"Future Rewoven" Book 3 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 35: Plans, Plans, and More Plans.

"Okay you two.  What is really going on here?" asked Alya once the boys arrived at the hidden spot in the park. 

They all sat down on the benches, Adrien with Marinette and Alya with Nino, and Adrien related what happened and then presented his plan.

"You wanted to pretend to break up to see if you'll get some kind of response from your father?  What are you expecting to happen?" asked Marinette, wishing Adrien would have consulted with her first before starting down this path.  She really dreaded her family and friends seeing photos of Adrien kissing Lila and them breaking up and then having to answer questions from everyone!

"I'm really sorry to spring this on you, Marinette!  I know your friends and family are going to have questions and we'll have to come up with a way to explain everything to them once we figure out what is going on so everyone won't continue to hate me for doing that to you!" said Adrien.

He looked so sad and sorry that Marinette couldn't keep herself from reaching out to turn his head toward her, gently cupping his face in her hands, and giving him a tender kiss, despite feeling a bit annoyed with him.  "We'll figure everything out!  We always do!  It will be okay."  She dropped her hands into her lap and said "What's the next part of the plan?"

Alya and Nino had turned away from their friends slightly, giving them a moment of privacy.  This gave Alya a moment to analyze Marinette's words.  What did she mean by them always figuring everything out?  What have Marinette and Adrien been up to?  As soon as the kiss ended, though, they returned to look at them to see what Adrien would say next.

"So, I'm thinking I'll stay at Nino's tonight- if that's okay with you?" asked Adrien and Nino nodded that it was.  "You should go home, Marinette, and feel free to tell your parents whatever makes sense to you.  I hope they won't hate me!" said Adrien, upset to think that he could potentially lose Tom and Sabine over this.

"I'll more or less tell them the truth about Lila and that I believe you and not the photos, but I just wanted a little space tonight.  Does that seem okay?" she asked everyone.

Her friends nodded.  Alya and Nino were having a bit of trouble keeping up with the rapidly developing plans.  Just when did their friends get so good at this?  It felt like they were watching another plan-making superhero couple they knew and not their friends!

Alya could see that Marinette was dreading dealing with her parents on her own so she offered "How about I stay over at your house, Marinette?  We could have a girls' night!  And I'll be on hand to field any calls from our friends."

"Thanks, Alya!  That would be great!" said Marinette, relieved to not be on her own to deal with the fallout.

"I would think that the photos will be made public at any time, so maybe my father will contact me some time tonight or tomorrow morning?" mused Adrien.  "He'll probably want me to come see him.  Maybe try to get me to move home."

At his words, Marinette became alarmed that Adrien had no idea that he could be walking into a meeting with a potentially violent Gabriel.  She suddenly realized that she should have already probably told Adrien what Wayzz and Master Fu said about people who misused the Butterfly Miraculous and how they could become crazy and violent.  She should have prepared him.  Why had she been so careless?! How could she warn him now when her friends were standing right here?

Marinette did the only thing she could think of and said "You won't see him alone, though, right?"  Her brow creased in worry and she couldn't keep the anxiousness out of her voice.

Adrien picked up on her emotions, but wasn't exactly sure why she was so worried.  "No, I don't plan to go alone."

"You promise?" she said.

Alya and Nino were closely following this exchange, wondering what they were missing.  Why would Marinette be so concerned about Adrien meeting his father alone?  They couldn't have really been serious when they said his father would lock him in, would they?

"I promise," said Adrien, trying to give Marinette a reassuring smile.

"I'll go with him!" blurted Nino, despite not really wanting to come face to face with Gabriel again.  The dude was scary!

Marinette gave Nino a bright smile in gratitude.  "Thanks!"

Nino blushed under the force of that smile and Alya elbowed him slightly in the side, rolling her eyes.

"Are you going to confront your father about Lila?" asked Alya.  "What proof do you have?"

"We have photos of Lila and this creepy photographer coming out of Adrien's father's house and heading off together.  But, I'm not sure we want to directly confront him with that," said Marinette.

"Does someone trying to hurt you fit into all of this somehow?" Alya asked Marinette.  There seemed to be a lot of pieces to this puzzle, but Alya couldn't yet see how they were all related.

Marinette wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Your dad wouldn't try to hurt Marinette to get you away from her?" asked Nino, shocked that the question even came out of his mouth.

Adrien couldn't meet his friend's gaze.  "I don't know," he said quietly.

"Well, if that's even a possibility, there's no way you should be going by yourself!" said Nino.

"I agree.  Either Nino or I will go with you.  Make sure to call us!  Or Ladybug and Cat Noir!  They've been in on this somehow with you guys, haven't they?  They'll protect you!" said Alya confidently.  She had the feeling there was still more to this story than her friends were telling, but she was sure that the superheroes would drop whatever they were doing to help.

Marinette and Adrien exchanged a small smile with each other before smiling at their super loyal friends.

"I promise to call one of you and not go alone," said Adrien, looking at each of his friends in turn, grateful of their support.  "So, do we have enough of a plan?" he asked.

Marinette nodded.  "I think so.  It's difficult to plan much farther out when we don't know what's going to happen.  Alya and I will head to my house and you and Nino should head to his.  We'll talk soon, though."

The four teenagers stood up and headed out of the park, wondering what the next day would bring.

- - -

Alya dropped Marinette safely at home and then headed back to her own house to ask her parents if she could stay at Marinette's and also collect a few things for the night.

Marinette used her key to get in her house and was heading up the stairs when the first of the concerned text messages started appearing on her phone.  Rose, then Mylène, Juleka, and then Alix all asking if she was okay.  Guess the photos are out there now!  she thought.  When she got to the living room she realized it seemed pretty quiet in the house.  She would have been expecting her mom to have started dinner by now and she could often hear her dad whistling as he cleaned up the bakery.  Marinette shrugged, figuring they must have gone out for a bit.

She headed up the stairs to her bedroom as more and more text messages appeared on her screen.  She sighed.  I suppose that they will descend on me if I don't answer them.  I wish Alya were here to tell me what I should say.

Marinette had just entered her bedroom when Tikki shouted "Look out, Marinette!"

She quickly scanned the room and then . . . froze.