Adrien fought the urge to laugh at Marinette's stumbling over her own words, walking beside her as they made their way to a lovely little cafe she had asked him if he wanted to go to with her for lunch. The others were off doing who knows what, so he agreed to go with her.
It was better than listening to Alya go on and on about the heist the other night. Losing the ring and having to search in the nasty sewers, yeah that sucked. But being reminded of not only that but his talk with Ladybug that next day, he really didn't want to stick around.
He spent all day yesterday thinking over not only Ladybug's wavering trust in him, but the fact that she openly said she didn't have feelings for him still. Nothing he's done for her over the years to try to sway her has even changed that a little?
Yeah, she was scared of risking their friendship which meant that she's considered the idea. But it could have been just a fleeting thought. Not hours upon hours of thought on what it would be like to have an actual relationship together like he's agonized many nights over.
"So did Tiana tell you what her mother's performance is going to be? Every time I ask her, she tells me it's a secret." Marinette's lower lip stuck out in a pout, chuckling at her persistence.
"No, her mother is supposed to be revealing it next Friday is all I know. She said opening night will be around the end of school though." Adrien offered, laughing when Marinette squealed with excitement for a moment before clapping her hand over her mouth. An embarrassed red came to her face as he just continued laughing at her excitement over the play.
"Sorry." Marinette apologized quietly as he cleared his throat to try to stop laughing.
"You don't have to apologize. You're excited, I'm kind of excited too. Father's been helping with the designs of the costumes, it sounds like Tiana's Mother is going all out for this one." Adrien said as they slowed their walk, coming upon the cafe they would be having lunch in.
"I wonder if she has a part in it. She's been so busy working on it with her mother." Marinette commented before a waitress greeted them and led them to a table.
Once they were seated and the waitress walked off with their drink orders, Adrien noticed the way Marinette kept glancing at her phone every so often. "Everything alright?" Adrien asked, startling her how he wasn't sure but managing to catch her phone when it flew into the air in her surprise, handing it back with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah everything's fine." Marinette said after taking a breath and shining a sheepish smile his way. "I'm just trying to make sure Nathaniel's alright, I noticed he and Tiana weren't really talking right now." Marinette revealed, the waitress returning with their drinks faster than he thought they would. Giving her their orders, she left just as quick once again.
Taking a deep chug from his iced tea, he noticed as Marinette looked at her phone once again. "I'll talk to him when we go back to class. Something's going on with him, Tiana's just giving him time to sort through whatever is going on in his head and told him she'll be waiting for when he's ready to talk." Adrien revealed as he noticed a troubled look overtake Marinette's eyes. "What?" Adrien asked, Marinette taking a long sip from her own tea.
"I might know what's bothering him." Marinette muttered quietly, Adrien smiling at her since she was always so smart.
"What is it?" Adrien asked, figuring instead of telling Tiana he would go to Nathaniel since he already offered to talk to him to Tiana. He'll just talk with Nathaniel and help him sort through whatever is making him want to push away from Tiana.
"He...might have feelings for her..." Marinette almost whispered her words as she stirred her straw around in her glass. Adrien just stared at her for a moment, letting her words sink in.
Nathaniel might have feelings for Tiana? Last he knew, he had feelings for Marinette herself... Then again, he was almost akumatized again because Chloe called him out for having feelings for Tiana. Maybe Marinette was right...
His stomach dropped a little at that moment, confusing him. What was he feeling so off about? If Nathaniel had feelings for Tiana, or was developing them, that's good right?
Was he just subconsciously thinking about his own misfortunes with his love life?
"How sure are you about that?" Adrien asked carefully, frowning when Marinette just looked all the more troubled at his question.
"I-I'm not very. I'm suspecting it, but I think he might still have feelings for... me." Marinette muttered quietly, a red hue washing over her usually porcelain skin.
Nathaniel still having a crush on Marinette was easier to understand than the one of him developing feelings for Tiana. It just all felt mixed up and a mess. If he really was developing feelings for Tiana though, he feels like she would know and have talked about it with the red head.
Tiana was a bright girl after all, from what he's learned. She knew something was up with Nathaniel, he feels like she'd be capable of discerning if it were about him having feelings for her.
The topic was put on hold as the waitress returned with their food, thanking the woman before she was gone once again.
"I'll talk with Nathaniel when we get back. I'll make sure to keep you out of it if he asks me why I'm talking to him about this, of course." Adrien assured Marinette when he noticed a worried look take over her blue eyes at the mention of talking with Nathaniel.
"Thanks, Adrien." Marinette thanked him quietly as he smiled at her, wishing deep down that his own love problems were so simple as just talking it out.
Adrien turned away when he heard giggling behind him, seeing nothing behind him before turning back to Marinette to see her waving a frantic hand in front of her.
"Sorry, there was a bee." Marinette said before taking another sip of her drink.
Okay...
"So why'd you ask me to come here just the two of us? Is everything alright?" Adrien asked as he picked at his pasta, Marinette taking a bite from her own salad.
"Yeah, everything's fine." Marinette assured him with a smile at last, putting her phone down on her lap at last. Good, he'd rather see her looking him in the eye as she talked instead of at a phone screen like Chloe always does when they're together.
"Good, I'm glad you're not under a lot of stress anymore." Adrien said before just enjoying their lunch together. It was nice when it was just the two of them. He enjoyed being with all his friends, but when he's with Marinette alone it's just a little more comfortable, like he can relax a bit easier.
Even though she always seemed on edge, it was easy to just unwind around her. He's starting to get that feeling with Tiana, but he'd rather not bother her when it seems she has things going on of her own. Besides, he talks with her all the time, especially when they have practice and he partners up with her.
"Thank you for worrying about me Adrien, it means a lot." Marinette murmured quietly as her porcelain skin once more flushed red. He smiled at her as she tried to hide her face behind her glass of tea, taking another bite of his food.
"You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad we're talking normally again, I thought I'd said something to upset you but Tiana told me you were just going through some things. I'm glad you asked me to come out for lunch today." Adrien admitted which only served to make her all the more bashful.
"I am too, it's nice when it's just the two of us." Marinette said so quietly he almost didn't hear her, smiling at her when she at last dawned a smile of her own over her shyness.
Whatever tension Marinette was feeling alleviated after that, so they had a lovely chat as they continued eating their lunch. Soon it was time to go back to class though, paying the bill for both of them much to Marinette's chagrin.
"Please, it's only fair. The gentleman always pays." Adrien reminded Marinette as they walked out of the cafe, Marinette sighing beside him since she must have realized he wouldn't be swayed on this topic.
"I was the one who asked you if you wanted to come get lunch though." Marinette tried to argue one last time, chuckling at her determination to wanting to pay the bill.
"That doesn't change the fact that I'm a gentleman, I can't in good conscious let you pay the bill Mari." Adrien reminded before hearing giggling again, turning around only to see nothing again.
Did he have fans following him again and he just wasn't seeing it?
When he turned back around he nearly crashed into Marinette, barely catching his balance before noticing she was looking at something down the street. Following her gaze, he spotted Chloe.
The more surprising part of that was that she wasn't with Sabrina like usual, she was with Nathaniel.
"What is she doing with Nathaniel?" Marinette hissed, sighing as he stepped up beside her so he could walk beside her once again.
"I don't know. She's trying to be nicer, she might be actually doing something helpful." Adrien defended Chloe, frowning when Marinette just scoffed at his words.
"Remember what happened last time you tried to get her to be nicer? It lasted all of a few hours before she continued being mean again and Ivan smashed Macaroons on her head." Marinette reminded him, grinning happily with a tint of deviousness at the memory.
It's kind of scary to think of Marinette in a devious way...
"I know, I remember. But she's really trying this time. She was trying to help that day in the library, it's just she doesn't really know the right way to do it. Don't count her out just yet." Adrien said as they continued walking, watching the way Chloe was basically forcing Nathaniel to walk with her.
He wished he had Chat Noir's hearing, it would definitely help right now to figure out what Chloe was trying to do.
From the looks of it, they were heading back to class just like he and Marinette. But the way Chloe was walking as if forcing Nathaniel to go along, he wondered if he ever really had a choice about going anywhere with Chloe.
"I just hope she doesn't make things worse again. It would be better if you talked to him, not her." Marinette muttered as they kept their distance back away from the other two.
As they got within viewing distance of the school, Nathaniel broke away from Chloe and rushed back to the school. Whatever it was, Nathaniel sure was in a rush to get away from her.
Chloe flipped her ponytail before heading inside as well.
"That didn't go well from the looks of it." Marinette commented, folding her arms over her chest before stopping herself when she saw him watching her.
"We don't know for sure. We'll find out though, I'm sure." Adrien said with a shrug as Marinette dawned another troubled look. Before he could even open his mouth to ask what was going on, Marinette beat him to it.
"Thank you for offering to talk to him. And for getting lunch with me today." Marinette thanked him this time without almost whispering her words. He flashed her a smile in response to not letting her shyness get the best of her this time.
"You really don't need to thank me. This was nice, it's not often that just you and I get to hang out. Let me know if you wanna do it again." Adrien offered as they stopped at the bottom of the steps up to the building, jumping to the side as Alya, Mylène, Juleka, Rose and Alix suddenly dashed past him and up the stairs while giggling loudly.
Looking back to Marinette, he tilted his head in confusion as he watched her cast a weak glare in the direction their friends ran before noticing he saw her and grinning sheepishly. Odd...
"Since you mentioned that... would you like to maybe go catch a movie this week? This time we won't have to dress in ridiculous disguises." Both of them laughed at the memory. Has it really been that long since he caught a movie with her?
"Sure, Marinette. That sounds like fun. Let me know what you want to see and I'll look into the movie times." Adrien said before the warning bell rang, both of them dashing up the steps to get to class before they are considered late.
As they rushed into the class, Tiana ran in right behind them. Before he had a chance to ask her how her lunch break went, she was snatched up by Alya and dragged away.
Whatever is going on with the girls today, he doesn't know whether to be curious or afraid.
The girls all settled down as class began once again, so he was left to his own thoughts once again as he absentmindedly took notes.
He didn't want to be alone to his own thoughts anymore. Since Saturday, all he's been able to think about is searching for that damned ring in the filth riddled sewers or his talk with Ladybug.
Why couldn't she feel the same way for him? Why not when he's spent all these years trying his hardest and doing his best to prove his feelings were real. That they wouldn't just go away.
Who was this boy that she still loved more than him after three years of proving his unyielding loyalty to her? What did he have that made Ladybug choose this other boy over himself?
He was pulled from his own thoughts at last when they were tasked with doing work sheets in pairs, sticking with Nino as so far he was the only one who could tell something was up. He was his best friend, so he wasn't really surprised.
"Is this about that girl again?" Nino whispered to him as they worked together, the rest of the class talking much louder than they were right then.
"Yes." Adrien answered simply, Nino sighing in response to him as he scribbled out an answer on the work sheet.
"What happened? Did she reject you?" Nino asked which only served to make his heart drop painfully at knowing that yes, technically Ladybug was rejecting his love for her.
"Yeah, she did. She likes some other guy." Adrien muttered bitterly as he hurriedly scribbled out a few more answers on the work sheet, noticing Nino's sympathetic look out of the corner of his eye but deciding to try to ignore it.
"Dude, I'm sorry." Nino whispered as they came to a finish with their work sheet. With a look around at the others, it would appear they were the first ones done. "You never know, she might lose interest in that other dude and finally give you a chance." Nino pointed out the thing he's been telling himself for three years. While it did help to hear those words from someone else, it didn't really do much to help him forget the painful thud of his heart against his ribs at knowing she's rejected him not once but twice now.
"I hope that every day." Adrien replied quietly to his best friend before standing up to go turn in their work sheet.
Class passed moderately fast after that point until finally it was over and he had practice. Hopefully taking out all his frustration during practice would help, a work out usually did that for him.
As he gathered his things and was about to walk with Tiana to the locker rooms, he noticed her still sitting at her desk. Nathaniel still sat beside her, but his face was a light red as they whispered to one another.
Oh yeah, he needed to talk to Nathaniel about him possibly having feelings for Tiana... That will have to wait until she's not nearby then.
He heard Plagg mutter something from his hiding spot in the pocket of his shirt before realizing he could make out what Nathaniel was saying. Since when is he able to hear as good as Chat Noir when not transformed?
"If you wanted to talk to me, you could have called me." Tiana said as he stood up from his desk, walking down to the door to wait for Tiana.
"I didn't know if you were allowed to go out this weekend since you said you couldn't go to the Louvre on Friday." Nathaniel replied to her as their other class mates began filing out quickly.
"I wasn't, but you could have called or texted me and come over." Tiana said, reminding him of the fact that he, well Chat Noir, saw her on Saturday. He should really find that ring before Friday just so he can gloat over the fact he won the wager. He already knew she would probably still go off alone in the city anyways.
"I'm sorry, it's really not something I wanted to say over the phone." Nathaniel muttered so quietly he almost didn't hear. He felt like Plagg had something to do with the reason why he could hear them right now.
"Well, you can tell me now before I go to practice." Tiana offered, hearing a sigh from Nathaniel before noticing they were walking down towards the door.
Walking further away to make sure he didn't get caught, he suddenly realized his eavesdropping wasn't the right thing to do. Why was he doing this anyways, Plagg's curiosity was starting to get to him.
"I...might-" Adrien walked further away upon hearing the nervousness in Nathaniel's tone, deciding he'll just meet up with Tiana at the locker rooms. It wouldn't be right of him to listen in on what was obviously a private discussion.
Getting to the locker room, he plucked Plagg out of his shirt before pulling it off. "What did you do that for? We were about to hear some juicy secrets!" Plagg whined as he floated into his locker, looking around to make sure no one else was around to hear him.
"So that was you." Adrien knew it had to be something to do with his Kwami, he said something right before his hearing got a boost.
"Of course it was, what you think your little human ears can pick up on things that easily? I wanted some juicy secrets, I've been bored all weekend with you moping about your lady." Plagg mocked him with a bow before he slammed the locker shut on him. Turning his back to his locker, he continued pulling on his uniform.
"That doesn't make it okay to invade on peoples private conversations, Plagg." Adrien reprimanded his Kwami, deciding he'll ask him when they get home how it was he was able to do that in the first place. He's never done that with him before when not transformed.
"Hey, you should be curious. Your belle is having a private, personal discussion with someone that isn't us." Plagg pointed out, bopping him on the nose with the belle nickname to remind him that he had called Tiana that when he saw her Saturday.
"She's not my beautiful, she's my friend. I call everyone by nicknames when we're Chat Noir." Adrien reminded as he opened his locker again to pull out his equipment and throw his bag inside it.
"I never heard you call Ladybug your beautiful. Or beauty. Maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something, like mine tells me I need Camembert now." Plagg zipped away and into his bag to search for his gooey snack, rolling his eyes at him.
"Nicknames don't mean there's anything going on." Adrien remarked before closing his locker to go head out to the courtyard and wait for practice to begin.
Just as he walked out of the locker room, his shoulder bumped into Tiana's as she was just arriving.
"Sorry, Agreste." Tiana apologized before moving past him without another word and going to change.
That...was weird. Usually she's not so short worded or quick to leave. What happened to her in the few minutes since he last saw her?
When Tiana came back out a few minutes later, he walked over to her as she took a seat on the bench to wait for Roux to arrive. "Everything alright?" Adrien asked as he sat down beside her, watching as she toyed with her Sabre.
"Yeah, just thinking." Tiana replied without meeting his eye like she typically does when talking to anyone.
"Penny fur your thoughts?" Adrien hadn't meant to make a pun, it just slipped out like it usually does from time to time.
Tiana looked at him at last though with a curious expression before giggling quietly at him. He offered her a gentle smile, glad she didn't question his lapse in character.
"You're so weird." Tiana commented, scoffing loudly as he held a hand over his heart to portray that she's hurt him.
"You wound me." Adrien teased, before noticing that the class had an audience. Up on the balcony was Nathaniel, who looked away as soon as he noticed he was spotted.
As he looked to Tiana to ask if she knew why he was watching their class, he noticed her looking away from the red head as well. "Chloe took Nathaniel out for lunch today. Apparently they had a little chat while she was dragging him around." Tiana advised, reminding him of how he had seen the two when he and Mari were coming back from lunch.
"I saw them heading back to class. Marinette and I were coming back and saw her walking with him, I thought she was just trying to be nice." Adrien said before Tiana scoffed indignantly at his words.
"Well her idea of being nice is still laughable. She tried convincing him to tell me that he's starting to develop feelings for some girl." Adrien just blinked at her, wondering if she was really so blind or just willfully chose not to see what was right in front of her.
"You have any idea who the girl is?" Adrien asked, glancing at Nathaniel up on the balcony for a brief moment before back at Tiana.
"Well it's Marinette, it's not a developing thing. He's liked her for a long while, it's not hard to see." Tiana commented with a shrug before looking to him after glancing Nathaniel's way again. "I already knew that, so I don't see why she tried convincing him to tell me something I already know." Tiana shrugged once more as he fought the urge to tell her.
It wasn't his place to say, this was between them. He shouldn't be the one to tell her that Nathaniel's likely developing feelings for her over Marinette.
"Why do you look like you're fighting the urge to say something?" Tiana asked, dragging him out of his thoughts.
"It's really not my place to say anything. Besides, me offering advice about anything to do with relationships or love is asking for trouble." Adrien replied honestly, Tiana bumping her shoulder with his a second later.
"Don't be like that, negativity never helped anything. Did something happen?" Tiana asked with a comforting smile and warm look in her blue eyes.
"Yeah, just rejected again. Nothing new." Adrien murmured gloomily before freezing as Tiana leaned her head on his shoulder, looking to her in surprise as they hadn't really had much physical contact since he told her about his dilemma in her Grandfather's studio.
His body relaxed as he just enjoyed the physical comfort, unable to deny that this helped a lot more than just sitting and stewing on why he couldn't have the woman he loved.
"It's her loss, remember. If she's so blind, let it be her problem. Not yours. You can find happiness everywhere, not just in her." Tiana's words sunk into him, lifting some of the pressure that's been squeezing his heart since Saturday.
How did he get so lucky as to have a friend so willing to help him not let the darkness get to his heart? She has so much going on in her own life, but yet she doesn't hesitate to try to help him with his own turmoil.
Sneaking an arm around her, he returned her comfort with a side hug. "Thanks, Tiana. You have no idea how much that helps me right now." Adrien murmured as Tiana giggled quietly at him. Even her quiet little giggling helped more than just blindly hoping that Ladybug will change her mind and finally be with him.
"I think I'm gonna stop calling you Agreste now." Tiana revealed, casting her a curious expression as she lifted her head from his shoulder. "I think lover boy will suit you much better." Tiana commented with a teasing smile, gaping at her for her open teasing about his love dilemma's.
"Please don't." Adrien tried to coerce her, but she only grinned at him in response.
"Nope, it's settled. From now on, you're lover boy. I mean, if you keep waiting after she's hurt you so much, you deserve the lover boy title." Tiana explained as he sighed at her logic.
The urge to refer to her as Princess tickled his tongue, but he couldn't risk tipping her off to the fact that he was the cat that visited her on her balcony. A devious grin suddenly stole over his lips as he remembered her comment about Chat Noir the day they all played Truth or Dare at her estate.
"Oh no, why are you grinning like that?" Tiana asked as he noticed the amused twinkle in her eyes as she looked at him.
"So I should come up with a new title for you then. Should I choose something that has to do with Chat Noir, you know since you find him so handsome?" Adrien asked with a grin still held, feeling the pride over knowing she thought his alter ego was cute make him want to show off like he usually did when transformed.
Tiana didn't look very amused by his comment, so he started laughing. "I said he was cute, for your information. There's a difference between the two." Tiana corrected him but he just continued laughing at her reaction.
"There really isn't." Adrien argued before a name struck his mind, cutting his laughter short. "So does that mean that you want to be his kitten?" Adrien asked teasingly, earning a swat on the shoulder that started his laughter up once more.
"First off, just because I said cute doesn't mean I find him attractive. I find puppies and babies and all sorts of things cute."
"Kitties included."
"But that doesn't mean I'm attracted to him. Second, I see myself more on the canine end of the spectrum instead of the feline side. You know, since I have a guard dog and my Grandfather just brought back a bunch more of his kind this morning." Tiana argued as he remembered that she might know something more than he or Ladybug about the thief.
She was from Italy, after all. A lot of the reports about the Rogue Wolf, as well as a lot of the tales of the newer General Wolf, were originally from Italy.
That will be a question for later. As he was about to once again refer to her as Chat Noir's kitten, he was interrupted by Mr. Roux finally arriving to begin practice.
"Don't overwork yourself, Lover Boy." Tiana teased as they stood up from the bench they had been sharing.
He smirked right back at her. "I won't, try to keep your thoughts off of your favorite superhero, Kitten." Adrien replied, chuckling quietly as Tiana groaned at his new nickname for her.
As practice began, he noticed that Nathaniel stuck around and was still watching the class. More specifically, he watched Tiana as his hand flew over a page of his notebook.
Adrien had to wonder if he'd drawn anything pertaining to Tiana yet, he had after all done a lot of Marinette back when he was first Akumatized.
Adrien sidestepped his opponent, poking him in the side with his foil. They bowed to one another before walking away from one another. It was more interesting when he dueled Tiana, with her it was actually challenging.
It felt like over the years he was progressing much faster than his team mates, so he didn't really have much of a challenge when they'd work together. But Tiana was right up on his level, if not maybe a little better than him.
Before long, practice was coming to an end as well. Changing quickly, he walked back out to find Tiana waving goodbye to her Grandfather as he walked away. Usually she went home with him...
Nathaniel came down the steps from where he had been watching on the balcony, clutching his notebook close to his chest as Adrien stopped in his walk over to the two.
"So, ready to tell me who this girl is? Or is it Marinette?" Tiana asked Nathaniel as he walked over to him.
Ducking behind a bench to make sure he wasn't interrupting them, he heard Plagg mutter something once again from his hiding spot in his shirt. Here we go again...
"Can I just show you something first?" Nathaniel asked, Adrien looking around the bench to spy him handing over the notebook to Tiana.
"I've seen your portraits of Marinette already." Tiana replied, Adrien wondering if they were newer ones or the ones he did years ago.
"Flip to the newer pages." Nathaniel's voice wavered with nervousness.
Tiana did as asked, remaining silent for a minute before speaking in a voice quieter than he was used to. "These are of me..." Tiana said as he watched Nathaniel take the notebook back from her carefully.
"Yeah..." Nathaniel tucked the book under his arm as he noticed Tiana's ridged posture.
"So you're trying to say..." Tiana trailed off at that point.
"You're the one I've started having feelings for." Nathaniel revealed, voice clear and unwavering this time. Time seemed to freeze at that point as both of them waited for Tiana's response to the revelation.
Ooh, cliff hanger! I know I absolutely despise them, but it had to be done this time.
The truth is out now, Nathaniel's formed a crush on Tiana. His friend, who we'll find out how she feels about it next time. How will she react, will she be happy? Will she be scared? Angry, excited, confused? I dunno, because I only just finished this chapter and haven't started on the next yet!
Poor Adrien though, still can't have the one he loves but doesn't even notice that there's in fact a girl right in front of him that does love him. At least he has a friend like Tiana to try to lift his spirts, as well as exchange banter and witty nicknames with. At least he's not totally alone.
Thank you all so much for reading, everyone! I cannot believe we have over 4000 reads on this story, and we're only on chapter 21! You're all amazing! I can never thank you enough! I'm gonna go start on the next chapter though, so I'll see you next time!