It was official, Marinette and Adrien were now dating. It was the day after the serious talk Luka and she had with Adrien. The plan was that Adrien wouldn't meet up with his Californian friends and instead hang out with them but she was called to the bakery that night to help so she didn't know if Adrien hung out with Luka or did meet up with his old friends.
Adrien met up with Marinette in the morning at the bakery and they walked to the soccer field together. The whole time Adrien was listening to music on his phone with earphones. Marinette kept glancing at him with a blush unsure what to say to him or if she should even say anything to him.
Adrien suddenly looked at her and smiled before taking his earphones off and handed the left earphone to her. "Want to listen?" Marinette blushed more as Adrien got closer to her so they could use the earphones together. Marinette put the earphone in her ear and she realized that Adrien was listening to the new song by Jagged Stone. "I didn't see my Californian friends last night after all, I hung out with Luka instead. He's more fun anyway."
Marinette nodded with a smile. "That's good to hear."
'I had the nerve to tell Adrien how I felt. Thanks to that letter I have been able to change.'
Later Marinette was watching the soccer practice from the bleachers when Juleka and Alya walked over to her. "Marinette, we want to know if you're hiding something from us again." They asked at the same time with serious looks.
Marinette blushed. "No… no I'm not I swear."
They raised an eyebrow. "Marinette?..."
Marinette sighed and blushed even more while tapping her index fingers together. "I mean I wasn't trying to hide anything but um…I told Adrien how I felt and… we're dating now."
The girls smiled and hugged her. "Way to go." Juleka stated.
"Congrats girl you got your first boyfriend!" Alya exclaimed and Marinette blushed even more.
"Alya not so loud he might hear you." Marinette mumbled.
"So anything else?" Juleka asked as she broke the hug. "You know that you may be hiding?"
"Anything else?" Marinette asked, confused.
"Adrien?!" The girls looked at the field when they heard Luka's exclamation and they saw Adrien collapse on the ground and Luka next to him calling out to him as the rest of the team surrounded them. The girls quickly got up and ran to them as Marinette's heart dropped.
Marinette bended down next to Adrien. "Adrien.. Adrien… Luka what do we do?"
"The nursery room is open for the athletics practicing during the break. We should take him there and see what the nurse says." Luka replied.
Marinette nodded as the soccer team picked Adrien up and took him to the nursery room. Marinette and the rest of the girls followed as Nino walked over to them. "Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?"
"Adrien collapsed during practice and he was taken to the nursery room." Alya replied.
"Then we should go." Nino stated and they walked to the nursery.
The nurse said that Adrien would be fine, he just collapsed from exhaustion and that he needed to eat more. Adrien was laying on the bed of the nursery and the group stayed by his side until he woke up.
Soon Adrien woke up and he sat up slowly. "We were so scared you passed out of nowhere." Alya stated.
"Sorry guys." Adrien replied.
"Are you alright?" Nino asked.
"Yea I just got dizzy." Adrien replied.
"Have you been eating enough?" Luka asked even though he already knew the answer to that.
"Yea." Adrien replied though everyone knew that he was lying.
"You need to be careful." Juleka stated.
"Yea Adrien you don't want to worry your girlfriend." Alya said teasingly as Marinette blushed.
Adrien looked at Marinette with a soft smile. "I wouldn't think about doing that on purpose."
"Wait who's girlfriend?" Nino asked, confused.
"Nino this is why you shouldn't be late for any group activities. Marinette and Adrien are dating now." Alya replied.
"Oh well congrats guys." Nino stated.
Adrien smiled. "Thanks dude." Marinette nodded with a smile.
Adrien's aunt went to pick him up then the group went their own ways. Well Luka walked with Marinette to the bakery. "What did your letter say about today? Is there anything in there about Adrien collapsing?"
"No nothing." Marinette replied.
"That's what I thought, there must be a whole new future now in just our world." Luka stated. "I bet it happened because he started playing soccer. He's still new to the team so he works twice as hard as anyone else because of that…" Luka sighs. "I guess he wore himself out. What if the stress of the team is more than what it's worth? Maybe I should have never asked him to join."
"Of course you should have asked him." Marinette replied. "He's having a great time playing soccer I can tell so what if his fainting wasn't in the letter that doesn't mean that it's the team's fault."
"These letters can change everything. We have no clue what will happen." Luka stated. "Which makes me nervous."
"You're right about that Luka every action has a reaction." Sazz said, walking over to them. "And you might not know what the consequences will be."
"Though sometimes the risks are worth it." Tikki added, also walked over to them. "The letters are only telling you what to do that wasn't done in their past because they think that will change the outcome but it's up to you to make the choices. Follow your heart."
'I never thought about it before. I know for a fact that the letter isn't wrong, it helped me out more times than I can count at this point.'
Before New Year's day 5 students of every class are chosen to compete in a relay race to celebrate. Adrien is one of the students chosen in our class and since he's the fastest he's the anchor. But on the day of the race during the relay Adrien is running in the lead when he suddenly twists his ankle and falls. As a result the class comes in last. Adrien feels responsible for the loss. For Adrien's sake do something so he's no longer a member of the relay team.
The day Adrien was called by Mrs. Bustier to let him know that he was chosen for the relay team Adrien went to tell Marinette and it so happened that the rest of the group was there since they went to buy something at the bakery so he told everyone.
"Adrien, if you want, I can run in your place. You don't have to force yourself to do this." Luka told him.
Marinette nodded. "Yea Luka's right if it's too much stress you should just drop out."
Adrien smiled at Marinette. "Thanks for worrying about me Mari and you too Luka but I'm actually looking forward to running. Being chosen actually made me feel valuable so I'm happy to do it."
"Are you sure? Do you really want to do this race?" Luka asked again and Adrien nodded.
"Back off Luka. Gzz." Juleka mumbled.
"Are you sure that it's not just you that doesn't want him to run?" Alya asked Luka.
"No it's just that during soccer practice… Remember when Adrien passed out? It just got me worried. What if he got hurt." Luka replied.
"We understand that." Juleka stated.
"But he says that he wants to do it." Alya added.
Adrien looked over at Marinette then he thought about how worried she looked when he fainted during soccer practice. "Although maybe I shouldn't because it would suck if I fell in the middle of the relay plus I promised my girlfriend I wouldn't make her worry on purpose." He said while smiling at Marinette and Marinette smiled back with a blush. Adrien looked over at Luka. "Luka do you want to run for me?"
Luka nodded. "Sure."
"Are you sure about this?" Juleka asked Adrien and he nodded.
Later Luka and Marinette were talking over the phone. "Maybe I shouldn't have offered to run." Luka stated. "I honestly didn't expect Adrien to take my offer. I guess we should have just let him run it."
"Yea but you only did what was written on the letter." Marinette replied.
The next morning Luka was leaving his room when he found Juleka and Alya standing in front of him with arms crossed. "Luka, are you hiding something from us?"
"About Adrien?" Alya finished for Juleka. Luka chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
That day Adrien asked Marinette to be with him while he tells Mrs. Bustier that he didn't want to be part of the relay team. Marinette agreed and when they arrived at the classroom they were surprised to see the rest of their friend group there and the rest of the relay team there too.
As confused as he was, Adrien walked over to Mrs Bustier. "Mrs. Bustier I want to talk to you about the relay race. I decided that I don't want to be the anchor."
Juleka stepped forward. "I'll do it. I want to be put in the relay."
"Me too, I would like to run in the relay too." Alya stated standing next to Juleka.
"We already talked about it and we don't mind." One of the members of the relay race stated.
"This is the first New Year race since Adrien transferred here and we thought it would be fun to do it together." Alya added.
Luka stood next to the girls. "I'll take Adrien's place as anchor. However, I prefer if he runs with us."
'There's no reason to get caught up in how accurate the letter is. Who knows if it's right or wrong. The only thing that I'm sure of is what I should do now.'
Marinette stood next to the girls and Luka. "Wait, I'm in too. I can run and I want to run. With Adrien." Adrien looked at her surprised but with a soft smile.
Alya looked behind her at Nino with a stern look. "Ehem Nino."
Nino sighs and stands next to the group. "Can I be in the ridiculous race too?" Everyone held back their laughter since Nino was known as the last person to be involved in sports willingly.
"And Adrien should still be the anchor." Alya stated.
Mrs. Bustier nodded. "Well if everybody already agreed it seems that the 6 of you will represent our class for the New Year's relay race."
'Today I picked a path that was different from the letter. I think it will be okay though. I just need to make sure it leads to a better future.'
"Thank you because now I'm looking forward to running even more." Adrien told Marinette with a smile and a wink as they were leaving the classroom with everyone else. "It sounds like fun." Marinette smiled and blushed.
"I'm happy with how things turned out." Luka told Marinette over the phone that evening. "Yea we might have made a different choice than what the letter wanted but if it ends with us saving Adrien then I say it's still a good choice."
"You couldn't be more right." Marinette replied. "Thanks Luka."
"For what? It's not like I really did anything the rest of you made it possible." Luka stated.
"For now I'm not going to depend too much on the letter. I'm going to try to focus on what I can do for Adrien instead. Like what I can do to make him happy." Marinette replied.
Luka chuckles. "Trust me you becoming his girlfriend was the happiest moment in his life up until now. Just be yourself and show him how much you care for him and that will make him happy."
Marinette smiled. "Again thanks Luka for everything."
"Anytime." Luka replied.
'I always carry the letter with me.'
Marinette put the letter in her drawer with a smile.
'Time to put it away.'
The next day the group practiced for the relay race and everyone was pretty fast…well everyone except Nino who was really slow. "Do you mind coming in last place?" Nino asked Adrien out of breath.
"It doesn't matter for me if we win or lose as long as we have fun together." Adrien replied with a smile.
After a while the group decided to take a break and meet up again that evening so everyone started heading their own way home when Nino stopped Alya. "Hey before you go home can we talk?"
Alya nodded. "Sure."
"Mari, do you want me to walk you home?" Adrien asked Marinette with a soft smile.
Marinette nodded, smiling back. "I would love that."
They were walking to the bakery talking and laughing together when Marinette suddenly tripped on a rock and was about to fall but Adrien caught her in time… this led for them to be very close together. Closer than they ever have been.
"Are you okay?" Adrien asked with a blush.
Marinette was blushing too as she quickly stood straight up again. "Yea sorry!" Adrien smiled and extended his hand to her but Marinette was confused. "What is it?"
Adrien frowned slightly as he put his hand back down. "Nothing I guess, well let's continue walking." Adrien said and Marinette nodded.
"So you just wanted me to stay so you could keep on practicing?" Alya asked, confused.
"No, that's a reason why but there's something important I want to talk to you about." Nino replied
At home Marinette kept thinking about Adrien extending his hand to her.
'What was that? Maybe… maybe he was trying to tell me something.'
That evening Adrien went to pick up Marinette so they could walk together to the park when Adrien did the same hand gesture to her as earlier and like before she was confused. She felt like she should know what it meant but she didn't. "What's wrong, I don't get it."
Adrien frowned and put his hand back down. "Nothing. Sorry."
The rest of the evening felt awkward for Marinette. She didn't know what to do. She hoped to talk to Adrien later after the group practiced but Adrien had to leave early because his aunt called him.
Marinette sighed and sat down on a bench. "Are you okay?" Luka asked her as he sat next to her.
"Did your letter mention Adrien today?" Marinette asked softly.
"No." Luka replied. "I thought you wouldn't depend on the letter too much anymore."
"Yea but I'm worried about Adrien." Marinette stated.
"Well you can depend on your friends too." Luka stated gesturing in front of them and when Marinette looked up she saw Alya Nino and Juleka standing in front of them. "You got all of our support."
"So what's wrong?" Alya asked with a smile.
Marinette nodded. "It's just that Adrien has been acting a little weird today. He kept holding out his hand to me then didn't talk and I asked him about it but he won't answer and he gets this real sad look on his face so I thought maybe something bad happened."
The girls bursted out in laughter as the boys chuckled and Marinette was even more confused. "You're so cute that was probably Adrien's way of asking to hold hands with you." Juleka stated.
"I bet he did look really sad." Alya added.
Once Marinette realized it her eyes widened as she blushed before she facepalmed herself. "I'm the worst girlfriend ever."
"Don't put yourself down, Marinette Adrien is your first boyfriend after all." Luka stated. "Who knows how many girlfriends Adrien had besides you and Kagami, but you are a special girl and I bet he didn't know how to directly ask you. Though if I was him I would have used real words and said `hey why don't we hold hands?'"
Nino nodded. "Same."
"Marinette you're overthinking things." Juleka stated and Alya nodded.
"Marinette, maybe you should tell them everything." Luka suggested.
Marinette nodded. "I got this letter a while ago by this woman named Tikki. The letter was from my future self. The letter asked me to save Adrien so um… I would appreciate it if you all helped me."
"Sure." The girls said at the same time with smiles on their faces.
"Took you long enough to ask us though." Alya added.
"We have a little surprise for you." Juleka stated as they both took out letters and Marinette was surprised.
"Sorry that we didn't tell you before." Alya stated.
"But we got letters from our future selves too. Crazy huh?" Juleka finished.
"They asked me about the letters the other day." Luka stated.
"And guess who had something to tell me earlier." Alya stated with a smile as Nino also took out a letter. "Nino also got a letter."
"We all ended up with the same mission. We can save Adrien together." Juleka replied.
"And we're here to guide you." Tikki said as she suddenly appeared with Sazz and three others. "Now that you 5 know the truth let us formally introduce ourselves to everyone. Hi I'm Tikki Marinette's guardian."
"I'm Sazz Luka's guardian." Sazz stated.
"I'm Trixx Alya's guardian." Trixx, a woman with orange hair and purple eyes said.
"I'm Roarr Juleka's guardian." Roarr, a woman with pink hair and orange eyes said.
"And I'm Wayzz Nino's guardian." Wayzz, a man with green hair and yellow eyes finished.
Marinette looked at the guardians then at her friends with a smile.
'I know that my friends will never change, not even 10 years from now and we can save Adrien together.'