"You slept with him again."
The accusation fell on her the second Marinette walked into the Miraculous Bar staff room. Alya was staring at her, her hip cocked aside, arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze wasn't really judgemental, but worry and something Marinette labeled as disappointment shined in the hazel eyes. Marinette frowned, walking up to her locker to hang up her jacket and ostensibly avoiding her friend's heavy glare.
"I haven't had sex since Nate. And you know this," she answered flatly, knowing perfectly well that it wouldn't deflect Alya from her interrogatory. Trying to deny Adrien had come over was useless, he had probably mentioned it to Nino, not thinking anything of it.
It wasn't supposed to mean anything, after all.
"That's not what I mean and you know it. Why did he come over? Did you text him?" Alya said as she slipped Wifi's mask over her eyes.
Marinette sighed, adjusting the straps of her top on her shoulders. "Not on purpose. I meant to text you in the first place, but ended up texting him instead."
"Your subconscious played tricks on you, girl. Anyway, why did Adrien end up sleeping at your place again? It always ends up hurting you."
Marinette gulped audibly.
Alya was right. Every time she spent the night with Adrien, which happened much more often that she'd like to admit, she was feeling weird and awkward for the following few days.
She loved him.
She had never meant for it to happen, but it had been stronger than her will.
He was the real reason Nathanael had left. Not that anyone besides Nathanael and Alya knew.
He had realized her feelings for Adrien went way beyond simple friendship and had simply left. He hadn't even tried to fight.
And that's what hurt Marinette the most.
Nathanael had given up on years of history because her treacherous heart had taken a path she hadn't wanted it to. She had hurt him, had swung a wrecking ball in their relationship without meaning to.
And now she was left empty handed. Stuck in between a man she still loved dearly but had hurt beyond words, and a man that she didn't want to love but unbeknownst to him held her heart in his palm.
And Alya knew about all this.
Knew how Marinette was feeling guilty for how things had turned out with Nathanael and her fickle heart.
Knew every little touch of Adrien left her craving for more, and how much she hated herself for it.
But she didn't have the strength to push him away, to distance herself from him for her own sake. He was her best friend even if she pushed her romantic feelings aside, and she couldn't imagine a life without Adrien in it.
Even if it hurt her.
"Nothing happened," Marinette replied defensively, hugging herself under the stare of her best friend.
Alya shook her head, her lips barely a thin line. "I know. Nothing ever happens between you two, or you'd be over the moon as we speak. But I also know Adrien wouldn't come over and sleep in your bed without a good reason, Marinette. What happened?"
"Yesterday was rough. A patron got handsy with me, and hearing Adrien say that I was taken, again… it stung. And then I came home to an empty apartment again and I… I kinda freaked out."
"Girl, you have to tell him how you feel about him," Alya said softly. "This is eating you up."
Before Marinette could reply, Adrien and Nino entered the staff room right on cue, playfully bantering with each other. They seemed to be arguing about some superhero movie that was about to come out, Adrien rooting for it while Nino was labeling it as lame and cliché.
As soon as he spotted her, the DJ made a beeline toward Alya, completely ignoring Marinette and planting a peck on the corner of the redhead's lips.
"Kiss her already," Adrien rolled his eyes. "Nobody is buying your 'we are just friends' act."
If either of the boys noticed the pointed look Alya gave Marinette, they didn't feel the need to mention it. Nino poked his tongue out at his friend and resumed his not-so-subtly intimate conversation with the woman wrapped in his arms.
Chuckling, Adrien wrapped his arm around Marinette's shoulders, smiling at her broadly. "Hey, here's my Princess! Feeling better?"
She forced a smile on her lips the best she could, only managing to make him frown in the process. He knew her too well to be fooled by such an act, but wouldn't press further in front of their friends. "I am," she replied softly, hoping to deter him from prodding further. "Thanks for coming over, it helped a lot," she lied
She turned her back to him to grab her mask, unable to sustain his peering gaze.
He knew she was lying. She could see it in the kind green eyes studying her in silence.
As she slipped the red mask over her eyes, she briefly wondered how in the world he could be blind to her feelings for him and yet know her like the back of his hand and read her like an open book.
Was he really that oblivious?
Nino broke her train of thoughts as he loudly boasted, "The mix I have for tonight is going to be completely rad! You guys should take a break and hit the dancefloor sometime tonight, you'll absolutely love it."
"Yeah, I'm sure Plagg will love manning the bar alone just so we can dance in the middle of our shift," Marinette countered, a smile creeping on her lips despite her foul mood.
Nino whined loudly, "Aww, that man obviously doesn't know what fun is."
"And I also happen to sign your paycheck, so watch that nasty tongue of yours, Nino," Plagg's voice interrupted them from the doorway. He was smirking, a Cheshire grin that made Marinette chuckle. Plagg was grumpy and sarcastic, but he was fair and under his whining facade there was a heart of gold always ready to help his staff out. "Kim and Ivan are getting ready to open the doors, there's a line again," he resumed. "Time to shine, guys."
The entire team loudly cheered to give them the courage to affront the night and followed their boss into the bar. Nino took place in his booth as he lowered his colorful mask over his face, testing a few lighting settings before putting a cheerful song on as the others got ready. Alya was on snack duty that night, so she disappeared into the kitchen, getting ready to handle nachos and chicken wings orders from hungry and drunk patrons.
A dangerous combo if there was no one to cater to their needs.
Marinette busied herself checking their inventory, making sure they had enough stock to sustain the thirst of their customers, while Adrien was checking the glasses were all really clean. In doing so, he moved closer to her and she became painfully conscious of his proximity. She could almost feel the warmth emanating from him, and she barely avoided dropping the beers she was holding.
"Are you okay, Mari?" he asked, concern clear in his voice.
She cursed under her breath. Of course, he noticed her mishap. Of freaking course. Why in the world did he have to have that kind of effect on her? Why could he turn her into a mess simply by being beside her? By breathing the same air she did?
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Yes, I'm fine. Let's get this show rolling."
"Oh shit guys," Kim interrupted them, barrelling into the bar with a worried gaze. "We have a bachelorette party."
Adrien and Marinette exchanged a worried glance.
Bachelorette parties were never good news for the staff of a bar.
They tended to get pretty wild, and pretty fast. The bridesmaids' goal was usually to get the bride-to-be as drunk as they could, often following suit, and things more often than not got messy.
Just like Cupid had expected, they soon found themselves in the middle of a full fledge bachelorette party, and a rather big one. Bubbler modified his mix accordingly, trying to cater to the needs of the wild crowd. There were thirty or so loudly cheering woman, thirsty for alcohol and debacle,
Ladybug cast a glance to Chat Noir, both of them bracing themselves for the incoming onslaught of fancy cocktails and cutting off drunk girls upset they weren't the one wearing the veil. He was looking at her too, his lips stretched into a thin line of determination. They would go through it like the perfect team they were.
Unbeknownst to Adrien, Marinette was also bracing herself for the bridesmaids hitting shamelessly on her best friend in front of her.
She knew it would happen.
It always did.
It didn't mean it would hurt less when it did.
It began slowly that night. Could've gone unnoticed if she hadn't been paying close attention to it.
It began with Marinette noticing two of the bridesmaid kept waiting for Adrien to be available to serve them before ordering. It didn't matter if she was free as a bird, they both kept leaning on Adrien's side of the bar, exposing their cleavages as they did so.
Then came the next logical step.
Small touches, longing glances.
Giggles so obviously fake that Marinette half wanted to drown them both into beer.
But it was sadly part of the job, so she powered through it, ignoring the pang in her chest.
Up until one of them let her hand lingered a little bit too long on Adrien's arm, and Marinette saw his expression clearly shift to displeasure under his mask.
She knew it was her cue.
No matter how much she hated the lie, how much she hated to enact her most crazy dreams while knowing they weren't more than fantasies, she owned it to him to began the routine they had perfected over the years.
"Honey, could you come and give me a hand with this?" she asked in the most sugary tone she could manage. "I'm having troubles opening this bottle of vodka."
Chat Noir flashed her a thankful smile and promptly excused himself from his admirers, hurrying to Ladybug. He grabbed the already open bottle of vodka from her hands and pressed a kiss on the corner of her lips. "Here, let me handle this, Princess."
He was speaking a little louder than necessary, but the two bridesmaids seemed to get the memo. They both retreated from the bar with matching frowns, obviously disappointed.
Of course, male patrons that weren't part of the bachelorette party were throwing lame pickup lines at Ladybug, and their little show deterred them too.
But Marinette couldn't care less.
Because she felt just as disheartened as the two dejected bridesmaids.
This was an act that was beginning to hurt her more and more.
Three a.m. blissfully came at long last, and Stoneheart and Cupid escorted the last drunk bachelorettes out of the bar. Wifi was done tidying up the kitchen, having closed the doors around one a.m., and came out of the DJ booth to help Ladybug and Chat Noir clean up the bar.
"You okay?" Alya whispered at Marinette as they were wiping a substance they both preferred not to identify from the counter.
Marinette gulped, pushing her mask off her face. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "It's… it's getting harder."
Alya frowned at her. "Tell him," she also commanded.
Marinette lifted her gaze toward the blond counting the cashout, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
"I can't," she said to her friend. "I can't risk losing him."
Alya scoffed, throwing her rag on the counter. "Honestly, Mari, if your friendship really is that fragile, I don't know why you're even bothering. If you really matters to him, he'll understand."
Marinette stared at Adrien for a minute, letting her mind wander to a happier universe, where they would be a thing. Where they would love each other.
"You can't understand, Alya," she said softly. "He's my everything."
