Adrien was not surprised to see Marinette absent from class the next day. Disappointed, but not surprised.
He had spent most of the previous evening scrolling through pictures on the Ladyblog. Alya's shots had confirmed what he had been nearly certain of. It had been Marinette's family in the attack, after all. The way she had dashed out of the cafe during their lunch, like it was the only way to keep her feet from lighting on fire, he could only imagine what she was going through today.
After scrolling through the different angles of Alya's perspective, wondering how she always managed to get his bad side, he had spent another few hours waiting for Ladybug to call. The result had been terribly quiet.
Something about her had been off during the fight. Oh, their teamwork had been great, better than ever. No small part of the credit he assumed as his own, his adaptability letting her take the lead when inspiration came to her. They both relied on her luck. Yet, while they had fought the Kingpin, not even one of their tougher fights, she had been tense and agitated, less tolerant of his reaching out to her.
It only a smarted a little, as long as he thought about their overall mission, saving people from akuma attacks. But if she was going to be the responsible one, he could goof off a little bit, right? Besides, his Lady could have thrown harsher reactions at him than a temperamental word or the rolling of her eyes and he would still adore her. He did still adore her. It did not mean that he was not worried about her.
Adrien had wrestled with the doubt and concern through his silent vigil, before finally pushing emotion aside in favor of sleep. Basically, he had passed out.
Today, most of the rest of his classmates were normal, even with news of the attack circulating. Marinette's family was not the first life to be touched by an Akuma, and it likely would not be the last. So while Alya responded to the teachers questions between texting her friend and while Nathanael asked if she was OK, few others made comment.
Adrien made it through the rest of the day dodging Chloe's amorous advances while Nino tried to distract him with a new meme out of Greece. It was partly interesting, but as long as they had been best friends, he had never developed Nino's particular sense of humor. His thoughts continuously turned back to Ladybug and her sharpness. Was he overreacting?
The possibility was still, well, bugging him by the time he reached home, but there was little time to dwell it on it. When he stepped out of the car, Nathalie was waiting for him with a communique from his father to come directly to his office. Why his father thought he needed Nathalie as a mediator for such simple exchanges, he wondered with silent exasperation, he did not understand. His brief, familiar annoyance did not hinder him from walking straight to the office as summoned.
"I'll be out of the country for a few weeks starting tomorrow," father said by way of greeting, eyes trained on the swishing lines his stylus was making.
Adrien felt a flash of irritation, and said, "You've only just returned."
Without looking up, his father continued, "This tour has been planned since last year. The line needs the momentum from Fashion Week to continue expansion of the brand."
Adrien resisted the urge to frown, his face stony. Fashion Week had been almost three full months ago. Whatever reason his father had for leaving the country seemed to have less and less to do with work and more and more with being out of the house.
"Nathalie will be attending with me. George will attend to your needs in the mean time."
"The Gorilla?," Adrien questioned, finally able to keep the incredulity out of his voice. "He doesn't do anything but drive."
"George has the capability to buy groceries, sign any notices you might need from the college…" The words were left hanging, and Adrien tried to stifle his disappointment. He knew that whatever the excuse, his father needed to work. Even if he was leaving, he had seen to Adrien's needs for the foreseeable future. At least his absence would make any communication with Ladybug easier.
"Good luck on the tour," he offered and turned for the door, ready to unload his bag and unload his heart.
"Adrien," his father called, and he turned back with a spark of hope.
"Your sessions will continue as scheduled. Please continue to put in good work."
"Right," he said and left the room to finally unleash his breath.
He dutifully attended the shoot scheduled for that very afternoon, maintaining composure through the sweltering afternoon heat. Pictures, poses, retouched makeup to cover up sweat and smudges left in the wake of sunglasses. He was glad that the theme had been more serious, otherwise he was not sure he could have managed smile after fake smile when his mind was already so tumultuous.
"Excellent work!" the photographer gushed as she began scrolling through her roll of pictures. Adrien waved as he departed for home, George dutifully waiting to chauffeur.
He had two physics assignments due at the start of next week and Chinese practice, but he spent the evening scrolling through a new batch of photographs from Alya. Most of the shots captured their backs as they spoke. The rest of the battle. The street before and after the attack.
There was only one video- when Ladybug had finally zoomed away, leaving him watching her with a curious expression on his face. She still had not called.
"Am I going crazy, Plagg?" he asked, closing the browser while his kwami burrowed his way happily through a smelly pile of gorgonzola.
"Chat Noir has always been a little crazy…" the kwami deferred, and Adrien frowned at him, "buuu~uut, I think you have a lot on your plate, too. Not the good kind of things on your plate- Roquefort, Brie, Roblochon, Camembert!"
"That's very helpful. Thanks."
Plagg took another mouthful almost the size of his head before leaping up to Adrien's shoulder. His next words were particularly… aromatic.
"All I'm saying is to cut yourself some slack. You're doing everything you can."
"I… Yeah, thanks, Plagg."
The second day after the attack Marinette was still not in class.
He felt her absence conspicuously, mostly in the lack of tittering giggles that normally accompanied her and Alya. There was no one to slow Chloe from riding roughshod over the rest of the class, either, and by the end of the day he was entirely ready to leave the place he normally considered a sanctuary.
"Alya," Mrs. Bustier called while the others packed their bags. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng's teachers have compiled the homework that we have not been able to email her. Would you be willing to take it by her house this afternoon? We don't want her to fall too far behind."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I have to go straight home this afternoon to babysit my siblings. Maybe Adrien could do it?" she offered.
He blinked and glanced back at her, only to see her sincere, pleading expression. Without much recourse he turned back to their teacher and nodded.
"Sure, I can do it." There was his session this afternoon, piggybacking off of yesterday's, but he could afford a few extra minutes. He wanted to see Marinette himself, too. They were not close, but at least if he could make sure she was all right, it would be one less worry on his crowded mind.
"It would probably make her feel better to see you," Nino said casually as he stood from his seat.
Adrien opened his mouth to ask what he meant when Alya leaned forward and sharply poked their friend through the cap on his head.
Bemused, he hardly saw Chloe squeeze her way into the space between his arm and Marinette's desk, but he certainly felt the hands that clutched at him as she announced, "I was going to ask you if you want to get an espresso this afternoon, too, Adrien instead of playing delivery boy!" When he looked down at her too close face, her big blue eyes were batting lashes at him.
"Uh, I don't drink coffee in the afternoon, but maybe some other time, Chloe," he offered vaguely.
She pouted, but didn't fight when he liberated his arm made his way to gather the rest of Marinette's assignments. There were plenty of online materials she would have access to, but he realized as he glanced over their handouts that she had not been present to take her own notes. As he hurried out to the waiting limousine, he made a promise to himself that he would email copies of his own to her.
After giving her address to George, helpfully supplied by Alya via text, he allowed his mind a few moments of wandering freedom, where they inevitably turned to his masked partner. She had said she wanted to meet, hadn't she? Why hadn't she called? She wasn't that much older than him, he thought- could she still have been in school? Or was she in university, with strange hours and… No, that seemed unlikely after the history book incident.
She had said he could think of their meeting as a date if he wanted, and oh did he want, but the curtness in her tone, her utter lack of humor at his suggestion shot down the idea more quickly than his own doubts might have.
His Lady had never acted that way before, something the particular attack had horribly upset her. It was Marinette's father, who had been attacked, and-
His eyes widened, turned towards the outside as they meandered through the city, but he did not see the Parisian landscape.
Of course!
How had he not made the connection before now?
Ladybug knew Marinette. She must have known her personally. There had been the attack where Nathanael had been targeted. Marinette had intervened for Ladybug, but as far as he knew that had been there only connection.
He lifted his hand to rub his forehead and found that the topmost page of Marinette's thing stack of handouts had stuck to his hand. Peeling the paper away, he wiped his hand on his jeans and wondered if she really knew his classmate. And did that mean Marinette knew her? His heart thundered in his chest at the thought.
It would only take one question and then Marinette would, if she could get the words out, be able to tell him that they were only one link apart. And maybe…!
Adrien stopped, wrangling back his enthusiasm before it could fly away from him. Ladybug had already asked him not to pry into her secret identity. Asking Marinette, who was already terribly shy and liable to crack under pressure, would be unfair. He sighed as they pulled to a stop in front of the now-familiar bakery. Well, at least the front of it was familiar.
"Circle a few times," he instructed. "I won't be but a minute or two."
George nodded and Adrien eased out of the car, trying to smooth out the wrinkled papers. The "open" sign was facing out. Up the step, he reached for the black and gold door, wondering what he would find within. The thought brought him up short and he stopped.
Marinette's father had been through a trauma and, if indirectly, she had been through a trauma. Already she had missed two days of school. Why did he think that everything would be normal?
Slightly more nervous, he pulled at the door and stuck his head in. There were a few people inside milling through the numerous racks of pastries. He blinked as he joined their ranks. It looked like a normal bakery, maybe a little cuter, with many shades of pink and purple in the decor.
Behind the counter, Marinette herself was attending the cash register, fingers dancing nimbly over its keys. She smiled brightly and easily for the woman she was speaking to. As her customer left, another stepped in line and Marinette shifted her attention to the next order without seeing him.
It was… unexpected… To see her smiling so easily, looking so well. Two days ago, she had nearly come undone, flying from the restaurant near tears, and he had hung around just long enough to take care of the bill while Alya and Nino went to get a cab.
"Just get a taxi. Finding Marinette is more important. Don't worry about waiting for me," he had urged them, and Alya, ever Marinette's champion, had done just that. The moment had left him free to transform into Chat Noir and help take down the Akuma.
After the battle, he had remained just long enough to see his classmate clinging to her parents, looking as though she had run the whole way from the cafe. How different she seemed now, outside of class and free from terror.
Here, she just… fit. He wondered for a moment if she was a piece cut for a puzzle or if the environment had grown up around her.
Adrien took a moment to admire the ease and confidence with which she managed the customers, the way her whole face lit up when she smiled, the easy roll of her shoulders as she held her own in conversation. After a moment, he freed himself to glance through the selections. He helped himself to a small sack full of gougeres, while Plagg began to hum with delight, hidden somewhere near his shoulder.
When the last customer in front of him stepped away with their purchases, he was surprised to see Marinette smiling at him quite normally. At him. Her expression was easy and held none of the contortion it usually jumped to when she looked at him. Her comfort, the intelligibly light atmosphere of the bakery, lightened his own heart. He felt like a piece of the puzzle.
"Hi Marinette," he greeted, placing the brown bag on the counter between them.
The spell broke and suddenly she shook her head, gaping at him with a much more familiar countenance. Adrien grinned. Even this was familiar. Familiar was good.
"A-Adrien!" she responded. "What are you doing here?"
1. You cannot convince me that episode 14 was created for any other reason than giving POWER TO THE SHIPPERS. Dang, it was awesome.
2. Classes resumed today. I'm taking 17 hours in addition to research projects, a full-time clinical experience, and mundane things like eating and sleeping. Updates will come more slowly. Apologies in advance.
3. If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider telling your friends, or leaving a review. Since this is fandom we sometimes tell ourselves that these things are free, and they are, but the 2 reasons I write are a) to tell a story that needs telling and b) to engage with other fans! Merci beaucoup ＾▽＾