Alya rubbed Marinette's shoulders like a boxing coach before his fighter gets in the ring. Marinette was focusing on her breathing. Mostly on remembering how to breathe. Today was a big day. Today was the big day. Today she asked out Adrien. To say it was nerve racking was underselling it. She and Alya had been preparing for this moment, this exact moment, for at least a month now. it was ten seconds that would make or break Marinette's entire year.
It wasn't nerve racking.
it was heart stopping.
Alya was just as nervous as Marinette, because of how much of this could be pinned on her. Marinette would never have gotten to this point without her. whatever happened now, it was Alya's fault. She was willing to take that pain. She had three "family" sized chocolate bars and a full-sized box of tissues in her bag, just in case something went wrong. She was too nervous for breakfast, so if this went well, she would eat one bar alone. But she kept her cool on the outside. Marinette needed that.
"Just remember to breathe, and remember one sentence. "Will you go to the cinema with me?" Eight words. One order. You can do it. Say it now," Alya said.
"Will you go to the cinema with me?" Marinette repeated, anxiously.
"Excellent, excellent. You're ready for this girl. Try not to freak. If you feel yourself bugging out, breath through it," Alya said.
Marinette squealed, "There he is!"
"I believe in you," Alya said.
"Thanks Alya. I love you."
"I love you too girl. Are you ready?"
"Y-yeah."
"Breath through it. I'll be right here if you need me."
Marinette stood up, and took that deep breath. The video they'd been watching was for controlling birthing pains, so she sounded slightly pregnant as she did them. Alya did not point this out. She was too smart for that. From behind the tree where she was hiding Alya could hear Marinette. Her voice was low and anxious between the breathing.
"Will you go to the cinema with me, will you go to the cinema with me, will you go to the cinema with me-"
Marinette had practiced and practiced and practiced. They had gone through every single scenario they could think of from him full on kissing her immediately, to an akuma cooking her alive as revenge for something she hadn't actually done. Alya had a funeral playlist on her phone, and a speak to make at her funeral, explaining how if there was one thing she regretted, it was never being able to tell Adrien she loved him.
They were more than just prepared. They were over prepared.
Scouts would look at them and think "maybe you didn't need to worry about that" but still. it was good to be prepared. It made them feel like they were in control for a while. Because the moment that question left Marinette's mouth, they were no longer in control of anything. and that was enough to make Alya's heart beat faster.
Alya peered around the edge of the tree to watch Marinette gingerly approach Adrien. He was staring down at his phone, and glancing around to try and see Nino. He would never have seen him. Nino had just appeared beside Alya, making her jump.
"Hey why are you snooping through trees, what's going on?" He asked.
Alya hit him for making her jump, and then beamed at him. her eyes were terrified, but her beam was full of pride. Her voice was both. Proud as punch, but shaking with nerve.
"Marinette's doing it."
"doing what?"
"asking Adrien out."
Nino's eyes widened, and his stomach dropped. He knew something they didn't. something that would make Alya feel a lot less in control.
"Asking Adrien out? Today?" Nino groaned under his breath, "I wish you'd called."
Alya stared at him in alarm. She was terrifying when she looked at him like that. her tone was like fire, and it did not help.
"Why?"
Nino winced at the tone, and admitted to her as if he were confessing his sins, "He spent the night with Chloe last night."
"What?!" Alya cried.
This was a spanner in the works that they hadn't anticipated. One that made Alya cold with fear and burn with rage at the same time. Marinette was going to be heart broken. When Alya was done with him, Adrien was going to be bone broken.
Nino threw a hand over her mouth urgently, and hissed, "Shh! Not like that!"
Alya scowled and yanked his hand away from her mouth. she hissed, low and furious, "Then like what?!"
"She called him up and said she was missing her mother and he was the only one who would understand, and the girl's like an octopus! Any time you try to get away she grows a new arm. he couldn't escape!"
"So he didn't get a lot of sleep?" She asked, urgently.
"And he woke up wearing pink make up. And he's in yesterday's clothes, he missed a photoshoot so his fathers angry, and he's been alone so long he still doesnt understand enough social cues to convey any of that without being mildly rude," Nino explained.
"Which Marinette's going to take as being brutally honest and let it destroy her," Alya groaned.
Nino nodded, visibly pained. "I really wish you'd called."
It was too late for that now. Alya glanced over at Marinette. She was practically beside Adrien already. The girl was shaking with nerve and ringing the strap of her bag anxiously. Alya knew how she felt. She felt it in the pit of her empty stomach. Suddenly she was glad she hadn't had breakfast.
"If we call her back now she'll lose all nerve! She wont ever get here again!" Alya complained.
"Let's just hope Adrien is better than we give him credit for. He's grown up around emotionally unstable models, he must have seen how to let them down easy," Nino said.
"He doesnt know Mari is emotionally unstable because we've been hiding it from him!" Alya complained again.
Nino's face fell. "He's doomed."
"Screw him, she's doomed!"
"We're the ones who will have to deal with it."
"We're doomed."
Tikki stayed low in Marinette's hoodie to stay out of view. She was so nervous on Marinette's behalf that she was shaking too. Marinette was taking those anxious breaths still. Her focus was on breathing and talking, so she didn't take in the way Adrien looked. Exhausted, and slightly annoyed at being awake. If she had, maybe things would have turned out differently.
"Hey, Adrien?" Her voice shook slightly.
"Marinette have you seen Nino?" Adrien asked.
"Ni- um, no, but-" Marinette stammered.
Adrien huffed. "I can't find him anywhere."
Marinette stammered slightly again, losing her nerve. She focused on breathing again, and dug down deep to find that part of her that was Ladybug, with and without the mask. It eased her nerve enough to remember what to say, but her voice still shook as she blurted out as fast as she possibly could:
"Willyougotothecinemawithme?!"
Adrien looked at her, confused. She had blurred the words together, and he wasn't sure when she had said. He was too tired to figure it out, so he tilted his head at head like a cat.
"Huh?"
She blushed intensely immediately, and forgot how to talk. She was fairly sure he wouldn't be able to hear her over her thumping hear anyway.
"You um, cinema, with err… with - with me?"
Adrien seemed distracted again. he was glancing around for Nino instead of listening, and answered unfazed, "Oh, err, yeah sure, tomorrow maybe."
She gasped in delighted surprise. Imagine the joy and shock she felt. Happiest moment of her life. she was going to go on a date with Adrien Agreste! The Adrien Agreste! Love of her life, joy of her heart, man of her dreams, Mr Perfect! All of the above and more. And now they were going on their first date!
"R-really?!" she grinned, her face fading to pink rather than beetroot.
Adrien shrugged, really blaze about this. "Yeah, sure, with Nino and Alya yeah? Nino's dying to see some movie about-"
her face fell. "Oh, err, no, actually I meant more like a err... like a – sorta like a um… a d-date?"
She bowed her head again, the blush growing more intense. Adrien finally focused on her, instead of glancing around for Nino too. He frowned at her, more confused than anything else. His mind was still slightly blurry from the long night of being treated like the favourite teddy bear of a spoilt infant. The pause was less than a second but an eon passed by in it. Tikki buried her head in her hands nervously.
"A date? With you?" He stammered.
She shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, um..."
He looked just as uncomfortable. "Oh, no offence Marinette, but you're not…"
Ladybug. You're not Ladybug.
But he wasn't about to say that. It was difficult to talk to someone you liked, really liked, and she had at least tried, which was more than he could bring himself to do with Ladybug. But he didn't love her. he couldn't love anyone but his Ladybug. So he'd have to let her down as gently as he could. While slightly annoyed that he had spent the night with Chloe, very annoyed he couldn't find Nino, slightly uncomfortable in this situation, and too tired to think of a decent lie.
The odds were not on his side.
"You're not really… my type."
Her heart dropped. Tikki's did too. Each one sat side by side on the ground, barely beating, and close to breaking. Marinette stared at him like a deer in headlights. The happiest moment of her life had been snatched from under her like a rug, and now, for a moment, she was in free fall, unaware of the pain that was about to hit.
In some ways, it would be better never to land. But you have to feel the pain to move on from it. otherwise how do you know what you have to move on from?
"I... I'm not?" She stammered.
Adrien shrugged, and fought back a yawn. "Not really."
"I..."
Marinette felt a white-hot pain growing in the centre of her chest, and a ball forming in her throat. From her space behind the tree Alya could see it was going poorly. She knew her friend needed her. Now. without a word to Nino, or an explanation for why she was in the bushes, she went dashing to her friends aid like a white knight.
"Marinette! There you are! Hey girl!"
Despite Alya offering her a way out, Marinette was ready to argue. She ignored her best friend. that white hot ball was anger, and the ball in her throat was the pain. Marinette had a choice, to fight, or fly. She went for the fight.
"What's your type then? Blonde, rich and spoiled like Chloe?" Marinette spat.
"Urgh, no," he reeled back in disgust.
Neither of them actually noticed Nino appearing. When Alya appeared she called out, grabbed Marinette by the shoulders, and tried to steer her away. unlike Alya, he didn't touch Adrien as he tried to guide him away from the argument he was about to enter. He just talked calmly to try and keep the peace.
"Come on now, we all have types, let's not get into who fits into them and who doesn't," he said.
"Let me guess, she's a model. She lets you choose what you're going to do together, even if she doesn't like it, so you think she's fun. she makes you feel smart even when you're wrong because she won't call you out when you are-"
"No!"
"Marinette you should let it go-"
Marinette pushed Alya aside, "Maybe she's smart then. Smart and pretty. Maybe kind? Let's put in brave too so we know she's cool. Smart, pretty, kind, brave, cool, and way out of your league, so you're busy pining after this girl you've never mentioned before-"
"Seriously Marinette this isn't going to end well!"
"Listen to Alya Marinette! Let this good, please!"
"or maybe she doesn't even exist and you're too chicken to say you couldn't like someone like me because that would mean admitting you're more like Chloe than you think!"
Adrien reeled backwards, shocked by how harsh she could be. he had only ever seen her treat Chloe like that. he never picked being on the receiving end. Tears stung at the corners of Marinette's eyes. the ball in her throat was taking over from the pain in her chest, and she wanted to run.
"Honestly Marinette I like someone else. I don't even think of you like that, I couldn't!"
Nino groaned under his breath. "Oh dude..."
"you're more like... my nerdy little sister!"
"Adrien don't."
Marinette bowed her head, closing her eyes so a tear escaped down her cheek. She was white as a sheet now, and her hands were cold, but her face was burning.
"I'm sorry but that's just the way it is. I love someone else, and she's smart and brave and gorgeous, and out of my league, but she makes me want to be better. You… don't. she's better…" Adrien muttered.
R-I-I-I-IP went Marinette's heart. From the new tear, her blood gushed up towards her cheeks. Marinette took a step back, out of Alya's grip, and away from Adrien. Alya's hand covered her mouth in shock. Even Nino was at a loss for words. The tears ran down her blood red cheeks, making her nose run too.
She choked out, "That's... that's fine... I'm… pleased for you that's… that's... I'm sorry!"
Despite Alya trying to reach out and stop her, Marinette ran away from Adrien as fast as she could. Her nose ran a marathon, and mixed with her tears, making her face blotchy and terrible. She ran around the corner of the school, out of sight.
"Mari - Marinette! Oh..." Alya scowled and turned to glare at Adrien. "Nice job Agreste!"
Nino sighed as Alya raced off after Marinette. She vanished around the back of the school after her. Marinette laid her head against the cold brick wall, and sobbed so hard her entire body shook. Tikki hovered in the gap between Marinette's arms and face for a moment. Then she nuzzled against Marinette's collarbone. Her own sparkling tears glistened like they held glitter as they ran down Marinette's chest. She felt every feeble beat of her heart, behind every aching sob.
Alya laid a hand between her shoulder blades. She pulled her gently away from the wall, and wrapped her arms around her. Marinette ended up pressed against Alya's shoulder, so Tikki slipped down into Marinette's shirt to be out of the way. Marinette leaned heavily against Alya, and sobbed dramatically into her shoulder. She choked through the ball in her throat, but it still made it hard to breathe. Alya held Marinette up, with an arm around her back, and another around her shoulder to lay her hand against Marinette's hair. Her hair ran across Alya's face, but she stayed there, still, stroking Marinette's hair gently. None of them said a word. They didn't need to. All of it was there, in the hug. Everything that needed to be understood, was.
Tikki sat between them, like a warm ball keeping them together. A warm, glowing heart, to replace the broken one.
Meanwhile, Adrien gave Nino a puzzled look. "What'd she mean by that?"
Nino opened his mouth to reply, but had no idea how to explain, so he shut it again. how could he explain that, even though the way Marinette talked to him was wrong, he made it so much worse than it needed to be. he couldn't. instead, he shrugged.
"Let's just get to class."
He pulled her headphones back over his ears, and started heading back towards the school building.
"What's up with everyone today?!" Adrien asked Plagg.
Plagg's ears were flat on his head and he sighed deeply. "I'll tell you later."
Adrien was no less puzzled. He didn't understand what he'd done to cause Alya to give him the stink eye when she and Marinette came into the classroom either. All of it was lost on him. No one talked to him in more than two words answers until he and Plagg were alone.
"Way to go Romeo," Plagg said, sarcastically.
"what happened?" Adrien asked.
"you took out your anger for Chloe, on Marinette," Plagg said.
Adrien frowned. "what?! No I didn't!"
"you told her you could never love her because she was like your nerdy sister."
"She is though!"
"You said you love someone better."
"I do!"
"Imagine if Ladybug said that to you."
Adrien was silent as he imagined that. His face fell as he felt his heart ache desperately. Now he understood what he had done. Alya was defending her friend. He was coming between Nino and Alya. He had broken Marinette's heart. No wonder everyone was mad at him.
"oh… oh no."
