The next day, Adrien told his driver to drop him off at the corner by the bakery so he could accompany Marinette to school. He knew he had seen her the previous night, as his father had mentioned frequently when he was nagging him for staying out too late the night before, and he knew that she was close to being fully healed thanks to Fu but, despite knowing that his Lady was a tough girl, the incident had still roused his protective cat instincts and he couldn't help feeling a little relieved when she walked out of the bakery door. Surprisingly for both of them, she was on time for school, his text having woken her early, and they could both relax as they meandered their way to school, not needing to rush because of an akuma-inducing lie-in. Sabine, having seen Adrien outside and decided the boy couldn't have had a proper breakfast, had also handed Marinette a box of pastries on her way out and the pair easily munched their way through them as they went on, Marinette letting Adrien eat most of them. When they were just around the corner from the school building Adrien linked his hand with hers, lacing their fingers together like it was the most natural action in the world. She didn't say anything but he saw the dusting of pink on her cheeks and felt her lightly squeeze his fingers as they walked through the gates. Can she still not believe we're dating? He thought with a smile. She really is so cute.
On a normal day, the sight of a couple holding hands at school would have been enough to attract all the attention in the playground but that day they were barely given a second glance as the air was abuzz with what had occurred over the weekend at the Eiffel Tower. They heard snatches of people's conversations as they passed and they were all about the same thing.
"Did you see the footage of her as she got shot? I can't believe they got the whole thing…"
"Chat Noir's face was heart-breaking, I couldn't look…"
"That plan was mad, how did they think they could kidnap Ladybug in broad daylight?"
"I hope she's alright. I know she's magic and all but still…"
"You know, they haven't been seen since, neither of them. That doesn't look good."
Adrien took a quick glance at Marinette and saw her face looked a little pale with worry at what was being said. He reassuringly squeezed her hand and smiled at her with a nod when she looked up at him. Ladybug and Chat Noir were going to have to make a public appearance and they were going to have to make it soon.
"Adrien! Marinette! Hey dudes!" Both of them were shaken from their thoughts as they heard Nino calling them. They looked around to see he was barrelling towards them like a rugby player and when he reached them he tackled them both into a relieved hug that nearly knocked them all over. "Aw man, I'm so glad you two are alright!"
"Yeah… we're fine." Adrien said slowly, looking over at Marinette in confusion for answers only to see she looked just as clueless. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"Have you guys seen Alya yet?" Nino asked, steamrolling over Adrien's question. "If you haven't, you need to run. Run far far away before…"
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" A shout came from across the playground as they both whipped around again and saw Alya storming over to them. Nino gave a little gulp as the other two stared in shock at the girl who was approaching them like a raging bull. What the heck had she done? Marinette thought in a panic before her best friend reached her and then enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug that she was certain was going to leave bruises on her back, making her squeal as she was lifted clear off the ground.
"Thank God, you are alright!" Alya cried out as she put her down, still clutching her tightly. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! You are going to tell me everything missy, never make me scared like that again! Now where is it?!"
"W-where's what?" Marinette stammered out as innocently as she could as she tried to back away from Alya. The noise was beginning to draw the heads of some of the students as they all looked over at the new distraction.
"You know what! Your injury!" Alya pounced and Marinette tried to fight her off as Alya tried to grab at the hem of her t-shirt. Adrien and Nino waded in trying to separate them but a crowd had already started to gather and one of the guys, probably Kim Adrien assumed, had started a chant of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" that was echoing around the playground and drawing in more people. Then, just as Marinette thought she was winning, Alya's hand dodged her flailing arms and made a successful grab for it, pulling up the white fabric to expose her side.
"Ha! I knew…it?" Alya stared in confusion. On Marinette's side there was a red mark exactly where Ladybug had been shot but it didn't exactly look like a bullet wound. Marinette hastily tore her friend's hand away and scrambled to pull her top down but the damage had already been done. She gave an embarrassed whimper as all around her, her classmates went silent. The girls were staring at her like they couldn't believe their eyes whilst the guys were looking at a red-faced Adrien with what looked like a new respect.
"Dude…" Kim breathed out as the class gawped at them. "How did you…?"
"It's not like that!" Adrien quickly said, his hands protectively going to shield his girlfriend's stomach which really didn't help. "Honestly, it is not what it looks like!"
"What isn't what it looks like?" A voice said from the back of the crowd and both Marinette and Adrien's stomachs plummeted as Chloe barged her way to the front of the crowd. "What is going on here? Has Adrien finally seen sense and dumped the klutz?"
Adrien scowled furiously at her as Alya gave a wicked smile, taking great pleasure in what she was about to do. "Nope, quite the opposite in fact." She said calmly just before she yanked Marinette's t-shirt back up.
"Alya!" Marinette cried out but her voice was drowned out completely by Chloe letting out another long scream, her face white as she stared in horror at the mark. Using this as a distraction, Alya then grabbed Marinette's hand and ran for it, dragging her and the boys along until they reached the corridor outside their classroom which was thankfully deserted. Marinette then found herself being closely analysed by Alya as both boys looked on, Adrien with confusion and Nino with concern somebody wouldn't make it out of the corridor alive.
"Right. Explain. Now." Alya demanded, her eyes flashing. "Where did you go after you were shot?"
"Shot?!" Marinette nearly shouted, only just stopping herself from having a breakdown as her friend's eyes drilled into her. "I-I wasn't shot! That w-was Ladybug…"
"Cut it out Mari, I saw you." Alya held her phone up in front of her and all the colour drained from Marinette's face as she watched the video. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly as she tried to think of some excuse, any excuse for this to exist, but she couldn't think of anything and she only shrank back guiltily as the clip ended and Alya bore down on her. "I saw you in Chat Noir's arms, covered in blood just after Ladybug fell out of the sky! I was so worried, all those times you threw yourself in danger and I just watched you recording… You're my best friend, what if something had happened to you? And you threw me and Nino in a cage together? Girl what is up with that?!"
Adrien gave a little smile as Alya rambled on, telling Marinette off like she was one of her younger siblings, but his smile was soon wiped clean away when Alya turned around and focused her laser eyes on him. "And don't think you get away scot-free cat boy!" She snapped, jabbing a finger in his chest and making Nino beside him snigger at the terrified look on his face. "You were supposed to protect her and look what happened! Where did you run off to, do you know how long I spent trying to find out where both of you were?! I was convinced I was never going to see you both again!" Tears were beginning to catch on the corners of her hazel eyes and Adrien felt torn between trying to comfort her and running in fear of his life.
"Hey Alya, calm down!" Marinette suddenly threw herself between the two of them as she saw the guilty look that had spread across his face. "It wasn't his fault, he did everything he could to set me free! It was my stupid fault for looking back, and don't try to tell me anything different Adrien!" She cut off her boyfriend before he even had a chance to speak, putting her hand over his mouth so he couldn't protest. "I know you're upset and I'm sorry for putting you through that but we didn't know that you had seen us. We can't tell you where we went in case it puts them and us in danger from Hawkmoth but we were safe and we were fine. You saw my side, you can't even tell I was shot anymore!" Marinette pointed out, gesturing in the general area of her wound, not wanting to again have it pulled up and revealed to the world.
"Cool, that magic is sick!" Nino said quietly in awe, causing Adrien to give a little groan at his friend and Alya to frown.
"I guess…" She said slowly. "This explains a lot of things, like your very sudden relationship-"
"It wasn't that sudden!"
"Believe me, it was, one day you couldn't speak to him without stuttering and the next you were sitting in his lap! My one thing is, why didn't you tell us from the start? It feels a little weird to have been fangirling over my own best friend for the last few months you know. Did you guys not trust us or something?"
Marinette and Adrien exchanged a guilty look and she gently lowered her hand from his mouth as his arm went around her shoulders. "I didn't want to tell you guys because I was worried about what would happen if I did," She finally said. "I was so worried about Hawkmoth going after my family and friends and putting everyone I know in danger that I didn't want to tell anyone. I didn't even want us to reveal our identities to each other in case because I was so scared about it." Adrien gave her a reassuring squeeze and both Alya and Nino's expressions were much softer. "It wasn't that I didn't think you were untrustworthy, I just didn't want anybody to get hurt because of me. And also…" She bowed her head a little and couldn't look anybody in the eyes. "I guess I didn't want people to be disappointed. If you found out it was me the whole time, I thought you'd…"
"I'd what? Think you were suddenly lame?" Marinette was suddenly yanked back forwards as Alya swathed her in another hug. "Mari, how could I be disappointed? Ladybug will forever be awesome in my eyes and the fact that underneath the mask she is just a normal, but still amazing girl just makes her even more incredible. And c'mon, my best friend is a superhero!" Alya patted her friend on her back as she started to cry and even she got a little teary as they pulled apart. She looked up at Adrien, who was looking relieved now everything was out in the open, and she gave him a small smile. "And Chat Noir is pretty cool as well."
"Thanks Alya." Adrien grinned as Marinette went back to his side and he hugged her as well. Nino also stepped closer to Alya and put his arm around her shoulders as she hastily wiped away the few tears that were still clinging to her eyelashes. "So this means you guys won't tell, right? I don't think our families would approve of us being heroes, especially after that…"
"I know, you two better take more care of yourselves or akumas are going to be the last thing on your minds!" Alya threatened but she still had a smile on her face.
"Don't worry about it, we won't tell." Nino answered. "This is still pretty cool though."
"It is and of course we won't tell," Alya said. "But, there's one condition. There's just one thing you guys have to do for me."
The two of them looked worried as Alya's face broke into another wide smile. "Erm, what would that be…" Adrien started to ask but before she could answer the four of them were interrupted by Chloe, who burst in on them, looking like she had just found a bad smell.
"I cannot believe you Marinette!" She hissed angrily. "I know you were common but I didn't expect you to stoop that low! Flaunting yourself in front of everybody… it's a good thing Adrien is dating you, no respectable man would want you after that display!"
"Now listen here, you spoilt little…" Alya started to say but Adrien put his hand on her arm to signal her to stop. He then looked over at Chloe with a frown.
"Chloe," He said, successfully keeping the pleasure of what he knew was about to happen out of his voice. "That is no way for you to speak to my future wife."
The scream Chloe gave after that statement was enough to make all the students in the school turn their heads and wonder what the heck was going on now. All four of them were forced to cover their ears and Marinette shot an angry look at Adrien who matched it with a smirk.
"What?" He mouthed at her. "It was so worth it."
