Chapter 23 - Suffering from the Unknown

After Marinette's abrupt departure during their presentation, Adrien found himself back at his desk next to Nino, disconnected, spacing out and in his own little world, that was until the lunch bell finally rang.

Alya quickly packed up Marinette's and her books, putting them into their bags, "Hey guys, I'm going to head over to the nurse's office to check in on Marinette to see how she's doing. I'll catch up with you both after that," she called back as she was heading down the steps towards the door.

Nino nodded in response while Adrien continued to stare into space.

"Alya," Ms Bustier called out, stopping the girl just as she was about to step out the door.

"Yes Miss?"

"Could you please give Marinette a message for me?"

"Sure, what do you want me to pass on?"

"Thank you, Alya. Could you please ask her to come see me back here after school, it's in regards to her assignment."

"Consider it done, Miss," Alya replied before exiting the classroom.

Ms Bustier then turned to face Adrien, "And that goes for you too, Adrien."

"Pst, Adrien? Ms Bustier's talking to you," Nino whispered, nudged the boy before realising that he was completely out of it.

"I expect to see you back here after school too," she continued.

"Earth to Adrien?" he called again waving his hand in front of his eyes this time.

"Adrien, did you hear me?"

"Dude, snap out of it!" this time Nino clapped his hands in front of Adrien's face.

"Argh!" Adrien jumped, snapping out of the space his head had been in, "Nino, you scared me half to death!"

"Nino, is there something wrong with Adrien, too?" Ms Bustier's face was now full of concern.

"No Miss, he's fine. He'll be here," he called back to Ms Bustier before turning his attention back to his best friend, "I scared you? My man, you were the one that was scaring me, you weren't responding to anyone. You were totally off in your own little world, Dude," Nino retorted in a hushed voice. The duo stood up and started to make their way out of the classroom while continuing the conversation.

"Well, did you have to do that? I just lost one of my 9 lives!" he blurted out before covering his mouth, realising what he had just said.

"Dude, only cats have 9 lives and last time I checked, the only thing catty about you was those awful cat puns that you're so fond of, unless…" Nino paused for effect, "You've suddenly grown a cat's tail and hiding a pair of cat ears in amongst those golden locks of yours?" he teased while ruffling through Adrien's hair pretending to look for a pair of cat ears.

Both boys chuckled as Nino continued to ruffle Adrien's hair while Adrien was doing his best to gently slap Nino's hands away all while silently panicking on the inside, 'Please don't figure it out! How could I be so stupid to say something like that! Argh, no, not the hair!'.

Nino stopped ruffling Adrien's hair and looked at his best bud with a curious look, "Dude, with hair like that, all you'd need to do is put on a black mask and you could pretend to be Chat Noir!" Nino started laughing again.

Adrien stilled for a split second before quickening his pace to catch up with Nino, all the while praying that his slip of the tongue wasn't his undoing after all this time.

"But you're way too regimented and oblivious to be the smooth-talking ladies man that Chat Noir is!" Nino continued, dismissing Adrien completely.

Nervously, Adrien raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously, "Ah, yeah. Um, Mr Smooth-talker, um, yeah, sure. As much as I deal with female models and fans on a day to day basis, it doesn't mean that I know how to smooth talk to someone if the opportunity arrives."

"No, you just grin and wave because you're too polite for your own good. Actually, you do it otherwise your butt would get handed to you by your father," Nino mumbled something else inaudible.

"Yeah, that's the life of a teen model who's supposed to be the definition of purrrfection," Adrien said nervously as they sat down at their favourite bench to eat their lunch.

Nino chuckled as he leans over and lightly punches Adrien in the shoulder, "Don't you mean the life of a teen model who's the definition of oblivious when it comes to love, eh Julien? Also, was that another cat pun, cat boy? Really my dude, one more cat pun with that messy hair of yours and I'll swear that you are Chat Noir!"

Adrien puts his hands up in surrender, "Ok, ok. No more cat puns for now."

"Dude, I don't want to hear another cat pun today or else you'll truly be in deep!"

"Why again am I in deep? Did I miss something?" Adrien asked, confused.

Nino facepalms himself, not believing what his friend is saying, "Seriously? What planet are you on right now?" Nino sees Alya making her way over to their bench quietly, signalling with a finger to her lips not to make her approach known. "My man, as soon as Alya gets back from checking on Marinette, I'm tapping out on this convo. I can't believe you have no clue!"

"Who do I get to terrorise?" Alya spoke loudly next to Adrien's ear, sending him flying backwards off the bench seat.

Nino is now rolling with laughter while Alya slowly makes her way around to the other side of the bench to sit next to Nino, watching Adrien awkwardly readjust himself after the fright.

"Alya! was that really necessary?"

"Well pretty boy, after watching you jump through the roof like that, heck yeah!" Alya chuckled while taking her seat.

"Rude!" Adrien pouted.

Nino finally calmed down enough to speak, "So how was our dear damsel in distress?"

"Fast asleep, thankfully. No thanks to pretty boy here," Alya glared over at Adrien before continuing, "But the nurse did mention that once she's awake again, she should be all good to head back to class as long as nothing else sets her off again. You got that Mr Model?"

Adrien slammed his hands down on the benchtop in frustration, "Come on guys, seriously, what's going on? I haven't got the faintest idea on what you are going on about or how this has something to do with me? Clearly I've missed something here."

Alya turned to Nino with a baffled expression on her face, "Is he kidding right now?"

Nino's expression dropped as he shook his head, "Nope, I kid you not. He's been acting as if he wasn't even in attendance for the class."

"Come on lover boy, fess up. What was the last thing you remember?"

"What? All I remember is going into the class, vaguely being called up for our turn to do our presentation, then Nino scaring me half to death at the end of class. Why? Did something bad happen that I didn't realise? And why is Marinette back at the nurse's office again? She's not having a good run at the moment, is she?" Adrien replied, puzzled.

"Serious? You don't remember anything else?"

"Nope, sorry," he replied sheepishly, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head.

"Seriously, after what you just did, you really don't remember?"

"What did I do this time?" Adrien asked, cocking his head to the side still confused.

"Dude, I don't think you want to hear it from us," Nino chimed in holding back a laugh.

"Nino, what's so funny and why won't you guys just come out and tell me what's going on already?"

Alya shushed at Adrien, waving her hands in a downward motion in an attempt to stop him yelling and going crazy on them as well as avoid the onlookers that were now glancing their way from all of the commotion, "Shhh Adrien, calm down a bit and we'll show you what happened, but we can't if you don't calm down first, ok?"

Adrien noticed Alya looking around behind him, so he took a glance over his shoulder and realised what she had meant before returning back to face Alya and gave her a nod signalling that he got the message.

Alya took in a deep breath in preparation of any number of different scenarios that could occur in the next few minutes before turning to face Nino, "You did get it, right?"

"Seriously? You're asking me that now?"

"Well did ya?"

"Of course I did!" Nino scoffed as he went to take his phone out of his bag. He proceeded to unlock it and find the requested video file, "Here, watch this. It will explain everything," before Nino turned the phone around so that it was now facing Adrien and hitting the play button.

The video started showing the oral presentation part and after a minute Adrien looked up from the phone giving his friends a questioning look, "I don't see anything wrong with this."

Alya snatched the phone from Nino's hand, "No, no, no!" she squawked, "That's the wrong part, Nino! You need to show him the juicy bit!" as she scanned the video forward to get to the right spot before turning the phone back around and pressing play again.

The trio sat in silence as the incriminating video played Adrien and Marinette's play reenactment. Adrien began to pale from the words he was hearing, what he was seeing and it was all spewing from his own mouth. The video came to an abrupt end on a frame with Ivan rushing past, carrying Marinette bridal style, her face slightly distorted yet clear enough for him to realise how distressed she was. And it was all Adrien's fault.

Adrien's head fell and smacked hard against the benchtop, groaning and pulling at his hair as his thoughts started spiralling out of control. 'How on Earth did I not know I was doing that to her? Why didn't I stop? What am I going to do? What have I done? She must hate me right now! How could I be so stupid! Why didn't I have more self-control? I'm Chat Noir for goodness sake! I should have better self-control than that! Oh, why didn't I listen to Tikki? Why did she have to be so irresistible? Why are those beautiful bluebell eyes so addictive? Oh, why do those soft tender lips look so kissable?'

Alya and Nino glanced over at each other, noticing the shift in their usually chipper of a friend, "Hey Adrien, don't worry. Marinette's going to be fine, remember? The nurse said that she just needed some time to rest," Alya began, trying to lighten the mood.

Adrien bolted upright, "W...what? Everything's going to be fine? But look at what I've done guys! No, it's not ok. I...I need to check in on her. I...I messed up and I don't want her to hate me, but I can't just sit here either after knowing that this was all my fault!" Adrien expressed, attempting to get up from the bench and take off as Nino jumped up, reaching over the table, stopping his bud from making a quick exit.

"Dude, she's in safe hands! You're gonna have to trust us on this one. It's going to be ok and just like Alya said, you're gonna have to be patient and let her rest for the moment. If you're that desperate, talk to her after school, ok?"

Grubbling, Adrien sat back down placing his crossed arms down on the benchtop and laid his head down on top of them, taking in Nino's words of advice.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys earlier cause of all the other stuff that was going on, I got a phone call after school yesterday from a guy who's offering me a part-time gig. He's giving me till the end of the week to talk it over with the folks to make sure they're cool with the idea too," Nino buzzed with excitement.

'Ah, thank you Nino for coming to the rescue and changing the subject!' Adrien thought to himself, dreading the now impending meeting after school with Ms Bustier. It seemed that today just wasn't going to end quick enough for him, unfortunately.

….

After lunch was over, everyone started heading back into their class. Unfortunately for Adrien, he felt like he was in a nightmare and all he could hear were the whispers and giggles coming from his classmates being directed his way.

"Dude, you ok?" Nino whispered.

"I would be if the events of today hadn't happened," Adrien murmured from the arm cocoon that was hiding his head on his desk. The boy's head was spinning, his thoughts still spiralling out of control from the day's occurrences.

"Cheer up Dude," Nino pats the boy's shoulder blade in reassurance, "Once all this is over, hopefully, the two of you can sit down, talk things out and maybe have a laugh or two about it."

"She'll have to want to see me again first."

It was at that very moment that Marinette happened to make her return to class and the students fell silent. Adrien only lifted his head so that his eyes could see what was happening, noticing that she was looking anywhere other than in his direction as she approached their teacher, handing them a note which explained her absence before being directed to take her seat.

Adrien hid his head once more as he heard the whisper of the two girls behind him.

"Are you all good, Gurl?" Alya whispered.

Marinette just nodded, eyes glued to the work she just pulled out of her bag.

"You know, if you're not, you could always just go home and I'll bring over the notes from the classes you missed to you after school?"

The bluenette just shook her head.

"That's right, the meeting with Ms Bustier after school."

Another nod.

"Really Marinette, please don't tell me you're giving me the silent treatment again?"

Marinette finally looked up at her friend with a glare then lifting her hand and giving Alya the 'shh' signal before returning her eyes back to the work in front of her.

"Fine! But you're going to have to explain everything to me sooner or later."

Marinette just shrugged. Alya shook her head as she turned back to her own school work and the pair worked like that for the rest of the class.

As the minutes passed, Marinette kept checking the time, readying herself to throw her books into her bag for a quick getaway the moment class ended. When the final bell rang, she grabbed her books and was down the steps in a flash, nearly out the classroom door when Alya had tried to talk with her again.

The bluenette flew into the locker room and straight into an empty stall within the girls bathroom, sitting down on the closed toilet seat before letting Tikki fly out of her purse. Marinette's eyes were fighting back the flow of tears that were threatening to run down her cheeks.

"I don't think I can get through this Tikki!" she blubbered.

"Come on Marinette, just a little bit longer, then when we get home, you'll have all the time you need to let those tears flow. I know you can do it!" Tikki snuggled up to her chosen's cheek, giving her a reassuring hug, "For now, let's take a few deep breaths, put on our Ladybug pants and get through however long this meeting with Adrien and Ms Bustier takes so we can get back home safely."

Marinette nodded with a couple of sniffles, "Ok." A few minutes later, face all washed, the bluenette left the girl's bathroom with a brave face on, heading back to the classroom, ready to face the music and the dreaded consequences she might be faced with.

Adrien stood up from his seat in an attempt to speak to Marinette before meeting up with Ms Bustier when he saw the blur of the bluenette rushing out the door. The blonde let out a groan, letting his shoulders slump and his head drop at the realisation.

"That gurl's got a lot to answer to when I finally catch up with her!" Alya huffed as she stormed past the boys.

Nino just chuckled as he slapped his bestie across the shoulder blades, "Why is it that those two girls do the most bizarre of things, yet they still seem to drive us crazy for them?"

Adrien groaned, murmuring, "That's because love can make you do crazy things."

"Woah, hold up there my Dude! Isn't that going a bit far considering your current circumstances?" Nino backed up both defensively, horrified at the words the blonde had just spoken, "As for Alya and I, yeah we care a lot for each other but l-l-lo-love? I don't know about that just yet. Heck, I can hardly say the word to you, let alone trying to say it to her!" he stuttered.

"Thanks for the reminder," Adrien said, as he slid back into his seat.

The DJ picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder ready to leave, "Well, good luck with Ms Bustier. I hope she'll take it easy on you guys, that way your dad won't ground you and I can see you at school tomorrow," he joked.

"I've already messaged the Gorilla to let him know that I needed to see her after school as well as Nathalie so I don't get into trouble for not being on schedule. I should be fine to see you here tomorrow," the blonde replied as the pair shared their special handshake before Nino departed leaving Adrien alone placing his head back on the desk, his thoughts replaying the video Nino and Alya had shown him at lunchtime.

5 minutes later, Marinette raced and came to a sudden stop in the doorway of the classroom. She noticed the blonde with his head down on his desk, so taking a deep breath and avoiding looking at the boy anymore, she crossed over to where Chloe and Sabrina normally sat, taking a seat in Sabrina's place and stared out the window.

Adrien noticed the air movement caused by Marinette rushing back past, making him sit up and take notice of her arrival. The blonde decides to make an attempt to speak to her when he is suddenly cut off by Ms Bustier's entrance into the classroom, "Hello Adrien, Marinette. Thank you both for coming back to see me this afternoon."

The pair just nodded with Adrien taking a peek to his right, seeing Marinette still staring out the window. 'Yep, I messed up big time here! Great.'

"I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed in you both. You both have shown on different occasions what you are capable of and sadly your play component fell short considerably."

Adrien went to speak but was met by Ms Bustier's 'stop' hand signal.

"However, the research component side was done remarkably well. It is because of this that has managed to get you both a "B+" as a result. Though, I do want to know what happened there today? Don't think that I haven't noticed how heavy the tension is in the air right now."

Adrien just shrugged while Marinette continued to stare out the windows.

"You don't have to tell me now, but I hope that whatever happened in today's class, that you both can work it out together. But please, next time, don't let personal matters get in the way," Ms Bustier pleaded with the duo.

"Yes Ms," They replied in unison.

"Thank you both. You are dismissed."

With those words, Marinette was out the door in a flash, heading straight home to the bakery as the tears she had been holding back, could no longer be held back anymore.

Adrien had once again made an attempt to catch Marinette so he could talk with her before she left, but his cries were left unheard leaving the boy at the top of the stairwells inside the school grounds, watching the girl of his dreams running out the school's doors, wishing he knew where he stood with her and what he could do to make things right.


Hey Guys,
Sorry for the delay with uploading this chapter, I had a bit of a writer's block combined with real-life dramas that stopped me from getting it written and up sooner. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and just a heads up that there could be a delay with the next chapter as I'm writing a collab for the 2020 Adrienette Month which I hope that you guys will also enjoy.

**Ahead in chapter 24** - Chat Noir visits Marinette again and learns that she has been making all these fabulous outfits for her friends to attend the upcoming dance but Marinette does not have one for herself because she refuses to attend.