walks out.

"It's all going according to plan." He says. "If she continues visiting him then we'll be able to commence phase 2 during the ball." I say. "Right on schedule."

~Marinette~
"On the bright side at least you'll be able to see each other without having to sneak out." Nino says. "You're right." "I'll ask my parents about this later." "I got to go. See you later dudes." "Bye Nino." We say as he walks out.

"So you really had nothing to do with it?" "I wish I could say I did but no. I had nothing to do with the invites." "What invites?" Gabriel asks as he walks into the room. "I'm so sorry for intruding I was just going to leave."

"No need. I would like to know what invite you were talking about." "Her parents sent almost everyone in town an invite to a masquerade ball." "Did you receive one Adrien?" "Yes father." "When is the ball?" "It's next-" I start but Adrien cuts me off. "Next month."

"I hope you know that you will not be attending." "I wasn't planning to." Gabriel nods and walks out of the room. I immediately hit Adrien's arm. "Why did you lie?" "Because I want to go!" "Nino said you didn't want to." "But I want to spend time with you." I feel blush creep to my cheeks.

"I should get going." "Stay a little longer." He says as he pulls me into his arms. "Agreste-" "I know I know. You have to leave." "I'll see you soon." "Not soon enough." He pouts and I giggle. "Bye Agreste." I say and give him a quick kiss.

"Wait!" I turn around and face him. "Is everything okay?" "Yes. No? I don't know, but I need to tell you something." "What is it?" "I want to tell you the full story." I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "You need to know why my father and I hate royals. Specifically your fiancé."