Marinette's POV
"You want to what?"
I suddenly feel as though I've made a mistake, and hastily try to backtrack as I climb off his lap. "You know what? Nevermind. It was stup-"
"Woah, hey. Calm down." He quickly tries to stop me from spiraling, pulling me back onto his lap before clarifying, "I don't mind you watching, Mari… Honestly, the thought is kind of hot… I just wasn't expecting that. And as much as I would love to give you a private show right now… we'll be late for class if I do."
I blush in embarrassment, having forgotten we are currently on the roof of the school.
Dropping my head on his shoulder, I groan before responding, "I forgot we're at school. Fuck."
"If you're good, not only will I give you a private show, but I might be able to convince a certain feline to give you one as well later this week." He runs his hands up and down my thighs as he talks, giving me goosebumps.
"And what if I'm bad?" I whisper teasingly in his ear, giving it a playful nibble.
"You lose both shows." I yank my head back to stare at him in outrage.
"That's not fair!"
He smirks, "Those are the rules. Behave today or lose your rewards."
I pout and stand up, yanking my skirt down indignantly and ignoring the lingering arousal.
"Fine, then you can deal with that by yourself," I fling back in annoyance, bending down to grab my bag from where I left it against the wall.
He laughs. "I was already planning on it. If I didn't…" He gets up and walks behind me, grabbing my hips to growl in my ear. "We wouldn't be making it to class."
I whimper as a fresh wave of arousal hits me. I hear him intake sharply, but I know there's no way he could know how wet I am.
"Now be a good girl and go downstairs so I can handle this."
I start to walk away.
"Forgetting something?" He calls to me.
I turn around in confusion, only for him to slam my back against the door to the stairs, pressing his lips to mine feverishly. Just as I start to respond, he rips himself away from me, panting.
"Now you can go to class." I blush and scurry into the stairwell to catch my breath before descending back into my personal hell.
I stop in the bathroom to clean myself up after my activities with Adrien and slip on the spare pair of underwear I began carrying when the love square began. Although, it's really more of a triangle since I'm two of the people in it. Or a "V," since Adrien says he won't be with Cat Noir. Whatever.
I hear the bell ring, causing me to push the thought aside, wash my hands, and make my way to the classroom. Upon arriving, I find Adrien in his seat, giving me a dark look.
Shit. Does being late count as being bad? It wasn't on purpose!
"Marinette, you're late."
"Sorry, Ms. Bustier. I had to stop in the bathroom," I respond, sounding like the girl I was before. She seems surprised, and maybe that's why she lets it go.
"Don't let it happen again. Please take your seat."
"Yes, Ms. Bustier. Sorry again." I glance at Adrien and see his eyes shine with approval before I run up the stairs to my seat in the back.
I can hear Alix whisper to Kim, "Does she have a split personality or something? She was almost normal again!"
I consider making a comment, but I don't want Adrien to take away my rewards. Plus, I kind of want to hear what they say…
"Maybe because she doesn't want us to know about what she's been doing to Adrien. Did you hear what Lila said?"
"Look, I know Marinette was extreme, but even I'm finding it hard to believe she would touch Adrien against his will. Especially because she could barely talk to him. I know she can now, but that's too far, even for her."
"But what if it's true?"
"Alya said Adrien threatened her. He said if anyone says anything like that again that he'll get lawyers involved. He told her that he didn't even consider her a friend anymore."
I let out a quiet gasp. They don't seem to notice, but Adrien's head whips around in concern as if he heard me. He sends me a questioning look before pulling out his phone under the desk. While he types, I listen to the rest of the conversation.
"Adrien said that?"
"Apparently. She was shaking. Seemed pretty upset, maybe even a bit scared."
"Didn't know he had it in him… But if he defended her that much, there's no way she could be doing anything he didn't want."
I feel a little bit of hope that maybe they believe in me. Maybe someone else is on my side…
"Makes me wonder what Lila saw. Maybe she misunderstood?"
"That has to be it. There's no way she would lie to us! Especially not about something so serious."
My hope comes crashing down, just as my phone vibrates in my bag. It's better this way. Even if they didn't believe this, they still believed all of those other lies. I can't let myself forget that again. I pull out my phone to read the message.
"I'm letting you being late pass since you were nice about it. You okay, though? I turned around, and you seemed pretty startled." -Adrien
I sneak a glance at Ms. Bustier before quickly typing a response.
"You told Alya she isn't your friend anymore and threatened her with lawyers? For me?"
"Yes." His one-word answer isn't enough for me.
"Why?"
"I don't need someone in my life who betrays someone she considered her best friend. She doesn't deserve it, and I want nothing to do with people who hurt you. I love you too much for that."
"And the lawyers?" I look up at him, and his whole body is tense with anger as he types his reply.
"This kind of rumor can ruin someone's whole life, Mari. And I'm not fucking letting that happen to you."
The bell for next period rings before I can respond. I gather my things, but wait for the room to clear before I head out. Adrien's waiting for me in the hallway. I run to him and fling my arms around him as tight as I can with tears in my eyes. His arms wrap around me just as tight, his head buried in my neck.
"Thank you." I whisper. He pulls back and presses a kiss to my forehead, his hands wiping my tears before they fall.
"You never have to thank me for defending you. I would do anything for you, Marinette," he presses a quick kiss to my lips before grabbing my hand. "Come on, we can't be late."
We rush to Ms. Mendeleev's class and make it just in time. Instead of heading to his normal seat, Adrien follows me to mine at the back of the room. I used to sit next to Alya, but Ms. Mendeleev moved the seats around because we talked too much. Now she sits next to Nathaniel. I ended up alone in the back, which was perfect when everyone cut me off.
"Mr. Agreste, please return to your seat."
"Actually, Ms. Mendeleev, I was wondering if I could be Marinette's lab partner? My table has three people at it with Lila's tinnitus, and Marinette's all alone." She considers what he says.
"You're right, Adrien. This actually works out perfectly. I'm giving out a project for the rest of the semester. It will be worth half your grade, and your partner will be your seatmate. Now Marinette won't have to do it alone."
"Thanks, Ms. Mendeleev!" Adrien replies.
"But-" I hear from Lila in the front.
"No 'but's, Ms. Rossi. And I'm still waiting on that doctor's note." She levels a stare at her, while I snort. She won't be getting a note.
"My doctor's office hasn't gotten back to me yet!"
"You have until next week to provide one, or I'm calling your mother."
"But-"
"That's enough, Ms. Rossi. Now, onto the project."
I share a smile with Adrien and he scoots closer to me, placing his hand on my thigh. My breath catches and he smirks but doesn't move his hand.
"Since I am handling the health requirement for your grade, we will be alternating days between health and chemistry. The project is for health. You and your partner have just gotten married, and one of you is pregnant."
Max, Kim, and Alix are the only remaining table of three, and they quickly put their hands up. She glances at them before saying, "You three can figure out who got Alix pregnant amongst yourselves and how your relationship dynamic is functioning." I snicker as they lower their hands, and she continues. "If you are a female couple, you have a sperm donor. Your project is going to be based on making your relationship work. I'm going to hand out packets with your assigned jobs and salaries. Use this information to plan your married life. You must at minimum pick out somewhere to live, transportation, plan an event, and plan for your child. Extra credit is available for those who go the extra mile, but I am not going to tell you how to do so. You have the rest of this class period to get started."
She quickly walks around and hands out packets. I zone out until Adrien and I receive ours.
"I'm a fashion designer," I say happily.
"I'm a physics teacher with a part-time modeling job. I guess I'm showing off your work in my free time." He waggles his eyebrows at me.
"I'll try not to be too handsy when I take your measurements," I wink.
"Maybe that's how you got pregnant," he jokes, squeezing my thigh with the hand I forgot was there.
I blush, but retort lowly, "I'd like to think my physics teacher wasn't happy with my grade and thought I needed to be punished." I reach over to place my hand on his thigh and squeeze him back. He tenses.
"Marinette…"
"Yes, Professor?"
"Fuck," he swears under his breath, closing his eyes as if begging for patience. I giggle.
"What's the matter? You can dish it, but you can't take it?"
He growls before responding. "Move your hand or lose your rewards. Your choice."
I yank my hand away like he's on fire. "Good girl."
"It's hardly fair that I have to move mine but yours stays."
"I'll move mine, but only because if I don't, I'm not going to be able to stop."
He moves his hand to his lap, and I respond, "Glad to know I'm not the only one affected."
"Not even close. At least yours isn't visible. Look at what you did to me." He whines, gesturing at his pants.
"Sorry, Hotstuff. I'll make it up to you later," I wink.
"Thanks for the reminder. Let me make a note to tell Cat to punish you for missing his event."
"Fuck."
"Yeah, I can tell him to do that, too. Unless you would rather have me first?" He smirks at me.
"That is not what I meant, and you know it."
"Tell me, Mar, who do you want to have you first?" He places his head in his hand and looks at me with a devilish grin.
"I don't know! And I really don't think we should be discussing this right now!" I hiss at him.
"Just trying to figure out how you got pregnant. How do I know it's mine?" He teases me. "Maybe Cat Noir got to you first."
"Shut up!" I push him, grinning. "Maybe you knocked up Ladybug, and that's why I had to see Cat to make it even!" He bursts out laughing, and I can't help laughing with him. The world fades away, and it's just us enjoying ourselves. Or it was.
"What's so funny?" Lila asks, Nino trailing behind her uncomfortably.
I immediately stop laughing and glare at her, taking Adrien's hand under the table.
"What do you want? This is a partner project, not a group."
"I just thought we could bounce some ideas off of each other," she says, trying to sound sweet.
"Adrien and I would prefer to work by ourselves, thanks."
"Why don't you let Adrien talk for himself? Is that something else you're taking from him?" Adrien's gripping my hand tightly, but he speaks with barely restrained anger.
"Marinette already told you we would prefer to work alone. I don't know what you're insinuating about Marinette, but I suggest you tread lightly. I'll call Ms. Mendeleev over if I need to."
"Lila, maybe we should just-" she cuts Nino off.
"I was just trying to get some help with our project. Why are you being so mean to me?" She acts as though she's about to cry.
There's the abrupt sound of a stool sliding across the floor as Adrien stands, grabbing both his bag and mine, and pulls me by our linked hands toward Ms. Mendeleev's desk.
"Can we go work in the library? There are too many distractions in here," Adrien asks politely.
"Normally, I would say no, but I trust you both to actually do the work. Don't make me regret it."
"Thanks, Ms. Mendeleev!" He pulls me out of the classroom and toward the library, but I force him to stop.
"Are you okay?" I search his eyes for anything he might try to hide from me.
"Honestly? No, but I'm not at the point of a panic attack. I just needed to get out of there."
"Well, let's go to the library, and maybe we can get lost in the stacks for a bit," I bite my lip and look at him suggestively as I step closer.
"Fuck yes." He pulls me toward the library with renewed enthusiasm as I laugh behind him.
We quiet down as we get there to appear less suspicious. After signing in, we place our things down at table in a back corner before heading between the stacks in search of some privacy.