A/N: Thank you for spending your time on this.
Late in the evening, Marinette stood on her balcony. Her eyes were focused on the horizon where the sun was setting. She was still thinking about everything that had happened during the day, from Félix's gift to meeting Bridgette. In her hand, there was a crumpled scrap of paper with the girl's phone number. Marinette had considered calling her several times, but it still felt too weird. And wonderful. And insane.
"You're going to catch a cold like this, Princess."
Marinette jumped in fright. Her heart went pitter-patter at the unexpected visitor before she burst out laughing. Chat was getting better at sneaking. She hadn't even noticed him arrive.
"Hello, Kitty. What brings you here?" She asked as her laughter died down and settled into a friendly smile directed at the superhero.
"I had this paw-some thought, when I noticed you here! Sunsets are best enjoyed in company, don't you agree? So! I came to offer you mine." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. Marinette laughed again.
"Well, I'm always grateful for that," she commented with a playful smile on her lips. She turned her head and leaned on the railing. Chat came closer until he was standing next to her, imitating her pose. The metal under his hands was still warm from the fading sunlight.
"What's on your mind?" His question broke her trail of thought. Marinette looked up at him and when she spoke, her voice was soft and gentle. It tickled Chat's heart.
"It was a strange day. So many things happened. I'm just reflecting on it."
"What happened?" Chat leaned towards her, curiosity evident on his masked face.
"Well, there was this thing with Félix, the new boy in my class," she recounted to him. "And then I met someone…" Her eyes fell to the paper she was holding. This movement didn't escape Chat's notice. He snapped it swiftly from her hand, straightened it out and raised it, so he could read it better.
"A phone number?" he grinned. "Purrincess, do you have an admirer?"
Marinette rolled her eyes and tried to get the paper back. Chat held it up high, so she had to jump, but whenever she got close, he moved it out of her way. She tried again. She failed again.
Panting, Marinette tried to reason with him: "Give it back, Chat! I can't lose it." Even though her words were serious, she couldn't help but laugh. Amused, Chat held out the paper for her, but as soon as she was going to take it, he put it out of her reach again.
"Chat!" she cried out, tears of laughter in her eyes. "Seriously! I need it!"
"A little lady like you shouldn't be going on dates," Chat shook a finger at her before handing the paper over. Marinette's cheeks turned dark red in embarrassment.
"Well, if you must k-know," words shot out of her mouth against her will, "it's my cousin's number. She got a new phone and I haven't saved it on mine yet."
Chat frowned. "I didn't know you had a cousin."
"Well, I do!" Marinette huffed in annoyance. To avoid any further paper-stealing, she folded the paper and placed it in the pocket of her pants. "So, um… see anything interesting on your patrol?"
"Only you." Chat blew a kiss. The paw on his miraculous beeped. "Well, gotta go, princess." He bowed to Marinette and jumped off the railing into the dark of night. Marinette watched him jump over the roofs. When he was out of sight, she turned around and took out her phone. She fished out the paper and dialed the number.
Bridgette answered almost immediately with a cheerful "Yeah?"
"Hey, it's Marinette," the girl spoke awkwardly. "Do you think you could meet me after school tomorrow? I still have so many questions for you…"
"Yeah? I mean, absolutely!" Bridgette laughed nervously. "Um… where do you want to meet?"
Marinette thought for a moment. It would be strange to invite Bridgette over to the bakery, when her parents were there. And she herself couldn't sneak off after school without Alya becoming suspicious.
"I hate to ask this, but… Can you come to my school? Françoise Dupont." She crossed her fingers, hoping Bridgette would say yes. "And then we can go from there…"
"Sure!" Marinette could hear whisking in the background. Some clinking sounds. "What time do you finish? Well, don't worry about that. Shouldn't you be going to sleep already?" Her eyes had paused at the large clock on the wall. It was nearing midnight. "Don't you have school tomorrow or something?"
"I… ah…" Marinette looked at the time and shrieked in surprise. Way more time had passed than she had thought. "I didn't notice the time! I'm so sorry!"
Bridgette laughed on the other side of the line. "Go sleep, kid. See you tomorrow!" She finished the call and placed the phone on the table. It was hard to focus on the pastries she was making, so she placed the bowl on the steel table too.
Bridgette looked at the lifeless kitchen. A sob escaped her throat. She missed her family, she missed her friends. Missed the boy man who had broken her heart over and over again. She longed for the comfort of her parents' bakery, its sweet smells and its hot air. For a moment, she allowed herself to envy Marinette.
"What am I doing?" she asked from no one in particular. Her words, however, made Choccolat come out of her hiding place. She approached Bridgette kindly, offering her silent company, knowing there were no words in the entire universe to console her dearest friend.
The morning came. Marinette was running late, not that it was a big surprise. She managed to make it to the classroom a few seconds before the last bell rang. She slid into the empty seat next to Alya, unwittingly thwarting Félix's plan for the day.
"What's up? Where's Nino?" Marinette whispered and Alya filled her in. Nino was running late, but would be there by third period latest. While the journalist was slightly sad about his absence, she was not going to pass up this opportunity to spend time with her best friend.
Félix turned around in his seat.
"Hey, Marinette," he drawled lazily. Hearing his voice, Adrien turned around just in time to see his cousin give their classmate a once-over. There was a leer on Félix's face that made everyone in the room uncomfortable. "Here, have some." Then Félix grabbed her hand and pressed something small into it.
"Uh, thanks, but… class is about to start?" Marinette squeaked, noticing it was just a piece of gum. Bubblegum, to be specific. Adrien's face drained of color.
"Have some," Félix insisted.
"No." Marinette refused. "It's very kind of you and all, but I really don't want to get into trouble." She bit her lip as her hand moved to put it away. "I'll have it later, okay?"
Félix frowned. He didn't like it. He suspected the "later" would be inconvenient for his plans. And he was right – the later never came. At least not in his presence.. The boy vowed to succeed next time. His second plan failed too – he had planned to walk Marinette home, piss Adrien off by kissing her cheek, eat tons of pastries and wreck havoc in the Agreste household. For fun.
"Sorry, guys, I'm going on ahead," Marinette apologized to her friends as soon as the last lesson ended, gathering her things in a hurry. "Someone's waiting for me." She didn't wait for them to answer and stumbled on her way out, causing Alya to giggle.
"What's this about?" Félix asked. "Does she have a date or something?"
"Let's find out," Alya grinned, taking out her phone and rushing after friend. She caught up to Marinette just before the school entrance.
"Girl! What's this about?!" She asked, her eyes full of sparkles. "If you have a date and you forgot to tell me about it…" Although her words were threatening, she sounded more amused.
"Not a date," Marinette answered quickly, "just hard to explain." She pushed the door open. In a moment, Alya would see for herself.
Bridgette was idly standing at the end of the stairs. When the door opened, she looked up. Seeing Marinette, she waved cheerfully. Noticing Alya right behind her didn't make Bridgette happy, even though her smile intensified.
"Bridgette, this is Alya," Marinette introduced them, "Alya, Bridgette."
Alya looked from one girl to the other, flipped open the camera app on her phone and snapped a photo.
"You look like twins!" She exclaimed, as the school door opened and closed again. "This is so cool! Marinette, you never told me you had an older sister!" She snapped another photo.
"We're not sisters," Bridgette corrected her with a gentle smile. She knew this lie would never work with Marinette's classmates – after all, they knew her parents. "We're…"
"Cousins, right?" Marinette laughed awkwardly. Bridgette's eyes flashed to her, surprised by this lie. She had expected to say the truth, that they'd only recently met.
"Cousins, right," she confirmed, cheeks turning pink. Marinette gave her an encouraging smile.
"WOW! You're almost identical!" Nino joined in, followed by Adrien who was dragging a not-very-happy Félix behind him.
"They do!" Adrien nodded while Félix just stared at Bridgette. The young woman looked uncomfortable at his scrutinizing gaze. But he looked away quickly enough. Looking at her made his head hurt.
"A-Anyway," Bridgette stuttered, "Marinette and I really gotta go. It was, uh, meeting nice with all you." She turned around, cheeks flaring and pulled her newfound cousin away. As soon as they had turned the corner, she started running. She only stopped when they had reached the river.
"Ice cream?" Bridgette offered, steering her towards André's. "My treat."
"What was that about?" Marinette frowned at her lookalike.
"You and me still need to figure things out. The less we talk with others before getting our stories straight, the better. Like you and me being cousins?" The woman shook her head. "What are you going to say if Alya asks you why you never mentioned me before? Or.. Or what if she asks your parents?"
Marinette's eyes widened. She hadn't thought about it. She opened her mouth, when Bridgette interrupted her: "Hold that thought. Ice cream first." She skipped ahead, got her wallet out of her red messenger bag and spoke animatedly to André. Marinette reached her just as the man was handing Bridgette the cones.
"Here you are, Marinette," she passed her one.
"Thanks."
They walked in silence for a while.
"Marinette, that boy… Félix. You must be careful around him. He's trouble."
"Did he do something in your… story?"
"You could say that."
Marinette looked at Bridgette with questions in her eyes, but the woman didn't elaborate. She gazed into the distance. Marinette couldn't say, if her eyes were filled with longing or wisdom. Bridgette sighed.
"I can't tell you too many things about my universe." It was the first time she had called it as it was. "You're still what… 15? I'm six years older than you. There's no telling how similar our worlds are," she explained quietly. Marinette nodded. It was easy to understand, when she worded it like that. "It took me several weeks just to adjust to this one. And my superpower is perfect for these kind of things. You know, blending in." She laughed.
"I don't understand though… how did you get here?" It had been bugging Marinette for a long time.
"Slipped through the cracks, I guess… It was a desperate wish. A lot of Kwami power." Bridgette ate some of her ice cream. "Sorry, still processing that myself." Awkward laugh.
It was that moment that Marinette's phone pinged. She took it out of her bag and frowned at the akuma alert.
"Duty calls?" Bridgette recognized the frown on her face. Marinette nodded.
"Want to come along? And show me just what you can do?"
"Nah." Bridgette shook her pigtails. They were longer than Marinette's. "Paris has enough superheros. Call me when you're done though, will you?"
Marinette checked that there was no one in sight and transformed. She nodded at the girl, jumping off to chase after the newest pawn Hawkmoth had thrown their way.