Chapter Twenty – You Have Me
"Mari!"
Before she can register who is calling her name, a body slams into her and, if they weren't holding onto her so tightly (and if they were also clumsy), she would have fallen to the ground with this person on top of her. Instead, she finds herself upright, enveloped in a tight embrace, with this person's head buried in her shoulder. It takes her another moment to realise they're still talking.
"–so sorry. I am the worst, the absolute worst, but I am going to make it up to you, and I am going to look out for you and–"
"Dude," Nino says, tugging on the person hugging hers arm. "Let her go, she needs to breathe."
"Sorry! Sorry!" Just as quickly as those arms had wrapped round her, they release her and she stumbles back a step. "Sorry, Mari!"
"It's okay, Adrien." She says absentmindedly. She watches him rub the back of his neck and smile sheepishly. Nino watches from the sidelines, glancing between his friends with a look of bemusement. Wait . . . "A–Adrien!" She stares at him wide–eyed and waves her hands around as if she's standing on the edge of a cliff, trying to keep her balance. "I–you–what?"
Nino snorts and she shoots him a glare. He puts his hands up as if to surrender to her. "Told you he was worried."
"I am." Adrien says, smiling at her. She returns it easily, although her brain feels like it's full of cotton wool.
"Cool." She says dumbly, and Nino chokes back a laugh. Before she can say or do anything else to embarrass herself, Nino steps forward and laces his arm through hers, bumping their hips together playfully.
"Want to get this over with?" He tilts his head, his eyes flicking to the school doors ahead of them. They're early enough that they're still open, but late enough that there are no students mingling outside to gawk at them.
"Can't I just crawl under my covers and stay there until I die?"
"No."
"What if I apply for Hogwarts?"
"They wouldn't let you in, you're too clumsy." She gapes at him and he giggles. She pushes him away from her with her elbow, but he keeps a grip on her arm so he doesn't go anywhere. "It'll be okay."
"No, it won't."
"Yeah, you're right, it probably won't."
Marinette snorts, shaking her head fondly. "Then why did you say it would?"
"I was trying to make you feel better!" She giggles. "It's better than sunshine over there, all he's done is stare at you."
Said person jolts and looks away from Marinette to glare at Nino, who simply gives him a shit–eating grin. "Please don't start calling me 'sunshine' too."
"Too late." Nino's grin widens as Adrien swears under his breath. His expression turns sombre when he looks back at Marinette. "You know you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"I know." She inhales deeply and forces a smile, but she can't actually bring herself to move forward.
"It will be okay." Adrien reassures her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
She starts to nod, then shakes her head. "You know what? On second thought I think this is a really bad idea and I would much prefer to hang out in the bakery all day instead."
Nino raises an eyebrow doubtfully. "No, you wouldn't."
"Yeah, you're right, I wouldn't."
"You've got this." He nudges his elbow against her ribs lightly. "She's got this right?"
"Definitely." Adrien confirms, smiling warmly at her.
Her eyes light up slightly and she nods, determined. "Okay. Let's go."
Nino ushers her forward quickly before she can lose her nerve, Adrien on her other side, trying (and failing) to discretely stare at her. The only thing stopping Nino from teasing him about it is the concern in his eyes, and Marinette's already fragile mental state. It doesn't take a genius to see the love she still holds for him in her heart, and what with this whole 'pregnancy' situation, he's not about to rock the leaking, falling apart boat that is Marinette's emotions.
They get all the way to the classroom door without stopping, but once they're outside Marinette's feet suddenly turn into concrete and she refuses to move. Nino doesn't blame her – he's dreading this too – and he can tell that Adrien is fighting his instincts to wrap her up in cotton wool and carry her back to her house, tuck her under her blankets like she wishes, and stand guard over her to protect her from all of the evils of the world. Hell, he wants nothing more than to do the same.
"I can't do this." She whispers, staring at the door as if it's a bull about to come charging at them.
Nino slips his arm from hers and grips her shoulder's, forcing her to face him. "École. We were ten. Mum had just left him and we were staying at a women and children shelter all the way across the city. She was six months pregnant, batshit terrified that he'd find her. She wouldn't let me come to school, so you caught the metro for the first time since you got lost on it to meet me at the park near the shelter. You brought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with you because you knew I needed it." His hands slide down from her shoulders to grip her hands, and he interlaces their fingers. Her bottom lip starts to tremble. "I don't have the Philosopher's Stone with me, but I will walk to the other side of Paris to get it for you if you need me to. You can do this, because you have me. And you have Adrien."
"You have me too." A quiet voice says from beside them and the three of them jump. Marc smiles shyly, clutching his notebook to his chest tighter. "You've got me, Marinette."
She gives him a smile, the tears she had tried so hard to suppress finally spilling down her cheeks. She wipes them away in vain, bumping her hand against Nino's as he tries to do the same. "I think they have it at the library here." She tells him and he snorts, shaking his head fondly.
"Good. Because I don't exactly have the best sense of direction and will probably end up in Germany before I get to the other side of Paris."
She giggles, before slipping her hands from his only to wrap them around him in a hug. He squeezes her middle tightly, lifting her off the ground, and she giggles again, clutching him tighter. Once he sets her back on the ground, she instantly turns to Marc and pulls him into a hug. He presses a friendly kiss to her cheek. Nino eyes Adrien's expression – he doesn't wear it often, but Nino knows jealousy when he sees it – and moves closer to him, swinging his arm around his neck and tugging him closer to whisper in his ear.
"You know Mari's wonderful, right?"
Adrien looks at him in surprise, crossing his arms as if to protect himself. "Of course."
"And you know that she and Marc have been friends for a while now?"
"I do." He glances back at said two – who are now having their own quiet conversation – and his jaw clenches slightly to hold back words he shouldn't say.
"And you know that she likes you." Nino knows saying this is in the grey area, but for fuck's sake, he's sick of this charade! Adrien turns to stare at him wide eyed, and Nino quickly slips his hand over his mouth to prevent the way too loud 'WHAT!' from escaping. "Come on, dude. You've had to have noticed. At least a little."
He gapes at him for a moment, his eyes flicking between Nino and the oblivious Marinette. His eyes remain on her and a small smile graces his lips when she giggles at whatever Marc is saying. "Yeah."
"Then you should stop staring and start talking, because Marinette's never going to fall in love with a statue."
Adrien glares at him, but he can't hide the redness of his cheeks. Nino grins and pats his shoulder, releasing him to interrupt Marc and Marinette's conversation. As he walks closer, he hears them say something about the art room, and Marinette nods. He assumes that's where he's going to find them at lunch.
"I know you don't want to," He starts, and they both look at him. "But we have to go to class. The lesson's almost half over."
Marinette sighs, tugging on her pigtail nervously. She glances past him at the door and makes a face. "You sure we can't just transfer to Hogwarts?"
"I'd transfer in an instant, but I don't know how our parents would feel." He grins, slipping his arm around her in a hug. "Plus, it would be a rather long commute."
. . .
Marinette can tell that Ms Bustier wants to say something to her, but she stares pointedly at her desk, willing for just once that she won't try to 'fix' this mess by telling her to forgive Lila for 'outing' her to the class so she can learn by example. Why can't she just ever blame the bully instead of the bullied? Role models are great, yes, but only when the person wants to be moulded.
Somehow between when she left the classroom the day before and this morning Lila – or maybe Alya, she can't tell anymore – has managed to rearrange the class so Marinette's sitting at the back of the classroom again, so Lila can sit next to Adrien and Nino can sit next to Alya. At least, he would be had he sat with Alya. Instead, he gave Lila a glare cold enough to freeze fire and marched up the stairs after Marinette, taking a seat beside her like it was an everyday occurrence, because, despite all their years of being friends, they've ever sat next to each other in class unless assigned to by a project. They spend the remainder of the lesson writing out Harry Potter quotes in the back of his notebook.
Her plan is to stay in the classroom until everyone else has left before moving to her next class, but then majority of the class linger behind with her, all trying to subtly check her out for a baby bump. Nino nudges her side lightly, gesturing towards the door, asking if she wants to leave. She shakes her head slightly. Ms Bustier is as oblivious to what's going on with her students as usual, so she just keeps writing up the information for the next class on the board, keeping her back turned to her students. Lila starts making her way up the stairs, face etched in the perfect mask of concern should someone look. There's a loud scoff from the front of the room.
"Oh, seriously?" Chloé asks, flouncing up the stairs after Lila.
She startles and looks back at her, coming to a stop. She makes sure to stand one step lower than Chloé so she looks more vulnerable so everyone leaps to her defence. "W–What is it Chloé?" She makes her lip tremble, tears brimming in her eyes. "I just want to make sure Marinette is okay."
"Dupain–Cheng's fine." Chloé says, waving her hand dismissively. "You, however, are very wrong."
Lila blinks innocently. "Whatever do you mean?" She sniffs and clutches a hand to her chest, letting a tear fall from her eye. "Why are you being so mean to me?"
The class starts to defend Lila, Alya getting up to stand beside her, but Chloé's next words make her pause. Mostly from confusion.
"You're not friends with Ladybug."