Chapter Forty Five – Last Day of School
Three years later . . .
Marinette closes her eyes and focuses on her breathing. She feels her chest rise as she inhales slowly, and fall as she gradually exhales. She repeats the motion until her heartrate subsides and she feels her panic recede. The cold step she's sitting on helps ground her, and she pushes her palms into the rough surface of it almost painfully, knowing that when she opens her eyes and looks at her palms that they'll have little indentations from the concrete on them.
The wind blows, billowing her dress around her legs a bit, and pushes her loose hair into her face. She tucks it behind her ear in vain, knowing that it won't stay there long. She hears footsteps approach, and only jumps slightly when two hands suddenly appear over her eyes.
"Guess who?" They say, their voice changed to disguise it.
"Donald Duck?" Marinette guesses, turning her head to try and look behind her at Adrien.
"Daffy Duck," He says, with a hint of disappointment. He moves to sit beside her on the step, leaning back on his hands to tilt his face towards the sun, eyes closed. "How could you get the two mixed up?"
"Because they sound the same?"
Adrien turns to look at her so quickly with the most affronted look on his face that she has to clamp her hands over her mouth to stop laughing.
"How do they sound the same? Donald doesn't talk and Daffy has a lisp! They're completely different!"
"And you're utterly ridiculous!" Chloé says, walking over to them. She sits on Marinette's other side and kisses her cheek, before depositing a small jewellery box with a bow around it in her lap. "Congratulations!"
"Aww!" Marinette coos, picking up the box to inspect the ribbon – pink, with little white polka dots. "You didn't have to get me anything!"
"Well, I had to give you something, and it was going to be something that I can't gift to you in public, but someone didn't want to come over last night." Chloé gives Marinette the stink eye, which Marinette sticks her tongue out at.
"You know my parent would never have let me come over."
"You could've snuck out." Adrien says, shrugging when she glares at him. "You did that when we were dating."
"That's because your dad was still reluctant to let you out of the house for reasons other than work and school." Marinette rolls her eyes.
"Thank god Nathalie straightened him out!" Nino chimes in, wriggling in between Marinette and Adrien, despite the blond's protest that he was sitting there first. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here today!"
"Oh, finally! I thought you'd never get here." Marinette says, bumping her elbow against Nino's. "You know it starts in ten minutes, right."
"And you know that Juleka and Rose will be running out here any second to get you two." Chloé says, giving up on Marinette opening her gift and reaching over to undo the ribbon for her.
"Nah, Nath and Marc will do that. Jules and Rose will be too busy getting ready for their music number." Marinette says, taking the ribbon from Chloé. She removes the hair tie keeping half her hair up, ties the ribbon around it, then puts her hair back in a half–up, half down, using the ribbon to create a bow once the tie is secure.
"What are you doing out here anyway?" Adrien asks, leaning forward to look past Nino at her.
"I needed a minute."
Nino frowns at her in concern. "Panic attack?"
"Not yet, but I'm on the verge."
"There's nothing to worry about." Adrien says, putting his hand on her knee briefly.
"Easy for you to say!" Chloé says, "You've already graduated!"
"So have you!"
"Yeah, but I wasn't nervous!"
"Liar!"
"I am not!"
Nino shares a look with Marinette. "We're surrounded by idiots."
She grins, glancing fondly between the two blonds. "Yeah, but so are they."
"You're the one who dated both of them." Nino reminds her, earning a flick of his ear.
"Must we speak of that?" Marinette asks, shuddering a little.
Marinette and Adrien started dating at the end of the summer before they started lycée. They dated for just under a year, and it was three painfully awkward and largely unsuccessful attempts at taking their relationship further (to a more . . . intimate level) that forced the two of them to admit that they really just didn't work. And that while Marinette was attracted to Adrien – to boys – she was just not attracted to them enough to want to sleep with them. Chloé on the other hand . . . yeah, Marinette's definitely attracted to Chloé. In a lot of ways.
The two of them are still very close, and have remained good friends ever since. Adrien's been on a few dates with some girls – and one boy – but they never turned into anything, while Marinette and Chloé have been dating for almost two years now.
Nino, on the other hand, has only recently started dating for the first time since ending things with Alya. Not because he was still hung up on her or anything, just because he hadn't met anyone he liked until Lucy.
"Only to make you squirm." Nino says, smirking at her.
Marinette rolls her eyes again, before looking back at the box. "So, what exactly did you get me?" She asks, cutting across Chloé and Adrien's argument.
"You'll have to open it to find out." She says, leaning forward and trying not to look too eager.
Marinette shakes her head, starting to feel a little embarrassed now that everyone's looking at her, and starts to open the box. She pauses before she can see anything, and gives Chloé a suspicious look. "You're not pulling some crazy stunt and proposing, are you?"
Chloé's eyes widen and her cheeks turn red, while the boys snicker. "Of course not! Our parents would kill us! And I would never propose to you on the school steps with you holding the box! I would–"
"Leave it a surprise!" Marinette cries, almost slapping her hand over Chloé's mouth.
Adrien snorts. "Please, we all know that if anyone's going to propose it's going to be you, Mari."
"Yeah, not that Chloé will have any idea what you're saying until you squeeze your eyes shut and shove the ring at her." Nino adds, giggling.
Marinette gives them both deadpanned looks, but Chloé tilts her head thoughtfully.
"Actually, yeah. I think that's how it's going to go to."
Marinette groans, dropping her head into her hands. "I hate you all. So much."
"Aww," Chloé says, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and pressing a kiss to her temple, smudging her lipstick there a little. "You love me though, right?"
"Nope. Hate you. All of you."
"Just open the box already!" Nino says, shaking Marinette a little to get her to look up. "We have five minutes."
Marinette automatically opens the box, and smiles at the simple silver chain with the little cherry blossom charm hanging on it. The petals are decorated with a pink jewel each, with the centre displaying what Marinette wouldn't be surprised to find out is a diamond (her girlfriend is Chloé Bourgeois afterall).
"Do you love it?" Chloé asks.
"I do," Marinette says, tracing her finger over the charm. "And I love you," She says, pulling Chloé into a kiss.
"Eww," Nino and Adrien say, good naturedly.
Without breaking away from each other, Chloé and Marinette automatically raise a finger at the two boys.
"There you are!" Nathaniel cries, and the four of them turn to see him and Marc at the entrance to the school, both looking exasperated. "They've already started! Juleka, Rose, Ivan and Luka are waiting for their keyboardist, Adrien, and you are supposed to be on stage to give our goodbye speech, miss School Captain!" With that, Nathaniel shoots them one last glare before spinning around dramatically and marching back into the school.
Marc looks at them and grins. "He's sexy when he's mad, isn't he?" Before anyone can reply, Nathaniel marches back through the door and grabs Marc's arm.
"I said hurry the fuck up! We don't have all day!"
"Okay, we're coming." Adrien says, getting up and pulling Nino to his feet.
"Is Lucy here already?" Nino asks, as they follow Nathaniel and Marc into the school.
"Yep," Marc says. "She's sitting with Alix and Max. I think Kim's here too. It's sad that Ondine and him broke up."
"I think they'll get back together." Marinette says, fiddling with the necklace now hanging from her neck.
"Can we hurry it up!" Nathaniel cries, throwing his hands into the air. "We're going to be late!"
"Eh," Adrien says, winking at Marinette. "It wouldn't be the first time."