Marinette walks beside Alya up the front steps into the school, her books clutched in her arms and backpack slung over her shoulder. Her eyes scan every student they pass, looking for that blonde head of hair. She can't even hear the tap of her shoes on the cement her heart beats so loudly.
Maybe he's not coming to school. Maybe I don't have to confront him at all.
It's a weak and pathetic hope. Marinette must be strong, she must face every doubt in her head. Because if not... she pushed Chat Noir away for nothing. This time she can't stutter. Every word she will say to him must be said with the most confidence she has.
Does she only have one chance? Will everything change after she says something? Or will they both try to carry on with their lives like nothing happened?
"—so I called my parents, and my sisters didn't even listen to them. I tell you Marinette - it was choatic," Alya rants and Marinette snaps back to attention, obviously missing the entire story her friend just told her.
"Oh...," she says quietly and immediately Alya's eyes bare into her like lasers.
"Did you hear anything I just said?" Alya asks and Marinette smiles apologetically and tucks the tail of her bangs behind her ear.
"Y-yeah! Your sisters were being bad and... you called your parents and —," she says.
"Cut it. What's on your mind?" Alya interrupts and she stops them both on the top of the stairs. Marinette chokes on the words in her throat. Should she tell her about her plan today? Or will Alya make her more nervous and cause her to chicken out? Sometimes Alya can be the perfect support, but in this situation she thinks it may be best if this was a Marinette only ordeal.
"Oh, nothing! I was just thinking about... my schedule! Yah, my week gets pretty busy," she explains and Alya nods her head in understanding.
"Okay, what's going on that's making you so busy?" she asks. The question is casual, but Marinette can tell Alya doesn't believe a word she's saying.
"Lots of big orders for the bakery. Yah my dad is swamped and I'm helping him for some scheduled hours," she lies, and again Alya nods her head as she listens.
"Maybe I could come over and help?" Alya asks and this time Marinette notices the sly smile her mouth forms into.
"You got me Alya, I wasn't thinking about my schedule." Alya laughs and she pumps her arm in a celebratory gesture.
"Do I know my best friend or what?" Alya boasts with a chuckle. Marinette laughs with her and they both start walking farther into the school.
"So? What is actually on your mind?" Marinette sighs, and her eyes take another sweep over the students they pass.
"Adrien," she says, almost sighing the syllables. Alya raises a suspicious eyebrow and a sideway glance.
"Why'd you lie about that? I know first handedly your obsession with the poor guy. You know... his schedule, the posters, the screen saver..." Marinette practically pushes her friend over trying to cover her mouth.
"Shhh! Someone could hear you!" MArinette shrieks, which is what earns a few strange looks from others. Alya laughs openly and she slowly pushes Marinette's hand away. But Alya gives Marinette that look, a look which painly is telling her to spill the beans.
"I guess there wasn't really a reason to why I lied, but... recently I have been feeling this sick sensation in my gut. It's like I'm tired of dreaming about being with him you know? Like, why can't we just be to-geth-er," Marinette explains, the heat growing in her cheeks. She didn't exactly lie, actually every word was the plain truth. It's what she left out that weighs her down.
"I get it girl, it's hard, but Adrien's a human too. I'm sure if you just talked to him a bit you'd come to understand that you don't have to be so s-s-stuttery and nervous. You never know, he may like you too," says Alya and Marinette smiles largely at her best friend. She guesses it was a good idea to get help from Alya, without telling her the whole story.
"Thanks Alya, maybe I will... soon," Marinette says, muttering the 'soon'. Alya smiles as she looks ahead and after winking at Marinette.
"I believe in you girl." Finally they reach their homeroom and they walk in to find that most of their class is already there. But Marinette doesn't pay attention to them, she pays attention to the boy in the front seat.
Adrien sits hunched over a piece of paper. His elbow rests on the desktop and his fingers sit intertwined in his hair, making it so his arm half covers half his face. Although Marinette still catches they way his eyes watch lazily at the pen he holds, doodling. The corners of his mouth pulled tight in a straight line. Marinette can tell that he is lost in thought about... something.
Adrien doesn't even interact with his best friend, Nino, who sits beside him nodding his head to the music he is listening to through his head phones.
Adrien isn't here. Well, technically he is, but this haze of thought has fallen over him. His movements are like he is in water, slow, trained. Every word he thinks of to describe this feeling doesn't quite fit. It's not like he can say he's devastated, heartbroken, miserable. During that date, not only did him and Ladybug bond as friends and partners, but he also felt them bond in a personal level. He knows what kind of person Ladybug is now, and gosh... does he love that person. But he also can't say that he's happy. Sometimes Adrien would stay up whole nights thinking about what may happen if he finally went on a date with Ladybug. And last night? It was... unexpected.
He wishes that he knew who she was. That way he could find out who this 'boy' is. That way... maybe they could be friends outside of the costumes... or more.
He draws on the paper in front of him every detail that stuck to him that night. It started as a rough sketch of ladybug's mask, but by then he added her eyes, and her nose and lips, even the two small pigtails her hair is always ribboned into. In another sketch he draws their hands intertwined, and even a side view of Ladybug's face as she studies the sky.
The drawings are the farthest thing from professional, or even good. But the images keep repeating over and over again in his head. He's sure if Marinette or even Nathaniel drew the scenes it would look that much better.
Someone taps his shoulder and he looks up, removing his hand from his hair and putting a protective arm over the drawings. Suttle. He looks over to Nino with a glazed look over his eyes.
"Dude, Ms. Bustier is starting role call, and you haven't even looked up after I've said your name five times!" Nino says, half laughing.
"Oh, uh, I wasn't really paying attention I guess," Adrien explains, all of while hearing how stupid it sounds.
"No duh man. What are you drawing that has so much of your attention devoted to it anyways?" Nino asks, already begining to lean closer to Adrien to take a look at the sketches. Adrien's heart jumps and quickly he flips the paper over and places one of his textbooks over top of it.
As Ms. Bustier calls their names they both say 'present', but they eye each other while they do. Nino with a judging raised eyebrow, and Adrien with red cheeks and an innocent smile.
"It's um... private," is all Adrien can manage to say. Nino laughs and he instinctively adjusts his glasses on his nose.
"You're a strange dude bro," he says while continuing to laugh, "a strange, strange dude." Adrien glares at him, but with a smile.
"Maybe, but that makes you one too because you're my best friend," he says, and Nino nods his head.
"Guess so."
The class goes on, and he watches the hand on the clock move. It almost moves too fast, the time slipping through his hands like sand. Once school's over he will have a photoshoot, then a lonely diner, and judging by the fact that no patrol is scheduled by him and ladybug for tonight, he will be spending the rest of the evening playing video games. Fun. So much fun.
Finally those hands on the clock hit the time for lunch, and the bell rings. Adrien takes his time. Slowly, movement by movement he collects his books and slips the doodles into his bag. Nino talks with Ms. Bustier across the classroom about homework, so Adrien gets up, and leaves the classroom alone.
"Um Adrien?" He turns at a voice and finds Marinette standing by the door of the classroom. She lifts her hand in a wave once she notices his eyes on her. Immediately he smiles and he waves back.
"Oh hey Marinette! What's up?" he says and he walks up to her. At first he sees her distress, but recently he's noticed that she acts like that a lot. Sometimes though, she can be very bold and orderly. He likes it when she can be like that, she looks more like a leader, more... confident.
"Oh... I- um," she stutters but pauses and clears her throat, looking down while she does. "I was wondering if maybe... you wanted to come to the park with me? We could get a food from a cafe and... just hang out? Alya has to go for lunch and I thought... you know that..." Adrien smiles and shrugs his shoulders.
"That sounds fun. I think Nino's taking a test he missed anyways. And you and I don't hang out much, just the two of us too," he says and he watches as Marinette's face lights up in a smile. "But I do have to text my... um bodyguard first." Adrien feels odd saying that so openly. Yes, he has a bodyguard. Yes, he is the only one in the school with one. Maybe with the exception of Chloe. Marinette doesn't judge him for that, does she?
"Yah totally," Marinette says with a smile and Adrien immediately texts the Gorilla. And like that, he's free.
"Okay, that's done. Shall we go?" he asks and Marinette nods her head.
"Yah, let's, uh, go," she says. They walk side by side out of the school and occasionally he takes a sideway glance at Marinette as she looks forward with a smile on her lips. One time when he looks he catches Marinette looking up a flock of pigeons that fly over head. Something about it seems... familiar.
"So where do you want to eat?" Adrien asks and Marinette looks off to the side, thinking for a moment.
"Well there is this small deli around the corner of the park. We could grab a couple sandwiches?" she offers and Adrien nods, licking his lips.
"That sounds great Marinette," he says and his eyes scan the park they walk through. Wait, did he just hear Marinette giggle? He ignores it, eyes still searching. Suddenly he realizes what he's doing, and he tries to mentally scold himself. Ladybug won't be here you idiot. And besides he's with Marinette, and Ladybug... probably with that boy.
Quickly he turns to Marinette, desperate to distract himself. "Have you designed anything recently?" he asks.
"Not recently. I try but... I always become too busy," Marinette explains, her face almost looking guilty.
"I see, is it because you're helping in the bakery?"
"Oh yah totally! We've been busy recently!" she says, a little to loudly and a little to quickly. Adrien doesn't think much of it and nods his head.
"What about you? How's fencing and um...," she clears her throat lightly, "modeling?" Adrien shrugs, because honestly, he could care less about both of those things. The only thing fencing is useful for is as Chat Noir in akuma attacks. Of course he wasn't about to tell Marinette that though.
"It's okay I guess. But it does get boring and repetitive sometimes," he admits, and Marinette nods before stopping them where they are.
"Here's the deli!" she says and she leads him through the door. Immediately Adrien notices the smell of bread, cheese and meat. All purely beautiful smells to his nose. Marinette looks at the menu with a smile.
"I love the pulled pork sandwiches here. You should try them!" she says, and Adrien feels himself freeze.
Pulled pork sandwiches. Ladybug's favorite.
His heart pounds and he can see Ladybug once again, the pork accidentally falling from her mouth and her laughs as it falls. Her tears. Her embrace.
I haven't been completely honest with you, she said.
Why, why!
"Adrien?" his focus returns and he sees Marinette staring at him with her eyebrows pinched and eyes wide. "Are you okay? You um - a -kind of zoned off." Adrien groans internally at himself and he rubs his hand over his eyes.
"I'm so sorry Marinette, I just... was thinking about something," he admits. He looks at her and smiles, shoving down his emotions like stuffing clothes in a small drawer. "Let's get those pulled pork sandwiches shall we?"
A horrible, horrible case of deja vu.
