A/N: Aww. These chapters are so short. Innocent me. I hadn't even come up with the brain child for any of my other miraculous stories. Also shameless clickbait, I do appreciate all of the reviews. Please do them. :)
(11-8-2016) A/N: Surprise! Two sections in a day. I actually have a few chapters already written and I was gonna release them based on response. And fortunately the response was positive! Thank you guys so much for reading I really appreciate it. And thanks to the two of you who sent reviews my way, I really do value those. i probably won't post again today but maybe tomorrow? We'll see.
Until Next Time!
~Nebilas~
"Marinette." A voice said.
"Mfrglp." she responded sleepily.
"Marinette you have school."
Marinette recognized the voice as Tikki's. "I don't wanna." She mumbled.
"Marinette." Her kwami growled.
"I'll give you 50 cookies if you let me skip school." Mari offered, shooting for bribery.
Tikki rolled her eyes. "Mari we live above a bakery I can get cookies anytime I want let's go." Resigned to her fate, Marinette slowly roused herself, not happy with the proceedings. "At least it's Friday!" her Kwami said brightly, trying to get her to cheer up.
"Mmmm." Mari responded eloquently. She stumbled towards the bathroom, still half-asleep.
A hot shower and a hairbrush later, she found herself in a much better condition than she had woken up to. She stared at herself in the mirror, expertly put her hair into her trademark pigtails, and proceeded to walk downstairs to eat breakfast.
Tikki popped out of her jacket and flew to her ear. "I want cookies." her Kwami whispered.
"Would you stop?" Mari hissed back. "I'll do my best." she grumbled after a moment. Tikki smiled and disappeared back into Marinette's bag.
XxXxXxXx
Adrien Agreste was not having a good day and it was only 7:15. He had a headache and a runny nose. Despite what he had told Marinette last night it seemed as though he had managed to catch a cold from being out in the rain.
He had also learned that his father would be gone on a two week long business trip. This was nothing new. The problem was Adrien's birthday fell on day 10 of said business trip. Adrien sighed. I really shouldn't be surprised. He thought despondently. He glanced at the scarf hanging up next to his bed. But after the last birthday he had thought maybe… He sighed and took the scarf down, wrapping it around his shoulders like he always did. He meandered down into the kitchen, deciding not to eat this morning, pausing only to grab the cheese for Plagg. He could practically feel Plagg grinning from his bag.
He stepped out of Agreste Mansion, casting it a look of loathing as he walked towards the car. The word prison came to his mind. A beautiful, expensive prison, but a prison nonetheless. He hated it. Without a word, he slipped into the car, and his chauffeur promptly drove off.
When he arrived to school some fifteen minutes later, he had made no progress with his attitude. He sighed and put up his model facade. His fake smile and his fake happiness. As he walked towards the school his gut seemed to clench, and he stopped walking. He didn't want to go to school today. Everywhere felt like a prison to him.
He moved over to a corner of the school yard. "Plagg." he whispered.
"Yes?" Plagg responded, somewhat concerned.
Adrien looked around guiltily. "Can we leave? I… I don't know if I'm up for this today."
His Kwami peered out of the bag, pretending to be indifferent. "Sure you can leave but I'm not doing an unnecessary transformation."
Adrien nodded, his eyes downcast. "Then never mind." he murmured and resumed his walk into school, not noticing the two pairs of eyes trained upon him from the other side of the yard.
The two pairs of eyes belonged to Marinette and Alya. "Marinette when are you going to do it?" Alya asked, exasperated by her best friend.
"I don't know Alya…" Mari bemoaned putting her head in her hands. "He's in love with ladybug remember? He told me as much."
Alya sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Look of course he's in love with a superhero, you can't fault him for that." Alya shot back. "That doesn't mean he's closed himself off from the rest of the world."
"But I'm such a mess around him." Marinette said sadly. "I can hardly get out two words around him without stuttering or making myself look like an idiot."
"He loves the scarf! He's wearing it now!" Alya pointed out, trying a different tactic.
"He thinks his father gave it to him. You know that." Marinette said dully. Alya cringed at the memory.
*Flashback*
Marinette could not sit still. She kept fidgeting and glancing at the door to the classroom. Alya looked at her and laughed. "Look girlie I'm sure he got it alright? He probably loves it. He may even wear it to school."
Mari moaned and buried her head in her arms on her desk. "I can't take it Alya. What if he hates it? What if he doesn't even acknowledge me? Or what if he doesn't come in today? I'm not sure I can take another day of this stress."
Alya laughed. "Patience girl. It'll be fine." As if on cue, Adrien walked into the room. Mari's breath caught in her throat. He was wearing the scarf. She told herself to calm down. Maybe he was just being polite. Alya grinned as he sat down and gave her a thumbs up. After an amiable hello to both of them with no thank you to Marinette, Alya took matters into her own hands. Stupid boys. She mouthed at Mari. She tapped him on the shoulder. He turned.
"I like your scarf Adrien is it new?" she asked with a smile.
Marinette flushed red at her feigned ignorance. That lying… Ooh I'll get her for this.
Adrien smiled brightly. "Yes actually! I got it for my birthday yesterday. I love it!" Mari's heart soared. 'He loves it.' She thought breathlessly.
"That's nice." Alya said, who, unbeknownst to Mari was getting slightly concerned. He still hadn't thanked Marinette. "And who got it for you?"
"My dad did." Adrien responded happily. He grinned at Alya, whose eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to say something but Marinette grabbed her hand and yanked her away, pulling her out of the classroom and down the hall to the nearest bathroom. Marinette pulled Alya in after her, then let go standing with her back against the wall.
"Marinette…" Alya whispered. That's when the tears started. Marinette felt them roll down her face, and did nothing to stop them. Her heart, which had been so light a minute ago, had dropped into a pit of despair. Hours of hard work and meticulous planning to make the perfect gift for her crush had somehow managed to go awry. So much for my good luck, she thought despairingly. She slid down the wall and put her face in her arms again, still crying. "Mari.." Alya said sitting down next to her to hold her. "You should tell him."
Mari took several deep breaths, but still had tears rolling down her cheeks. "Alya I can't. Didn't you see how happy he looked? I can't..." She paused, her heart breaking further. "I can't take that from him. That would be cruel and he might hate me afterwards. Please Alya…" She whispered softly.
Alya's heart went out to her best friend. She always put others before herself. She held her tightly. "I won't." She agreed, hating herself for doing it.
*Present*
"I still think we should tell him." Alya grumbled.
"You promised!" Mari hissed.
Alya held her hands up in front of her in a placating gesture. "I know! I know and I won't but it doesn't change the fact that I think you should." Mari sighed. She didn't want to have this discussion right now. And on the inside, she was having the raging debate she had every night.
Visit him as ladybug! Boom problem solved.
It's not that simple.
Yes it is! He loves ladybug.
Yes but he doesn't love Marinette. I want him to love… Me.
...You're literally the same person.
It's not the same.
Have it your way…
The thing that bothered her most was that when she had an internal debate, Tikki was usually the voice of reason. However for some reason, Tikki had been egging her to go see Adrien. And her resolve was crumbling. Suddenly first bell rang and she stood up. "Come on." She said to Alya. "Let's get to class."
When they arrived, Marinette took her usual seat behind Adrien, glancing at him as she walked past. He appeared to be deep in thought though, so she didn't bother him. Class drifted on, boring as usual. Then her teacher chose to be interesting for once. "Right then!" She announced. "Partner project." Marinette could have sworn she saw a vicious grin on her teacher's face. Marinette groaned inwardly. Just what she needed. Oh well at least I'll have Alya to help… She smirked at her friend who was grinning excitedly at her. "Also we're drawing lots to see who gets paired up."
The class groaned and she noticed again that it seemed her teacher was struggling to contain a large grin, settling for a smirk. The teacher dropped all of their names into a hat and shuffled them around. "Let's see… First out... Nino! You will be with…" She paused dramatically before whipping out a piece of paper. "Alya!" She noticed Adrien sat straight up. Then he leaned forward and whispered something into Nino's ear.
She didn't hear what he said but Nino flushed crimson and batted him away. Her mouth dropped. Does Nino have a thing for… No way… Marinette glanced at Alya who had (of course) missed the exchange between the two. Marinette shook her head in wonder. After a few more minutes, there were only four people who hadn't been chosen yet. Her, Adrien, Chloe, and Nathan.
"Chloe." her teacher announced. Mari noticed Adrien noticeably stiffened. He probably wasn't thrilled at the prospect of them working together. Neither was she. She gazed at the teacher hoping. Not Adrien not Adrien not Adrien. "Nathaniel." Adrien visibly relaxed and sank into his chair. Mari smiled until she realized what that meant. "And that leaves Marinette and Adrien." Her mouth fell open and Alya grinned broadly, giving her a thumbs up. The bell signaling the end of class rang. Adrien turned around and she snapped her jaw shut quickly.
He smiled cheerfully at her. "I look forward to working with you."
"Me too! I mean- You too! Not 'me too.'" He laughed and gave her another smile. A different smile. She almost melted.
"See you Marinette." A really familiar smile. Her eyes widened in shock. No no no no no no no no.
As soon as he was out of sight, she took off for the nearest bathroom and turned on the cold water in a sink, splashing it over her face. That was the Chat Noir smile from last night. She thought weakly. She thought about the cat for a moment. Blond hair like Adrien. Green eyes like Adrien. Smiled like Adrien. I have a type. She realized in horror. And Chat Noir fits into that profile.
