Chapter 3: I'll always protect you.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, except the plot. The show and the characters belong to Jeremy Zag, Thomas Astruc and Nathanaël Bronn.
"You're what?!"
Marinette sighed for the umpteenth time that day. She'd been trying to explain the Adrien situation to Alya. But Alya wasn't having it.
"I've decided that I'll try to move on." Marinette said, beyond annoyed. "Do you want me to spell it out for you: I—H-A-V-E—D-E-C—"
"Yeah okay. I get it." Alya said.
"Do you?"
"No. Absolutely not…Why?!"
"This is the millionth time you've asked me, and my answer is still the same."
Alya had bombarded Marinette with are you okay's as soon as she had reached school. Marinette was touched that her friend cared so much about her well-being, but this was getting out of hand.
"But—But what happened to the 'getting-married-and-having-three-kids-with-a-dog-and-a-cat-and-a-hamster-named-whatever'?"
"Look Alya, it wasn't easy to take this step. It took a lot of effort." Marinette said, trying desperately to explain her predicament to her best friend. "But I think it's a better alternative than letting myself fall deeper and getting heartbroken to the point where I can't move on. Can we please just drop the matter?"
Alya's face softened. "Of course, Mari, I'm sorry for pestering you about it. It just came as a shock to me. Just know that I'll support you, no matter what your decision is." She wrapped her arms around Marinette.
Marinette smiled. She was lucky to have such supportive friends in her life. "Thank you, Al"
"Anytime. That doesn't mean I'm happy about my ship sinking though."
Marinette laughed nervously. "Me neither."
A shriek resonated from the locker room. They looked toward each other for a moment before taking off in the direction of the sound.
A group of students were circled around Chloe and a boy—who was in a year below them—who looked about ready to melt into the ground and disappear.
"My designer purse!" Chloe shrieked with a voice that reminded Marinette of nails on a chalkboard. She shuddered.
The boy—Louis, she thought—stammered. "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't do it on purpose."
"But you ruined it! Do you know how much it costs? It costs more than you're worth!"
"Chloe!" Marinette said, feeling incredibly bad for Louis. "That's not nice. He didn't mean to do it."
Chloe wrinkled her nose. "Well, if it isn't Marinette Dupain-in-the-ass. I finally found someone more klutzy than you! Can you believe it?"
Marinette sighed. I'm not awake enough for this.
"Chloe," a voice—a melodious voice at that—said, "don't you think you're being too harsh?"
Adrien.
Marinette tried not to swoon at said voice. But she couldn't help it. She could listen to his voice all day. Or get lost in those gorgeous green eyes. She froze as she realized what went down yesterday, and her heart ached. This whole moving on thing was going to take some time getting used to.
"But Adrikins," Chloe said, "he ruined my purse!"
Marinette looked away from Adrien at Chloe. "What did he do anyway?" she asked.
"I was telling Sabrina to put my books in my locker when this idiot decided it would be a good time to fall. Not that I care if he falls of course—but he spilled the stupid juice in his hand all over my purse!"
"Woah dudette," Nino said, "just let it be, I'm sure your dad can buy you new bags."
Chloe ignored Nino and turned towards the boy in question. "You! You're useless! Utterly useless! I'll make sure daddy has you fired!"
Alya rolled her eyes. "You can't fire someone from school Chloe."
Chloe huffed. "What's the word then?"
"Expelled." Sabrina said.
"Right! I'll make sure daddy has you expelled!"
Louis whimpered and ran off, and Marinette felt that things would not be easy for Ladybug later today.
She'd called it.
Precisely twenty minutes after the whole shenanigan, their school was being attacked by juice boxes and ice cubes.
Hawkmoth really needed to find better inspirations for his akumas. First Mr. Pigeon and now this?
Unfortunately, though, Marinette still hadn't been able to transform. She was stuck in the classroom with the rest of her classmates. Except Adrien. Alya had her on a vice-like grip. Chloe was on the other side of the room, cowering under the farthest bench. Marinette didn't think anyone would mind if she never came out. Adrien was nowhere to be found; she could only hope that he hadn't been turned into a pitcher of juice.
She looked out the window, the akuma had gone outside, probably assuming that Chloe had managed to escape. If she didn't transform soon, then it would take to terrorizing the streets of Paris. If only I can leave without being noticed.
A huge tremor shook the building, followed by a collection of gasps and screams. "The juice guy threw a fricking ice cube at the school!" said Kim.
Oh. This was bad. Another throw could have the entire build—
The building shook again. Dust and rubble fell from the ceiling.
"We need to get out of here!" Nino said.
Alya nodded. "Yeah. Let's hurry! Maybe I'll get to film the action for the Ladyblog!"
Marinette rolled her eyes. Alya needed to set her priorities straight. Running headfirst into an akuma attack wasn't a smart move. Or a safe move. "Alright. Everyone get into a line and avoid crowding. There are other students here besides us."
All her classmates filed into a single line and headed out the door as quick as possible. Marinette rolled her eyes as she heard Chloe complain about the dust in her hair. As she exited the classroom, she noticed the students from the other classes rushing out. They all made a beeline toward the back gate of the school, hoping to escape unseen by the akuma.
"Help!" a voice screamed. Marinette froze. It seemed to be coming from the girl's toilets. She was the closest person around, and the others didn't seem to have heard the voice, all of them in a rush to escape.
Marinette ran towards the voice and yanked on the front door. It didn't budge. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
"Yes!" the voice said. "Can you help me? The door won't open. I think the janitor locked it right after the akuma showed up."
She looked around frantically. No janitor in sight. "Wait. I'll be back!"
She ran to the other side of the hallway. There should be a spare key in the janitor's closet. She burst into the room and found the janitor himself, cowering under one of the shelfs. Marinette smiled sheepishly. "The building's going to collapse soon, you must get out. Did you lock the toilets before hiding?"
The janitor nodded.
"There's a girl stuck in there. Can I please have the keys?"
"Oh! Sorry young lady!" the janitor said and produced a key from his back pocket.
She took the key. "The rest of us are going out the back door. You should too."
"I will."
Marinette nodded and rushed back to the toilets. She unlocked the door and was greeted by a terrified girl. "Oh! Thank you so much." The girl breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be out, and ran towards the back gate.
Marinette rushed after her. She was about to step out when a huge chunk of the ceiling fell and blocked her way to the exit. She stumbled backwards.
The building was shaking vigorously now, and she panicked. It would collapse any moment; she wouldn't have time to transform. This is so not a cool way to die.
She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. But it never came. She felt herself being scooped up and led away from the crumbling building. Breathing a sigh of relief, she opened her eyes and looked at her savior. "Chat Noir! Oh, thank god!"
"Hello, Marinette," Chat said and grinned, "you've got to stop getting into such juicy situations."
Marinette's brow creased in annoyance. "There's nothing juicy about me getting stuck in a crumbling establishment. How did you know I was in there anyway?"
Chat looked down at her and his grin widened. "I had in-cider information."
She groaned. Of course he would make juice puns. "Would you stop being so annoying?"
"And where's the fun in that?"
Marinette rolled her eyes but couldn't manage to stop the small smile that crept on her face. "How did you manage to get me out?"
"I have quick reflexes." He boasted. "Told you cats were better than mice."
Marinette laughed. The silly cat never missed an opportunity to praise himself. She tightened her arms around him as he jumped down into an alley.
He set her down and smiled at her. "You should be safe here."
"Thank you, Chat Noir."
"No problem Princess. Stay safe." He gave her his signature two-fingered salute and hopped off to fight the akuma.
She smiled at his retreating figure. Marinette didn't know if she could've accomplished half the things she had accomplished without her partner. She opened her purse and a frantic Tikki zipped out. "Are you okay Marinette?"
"I'm fine Tikki, we need to help Chat."
"Just say the words."
"Tikki, spots on."
Thirty minutes and a lucky charm later, all the juice pitchers and straws were transformed into people and lamp posts.
A frantic Louis looked around at the damage he had caused. A look of dread and guilt appeared on his face. "I'm sorry."
Marinette knelt down to where Louis was sprawled on the ground. "Hey, it's okay. We've fixed everything. It wasn't your fault anyway."
His face dropped. "But look at all the people I've hurt, and the fear I have evoked. It only happened because I was weak enough to let my anger get to me."
Chat noir knelt on the other side of Louis. "If there's anyone to blame, it's Hawkmoth. It's not your fault. Everyone gets angry from time to time. But this just shows that you mustn't let bullies treat you the way they do. Speak to someone. Help is always present, sometimes where you least expect it."
A small smile appeared on the boy's face, and he thanked the two superheroes.
"I'm about to transform back," Marinette said, "would you mind taking him home Chat?"
"Of course not, Milady."
Marinette watched as Chat wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder and propelled his baton, launching them upwards and out of her sight. She wrapped her yoyo around the nearest chimney and swung away, wanting nothing more than to just collapse in her bed and call it a day.
Marinette adjusted the paper bags in her hands again. Her parents had a huge order for tomorrow and needed an emergency re-stock of all the ingredients. Hence why she was out on the streets of Paris shopping at eight pm. As beautiful as the city was at night, she couldn't help but grumble at her situation. So much for that nap.
She groaned as she dropped one of the bags. Again. She bent down at an awkward angle to pick it up, when a gloved hand beat her to it. Her eyes followed said hand to find her partner's face smiling goofily at her. "Need help?" he asked.
A relieved smile spread across her face; her arms were starting to cramp up. "Yes please."
She handed Chat Noir half of the paper bags and they made their way towards the bakery. "What are you doing out?" Marinette asked. It was her turn to patrol today, and she still had a few hours left until then.
"Just patrolling."
"But didn't you patrol yesterday?"
"Yes."
"So, isn't it Ladybug's turn to patrol tonight? Since you switch it up?"
Chat Noir looked at her skeptically. "Wait, how do you know this?"
Marinette faltered. She wasn't supposed to know about their patrol schedules! Stupid, Marinette! "U-Um…I…I…saw it on the Ladyblog?"
Chat's brows furrowed. "I never saw our patrol schedules on the Ladyblog."
"Well…being best friends with the blogger has its perks."
Chat looked at her for a few moments before giving her a small smile. "I suppose that makes sense," he grinned, "and here I thought you knew so much because you were a huge fan of mine and couldn't resist keeping up with me."
She snorted. "Sure. You keep telling yourself that."
His grin widened. "Don't deny it. I know about that cat pillow you always cuddle before going sleep."
Marinette felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she spluttered. "How—How did you—?"
Chat looked absolutely delighted. "I happened to come across your friend's Instagram. And I also happened to see the picture she posted of you choking said pillow."
She didn't need a mirror to confirm that her blush had gotten darker, his smirk was enough to indicate it.
"Although," he continued, "I must say, pillows are horrible cuddlers." He winked suggestively.
"You are such a flirt."
"I can't help it. Chicks dig this." He transferred the bags to one hand and flexed his free arm, making a show of kissing his biceps.
Marinette rolled her eyes at his antics, though there was a small smile on her face. She knew his flirtations were all in good nature. It was a part of who he was. He was silly and goofy and flirty. And she wouldn't have him any other way, no matter how much she wanted to punch him sometimes. Because behind all that façade was an incredibly sweet and caring boy, who went out of his way to help others. She knew that whoever he chose to love would be a very lucky person. She felt a small pang of guilt as she remembered his expression on her balcony yesterday, when they were talking about Ladybug.
Maybe she deserved all the bad luck in her love life for breaking his heart so many times.
She couldn't even begin to recall the amount of times Chat had gotten her out of a sticky situation. Both as Ladybug and Marinette. Speaking of,
"Thank you Chat, for saving me from the akuma earlier today. It could have been fatal if you hadn't shown up." Marinette said.
Chat smiled kindly at her. "Anytime Princess. Besides, I'll always protect you."
And she didn't doubt him. Not one bit.
*Squeals loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood.* Oooh these two are so cute~ I love Chat Noir...don't we all?
Anyways...
Thankyou so much for reading! And thankyou to all those who reviewed, y'all are the best. Do let me know what you think of this chapter, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks again for reading, have a wonderful week. Until next time!