Chapter 10 – What Did the Letter say?

Marinette was ecstatic. When her alarm blared loudly, indicating it was time to get up, Marinette didn't slam her hand on it, burying herself deeper into the warm abyss of her covers. Instead, she sprang out of bed, a lingering tingle running down her spine. That wasn't Marinette. Marinette, the real Marinette, was usually a groggy little girl when it came to waking up. After a lot of thinking, Marinette realised that the fact that Adrien was the first to make a move, meant that he actually liked her. Like, really liked her. For some reason, even though Chat had told her that Adrien liked her back, she didn't believe it until he said so himself. Though, if he was willing to kiss her, maybe he really does like her. A shadow of doubt still controlled the poor bluenette's mind. 'Wait, what if that wasn't even what he was planning to do? What if he was just, maybe, trying to get something out of my hair? Or, I don't know, boop my nose?' Calm down, Marinette. you two were ok when he delivered the gift to you. What if he was acting in front of maman and papa? No! Adrien wouldn't do that! Would he?

"Marinette! We talked about this! Don't think and just get to school. You really don't want to be late. Again." Tikki practically shoved Marinette out of her room. For a small floating bug thing, she was surprisingly strong, much like Marinette.

"Right. Ok. School. Yes." Marinette gave up, she was just overthinking. Adrien does like her. She thinks. Well, if there weren't any doubts, there certainly are now. At least she'll wear the scarf he gave her, so he knows that she really does appreciate him. As a bonus, it smelt like him. If she gets distracted during class, it's not her fault.

Honestly, Adrien was nervous. What even happened yesterday? One second, he was braiding her hair, then the next, they almost kissed. Well. That escalated…quickly? What would he say to her? What would he say to Nino? What about Alya? She was sure to juice out all the details. If she hadn't attacked Marinette already. Damn, he wasn't ready. At all. He convinced himself yesterday that he was ready. Why is life so hard? Will she even wear the scarf he gave her? Or is she too ashamed at him? They both did talk at her house, when he gave it to her, so what's wrong? That was probably acting for her parents. No! Marinette wouldn't do that! Would she?

It had been 3 solid weeks since their study date. Both tried their best to stay away from each other, which didn't go unnoticed by both Nino and Alya, the latter convinced by the former not to take any unnecessary action until Adrien or Marinette announced anything themselves. Maybe they needed time to figure things out? Well, don't ask her, she didn't know. As much as it hurt that Marinette hadn't said anything to her, Alya respected her best friend's privacy.

It turns out, Nino and Alya weren't the only ones to notice the sudden change in the two. The whole class noticed - and by the whole class, I mean including Chloe – but decided not to question it any further. Except Chloe, of course.

"What happened here?" She stood in front of Adrien's desk and moved her finger between him and Marinette. Class hadn't even started yet and, to be honest, Adrien really wasn't in the mood for this.

"Chloe, what are you talking about?" As if he didn't get enough sleep already, he was being questioned! Well, there had been 3 weeks of peace. That's not the point.

"I'm talking about your obvious crush on Dupain-Cheng, that's what. And I know you know what I'm talking about, don't you dare deny it."

"…"

"See! There. So, I'll ask again. What happened between you two, that was so utterly ridiculous, that you've completely ignored each other for the past few weeks?" Chloe spaced out every word as if they were children from another country that didn't understand.

This time, Marinette spoke. "Chloe, has it ever occurred to you that, maybe we don't want to talk about it? Have you noticed that literally no-one else in the class has questioned it?"

"Listen, Dupain-Cheng. Once Adrien started to like you back, what do you think I've been doing? Do you know how much it hurt to see Adrien fall for you? I put my feelings aide, only because Adrien looked so damn happy! Then, you both stop talking. And pay attention to me, Dupain-Cheng. If you have done anything to harm this sunshine child," she was on the steps next to Adrien's seat at this point, facing Marinette. She grabbed Adrien by the collar before continuing, "then you will be dearly sorry. Take my word on that one." Throwing him back onto his seat, Chloe flicked her hair and made her way back to her own seat, clearly done with the conversation.

Both Marinette and Adrien were in shock. By the end of it, Marinette's face had gone bright red. As much as she hated to admit it, Chloe was right. She hadn't been pestering Adrien at all for a long time, putting away her feelings because she was satisfied with the fact that he was happy. Guilt immediately washed over Marinette. Looking over towards Chloe, Marinette smiled. The girl had definitely changed, and it was time she got recognition for it.

The school day passed rather quickly. Adrien and Marinette had both gotten an idea during the day and couldn't wait to go home to put their plans into action. They still hadn't talked, but things were going to change. According to Adrien, of course.

"Plagg! I know what to do! You know how Valentine's Day is coming up?"

"Mhm," Plagg managed to say with a mouthful of cheese.

"Well, the plan from before has changed. I'm going to ask her now!"

"We had a plan?"

"Were you not listening the other day when I said I was going to ask her to be my date for the Valentine's Day dance?"

"…"

"Obviously not. Well, I'm telling you now. So, listen up. So first, I want to…"

"Tikki! What do I do? I can't talk to Adrien at all! This means he doesn't like me after all! But Chloe even said he likes me! But he didn't say anything. But…"

"Marinette! Listen to yourself speak. Just wait for him to tell you that he likes you." Tikki reasoned.

"No. Tikki. You don't understand. I don't know if he likes me or not!"

"Hey, what were you going to do about Chloe?" Tikki questioned, genuinely curious, since she didn't know what her Chosen was going to do. Also, she had to stop Marinette from completely breaking down. That would've been a problem.

"Oh yeah! Chloe. So, basically what I'm going to do is…"

Nino was rather fidgety this fine Saturday morning. He had planned this well. Why was he so damn nervous? Alya was his girlfriend after all. There was no doubt she'd say yes. So, why was he feeling like this? Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her door and flattened out his clothing. Nothing could go wrong. Every little detail was delicately thought out. She wasn't even babysitting! From his knowledge, she was probably re-watching all the old clips from the LadyBlog. The rattling of the lock stopped Nino's train of thoughts, making him grow more worried. Suddenly the door swung open, revealing Alya's older sister. Oh. Oh. He hadn't thought this through, had he? Nora, however, smiled down at him.

"She's through there," she whispered, jabbing her thumb towards the stairs to Alya's room. "And listen. Don't worry so much. You're a great guy, she loves you, ok?" Nora added in the same hushed tone. Nino smiled back.

"Thank you, Nora. You don't know how much I needed to hear that." Nora had changed since the whole Anansi incident, and was doing everything she could to make it up to Nino, even though he said they were ok. She thumped Nino on the back and wished him luck before disappearing into the kitchen.

With a little newfound confidence from Nora's pep-talk, Nino knocked on Alya's bedroom door. Alya opened the door, phone in one hand. Obviously, Nino's assumption of her re-watching LadyBlog was correct. Alya had to blink a few times to make sure this was real. There, before her, was Nino holding a bouquet of roses and a large card with 'How about we make an OTP and go to the Valentine's dance together?'

"NINO! This is amazing. Yes. YES! Of course! That was so sweet of- "

She was cut off by Nino kissing her. She kissed him back, with passion and love, draping her arms delicately around his neck. They both pulled apart, blushing.

"Well, in that case, let's celebrate!" Nino said, holding up a few movies to watch.

Marinette was rather fidgety this fine Saturday morning. She had told Nathaniel to meet her at a local café to talk about an important matter. The thought had occurred to her during school, and it would be completely perfect if this would work out. Marinette wrung her hands as she waited. Taking a quick glance around, she saw a redhead making his way to her.

"Hey Marinette!"

"Hi Nathaniel!"

He took a seat opposite her, grinning. "What was so important to discuss that I had to rush here for?"

Marinette laughed. "Well, I have to ask you for a favour."

Nathaniel glared at Marinette. "And what, exactly, might that be?"

"Um. Can you deliver something to Chloe for me please?"

Nathaniel blushed. "What makes you think that I would like to do that?"

"Oh, come on, Nathaniel. You think I haven't noticed your blushing even when she blatantly offends you. You have sketches of Queen Bee everywhere in your sketchbook. So, that's why! Pretty please!" Marinette surely was an observant girl. Nathaniel's blush only grew deeper and he tried to bury his face further into his hoodie. Then, the thought occurred to him.

"Marinette," Nathaniel started, frowning.

"Yup?"

"Are you trying to set me up?"

Marinette choked on her drink. "Set you up? Set you up?! Set yo- what do you mean set you up?" She squeaked.

"I mean," Nathaniel replied, staring, "that you're trying to set me up with Chloe Bourgeois, even after what happened the last time you did that."

"Ok. I know things with you and Marc didn't work out as well as I thought, but that wasn't the full reason I paired you two up. You did make a great team with that comic, so I thought I'd help. This time, it's different. I promise. You can change her for the better, and she deserves recognition for the fact that she is one of Paris' superheroes. If you give that to her, maybe she will fall for you. You're a great guy Nathaniel, and it's time she realised that. If she doesn't, her loss." Marinette beamed at Nathaniel, and he couldn't say no. He had, obviously, gotten over his crush on the designer and they had become great friends over time. Their friendship was something they both cherished, as Marinette helped Nathaniel with his sketches, while Nathaniel helped Marinette with her designs. There was certainly a lot of playful banter between the two.

"Fine. What exactly do you want me to deliver?" He must admit, he was excited. He was trying to cover it up, but he didn't know if it worked. Marinette, thankfully, didn't notice the redhead's excitement, instead squealing with joy.

"Great! So, it's this outfit that I made for her, actually, quite a while ago. I made it as she's a superhero and I thought she might like it, but I didn't know when to give it to her. There's a note on it, explaining everything from my side, so you don't have to worry about that. But promise me one thing." Marinette lowered her voice.

"W-what?"

"Buy her something."

"You what?"

"You heard me. Buy her a gift. If you really like her, you'll want to make a good first impression. Just buy her, I don't know, flowers then say, 'oh I just bought these for you because they were pretty'. Not too difficult a task, huh?"

Nathaniel smirked. "Clearly a difficult one for you when it comes to Adrien. 'Adrien, I got you blah ah pfff…'" He ended up laughing. Really loudly. People were staring, but he didn't care. This was amusing.

Marinette glared daggers at the laughing tomato before her. "Fine. Sorry for helping. I guess I'll just go. And leave you. Without getting Chloe's attention." Se crossed her arms and turned her head away, visibly fuming.

"I'm sorry Marinette," Nathaniel said in between laughs. "You're such a child, honestly." He took a quick glance at his watch. "Hey, I really have to get going. I promise I'll buy her a gift. See you! And thanks!"

"Bye Nathaniel! Good luck!" Nathaniel took the gift and left, waving back at her.

"There! Plagg, I finished the letter. I think…I think I'll give it to her on Valentine's Day. The day of the dance. I really, really hope she says yes!"

"Kid. Like I said before. Do you think she would ever say no to you?" Plagg was honestly sick of this love crap.

"Well, think about it this way. Before, things weren't that awkward between us. I didn't lean in to freaking kiss her when an akuma decided it would be the best time to terrorise the city. So, there's a big difference between then and now."

"Does the fact that things are awkward between you mean that her feelings have changed for you or your feelings have changed for her?"

"That…is actually a really good question. I…. I don't know. I guess we'll just have to see. There's no point sitting here doing nothing. It's worth a try."

"Ok. Whatever you say." Plagg went back to happily munching on his cheese, much easier than giving love advice to an oblivious teen that obviously didn't know what to do with his life.

"Wait. I can't say that! Let me change it, hold on." Adrien started to change the letter, getting another sheet of paper to re-write it nicely.

"Something tells me this is going to take longer than I thought it would." Plagg sighed as he started to open another wheel of camembert. This was going to be a long weekend.

'What is the role of the cerebellum?' Marinette answered the question confidently. It had come to the point where the only thing to stop her thinking about what had happened with Adrien, was to do homework. Seriously. Homework. Well, it was good to stay up to date, it gave her more time to patrol. PATROL?

"Oh Tikki! I have patrol with Chat! I'm late!" Marinette quickly called on her transformation and zoomed out of her skylight, making her way to the Eiffel Tower.

She landed with a silent thud, not going unnoticed by Chat, since he had some sort of super hearing that came with his suit.

"Good evening, Bug." Chat greeted.

"Good evening, Chat." He turned to face her, and Ladybug cringed. "Ooh. Are you ok? You look like you've been beaten up," she commented.

"That's because I have," Chat mumbled.

"What? When? By who?"

"By sleep." He smirked.

Ladybug groaned. Then smiled. At least he was awake enough to joke about.

"I'm serious, Chat. I can reschedule patrol to another day."

"No. What's the point of that? We are superheroes after all, this is our job."

Ladybug's smile grew wider. "Ok then. You take the left side; I'll take the right. We'll meet up again back here."

Chat yawned. "Good that." (Credit to whoever guesses what book this reference is from.)

"Hey!"

Chat laughed. "What?"

"That's not fair! How did you get here before me? You were tired as well!" Ladybug pouted.

"Ladybug, are you jealous of my super speed?" Chat leaned forward; a smug look painted on his face.

"Jealous? Of you? You wish, kitty!" She glowered at him.

"You so are!" Chat teased.

"NO! I'm not. I'm leaving and I think you should, too. We have school tomorrow, and you don't want to look beaten up, I'm sure. It'd probably ruin your reputation, am I right?"

Chat bit his cheek to stop himself laughing. "You are, as always, correct. I wonder how you do it?"

"Ugh! I give up. I'm gone." With that, she swung away, hearing Chat's snickering the whole time.

That night, Marinette couldn't sleep. There was too much on her mind. Valentine's Day was coming up, and she had hoped to go to the dance with Adrien, where she'd confess her feelings. Obviously, the universe decided against it. Who said ladybugs were lucky? They were probably high. Eventually, Marinette fell asleep, though it was shallow and full of nightmares.

The next week had come and gone with the same level of awkwardness, and before anyone knew it, it was Valentine's Day and also the day of the dance. Marinette woke up early, a habit that had formed since the start of this mess. How could you expect her to sleep with all this stress constantly eating at her? The fact that things were horribly awkward between her and Adrien didn't stop her writing a Valentine's card for him. She still loved him, there was no denying that. Yawning, she made her way to school. The week had been mostly quiet, beside a few akuma attacks. They were getting more ridiculous day by day. As she made her way into the locker room, Alya hugged her tightly, a routine they had picked up, while animatedly talking about the LadyBlog and yesterday's fight. Marinette, obviously, didn't need to be reminded of the ridiculous akuma attack yesterday, a housing agent. A freaking housing agent. Alya noticed her friend's drowsiness.

"Girl, you good?" She lay a hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit tired," she yawned for emphasis.

"Ok, girl. Just tell me if you need anything."

"Sure, thanks Alya!" Marinette felt really bad. She still hadn't told Alya about anything, she couldn't bring herself to say anything. While Alya walked to class, Marinette snuck her letter along with a box of her mother's best pastries into Adrien's gym bag in his locker. She had memorised his padlock combination, what do you take her for? (Marinette Dupain-Cheng – stalker level: beyond pro) Catching up with Alya, she braced herself for yet another boring day.

Surprisingly, the day went quicker than usual. Marinette was quite disappointed, as she didn't get enough time to stare at Adrien's hair. She was back to square one, not even on talking terms. She didn't even know if he got her letter yet, but she wasn't going to wait too long to find out, though she secretly hoped she bumped into Adrien. Her feelings were way too conflicted.

As she made her way out of school, someone gripped her shoulder.

"Hey Marinette? Um, how are you?" He seemed nervous, but she wasn't too sure.

She craned her neck in surprise. It couldn't be, could it? They hadn't talked in ages!

"I really hope you don't mind waiting a while, but I have something to give to you." Like all other times he is nervous, he moves his hand to scratch the back of his neck.

'I'd wait an eternity if it meant I were with you, Adrien,' thought Marinette, despite herself. She immediately shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

"Oh n-no! Not at a-all!" She squeaked. Yep. Back to square one. "Besides, I have nothing to do right now."

"Oh. Ok then. That's good. Um. Here," he said after reaching into his bag and getting a letter, addressed to her. Taking the envelope and getting it open after quite a while, she stopped. She was pretty sure she was blushing and was floating on cloud nine after reading the first line, but she couldn't read the rest now.

Adrien was nervously waiting for her reaction, when she stopped. "Ummmm…Marinette, are you ok? Why are you not reading it?"

"I'm fine, Adrien. I-I just want to read it when I g-get h-home. I…uh…thanks?"

"O-oh. Ok. Bye, then." Adrien sadly waved and made his way to the limo waiting for him. It was probably better she read it without him there anyways.

After Adrien's awkward departure, Marinette was left to stumble to the park near the bakery. She'd get some peace and quiet over there, at least. Settling on a desolated bench, away from all humanity, she opened the envelope and read.

'Dearest Marinette,

There's no other way to say this. I love you.

I know you probably hate me right now. I'm not quite sure, seeing as you're ignoring me. Then again, that's understandable, considering all that happened at the study date. I'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable that day, and I hope you enjoyed the scarf and chocolates. I just want you to know that, I was meant to kiss you that day. Marinette, I really like you. Like, a lot. And I'm sorry I wasn't able to say it to your face, instead writing on a piece of paper. You're probably sitting there thinking that I'm a coward, Marinette.
But, hear me out. Previously, I was head over heels for Ladybug, though it was a bit useless, seeing as she couldn't really like me back. Still, I continued pining over her. Honestly, Marinette, I liked you from the beginning. I just didn't know. Because I liked Ladybug. As you can see, I was feeling rather conflicted, thinking about how that would work out. How could I like two girls at once? Believe me, it was driving me insane.

Eventually, I got over Ladybug, and you wormed your way into my heart. After finding out that you liked me too, I was honestly thrilled. Because, of course, I like you too. So, with Chat Noir's help, I planned to bring us closer together, starting by walking to school with you. Then, I asked you to study with me, which made things more awkward between us and I'm sorry for that. Just so you know, I do not regret ever asking you to study, because I'm glad to know I have someone to rely on and talk to about my mother. I really enjoyed braiding your hair, so thank you for that. For everything you ever did that I never noticed before. I am taking this chance to ask you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, to be my date to the Valentine's Day dance. So, the choice is yours. Will you be my Valentine?

Get back to me as soon as possible. I hope to make things right between us again!

Yours Truly,

Adrien.'

Author's Notes

AAAAAAHHHHH! So, what do you think?

Sorry for taking so damn long on this, there was literally zero motivation (except you guys!)

Also, sorry if this seems rushed, it is really long, the longest chapter so far, at around 3,836 words and if you noticed I changed a lot that happened in the first chapter, so oops. Sorry for that confusion. (Such as the fact that I mentioned Nino and Alya were going on a dinner date in chapter 1 but changed it to the dance.)

I added DJWifi because, why not? They are an amazing couple and deserve to be recognised. Also, Chloe x Nathaniel!

The next chapter or the chapter after will probably be the last chapter, and I just want to say thank you, really, for all the support.

Credits to whoever guesses what book the reference comes from during patrol! (Hint: those of you that don't know are cranks. (I'm joking of course!))

Can you guess where Marinette will wear the tiara?

Stay safe.

:)