𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐁𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 (𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐡)

chapter 3

Gabriel and Nathalie walked out of the mansion and towards Gabriel's black Mercedes. Gabriel, being the chivalrous man he was, opened the door for Nathalie, and walked around to the drivers side.

The two began to drive off, but Gabriel almost hit a lamppost on his way out of the estate's gate.

"Shit." Gabriel cursed as he just missed scraping his tires against a curb.

"Gabriel, how long has it been since you last drove a car?" Nathalie teased.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, "About a year, and I've still got it!" He looked over at Nathalie with a smirk.

"Eyes on the road! You've already hit quite enough things!"

Gabriel managed to drive the car the rest of the way, but the two agreed that Nathalie would be the one doing the rest of the driving. After the "adventure" the two ended up in a Walmart parking lot.

"Why, may I ask, did you take us to Walmart?"

"I haven't been to one of these in ages, so I thought it'd be nice" Gabriel shrugged.

The two put on sunglasses, hats, and jackets so they wouldn't be easily recognized. The last thing Gabriel wanted was to run into some annoying fans. He already dealt with enough annoyance from his frequent conversations with Audrey Bourgeois.

Gabriel grabbed a cart and the two entered the store. The two were very quiet at first. Gabriel wasn't used to being in such a common place and being around so many people, and Nathalie wasn't used to being so close to Gabriel in a non-work environment.

"Let's go to the toy section. I don't believe we need any more groceries." Gabriel joked, but in his usual demeanor. He dragged Nathalie along with him, a smile painting her face as she followed him.

"What do you want toys for anyway?"

Gabriel just shrugged. "These Legos look nice though."

"I'd bet they'd look even nicer if you got them to build with Adrien."

"Adrien has enough to occupy his time already, and I'm sure he's too old to be playing with toys. He used to enjoy these things more when Emilie was around, though."

Nathalie felt a pang of sadness in her heart for the father and son. She thought about how Gabriel was sacrificing so much to be Hawkmoth so that he could bring Emilie back, for Adrien. At the same time, Nathalie knew that it would be in Gabriel's best interest to move on from trying to bring her back. Adrien accepted that his mother was gone, but still cherished his fond memories with her. She knew Gabriel was just hurting himself further by thinking he could bring her back, and not moving on from his sorrow like even Adrien wanted him to.

Nathalie wanted to be with Gabriel, but this reminded her that it wouldn't be possible because Gabriel was still attached to Emilie. Nathalie still stood by his side because of her love for him, and all she wanted was for him to be happy.

Nathalie placed her hands on his shoulders. "It's going to be okay, Gabriel" she said in a soothing tone, "we're working together to bring her back, it will happen soon."

Gabriel rested his head on her shoulder. "I sure hope so, Nathalie."

It was rare for Gabriel to show his emotions to Nathalie like this, but it would happen every once in a while, especially when the two would battle Ladybug and Chat Noir together. Nathalie was flustered and didn't know how to react, but Gabriel brought her into a hug before she had the chance to do anything.

"Thank you, Nathalie. I wouldn't be here without you." Nathalie just embraced the moment and hugged him back.

After this Nathalie decided to get a Lego TIE Fighter for Adrien, as the Star Wars saga were his favorite movies, along with buying some Beats headphones for Adrien's friend Nino, and a sketchbook and pens for his friend Marinette, because Nathalie loved seeing Adrien wear Marinette's designs, she was truly talented.

Gabriel commented on how kind it was of her to think of Adrien's friends, and also commented on how he wished they would stop entering his house. Nathalie elbowed him for this, although she didn't particularly like Nino that much either because he was loud, but thought that Adrien would appreciate getting him a gift anyway.

Nathalie decided that she would tell Adrien to give it to them from Gabriel, because he knew it would make Adrien happy to know Gabriel actually cares about his friends.

After paying for the items the two left the store and got in the car, Nathalie entering the drivers side this time.

"Looks like we've still got a bit of time to kill." Nathalie said, "Where to now?"

"Are you a bit hungry? Maybe a cafe would be nice."

"Cafe it is." The two drove off to the nearest cafe and only Nathalie went in, as they didn't want to look suspicious with their "disguises" on, and it was just more comfortable in the car anyway. Nathalie ordered coffee and croissants for both of them.

"The croissant is quite good." Gabriel said, croissant still in his mouth.

"Yes, it is, but I'd have to say the Dupain-Cheng bakery down the street has better pastries. I'm sure you've had some before, their galettes are the best thing I've ever tasted." (Tikki would agree)

"Ah, I do remember the galette, it was astounding."

The two enjoyed their food mainly in silence after that, some small talk occurring here and there.

"We ought to go and pick up Adrien now." Nathalie suggested.

Gabriel nodded. "I really enjoyed spending this time with you Nathalie. I haven't been out of the house like this in a while, and doing this with you was like a breath of fresh air."

This made Nathalie's heart warm, and she smiled. "It was my pleasure to enjoy this time with you. Now I hope you can go enjoy some time with your son after this." 

Gabriel nodded and Nathalie drove off to pick Adrien up from the boat that the party was held on.
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Word Count: 1,019
A/N: So there actually isn't Walmart in Paris, but there's a chain that's basically just like it. Why Gabriel decided to take them to Walmart, who knows, he's an odd guy.