Marinette sighed, stepping away from the hatch. "Come on in, then. Being as you won't leave anyway."

Adrien stepped into her room and looked around. "Wow. That's a face full of pink." He chuckled. Marinette hugged herself, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Yeah...its been like this for a while..." She looked around herself. "More than five years. I haven't had the chance to redecorate with long shifts at the bakery, plus babysitting." She said, staring into nothingness. "And now... with this apocalypse..."

She stood up and took a family picture off of her wall, stroking her parent's faces, a tear rolling down her cheek. She sniffed. "Everything... everything has gotten a whole lot harder..." She handed the picture to him with a sad smile. "You would've loved them. Everyone did. They were so friendly and playful...it was too early for them to pass." She sat down next to him.

He smiled at the picture, slightly jealous of how happy the three of them looked. He never had a close relationship with his father. She looked up at him. "What are your parents like?" She asked.

"Hm? Oh...I never...I never really was close to my father..." He said, putting his hands in his lap, still holding the picture. Marinette pouted.

"I'm sorry..."

He gave her a sad smile. "Don't be. It's not your fault...he's just a very busy man with a stubborn heart." Now it was Adrien who stared into nothingness, only, he had a smile on his face...A real one. "But my mom and I? We were very close...we did everything together, except from all the girly things of course." He chuckled, his smile then dropping to a frown. "But, one day, she just left...and...I never knew why..." A tear trickled down his cheek. "And the crazy thing is...I can't help but feel like...like it was my fault." He was now sobbing, covering his face with his hands, Marinette's picture by his side.

Marinette hugged him, trying not to cry herself. She held him close, whispering sweet nothings into his ear, running her fingers comfortingly through his hair. "It's okay, it's not your fault, Adrien. Believe me. There's nothing you could have done to make your mother leave...I'm sure she had a perfectly good reason as to why she left." She said softly, still holding him. She tried to pull away, but he just held her closer.

"Can we stay like this for a little while longer?...Please?" He whispered shakily. Marinette nodded into his shoulder.

"yes." At this moment, she didn't care that she was on his lap...just as long as she was comforting him and he was happy.

"Girl, you haven't eaten...okay. I'll leave you two alone to carry on with whatever it was you were doing before I burst in..." Alya said before disappearing back downstairs. Marinette blushed, rushing to the hatch.

"Alya! It's not what it looked like!" She yelled. Alya came back up and sat right on the edge of the hatch, her feet resting on the steps.

"Oh really? So you weren't sat on his lap, doing sinful things?"

"No! I was comforting him, Alya! We were talking, crying, then comforting each other...that's it!" She exclaimed, emphasising her words with her hands.

"Uh-huh...okay." she said before disappearing down the steps.

Marinette sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry...Alya always jumps to conclusions."

"It's no biggie." He smiled. "But, I really think you should eat something. You haven't eaten anything all day."

Marinette nodded and wiped her cheeks. She took a deep breath and opened the hatch. "After you." She smiled.

~
"Alright. That's the third one by the dumpsters." Alya said, dusting her hands off. Marinette jumped down off of the counter.

"Great." She yawned. Alya looked at her tired best friend.

"If you're tired, Mari, you can switch with Adrien."

"Nah. I'm alright. Besides, he looks so peaceful...I wouldn't want to wake him up." She said, leaning over the counter to smile at the sleeping boy who was in a sleeping bag on the floor behind the counter. Alya rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Yo, blondie!" Alya called, waking the young model.

He sat up instantly and rubbed his eyes. "Hm? I'm up, I'm up." He yawned. "No...no I'm not." He said sleepily, laying back down.

"Oh no you don't. It's Marinette's time to sleep. She's exhausted." Alya spoke, pulling him up by his upper arm. "Oh wow, you do work out. Don't you?"

"Alya." Marinette winged. "Stop flirting." The bluenette climbed into the sleeping bag and zipped it up. "Night. Wake me up when another one finds it's way here." She yawned, closing her eyes.

"Will do." Alya smiled.