Chapter Twenty Seven – Queen of Flustered

Marinette's cheek tingles with the feeling of Cat's lips against it. The last time he kissed her – well, Ladybug – on the cheek it was shocking, and it tingled, but it wasn't as electrifying as this time. This time her nerve endings are on fire, warmth has spread throughout her body from her heart. Not even the feeling of Lila's eyes staring daggers into the back of her head can quell the fire raging inside her. And she can't stop smiling. Like, at all. It's like the wind has changed directions and her face is now stuck like this. She can tell that she's confusing Nino – after all, just yesterday she was in a funk so deep the Mariana Trench would've been able to fit inside it – but even that doesn't stop her joy from escaping her in the means of a smile.

"Girl," Alya whispers in her ear. Marinette immediately stiffens, smile slipping of her face faster than she thought possible, immediately thinking back to the last few times Alya confronted her and started with 'girl'. "What's gotten into you? Did you get lucky or something?"

"What?" Marinette's voice comes out so soft she's basically just mouthing the word.

Alya grins at her. "Come on. I've seen the way Luka looks at you. You've got him so whipped." Her smile turns sly. "It looks like he's got you too."

Marinette stares at her, lips parted in surprise. Is this about the pregnancy rumour? "Is this about Lila's lie about me being pregnant? Because if it is then–"

"No, of course not." Alya waves her hand dismissively, but Marinette still sees her eyes flick down as if checking for a baby bump, and Marinette barely resists rolling her eyes. "You've just been so happy today I figured you must've had a very good night." Alya's gaze is suggestive, but Marinette's not entirely sure of what. Are we still talking about Luka?

"I–I mean I slept well." Marinette tugs on a loose piece of hair nervously, glancing at Ms Bustier to see if she's noticed they're talking instead or reading, but she's preoccupied with something on her tablet.

"I bet you did!" Alya squeals quietly, gripping Marinette's forearm tightly, and Adrien and Nino glance back at them briefly before returning to their books, although Marinette can't help but notice that they appear to still be listening intently. "What was it like? What's he like. He's older than you so I'm sure he has some experience. Is he hung?"

Marinette blinks at her, confused, although she can feel her cheeks flushing slightly at the suggestive meaning behind the questions, although she's still a little lost on what Alya's suggesting. What does 'hung' mean, and what does it have to do with Luka? "What?" She repeats. Alya just smirks at her. "What are you talking about?"

"I get it, you don't want to talk in class." Alya pats her forearm and picks her book back up, but Marinette can tell she's not actually focused on it. "We'll talk at lunch."

"Actually, at lunch I'm–"

"Don't worry," Alya winks at her. "I'm not going to ask for too many details."

Marinette shakes her head in exasperation. What just happened? She glances back at the boys in front of them and is surprised to find Nino's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. As if sensing her eyes on him he glances over his shoulder and catches her eye. She tilts her head in a silent question, eyes flicking to Alya pointedly. His flush gets darker and he shrugs and quickly turns around, ducking his head as if to hide from prying eyes. What?

It's only when Marinette repeats Alya's questions in her head a few times that she realises what she means – and what she's implying – so as soon as the bell goes for lunch Marinette bolts out of her seat, not even stopping to put her things in her bag. She just picks them up and carries them in her hands. She's the first person in the art room – unsurprisingly – but then Nathaniel, Marc and Nino join her a few minutes later, by which point she's calmed down enough to no longer be on the verge of a panic attack.

"Are you oaky Mari?" Nathaniel asks, taking a seat across from her. "You left class pretty quick. You know we would've stopped Lila from approaching you if you were worried about that."

Nino nods in agreement as he takes his seat next to her and pulls a sandwich out of his bag. Marinette smiles, knowing that he must've brought his lunch from home figuring that they'd more than likely not make it to the cafeteria. She opens and closes her mouth a few times, unsure if this is something she should share with them (both because of her embarrassment and theirs) before deciding it's not worth it and just shrugging slightly. Marc and Nathaniel smile at her kindly and start working on their comic, and Nino devours his sandwich in a few bites before pulling his tablet out of his bag and opening a word document. He slides it over to her a moment later.

Are you okay? After the whole Alya thing?

Marinette glances up at Nino and he smiles sheepishly, adjusting his hat nervously.

I'm fine.

Are you sure? I don't really know why she was asking you those questions, but if you want me to talk to her about them I can. She'll listen to me.

Marinette raises and eyebrow in an 'are you sure about that' kind of way and he laughs through his nose.

I'm fine. She just caught me off guard. And telling her to not ask those questions is just fuelling her journalistic tendencies.

More like tabloid. Nino rolls his eyes, annoyed. What if I talk to her about time and place?

Then she'll just corner me in the locker room or bathroom or something. I think it's just easier to ignore her. And avoid her. At least for a little while.

Fair enough. But if you need me to run interference, I'm your guy. And don't worry, I'm pretty sure sunshine didn't overhear, and if he did he wouldn't know what Alya was talking about anyway.

Marinette smiles. I wish I didn't know what Alya was talking about.

Nino snorts. Yeah. Me too. Luka being 'hung' or not isn't exactly something I want to think about.

Marinette frowns, even more confused, and innocently types: What does 'hung' mean?

She doesn't think she's ever seen someone become so flustered so quickly, and she's the queen of flustered.

. . .

Adrien has fencing after school and he asks Marinette to wait with him so they can talk. She assumes he wants to make sure she's okay, and she thinks back to Cat's friend who is in her class. Could his friend be Adrien? That would certainly explain how he knows she's been more closed off, and it would explain the first time he came into her room and saw her Adrien shrine. He looked like a stunned mullet for ten minutes straight while she stammered out some excuse about supporting him and liking the clothes. In hindsight it would've just made more sense to admit she likes him; she wouldn't be the first and she won't be the last.

She pushes these thoughts out of her head as she makes her way down the stairs to the courtyard. She didn't see the point in going home, so she just went to the library to get some homework done, which she did sitting on the floor of the religious section so Wayzz and Tikki could stretch their legs a little – plus they were both curious about all the talk about Harry Potter and wanted to check him out for themselves. Now it's about fifteen minutes before fencing starts (if she's remembering Adrien's schedule correctly, because while she no longer has it hung up on her wall she does still remember certain parts of it) and she knows that Adrien will be arriving shortly.

"What do you think he wants to talk about?" Tikki asks excitedly, peaking her head out of Marinette's purse as she sits down on a bench near the lockers.

"He probably just wants to see how I'm doing." Marinette smiles at Tikki – and Wayzz when he sticks his own head out to see what's happening around them – but doesn't comment on her kwami's enthusiasm. She's probably excited for tonight, Marinette muses to herself. She can only hope that Cat doesn't find it too weird she's left the fort up if he stops by to visit – the very thought has her, once again, grinning inanely – or that the kwamis don't get too excited and wake her parents.

Before she can get too wrapped up in her thoughts again, she spots Adrien making his way up the stairs. She's about to get up to meet him, but then he pauses and turns, and Kagami comes into view. Marinette hesitates, biting her lip, as she watches them have what seems to be a pretty deep conversation. They move to sit down together on a bench beside the doors. Adrien has his back to her, but Kagami's facing her, and she can see Kagami seeing her. She makes a face (not really in a negative way, more so in a confused and concerned way) and Marinette glances away, suddenly feeling guilty.

What am I thinking? I can't talk to Adrien before fencing because that's when he talks to Kagami. Kagami: his girlfriend. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. What was I thinking? I'm supposed to not like him anymore because he's Kagami's, not mine. He will never be mine, and he will never want to be mine, so I need to stop kidding myself and jumping at the chance to talk to him every chance I get. I need to be his friend, but I need to be Kagami's too. And that means I can't be here.

Marinette steals one last glance at Adrien and Kagami – neither notice, at least she hopes neither notice – before making a beeline for the locker room (which isn't hard because she is sitting right next to it) because she knows from being Ladybug that there's a window in the girl's bathroom that can't be locked, so she can transform and get home that way rather than risking getting caught by either Adrien or Kagami while leaving through the school doors. She pushes open the bathroom door and does a stall check to make sure no one's there, before double–checking that the window is actually unlocked, just in case.

She can feel her heart rate picking up, her fear of getting caught not just as Ladybug in the school bathroom but by Kagami in the school bathroom where Adrien's having his fencing practice. She opens her mouth to say 'Tikki, spots on!' but before the words can come out (and thank God for that!) the bathroom door is shoved open and her words dissolve into a strangled squeak.

"Hello, Marinette Dupain–Cheng." Lila smirks, crossing her arms. The air around her is tense, dangerous, and Marinette starts shaking like a leaf. "You didn't think I was going to stop making your life miserable just because you exposed me as a 'liar', did you?"