Hide And Seek

Chapter 9

Jason closed Marie's apartment door softly, locking it but ensuring he had his own key first. He would be back in maybe five minutes. He and Marie had a system, after a night like this, they would always have a sleepover.

He just needed to talk to her brothers first.

“Hey, Jason,” Kim greeted, sounding only a little irritated to his credit. And who could really blame him; his anniversary wasn’t exactly going as planned. They’d had their fun day out, but the whole woo-ing part had been interrupted by the Akuma, and then him maybe an hour afterward…

Maybe he should come back later.

“Sorry, I just realized how dumb this is. I'll come back later,” He offered a tight smile, unsure what he was really supposed to do in this situation.

Kim must’ve read something in his expression because all he did was sigh and open the door woodier. “You might as well come in and tell us what’s up. I know you wouldn’t go to us for chitchat.”

Jason nodded his thanks, moving into the kitchen as Kim brought Max in there as well. Max only seemed a bit exasperated, and Jason decided to stop feeling guilty and just get it over with. “We might have messed up with the Alya thing.”

Both looked more interested now. “She went to Marie’s apartment. They talked, and Marie said she was happy with the result, but she’s also just really confused and overwhelmed.”

“Understandable, our informant in Paris told us Alya seemed to be coming to her sense. Though I still do not like Marie being around her,” Max stated, fidgeting with his glasses for a brief moment. Kim was seated very close to Max, so he slung his arm around the man’s shoulder for comfort.

“Are they gonna meet again soon?”

Jason nodded. “They don’t have a date set, but Marie has Alya’s number.”

Kim perked up a bit at that. “We could just delete the contact.”

Before Jason could decide if Kim was actually being serious Max shook his head. “It is highly likely that she could have memorized it, or written it elsewhere for safekeeping. And even if she had not, then she is sufficiently knowledgable enough to find it on her own.”

Jason had nearly forgotten about that, Max had taught Marie some basic hacking skills, just as Tim tried to teach his other siblings. Guess hackers were desperate for a partner, he should really team them up at some point. But then again, they might just take over the world.

Yeah, maybe not.

“Oh yeah,” Kim deflated slightly.

“We’re forgetting the obvious guys. It’s not our situation to handle. We could follow them, or maybe even chase Alya away if she tries something, but till then we follow Marie’s lead.”

The other males nodded, and Jason sat back with a light sigh. It was so easy to want to micromanage Marie just cuz he didn’t want her hurt, but he knew she likely had the same thoughts about him. That was what in the end always came to him last minute.

She was, of course, her own person.

He supposed he couldn’t help but love that about her. “I gotta get back then, sorry for crashing your date.”

Surprisingly enough, Kim stood first, pulling Jason into a forceful hug. “No problem, it’s always good to see people caring about Marie. Even if she’s more used to it now.”

Closing the door, Jason made his way back to Marie. She had never been treated kindly enough by her old friends. Always pressured into doing commissions for free, babysitting for free, sacrificing her free time. And she did so without complaint because she was a good person, but also because she had been taught from a young age that she had to earn love.