Marinette kicked herself mentally. She shouldn't be upset about this. "You're very sweet, Adrien. It must be hard on her. I wish she would tell us who she is.."

Iris sat up and just stared at her phone. Her mind was telling her just to go home. Hiding was pointless. Everything probably would be fine. She then trembled at the thought and shook her head. No she would be putting them at risk. Iris typed her response. Sorry can't. she stopped typing. Iris stood up and went into her room. She closed the door behind her. Are you busy with work? If you're not call me. 


Iris hit send. Hearing each other voices would good enough for now.

Adrien nodded.  "It would be nice to know.  But we went a long time without knowing each other's identity.  We can wait with her too.  She definitely seems very close to her family, though.  I think I might remind her of her son.."

Gabriel flipped to the schedule app on his phone. There was a meeting but not with anyone too important.  He quickly texted Nathalie to cancel any appointments for the next couple of hours before standing and walking over to the door to lock it. 

He returned to his desk and turned to Lycca.  "I'm going to be on the phone. Make sure to stay quiet."

Lycca gave him an unamused look. "I know how to stay hidden."

Gabriel just ignored him and tapped on his contacts. Another tap, and he could hear the ringing on the line as he waited for her to pick up.

"True." Marinette laughed at them hiding their identities. "It's sad that we went that long without knowing our identities. I know the part of reason was because of me, but my God it was so obvious."

Iris sat down on her bed and stared at her phone. He didn't answer back. She felt sad. He was busy. Then suddenly the phone rang. Her heart leaped when she saw it was him. Iris took a deep breath. She could do this. They needed this. He needed this. Do not cry!

"Hello, Gabe," she answered. She was now lost with words. Trying to fight back tears.

Adrien nodded.  "It was a good idea in theory.  Hawk Moth can access a person's knowledge when he has influence over them."

He paused for a moment before grabbing the basket and pulling out the food.  He had let his thoughts go a little too far into that direction for his liking.  "But, yeah.  It was super obvious.  Especially those times the building was sealed shut from the outside and we were both their while our civilian selves were conveniently missing."  

He finished making his sandwich and pushed a paper plate and the sandwich materials to her.  

Gabriel's heart raced at the sound of her voice.  If only they could be together, in the same room.  "Hello, Iris."  He paused, overwhelmed and not sure how to carry the conversation forward.  So, he decided on something he'd already asked.  "How are you doing?"

Marinette laughed. "We were so stupid. I can't believe you tasted the honey my uncle covered over Chloe's hotel." She started to make her sandwich.

Iris felt her body shaking. It was hard to control her emotions. She took another deep breath. "I've been good." She paused. "This shouldn't be awkward. We're not hopeless teenagers in love."

Adrien laughed with her. "It wasn't the soup, so I figured it would be safe to try. It was pretty good. I can't believe we had a DDR akuma right after you learned I was a master at DDR and didn't question Chat's skills."

Gabriel smiled to himself. She was right, but they both still seemed overwhelmed with emotions.  "I know. But it's just so good to talk to you after so long. I don't know where to start.. I'm just really glad you're okay."

"You're right! I didn't think about that," she said. Marinette then took a bite from her sandwich. "Remember when Bridgette was akumatize? I forgot Tikki at the restaurant."

"I know," she paused. Iris was worried he would want answers. So she had to make it clear to him that she can't tell him anything just yet. "Gabe, unforunetly I can't tell you anything until I return home. Don't ask why. But I will tell you nothing ever bad happened to me. I wasn't hurt."

"Yeah. And I followed you all the way there because I didn't want Bridgette to get past me and hurt you. You totally could have handled yourself." He took a bite of his sandwich before continuing. "And let's not forget when Mylene was akumatized and we literally called out to every person in our class and then to each other and didn't notice anything."

Gabriel sighed. He had a feeling she wouldn't want to talk about what happened. There was a reason she wasn't coming home, after all. That didn't mean he was satisfied with her decision, but there wasn't much he could do about it.  It was a relief that she hadn't been hurt all this time, though.

Still, he couldn't help but ask one question. "Are you in trouble with someone...?"

"Again we were stupid," Marinette laughed. She then gave him a smug look. "Were you really taking a shower that one time?" she started to play with his hair. "Ladybug needs to know."


Iris frowned. She wasn't sure how to answer that. Was she was in trouble with someone? Well the brothers were after her miraculous. Did that count? "No, I'm not. Everything is fine. I just have to do something first.." she decided not to count it.

Adrien smirked. "Hmm. Should I tell you? You must have had some fun imagining." He waited, giving her time for her mind to process that thought before continuing. "Nah. I just needed you to not come in before I was ready. You almost walked in on Chat, after all. Making it seem like I was in two places at once was rough."

Well, that was reassuring. Unless she was Peacock and didn't want to say anything... But that was just a thought that currently had no basis in reality. He couldn't treat it as fact without evidence.  "Do you have any estimate on how long it will take for you to complete your task?"

Marinette just stared at him. She felt her face turning hot and when he continued with his answer, she slightly punched him. "Stop making me flustered!!"

Iris bit her lip. She wish she could give him an exact answer. "No I don't sadly. I'm sorry.." she choked on the last part and started to cry.

Adrien couldn't contain his laughter.  He wasn't sure what reaction he was expecting to get, but he got the one he wanted most.  "Whatever do you mean, princess? All I did was pause for a moment. You're the one whose mind went to the gutter."  Forget the fact he suggested her imagining things, of course.

Gabriel's heart sank as he could practically hear her tears in the way she stumbled on the last part of her words. "I'm sorry, Iris. I didn't mean to make you feel worse..."

"Liar! You encourage it!" she looked away. "I bet Chat looks way better." She then looked back at him with a smirk.

"You didn't!" now it was more obvious that she was crying. "You know how I am.."

Adrien returned her smirk. "Ouch. You really think so? Maybe you'd like a chance to compare. I'll bet you'll change your mind." He placed his sandwich on his plate and played with the fabric of his shirt as if ready to remove it as soon as she said the word.

Gabriel wanted nothing more than to be there with her. To hold her until everything was okay again. "I know... But I hate to hear you cry and know I can't do anything..."

"Addrien!!!' Marinette's face was completely red. She grabbed his hand away from his shirt. "We're in public!!"

"Don't worry about me," Iris said and wiped a tear from her eyes. "You talking to me is enough. You're free to talk to me as much as you like. Call or text me. I don't care."