Adrien smiled as he read her encouragement. Don't worry. I'm fine. I just felt guilty this happened because I insulted that reporter. But my mother went to take care of it, so hopefully the paper will take care of it. He passed the not back to her when the teacher wasn't looking.

Gabriel nodded. "Good. I still want to get the lawyers involved, but I'll control myself since you've already dealt with it." Truth be told, that reporter could be in way more trouble than what it sounded like he was in at the moment. Using someone's name to publish false statements overstepped a line that could have easily led to that reporter being fired, owing their family a large sum of money, and quite possibly jail time for fraud. Yes, he was very lucky Iris was the one that resolved the issue.

Iris chuckled again. "You on your best behavior? That will be quite a sight." Iris then leaned back slightly. "So how was your morning? Any trouble?" She hoped no one bugged him about the article. Iris really wanted them go out this weekend. She was worried if people did bother him he would more likely decline.

Gabriel hesitated for a moment as he thought about her father's 'visit'. She would probably be happier not knowing that her father made an ass of himself this morning. But he also knew she would be angry if she found out another way later. So he shrugged and answered, "I saw your father this morning." That would be enough to get the point across.

"My my father?" Iris stuttered. "What do you mean you saw my father this morning?" She was so confused. Did her father actually come down here to yell at Gabriel? She was now feeling upset. A stupid news article finally made her father reach out toward them? You would think her parents would have tried earlier despite their broken relationship.

Gabriel shrugged again and sighed. "He was more than willing to believe the garbage in the paper this morning. And then he argued with me when I told him the paper was lying. We exchanged some insults, but I think I won this round. He left when I accused him of choosing his hatred for me over your happiness." 

He hoped she wouldn't be mad at him for arguing with her father the one time the man decided to acknowledge their marriage existed. Then again, the bridge had burned long ago, and there wasn't much hope of fixing it if all her father wanted to do was believe terrible rumors and yell at him for things he didn't do.

Iris moved to the other side of the desk so she could right beside Gabriel. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that this morning. It doesn't surprise he believed that fake interview. Gives him ammo to hate you more." Iris let out a sigh. "I should have called them when I came back, but what they did you two while I was gone. That's unforgivable." Iris clenched her fingers on the edge of the desk.

Gabriel placed a hand on her clenched fingers and met her gaze. He wasn't sure what to say. He could tell by the tension in her posture just how upset she was. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, he knew how much it bothered her that her parents couldn't accept their relationship. He may not understand how close her relationship with her parent's had once been, but he knew that he was the one who threw a wrench in that relationship. And he felt guilty about it.

"It was painful..." He paused, still not sure what to say. Part of him wondered if the past six years of Adrien's life would have been any better if he grew up with his grandparents. They were petty, terrible people to him, he had no clue how they would have acted with Adrien.

Iris stared at Gabriel for a moment. She wanted to push him to tell her about the past, but she decided against it. "I'm sure it was." Iris moved her hand so could grab a hold of his. She was quiet now. There else to say beside asking him her burning questions.

Gabriel squeezed her hand, glad she didn't push him further. He would talk about it in the future, as promised, but not right now. "Do you want to stay until it's time for us to pick up Adrien? I'd rather spend time with you than keep trying to get work done today."

"Yes," she answered. Speaking of spending time together. Iris hesitated. "Gabriel, this Saturday." She paused. "I was thinking about shopping for new clothes. Would you care to join me? Maybe get dinner?" Iris couldn't her fear in her eyes. She was afraid he would say no.

Gabriel's first instinct was to say no. It took a lot of effort for him to keep the word from escaping his lips before the rational part of his mind caught up with his dislike of crowded spaces to override his instinct. He definitely would prefer not to go out on Saturday (of all the busy crowd days), but the look in her eyes was enough to get him to entertain the idea. 

"How many hours do you want to shop before dinner?" He asked.

Iris was caught off guard by response. Was that a yes? She shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought it would be nice to spend time together outside the house. You can say no. I can just go by myself.."

Gabriel considered for a moment before nodding. He could work with this if she was willing to work with his rather limited ability to be around people. "Would a couple hours shopping and then dinner be enough time for you to find the clothes you want? We can go to whichever stores you want if I can pick the restaurant."

Iris smiled at Gabriel. She was pleased that he didn't reject going out with her. "Sounds good." She realized they were still holding hands. Iris squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

Gabriel returned her smile. Hopefully, two hours in a mall wasn't too much for him to start with. He could choose a nice, quiet restaurant to relax afterward, but he didn't want to be too overwhelmed beforehand. This would give him a good indication if two hours was too long. "You're welcome."