Chapter 3: Say Something... Chapter by beccalovesyuge
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Marinette Dupain-Cheng stared in horror at the obnoxiously large bouquet of pink roses taking up prime real-estate on the desk she and Alya shared. As the whistles and catcalls grew, so did Marinette's blush of anger. Alya cooed beside her, thinking the flush was from embarrassment. The bluette marched up to her desk as Kim gave out an exceptionally large whoop. Ripping the card from the rosette bundle, Marinette quickly scanned it though she knew exactly who the outrageous display was from.
Roses are red, violets are blue
You will always be my special Purr-incess
Your Secret Admirer
Marinette crumbled the stiff card in her hand as Alya pranced beside her to read it. "Girl, you've been holding out on me!"
The smaller girl shook her head, "No, this," she waved at the exhibition of three or four dozen roses, "is a really bad joke by a friend."
The blogger snorted in her laughing. "Yeah, sure. Care to introduce him to Nino?"
XXX
"What." Adrien's voice was sharp and blunted. His hand clutched the fabric of his shirt over his chest and he felt Plagg squirm in his jacket pocket. "What do you mean try again?"
Dr. Long placed a finger to his lips to hush the man before leading him off to small conference room. Long shut the door behind them and turned to face Adrien. "You must calm down before you see her, M. Agreste. I promise you, we did everything we could. Normally, the uterus can protect the embryo from trauma, but since she was still so early along, the trauma caused the embryo to detach from the uterus. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng will have severe pain and bruising in the area, but she will recover."
Adrien's heart lurched painfully. A dizzying buzzing invaded his ears and pounded against his head. Marinette was okay. She would be fine. They could try again. He kept repeating the positive aspects in his mind over and over. She was fine. "Does she…does she know yet?" His voice was soft and he barely heard himself over the rush of blood in his ears.
"No," Long sighed. "She's not woken up yet. I'll deliver the news as soon as she wakes up."
Adrien shook his head. "I think, I should be the one to tell her first." He glanced into the other man's eyes to convey his unspoken words. "This situation is delicate. I assume you're aware?" A stiff nod was his answer.
XXX
"Wow, Marinette!" Adrien beamed at her as he entered the classroom. "Those are really pretty. Did a friend give them to you?"
Marinette lowered her head to hide behind the floral monstrosity as Alya cackled beside her. "Nope, Sunshine. A secret admirer did!" She elbowed Marinette gently. "My girl has got them lining up to take her out. Better stake your claim now, Agreste!"
The girl in question screeched. "Alya!"
Adrien laughed. "I wouldn't get in the way of Marinette's happiness," he replied. "She's my best friend."
"Rude," Nino huffed from his bench as Marinette's mouth dropped open.
XXX
Adrien was finally deposited outside Marinette's private room after she had been released moments after his conversation with the doctor. He swallowed thickly as he pushed the door open. "Bug?" He whispered into the dim room.
The first thing he noticed was a large bouquet of pink roses on the table across from her bed. He stalked towards them and snatched the tag. He growled upon reading it, his fingers curling into a fist and crushing the expensive, thick cardstock before tossing it towards the trash bin.
Gabriel had sent them. His message—warning—had been "Sorry for your loss."
"Kitty?" Her weak voice called behind him.
Adrien turned and took in the site of her. Besides looking a little paler from the blood loss and the sickly yellow color the overhead light cast her in, she was, in fact, fine. His shoulders relaxed and he sighed. He crossed the room in two large strides and gathered her in his arms, ever careful of the fluids and blood pumping into through the clear tubing. "My lady," he choked. Tears burned his eyes as she weakly fisted the back of his jacket with her free hand. He pulled away gently and she lowered herself back to her pillows.
"I should have told you first," she started. His lips cut her off in a chaste kiss.
"Not now, Marinette. We can talk about that later," he whispered as he pulled the plastic visitor chair closer to her bed. He took her free hand in both of his. "Baby, there's something I need to tell you first."
XXX
"You stupid cat!" Marinette screeched as she tossed a pink throw pillow at Chat Noir. The cat boy yowled and ducked out of the way.
"Meow-ch, princess! I just got here!" Chat held up both hands.
Marinette's eyes blazed with fury as she reached for another pillow. "I can't believe you did that!" She tossed it and Chat easily dodged once more. He saw her eyes dart towards their history textbook and the boy pounced towards her.
With a huff, Marinette collapsed on her chaise with Chat hunched over her. He pinned her arms above her head and they both flushed at the intimate position. "I just wanted to help you out." He whispered.
Her lips trembled. "Adrien didn't even flinch. He practically encouraged me to go out with other people!"
Chat's hold on her disappeared and he was suddenly standing at the foot of the chaise, his face pale and eyes wide as he stared at her. "Adrien? As in Adrien Agreste? He's the boy? The one that broke you heart? You're in love with Adrien Agreste?"
Marinette sat up with a grimace. "I didn't mean to say his name. But, yeah."
Chat turned away from her and raked a hand through his hair; his leather ears twitched nervously. "Why did you never say anything?"
She chewed her lip and glanced away. "It's...It's not that simple."
He snorted humorlessly under his breath. "Yeah, that's for sure."
Notes:
Next chapter will be Marinette's POV with a flashback featuring Adrienette with background Marichat.
