Adrien's POV:
       Adrien grins at the girls the two on his mind a lot recently.  He loves them both so much. He hopes one day they both can more then just friends.  He dares not state such an opinion so as not to scare Marinette away from him.   He turns to go but stops when something or rather someone reaches out and grabs his arm.

      "Adrien, do come inside for a bit," Marinette says.

        Bethany grins, then frowns when she recalls how it is way past her bedtime. She goes inside the house as soon as her mother unlocks the door, then straight to her room.  She enters the bathroom, prepares for bed, then soon she is asleep in her bed.

        "Marinette, I love what you have done with the place," Adrien says. He looks as if he means every word.

     "Thanks, I think," Marinette says.

      "Look, not to sound like a weirdo, but that guy Oden gave me the creeps.  I saw him follow you, and had a hunch he would not leave you alone.  I climbed into my vehicle and followed close behind his tail," Adrien explains.

    "Oh, that explains how you got here so fast," Marinette says.

    "Yes, and I would have gotten out sooner, but I wanted to be sure first," Adrien states.

       
   Marinette's POV:

     Marinette thinks, what is he talking about now?  She has not the foggiest idea.

      "Adrien, I have no idea what you mean," Marinette says.

      "I saw him get out and approach you," Adrien explains.

     "Oh, dear me,"  Marinette replies.

     "I  did not like him bothering you, " Adrien tells her.

       "Also, I felt like I had to surprise him, so as not to be mistaken for a bad guy," Adrien goes on to say.

    "I say you surprised him,"  Marinette responds.

         Marinette notices Adrien smiles as if he has something important on his mind. She sits down.

   Adrien's  POV:

   Adrien takes a seat on the sofa next to Marinette. He does not touch her since he is sure she is not ready for such a thing. He places his hands on his lap.

    " Marinette, I  feel like I am intruding, goodness, it is late," Adrien says.

     "You are not intruding, why on the contrary as I recall you did save our lives back there," Marinette tells him.

   "I hardly can take credit for all that since the police arrested him," Adrien protest.

        Marinette yawns since she is so tired and soon falls asleep.

       Adrien grins as he thinks take care, Mari.  He gets up and exits the house.  He sees the police have already left.  He locks the door with the key which ironically enough was left in the door. He frowns at the thought as he places it inside the funny fake rock in the corner part of her porch.  He hopes Marinette and Bethany will be safe.

      He drives home, yawns the entire time, but gets back safely. He parks his car, gets out, locks it, and enters his house with his house key. As he locks the door, the last thought on his mind is about a certain Bluenette and her daughter who looks like a miniature her.   He grins, prepares for bed, and soon dozes off.  

Narrator's POV:

   The next day, Marinette shows up at the Agreste mansion. Since it is still summer, she left Bethany are her folks house this time.  She rings the doorbell suddenly wondering how on earth she will explain her presence here.

   Adrien answers the door with a grin.  He certainly did not expect to see the object of his affections on his porch this morning. He wonders what brings her here?

Adrien's POV:

  "Marinette, what brings you here?" Adrien asks.

    Marinette grins at him as she points to his hedges. She appears to be here for yard work.

       Adrien gives her a puzzled look and she laughs.  He thinks man I love that laugh.

          "Oh, do come in," Adrien says.  He smiles as she enters his place again.  As she comes inside it is then it dawns on him that Bethany is nowhere in sight.

        "Where is the kid?" Adrien asks.

      "Bethany is with her grandparents,"  Marinette says.

          "I just came by to repay you," She replies with a grin.

    Adrien stands there in awe while Marinette goes back outside the door. He watches as she pulls out some gloves and a few tools from her car.  He sits on his porch to watch her at work.

   Marinette's  POV:

     Marinette gets to work on the hedges first.  She decides it is a good place to start as they look like they could use a trim.  She finishes them a few minutes later.  Next, she stores them in her toolbox.  She begins to work on pulling up weeds.     

     Marinette does not seem to notice that Adrien stares at her while she works. She is to busy with what she does to pay attention. She smiles and hums a bit as she is careful not to harm his flowers. 

     "Whoa, the tulips, need some water," Marinette says.  She looks around for a watering can. She sees one, picks it up, and takes it to the outside faucet.  She turns it on, and soon the can is filled. She turns it off, then proceeds to water the tulips, azaleas, roses, lilies, and hydrangeas.  

      She does not say a word about the plants thought she does wonder how he has so many of them. She finishes the task, then despite her sweaty t-shirt, gets a lawnmower out of her trunk starts it, and mows his lawn.

Adrien's POV:
    "Marinette, there is a  rider mower in the shed.  You can get the work done in half the time!" Adrien calls out.

     "Huh, I can not hear you," Marinette says. She has on hearing protectors drown out the loud sound that comes from the lawnmower. 

    Adrien shakes his head at her.  He thinks Marinette you have done enough already.  He has not the slightest idea why she insists she does all this anyway.  He did not do something big enough to equal to all this.

    Marinette waves at him thirty minutes later, as she gets out a weed eater now that the mower sits back in her car trunk. She starts it and moves it slowly around the yard so as not to harm any of the lovely flowers.

   Adrien takes a photo of her as she wipes some sweat from her eyebrows. He thinks she looks pretty.  He does not say as much because he is sure she is not ready.

   Marinette's   POV:
    Marinette packs up the last of her tools, and the gloves. She looks at Adrien as if to say so what do you think?
   
   "Before you go here," Adrien says. He hands her a reuseable water bottle full of water.

     "I could not take this from you,"  Marinette says.

     "Nonsense, Marinette, I will not take no for an answer.  Besides, you need water,"  Adrien says.

     "Thanks, Adrien,"  Marinette says. She takes a sip and smiles. 

          Marinette drives away unaware that Adrien waits until she is out of sight to close the door.  She goes to pick up Bethany now.

     
  Bethany's  POV:

     "Mom, what did he say?"  Bethany asks.

     "He?"  Marinette asks.

  "Yes, Mr. Adrien, when you offered to help him out," Bethany states.

       "He did not say anything," Marinette answers.

        "Haha, that sounds so funny," Bethany remarks.

          "Mom, you smell bad," Bethany tells her.

             "Sorry, I did not go home and shower before I came by to get you," Marinette tells her child.

    Tom & Sabine's  POV:     

     Tom and Sabine think when Marinette told us she wanted to repay Adrien we were thrilled.  

      "Marinette, we did not know when you said what you did earlier this meant you would do his outside chores," Tom says.

     "Yes, we did not think that is what you meant," Sabine tells her.

        "Same here," Bethany states in agreement with what her grandparents mentioned.

            "Oh, good grief,  mom and dad, I just wanted to help him out,"  Marinette says.

       "Marinette, it is time you had some fun in life," Tom and Sabine say together.

     "Ugh, not this again,"  Marinette says.

 Marinette's POV:
   Marinette and Bethany ride home together in silence.  Once there, they go inside without any troubles this time and Marinette smiles. She is glad the day went well.

 She can tell by the funny looks Bethany gives her that her daughter thinks the whole thing to be strange indeed.

   find out more in 

  Chapter  9

-Summer out!