Under The Mask 🎭 (a Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

-11- Late Night Calls

"I cannot believe you're dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Gabriel stands with his arms crossed behind his back, Adrien standing a few feet away.

"What do you mean, Father?" Adrien asks, confuses. "There's nothing wrong with Marinette."

Gabriel turns around, glaring at his son. "She's not good for our brand. Our brand represents the best of the best and that girl is a nobody."

"Marinette is not a nobody!" He shouts back. He's not one to raise his voice at his own father, but when it comes to Marinette, he couldn't hold back. "She's really talented. You should see the dress she's working on."

"I don't want you seeing Marinette anymore, Adrien." Gabriel turns around, done with the conversation. "End of discussion. Am I clear?"

"NO!"

Gabriel turns around, an eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"

"I love Marinette, Father." Adrien stands his ground. "You loved Mom, didn't you? Would you let someone stand in the way of that?"

Nathalie walks in. "Sir? A moment?"

Adrien lowers his head and walks out, sighing. No matter what his father said, he wouldn't stop loving Marinette. She makes him happy, truly happy, after his Mom's disappearance.

Plagg sticks his head out of Adrien's shirt. "Your dad sucks."

"Don't say that, Plagg," He whispers, frowning. "He's probably just looking out for me, but he can't make me stop seeing Marinette."

"Adrien! You may come back in," Gabriel shouts from the other room. Adrien walks in slowly, afraid of what his father's going to say. "I've had a change of heart. Prove to me that this Marinette girl is worth it and I will allow you to keep seeing her."

Adrien smiles big. "Really?! But how am I supposed to do that?"

"Invite her over for dinner tomorrow night." Gabriel walks over and places a hand on Adrien's shoulder. "If you're going to date this girl, I should formally meet her, don't you think?"

Father's actually showing an interest in my life?

Adrien's so blinded by the absence of his father's love that he doesn't realize how strange it is that his father suddenly changed his mind. He hugs Gabriel before running up to his room to call Marinette.

She picks up on the first ring. "Hi! Hey!"

"I have to ask you something." Adrien assumes by her silence that she's starting to silently panic and quickly says, "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. I promise."

"Oh. That's good. What is it, Adrien?"

"I want to invite you over for dinner tomorrow night so you can officially meet my father."

Marinette's eyes widen. Shocked, she drops her phone and races to pick it back up. "Wait, what?! You want me to meet your dad? For real, Adrien?" Quietly, she adds, "He's kind of scary."

Adrien laughs. "It was actually his idea. He wants to meet you, Marinette." He forgets to mention the fact that his father told him to break up with her unless he could show Marinette was worth it.

"Wow. That's so sudden, don't you think?" She bites her thumb nail.

"It's not like we're getting married."

Getting married... "We could, though." Her eyes widen. "Ah! I mean, eventually. Not now, of course. We're too young to get married. Although, I heard in America you can get married at sixteen years old if you have your parents' permission. I'm sure mine would say yes, but I don't know about your dad-"