Rebound

04:27 Sunday

[Mari] Alya, are you sure you told him to come see me, after I left?

[Alya] Positive. Plus you told him too, right?

[Mari] Yes! That is why I'm freaking out! It's been almost two hours!

[Alya] Marinette, go to sleep. He probably needs some time alone. I'm sure he will come tomorrow. AND school starts technically tomorrow. So you should rest.

Marinette knew she should do what Alya was saying. But she couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes she saw his filled with shadows. She saw him being hit countless times in the chest by heartbreaking blue arrows.

[Mari] Okay. Gn*

[Alya] Goodnight Mari*

Marinette lay down on her bed, lost in thoughts.

"Marinette, don't worry about Chat Noir. He is strong." Said Tikki.

"I know he is. But you didn't see his eyes Tikki." Marinette sighed. "I wonder why the magic from my healing spell didn't cure him."

"I was wondering about that too." Tikki lay down beside Marinette. "My only theory is that he got hit too many times?"

Marinette nodded. "If he doesn't come tonight, tomorrow I will go ask Master Fuu."

"That's a good idea." Answered Tikki kissing her cheek. "Now, we have to slee-" Tikki looked up to the skylight window and then hid.

Marinette jumped off her bed and ran to the balcony.

Tikki's behaviour could only mean one thing. Chat was here.

He was sitting on the rail, facing Paris.

"Chat! Are you okay? When you didn't come I thought you might be hurt." Marinette got closer to him and hugged his back.

"I'm fine, Princess. I wanted to let you know I'm fine." He caressed her hands that were on his chest. But his voice was weird. Cold. And he hadn't looked at her.

It seemed an eternity since they had kissed earlier that night.

Marinette was trying to figure out something to say when he said "I've decided I am going to leave you alone. It's too dangerous for you to be associated with me."

Marinette's stomach filled with fear.

No...

He was ending everything even before it started.

Now was it. She had to tell him she was Ladybug. If she did, they could be together without him worrying about her safety.

"I'm sorry I lead you on." He continued before she could tell him anything. "I didn't want to hurt you, but it's not worth it."

Her heart stopped. It's not worth it?

I'm not worth it. She realized. Tears threatened to roll down her face. "But-" she whispered, unable to find her voice.

"You will find someone else in no time, Princess." He broke her embrace. "Don't come looking for me." And with that, he leapt down from her balcony and dove into the night.

"I'm Ladybug." she whispered, long after he was gone. "I don't want someone else." She felt herself fall to her knees. Letting the tears roll down her face.

Even though the Akuma hadn't touched her, she got broken hearted anyway.

School started and Marinette got drowned in work. Not all of it was school projects. She wanted to escape the pain from the broken heart that Chat Noir had left behind him.

To do so, she was working her school projects to perfection and extracurricular ones as well. She still found time for Ladybug and not only on patrol nights. Ladybug could be spotted in the sky every night now. Even though she had to see Chat Noir from time to time, she had to pretend that everything was okay. She wished he didn't look so miserable too. It was so hard to watch him suffer and not be able to do something.

She had seen Master Fuu. He had told her that her miraculous had cured all the illusion of the broken hearts. But Chat Noir was heartbroken as a civilian and that Akuma had awoken the wounds inside him. The only thing she could do about it was to be there for him. And hope that his friends, whoever they were, would be there for him too.

She wondered if she could do something about his heartbreak as Ladybug. Since Marinette was out of the picture for Chat, Ladybug was the only one that could be there for him. She was in pain, but she couldn't blame him.

Alya kept pushing her outside the house. She couldn't possibly believe that Marinette had that much work to do after only a few weeks of college. She kept telling her how Nino was having a hard time convincing Adrien to come out of the house too. Nino had asked Alya to convince Marinette to go to Adrien's house. He didn't know what had gotten into his friend, but the guy was not okay.

So, after some weeks, Alya and Nino finally made the arrangement they had been asking for. Both Marinette and Adrien, sick of their friend's annoying persistence, agreed.

It was a Friday. And they were to meet at Adrien's. Alya and Nino would cook this time.

But when Marinette got there, it was only Alya and Nino in the apartment. No Adrien in sight. So the question she asked after saying Hello to her friends was pretty obvious.

"Where's Adrien?"

"Oh, he's not here yet, he got stuck with some college work." Said Nino waving a wooden spoon. Marinette looked at him confused, so he explained. "He gave me his keys to the apartment and said it was okay if we came before him to cook dinner."

"Okay." She said. That made sense. She sat on the couch, her eyes wandering around and wishing she was home, working on her most recent project. The Masquerade Competition her College was going to host on October 31st. Halloween.

"Nah-Nah!" said Alya, looking at her with both hands on her hips. "You won't sit there doing nothing young lady! I know what that will do to you! And I don't want anyone depressed tonight."

Nino chuckled. "That works on Marinette, Babe?" Alya looked at him confused. "Adrien is in way too deep for that to work on him." he clarified.

Marinette got up from the couch and joined them on the kitchen balcony. "What's wrong with Adrien?" She asked, feeling a bit guilty for being out of the picture for so long.

"I have no clue. He won't tell me." Said Nino. He looked worried, and for a second Marinette wondered if she was letting Alya worry that much about her too. "I keep thinking that he might be missing his dad, but that doesn't seem likely. Unless they built a relationship while he was gone. And I'm almost certain it's not the case." And then in a very quiet way, he added "I thought that... Youmighthavebrokenhisheart."

"Nino, nobody understood a word of what you said by the end." Alya laughed.

And before he could repeat slower, Adrien opened the front door and Nino got very red.

"Smells nice guys." He said apathetically, not noticing Nino's sudden redness. Not noticing anything, because he didn't look at them.

Marinette understood now what Nino was saying. She wasn't okay. She knew that and it was time to move on. But Adrien looked tired and sad. She couldn't help reminding herself of Chat's look the night before during patrol. What was happening to all of the blonde important people in her life?

"Adrien, look who's here!" Said Alya, abruptly.

"What do you mean, who's here?" Asked Marinette, smiling.

Adrien seemed to wake up to the sound of her voice. He looked at her with such intensity that she felt uncomfortable. A torrent of emotions crossed his face. Happiness. Fear. Certainty. Nervousness. Calmness. Uncertainty. She hadn't been able to read them all, but she could tell he was at war with himself.

He suddenly looked at Nino with a murderous intent on his eyes. Nino was still flushed and started to laugh nervously. "Sorry?"

Marinette's heart fell with her smile. "Sorry?" She repeated blushing with anger, looking at Nino and then Adrien. "What do you mean, sorry?"

Adrien gave her an apologetic look. "I kinda asked Nino not to bring you here." She frowned when he confirmed her suspicions. "It's not because I don't like your company or anything like that Marinette. It's the exact opposite, actually." She smiled a non-convinced smile. That smile hurt him to the core. She did not believe him. He unconsciously took several steps forward coming close to her and taking her hand. When she didn't take her hand from his, he quickly added: "I didn't want you to see me like... like this." He explained.

"Then don't be like that." She whispered, she had a knot on her throat. Adrien smiled softly.

"Umm... Nino, let's go outside for a while." Said Alya, turning off the stove and grabbing Nino by his arm.

"See! I was right! She is already healing you!" Nino yelled while Alya dragged him outside. "You are smiling, Dude!"

The door banged loudly behind them.

Adrien looked at Marinette still with an apologetic smile on his lips. He knew he had hurt his Princess, but he couldn't go through the same worrying he had in the last Akuma attack. He was certain that the only way that they could be together was as civilians. He could tell her he was Chat Noir, but not while Hawkmoth was still out there. And he thought that they were not even close to defeating the guy.

For the past weeks, he had felt he couldn't look at Marinette. He knew she was feeling down too, and knowing it was because of him made everything worse. But there was no way he would go back now.

No way he would feel like that again. He couldn't lose Marinette like he had lost his mother. He would not grieve Marinette. He prefered to lose his chances to be with her. He prefered to lose her friendship. But she needed to be in this world. Still breathing and safe.

That was very unlikely if she dated Chat Noir.

"Adrien," started Marinette, sighing. "what's wrong with you?"

And there it was. How could he tell her?

He couldn't. He wasn't going to. This was exactly why he didn't want to see her now. She would want to help, but he couldn't be helped. She would try to know why, and he couldn't tell her why.

But he wanted to. So badly.

It would be so much easier.

It would be so much more dangerous.

"I can't tell you, Mari." He didn't want to lie to her more than he had to. "Please don't insist."

She nodded. They stood there, in an awkward silence.

Marinette broke it. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Adrien's heart started pounding. Yes. Yes, there was.

Kiss me. Be my Princess too, not only Chat's.

But he wouldn't ask. She didn't know he was Chat. She would never give him what he needed. So he shook his head, not trusting his voice.

Marinette wanted to help. Desperately. She felt incredibly frustrated by being unable to help anyone these days. Being Ladybug was meaningless if she couldn't even help the ones closest to her.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. And, trying to put some distance between them, he opened the front door to let Alya and Nino in.

'To enter' isn't the right verb to describe their return. They fell inside, jumbled and unbalanced, almost as if they were listening behind the door. Marinette and Adrien laughed softly at the silly behaviour of their friends. "Where is dinner? I'm hungry!" Asked Adrien much more alive than a minute before. Nino looked at him like he had grown three more legs and then smiled at Alya, pleased with this outcome. All it took was Marinette.

"Guys, Alya is not feeling very well, right Babe?" Said Nino, making silent signs to his girlfriend.

"I'm feeling fin-Oh! Yeah." She said once she understood that Nino wanted to leave to give Marinette and Adrien some time alone. "Ah!" she yelped grabbing her belly. "My stomach! I must have eaten something bad while cooking!" Marinette came to her rescue, worried. "Ah! don't worry sweetie! Nino will take me home, won't you Nino?" Adrien rolled his eyes. This was the worse performance he had ever seen. "And the food is on the stove ready for your dinner, lovebirds!"

"Are you sure, Alya? I can go with you!" Said Marinette, frowning and ignoring the last part of Alya's speech.

"No!" Nino hurried to say. "I will take her! Don't leave Adrien alone Mari!" And then he looked at his friend, who obviously saw through the set up they were trying to pull off, and blushed. His eyes said 'Please forgive me, but you know this is for the best.' Adrien nodded, still annoyed, but thankful. Truth be told, against his better judgement, all he wanted was a moment alone with his Princess.

"Nino, please take care of her." Said Marinette, clueless to the silent dialogue passing between Adrien and Nino. "Don't let her eat chocolate! Not even if she tries to bribe you!"

Alya made an outraged sound and Nino laughed. "Yes, Mari! Let's go, Alya! Let's take care of you and your belly!" Nino picked Alya up in a very dramatic bridal style and took off. "Bye! Behave while I'm gone!" He said looking one last time at Adrien and winking at him. Adrien rolled his eyes.

After they were gone, Marinette said: "Alya must have felt really bad. She told us to eat the food that poisoned her." Adrien snorted at her statement and walked to the stove to see what Alya had been cooking. "Why are you laughing!? It's not funny. Maybe she should go to the hospit-DON'T EAT THAT!" she yelled, scaring him into drop the wooden spoon on the floor. "Are you crazy? I don't want to spend the night watching you suffer! I'd rather spend it having fun! Playing video games or watching a movie!"

He laughed.

He laughed so hard that he had to bend over. Marinette looked at him, confused, but couldn't stop herself from laughing a bit with him. It was contagious and filled her heart. She felt lighter.

"Oh my god, Mari!" he said once he was able to talk. "Thank you. I needed that." He said, still laughing.

"You're welcome, I guess?" She said with a smile. "I really don't understand what I did to make you laugh like that, but... I'm glad I did."

He chuckled. "What I can tell you for sure is that the dinner is not what made Alya sick. So let's eat." He grabbed another spoon after picking the first one up from the floor and putting it in the sink.

"Why do you say that? I mean, Alya left like five minutes ago claiming to have a stomach ache because of that food!"

Adrien looked at her with a knowing smile. "Marinette," He put a hand on her shoulder. "We are both suffering. Probably from the same kind of heartbreak." Definitely, from the same kind of heartbreak, he thought. "They are our best friends and wanted us to have fun. So they left to leave us alone." Marinette blushed and her eyes got twice as big. Adrien chuckled at her reaction. "Don't worry. I know that we are just friends." His chuckle sounded a bit bitter.

She felt her mouth go very dry. Adrien was suffering from heartbreak... Was he in love with someone that didn't love him back?

She felt her stomach shrink. She felt uneasy and she had no right to feel that way after knowing that he was in love with someone. It was obvious that a man like that had countless girls at his feet. It was also obvious that he might grow feelings with one of them. Had he been dumped too?

She cleared her throat. "Let's eat then."

"Mari, wanna watch a movie while we eat?" he asked.

She agreed. They chose the movie and sat on the couch, watching it and eating. They were much closer now because of the holiday weeks they'd spent together. But there was tension in the air. Marinette had been okay cuddling with Adrien back then. But today they sat on different sides of the couch. First, she told herself it was because they were eating and needed more space to do it comfortably. But once the food and plates were out of the way, she had no excuse. The truth was that, for some reason, she couldn't cuddle with him platonically anymore. It was normal, she thought. They were both very fragile. They needed love were they could find it.

But what was the harm in cuddling? None. None. None. So, she banished the shyness in her mind and the space between them on the couch, and laid her head on his shoulder. At first, he was tense, but then he relaxed and put his arm around her. It felt so good. The rest of the movie was spent in a cozy atmosphere.

They were both very tired. They had both been sleeping very little the last weeks. And the outcome was very predictable. They fell asleep in each other's arms.

When Marinette woke up, she was using Adrien's chest as a pillow. Her heart started pounding like she had run a marathon. He had both hands wrapped around her waist in a sweet embrace. Without thinking, Marinette ran her hands over his chest and abdomen. She felt her face getting warm. He was... Probably... Definitely, the hottest man she had ever seen. Well, there was Chat, but she had never seen him without the mask so it didn't count. She blushed harder. And, in order to focus on something other than her FRIEND'S body, she looked at his face. He looked so serene, while sleeping, so handsome.

The tv was still on, but the movie had ended long ago.

It was late. Four A.M., late. She needed to go home.

He was sleeping so well... she didn't want to wake him up. He looked like he needed as much sleep as she did. Careful not to wake him, she got up from the couch, turned off the tv and picked up her coat and bag to leave. She was near the door when she heard him.

"Marinette" he whispered. At first, she thought that he had woken up, so she walked towards the sofa to tell him to go back to sleep. But when she got there she realized that he was still asleep. "Marinette" he mumbled again. She smiled. Was he dreaming about her? "Mari" He said louder. His chest started to rise and fall more quickly. His breathing got faster. His once serene face was now wearing a frown. Was he having a nightmare? "Mari! No... M-Marinette..." To the girl's horror, a single tear rolled down his cheek. She tried to calm him down by sitting on the couch and holding his hand.

"Shhshh... I'm okay. You're okay" she caressed his face. He looked so vulnerable. "It's only a dream." He seemed more tranquil with the sound of her voice. His breathing got steadier. His face lost the frown. After some good ten minutes, she thought he was back to a dreamless sleep, so she let go of his hand and got up to leave for the second time.

"No!" he screamed, scaring her. "Not Marinette, please, not Marinette." He cried. She was grabbing his hand to try to calm him again when he woke up, looking startled and breathless.

He sat up and she hugged him. "It's okay. I'm here. It was a bad dream."

"Marinette!" He sounded surprised and relieved. Then he hugged her back and, letting out a big sigh, he started sobbing. She kept whispering smoothing words.

Once he was calmer, she loosened the hug and got up, leaving a hand on his. "I'm gonna make some tea. Want some?" it was a rhetorical question, she was going to make tea for him anyway. Tea had a calming effect on her. Maybe it would be good for him too.

He nodded, getting up and following her to the kitchen, still hand in hand.

"You didn't have to get up, I would've brought the tea to you." She said.

"I know. But I don't want to fall asleep again." He answered. What he didn't want was to let go of her hand. He was still taken aback by the dream.

She understood. When she had nightmares, she didn't want to go right back to them. To his disappointment, Marinette let go of his hand and started to boil some water to make the tea.

"So, want to talk about that nightmare of yours?" She was really curious about the content of that dream. Why was he screaming her name?

"I would prefer to sit here and ignore it ever happened" he answered vaguely. He opened a cupboard and took some tea bags out.

"It's easier to face our fears with a friend around. If you tell me, you might never dream about it again." She paused, not sure if she should be straightforward and tell him what she had heard. She accepted the teabag he offered her and let it steep in the hot water. Seeing he didn't answer her, she decided to be frank. "You were saying my name." She poured some tea into a mug for him and another for herself, waiting.

He took a sip of his tea, even though it was burning hot. "What exactly did I say?" he asked with a cautious look on his face, but she could see a faint blush on his cheeks.

"My name. Lots of times. And then you said something like: Not Marinette, not Marinette. That was it." She looked curious.

"Hum." It was all she got from him.

He was relieved. What if he had said something that had compromised his identity as Chat Noir?

"Why?" She asked, trying to have more information. She took a sip of her tea.

"No reason."

"So... Are you going to tell me what was the dream about?"

My inability to protect you from danger. "No."

"Why?"

Because I can't. "Because I don't want to."

She let out an outraged gasp. "You don't trust me?" She asked dramatically. He understood she was trying to show him that she wasn't offended. He could also tell that she was a bit. But he couldn't tell her the dream... Perhaps he could if he left out some parts?

"I trust you Mari. I didn't want to relive it again." He sighed "Basically you were kidnapped. They wanted a ransom." It was technically true, the Akuma was trading Marinette for his miraculous ring. "And I couldn't get to you on time."

They stood in silence for a minute. "Thank you for telling me." Said Marinette.

Adrien smiled. It was the first real smile he had given her today. "You are very important to me, Marinette."

She smiled back. "You are very important to me too, Adrien."

It's funny how things tend to fall into place on their own... It all started out with an innocent talk about nightmares and then grew into some kind of confession. The electricity in the room increased until it was almost palpable. Marinette was being pulled by those amazing green eyes of his and she could hardly breathe. Why did they remind her so much of Chat? Why couldn't Adrien have normal, boring eyes? If not boring, why green? Why not blue?

Adrien leaned in to kiss her... And she almost let him. But she didn't.

"I'm sorry." He said after some time, but he didn't put any distance between them.

"Why would you want to kiss me?" She whispered. "Y-you know what? Don't answer that. We are both frag-gile. We... We are both very caring. That's why! That's the reason you want to kiss me. And that's-that's fine, I kinda want it too. To kiss you, I mean. But I can't" she spluttered, stammering in the process. He smirked, amused by it. Marinette was behaving like Nino said she would when Adrien admitted to his friend that he was in love with her.

"Why not?" He was very close. His scent was intoxicating to her. Could she resist him? He smelled like Chat Noir! She realized. Did they use the same cologne? She was going crazy with his proximity.

"Look, Adrien, my 15-year-old self would hava-" she cleared her throat, "would have a heart attack if she knew I was about to do this. But I can't kiss you by impulse. Look at what happened to Luka. I'm not in love with you."

He ignored every part of her explanation. "You still want to kiss me."

"I do. But I won't. You're my friend. You can't be my rebound."

"I can if you get to be mine. Friends help each other."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's make a deal." He smirked.

Chat Noir, get out of my head!

"We are both heart aching..." He continued, feeling this was a very, very bad idea but not caring the slightest.

"I'm following you." She said, compelling him to keep going.

"I can be your rebound. You can be mine. We are helping each other out! No strings attached because we know we are each other's rebound. Once we are not so fragile and caring, we can go back to not rebounding with each other. And the best part about this is that we are friends! There's no way this could go wrong because we trust one another" He looked at her, hopeful. Their noses almost touching. He couldn't believe she was actually considering it.

Neither could she. But she was. What could go wrong? He was right. They were both available and in love with somebody else. That person didn't want their love. Why not give that love to each other? Besides, Chat Noir didn't care. Like he had said: It was not worth it.

She breathed deep "Deal." And, closing the distance between them, Marinette kissed Adrien.

Next Chapter we are up for alot of honey and some Adrinette *.*

AuriMoon*