Flutter

Chapter 9

Push

Patrol the night after Chloe found out was tense. Well, tense may have been an understatement. Things were excruciatingly awkward, the duo hardly talking unless they absolutely had to. After all, they both were well aware of the implications of their litle stunt the night before. Ladybug's insistence that they not talk about it, however, only seemed to add to the intense situation. After an Akuma-less night, they both turned in, Ladybug making a mental note to tell Chat about her secret being blown another time. They had time, after all.

Upon stumbling into her room, Marinette panted heavily, the lack of Ladybug suit making her dizzy in sudden pain.

"Marinette," Tikki moaned, falling into her shaking hands lightly.

"Shit, Tikki. Here, let's get you some food," the bluenette rushed to her bedside, throwing open the top drawer and depositing her Kwami on the small pile of scrap fabric, surrounded by mini cookies. When she started to nibble on one of the cookies, Marinette relaxed, taking a seat on her bed and sighing in relief. She could handle the pain and exhaustion, but Marinette knew that Tikki was far more fragile. It was good to know that she was going to be ok.

Marinette slept restlessly that night, the glaring possibility that she was missing something crucial tugging at the deepest corners of her mind. She kept waking up in a cold sweat, Chat's too-familiar eyes lingering in her mind. Something else weighed on her, too. Something wasn't right with the Akuma's poison. Why was she getting worse when there wasn't an Akuma around? Was it just that it had a delayed effect? That couldn't be right. After all, she experienced symptoms immediately after purifying them. So what was going on? What else was contributing to her condition?

As hard as Marinette contemplated her racing questions, she couldn't land on an answer, resigning herself to restless sleep once more.

"Marinette, I need to talk to you," Alya greeted Marinette with a hard glare the moment she walked into homeroom, her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

"Ok, sure," Marinette shouldered her backpack, hiding a wince when her chest heaved in pain. Just keep going. Don't let her see you break. The two walked over to the corner of the room, drawing Chloe's attention, Sabrina's following shortly.

"What the hell is going on between you and Nino?" Alya's tone was so harsh, Marinette winced back in response.

"Alya, I already told you—"

Alya held up her left hand, effectively stopping Marinette from continuing. "Cut the crap, Mari. I'm not blind. You two left class for, like, a long ass time yesterday. When He came back, he was so out of breath…do you really think I'm stupid?"

Marinette gaped at her best friend, chest twisting painfully in guilt and shame. "I'm sorry."

Alya appeared to be taken aback by her response, arms dropping to her sides. "What do you mean, I'm sorry?! Are you admitting that you're…that you two…"

"No!" Marinette snapped, the anger taking the place of her pain once more. Oh fuck.

"Then what's going on!"

"I can't tell you!"

Alya gaped at Marinette, noticing how her chest was heaving in anger. "What the actual fuck. I thought you were head over heals for Adrien, last time I checked, When did you decide that my boyfriend was someone…something you…"

Marinette watched her friend trail off, at a loss for words. "I'm sorry."

"So you admit it."

"No," Marinette huffed, brows furrowing, "that's not what I'm saying. I'm just…I'm so sorry I can't tell you what's going on. I'm so so sorry."

Alya closed her gaping lips, nodding tightly. "Fine. That's…fine. Just stay the fuck away from me, ok?"

"But, Alya—"

Before she could finish, Alya walked away, strolling right up to Ms. Evelyn, who was at her desk grading papers. "Ms. Evelyn, I'd like to move desks, please. You can seat Nino and Marinette next to each other," those words were spat with a glance back at Marinette.

"She broke up with me," Nino hissed to Marinette the moment class was over, having obviously wanted to say something sooner. It was Marinette's guess that he'd restrained himself due to Alya's close proximity.

Marinette hung her head, hands coming up to rub throbbing temples. "I can't believe this. She can't be serious—"

"Hey, Nino? Marinette?" Adrien's soft voice came from behind the two, startling Marinette into a jump. They both turned back to him, noticing his thinly concealed anger. "Can I talk to you guys?"

Nino opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unsure of what to say. "Sure," Marinette sighed, following Adrien out into the courtyard, Nino following closely.

"Ok, so what's going on with you guys?" Adrien asked, turning back towards them and crossing his arms over his chest.

"My god, how many times do I have to explain this?" Marinette threw her hands up in the air as she spoke. "There's nothing going on!"

"Then why is Alya a mess?" Adrien asked, tone harsh and bitter. He was trying to protect Alya.

"Because she won't believe me. Or Nino. She trusts us less than I thought, I guess," Marinette retorted, arms beginning to shake at her sides as the pain ebbed from her bones. Shit.

"Ok, but you two are keeping some sort of secret, right?" Adrien asked, taking a deep breath every few words to keep his own anger in check.

Nino and Marinette shared a quick look, something Adrien no doubt picked up on. "No," they spoke at once, causing the model's brows to furrow.

"Ok, so you definitely are. You know you can trust her with anything, right?" Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling deeply. "You can trust me with anything."

Marinette looked back at Nino, who was visibly struggling to maintain his calm composure. If she didn't act, he'd break and tell him everything. "I know I can," Marinette responded, "and I would. We both would. Maybe Nino and I are just good friends, ever thought of that, pretty boy?"

"What did you just call me?" Adrien's eyes snapped open, glaring at her with fiery intensity.

"What, poor little model boy has trust issues?" the words were pulled from Marinette's lips against her will. "Oh, boo-hoo. Go cry to daddy about it."

Adrien took a small step back, brows raising in surprise. "Ok, what the hell is going on? You…I've told you about my dad, Mari. I can't…how could you bring him up?"

Marinette took a defensive step forward, batting Nino's warning hand away. "Look, you're not entitled to know everything about everyone, ok? If you think you are, you must be just as spoiled as I thought you were when we first met."

"You thought I was what?!" Adrien took a step towards her as well, their faces only six inches away. Marinette's breath caught in her throat, though she swallowed it quickly.

"You heard me."

"You're…you're…impossible!"

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Oh fucking hell Marinette, don't act like a little kid."

"Would a little kid do this?" Marinette planted her feet on the ground, her hands coming in front of her as she pushed Adrien — hard. He fell backwards, butt hitting the grass hard.

"Holy shit." Marinette couldn't tell if the words were coming from Adrien or Nino, her vision tunneling around her shaking hands.

"I…I didn't want to do that."

"Marinette—" that one was Adrien, she could tell by the scared, angry shake of his voice.

"We have to get out of here," Nino interrupted, grabbing one of Marinette's hands and snapping her out of whatever trance she was in. As soon as he did, the anger fled from her body, replaced with searing, burning pain. She stumbled towards Nino, hissing in pain when he pulled at her arm.

"Ow, shit, fuck it's back," she growled, closing her eyes to keep the flaming light from reaching her aching eyes.

"Let's go," Nino pulled her along, not waiting for a response.

Hey all! What do you think?

Also, I know this is posted out of schedule, but I wanted to do something for Christmas :) I myself celebrate, and wanted to give a little gift to those of you who also celebrate! To those of you who don't - consider this a thank you for putting up with everything Christmas, you all are amazing and valid 3

I will still be updating Sunday (not Saturday like I'd accidentally said last chapter, whoops lol) so stay tuned for even more ~*drama*~

Until Sunday,

~Ashtyn