Thunderstorm Series: Part 2 (Downpour)

Chapter 7: Dinner

Gabriel sat down at the table and looked over at Marinette and Adrien. His glaring stare almost piercing and cold. The waiters brought out their food and sat it down at the table in front of them, refilling their drinks as they passed.

"So Miss Dupain Cheng. You won the Fashion show? Didn't you win the Derby hat as well?" He said, cutting food on his plate.

"Uh... yes. Yes I did sir." She said, a little nervous.

"Did you intentionally make it have feathers so it would cause my son allergies?" His eyes narrowed.

"N-No!" She panicked, unsure what else to say at the accusation.

"Hmmm...." He said.

"What are your intentions with my son then?" He said, placing his fork down.

"Father?" Adrien said, stepping in.

"Adrien? What are your intentions with this young lady?" He asked.

"Intentions?" Marinette looked over at Adrien, her face red, wondering what he was thinking.

"What do you mean by intentions?" Adrien coughed, looking over at Marinette, embarrassed.

"She has everything to gain, while you have nothing to gain son." He narrowed his gaze.

Oh. That is what he meant. Intentions to gain in the industry. Of course that was what he meant. Duh.

"If anything, I gain a lot from her-"

"Quiet son!" Gabriel interrupted him.

"But father-"

"Son!" Gabriel stood up, making both Marinette and Adrien look at one another.

"I'm done with dinner, congratulations on winning Dupain-cheng but please leave." He said, leaving the dinner table and going into another room.

Nathalie came and removed Gabriel's plate, proceeding to remove Marinette's plate as well. Adrien stood up with Marinette. He took Marinette's hand and could tell she was upset. Who wouldn't be after getting yelled at by one of the most famous fashion designers in Paris. She looked up to Gabriel and he was her boyfriend's father. She was nervous and he just flat out destroyed her.

Adrien hugged Marinette and she hugged him back. Before he let go of her, he leaned into her ear.

"I'll bring us some dinner since we didn't really eat any." He said, leaning out and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Here take an umbrella, there's a thunderstorm tonight." He smiled.

"It's alright, I'll see you tomorrow at school." She frowned, shaking her head at the offer, closing the front door behind her.

Wait. Did she just tell him not to come? She didn't want him to bring her dinner? Did she want to be alone? He would swing by anyways, but he wouldn't let her know he was there. He just wanted to make sure she was alright. That's what a good boyfriend would do.

Adrien made his way to his room and slammed his door, not caring what Nathalie or his father said. He was upset with how his father treated Marinette. He had no reason to treat her that way. Why had he acted that way to her?

He opened his window, hearing the pitter patter of the harsh rainfall outside and lighting flickering outside every few seconds. He transformed and started running across the rooftops until he found Marinette walking home, in the rain.

She didn't take the umbrella he offered earlier and he assumed it was because she had one but she just was getting soaked. She turned down an alley and he assumed it was because she was going to transform into Ladybug to get home faster but after a few seconds, he never saw her leave. He leaped over to the alley and saw her sitting in the alley letting the rainfall just fall on her.

He jumped down into the alley, knowing earlier he told himself he was going to just keep his distance and let her have her alone time, but he was not going to allow her to sit in the rain.

"Marinette?" He said, seeing her lift her head from off of her arms that she propped on her knees.

"Adrien?" She wiped the tears... or rain out of her face. He couldn't tell, but he assumed it was both.

"What are you doing out here? Why didn't you take my umbrella earlier?" He said, bending down to see her clearly. Her eyes were red, it was obvious she was crying now.

"Don't let my stubborn father get to you. I'm happy being with you. You're happy being with me. Who cares, we can make it work." He smiled, kissing her cheek as he lifted her chin to get her to look at him, smiling at her.

The rain started to rain harder and another flash of lightning flashed, creating a bang of thunder to follow. Marinette rushed to her feet and crashed into Chat noir's arms, catching him off guard. He felt the cold droplets of water fall off his strands of hair and stream onto her, but he didn't care. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Everything's going to be ok." He said softly.

"No it isn't. I'm going to drag you down Adrien. Everyone says so. I'm starting to believe it myself. I thought I was Paris' super hero, but... maybe I'm not cut out for that either."

"What are you saying?" He said, pulling away and looking down at her.

Marinette was clenching her fists and she looked up at him. She kissed him one more time and then put something in his hands, then dashed off, leaving him in the alley. He opened his hands and saw her earrings and turned to look for Marinette. He took out his staff and extended it to create enough height so he could try and see where she went. He assumed she would go home but Ladybug... that would be too easy. Where would she run off to? He could wait until tomorrow and confront her at school and then give them to her.

It isn't like he could force them on her. If she didn't want to be Ladybug anymore, then she wouldn't. He needed to find her before her mind was made up. It was just one thing after another, she was just overwhelmed and made a rash decision. This wasn't her. She didn't want to do this. He needed to make her see that.