"Faceless Future" Book 2 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 5: Tom Investigates. Adrien Eats All the Snacks.

The bakery had been very busy the whole morning. Tom was always happy about that, of course, but this morning he was feeling impatient. There was something he wanted to look into and he couldn't until the crowds thinned out enough for Sabine to manage on her own. They were down to just two customers. Tom started to tap his foot while waiting for the customer to make up her mind. Sabine looked over at him and gave him a little shake of her head. Tom realized what he was doing, stilled his foot, and gave her a guilty smile.

"I think you can now do that thing you were going to do, Tom, if you want. I can help this customer," said Sabine quietly to him while keeping her attention focused on the customer.

Tom wondered if she could read his mind, but decided she was just trying to be polite in front of the customer. "Thanks, hon!" he said, heading to the back to remove his apron before going upstairs. He grabbed his laptop and sat on the couch. Now what was the name of Marinette's friend's blog about Ladybug? He tapped his chin a few times in thought. The Ladyblog!

He brought the site up on his computer and saw the most recent post: "What are LadyNoir up to these days? Readers want to know! Comment below if you want to hear more about our two favorite superheroes' new relationship!"

Tom growled a bit at that, thinking that was exactly what he didn't want to hear. But, maybe Alya didn't really know if they were in a relationship. He started to look through the postings from the last month or so and came upon a video of the celebration of Hawk Moth's defeat. He pressed play to watch.

The video started with Ladybug saying "Cat Noir will be here soon and I will know more. Until then. . . " Ladybug stopped speaking and the camera moved away from Ladybug over to Cat Noir weaving his way through the crowd. Cat Noir reached her side, gave her a smile, and turned to address the crowd.

"Hawk Moth has been defeated and his Miraculous has been recovered. We no longer need to fear him!" The crowd cheered. He handed Ladybug what looked like glasses and she threw them into the air yelling "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Then, Cat Noir picked Ladybug up and gave her a kiss! He twirled her around once before putting her back on her feet. Ladybug took his hand and smiled out at the crowd who were giving them lots of yells of congratulations.

Tom paused the video on Cat Noir and Ladybug holding hands. It certainly looked like they were in a relationship. And, it was right after this video that Adrien came to stay with them. Hmm. Tom frowned, unsure what to think. All that he knew for sure was that he needed to figure this out- for Marinette! He would try to talk to her after school.

- - -

Tom heard Marinette and Adrien open the door, laughing. They put their bags at the bottom of the stairs and headed to the kitchen to get a snack. Now's my chance to talk to her! thought Tom. He headed into the kitchen.

"How did school go today?" Tom asked them, trying to act casual, even though he wanted to grill Adrien now and ask him outright if he was Cat Noir.  But, he knew Sabine would never approve of that!  And, it would probably scare Marinette.  And Adrien.  He tried to get control of himself.

"Pretty good, Dad," said Marinette as she got out a tray and started to load it with food. "We had that big math test and not one person was able to finish it!"

"It was really hard!" added Adrien, his stomach already started to grumble in anticipation of the tasty things on the tray. "I wonder if it will be graded on a curve?" he mused as Marinette handed him the tray of snacks. Adrien and Marinette turned around, about to head upstairs when her dad stopped her.

"Marinette, can I talk to you for a moment?" Marinette and Adrien shared a look, wondering what could be wrong.

"Sure, Dad," she said, trying not to let her sudden worry come through her voice.