Captured in Time - MLB Félinette Fanfiction [DISCONTINUED]

Right by Him and You

"You know, you act a lot like he used to," Marinette said as she took a bite of the delicious-looking dinner in front of her.

Félix reheated some roasted salmon, pairing it with reheated sauteed broccoli and carrots in oyster sauce. News flash: it didn't taste good.

Marinette tried not to let it show, her eyes twitching as she forced herself to chew, chew, chew, swallow. It didn't run down her throat so smoothly she had to swallow a second time, and now she's sure Félix caught on to her unappreciation. He chuckled softly.

"I understand it doesn't taste good," he said and took a bite as well, and his reaction was nearly the same, minus the eye twitches. "I'm not a very great cook, as you can tell."

"I wouldn't blame it on your skills. I think it's because it's been reheated," she coaxed and it wrought another chuckle from him.

His chuckle was so cute.

Marinette cleared her throat as soon as the thought registered. She couldn't find him cute, no. She was supposed to be indifferent towards him, but she was beginning to find it hard when she could see him in everything Félix does.

And he still hasn't replied.

"Félix," she called and he looked up to her. "I said you acted a lot like he used to."

"You mean Adrien?"

"Yeah," she said.

Silence sat between them again. This time Félix didn't take another bite, so Marinette also didn't. He put his fork down, so Marinette also put her fork down.

"Are you not gonna say anything?"

He shook his head. Marinette sighed. "What are we supposed to talk about then? Why even invite me to dinner?"

"Well," he began and Marinette leaned closer to hear him better. He noticed and his gaze flickered up to her quizzically. Then he laughed. At her. Félix was laughing at her.

She pouted and glared at him. "I wanted to listen."

"I know, sorry," he said and sighed. "Anyway. I don't really know what to add to that comment of yours, but I guess I could tell you something else.

"I named my photographer name after Adrien because I wanted him to live on," he said and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. He had a small smile on his face. "He told me he wanted to be a photographer."

Marinette blinked. "You're telling me this now?"

"I know it was wrong of me to take your photos without your permission, but I figured it wouldn't be authentic-"

"No. You're telling me this now ?" Marinette asked, and she could feel her heart racing. It wasn't from anger nor was it from disappointment. Hell, it wasn't from anything negative at all, and she was beginning to feel butterflies flutter in her stomach. "Why are you telling me this now?"

And why was she feeling butterflies in her stomach?

"Now is as good a time as any other, no?" Félix replied, looking at her quizzically.

The source of Athanase the cat's meows were finally found, as the cat appeared from behind the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. It sauntered over to her, and Marinette didn't realize how much she missed him after so long.

"Athanase!" She squealed and pat her lap, the cat immediately jumping onto it. She smiled widely and carried the black furry ball up in her arms, nuzzling it by it's nose. "Who's a cute little kitty? Hm? You've gotten so much chubbier since I last gave you to Papa Félix. Is he feeding you a lot? Hmmm?"

The cat meowed, and Marinette was oblivious to what she just called the blond with. He cleared his throat, unaware of the blush that coated his cheeks, and Marinette looked up to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"About Adrien," he replied.

"Right," she said and looked back to Athanase the cat, smiling a little. She pressed a kiss on the head of the cat, looking up to Félix as she continued stroking its fur. "You were saying?"

"Adrien," he said, as if saying his name would remind him. "Right. Adrien. He, uh... he said he wanted to ba photographer so I went ahead and... and became one."

Marinette tilted her head, as if confused. "Why, though? Is it what you wanted?"

The blond remained silent. His eyes flickered to Athanase the cat, and smiled sadly. Why is Félix so sad, Marinette questioned, and she almost felt the urge to reach for his hand. But she didn't. She couldn't.

"It is," he finally said and looked back up to her, all emotion that resembled sadness dissipating away.

He instead looked numbed, blank, his smile never quite reaching his eyes. She smiled that ingenuine smile instead of him. She finally reached over for that hand she wanted to hold. She told him the words that he probably needed to hear.

"I'm sure he would be happy to know you're really good at it."

And it was. It was the words he needed to hear, because his brows arched and the crease between them disappeared.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"I mean, I know... I know I said before that you shouldn't be taking my photos without permission - you still shouldn't, that won't change - but what it doesn't change is the fact that they were beautiful. You made me look like something I'm not and I'm really- I don't know. I was very flustered," she admitted, averting her gaze to the cat as red crawled up from her neck to her face, her cheeks.

She cleared her throat and continued. "Besides, if you're doing it for Adrien..." Her strokes through the cat's fur stopped and she bit her lip to hide the smile growing wider. "It's fine. I'll let you. But please do it with my knowledge this time?"

She looked up to him and for a second, she thought she saw a little bit of pain flash behind his grey eyes. She was about to question it but he smiled, a real genuine smile that flashed his gummy grin which she never thought he'd have. The same gummy grin Adrien wore when he was incredibly elated. It made her heart flutter.

"Thank you, Marinette," he said and gave her hand a soft squeeze. "I'll make sure to do right by you and Adrien, then."

Marinette let go of her lip. She smiled wider than she should be smiling in front of Félix Graham de Vanily, but screw it, his grin made her grin and she wanted nothing more but to be happy for him.

For him .

She interlaced her fingers between his hands. "I'm looking forward to working with you, then."

(A/N)
What's up you guys????
Sorry for the incredibly late updates but I come bearing bad news. Not really. Hopefully not too much bad news anyway.
So I've had these last two chapters (Chapters 9 and 10) for a while now, and have been trying to stack up on chapters for future updates but I am incredibly stuck on Chapter 11. After major revision, I find that... the direction I was wanting for this fic to take wasn't going there at all. And having made it this far, well, it's hard to just forge a new path without the possibility of making plot holes. So here I am, a few days later, rewriting everything (I can assure you, it's being written in a much higher quality).
Of course, rewriting comes with the cost of discontinuation. Chapters have changed and so have the dynamics (not by much, but you know), so yes. Thought I should put that out there. I at least have the decency to discontinue this whole thing with the end of the first arc so it's not too abrupt and do with it what you will, but I think it makes for a great trailer. A sneak peek of sorts. Ten chapters' worth of sneak peeks to the better version of Captured in Time. That's it, I already wrote too much XD
I'll leave it here. I'll see you guys when I'm back with the better version or oneshots! Thanks for the support and as usual, comments and kudos are HIGHLY appreciated <3