Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 17,
Adrien didn't avoid Marinette, but he didn't say much to her. He sat next to her during lunch, and study hall, and in the library. He knew that Marinette needed time to heal, but he still wanted to show her that he was there for her.
At the end of the day, the children gathered at their lockers and Adrien tried to hide the fact that he was staring at Marinette. She walked over to her locker and she was gonna open it, but stopped when Rose came over to talk to her.
"Dude what are you doing?" Nino asked and Adrien bit his lip. He had his locker cracked just a little. He noticed that when he punched his locker, he could stare at Marinette with relative ease.
"Just noticing the damage I did to my locker." Adrien said, and Nino's eyes widened.
"Wait, are you telling me that you're the one who did that?" Nino asked and Adrien rose an eyebrow at him.
"How did you think it got busted?" Adrien asked and Nino shrugged.
"I just thought someone tried to break into your locker and got annoyed." Nino said.
"What? Why?" Adrien asked.
"Well, if someone was desperate, maybe they thought you had money in your locker. Everyone knows you're not a poor boy." Nino said, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. Adrien paused as he considered that possibility.
"And there is also the chance a crazed fan tried to get some sort of memento. After all, you are a famous model. Heck, after that commercial came out, people were more obsessed with you, then Ladybug and Cat Noir." Nino said.
"I better stop you there, before you come up with another example." Adrien said. He looked over at Marinette, through his locker. Alya walked over to Marinette, so Rose walked away. Adrien took a breath of annoyance, but he couldn't really get mad at two best friends talking to each other.
"Sorry dude. My point was that I didn't think you dented your own locker." Nino said and Adrien shrugged.
"I should probably talk to someone about fixing it. I wonder how much it will cost me." Adrien said, turning back to Nino with a small smile.
"Good thing I already brought your gift, birthday boy." Adrien said and Nino rolled his eyes.
"Dude, you know my birthday is tomorrow." Nino said and Adrien shrugged.
"I know, I know. I'm just a little worried that, when father hears about the locker, I won't be allowed to go to your party." Adrien said and Nino looked at he damaged metal.
"You know, I bet you could fix that yourself. Then no one has to pay for it, you take responsibility for your mistake, and no one has to tell your dad." Nino said and Adrien bit his lip.
"I don't know, do you really think that could work?" Adrien said.
"Well, you might need to carry the door to the arts classroom, or to the workshop classroom, so you might want to have to have someone help you to carry the door or something." Nino said. And then Nino saw something, and he looked over Adrien's shoulder.
"What's that, Marinette?" Nino said. A black envelope fell out of her locker and Nino scooped it up before Marinette could.
"Nino, that's Marinette's. It's probably from a secret admirer; how cute." Alya said as Nino held it up to the light.
"Ah, man, I can't see what it says. The envelope is too dark." Nino complained and Alya looked over his shoulder, at the letter.
"Is that of a bell sticker? If the dude wanted to be romantic, he should have went with a heart; that's a classic." Alya said. Suddenly someone slipped the letter out of Nino's hands.
"Hey-"
"Excuse me, guys, but this isn't yours." Adrien said, letter in hand.
He turned and handed Marinette her letter, making sure she saw the little bell sticker Shining at her. And like he hoped she would, she instantly recognized who the letter was from, and her whole face lit up like a shining star. Marinette bit her lip gently as she took the letter with one hand and tucked hair behind her ear with the other hand.
"Thank you, Adrien." Marinette said, carefully slipping the letter into her bag. She grabbed a book out of her locker and Adrien noticed a light pink dust in her face. Adrien couldn't believe that he made her blush.
"Oh my god. You know who sent you that letter, don't you?" Alya said and Marinette shrugged.
"I might have someone in mind." Marinette cheekily responded and Nino wrapped an arm around Alya.
"Then, spill, girl. Who went the letter?" Alya asked and Marinette straightened her back.
"Just because I think I know who sent the letter doesn't mean I know who really sent it. Besides, if this really is a secret admirer, I don't want to embarrass them by showing everyone the letter. What kind of a girl do you take me for?" Marinette answered smoothly and Adrien was highly impressed.
"I'm not asking you to show everyone, I'm asking you to show me." Alya said and Nino blinked.
"What about me?" Nino said and Alya waved him off.
"You're terrible at keeping secrets without someone to regulate you, and you know it." Alya said. Nino was clearly insulted, but he decided not to dwell on the subject, so he remained silent.
"No dice, Alya. Sorry." Marinette said, closing her locker and walking away.
"But, Marinette." Alya said, pulling away from Nino and went after her.
"I'm your best friend." The boys heard Alya say and Nino chuckled softly.
"Man, she's cute." Nino said and Adrien smiled.
"Well, for the sake of that admirer, let's hope Marinette can resist Alya." Adrien said.
"Yo, speaking of Marinette. Looks like you two are better now." Nino said and Adrien nodded.
"You think? I wasn't sure. I mean we barely spoke to each other today." Adrien said.
"True, but this time she thanked you and she said it with a smile on her face." Nino said and Adrien sighed.
"I don't know if that smile really counts. I think she was just excited about getting that letter." Adrien said and Nino shrugged.
"It's still a step in the right direction." Nino said and Adrien hesitated.
"Hope you're right." Adrien said and Nino looked down at his phone.
"Come on, dude, this is Marinette we're talking about. Chick's crazy about you." Nino said and Adrien bit his lip. Then Nino realized what he said.
"By that, I mean she's crazy about your friendship." Nino said quickly and Adrien his how amused he felt.
"Of course, what else could you possibly mean?" Adrien asked. Nino let out a soft squeak, clearing indicating that his mind went blank.
"Oh, dude, is that the time? I better get home and finish my birthday playlist." Nino said and Adrien blinked.
"Don't tell me that you're gonna work your own birthday party?" Adrien asked and Nino shook his head.
"Well, no, but I'm the best DJ I know. So I'm gonna put together the music today, so I can spend time with all my friends." Nino said and Adrien chuckled lightly.
"Alright Nino. I'll talk to you later." Adrien said and Nino ran off. It was a little surprising for Adrien to learn that Nino knew about Marinette's secret crush on him. It would make sense for Alya to tell Nino, especially since Nino was his best friend.
Under normal circumstances, Adrien might be a little annoyed at Nino for hiding something from him. But considering the fact that Adrien knew the secret, and had some of his own, the hero thought he could let this slide. Also, it was oddly fun to tease Nino, though Adrien knew he really shouldn't poke the beast. Adrien slipped some books into his bag and went out to his bodyguard.