Chapter Thirty Two – Fridge Magnents

Marinette ignores the look Alya's giving her. She knows the Ladyblogger isn't happy that Marinette's been avoiding her, but she doesn't want to deal with her right now. She can't handle Alya in interrogation mode, and she's too tired to try and decipher the meaning behind her questions directed towards Luka's genitals (not that she even has anything to say regarding Luka in general, though, since they haven't spoken since the night of the party when she told him that she couldn't have a relationship with him because he deserves someone who can give him their whole heart. He understood, thankfully, but it doesn't mean it didn't hurt him any less, and she doesn't want to risk upsetting him even more by her classmates thinking they slept together).

She loves Alya, she really does, but sometimes she's just exhausting and Marinette needs a break.

"I want you to split into pairs of two, with one pair of three, and choose a text to study and write a report on, which you will present to the class on Monday. You will have the rest of the day to work either in the school library or together at home, and I trust that you will continue to work together over the weekend to complete the task so it's ready to present." Ms Bustier smiles at the class, returning to the front after handing each student the assignment sheet with the marking criteria on the back. "You may pair up now and go to your chosen place of study once you have told me who you're working with and what text you have chosen."

The class fills with chatter and the sound of books and pencil cases being put away as everyone starts turning to their friends and packing up in preparation for going to the library. Alix and Max are the first to leave, followed by Ivan and Mylène and Chloé and Sabrina, and then Rose and Juleka, who are joined by a sheepish looking Lila. Marinette isn't surprised that Lila's working in the same pairing as Rose since she's the only one who has already forgiven her for lying to them because she's Rose and that's just what Rose does. Plus, Lila was never really mean to her, so she has no reason to feel betrayed to the point of resentment.

"So, Mari," Alya starts, turning to her. The mischievous look in her eyes lets Marinette know she's plotting something, and Marinette's positive she doesn't want anything to do with it. "Now that we have the whole day together, you can finally tell me why you were so happy the other day." She wriggles her eyebrows suggestively.

"U–Uh–"

"Doyouwannaworkwithme?"

Marinette blinks in surprise and turns to stare at the blond boy sitting in front of her, trying to decipher the sentence that leaped out of his mouth faster than a frog on steroids.

Nino raises an eyebrow at his friend, before turning to his girlfriend and taking her hand. "Hamlet?" He asks, tilting his head in question. She purses her lips, eyes wondering back to Marinette, before nodding almost reluctantly and standing up. "See ya, dude, Mar–Bear." He nods at his two friends, but they're both still staring at each other so don't notice.

"What's gotten into them?" Alya asks as they walk towards Ms Bustier. Nino can only shrug.

"Do you want to work with me?" Adrien repeats, slower, and he feels his cheeks flush darky as she studies him.

He scratches the back of his neck and shifts his gaze down to her desk as if it's the most interesting piece of wood he's ever seen. Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, he chants in his head, praying that they get to work together. They don't get too many out of class partner assignments, and usually when they do they don't get to pick their partners and he never gets to work with Marinette and it is so unfair.

"Okay."

Adrien's eyes flick up to hers and he beams, resisting the urge to pull her into a hug as his excitement bubbles over. "Really?" She nods, giving him a rare genuine smile and he feels like his heart is about to burst out of his chest with the force of its beats.

"And what text are you studying?" Ms Bustier asks, appearing beside Adrien's desk with her tablet, finger poised at the ready to add their chosen text beside their names.

"Um . . ." Adrien glances at the prescribed text list. He kneels on his seat and leans over Marinette's desk to read off of her sheet so he knows where she's looking. Her finger hovers beside the Tempest and Adrien meets her gaze, giving her a soft smile to let her know he agrees. "The Tempest." He tells Ms Bustier, who nods approvingly.

"Good choice," She smiles at them before returning to her desk.

Marinette puts her things in her backpack and stands up, wobbling a little on her feet at the sudden change of momentum. She squeezes her eyes closed as her vision blurs and presses her palm into her desk to steady herself. When she opens her eyes Adrien's still putting his things away and doesn't appear to have noticed her dizzy spell, thankfully.

"Ready to go?" She asks, stepping down the steps onto the main floor.

He beams at her and slings his bag over his shoulder, getting up quickly to join her. He reaches to grab her hand, before coming back to himself and putting it in his pocket so he no longer has the temptation to do so. Hopefully he can use their time together to tell her that he and Kagami have broken up. He knows she already knows, but she hasn't mentioned anything and he still doesn't quite understand why she got so upset yesterday.

Plagg said it probably wasn't because she was upset for him and Kagami, more so that her feelings just bubbled over and she could do nothing but let them out, which Adrien certainly has plenty of experience with. His way of letting them out, however, include going for a run over the rooftops in a cat sit rather than crying himself to sleep like Marinette almost did, if he hadn't managed to calm her enough and tuck her into bed. He'd wanted to stay the night with her again, but he knew there was a risk that Nathalie or even his father (a smaller risk, really) would venture into his room and discover he wasn't there, so he waited until she fell asleep before heading home. Not that he was able to sleep himself, though, because he was too caught up in his head on how to help her and what he could do.

He and Marinette were the last to leave the classroom so they're not surprised to see majority of the class sitting at the tables in the library. Nino waves at them, having seen them enter, and they return his wave before moving to a free table a little away from everyone else's. Marinette knows there shouldn't be any reason for her to distance herself form her classmates still, but after all of these months it's almost second nature. She just feels bad that Adrien's being isolated with her. When he asked to be her partner he didn't sign up for this.

"Sorry." She tells him, and he stops what he's doing immediately and looks at her in confusion, tilting his head.

"Pardon?"

"I'm sorry we're not sitting with the others." She shifts uncomfortably and fiddles with her sleeve.

Today she's gotten a bit more daring – mostly due to her jeans being in the wash – and is wearing a navy–blue bowknot waist swing dress with long sleeves and black tights. It's not typically what she would wear to school (even when she was always wearing her designs to school, back when she still designed) but after crying for most of the night she wanted to feel a little more alive, a little more like her old self. Plus, she made this dress a while ago and has never worn it. She figured she may as well while the weather is suitable.

Adrien frowns at her in concern and reaches across the table, putting his hand over hers almost on impulse. "Don't be sorry. It's their own fault for not believing you." Her skin is soft against his fingers, but he can't help but notice that it's also quite cold, despite the library being pretty toasty. "Plus this way we won't be interrupted as much, and I'll get you all to myself."

His eyes widen at his statement in surprise, having only intended to say the first part of the sentence, and he looks at Marinette in horror, fearing she'll be repulsed from the seemingly possessive remark he accidentally made. If he was Cat Noir he'd just smile and play it off like it was a joke. But he's not Cat Noir. He's Adrien. And Adrien doesn't have the confidence to do that.

"I–I mean . . ."

Marinette blinks at him in surprise, and perhaps it's lack of sleep or the fact that Adrien's wearing a black jacket today and it's reminding her of Cat's suit, but she finds herself rolling her eyes and smirking lightly. "Let's just do our work, Casanova. We decided on Tempest, right?"

Adrien nods quickly, thankful that she seems to have decided to not comment on his overall weirdness, and reluctantly removes his hand from hers to finish taking his things out of his bag. They use their tablets to access the libraries search engine and look up their sources, then Adrien goes to get the books they need while Marinette brainstorms ideas for the presentation (they can make a PowerPoint, a video, or a poster, and they both agreed a PowerPoint would be the best option, especially since neither feel like hunting down cardboard to make a poster, and a video requires them having to edit it on top of doing their research and coming up with a speech to present).

"I think Alya and Nino are going with a video." Adrien says, plopping down in the seat beside Marinette. He tells himself it's so they can work easier and not because he wants to be closer to her, but even he knows he's kidding himself. "I overheard them arguing over whose camera to use."

Marinette snorts slightly and glances up at him before returning her eyes to the mind map she has created to finish off the word she is writing. "I hope they go with Nino's. He has software on his computer that he uses to edit his films, and it takes a while to sync up a new device to it."

Adrien hums and reads over what she's written on the mind map while she inspects the books to make sure they have everything they need. "This looks really good." Adrien says, grinning at her.

Her eyes meet his and she smiles. "Thanks."

There's a piece of hair falling in her face and he reaches up and tucks it behind her ear, letting his fingers linger against the soft skin of her cheek. Her breath catches in her throat and her lips part in surprise, and his eyes immediately move down to them at the movement.

She's mesmerising and he can't look away. The blue of her dress makes her eyes stand out and he doesn't think he's ever seen them so blue. He's sure he's never seen eyes this blue before, and he's positive he never will. Marinette's eyes are one of a kind. They're the bluest of blues and he wants to drown in the colour except he doesn't because if he drowns he'll be dead which means he won't get to see her ever again (because he'll be dead) and then he'll never be happy because he doesn't have his princess and–

The bell goes and he jumps, almost falling out of his seat in his haste to lean away from Marinette. He didn't even notice that he was leaning in closer and if he'd just moved another centimetre closer they would've been kissing and he wants to kiss her and he knows that once he starts he won't be able to stop so that would be a bad idea because they're in school, in the library, surrounded by their classmates and he hasn't even told her he loves her and he has to go home for lunch and they need to finish the project and–

"I–I'll see you after lunch." Marinette grabs her things quickly and rushes away, cheeks burning, and all he can do is watch.

Oh shit, oh fuck, oh fridge magnets. He drops his head into his hands and groans. There's no way she didn't notice how close they were and that they were a centimetre away from kissing and he can only hope he hasn't fucked everything up and scared her away with his lack of self–control. He feels an insistent poking in his side and looks down to see Plagg has wondered out of his jacket pocket and is sitting on his thigh, giving him an unimpressed look.

"Are you going to go after her or are you going to be a coward and hide in the library and let your relationship crumble?" He raises an eyebrow at Adrien's impression of a fish, before rolling his eyes. "Kit, stop freaking out and go after her. You love her and I'm sick and tired of watching you two go around in circles. If you don't fix this then screw your identity, I'm going to sit the two of you down and slap some sense into you!" He finishes his little rant with a huff and crosses him arms, staring at his holder in a way that dares him to argue with him.

Plagg doesn't do relationships or lovey–dovey stuff or plans, but he does do threats and ultimatums. He just hopes that Adrien doesn't see that he's bluffing, because there is no way he's going to risk getting a first–hand experience of the wrath of Tikki if he blows the cover on their identities before they're ready. Even if it would make his kitten and the princess happy in the end, no amount of love will cancel out releasing that nightmare.