"I know I said I wouldn't let go, but Marinette you need to sleep."

She shakes her head, denying him, and pouts. "I don't want to let go of your hand."

Adrien laughs softly. "But Marinette," he then juts his head to his left, "I'm just going to be in the room beside you." He found the way she's currently acting cute and unlike her normal mood. But he does not mind. The way she looks as she's wearing his jacket – all cozy yet fitted perfectly in the jacket all the more does not make him mind at all.

She then suddenly wraps her arms around his waist and draws close to him. With a smirk on her face, she sneakily suggests, "How about you go inside the room with me?"

He felt a blush creeping up his cheeks, but he’s grown used to and immune to her antics. After being around her for so long, Adrien now knows a way to go against her. “Well,” he drawls out and bends a bit, bringing his face close to Marinette which causes her to freeze out of surprise. Now he knows that he has turned the situation around. He keeps his voice low as he continues, “there are a lot of things that we can do together in the room.” He’s careful to make sure that his voice does not get loud because it would be embarrassing for his parents to suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and find the two of them in this rather suggestive position.

"Oh, like what? Care to elaborate?"

He wraps his arms around her waist as well. "Like…talking."

Marinette then burst out into soft laughter. "I should have known," she murmurs amusingly, playfully rolling her eyes at him.

He breaks off into a smile, happy to hear her laugh again. "You did not let me finish, though."

She curls an eyebrow at him. "Really? Go on then."

"I'll go in with you to talk and…" he snakes his arms tighter around her, not to the point where it will become uncomfortable, "and maybe we can continue to hug there and maybe kiss, a bit-'' Adrien's interrupted by the sudden feeling of Marinette's lips on his. He gasps first out of shock but recovers quickly to savor her lips on his. He retreats first and blinks, trying to straighten to mind out. "Wow, okay, I-uh, I guess you were thinking the same thing?"

"No," she simply answers.

"Oh, then why the-" Marinette kisses him again, "kiss…?" He finishes, all in a confused daze, his face clearly flushed.

She shrugs nonchalantly. "It was the only way to stop you from talking."

"You could have told me."

"I don't hear you complaining," she murmurs in a singsong voice.

"God, Marinette, this is why you're such a brilliant person." He closes his eyes. "Okay, stop me from talking again, please." He hears her chuckle under her breath before feeling her lips on his again. This time, he’s prepared and brings a hand to the back of her head to caress it, running his fingers through her hair.

She breaks the kiss which made Adrien pout, but it disappears when she says, "I actually have an idea as to what we could do in the room."

Adrien's eyes go big with her words. "O-Oh, okay? I mean," he stammers, "yeah, sure, I'll go in. If that's what you want…"

Marinette's smile widens. She then bites the side of her bottom lip, not in a manner to tease him but more out of nervousness. "Follow me, then." She opens the door and switches on the lights of the guest room. Adrien follows, even taking the initiative to close the door behind him, and stands by the door.

She takes a seat on the edge of the bed. "What are you doing standing there? It's as if I'm the one who owns this house, not you. Come, sit beside me." She pats the space behind her twice. "Then help me take off your jacket on me."

"M-Marinette?"

"Just help me, Adrien. Nothing's going to go wrong. I promise."

Without any further comment, Adrien does help her out of his jacket and he folds it, setting it on the bed. "See?" She says, "Nothing wrong."

Then she stands to walk toward the table beside the bed where her bag is set upon. "Stay there, okay?" She instructs Adrien softly and reaches for something in her bag and pulls out a white coat.

For anyone, it could pass as a normal doctor's coat. One that any medical doctor would wear during work.

But Adrien knew better. And he's happy to know that Doctor Couffaine followed his instruction to give it to her.

"Is that–"

"Yes," Marinette answers without any hesitation. "I refused to wear it without you around. Now that you're here with me, it's time I try it on."

Adrien could not believe that he would be given the opportunity to see the doctor wear the coat he made her. He spent two sleepless nights making the coat she asked for as a farewell gift.

It never crossed his mind that he would want to see her wear it. He just wanted to make it and make sure that it got to her without wanting to see her.

But now…

Now that he's watching her slip her arms through the sleeves and adjust the collar lined with different fabrics of the coat, he can't help but admire how beautiful she looks in it.

"Wow," he whispers when she turns to him, opening her arms to the side as a way of presenting herself to him.

"How do you think it looks on me? The coat is really beautiful."

"You're beautiful," he replies in a heartbeat.

"Shut up," Marinette says but she could feel her cheeks getting warmer.

Adrien stands to straighten one part of the collar that Marinette must have missed in the process. Standing near her, he takes the chance to look at the finer details that enhance her features – from the way the coat does not make her look short and how it still gives her form.

"I'm blowing my own horn here, but damn, you look good in that coat," Adrien couldn't help to comment.

"Of course, I look good in this coat. You made it! You didn't expect this to happen?"

"N-No, I mean, I wasn't sure if what I measured on you were the correct dimensions or–"

"Are you trying to say that I've gotten fat?!"

"W-What?" Adrien sputters. "Where the heck did you get that–"

"You're not denying it. Oh my God, I really got fat, didn't I?"

Now Adrien is really surprised. The doctor has never shown any amount of low self-esteem in a lot of things. Except for this.

"I never said–"

"But you never denied either–" Marinette is suddenly cut off as she is pulled into a tight embrace. Perhaps one that could count as soul-crushing too because she instantly found that she was struggling to breathe. "A-Adrien?" She manages to choke out.

"Please trust me when I say that that thought never crossed my mind. I-It's not that you got fat, doctor. In fact, I've been wanting to make sure that you would eat because you look like you haven't been eating for the past weeks."

" –can't breathe."

"Sorry, sorry!" Adrien apologizes frantically and lets go of the embrace to allow Marinette to move. "Are you okay?" He looks closely at her. "Did I hurt you or anything?"

Marinette couldn't help but burst out into a small fit of laughter. "Ah, Adrien, being a nurse really fits you."

"Wait, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, yes, don't worry about me. It wasn't as if I did not enjoy being in your embrace." She grabs hold of his arm and squeezes it gently. "And at least the coat on me didn't get wrinkled."

"I…I would have loved to see you wear it at work," he breathes out, his tone hinting at his feeling of sadness toward the fact that he will not be seeing her at work anymore.

But Marinette knew better. And she couldn't wait to tell him. "What're you talking about?" Acting as she would usually do, she raises a questioning eyebrow at him. "You’re going to see me wear this," she says nonchalantly.

Adrien scoffs, "When I visit the hospital as a patient? I mean, definitely not as a nurse, right?"

"...There's something I want you to know, Adrien. You will be formally dismissed from the hospital when your contract ends.

"Well, yes, I am aware of that–"

"But your license is not revoked."

His jaw drops. He thinks he did not hear her correctly. Did he hear her correctly? Did she say what he thought she said? "S-Say," he stammers, "say that again? W-What did you say?"

She takes this as a chance to softly squeeze his arm again, in an attempt to show that he's truly awake and hearing what she's about to say again. "Your license is not revoked," she utters with a gentle smile gracing her features.

"...Does this mean that I’m still a nurse?"

She nods and her smile widens.

Adrien still could not believe it. He's been living for the past week knowing that his life has ultimately been changed. That the job he has been studying for five years would all go to waste and that the person he loved very much had not left him at all even when he thought they all did.

"Are you serious?" He asks, still in a serious state of disbelief.

"Yes. I swear that I would never play around with this."

"Oh, my God, I–" He stops. The urge to pull her back into his arms was becoming hard for him to suppress and Marinette could tell. "Can I, can I hug you? I promise I won't make you feel that it's hard to breathe-"

"Go ahead, Adrien," Marinette cuts him off amusingly.

Without wasting any second, he moves forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders. Marinette also does the same and wraps her arms around his waist, creating the space for each of them to truly feel the other and melt into the embrace.

"How in the world did this happen?" He breathes out, in a blissful state of disbelief.

She answers, "It's about time you realize that a lot of people care about you in the department, Adrien. Not just me."

—---------

"Nurse Mylene, please send me the report once you finish it today, alright?"

"Yes, Doc DC."

"Thanks." Marinette waves at her and inserts her hands back inside the pockets of her new coat as she saunters away from the nurses' station to head back to her office.

It's been two days since she returned to work. Meaning, that it's also been two days since Adrien came back with her. And she has started wearing the special coat made by Adrien.

Everyone in the department was thrilled to see Adrien again and she thinks that it was his first time to truly realize that he has left a mark on each of them.

Even Doctor Couffaine was one of the happiest to see Adrien again.

When Doctor DC arrives back at the office, the first person she spots is Doctor Chloé, seriously bent over this piece of paper lying on her desk.

"Woah, Chloé, are you okay over there?"

"Yeah, yeah," the other doctor murmurs without thought. Her eyes are still on the document. "I'm trying to figure out something here."

"Let me help-"

"Nah." She waves a hand at dismissal without looking at Doctor DC. "You've got a lot on your plate ever since you arrived back here."

"You sure?" Doctor DC asks. Her voice hinted at concern for her colleague.

"Of course I'm sure. By the way, one room of your patients wouldn't stop gushing about how you and your nurse are back together."

Doctor DC chuckles lightly. "Those ladies just can't stop fawning over Adrien and me."

"Well, I'm done fawning over the two of you."

"Hey, that's mean."

Doctor Chloé pauses a bit to look at her colleague. She throws her a smirk. "I'm messing with you, doc. You go call that nurse of yours already. Leave me alone to figure this out."

Doctor DC pauses and throws her a confused look. "Call my nurse? Adrien? Why do I need to call him?"

"God, Marinette," Doctor Chloé groans softly and forces herself to look up again and point at the clock hanging on the wall. "It's past 12 noon already. I overheard your call earlier and you promised that you'll call him at lunchtime."

"Ah, shoot," Doctor DC curses under her breath and immediately heads out of the office. "Thanks for reminding me!"

Just as she left the office, Doctor Chloé could only shake her head in tired disbelief. "She's smart, but could also be idiotic," she mumbles to herself before going back to studying the document before her.

It's Nurse Adrien's day off today, thus he's using the time to scout for different places where he can work when his contract ends.

And with Doctor DC being a bit clingier nowadays due to current circumstances, she promised him over the phone earlier at the office this morning that she'll call again at lunchtime to catch up with what he'll be doing.

Finding a free storage room on their floor, she enters it and makes sure that she locks the door behind her. She wouldn't want anyone else hearing her talk with Adrien for the second time today. Once was enough for her colleagues to hear – that's what Marinette thought.

But, in all honesty, they would love to hear their conversation. Everyone in the department supports the relationship and a bonus part was that they would get to hear Doctor DC act so lovey-dovey.

She doesn't waste another second and grabs her phone from her pocket to dial his number before placing it against her ear.

Adrien answers after three rings.

"Hey!" He greets her over the phone. Hearing his voice makes her smile.

"Hi, Adrien," she greets back softly.

"You're late in calling me."

Ah, so he really did take note. Marinette playfully rolls her eyes. "I wasn't late. I'm just a busy doctor."

"Alright, if that's what you want me to believe–"

"And it's also because I miss you," she confesses out of the blue. She notes how Adrien does not reply as fast as she hoped he would.

"I-I miss you too," he shyly admits in a soft voice.

"Why are you all shy now when you weren't moments ago?"

"Marinette, I'm on the bus right now. You could say that I'm a bit shy with the thought that people could overhear our convo."

She freezes for a moment. Marinette completely forgot that he was going to take the bus to go to different places today. She found it thoughtful of him that he informed her he'll be taking the bus.

And then she started to worry. Anything that involves a vehicle and a road drowns her with dread.

What if something bad…happens?

Or maybe, maybe she's just overthinking.

These kinds of accidents don't happen once in a million, but she has this feeling that it won't happen to Adrien.

No. It's not going to happen. Nothing bad is going to happen, Marinette fervently repeated this newly-made mantra in her head.

She found it stupid of her to resort to a silly thought based on unsurfaced worries and imaginations of countless what-ifs.

But the mantra was starting to become the only thing holding her up.

It was becoming the only thing she could still control.

"Y-Yeah, the bus," she breathes out. Then she clears her throat, regaining her composure. "That's right. You informed me earlier that you'll be taking the bus."

"It's my fourth time riding the bus today," he says. She feels like she could hear his smile through the phone. "I have not encountered any problems. Just like what I promised, I'll make sure to keep myself safe, okay? After all, with the matching trinkets you bought for us, I'm treating mine as a lucky charm."

"Oh, shut up, luck is not the only thing that can help you out of a bad situation."

"It depends if I place my luck on someone special like you."

She playfully scoffs, "Again, shut up, Adrien."

"Make me when I visit your place later," Adrien utters in a hushed voice. He does not give any time for Marinette to recover from the unexpected flirtatious remark before he completely changes the topic. "By the way, since I'm out, I decided to also canvas for cloth."

"C-Cloth?" Marinette stammers, "What do you need cloth for?"

"Do you remember Roland, doctor?"

"Yes, I do remember him. May his soul rest in peace."

"Yeah. Well, he uh…he made designs of clothes I can make for you," Adrien shyly admits.

"Woah, wait what? Really?"

"Mhm, I'm not messing with you. The designs truly look nice and in honor of his memory, I would like to bring them to life."

"That's very kind of you, Adrien, but don't feel pressured, okay? You must focus on your current job and find a new one. Those things matter the most now."

"And you matter, too," he tenderly replies, melting Marinette's heart in a split second. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe. Well, in a good way. "Don't worry. I'll show you some of the stuff I have with me later."

“I can’t wait. Come home to me, okay?” She says in a voice above a whisper. There is a part of her that is cringing over the fact that she said something like that, yet there is another part of her that is happy she said it. She knows that Adrien would be happy hearing those words from her.

She hears him chuckle softly. “Of course, Marinette.”

The doctor then clears her throat. “Uh, well then,” she utters in a more professional tone, “I have to get back to work. I have a number of patients waiting for me to visit them.”

“Alright, doctor DC. I don’t want to hold you off any longer.”

“Again, take care of yourself, please. I just got you back,” she whispers the last statement.

“I know. I just got you back, too. See you when I get back home.”

And Marinette knows– no, she believes that he’ll be okay.

She shouldn’t worry more. Adrien will come home to her. She trusts that he will.

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

Hi! I've been MIA for so long and I sincerely apologize for that huhu

I was able to go back to my university campus and stay at the dorm for my last month and now I'm officially a university graduate ♡ 

Congratulations to everyone part of class/batch '22!

I've actually been in the States for the past weeks because a cousin of ours is getting married. I'm treating this trip as the break I've been longing for for a LONG time haha

I hope to finish this book in a few...months, I guess? I hope that I'll have a lot of free time before I start graduate school next year.

I also hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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