Half Way

A Cataclysm and A Finger Snap

Dawn broke on Saturday morning.

Adrien left his house super early. On his way out he passed by his father, who had been waiting for him in the foyer.

"Make the right choice," Gabriel said sternly as he went by.

Adrien didn't respond to his father. He didn't even look at him or acknowledge his existence. He simply walked straight to the front door and left.

************************************

A few blocks away, Marinette found her father in the bakery kitchen.

"Good morning sweetie!" Tom said, seeing his daughter. "I thought you might get up early today. Although, I'm not going to kid myself in thinking that you're here to see me. I know you're here because Adrien is coming over," he chuckled.

"Actually Papa, I wanted to let you know that Adrien isn't able to come over today. He texted me last night and told me. He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry for canceling."

Tom frowned. "Well that's too bad. I was looking forward to spending some time with him. Did his father change his mind about him coming over?"

She nodded.

"He's really tough on him, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," she replied.

"That's too bad," he repeated. "But sometimes parents are tough on their kids because they think that it's good for them. He probably does it out of love."

Marinette shook her head. "I used to think so, but now I'm not sure."

Tom went over and hugged his daughter before speaking again. "Well, you let Adrien know that he's welcome here anytime and that your mother and I will always be here if he needs anything."

"Thanks Papa."

"You're welcome sweetie. So what do you think? Do you want to help out your old man in the bakery this morning?"

"If it's okay with you, I think I'm going to go back to bed. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"That's no problem at all. Go get some rest."

"I love you Papa," Marinette said, hugging him again.

"I love you too, sweetie."

After the hug, Marinette went back up to her room. She stuffed some pillows under the comforter on her bed before opening up the hatch.

Adrien was there waiting for her. He reached his hand down to help her climb out, which she accepted. Once she was on the balcony, he gave her a kiss.

"Why did you detransform?" she asked him.

"We have to do one thing before we go."

She looked at him, confused. "What do we have to do?"

He smiled. "We need to take our official couple picture."

A huge grin appeared on her face. "I would love to do that."

Taking out his phone and unlocking it, Adrien held it up in front of them. Marinette happily leaned towards him and rested her head against his cheek. He wrapped his free arm around her.

"On three. One, two, three," he said as they both looked at the phone and smiled. After hitting the button Adrien moved it closer so they could check it.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect, just like you," he answered, squeezing her with his arm and pressing a kiss against her hair. Then he put his phone away. "You ready, Princess?"