I'm sorry I just noticed: somehow, this oneshot was no longer on my page. I did not delete it! Either it was deleted by some hacker, it was deleted by one of those mass purges, or whatever else... I'm re-uploading it. And if this is your first time reading it, enjoy!
Disclaimer: This show and its characters belong to Thomas Astruc. I do not own anything.
"Ivan, Mylène, and Nathanaël… You'll be a group of three."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Rose and Max…"
As Ms. Mendeleiev continued to call out names, Marinette leaned forward in anticipation. Since most of them were going to be working in pairs for the upcoming project, she was dreading the idea of being called along with Chloé, or even Lila.
She still wasn't sure where she stood with the new student; she was still plagued with guilt after what had happened. But while she did attempt to make up for her excessive behavior during the Volpina incident, all her efforts were deterred by the brunette's supposed claims of personally knowing several famous fashion designers, including her favorite designer, Gabriel Agreste. Marinette saw through that immediately, but was able to reel in her strong disapproval before history could repeat itself. Since then, the blue-eyed heroine made no further attempt to befriend Lila, but did not actively avoid her either. They interacted civilly, making small talk about any subject in general, but attempts at personal conversation were kaput.
"Nino and Alya, you'll be a pair."
Marinette gave her beaming best friend a congratulatory pat on the back for being partnered with her love interest, telling Alya how lucky she was. She then realized that there were only four people left.
The black-haired girl gave a sigh as she rested her forehead on the desk, awaiting her fate with either Chloé or Lila. As her rotten luck would have it, that's what she had expected.
But it looked like Ladybug's luck would dominate today.
"Chloé and Lila, you'll be a pair —"
"Excuse me, Madame," Chloé interrupted with a raised hand, "but I'd like to be partnered with someone else. Someone familiar, perhaps?"
Adrien, in other words.
"Partners have already been decided, Miss Bourgeois. Either learn to work with yours, or do all the work on your own. Your choice."
As always, Ms. Mendeleiev would have none of it. Chloé crossed her arms with a bitter huff, grumbling about "how ineffective it was to be working with exchange students." Lila's reaction looked no less better, cringing the moment her name was called along with the blonde's. She must have heard about the queen of mean that is Chloe.
"And for our last pair, we have… Marinette and Adrien. All right! You have your partners, and everything you need to do is spelled out in the guidelines. Get to it!"
Marinette perked up, her head jerking off the desk. Did she just hear that right?
"Yes, Madame!" the whole class responded, just as the bell rang for class to be over.
This time it was Alya's turn to pat her on the back, a wide grin on her face. "Looks like luck's on your side this time."
Marinette turned to her blankly, still processing, when it clicked. Her eyes grew wide with shock and excited panic surged, her arms flailing around.
"I'm in a — I'm with— I'm going to be—" Words ultimately failed her. She couldn't believe it; she was actually partnered with Adrien!
"Congrats, girl," was all Alya replied as she gave her a knowing smile with a wink.
An ear-to-ear grin spread across Marinette's face as she reveled in the moment. A group project… with Adrien! She was in heaven!
Unbeknownst to her, Adrien had approached her table as Alya quietly slinked away with the rest of the students.
"Hey, Marinette. Looks like we'll be working together, huh?" The blonde's voice startled Marinette out of her reverie, her blue eyes shooting up to meet his lucky green ones.
She shot out of her chair so fast that it almost fell over, clutching her backpack tightly in her arms. "A-Ah, yeah! S-So seems, I-I mean, s-seems so! Hehe!"
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. "I'm sorry, I… can't really work on it today since I'm going to be really busy after school. But maybe we can meet up tomorrow after school or later this week? What would you prefer?"
"Ah! I, uh, um…" Marinette swallowed and struggled to get the words out. "T-Tomorrow…? Tomorrow good! I, er, good tomorrow! N-No, I-I mean, t-tomorrow! T-Tomorrow is good!"
Adrien smiled, seemingly immune to her stuttering. "Tomorrow, it is. And since this is a big project, maybe we can work on it at my place? If not, then…"
Maybe he could somehow convince his father that it was important to their individual grades as a group effort. Hopefully. Maybe. Probably…
Meanwhile, Marinette was having difficulty keeping the excitement out of her voice. "S-Sure! I-I'll be there!"
Adrien beamed; Marinette's insides practically melted. "Great! See you tomorrow!"
"U-Uh, yeah!" Her signature ear-to-ear grin spread across her face again as she watched him turn and leave.
Once reassured that he was out of sight and earshot, as well as being the only one left in the classroom, Marinette opened the clasp of her purse to allow her Kwami to fly out.
"Woohoo! I still can't believe it, Tikki! I'm going to be working on a project — with Adrien! This is the perfect chance for me to get closer to him! And I'm officially going to be in his house! Without the mask!"
"I'm so happy for you, Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed, sounding just as excited in sharing her holder's joy.
"Maybe I'll finally be able to work up a decent conversation with him! Hopefully, he won't think that I'm trying too hard or that I'm too weird or that I'm creepy or thatI'mastalkerwho'stryingtoobservehimfromtheshadowsor—!"
"Marinette, calm down!" Tikki rushed towards her holder's face, putting her tiny paws on her cheek in order to placate her. "You're overthinking it! I'm sure Adrien doesn't think you're any of those things! Like Alya said before, right? Just be yourself… and watch we're you're going."
Marinette took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "I-I just hope I don't mess this up, Tikki. With him and the project. I've messed up on so many things lately…"
"Believe me, Marinette. You're going to do a great job, both with Adrien and the project! Just do your very best!"
Marinette smiled, cupping her hands around the Kwami and nuzzling her. "Thanks, Tikki. I'll try."
She then held her hands out to let Tikki take to the air again before clenching her fists in determination. "Alright! I think it's time to prepare all the things that we're going to need for tomorrow; we've got a lot of work ahead of us. Plus, there's something I'd like to make for Adrien as well, hehe…"
Giggling at the idea she had in mind, she quickly slipped on her backpack as Tikki flew back into her pouch, before hurrying out of the classroom, eager to put her plan into action.
That night…
"Father, I would like to ask you something."
Gabriel Agreste turned towards his son nonchalantly just as he was about to exit the dining room. One of the rare times his father was in the same room as him was a chance that Adrien wasn't going to let slip by.
"What is it, Adrien? I'm rather busy."
The blonde stood up from his lonely place at the dining table, clasping his hands together and taking a deep breath. Now or never.
"We've received information for our next group project and our partners have just been announced to us today. And since we're working in pairs, this will be a pretty big project. So I was wondering if… my partner and I could work on it here tomorrow after school…?"
A frown crossed his father's face and Adrien quickly continued on before he could disapprove. "I-It's an important part of our grade, Father! We'll be graded mostly on group effort a-and we're required to keep a log of our meet-ups so that individual efforts are actually reviewed by our partner, and —!"
"This partner of yours…" Gabriel cut in abruptly. Adrien's mouth immediately snapped shut. "Who is he?"
"M-My partner's actually a girl, Father," Adrien answered tentatively. "But it's someone you've met before. Marinette, remember? She was the winner of your bowler hat contest?"
His father's face turned pensive yet still managed not to give anything away. Adrien waited in silent anticipation, his hands squeezed together so tightly that all blood circulation was surely cut off.
"Very well. Since this is for an educational goal, I will postpone your activities scheduled for tomorrow to a later date."
The answer was so unexpected that Adrien couldn't help the gasp of surprise that escaped his lips. This was a first, indeed. "R-Really?"
"However, you will be solely responsible for the supervision of your… partner, and she is to use only the guest bathroom. I expect a perfect score on this project, so use the time well."
"Y-Yes, Father," Adrien responded numbly, still in shock. His father was never this agreeable before — at least, not since he allowed the boy to go to school. What had changed?
"If that is all you have to say then I bid you good night."
"G-Good night. Thank you, Father!" Adrien exclaimed as Gabriel finally exited the room.
Mere words couldn't describe how grateful and happy Adrien felt in that moment.
The next morning…
"I hope he likes them…" Marinette mused worriedly to herself, clutching a white rectangular box tightly in one hand while holding a rolled-up poster in the other.
"I'm sure he'll love them!" Tikki encouraged from her pouch.
"Hey, Marinette! You're early!"
Marinette let out a small yelp as she turned to face Alya, who was coming up the school steps.
"Oh, Alya! Good morning, I was just—"
"No need to explain, girl." Alya pointed to the box in her hands, a small sly grin on her face. "That's for Adrien, I'm guessing?"
Marinette only chuckled sheepishly in response.
As the girls made their way to the classroom, Marinette was careful - extremely careful - not to trip over anything. And that meant anything. She was even cautious going up the stairs, determined not to let misfortune happen to the contents inside of the box. Even when they sat down, Marinette made sure to hide the box from view when Chloe and Lila came in.
Alya was quite pleased to tease her about this, earning a flustered reaction from her best friend.
"Good morning, Marinette," Adrien called out as he entered the classroom. He cheerily set down his bag before turning to face her. "Are you ready to get to work on this project?"
"Y-Yes! B-Bet you! I-I mean, you bet!" Marinette stuttered, her sheepish grin crossing her face when they made eye contact. Beside her, Alya snickered into her hand.
As the rest of the class poured into the room, the teacher came in not long after, and class officially began for the day.
After school…
"Good luck, Marinette," Alya whispered as she gathered her belongings.
"Huh?" Marinette eyed her as she zipped her backpack closed, confused.
Her best friend nodded towards an oblivious Adrien, who was still packing his books. Marinette's eyes widened in shock before she turned back to Alya nervously.
"Er, t-thanks," Marinette whispered back with a sheepish smile.
Alya replied with a wink and an encouraging grin before taking her leave. Not long after, Nino said his goodbyes to Adrien before leaving the room, technically leaving Marinette and Adrien alone (since there were still other students in the room).
Heaving the strap of his book bag onto his shoulder, Adrien turned to Marinette with a bright smile. "Ready to go?"
Marinette could only nod excitedly as she slipped on her own backpack, grabbed the poster and the white box, and followed Adrien out of the classroom. As they made their way down the school steps, Marinette automatically turned and began to walk in the direction of Adrien's mansion.
"Uh, Marinette?"
The girl came to an abrupt stop and quickly turned back to her crush, who stood in place just after reaching the bottom of the steps.
"You don't have to walk. I asked my driver to give us both a lift."
"O-Oh? Uh, r-right! O-Of course!" Marinette felt utterly silly as she rushed back to his side, almost tripping in the process.
As they waited for Adrien's ride to pull up, the two stood in awkward silence. Marinette fidgeted nervously with the rolled-up poster, which caught Adrien's attention.
"Is that for the display portion of the project?" he asked curiously.
Marinette started and looked at him in surprise, then back at the poster in her hand. She quickly held it up and only nodded in response to his question.
He was clearly impressed. "Wow! Way to stay on top of things, Marinette."
Marinette could only muster a "thank you" as she grew flustered again. This boy was going to be the death of her!
However, before Adrien could ask about the object clutched tightly in her other hand, a sleek car pulled up to the curb.
"There's my ride! Let's go!" he exclaimed, walking towards the car with Marinette following closely behind.
His driver, or "Gorilla" as dubbed by Adrien, stepped out of the vehicle and circled around to open the door for them. He gave the girl a curt nod of greeting, to which she nervously returned, before climbing into the car first, per Adrien's courtesy.
Adrien climbed in after her and the door shut behind him. The Gorilla clambered back into the driver's seat, started the car back up, and they were off.
Marinette inhaled the scent of leather, the familiarity of the interior doing nothing to soothe her nerves. The last time she had been in the car with Adrien was when her great-uncle came for a visit, and he had sat in the middle of the heroes, almost acting as a buffer. But with that buffer now absent, the distance between them felt a lot closer than it should be.
Adrien, on the other hand, was internally bursting with excitement in having another companion in the car with him. It was nice to have someone different other than Natalie or the Gorilla for company; he cherished those rare times. And while he had been in the car with Marinette before, it hadn't been just the two of them. He hoped this project would allow them to grow closer as friends.
Both of them were excited and nervous, but each for different reasons. And they were ready to burst from the tension.
Thankfully, the car came to a stop right then. Marinette let out a subtle breath of relief as her door was opened, and she tried not to seem like she all but wanted to get out of the vehicle as she climbed out. As she stepped around the car towards the gate that guarded the Agreste Estate, she couldn't help but marvel at how large it was. During the Bubbler incident, she was too focused on signing Adrien's birthday gift that she didn't really take notice of his house — even though she was inside for an instant. And even when she was inside during the Jackady incident, the situation was too hectic to properly admire the interior.
"Yeah, it's a lot to take in," Adrien prompted, coming up beside her. "To be honest, we don't have a lot of people over unless they're business associates of my father's. So I'm really glad you've accepted to come over yesterday."
Marinette could feel her face heat up. She nodded, not trusting her own voice to talk without sounding silly.
"Anyway…" Adrien's hand came up to rest on her shoulder, guiding her into the residence. "Let's head in. My father's expecting us."
The inside seemed a lot larger to Marinette than it was when she was there as Ladybug. She even stood in the exact same spot she had been when they came to warn Adrien's father about Jackady. It was a strange sense of deja vu, to say the least.
Nevertheless, Marinette's legs were shaking. Badly. Despite meeting Gabriel Agreste twice before, she was now meeting him in-person. Her favorite fashion designer. In the flesh. As her regular self. Without the urgent situation of an Akuma. Not to mention her crush was standing a few feet off to the side of her. If she wasn't in heaven at the moment, she was about to be.
"I'm home, Father," Adrien announced, snapping Marinette out of her reverie. She looked up to see the man in question standing on the landing at the top of the stairs. "And Marinette's with me."
"Ah, Miss Marinette," Gabriel Agreste greeted as he made his descent down the stairs. "It is quite a pleasure to see you again. The design you entered for the bowler hat contest had earned quite the reputation."
"T-Thank you, sir. I-It was an honor." Marinette internally grimaced and willed herself to speak a complete sentence long enough to hold a conversation with the famous designer. She summoned every ounce of Ladybug's confidence she had.
"Your talent is quite impressive, indeed," Gabriel continued. "Perhaps one day, I will be lucky enough to be working with talent such as yours. We need more people with your skill set and eye for design."
The compliments were dizzying. All the confidence Marinette gathered flew right out the window. "Y-Y-You're too kind, s-sir."
Adrien came up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You are very talented, Marinette. That's a sure fact."
If she heard one more compliment…
"Well, that's enough idle chat from me," Gabriel said finally. "Adrien has informed me of a project you two have been assigned to work on together. I shall not keep you from it any longer. Nathalie" — he addressed the woman standing off to the side — "please escort them."
Nathalie nodded and gestured for the two students to follow her as she started up the stairs. They walked side by side, Marinette casting a quick glance at Gabriel, to which he met her gaze neutrally, as she passed him. Withering under his stare, the girl quickly turned to look ahead, gazing up at the giant portrait of Adrien and Gabriel. She couldn't help but note how everything about it seemed to emit grief and sadness, not just the faces and background that clearly portrayed the emotions.
Upon entering Adrien's room, Marinette took the time to actually memorize everything about it. It also seemed larger to her than she last remembered. From the mini-second floor to all the posters and banners, she made sure to take it all in.
"I wish my room had this much space," Marinette muttered, intended as a passing thought.
"Well, it can get pretty lonely sometimes," Adrien responded as he walked over to the couch.
Marinette quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, realizing she had said her comment out loud. "I-I-I'm sorry— I-I didn't m-mean— Agh! I-I m-mean that the handy space, er, the space must be handy! M-My room can be very gamped, uh, cramped sometimes!"
Adrien let out a good-natured chuckle; Marinette didn't think she could suffer any more from embarrassment. He gestured for her to come over to the couch, to which she silently complied. And with his permission, she slipped her backpack off and set both it and the pastry box down on one end of the furniture.
With both hands now free, she put the poster on the table and reached into her backpack, pulling out a couple of books as well as the directions for the project. As she turned to Adrien, he had just turned around at the same time, books also present in his own arms.
"Great minds think alike, huh?" he said as his eyes flickered between the books in their arms, his bright smile meeting her nervous one.
She nodded with fervor, her smile widening. "L-Let's get to work!"
"This seems good to use as another main fact to put on the display. It's specific and important."
"G-Good idea! And then we can put these mini-facts around it to support it."
The two wasted no time in delving into the project. The poster was unraveled to its full span across the table, and the books were laid open to important pages with written post-it notes scattered across the poster's surface.
As they worked through the details of what to put on their poster, Marinette was gradually opening up, much to Adrien's delight. Granted, she still stuttered here and there, but she now spoke in coherent sentences. It was a side to her that Adrien wished he could interact with more often.
"Oh, how about this?" Adrien asked, pointing to a paragraph in the book he was currently looking for research. "This section contains a lot of valuable information. Do you think we can use it?"
"Hm…" Marinette looked over the paragraph. "I can see what you mean, but there's only a few sentences that are actually relevant to our topic. Maybe we can include only those?"
"Got it." Adrien wrote down something on a post-it note and stuck it on the page. He then sat back and looked at all the open books. "Wow! We did quite a lot of research! Did we gather enough information for all the sections listed in the guidelines?"
"That and then some," Marinette replied as she stretched her arms. "We only have one section left and then it's just the matter of organizing them all on the poster. M-Maybe it's time for a quick break?"
"Sure! Sounds like a plan." Adrien moved to get up. "Are you hungry? I can ask our chef to make us something. That is… if you don't mind?"
Realization struck Marinette and she gasped, so sudden that it startled Adrien. "I-I almost forgot!"
"'Forgot'?" Adrien echoed as he watched Marinette scramble to reach for the box that she had set on the couch earlier.
She handled the box as if it were a delicate artifact, her grip tight enough not to drop it but loose enough not to squish the box's contents. She placed it on the table in front of Adrien and quickly sat back, her hands clasping together uncertainly.
"Th-This i-is f-for y-you," she stuttered, her initial awkwardness returning as she gestured for him to open the box.
Curious, Adrien gently braced a hand on the box's base before using the other to lift the lid. Upon peering inside, his eyes widened in surprise and his mouth dropped open.
Inside was an assortment of cookies, croissants, and mini-pies. They were all so neatly arranged that it was no wonder they could all fit into the moderately-sized box. A pleasant smell wafted from the pastries, making Adrien's internal mouth water.
He turned to the nervous girl, his eyes shining with disbelief and… something else. "These are all for me? Really?"
Marinette nodded quickly. "I-I hope it's okay! Y-You seemed to l-like the pies a lot l-last time, s-so I asked my dad if he could make those again. A-And he also helped me with the c-cookies and croissants…"
She was rambling again, she knew. But Adrien had turned his attention back to the pastries, his gaze not actually focused on them.
Adrien was incredibly touched. It was the first time he had ever received something like this before, especially from a friend. And even if it was food, the confections were homemade and thoroughly thought out, as if planned ahead of time.
He looked at Marinette again with a bright smile that matched the shine in his green eyes. However, simple expression wasn't enough to convey what he was feeling.
"Thank you, Marinette," he breathed out with emotion and sincerity.
Marinette had never seen such an expression before — well, it was one she hadn't seen in a while. And the longer it was aimed at her, the more she felt the heat in her face build up.
She became increasingly flustered as she gestured towards the box again. "G-G-Go a-ahead a-and t-t-try one, ehehe…"
Adrien looked between the pastries and the girl before a small smile crossed his face. He then angled the box so that it partially faced her as well.
"Let's share it," he said, his smile never wavering.
And so they did. They sat on the couch in comfortable silence, enjoying the delicious pieces of heaven that have originated from the Dupain-Chengs' bakery. Marinette made sure to eat one of the regular croissants so that Adrien could try the cream-filled ones (the ones she put most of her effort into). Adrien was currently munching away at one of the small pies, his eyes closed in satisfaction as he savored every bite.
The blue-eyed girl took a look around his room once more when she spotted a neatly folded bundle of light blue fabric on a table next to his bed.
"I remember that," she mumbled, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Hm?" Adrien looked up at her as he finished his pie before following her gaze to the object in her view. His heart warmed immediately upon laying his eyes on it.
"That scarf is my favorite," he explained, affection shining in his eyes. Marinette silently turned to him as he kept his gaze on the muffler. "It was a present from my father on my birthday. The first real present I got from him in… well, years. It's the best present I've gotten this year."
Marinette smiled, happy to know that he cherished the gift she had made, despite the fact that her identity as its true giver was never disclosed. She had been so nervous back then, yet so excited, hoping that he would like it from the start. Now that she got that confirmation, her heart couldn't swell any more with happiness, even more so for him at the elation of getting a gift from his dad. But most of all…
"I'm really glad you received it," she said at last — out loud.
Adrien turned to meet her gaze, puzzled. "Huh?"
Realizing her slip-up, she quickly fumbled for an excuse. "I-I mean, uh, I-I'm really glad th-that you, uh, received such a g-gift from your father! Hehe…"
To her luck, he bought it, but he slumped against the couch dejectedly. "Yeah. First time for everything, I guess…"
It was meant to be a passing utterance, but Marinette caught every word. She gazed at him silently, her heart clenching up. She was about to ask if he was all right when he spoke up again.
"Hey, Marinette… what do you think about Ladybug?"
Marinette flinched, the change in topic so abrupt she was caught off-guard.
"L-Ladybug?" she repeated when she found her voice again.
He nodded. "Yeah. What do you think about her?"
"S-She makes up one-half of the superhero team that protects Paris," Marinette picked her words carefully. "So, s-she's pretty cool, I-I guess?"
"She's… amazing," Adrien sighed, a look of wonder in his eyes.
Marinette had never seen that type of expression on his face before. It made her wonder what exactly did her crush think of her alter-ego.
"O-Oh?" she inquired, curious.
"Yeah. The first time I saw her, she was just… incredible. Confident and smart and… I just couldn't look away."
Marinette unconsciously blushed. She had heard words of admiration directed at her superhero persona before, but in the way Adrien had just described, she was especially flattered…
And a little disheartened.
"I-It sounds like y-you're a pretty big fan of hers, huh?" Marinette teased lightly.
Adrien blinked, as if realizing he just admitted something extremely confidential, before his arm flew up to rub his neck sheepishly.
"I guess I am. In a sense, heh," he chuckled nervously. His expression instantly turned somber again. "She looks like she doesn't even need Chat Noir."
"N-Not true!" Marinette protested immediately. "Ladybug needs Chat Noir just as much as he needs her! They're a team!"
Adrien looked at her in surprise, his eyes wide. He had never heard her argue that strongly before, ever.
Marinette realized it as well and shrank a little bit. "I mean, uh, h-he's just as important as Ladybug! Everyone talks highly about her, b-but I think he's deserves more credit and recognition. I-It's not fair that Ladybug receives all the praise."
Now it was Adrien's turn to be extremely flattered on top of surprised, his expression softening as he processed her words. He smiled warmly. "Sounds like you're a huge fan yourself, eh?"
"I-I-I s-suppose," Marinette stammered, the heat rising up in her face to unbearable levels. She abruptly stood up, unable to take it. "I-I-I n-need to g-go t-to the b-bathroom! Uh, w-w-where…?"
"O-Oh! Follow me!" Adrien stood up and quickly led her out of the room. He made sure she kept up as they made a few turns before coming to a stop at a door leading into the guest bathroom.
"Here we are!" Adrien opened the door for her, allowing her to slip inside. "I'll wait out here for you so that we can head back together. It's easy to get lost."
"Ah! Um, okay! T-Thank you." Marinette gave him an appreciative nod before closing the door behind her, the click of the lock following a second after.
Adrien turned, his back against the wall, before shuffling a small distance away from the door. Just to give her an extra space of privacy.
"Oh, Tikki!" Marinette whispered frantically inside the bathroom, where the red Kwami flew out into the open. Her arms flew up to her head. "I-I thought I was doing so well! B-But then I'm seeing different sides to him, and-and his smiles are just so —!"
"It's okay, Marinette!" Tikki reassured as she flew up and nuzzled the girl's cheek. "You two are bonding! This is a good thing!"
"I-I know, but…" Marinette sank down to the floor, her hands moving to cradle her Kwami. "When he mentioned Ladybug, he sounded like he really admired her…"
"That's also good, right?"
"I-I'm flattered, really! But… the way he described me, it sounded like he was talking about a completely different person."
"That's not true!" Tikki flew in again, this time touching her tiny hands to her holder's nose. "You are Ladybug! Your confidence, your intelligence, your compassion and protectiveness over the innocent… those are all you! They just come out more when the mask is present. Give yourself some more credit, Marinette."
Marinette smiled, cupping her hands around the Kwami once more and nuzzling her with her nose. "Thanks, Tikki. You're right, as always. You always seem to know what to say."
Tikki giggled. "Heehee. Now why don't you wash your face some and meet Adrien back outside? Don't want to keep him waiting, do you?"
Meanwhile, while Marinette was having her little freak-out inside, Plagg decided to come out of hiding outside.
"Hey, Adrien, I'm hungry. Can we go look for some camembert?"
Adrien looked at his Kwami, unamused. "Not now, Plagg. Marinette could come out at any second."
"But don't all females generally take longer in the bathroom? I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind us slipping away for a few minutes to get some fresh cheese."
"Plagg…"
"Please! I'm hungry! And you wouldn't want the sound of my stomach grumbling interrupting you two in the middle of your project, would you?"
"Agh! Fine! We'll get your stinky cheese, then we're coming straight back. Deal?"
"Yeah, yeah, deal! Let's go already!"
Adrien opened the flap of his jacket to let Plagg fly back inside before hurrying away, whispering an apology and a promise to Marinette to come back in a short amount of time.
Unfortunately, Plagg had been wrong. As not even a minute after Adrien left, Marinette opened the door and peeked out before stepping out into the hall.
"A-Adrien?" she called, looking towards both ends of the hall but receiving no response.
"Perhaps he went back to the room?" Tikki questioned from inside her purse.
"I'm pretty sure he would've told me," Marinette replied, taking another back-and-forth glance before setting her hands on her hips. "The same thing if he needed to go too, I bet."
A thought suddenly occurred to her, one that made Marinette shiver nervously. "Wh-What if I did keep him waiting too long? Oh, now he's going to be so annoyed! Okay, the first thing I'll do once I meet up with him again is apologize! H-Hopefully me taking a lot of time in the bathroom doesn't bother him too much a-and —!"
"Marinette, calm down," Tikki said placatingly. "Maybe he forgot something and was too much in a hurry to tell you."
Marinette straightened, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "O-Okay. If we don't know when he'll be back, then I guess it's time to start walking."
She tried to remember which way they came from and started walking in that direction. She struggled to remember specific details about the halls that might have caught her eye earlier, but they all looked the same.
"Adrien was right," Marinette muttered. "I think I'm lost."
She made a few more turns and found herself in the large foyer near the entrance.
"This is familiar," Marinette murmured, looking back and forth again. As she did, she spotted an open door to a room.
Overtaken by curiosity, the blue-eyed girl walked towards it.
"Marinette, what are you doing?" Tikki asked urgently. "Aren't we supposed to catch up with Adrien?"
"W-We are! I just want to see—" Marinette abruptly cut off her sentence as she peeked inside the room. Familiarity struck her as she spotted a collage of pictures featuring Adrien on one side of the wall. Wanting to confirm her suspicions, she stepped fully into the room and looked to the side to see another collage. A collage that Gabriel Agreste had personally shown her as Ladybug.
She walked over to the place she had stood in to take the entirety of the collage, now admiring it in her normal, civilian form. As her eyes roved dreamily over each photo once again, she caught something in the corner of her periphery.
Turning her head, her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the large painting that adorned the center wall of the room. She wondered why she never noticed it last time.
Disregarding the collage completely in favor of the painting, Marinette slowly walked toward it, seemingly in a trance. Stopping only a foot from it, she craned her neck to take in its full size.
"It's really beautiful and intricate," she mused, examining the details. She looked over the subject of the painting's face more than once. "I feel like I've seen her before…"
Then it hit her: the wallpaper she saw on Adrien's computer screen was a photo of his mother in her younger years…
Marinette's eyes snapped back up to the painting in clearer focus. This was a life-sized version of the same woman, now advanced slightly in age. Even if it was just a portrait, the kindness and warmth portrayed in the woman's face were captured vividly.
"Adrien really does have her smile," Marinette murmured fondly, placing a hand over her heart. With her free hand, she reached out and placed it gently on the portrait's surface, her fingers lightly brushing the bumps of dried paint. She then took a deep breath, as if she were about to present an important speech.
"Hello, Madame. It's nice to meet you. My name is Marinette."
"We took too long, Plagg! She's probably trying to find her own way back by now!"
"I didn't think we'd take that long! You know I have to savor those first few bites of creamy goodness!"
When Adrien had returned to his waiting spot beside the bathroom, he was dismayed to find the door open and the room unoccupied. He was now running through the halls frantically in a desperate search for his project partner and friend.
"Argh! I should've asked for her number first! This could've been avoided if we had a method of contacting each other in the first place! Now it's my fault she's probably stuck somewhere, and I have no idea how to—"
He came to a stop in the grand foyer while in the middle of his rant, when the faint sound of another voice cut him off.
"… Thank you for your son."
Trying to pinpoint the voice, Adrien looked toward the room with the open door, the one that contained his mother's portrait. He gingerly walked toward it, slowly inched the door wider, and peeked inside.
His eyes widened as he saw Marinette with her hand braced against his mother's portrait, talking to it as if it were a real person. Or if his mother had really been standing there.
"Your son is in my class, you see," he heard Marinette continue. "To be honest, when we first met, it started out kind of rough. I thought he was playing a prank on me along with a few other classmates of ours, but it was really a misunderstanding on my part. He explained everything later, and he even offered me his umbrella to take since it was raining that day. That's when I realized I was wrong about him."
There was a trace of humor lacing her last statement, as if internally laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation had been.
Her voice turned serious again. "I think he's one of the kindest people I've ever met. He's kind to everyone, even if they… may not deserve it. I'd really like to pay him back for all the times he's helped and encouraged me, that's for sure…"
"Truth is, I can't complete one sentence around him! When it comes to him, I practically get all tongue-tied, and I'm not really sure how I'm managing to have full conversations with him today. I've stuttered and choked on my words so many times that I'm surprised that I haven't driven him off with how weird or crazy I must sound. But I'd love to get to know him better! Be the friend he treats me like I am, but any attempt on my part seems to end as an awkward mess, and I just end up totally embarrassing myself, and-and… I'm rambling again, haha…"
Adrien sucked in a breath, daring not to breathe as she continued, "I guess what I'm trying to say is… your son seems like one of the ones who wear their hearts on their sleeves, and, uh, I feel… honored to have met someone like that in Adrien. He truly has a good soul, like…"
Marinette looked up at the woman in the painting, something akin to wonder shining in her eyes. "… Like I'm sure yours must have been, Madame."
Adrien clamped a hand over his mouth while the other gripped his shirt, where his heart felt like it was going to burst. He had never heard words describe him in such a way before, especially from someone like Marinette. He knew she had a way with words while actually meaning them — her representative speech said as much — and he believed the sincerity that was put into each syllable. It had also been a long time since anyone made a connection like that between him and his mother. One that made the sting of her absence hurt a little less, and, in fact, reinforced the happiness of her memory a little more.
The boy couldn't help but wonder what other surprises the classmate who sat behind him held in store, and he wished to discover them, even if it was little by little. After all, he wanted to be her friend as much as she wanted to be his.
Knowing that he couldn't stay away any further, Adrien tried his best to compose himself before he stepped out from behind the door as casually as possible.
"Marinette?"
The girl jumped at his voice, letting out a startled yelp, before whirling around to face him. "A-A-Adrien! I—uh—er, I really didn't mean to intrude or anything! I g-guess I was j-just curious, an-and, well, I saw this painting!" She gestured toward the portrait wildly for emphasis then quickly withdrew her hands and clasped them together, looking slightly lost. "I-I-I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay," Adrien reassured placatingly. "I'm actually glad to find you here. I was worried you had gotten lost."
"O-Oh."
He came up beside her, looking up at the painted face that he missed daily. "I see you've met my mom."
"O-Oh, yes! S-She's really pretty! Y-You seem to have taken after her in many ways, Adrien!"
He looked at her and she immediately shrank. "I-I mean— that is— I d-don't know her at all or anything, b-but the painting alone seems to s-say a lot a-about what s-she was like! T-There's this, er, warmth to it? I-It's the same w-with you and—"
Marinette ducked her head, wishing for the floor to just swallow her whole and immediately cut herself off. She wasn't sure where she was even taking this, and now Adrien will think she was some kind of creepy sap or—
"Thank you, Marinette."
Marinette looked up at him in surprise to see his warm smile.
"You're the first person outside of my household to see this painting. I'm sure she would have loved to meet you."
The compliment warmed the girl's heart. "Y-You really think so?"
Adrien merely smiled in response and lightly took ahold of her hand. "Come on, we should head back. I think we took a lot longer than we should have for a quick break, and I'm itching to try out the rest of the treats you brought."
Internally screaming at the fact that Adrien Agreste was holding her hand (again), Marinette could only stutter out an affirmative as he led her out of the room.
After a few more hours, the duo finally finished the majority of the project, at least the majority that mattered most to their grade. At the same time, Adrien finished off the rest of the sweets, stating that the cream-filled croissants were the most delicious (much to Marinette's absolute joy).
They had even completed their individual essays, to which they gave to each other for proofreading and feedback, and were now picking out specific information to put into the verbal portion of the project.
Once done, the two shared a high-five for all the work they did, just as Marinette's phone began to vibrate.
"Oops, guess it's time for me to take my leave," Marinette sighed as she began to pack up her things and carefully folded the finished poster.
Adrien couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as well. "I'll walk you out."
"Are you sure you don't want a ride home?" Adrien asked as they stood in the doorway.
"Y-Yes. Don't worry," Marinette reassured with a small smile. "It's still daylight out, a-and I don't have to walk very far. I-I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern."
"You can also text or call me, just in case."
"I will." Marinette was extremely overjoyed that they had officially exchanged phone numbers. "I-I'll see you tomorrow."
"We should do something like this again," Adrien pointed out, "especially if neither of us are busy. I'd really like for us to hang out again."
Marinette was silent for a moment, which started to worry Adrien, before a genuine smile lit up her face.
"I-I'd like that too."
With that, Adrien watched as Marinette crossed the courtyard and walked past the open gate. She turned around then, giving him a small wave — to which he returned — before she turned left and walked out of sight.
The boy stood watching the spot for a good minute before closing the door with a sigh. The house felt ten times larger now that he was alone again.
"Has she gone home?"
Adrien looked up to see his father coming down the stairs.
"Yes, Father," the boy replied as Gabriel stopped in front of him. "We got most of our project done. Now it's just a matter of how we'll present it."
"Good."
They both stood in a tense silence for a moment, before Gabriel reached out and put a brief hand on his son's shoulder.
"I approve," he said simply before walking away.
Adrien was left to stare after him, dumbfounded. "Huh?"
A few days later, Marinette and Adrien rocked their project.
The boy was quite pleased, not just because of the high score and praise they received, but because of the hug his partner had given him in her excitement from their results.
Even though it lasted only seconds as she quickly backed away in embarrassment, stuttering out dozens of apologies.
It was a start, at least.
Thanks for reading!