Is It Too Late To Love You Again?

Chapter 17: Life Swap

Adrien lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes open. Wha-

He looked around. The room felt strange but familiar. The spatial area of the room matched Marinette's bedroom. But it looked way different.

The décor was more boyish with white walls and sports equipment, along with CDs and novels. It looked like his own dream room.

"Adrien!" He jumped at the sound of the voice. It was his father's voice but it was less stern and more friendly.

He got out his blue bunk bed and stepped towards the trapdoor. It was familiar but odd as he was used to Marinette being around here.

---

This had the same structure as Marinette's house. The only thing different was the décor. He had a few hunches of what Inverter possibly did but he was afraid to rely on them...

"Adrien."

His eyes widened at the sound of the voice. H-he'd recognise it from anywhere.

"M-mom?" His voice trembled as his mouth hung agape.

There she stood. Right in front of him. Her hair was a bit ruffled as she wore an apron and her clothing was much more casual than he'd ever seen. But it was still his mother, nonetheless.

"Fancy breakfast?" She handed him some croissants. He took them absent-mindedly as his eyes continued to linger on her.

What should he do? Was this a dream? No...the akuma was toying with his mind...it had to have.

"Aren't you going to eat them?" Another familiar voice reached his ears. Behind his mother, stood father.

He was wearing another apron and a baker's hat. And his clothes weren't formal, they were very casual, and he was smiling! This was a strange way to look at his father. Gabriel Agreste not being the stern control freak dad was weird.

"Uh...yeah." Adrien took a bite into the croissant. It was as fresh and soft just like the ones from The Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

"Where's Marinette?" He asked as his parents gave him a queer look. Oops...he wasn't meant to say that out loud.

"Marinette? As in Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Isn't she your friend from school?" His mother asked him. His heart still painfully lurched every time he looked at her. He wasn't ready for this. The akuma had messed him up too much...

"Yeah...she is."

"Why would she be in The Agreste Bakery at this time? Unless you were expecting someone..." Gabriel eyed him with a slight fascination in his eyes. Getting used to his non-control freak father was hard...

"The Agreste Bakery?"

"Yeah...our bakery. Are you okay, Adrien?" His mom asked him with that ever-so familiar concern in her voice. A huge wave of nostalgia hit him right there and then. Her voice sounded so real...

"I'm fine." He tapped his hand to his head, "I'm just blown away by this croissant." It wasn't a lie. This croissant was delicious.

"You have them every day?"

"Yes!" Quick, cover that up, Agreste "They never fail to amaze me!"

"Oh well...that's good to know!" His mother gave him her wonderful smile, "Care to help me knead the dough?"

Shoot...he didn't know how to knead dough.

"Uh...after I clean the living room maybe?" He hastily headed to the already-clean living room to avoid any more questions.