Chapter 20 – Scarf

It was still drizzling when Marinette left for Adrien's house. She considered transforming to get there, just to be dry when she arrived, but she wanted to have a conversation with Adrien as Marinette, not Ladybug (having Tikki's insight on all this might help; she'd been ignoring the kwami too much lately). She also didn't want to chance Hawkmoth figuring out her identity, now more than ever.

Besides, she really did have her own umbrella. She'd simply forgotten it on the second day of school and had used Adrien's ever since, as a symbol of her love for him. (And to give it back of course! Of course! It was just… a lot nicer than hers….)

She sighed as she let herself into the Manor. She should talk to Hawkmoth first about that little stunt he'd pulled earlier, but… well, she really wanted to punch his face in, and that just didn't seem like a productive thing to do. Satisfying, yes. But…

No. Talking to Adrien was more important. She'd figure out what he wanted to do—and who knew? Maybe he'd want to get a hit in himself!

Her thoughts were interrupted when she knocked on Adrien's door and he flung it open wide.

"Mari!" he said, beaming at her and pulling her into a hug.

Marinette blinked, frozen in shock.

Talk about a 180 in personality! He'd been ignoring her or actively avoiding her for the past few days! Had he been akumatized or something?!

"A-a-adrien?" she stuttered.

"Come in, come in!" he said jovially. "Our mutual friend stopped by and told me you'd be coming," he whispered to her as he waved at the Gorilla before closing the door.

"O-oh!" Marinette stammered. Chat Noir had been here already. She looked around hopefully, but the rest of the room was empty. Darn. No Chat in sight. Okay, but was Adrien expecting an apology too? Had she really done anything wrong to him? She couldn't think of anything…. "Umm, Adrien…?"

"I thought we could talk," Adrien said quickly, guiding her over to the couch. "So, I had some snacks and drinks brought in, and we can put on a movie to cover up our voices. Sound good?"

Marinette could only nod dumbly as she stared. He'd had some stuff brought in? His table was covered in different snacks (a mixture of sweet, salty, and savory foods) and cups and bottles full of different drinks! Wow… he was really going all out here! Almost like a—no, Marinette! Don't get your hopes up! It's not a date! You're just going to be talking about serious, grown-up things!

"Got any preferences on the movie?" he asked, starting up the TV.

"No, anything's fine. Well, no horror—"

"Don't worry, I remember," he assured her with a smile and a wink.

marinette. exe has stopped working

Not fair. That wink was not fair. And he was killing her with that smile. That smile should be illegal!

"Adrien…," she said slowly. "I, um…. I want to talk, but—"

"Not enough? Should I turn down the lights?"

"NO!" she nearly screamed.

The things her imagination would come up with if he tried for mood lighting?!

She cleared her throat and started again. "The lights are fine," she said, sitting primly on the couch in a vain attempt to look put-together.

Adrien smiled at her and chuckled, before bursting into full-out laughter.

"What? What is it?" Marinette asked, looking around for the source of his hilarity. "Did I do something? Do I have something on my face?"

"It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it?" he said, also sitting down on the couch. (But he looked a lot more relaxed than her, that was for sure!) Marinette blinked at him in bewilderment and he gestured to the room. "Does it make you uncomfortable? Knowing I did all this for you?"

She felt her face turn bright red.

"I mean, it's not suddenly getting a new job or working with Hawkmoth," he added, looking away. "But it's a lot. And when it's all for you, it's hard to get mad at the person doing it, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Right?"

Marinette stared at him. She made him feel uncomfortable? Yeah, he'd said that, but she'd thought it was a one-time thing! Had she been bothering him this whole time?

"I'm—I'm so sorry," she choked out.

"It's all right," Adrien said. "I'm really not mad at you. It's just… well, I've gotten used to people talking over me or ignoring what I have to say, thinking they know what I want better than I do. And I'm sick of it. I didn't want our talk to be like that. So, I figured, maybe if I showed you what it felt like… you'd understand where I'm coming from. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable…."

"No, you didn't—well, I—this is fine," Marinette assured him. She thought about it for a moment.

He was partially right. She'd come here, intending to tell him what she had planned. It hadn't really mattered what he thought, because she was so sure he'd change his mind….

"I think I get what you were trying to say," she said slowly. "I've put a lot on you these past few days, haven't I?"

"It's been a bit overwhelming," Adrien admitted, ducking his head. "I thought my dad turning into a supervillain was bad! But now, you're, well, you… and I'm… me… and he's…." Adrien threw his hands up and huffed in frustration.

Marinette giggled.

"I get it," she said, nodding. She was Ladybug, his father was her nemesis, and now they had turned Adrien into a superhero too. Overwhelming to say the least! And—

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she said. She opened her purse. "You haven't met Tikki yet! Tikki, this is Adrien. Adrien, Tikki."

The red kwami swooped out of the bag. "It's nice to finally meet you, Adrien," she said.

"You too!" Adrien said, looking delighted. Then he remembered something. "Oh! And Plag—er, Duusu made a kwami-nest up on the second story if you want to join him." He pointed to level above them.

"Can I meet him too?" Marinette asked excitedly, as Tikki immediately flew up.

"Sorry, he's still kinda shy," Adrien said, ducking his head in embarrassment. "That whole kwami rule about not letting other people see them and all…." They both turned as Tikki suddenly disappeared with an "oof!"

"Tikki?" Marinette called worriedly.

"I'm okay!" the kwami called back, giggling. "Get off me, you big lug!"

"For someone who's shy, he's sure enthusiastic," Marinette said, craning her head to try to get a look at the blue-themed kwami-nest. "What did he make the nest out of? Is that the scarf I made for you-oouuuu—I mean… the scarf I saw—on you—for your birthday?! Hehe, he he…." She stumbled and backtracked and awkwardly tried to cover her faux-pas, but it was too late.

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "You made that scarf?"

"What?! Me? Nooo, I mean… who makes scarves? What scarf? I don't see a scarf!"

"Alya's right. You have the worst poker face ever."

Marinette groaned and covered her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spoil it—"

"No, it's okay," Adrien said, also looking up towards the kwami-nest. "I should've known something was up when my father suddenly gave me a thoughtful birthday gift, but nothing else about his attitude changed." He gave her an apologetic grin. "Thank you, by the way. I love it."

"S-s-s-sure," Marinette said, trying not to melt into a puddle of happy goo. Determined to make a better impression, she snapped herself out of it. "Right. Okay. On to important things! Which are… err, what did you want to talk about again?"

Adrien laughed and switched on the movie.

"We need to talk about my dad, and what you wanna do about him."

End Chapter 20.