Years of being bored at school taught Felix how to spy on his classmates. It kept him entertained when he had no one to talk to. He'd mastered the art of hiding in plain sight; he'd sit somewhere a short distance away. Pretend to be distracted by a book or a last-minute homework assignment. Lots of secrets to learn that way.
Except the person he spied was already suspicious of him. Instead of his usual tricks, he watched from around a wall and ducked back out of view when someone looked his way.
"Really?" Wingg asked. "Stalking again? You talked to this girl for maybe five minutes and already you're obsessed."
"Be quiet," Felix hissed. Since Felix had met Zoe, it was constant fodder for Wingg's jokes. The past couple of days had been even worse than before; endless insults and teasing.
Zoe was there. But that wasn't what Felix cared about. She was with the girls from his class, gathered around one of the benches in the school courtyard. In the center was Marinette. She held a box of macarons out to the others.
"What do you think?" Felix asked.
Wingg shrugged. "Eh, she's too nice for you. Maybe her sister would work out better."
"Not Zoe, Marinette."
"What, you like pigtails now? You could probably dress up like Adrien and ask her out."
"Stop messing around, you know what I mean. Do you think she's Ladybug?"
Felix had spent the rest of the weekend on that theory. Everything always went back to her. She'd never been akumatized. Somehow everything she saw and heard went back to Ladybug. Marinette seemed to hate Felix more than the others, and Ladybug had plenty of reasons to dislike him. It wasn't hard to put it all together.
"Oh right, that," Wingg said. The girls started to move toward the classrooms. Marinette tripped and her macarons scattered along the floor. "No, no I don't think she's Ladybug."
That did make Felix feel less certain. Marinette always fumbled, both in how she moved and spoke. In all the videos he'd seen, Ladybug was not like that. She flew around the city with grace and confidence. Took down villains that would have left Marinette quaking. Unless that was an elaborate plan to lead people away from her identity, Felix hadn't been right. If she wasn't Ladybug, she must be someone close. Another hero? A friend who knew?
"What are you doing?"
Felix almost jumped. Adrien stood behind him, alone. "Nothing, just waiting for class." Adrien leaned slightly to the side, just enough to see behind the wall. Felix stepped into his line of sight. "What do you want?"
"Remember our apology deal?"Not that again. Adrien hadn't mentioned it since before Chloe's little locker prank. "I want you to apologize to someone today. Anyone you want. I think you'll feel better once you do."
Felix crossed his arms. "I'll feel stupid, not better. But fine."
"Awesome!" Felix tried to walk away. It was a bit early for class, but it wasn't like he could watch for Ladybug clues anymore. Adrien followed. "Who are you going to apologize to?"
"I don't know. I'll have to think about it."
Felix went straight to his desk. A couple others were already in the room, but no one around him. It had been a while since he thought of his apologies. He needed to look over his notes.
Felix came to the conclusion he disliked them all the same amount. Except for Chloe and Lila, who were the worst. Anyone else would be pretty much the same. Felix had no desire to have any of the others as friends. He would pick someone who would make it easy for him, accept and just move on.
A logical choice would be Adrien's best friend. Felix flipped a page. Nino. Felix hadn't spoken to him, but he seemed fine. Except, Nino's girlfriend was one of the people Felix caused to be akumatized. Alya, the Ladyblog girl. From what Felix could gather from her glares and whispers, she was still mad about it. Seemed a bit dramatic. Alya and Nino's relationship might complicate things; Felix would have to gamble on whether Nino cared more about Adrien or Alya.
Someone else then. There was the boy who sat next to Felix, Ivan. Big and quiet. Day after day he sat with a frown on his face. Felix imagined next to each other they were the most miserable row in the class. Neither of them had said a word to each other. In fact, Felix hadn't seen him speak to anyone except that mousey girl. It was hard to judge what his reaction would be. Unpredictable wasn't good.
Behind him was Lila, which was an automatic no, and another quiet boy. Unlike Ivan, Felix had at least seen this one smile. He and another boy would sit together under the stairs as they whispered and scribbled in a sketchbook. Even now, Felix heard the scrape of a pencil across paper.
He was the best option. Felix spun around in his seat. The boy didn't look up, but Lila's eyes were on him. Felix did his best not to meet her stare.
The boy was hunched over his notebook. The page was filled with sketches and comic book panels. Felix had read his share of comics and manga; he and Adrien used to share and swap them as kids. But he didn't know enough to start a conversation.
"Um," Felix started. The boy stilled his hand but didn't look up. "What are you drawing?"
"Nothing," he said and pulled his book closer to him.
Felix craned his neck, just enough so her could get a better look, but not be too obvious. He saw a glimpse of the page. "Whoa." Felix grabbed the notebook and pulled it toward him without a thought. The boy stared back at him. "These are those superheroes from London, aren't they?"
With everything else that happened, and the time Felix hadn't thought to look for pictures of him and Adrien as heroes. Someone must have snuck a few and posted them online. Adrien looked exactly how he did that day, mysterious and heroic. Felix hadn't gotten a good look at himself transformed, and he hadn't done it since, but if his drawing was as accurate as Adrien's, he could not lie. He looked cool.
"Yeah," the boy said as he tried to inch his book to him.
"I saw them," Felix said, a bit too quickly. "Back when I was still in London."
Lila perked up on her seat. She grabbed the notebook herself. "I saw them too. In fact, I actually talked to them a bit. They saved me when I got akumatized. You remember that, right, Felix?" Lila had only seen them akumatized and, from what Felix gathered, that meant she didn't remember. "If you want to know anything about them for your comic book, I can help!"
The boy didn't answer, Felix thought he had him figured out. Quiet, a loner, probably only felt comfortable around his one friend. Felix could relate. "Well, from what I saw, your sketches are perfect. You're very talented."
"Wow Felix, I didn't know you could actually be nice," Lila mocked.
"I wasn't being nice. I was being honest. You should try it."
That felt good, he'd managed to compliment one person but be snippy to another; that might have been a first. Adrien had watched and his eyes met Felix's.
Adrien grabbed his phone and typed something into it. A second later Felix's went off. Seemed a bit lazy, they were only a few feet away. That wasn't an apology, the message read. Right. That.
Felix flipped through his notebook and found the boy's name. The planned-out apology played once in his head, a last-second check to make sure it all sounded good. "Listen, Marc, I wanted to—"
"Nathaniel."
"What?" Felix's heart sped; interruption wasn't part of the plan.
"I'm Nathaniel, not Marc."
"Oh." Felix turned back around.
Lila said something, faux concern about how he just turned pale. Adrien watched Felix, and now Nino had turned to look as well. Of course, Adrien must have told him everything. No one seemed to care about Felix's privacy. Chat and Adrien talked about him, Marinette and Ladybug. Now Nino too. No one could let him be.
That feeling came over him again, same on ehe felt at the hotel. Like something was pressed up against him and wouldn't let him breathe. He checked the time; there were still a few minutes before class started. Not everyone was in yet, Miss Bustier wasn't even there. He could leave, just for a second.
He stood and walked out, as if nothing had happened. Just a run to his locker, or the bathroom. Normal.
"Felix? Where are you going?"
Adrien had followed him. At least he'd waited until they were out of the classroom to speak.
"To the bathroom. I can make it there without you."
"You don't have to be so afraid to apologize to everyone. If you want, I could—"
"I'm not afraid," Felix snapped. He looked down the hall; Marinette and Alya walked toward the class, lost in conversation. "I'll do it right now and show you."
"Felix, you don't have to prove anything. It's okay if—"
Felix ignored him. Somehow, the fact Marinette hated him made it easier. It wasn't like he could make it worse. Besides, with Adrien right there, she wouldn't yell at him. She might not be able to say anything at all.
"Marinette," he said in the overly-sweet voice he saved for occasions like this. He stepped right in front of her; she had no choice but to stop or collide with him. "I wanted to say that I'm really sorry for all the awful things I said to you and everyone else in that video a few months ago, and for erasing your love-ly message to Adrien." He was tempted to call it out as a love confession, but even with Adrien a few feet she might strangle him for that. "You've been so nice ever since I came here, and I can't thank you enough. I hope we can be friends."
Felix gave her a half-smirk, glad Adrien couldn't see his face. For a second, Marinette narrowed her eyes, but widened them again as she noticed Adrien. "Of course. We're going to be great friends," she said through gritted teeth.
"Uh, you're not going to apologize to anyone else?" Alya asked. "You did get me akumatized."
"I don't remember that," Felix said. Alya opened her mouth to respond, but Felix stepped away from them. "Well, I'm glad we're good now, Marinette. I'm going back to class," he said as he walked away.
. . .
Adrien ran to the bathroom as soon as class was over. He looked around, found he was alone, and held open his shirt. "Are you thinking what I am, Plagg?"
Plagg peaked out, "unless you're thinking about Camembert, probably not. Speaking of which, I haven't been able to eat yet."
"Yet" meant not in the past hour. Plagg needed cheese constantly. Adrien rolled his eyes and grabbed a wedge from his bag. Plagg took it and threw it down his throat. "Did you hear how Felix apologized to Marinette? And last night, Marinette was in one of those pictures he was looking at. And this morning, I saw him watching her."
"So he's a creep, I figured that." Plagg dived into Adrien's bag, only to emerge a second later with more cheese.
"No, I think he might have a crush on her. She must be that girl Wingg mentioned."
"Look, I wouldn't take anything that Wingg says too seriously. Especially if he happens to say something completely insane. Like if he said he saw another kwami in London or something like that."
"What?"
Plagg flew back out of the bag. "Uh, nevermind that! You were talking about Felix liking Marinette."
"Right, and I think she likes him too. That's why she offered to go help him the other day, and why she stood up for him in class. And did you see how she talks to him? She seems so comfortable and confident, she's never like that with me."
"Adrien, that is the dumbest thing I ever heard. What if she did all that to make you happy?"
Adrien frowned. Plagg didn't pay attention to anything except food. Adrien knew Felix better than anyone and Marinette was one of his best friends. Something was going on between them. He could feel it. "You just don't understand love, Plagg."
Plagg laughed. "Oh, that's hilarious coming from you. Hey, wait up!"
Adrien opened the bathroom door and felt Plagg disappear under his shirt. It was obvious what needed to be done: Felix and Marinette were both too shy for their own goods. Someone had to step in and help them. Who better than their brother and close friend? But he needed help.
Adrien found Nino at his locker. "Guess what? I figured out who Marinette likes,"
"You did? It's about time, dude."
"You already knew?"
"Of course, she makes it obvious," Nino laughed as he swung his backpack over his shoulder. "And Alya might have told me. So, are you going to make this happen?"
Adrien knew Nino would be on the same page. "Yes, but I'm worried about approaching Marinette. Do you think she'll be embarrassed?" Marinette was one of his closest friends and she seemed to feel the same about him. If she couldn't tell him about her crush on Felix, there had to be a reason she kept it a secret.
"If you want, I can ask Alya to talk to her. How about a date at that little cafe down the street, tomorrow after school?" Adrien nodded, he knew the place. Quiet, cute, it was perfect. "You think your father will allow it?"
He'd forgotten about that. "I'll have to come up with an excuse, but don't worry. I'll figure that out."
"Awesome. Alya's going to be so excited this is finally happening."
Finally? Felix had only been there a few days. Had everyone known the second he walked in? Adrien really needed to start paying more attention. "Don't worry, I'll make sure this is the greatest date ever." Adrien's phone went off. "I gotta go, the cars outside waiting for me. Don't forget to talk to Alya," Adrien said as he ran off.
"Don't worry dude, I'll take care of everything."