T-minus 7 days until the Gala

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Adrien adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves as his polished black shoes echoed across the vast, empty halls of the building. He's been working tirelessly to make sure everything was going according to plan; ordering necessities, directing the employees, and keeping track of their budget wasn't something he was fond of. He'd much rather be working with a particular bluenette.

He heard Nathalie's voice coming around the corner and checked his watch. Ten minutes ago, he was supposed to meet his father in his office for a brief on how preparations were going.

"Gabriel, he was supposed to be helping—" She stopped walking as soon as she saw him. "Never mind, I found him."

"Nathalie," Adrien greeted with a smile. "Am I late?"

"Yes," she sighed. "But he'll understand. You've been very busy these past three days." The woman gave him a knowing smile before pulling out her tablet and clicking through some apps.

Yes, Adrien thought, busy indeed. He's spent the past three days not only managing everything, but spending time with Marinette any chance he could, whether it was stopping by her office in the morning, or meeting her at lunch. It's only been three days since they've patched things between them and he's been happier than ever.

"Oh, since I have you here, would you please let Marinette know that I'll meet her at the Ballroom? I have a few things I need to take care of before driving up there."

Nathalie typed something on her tablet before responding, "Of course." With that, Adrien kept walking to where his father was waiting for him in his office.

"Morning," he said, striding into the room and immediately taking a seat. "Let's make this quick Father. I've got some things to tend to."

Gabriel looked up from his desk and offered a smirk. Adrien seemed very happy in the past three days and so did Marinette, despite her breakup with Luka. They certainly had patched things up and the older Agreste was determined to discover just where the two stand.

"I'll try my best. So," Gabriel smiled. "How are things coming along?"

"They are going according to plan, all the designs will be completed by tomorrow evening. Then the models can rehearse four days after that. I've decided that Marinette and I will be taking a night before the gala to get our bearings. This has been very stressful for both of us, and I'm sure she could really use the break. Is that alright with you?"

Gabriel failed to hide the amusement in his eyes. "You two will be taking off together? But what about your little feud? Are you dating?"

Adrien's face flushed at the thought of Marinette being his girlfriend. Yes, that's what he wanted...no he wanted more than that. He wanted her to be wearing a ring on her finger that made her an Agreste.

Someday they'd get married, have three kids, and she'd have that hamster she always wanted, and they'd be so happy...

"Adrien." Gabriel cleared his throat, snapping him out of his daydreams. "I take that as a no?"

"No, no, we aren't dating." Yet. He scratched the back of his neck. "We're just friends. I planned on taking her to see the Christmas lights and do some shopping since I'm sure she hasn't had time to with the hours she's been working lately."

Gabriel slid a check across his desk. "Well, then by all means," he said. "Do something right for once and win yourself back the girl you love."

Adrien's eyes widened. Why was his father giving him twenty thousand euros? That's ridiculous! Unless...

Unless Gabriel was the one that was trying to get them together. What if Louis wasn't sick? What if this was all a part of his father's plan?

"This was all you, wasn't it?" Adrien asked, waving the check. "You're trying to shove us together, aren't you?"

He clicked his tongue. "For once the dense blond isn't so blind. Yes. I want you to buy that girl a ring, and be engaged by the New Year."

"N-New Year?" he sputtered. "We only made up three days ago! And you expect her to marry, let alone date me? Father, a relationship takes time!"

"Naturally, yes, but you've known each other forever! You can't deny that she still loves you! Adrien," Gabriel leaned forward, elbows on his desk. "She didn't immediately say yes to her boyfriend when he proposed. Isn't it obvious that she didn't know what she wanted because she was still in love with you?"

"How did you know he prop—"

"I know everything, Adrien. You thought I wasn't keeping an eye on you two? It's my job as your father to make sure you don't marry some gold digger."

"That's exactly who you thought Marinette was when we dated in lycee," Adrien deadpanned.

"She was a teenage girl, I couldn't be sure! She is a woman of much talent, and with a designer like her by your side, this company will be in good hands. I'm retiring, as you've guessed, and that is why you need a good wife before I move out to London and settle down."

"Retiring? Father, you're not even 50 yet!"

"We aren't having this discussion!"

"What are you hiding from me?" Adrien demanded.

"Not another word!"

"I am your son. I deserve to know why you're suddenly handing off this entire company of yours that I don't even want to me."

"Adrien!"

"Tell me! What's so important that I can't have a few more years of—"

"I'm dying!" He slammed his fist on the desk. "I'm dying, Adrien," he said, his tone softening. Adrien shook his head. There was no way that the Gabriel Agreste, the most intimidating and controlling person ever, his father, was dying.

"You are the only one that can take this company," Gabriel said, his eyes begging. "If you aren't married before I die, then the whole thing goes to Amelie and Felix. You know what those two will do. The brand will die and so will your legacy. Your mother and I built you this empire, like hell am I going to let death stop me from passing it onto you."

"I..." Adrien was speechless. There was silence before he dared to ask the million-dollar question. "What...how are you dying?"

"Cancer. It's already advanced. There's a doctor in London who can help, but I may only have a year left. Not even that," his voice breaks. "I want to be there watching your eyes light up as your bride walks down the aisle, just as mine did when I saw your mother. Don't you see?"

"Yes, Father. I do. I–I understand why you are pushing us, but...I can't guarantee that she'll take me back."

"I can."

"How?"

"She..." Gabriel would never tell his son that he threatened Marinette. He should never have done that, but he was desperate. "She really loves you," he finished lamely.

"She loved me back then, and let a misunderstanding come between us. Who are you to say that won't happen again?"

"I can't. I just have to trust that you will make the right choice." Gabriel stood up, Adrien following suit. "I'm counting on you. You're dismissed."

*****

Marinette checked her watch as she pulled out some Christmas lights from the giant boxes that came in the other day. Today she and Adrien would oversee that the Ballroom was decorated properly to ensure it really would outshine the Bourgeois five years ago.

"He was supposed to meet me," she muttered. "Where could he be?"

The door opened and Marinette whipped her head around to see who it was. It was not Adrien, however, but she was happy to see Alya and her fiance.

"Alya! Nino!" she said with excitement, offering them each a hug. "What're you two doing here?"

"Well, Nadja wanted me to get some footage of you and Adrien decorating the Ballroom together and I figured Nino and I might as well come and help out." She offered an apologetic smile.

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'm sure Adrien will appreciate you coming, Nino. We've both been so busy we hardly made time for friends and family."

Marinette looked around and gestured to the boxes that were scattered among the bare tables. "Could you help me look through these for some silver backdrops?"

"I'm on it." Nino walked over to one of the tables and started digging, leaving the two girls alone. Marinette had so much she wanted to tell Alya, but it was neither the place nor the time.

"Where's Agreste?" Alya asks, smirking. "You seem to be looking for him."

"He was supposed—" she was interrupted by the door banging shut.

A slightly embarrassed Adrien stood there, rubbing the back of his neck before walking to where the two women stood. "Sorry, that was loud. Hey, Marinette. Alya." He nodded at each of them.

"Yo, dude, I feel like I haven't seen you in a while!" Nino walked over and the boys did their special handshake. Even when they're grown men, they still have their quirks.

"You two here to help out?" Adrien asked, before eyeing the camera slung across Alya's shoulder. "Doing some coverage for Nadja?"

"Yeah, but mainly we were hoping the four of us could hang out and make this fun. Like decorating for the school dance, years ago."

"That wasn't fun, though. We were avoiding each other," Marinette pointed out, her gaze falling upon the blond. "But we aren't anymore."

"Agreste, please tell me you two made up," Nino asked.

"And made out," Alya added, smirking at their red faces.

Marinette fidgeted with her hair and Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "No, we aren't together like that. We're just friends."

Alya face-palmed and Nino rolled his eyes.

"Dude, don't tell me we are repeating what happened at the start of lycee. It took you two chicks forever to spread your wings and fly."

"Marinette, you're being an idiot," Alya said bluntly. "And so are you, Adrien, for not being man enough to tell her how you feel!"

"Ah—um, er, w-we should—" Marinette struggled to get a cohesive sentence to come out of her mouth.

"We can yap about this later. Let's get to work." Adrien walked over to the boxes, pulling out a backdrop. "Nino, help me hang this?"

Marinette moved to pull out the icicle lights and started to untangle them. "It will still be another twenty-minutes until the rest of the crew arrives to help out. Give me a hand with these?"

The four of them worked in silence for a few minutes before Alya couldn't take it any more. "Okay, there's no way we aren't going to make this fun. If we're working, we're going to do it in style!"

She walked over to where she set her bag when she arrived and grabbed a Bluetooth portable speaker. Looked like someone was ready to get their groove on! Alya pulled up her Spotify and connected, playing catchy tunes.

"Now, we can work! Whoo! Come on babe, you feel it?" She grabbed Nino's hand and spun him around, laughing. "Let's get these backdrops up first! Adrien, Marinette, you two set up the lights after us?"

"But you don't even know where they're supposed to go!" Marinette laughed.

"Then tell us! Come on, Nino."

Adrien shook his head. You could always count on Alya to spice things up a bit.

Marinette found herself working in sync to the rhythm of the music and twirled, moving closer to where Adrien stood, frozen in thought.

"Hey, everything okay?" she asked, her smile dropping.

Adrien quickly looked up at her, snapping out of his thoughts. "Uh, sorry. There's just a lot going on in my head right now." My father is dying and expects us to get married. How can I even propose if I can't even be sure that you still love me?

Marinette debated whether or not she should press him, but decided against it, knowing that whatever was bothering was none of her business.

"Okay. But if you ever want to tell me what's on your mind," she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm here."

"Thanks." Adrien offered her a grateful smile and made her squeal by picking her up at the waist and spinning around. "Are you up for a competition?" he challenged.

"What sort of challenge?" Marinette raised an eyebrow, a smile tugging at her features.

"First one to untangle their light bundle wins."

"You're on."