Guide Me Towards My Future (With You)

CHAPTER 5

Two months. She hadn't talked to Adrien, who was supposed to be her fiancé, in two months. On Thursday night, she had texted her parents, Gabriel, Nathalie and Felix, saying she would be going out of town on her own, to get her head clean. She booked a hotel room in Étretat, close to the marvelous cliffs and the breathtaking view of the ocean. It was perfect for her to design or simply find some time to think. She left on the Friday morning, only bringing some clothes, two sketchbooks, pens and the Miracle Box, she didn't need anything else.

She came back a week later, revived and completely serene, her smile was back and her sketchbooks as well, even needing to buy two more, after a couple of days. This girl would never stop to impress Gabriel Agreste. However that night she cracked. After having dinner with Felix, they sat in the living room and she confined her doubts and fears about her relationship to him. After a while, she finally cried herself to sleep in his arms.

The young man pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head and made a promise to her, thinking she wouldn't hear it, but he was unaware that nineteen gods were listening to his words, happy to see their Guardian in good hands. They all loved Adrien, especially Plagg, but their affection for the holder of the Ladybug was greater than anything they felt in the past, towards a Guardian of the Miraculous.

"I will never hurt you, Mari. Never," not long after he put her in Adrien's old bed and decided to stay, so she wouldn't be alone that night. Felix was on his way to his own room when Gabriel stopped him. Understanding that his uncle was as concerned as he was about Marinette, they decided to talk a little about the model's behavior in the year and the way he treated his fiancée.

* * *

When Marinette woke up the next morning, she looks at the bed and realize that the sheets were dirty and the pillows had a familiar sent, but it was not Adrien's cologne, but more one of a woman she couldn't identity. After a quick shower and morning routine, she went down for breakfast, where she was met by Gabriel telling her he invited Adrien to join them for dinner. After eating, they both went to his office to work all day on the new Gabriel fashion line that needed to be ready in less than two months.

Later during the day, Felix came in bearing coffee for her and tea for his uncle, she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, which made him blush. Sitting at his office, Gabriel was looking at their interactions. He smiled when he saw both of them blushing while they were talking, because as much as he loved his son, he also knew that Mari and Felix would be perfect for each other. He decided to leave them alone for a while, so the designer took his tea and closed the door behind him heading to a meeting with the board members of his company.

When the young adults finally notice they were alone in the office, Felix offered to stay with her for the rest of the day, to her greatest pleasure. He helped, admired and looked at her lovingly at every possible moments, he was everything to him and he could only hope she would give him a chance to show how much he could love her.

That evening, like always, Adrien doesn't show up for dinner. At this point, they are not really surprised by this turn of events, but they decided to not let it deemed the evening. They could enjoy themselves, the four of them together, has Nathalie and Gabriel were sitting on one side of the table, Marinette and Felix on the other, conversation was floating easily. They appreciated the light atmosphere in the room, trusting each other and forgiven the past.

Felix walked Marinette home, after dinner and she offered him some tea, which he accepted. They tried once again to join Adrien, but still no answer and he's not home. Felix heard someone crying and found Mari leaning on the kitchen counter, with red eyes and trails of tears on her cheeks, making the tea, so he was by her side in a second pulling her in his arms. They didn't said a word for a few minutes and has the tea was ready they went to the living room and talked for one more hour, before they both went to bed, him staying at her insistence.

He couldn't sleep, only hearing Marinette crying in the room next door, she was thinking about her relationship with Adrien, all the dreams they had for the future, the last time they really spent time together and how everything was so different now. She knew it was the end of this chapter, in her life, but it still hurt, she had feel in love, fought side by side and grew up with him always there, for the almost ten years now and in flash all of it was over. The most difficult part of this situation was that she saw it coming for so long and how Adrien although didn't see it or he didn't care enough to fight to keep her.

Felix listen to her for a half hour, before getting up and sit down next to the young woman, in her bed doing his best to console her. He let her sob in the crook of his neck and played with her hair until she fell asleep. He laid down in the bed and soon followed her in dreaming land.

The next morning, they got ready for work, both having meetings at the Gabriel head office, they decided to walk together, the building being only a few blocks away. On their way, they stopped at the Dupain-Cheng's bakery to get some pastries for their colleagues and some coffee for themselves. Her parents had got to know Felix since he came to Paris a couple of months ago and they appreciated the young man. Sure he was difficult to have conversations with him at the start, but when he had let them in, just like he did with Marinette, they had about offering to adopt him if he wanted, knowing the boy had a really close relationship with his mother.

When they got to Gabriel, Marinette invited Felix to go work in her office, while waiting for their meetings. They had some worked to do and they did, it was a good way to start the day.

* * *

Adrien had just finished a photoshoot, when he got to his family's mansion, with a friend. After making sure he was alone, they went to his old bedroom and hung out all afternoon. When they leave, a couple of hours later, the model jumped in the shower to refresh himself, hoping he would still be alone, but his hopes were crashed when he was stopped at the front door, before exiting, by his former-bodyguard, who motioned him to sit on Nathalie's desk and pressed play on the video on the screen. Upon seeing the images from the security cameras.

The young model left without a word, this footage could ruin his life, future-marriage, relationship and friendships and he didn't want to. He felt the disappointed look the older man in the room sent him and wonders how in so much pain and rage, about his actions, but he didn't care anymore.