Chapter 9

Marinette had barely payed attention to her classes all week, but at least she could give herself a pat on the back for only arriving late once more after Monday. Nonetheless, it peeved her that Hawkmoth hadn't sent another akuma the rest of the week, not even Mr. Pigeon who was his apparently favorite akuma. It even peeved her even more that she hadn't seen her partner since that picnic night, nor as Marinette nor as Ladybug. His words had really struck a chord with her.

And speaking of his words striking a chord, Marinette would like to say she didn't know how she found herself on a Friday afternoon tuck between a guitar and the very close body of a certain musician. But she knew exactly how she had ended there, and she wasn't ashamed at all.

Of course, the rest of their friends were there as well, and she wasn't the only one whom he had thought some chords to. But she certainly was the only one to be stuck in such a predicament, or shall she say circumstance?

Whether she thought or not it was a smart idea to move on from Adrien through Luka. She didn't want him to be a rebound, but she was scared that would happen. If only her scattering thoughts would settle for once.

For the first time in a long time, Marinette didn't notice the moment Adrien entered the boat turned house. It didn't take long for the blond to make his presence known, with Kagami holding unto his arm.

The scene was eerily familiar, yet Marinette didn't pull away from Luka this time. She didn't care if it led to the wrong impression, nor did she think about whether it would make Adrien jealous. Oh, who was she kidding? She had thought about it, but trashed the intrusive thought the second it appeared. It made no sense to want Adrien get jealous when he had been more than adamant on proclaiming his friendly feelings towards her.

She had to admit that she had made some progress throughout the week. She managed to smile at him now, which was always returned. She no longer stammered around him, but considering she wasn't yet on speaking terms around him she couldn't count it as a victory yet. But she had also only tripped once, which was on Tuesday and it totally wasn't her fault. She just hadn't expected such a bright, warm smile coming from Adrien for her and it had almost given her whiplash, causing her to trip, you know like an utter fool.

"Hey Luka." Adrien approached the two of them, as Luka separated himself from Marinette, taking Adrien extended hand in greeting. Adrien turned towards her, smiling lightly. "Hey, Marinette"

She smiled back and recomposing her nerves, she extended her hand, "hey, Adrien." He stared at her extended hand for what seemed an eternity to her, her nerves were reaching impossible heights and he was still staring. Gosh, how much of a fool did she look right now?

She was taken out of her reverie, by a warmth hand that enveloped hers. She shook their hands before withdrawing it. Her eyes moved behind Adrien, there stood Kagami patiently waiting before she approached the two. "Hello, Marinette."

"Hey, Kagami. Good to see you here." Marinette held her friend in a loose hug, and a small smile graced her lips as she pulled back. A stunned Kagami smiled back at her.

A part of Marinette loved having Kagami as a friend, but the part of her that still hurt stung from just seeing them together. If she were to follow Chat's advice she should've left by now, or at least give herself enough space from the two, but of course it had been her dumbass who had invited the two to Kitty Section's rehearsal.

It hadn't been her brightest moment, but she had to admit that having Luka by her side lessened the pain a little bit. She knew that she would feel more pain once she was alone, if only Chat Noir would visit her so that she wouldn't ponder too much on everything.

Kitty Section started practice once the rest of their friends arrived, Mylène and Ivan had gotten there a few minutes after Adrien and Kagami, holding hands like the always adorable couple that they were.

Marinette settle herself between Alya and Kagami, looking up to Luka who was finishing the last touches for the instruments.

"Hey, Adrien. Do you want to play the piano today?" Adrien looked up at Luka and nodded with a happy smile. He stood up from beside Kagami and went to stand on the "stage" with the rest of the band. It really was a shame that his father didn't let him practice with the band as he would like nor take part of the band per se.

It hadn't taken long for Marinette to feel Alya's stare in her periphery. Alya leaned closer to her "So… you and Luka, huh?" her voice low to ensure their conversation wouldn't be heard.

"Oh, come on Alya, we've been through this. We're just friends." She whispered back exasperatedly. Alya's grin widened as she wiggled her eyebrows. "Well, I'm sure guitar-boy over there thinks otherwise. And considering you're getting over you know who, it wouldn't hurt to get a new flame."

Marinette looked at Luka from the corner of her eye, before turning back to speak with Alya, "Well, you said the same thing about you know," she signaled with her head towards the general direction where the band was, but they both knew who she meant, "and I think that ship sunk before it even sailed."

"Well, I really thought he liked you, how was I supposed to know I misread the signs?" Marinette thought about it. She couldn't blame her friend for genuinely thinking the blond was interested in her, but it had gotten her hopes up and that had hurt her. She didn't want a repeat. And she liked Luka, she truly did. Just how much was the problem.

"I know, and it's not your fault. I just would like to explore my friendship or whatever it leads to without any outside pressure." Alya looked disappointed, but did it truly matter in the long run? Marinette knew her friend would be all up on her case in just a few days, and she wanted to enjoy being in the here and now with her friends.

… … … … … … … … …

Adrien hadn't expected for Nino to call him on Saturday, it was a miracle his schedule was free on the afternoon, so they could meet up. They had settled on a bench looking to the Seine and Nino had been showing him the mixes of music he had much anticipated hearing.

Adrien could feel Nino staring at him and it made him uneasy, did he have something on his face? It didn't take long however for Nino to express what exactly was on his mind. "So you and Kagami, huh?" Adrien choked on his drink, which painfully travelled up his nostrils, "Dude! You okay?" Adrien could only keep coughing as he waved his hands to let Nino know that he was okay.

Adrien cleared his throat before speaking, "Was it that obvious?" He looked up at Nino, who just shook his head. "Nah, man. I guess I'm just good at figuring you out. I'm not your best friend for nothing."

"Really? I thought I was being pretty much like a boyfriend. Since Kagami made the first move I've been trying to compensate for that." Nino laughed and draped his arm over Adrien's shoulders. "Dude, there's no need to compensate for anything, just do what you're comfortable with. Consent and boundaries go both ways."

Did it? He was so used to having his boundaries crossed that he just wasn't sure how to set a line. Then he remembered how angry Marinette had been when he had talked about boundaries at their picnic, and perhaps she had been right. He missed her. He had been scared to visit her this week, because what had he been thinking talking about both his mom and having a girlfriend? He was scared that she had connected the dots, but now he was sure that she hadn't. Man, did he want to visit his friend.

Adrien was shaken out of his reverie by a question that he didn't quite catch. "Huh, did you say something?" Nino looked unimpressed, how had he gotten stuck with a friend that daydreamed so much?

"I said, what about Marinette?" His question just confused Adrien even further. Marinette was his friend, Nino knew that. Plus, what did that have to do with his relationship with Kagami?

"I don't get it. What about Marinette?" Nino looked at Adrien as thought he had just grown a new head.

"I thought you liked her, in fact I would say you like her even more then Kagami." Adrien chuckled, "Nino, no. Marinette's just a friend."

"Oh, so we're in denial now, huh?" A wide grin graced Adrien's lips. "Actually, we're at the Seine, didn't you study geography?" Nino's face seemed so done that Adrien wished he had had his phone ready to snap a pic.

"You know that's not what I meant, damn it!" He laughed so hard that his stomach started hurting. "I'm sorry, but you set yourself up for that one." Cleaning any stray tears caused by his laughing fit he recomposed himself as quickly as he could.

"Of course I like Marinette as one should like friends, but Kagami's my girlfriend now." Plus, Marinette liked Luka, but saying that to Nino would probably leave the wrong impression.

Nino didn't look fully convinced, but he sighed deeply seemingly giving up on the subject. "Fine, so want to eat pizza?" Adrien grinned widely, "Hell yeah."

… … … … … … … …

Marinette was all kinds of clumsy, however she didn't know that that list included managing to forget delivering a very important bakery order to a very important client. Did she know Luka was going to be available? No. Did she expect him to take her where she needed to go, even if it was on the other side of the city? No. She wouldn't expect that from anyone.

Therefore, it was a surprise when after a wrong call recipient ended with Luka showing up in front of her house just when she needed help. And even more surprising was him willingly taking her for her delivery.

Once they had gotten there, she got out of the bicycle and turned towards Luka, "Thanks, Luka. I probably wouldn't have made it without you, you really saved me."

"It's okay, Marinette. Actually I was wondering, would you like to go out to the movies? Juleka really wants to see this movie and I think it would be good to invite for us to go, you know, as friends." He looked a bit nervous which wasn't an usual thing for him.

"Yeah, when were you guys thinking on going?"

"We were thinking on Wednesday, for the lower price." She was grateful that her friends were thinking about saving money, even if she didn't have a tendency to overspend she still liked keeping an eye on her spending habits.

"Yeah, that'd be perfect, I guess I'll see you then."

"Don't you need a ride back?" She pondered on it, as tempting as it seemed to take the ride back with him, a part of her wanted to not burden him even more. Besides, she was Ladybug, she could get back to her house in just a few minutes, no need to fuss or bother anyone else.

"No, It's okay. I actually want to walk home, maybe I'll go someplace else after this, so I'm not going straight to my house after this. But thanks for the offer, Luka. It's very sweet of you." She could feel her face getting warmer by the second. Oh, would she ever act like a normal functioning human being around guys she fancied?

Not wanting to embarrass herself any longer, she turned around after leaving a chaste kiss on his cheek. Now the familiar warmth spread all throughout her face, reaching her eyes and her neck.

… … … … … … … … … … … …

Adrien knew he had missed Marinette. Granted, he saw her every day at school, but it just wasn't the same. And no matter how much he hated to admit it, Marinette was more comfortable with Chat than she ever was with Adrien. It seemed like whatever had happened recently that had her ignoring him was slowly going away, he didn't remember doing anything outside of the ordinary for it, but he wouldn't complain.

As he ran across the rooftop made his way to the spot where Ladybug and him usually met for patrols. No matter how much he wanted to see his friend, he had an even more important duty to the city. He was usually the first one to get there for patrols, so his surprise when he saw Ladybug already waiting for him was pleasant to say the least.

"So to what do I owe you your early presence on this beautiful night?" Ladybug looked up at him seemingly annoyed. "Nothing, I just want to get over the patrol quickly." OH.

"Are you okay, Ladybug?" He could almost always tell when his partner was annoyed at him, but he couldn't really think of a reason as to why she'd be annoyed at him.

Her face softened at his question, her shoulders relaxing as she let go of whatever tension had resided in them. "Yeah, sorry Chat. Just a bit tense."

"Right." An uncomfortable silence fell between them. It took all his strength to not say anything, but there was so much he could take before feeling the need to say something.

"How are the kwamis?" Her startled face turned towards him, she nodded and took a deep breath. "They're okay, I've been trying to get to know them better. I don't have Master Fu's tablet so that's a blunder. Everything would be so much easier if I had that."

"Do you know what happened with it? Where it could be?" She shook her head before standing up. "No, there's nothing we can do about it now. Come on, Chat. We have a patrol to do."

Adrien would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy his patrols with Ladybug, but patrol with a distracted Ladybug wasn't all that fun. It meant a lot of stopping her from hitting multiple walls, and letting her know when she should throw her yoyo before she fell head first into the rooftops, or even worse down into the streets below. It had been exhausting to say the least.

He only hoped visiting Marinette could lift his spirits up. He had waited for his partner to leave before he turned towards the general direction of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He wished he could call her or have a way of communicating with her because dropping unannounced all the time seemed like an inconvenience, and he certainly didn't want to drop into a private scene.

The run to the bakery didn't take him too long, but he hadn't expected for Marinette to be at the balcony. She was leaning on the rail on her balcony so she hadn't seen him since he came from her chimney. Had she been waiting for him? And if she had, had she been waiting for him all week? At that thought he felt a pang of guilt, so much for being close friends.

"Marinette, hey umm" She turned around surprised as he landed right beside her. "Chat! Hey, where have you been?" Was that frown on her face? Had he somehow made her mad for disappearing for a few days?

"Sorry, I just thought it would be good to give you some space, and time by yourself." Her expression softened and a smile graced her lips. "It's okay, besides I can never stay mad at you." A blush crept up as she tried to hide her face behind her bangs.

"Not really, I guess? I was more upset because you weren't visiting me and I just-" She bit her lower lip as she gazed up at him. "You just?"

"I thought I had made you uncomfortable! And I just hated the thought of losing your friendship because I opened my stupid mouth."

"You making me uncomfortable? That's an incredibly farfetched thought. Marinette, Monday night I was able to talk about things I don't think I could ever open up to anyone. And I'm glad I could talk about it with you." She looked up at him with wide opened eyes as her lips parted slightly.

"Really? I totally thought I had overstepped your boundaries, even after we had been talking exactly about the same thing, and then I thought you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore." He laughed lightly, turning to look up at the moon. "That's why you were mad at me."

"Well, not really. I was mad at myself because of my guilt, but because you didn't show up for me to apologize I started getting a little angry at you, plus I was a little worried that something had happened to you." Her words made his chest feel warm in glee, never had a friend worried so much for him.

"So how's your week been without me?" She smirked as she looked up at him. "It's been pretty much the same, except I've been worrying for a stray cat, but he came back so now everything's a bit better." She turned as she let out a deep sigh and leaned once again against the railing, an apprehensive look taking over her face. She had the same look Ladybug had had during their patrol and it made him wonder why the girls in his life just seemed to not have the best day today.

As self-proclaimed male best friend he felt like he needed to say something, anything. "What's on your mind, princess? Is it about the guy you like?" She sighed once again. Chat didn't want to rub salt onto her wounds, but the curiosity had won this time.

"Come on tell me, what's got you in such a state?" She looked up at him with a grimace, "well…"

"Wait, it is about the guy you liked?"

"Well, yeah, kinda? Lately I've been feeling like he's been paying me more attention," Chat hadn't noticed any change in Luka's attitude towards Marinette, but maybe it had been when he wasn't around, after all he wasn't around a lot.

"Really? Do you want me to be your wingman? I could help you out. I mean, I don't have a girlfriend for nothing."

"You know what Chat, I have absolutely no comments on that. I will act like I didn't just hear that. Besides, I'm willing to bet money that it wasn't you that made the moves, considering that you've had your eyes solely on Ladybug for who knows how long." Was it that painfully obvious how much of a false Casanova he was?

"Meow-ch Princess, you didn't have to rub salt on my wounds, this cat is very sensitive you know?" He held a hand to his chest in a dramatic pose.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have proposed to be wingman between me and someone I've resolved myself on forgetting, that too rubs on my wounds, kitty" She flicked his bell playfully, which made a wide grin to flourish on Chat's face.

"But you could give me a few tips on how to talk to a guy". She looked ashamed for asking him that. It was strange how she'd ask him for advice, but what better way to know what makes a guy's heart beat than hearing it from a guy himself.

"Got someone on your mind, Princess?" A playful grin graced her lips as she turned towards him. "Maybe, but I don't know if he even thinks about me like that" She blushed all the way up to her ears.

"Want to give me any names?" Chat's curiosity spiked as he wondered who could have caught his friend's attention.

"No names, I don't want you chasing him in case it just so happened that I got my hopes up"

He laughed loudly at that, he couldn't promise that he wouldn't chase and beat anyone who dared to break his Princess' heart, so really it was a wise choice from her part.

While trying to write this chapter I searched for a full hour on ways to say "un clavo saca otro clavo" in English and I've yet to find one that comes across with the same meaning as it would in Spanish. Man, idioms are a pain to fully express in the most accurate way possible across languages (I would know, I'm a language student ㅠ~ㅠ). Well, either way I ended having to forgo the whole idiom, and ended up using the word "rebound" though it doesn't really have the same meaning but I wasn't about to put "the best way to get over a man is to get under another", since it has a sexual implication that isn't existent in the Spanish idiom. Anyways that's all I have to say, sorry for the little language rant but I seriously love languages and I get so ecstatic when I toppled with complications in meaning hahah.

I almost didn't finish writing this chapter, because I have this big literary analysis thing for my French class due tomorrow, but it's okay, I managed!

Also, thanks so much to those that have favorited, followed and left reviews! They make me really happy and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far!