"Hey, the weekend is now fast approaching,” Nath utters just as he places his can of soda back on the dining table in Adrien and Nino's apartment. The three nurses decided to eat their dinner together as it was a rare occasion for them to have a day shift at the same time as the other. "Do we have a decision already? Or?" His voice trailed off towards the end. 
 
Nino lets out a hard laugh, “Ha! I’m still sticking with my idea to rent that cabin and spend two nights there with the cool fresh air from the trees and a can of cold beer to accompany us.”
 
“And I’m still sticking with my decision to join that medical conference,” Nath utters, bringing another spoonful of stew to his mouth.
 
“I’m not going to a boring medical conference and spend good money there just to sleep during the talks-”
 
“Part of the payment has the hotel amenities and food included with it already,” Nath explains, throwing Nino a look of exasperation. “Just enjoy your sleep in the hotel room while I go to the talks.”
 
“Well, if there’s one thing I’m sure of is that we are not going with Adrien’s suggestion. We’ve had too many staycations, us three, when we were still nursing students. I swear, if we add another one to the list, I’m going to call ourselves hermits from then on.” Nino throws Adrien a pointed look. “Don’t even think of bringing up that ‘staycation’ idea again, or else,” he warns his best friend. 
 
Adrien purses his lips and looks back at his dinner lying in front of him. Mindlessly, he tosses a marble potato back and forth on his plate with his fork. “I actually thought of another idea.”
 
“Really?” Nino asks, “What’s your other idea then? It better be something nicer than a staycation.”
 
"It's actually one of your ideas."
 
They both stop eating as Adrien uttered that. Nath and Nino narrowed their eyes at each other before turning to Adrien. 
 
"Wait," Nath utters slowly. "You mean one of ours?"
 
Adrien nods to which Nino immediately asks, "So whose is it?" 
 
The nurse rests his hands on his lap and faces his friends before announcing, "It's official. We're going to that medical conference."
 
"What?!" Nath and Nino exclaim at the same time, furrowing their brows in confusion at the blond nurse. For the two nurses, that was the most unlikely answer they expected from Adrien. 
 
Nath is the most surprised one since it's his idea that was chosen. Yet when it hits him, he does a small fist pump and hisses a yes under his breath. 
 
Nino, on the other hand, is still clearly appalled. "Oh, come on, dude! I was hoping you would go with my idea!" 
 
"Suck it, Nino," Nath murmurs under his breath, a smirk plastered on his face for a brief moment as he returns to eating his stew.
 
"You gotta give me a moment to understand this." Nino pinches the bridge of his nose as his eyes are squeezed shut. "What changed your mind, dude?" He questions Adrien, opening his eyes to throw a look of disbelief. "Why the sudden decision to go to that medical conference?"
 
Adrien hides his reluctance with his answer by looking back at his almost empty plate. "O-Oh, you know, learning about the ins-and-outs of cardiothoracic anesthesia seems cool-"
 
"Doctor DC is one of the panelists," Nath interjects matter-of-factly. And that is when Adrien starts to blush and feel small under Nino's gaze which has now turned into a glare. 
 
"I knew it!" He proclaims, "I knew there was a real reason as to why you want to go to that medical conference!" 
 
Adrien feebly tries to defend himself, "It's like I'm going to hit two birds with one stone, okay?” He raises his hands in the air. “We get to learn more about the medical topic and I’ll get some time with the doctor…” his voice dies toward the end, feeling shyer than ever before for saying it out loud. 
 
“Wow,” Nino mutters sarcastically. “Okay, I get the gist now. So Nath is going to the conference itself while Adrien is going there for a two-day long date. What am I supposed to do then?”
 
“How about I'll ask Doctor DC to bring Alya with her?” Adrien suggests.
 
Nino widens his eyes and sputters out, “Dude!”
 
“Alya?” Nath repeats the name, puzzled. 
 
“The doctor's roommate,” Adrien answers, pointing a thumb towards the direction of the apartment beside them. 
 
“Oooh,”  Nath emits in sheer understanding, “so you're both dating that whole apartment unit? That's how it works?”
 
“It was just one date, okay?” Nino points out, “And you should shut your mouth or else I’m going to tell Adrien your drunken words when we were talking about Doctor Chloé-”
 
Nath instantly leans over to Nino’s side to clasp his hands over his mouth. “Okay, okay! I think that’s enough!” 
 
Nino’s voice is immediately muffled, but he eventually manages to roughly push Nath’s hands away to exclaim, “Nath confessed that he likes Doctor Chloé!”
 
“Shut up! I just said that I found her pretty.”
 
“That pretty sounds like you like her,” Adrien wittily comments, earning a snicker and a fist bump from Nino. 
 
Nath rolls his eyes but breaks off into a soft laugh. "At least I know I didn't confess to her on my first day." He coyly smiles at Adrien. 
 
The blond nurse blushes all over again. "Oh shut up, Nath." 
 
------------

“So you won’t be here for the whole weekend?” Manon pouts at Nurse Adrien right after he finishes changing the cannula on her right hand. 

“The weekend does not take long. It’s just going to be two days. Two and a half tops.” Adrien smiles at her before proceeding to secure the placement of the cannula with medical tape. 

“But two days seems too long,” she whines.

“How about I’ll bring you back something from where I’m going?”

The young girl gasps in delight and beams at the nurse. “Are you serious, nurse?” She asks in bewilderment.

Nurse Adrien softly chuckles at the sudden change of mood of his patient. He then nods. “Of course, I am. I’m sure that I’ll have time to go around the place and pick out a nice souvenir for you,” he says while taking off his disposable gloves and placing them on the bottom compartment of the nurse’s cart. 

“But nurse, if my mom sees your gift she might scold me!”

Adrien places his index finger before his lips. “Then it will be our secret. Got it?” He winks at her. 

Manon’s smile widens and she also places her finger before her lips. “Got it!” She gushes in a whisper. “I can’t wait for it!”

“You’re not sad that I’m leaving anymore?”

She vehemently shakes her head. “Not anymore! In fact, I think you should leave for that conference already.”

“Hey!” Adrien exclaims, feigning hurt. “Why do you have to be so mean?” He exaggerates his pouting at her and she giggles.

“Nurse, you’re too funny!”

He then leans forward and brings a hand up to slightly pinch her cheek. “And you always like messing with me.” He stands straight to hold his cart. “I have to go ahead, okay? You stay here and make sure to not touch your new cannula, okay? I wouldn’t want you to accidentally dislodge it again.”

Manon carefully raises her right hand and purses her lips. “Yes, I promise.”

"Good. Don’t hesitate to call for help, okay?”

“Yes, yes,” she drawls, “Nurse, I know how this hospital works. I’ve been here even longer than you! In fact, you should be treating me like the superior here.”

A laugh bubbles over Adrien. “Yes, ma’am,” he utters, giving Manon a salute. “I’ll see you!” He leaves while waving a hand at her. 

For the rest of the shift, he only has to check two more patient rooms and tend to whatever needs they have. It won’t take too long, Adrien is sure of that, especially if there is no patient in any kind of emergency. Maybe after he checks, he’ll go to the storage room and check inventory. He might also have to replenish his supplies in the cart. 

But he’ll worry over those things later. He has an hour to spare. Perhaps Adrien will use it as a break to get something small to snack on. Doctor DC has been very strict with his intake of sweet food, but she is not that strict when it comes to eating bread or any kind of pastry since she’s also a sucker for them. Hence, her immense liking for mini chocolate croissants. 

Adrien stops by the nurses’ station of the cardiology department to leave his cart. Upon entering the break room, he opens his locker to take a few bills from his wallet with him to the cafeteria. He checks the time displayed on his wristwatch to make sure that he has enough time to also eat it there instead of taking it back to the small break room. 

He exits the station and saunters through the corridors to head to the elevators. He pushes the button with the arrow pointing down and waits for any of the elevators to arrive first. 

“Nurse Adrien!” A voice from behind calls him and Adrien jumps a bit in place with how loud it was. As he turns, his mood turns irritable. 

But he needs to hide it.

“Doctor Couffaine,” he greets the doctor who has now stopped to stand beside him. Adrien’s throat feels oddly tight. “Is there anything that you need?” 

“No,” the doctor answers, a wide smile gracing his features. “I also need to use the elevator.”

“O-Oh…”

“You’re heading down as well?”

Adrien nods. “Yes, doctor.” The sound of a ding is heard by both as the doors of the elevator slide open. Without uttering a word, they enter the elevator and Adrien asks the doctor, “Which floor are you heading to?”

"Just two floors down.”

Adrien’s hand hovering over the button freezes for a moment. That is where he’s going, as well. “...are you heading to the cafeteria, doctor?”

Doctor Couffaine faces him. “Yes, nurse. How did you know?”

“I’m on my way there as well.”

“Great!” The elevator dings and its doors slide open. “How about we head there together?”

Adrien didn’t have the chance to say anything against it since the doctor suddenly pushes him by the back, eventually leading the both of them to walk side by side. 

“I’m going there to buy something sweet to eat,” the doctor continues. “There used to be this stall there that would sell the best pastries. I would frequent it with my friends back when I was a resident here.”

“A-Ah, I see.” The nurse forces out a smile, hoping that it doesn’t look too awkward for the doctor to notice. Apparently, he hasn’t since he continues to share his fond memories of the hospital.

“A friend of mine introduced me to their mini chocolate croissants and I swear, they are still the best ever tasting croissants for me. Nothing can top them!”

Mini chocolate croissants? Aren’t those Marinette’s favorites? After hearing what the doctor had to share, Adrien was immediately lost in thought. His mind would go everywhere and yet it would lead him back to the main notion regarding the croissants. Is the doctor talking about Marinette? Adrien thinks so, but a part of him wants to deny it overall. 

Doctor Couffaine then suddenly shoves Adrien playfully, tearing the nurse away from his running thoughts. “Hey, how about I buy you those mini chocolate croissants?”

“Huh?” Adrien furrows his eyebrows at him then profusely shakes his head. “No, no, you don’t have to do that for me, doctor-”

“What? Come on! It’s the least that I could do and I won’t be paying a lot of money for it. Trust me when I say that it’s not only good, but it’s also one of the cheapest here.”

I am aware of that already, doctor. Adrien argued further in his mind for it was already too late for him to turn it down as the doctor starts to walk ahead of him now that they are at the cafeteria already. “Doctor…!” The nurse has a hand outstretched to stop the doctor, but it hangs in mid-air. His voice also died down in his throat as Doctor Couffaine is now standing in front of the bakery stall, Marinette’s favorite stall. 

He jogs up to him and stops beside to see how the woman, the owner of the stall, is now handing the doctor three brown paper bags. “Thank you, Doctor Couffaine!”

“Oh, you don’t have to call me that! You’ve always called me Luka before. Still, thank you so much for these!” He turns to see Adrien standing beside him. “Here you go, nurse.” He hands him one paper bag. “You should try them while they’re still warm.”

“Thank you…” He takes the bag and the doctor wouldn’t stop looking at him. 

“What are you waiting for? Come on! Try it!” Doctor Couffaine cajoles and even takes out a croissant from his own paper bag. He takes a bite of it and hums in satisfaction. 

The corners of Adrien’s mouth twitch up, though not all at once, creating a combination of a grin and a grimace. He brings out one croissant and takes a bite out of it as well. He’s had these a lot of times for the 10 months he’s spent working in this hospital and most of them came from the doctor herself. She would manage to sneakily hand him a paper bag whether it be here at the cafeteria or even at the department in the middle of their shifts. His mind has been conditioned to associate these croissants with Doctor DC and he has always revered them as something special. 

Now that Doctor Couffaine has suddenly wedged himself in between the creases of this special piece of his bond with Doctor DC, now Adrien does not like it all. His thoughts of these mini chocolate croissants are now laced with jealousy knowing that he’s not the only person that has fond memories of those delectable pastries. It’s clear to him that Doctor Couffaine also associates those croissants with Marinette. 

Oh God, Adrien needs to change it. He can’t have those thoughts of jealousy regarding the croissants. He finishes the croissant he’s holding and then as he swallows down the rest of it, he turns to the owner. “I would like to buy four mini chocolate croissants.”

“Okay,  nurse, wait for a moment,” the woman utters cheerfully, placing two of the croissants in a paper bag and another two in the second one. She closes them both, folding their flaps closed before handing them over to Adrien. “Thank you!” She continues as she receives the exact amount of the payment from the nurse. 

“Woah! Do you find them that good that you bought two more servings for yourself?” Doctor Couffaine asks in pure amusement. 

“Y-Yeah,” Adrien lies through his teeth. The truth is that one of the bags is for Doctor DC. “Can never have enough of them, right?”

“I would have to agree with you on that, nurse!” The doctor exclaims before laughing softly, taking out another croissant from one of the bags he’s holding. “So, tell me, are you pushing through with the conference this weekend?” He inquires while looking at the nurse as he bites the croissant.

“Yes, I’ll be going with Nurses Nath and Nino.”

“Nurse Nino?”

“Ah, he’s a nurse from pediatrics.”

“I see, I see. He’s also interested in the upcoming talks for the conference? I mean, I’m very interested as well since all the talks are promising.”

“Um,” Adrien rubs the nape of his neck, “he’s actually just going since Nurse Nath and I are going.”

“Oh!” Doctor Couffaine then bursts into laughter. “I would understand his side, you shouldn’t feel ashamed to tell me that since I know the feeling as well. I’m really just attending mainly because of Doctor DC-”

“Are you two talking behind my back?”

Both men turn in shock to find Doctor DC standing before them, her hand holding her hip. She eyes the both with a wary gaze before raising an eyebrow. “Is there anything that you wish to share with me?” She continues. 

“Doctor, I bought you chocolate croissants!”
“Hey, Doc DC! I got you your favorite!”

Both Doctor Couffaine and Nurse Adrien hold out one paper bag that they each have toward Doctor DC. And for a moment, the world stills. Not one person is in the cafeteria except for the three. Adrien could feel his heart hammering against his chest. He could not believe that this just happened. And it’s clear that the two doctors are in pure stupefaction as well.

“I-uh...I…” Doctor DC stammers, her mouth agape as she looks between the two men who are still holding out the paper bag at her. This was not how she wanted to be greeted by them. “I-”

“I think the whole hospital knows how much you love these mini chocolate croissants!” Doctor Couffaine chimes in all of a sudden, hoping to appease the awkward tension between the three. “It’s going to be a feast for you and especially for your sweet tooth! How about you take the croissants from us and maybe you can share them with Doctor Chloé later.”

“You do have a point, Doctor Couffaine,” Doctor DC shows them a half smile and reaches out to take the paper bags from them. “Thank you...both. You didn’t have to.”

“It’s the least that we could do.” Doctor Couffaine waves a hand at her in dismissal. “I’m just surprised that Nurse Adrien here bought for you as well. We could have shared the payment with one bag if you don’t want both-”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Doctor DC interrupts him gently, her smile growing wider. “It’s sweet of both of you to think of me.”

“N-No problem, doctor,” Adrien utters softly. 

“By the way! Now that you’re here, Doctor DC, you should feel proud that we have not only one nurse joining the conference this weekend but three!” Doctor Couffaine softly pushes Adrien in a playful manner. 

“What do you mean?” Doctor DC asks in confusion.

“Nurse Adrien is bringing along two more nurses with him to the conference.”

The female doctor could not stop herself from throwing a pointed look towards Adrien. “You’re really pushing through with joining the conference?”

“Yes, doctor. I already registered for Nurses Nath, Nino, and I, so we have our tickets already-”

“Doctor Couffaine,” She interjects, turning toward the other doctor in a stoic manner. “I wish to speak with Nurse Adrien alone. You wouldn’t mind, right?”

“Oh, of course, I wouldn’t. I’m sure it’s something important, so I’ll go ahead. I already have had my share of a break.” He smiles at both of them and slightly waves at them goodbye before leaving the cafeteria. 

Doctor DC smiles at him as he leaves, but when he disappears from her sight, her smile turns into a scowl. Without a word, she grabs ahold of the nurse’s arm and drags him to a more secluded area of the cafeteria; an area where there are not too many people occupying the tables. 

“Doctor, is there something wrong?”

“Didn’t I tell you that you don’t have to go to the conference?” She spits out all of a sudden, her eyes ablaze with fury. 

“And is that wrong?” Adrien repeats. He does not understand why she’s suddenly angry. 

“Why are you choosing to go there in the first place, Adrien?” She asks out of exasperation. “I doubt it’s because you really want to listen to the talks.”

The nurse is rendered speechless with the doctor’s assumption. Well, it wouldn’t be considered an assumption since it’s the truth. “I mean...I, well - um.”

“Adrien, I know you’re going because of me,” Doctor DC sighs heavily. She pinches the bridge of her nose and huffs out, “I don’t want you to go. Did you not get what I was trying to say back at Ping’s?”

“I would have thought that you would be happy if we got to spend time together this weekend,” Adrien says defensively. In a now pensive mood, he racks up every thought in his head that made him think that Marinette would have been excited for him to go to the conference. Now that she's acting the opposite of that, he’s at a loss for words. “Why don’t you want me there?”

“I just don’t want you there, Adrien.”

He crosses his arms. “That’s not a reason for me. Give me a valid reason as to why I should not go.”

"I just don't want you to go. Is that not enough of a reason?” The doctor mutters angrily. 

“That’s it?” Adrien counters in a pointed tone, “I’m not changing my mind, doctor. I don’t know why you’re so bothered with my choice to go to the conference. Don’t you want to spend time with me?”

“It’s...it’s because - ugh,” Doctor DC groans and shoves a paper bag of croissants at his chest which he takes roughly. “Whatever,” she spits out impatiently, rolling her eyes, “just leave me alone now. I’ve said my case and you’ve said yours. We’re done for today.” She shakes her head and walks away, leaving not only a confused nurse behind but one that may have felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you liked this chapter! I made sure to have it out a bit earlier than expected ♡

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