Marinette had hoped that she might see Chat Noir again that night. Chat may have been an idiot but she liked spending time with him as Marinette rather than Ladybug. He wasn't flirting as much when she was Marinette. That made the flirting as Ladybug a little more special. Unfortunately, she was on patrol. As soon as she finished cleaning the kitchen with her father, Ladybug dove off the balcony, and swung over to the next rooftop, ready to fight any little crime she could come across.
The awkwardness of class with Adrien had burned through her all day. Lunch with Alya hadn't helped. Neither could think of anything to say to the other. Alone, as Ladybug, she found herself thinking of Chat Noir again. All night long she wondered who he was, and what kind of person he was outside of uniform.
Then she came home, and leapt through the balcony door into her bedroom. Tikki flew from her earrings and landed on the bed, upside down. She giggled as Marinette gasped.
"That was fun," Tikki's midnight blue eyes gleamed happily.
Marinette sighed in relief to see Tikki was alright. "Are you alright? Sleepy? Hungry?"
Tikki yawned. It was a bit like a sleepy puppy when Tikki yawned. First her eyes closed and she wrinkled her nose, then her arms moved to cover her mouth, but kept stretching till they were high above her head. Then her arms fell and her mouth closed and she blinked tiredly. Marinette's chest warmed to see it.
"Lie down Tikki. No one is coming to bother us, you can sleep right there," Marinette promised.
Tikki nodded. She fell down into the cushion and curled up to sleep. Marinette wandered over to her desk to lay her jacket on the back of her desk chair. A piece of paper rustled as she moved past it. She tilted her head at the sprawled writing. It wasn't hers.
Hey Princess
I don't know where you are but I hope it's fun. I was hoping you'd cheer me up, but you're not here, so I took a cookie. I'll compensate you tomorrow.
Hugs, kisses, and sweet dreams
Chat Noir
He gave a flourish of the pen under his name and drew a paw print beside it. Marinette smiled to herself. So he had tried to visit. He must have been someone she knew.
Marinette peered around the playground the next day, trying to see any kind of habit or gesture that she had only ever seen Chat do. She was so invested in this, that she leapt out of her skin when Nathanael laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Ah!" Nathanael leapt back in alarm, "sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"You didn't! Its ok. How can I help you?" Marinette asked with forced smile.
"Oh, um, well, I actually wanted to ask you that. Are you doing ok?"
"Me?"
"I saw what happened with Adrien. Are you doing ok?"
"Oh. That."
Marinette bowed her head again. She liked Nathanael, but she didn't really feel like talking about it to Alya let alone Nathanael. Nathanael clearly understood this because he just sat beside her.
"We don't have to talk, but you should know I care about you. I hope you are ok," he said.
Marinette smiled softly. "I'm ok. Hey, do you want this?"
Nino, in a similar plan to Nathanael, had come over a few minutes ago and laid four breakfast bars on the desk in front of her. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful, or that it hadn't made her smile at the time, but who needs four breakfast bars?
"Thanks."
Nathanael took it, and slipped it into his pocket. He wasn't about to tell her that he didn't like honey. Alya was on the hunt for Adrien. He was nowhere to be seen yet, and she was not happy about it. Since she was busy hunting Adrien down, she left Nathanael and Marinette alone.
"The thing is," Marinette said finally, "I was just trying to help. He was telling me about having to go see the head teacher. I was trying to see if he was ok."
Marinette bit into a breakfast bar glumly. Nathanael nodded along, only half listening to her. The rest of him was busy thinking about how beautiful she was. She really was gorgeous. Even with those little flakes of oat on her chin she was pretty. So pretty she made his knees weak. Slowly, he reached up, and brushed the oats from her chin. She blushed slightly as she watched them settle on the bench between them.
"Oh. Thanks," she smiled awkwardly.
Nathanael was suddenly struck by how unfair this situation was. How could see, an angel so beautiful, only have eyes for someone who couldn't see how awesome she was? Adrien already had everything. The money, the looks, the career! Nathanael was just a struggling artist. How could he compete with that?
"Nath? Are you ok?"
Even when she worried she was cute. He scowled and stared at the ground, too frustrated to explain himself.
"Fine."
"We should get going or we'll be late," she said.
She stood up and held a hand out to him. Nathanael gave her a love-sick smile. That smile of hers twisted his stomach. He took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. Adrien tilted his head from the other side of the playground, confused and a little jealous. Why was she holding Nathanael's hand? She loved him, didn't she? She should be holding his hand. Right?
"Looks like this cat has competition. Interesting!" Plagg purred.
"She's just a friend," Adrien muttered through gritted teeth.
"Really? To you or him?"
"Both."
"She's never held your hand."
"Shut up Plagg."
Marinette stood right in front of him without a reason. Adrien watched her in fascination. He tried to read her mind, but he just couldn't. And he couldn't find the words to ask her. He couldn't ask her what he'd done wrong, or why he had to wait so long to be alone with her again, he couldn't even find a way to say hello.
"Mari?"
"Yeah Nath?"
"Can I sit here?"
Adrien felt his chest burn with jealously as she shuffled up to let him sit beside her. Nathanael sat down. Beside her. Pressing against her. He linked his arm around her neck. Adrien clenched his jaw. He had no idea why. Adrien didn't love Marinette. He loved Ladybug. Always did always would.
Marinette was a friend.
Just a friend.
He should have been happy Marinette was happy.
So why was he so damn jealous of Nathanael?!
Marinette peeled Nathanael's arm off of her, and shuffled up to put some distance between them. Nathanael looked disappointed, but smiled. He was delighted to be sitting by her side anyway. However, Adrien grinned a dark smirk of joy to see Nathanael so coolly rejected.
Nathanael leaned over to whisper something to her, which made her giggle. That voice was echoed in his mind. knowing he could make her laugh was something that lit up his day. when he dropped a pencil on the floor, they both bent down to get it, and bumped heads. Marinette reeled back, rubbing her head with her hand. Adrien leaned over the desk as Nathanael shot up with a gasp.
"Marinette are you alright?"
"I'm sorry Mari! Are you ok?!"
Nathanael was a lot more worried than Adrien, but the hand on her shoulder made her smile sheepishly at Adrien. He grinned back. Points to Adrien. Then he saw her reach over and pat Nathanael reassuringly. She was looking at him in a different way. Adrien scowled. Even before she fully turned her head away he could see her smile. Tell-tale signs that he was on her mind. At least they used to be.
"interesting," Plagg said, peeping through Adrien's chest pockets flap like eyes from underneath a rock. "Very interesting."
