Not Okay Buddies!

Ch 3 A Simple Reminder pt2

Now it was pretty obvious Adrien had been acting different since The Call, but it was only until after the alleged "study session" that Adrien's father noticed his son's... giddiness.

Their dinner was the same as always (uncomfortable, forlorn, depressing for everyone involved) but Adrien was in an oddly chirpy mood. For twenty minutes, the father nervously watched his son bounce in his seat while quietly humming a jolly little tune. The image of the elated teen suffocated in a sterile room was hard to describe (uncomfortable, forlorn, depressing for everyone involved), yet something about it brought a different energy into the room. Something light and free and happy-

"Did something happen today, Adrien?" Gabriel bellowed.

Or maybe not that.

Adrien made eye contact with his father, instantaneously turning into a shade of scarlet. The boy appeared dumbfounded, and the only sound to escape his mouth was, "Huh?"

"You're not usually dancing at dinner," Gabriel mused, his eyes locked with Adrien's.

Adrien gulped.

Okay he's onto you calm down just breathe say something normal.

"It's nothing, Father. Just a good day at school."

Nailed it.

"A good day at school," Gabriel repeated, his voice trailing off while his attention traveled back to his food.

And then there was quiet.
Good, Adrien could handle quiet. He lived in quiet. Quiet meant no questions. It also meant his father didn't care about him but hey, you can't win them all.

The boy also focused on his food. Something gourmet, he was never sure what he was eating. It didn't have the same feeling as Marinette's baked goods did. Her cookies were soft and warm and full of love.

He giggled at the thought of Marinette, and happily took a bite of the foreign dinner.

"What's her name?"

SHIT.

It took only those three words to cause Adrien to suddenly forget how to eat, and his food suddenly became lodged in his throat. In the process of trying to breathe, the gourmet meal shot out of his mouth and flew across the dining hall. Chunks of seafood and pasta covered the table, and Adrien's jaw went slack when he saw his father slathered in chewed up spinach and angel hair.

SHIT.

The son, flabbergasted, managed to cough out a simple, "What?"

Gabriel's face was unreadable as noodles lid off his cheek. He flicked a piece of chewed up shrimp off his glasses, "The girl you've obviously fallen for. What's her name?"

SHIT.

Adrien's eyes widened, "Father I uh what no there's no one how do you what did you I what huh who-"

His father plucked the napkin out of his lap and began to wipe the meal from his face. "Adrien, it's a simple question. It shouldn't be this difficult to articulate a simple answer."

THINK MAN THINK SAY SOMETHING.

"Um well I uh-"

GREAT JOB.

"Unless, it's not a girl," Gabriel continued. "In that case I wish you would've come out sooner-"

UM WHAT?

"Father!"

"There's nothing wrong with it, son. You do hang out with that Nino boy a lot-"

"OH MY GOSH, FATHER! IT'S MARINETTE!"

And in an instant the quiet returned. But this was not the sad and lonely quiet he was used to. This stillness however was new and deafening. Adrien could handle the silence that made him feel forgotten and alone. But he couldn't handle the quiet he was engulfed in. It was the worst kind of silence man could experience.

Awkward silence.

Gabriel's eyebrow (still covered with a thick coating of lemon juice and olive oil) raised at the sound of the girls name. Adrien thought he's be upset, but instead he looked interested and maybe even a little bit amused?

"Marinette? Isn't that the girl that won my hat contest? The one with the feather?"

Adrien tried to make eye contact, but his father's inquistory glance caused the boy's face to grow even more red, and he settled with staring at his father's plate. "Um why yes that's her, Father."

LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE.

"How, interesting," he spoke softly, and Adrien thought he must be relishing in his son's misery. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Tell me, what is she like?"

What is she like?

"You want to know about her?"

"Adrien, you are my son. I want to know about the girl you are infatuated with."

Adrien's breath hitched. He had never heard his father be so upfront, at least not in a positive way. If someone would call this positive.

"Well, um, she's really pretty..."

"Is that all? I thought you might be looking for substance."

Adrien tensed, and his head snapped to eye level. "Excuse me?"

"While I admit she is quite... pleasant to look at, I thought you might look for someone with a bit more significance." Gabriel picked at his food, as if to purposely avoid eye contact with his son. "I can't say I expected much. Though the baker's daughter image is quaint, it's obvious she'll never be more than pretty face."

Adrien clenched his jaw. He felt himself begin to shake as he shot up from the table, letting his napkin fall to the floor. "Don't you ever speak of her that way ever again."

Gabriel sneered, "Oh really? Did I say something wrong?"

The boy slammed his fist of the table, the force bouncing shrimp on the tablecloth. "She is significant, Father, more you could ever know. She's brilliant and creative and so strong and independent. She's kind and thoughtful but doesn't let anyone stop her. She always looks like she's thinking about something important and her eyes are blue like... something really blue!"

"The sky?" Gabriel laughed.

"BLUER THAN THAT," he was yelling now. Adrien never yelled, but in this moment he didn't care. "She's really funny and smells like cookies and has really cool parents and makes me feel like I'm worth something so don't ever say she's not significant. She is my friend and I love her."

Adrien was panting. All the words had tumbled out of his mouth he didn't even process anything till after it had come out. Between his fury and intensity the boy hadn't even noticed his father was smiling.

"She seems like a remarkable girl." Gabriel stood up, and placed his napkin on over the half eaten plate in front of him. He began walking away from the table, and Adrien thought that was the end until he quickly called back, "Be back before eleven."

Adrien stared at the dinner table, the chewed up bits and drops of juice littered across the top, the words ringing in his skull. Be back before eleven. "What if she says no?" Adrien asked.

Gabriel smirked, "According to everything you just said, I don't think that's possible."

I know it's scary right now, but soon everything is going to be okay. I just have remind myself what is happening right now. My name is Adrien Agreste. I am seventeen years old. I live in Paris with my father. I am going to ask out Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I will be okay. Hopefully.