And finally, some non-smut for this future series.

Marinette hated to admit it. But the red numbers swam in her vision.

A tear rolled off her cheek and splashed down on her ledger book. She tried to wipe it off from the paper before it smeared the ink, but more were quick to follow.

Her tailoring shop, which was the only thing that she could afford to open following university, was drowning in red numbers.

She'd tried to deny it for so long, and now, there was little that she could do about it right now. She'd have to close it and get out from under it before it dragged her and Adrien down as well.

Frustrated, Marinette shoved the papers away from her. She let out a growl of anger and shoved them off from her desk. She scattered everything off: bobbins, thimbles, spools of thread, fabric swatches, expense ledgers, and overdue bills.

"Marinette? Are you okay?" Adrien asked from the top of the stairs.

"Peachy!" she growled out. A moment later, Adrien had jumped down the stairs and took in the scattered mess of her office.

"What happened?" he asked as he looked around. "What's wrong?"

Marinette buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Adrien knelt down by her side and put a comforting hand on her knee.

"Marinette?" he asked gently, hesitantly. When the only answer he got was more sobs, he pressed on. "It's the shop, isn't it?" She nodded slightly.

He'd seen her ledgers, despite her insistence that he not worry himself with them. But honestly? How could he not?

The tailoring shop was Marinette's pride and joy. She loved designing things, but since her own fashions hadn't quite taken off, she took in whatever work that she could by altering people's clothes for them.

However, business had been slow, and he couldn't remember the last time that she'd had a customer.

Well, he did know, actually. Three months ago.

Very few people wanted custom-fit clothing anymore. They just found something in a different size or dealt with clothes that were oddly-fitting and too big.

Marinette flung her arms around Adrien, and he held her tightly as she cried into his shoulder. "The only thing that I've ever dreamt about doing since I was little was being a fashion designer! I don't know what I'm going to do now!"

Adrien pulled away from her slightly, his hands on her shoulders. "Bugaboo, just say the word," he said gently. "Just one call to my dad-"

"Adrien, no!" Marinette gasped out. "No! I won't be the reason why you got dragged back into that vat of poison! I'll close up shop and start selling matches on the street corner if it meant you never having to go back into the fashion industry!"

"Come on, my lady," Adrien whispered to her softly. He gently cupped her head between his hands. "We're not that bad off, okay? You don't have to turn into the Little Match Girl, okay? I won't let that happen to you. I've still got some time in my apprenticeship, but it's not like it's unpaid or anything. And I doubt that your parents would let you go broke, end up homeless, be hungry, and end up dying of exposure." He kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Y-Yeah," she said around a cry hiccup. "But what are we going to do until I can get back on my feet?"

"We're going to pack up and sell the building," Adrien said. "We'll use the money to buy another apartment. And you can start working at your parents until you can find another job. Or maybe you could just work full-time there, and maybe put up a display of some of your designs in a corner or something? You know that your parents love you, and that they'd do anything that they could to support you."

"Yeah," Marinette said. She pulled away from Adrien and he let her go. She wiped her face off with her arm, and looked around the mess that she'd made. "I'm just so upset and angry and I hate everything so much right now."

"I know, bugaboo. But never forget that I'm here for you. Always," Adrien said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He kissed the side of her neck gently.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Adrien," Marinette whispered as fresh tears started to spill down her cheeks again. She allowed him to scoop her into his arms and carried her upstairs to their apartment.

He set her down gently on their bed, and then curled up behind her. If he'd been transformed as Chat Noir, he would have been purring as a way to bring comfort to her.

"I just… I don't know what it is that I'm going to do now," Marinette whispered after a long stretch of silence.

"Much like your partner, you have a way of always landing on your feet," Adrien replied. He kissed the side of her neck gently. "Hey, if worst comes to worst, you and I can always take some selfies in costume and sell them to the highest bidder? Start offering to do interviews? You know, Spider-Man style."

Marinette giggled slightly. "We're not that desolate. Like you said, you've still got your job at the bakery. And my parents won't let me end up selling matches, either. It's just… this shop was my baby. And now I feel like I have to take it out back and put it out."

Adrien hummed slightly, though it was neither a non-committal nor a committal noise. Finally, he said, "Did you want me to tell you some sappy line to cheer you up?"

"…Maybe?"

"Consider this the end of a chapter, but not the end of the book. There's still plenty left for you, bugaboo. Plenty left for us."

She was quiet for a moment. "Yes, you're right. I shouldn't drag this out for any longer than it needs to be. The shop is dead, and crying about it won't bring it back. I need to get out from under it before it drags us both down into further debt and try to move past this."

Adrien leaned up over her and smiled down at her. "That's the spirit, bugaboo!" He leaned down and kissed her lips tenderly. "Now then: ready to kick my ass at Mecha Strike IV?"

This hasn't been proof-read, so please let me know if you spotted any errors so that I might fix them!

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