The words hung in the damp air as the sounds of rain hitting their umbrellas deafened Marinette. She took in a sharp, painful draw of breath and looked at him with a deer in the headlights gaze. Realizing that that would incriminate her more, she made a point to laugh a loud and awkward laugh. Nathanael looked at her, his hair starting to slip back to cover one eye. Had he made a mistake? Was she laughing at him?
"Me? As Ladybug?" Marinette laughed uncomfortably, looking around anywhere but his eyes.
"Well..." He started nervously, his anxiety creeping up his throat. Maybe he had just said something stupid out of fear. But she too looked uncomfortable. He decided to just go with it. "It would explain a lot of things..."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"Well for starters, you're never in the same place as her."
"Well neither are lots of people!"
"And whenever someone in our class is struck with an Akuma, it's either you or Ladybug who is there to help. We've all seen her, but you're always conveniently not around," he said. Marinette had stopped laughing at this point.
"Not to mention," he said, growing more confident with each point, "you are identical to her, Marinette. You don't even change your hairstyle. You have the same gor- erm blue eyes. It really can't be mistaken. You are Ladybug. Give me one piece of proof that you aren't and I will leave you alone."
"Are you just mad at me for the other day?" Marinette asked quietly. "Why are you doing this?"
"How I feel about that doesn't matter," he said bitterly. "Answer me first, p-please."
Marinette finally looked in his eyes. He felt his heart give a tiny, nervous flutter. She was beautiful. The rain cascaded down as they, two lone souls in the city of lights, stood side by side. She looked so tired. Tired from what he could not know. Tired of fighting? Of hiding?
"Please, Nathanael, please don't tell anyone. No one else knows," Marinette begged. "No one can know."
"Why?" He asked, his voice betraying his awe of her.
"Why? Everyone wants to know who Ladybug is. Everyone loves her. She's an entirely different person than me, though. Ladybug is strong, brave and cool. But that's just a persona, and I'm just Marinette. If people knew I was Ladybug I would be in serious danger. Please don't tell anyone. Not even Alya."
Nathanael looked at her, tilting his head slightly. Poor Marinette. She was so young and so lovely to have such stress on her. Although he was still angry with her, he couldn't deny he had a very serious crush on her. He gripped his umbrella tighter.
"Okay, Marinette. I won't tell anyone," he said. Her eyes betrayed her great relief.
"Oh thank you, Nathanael. You don't know how much that means to me," she said, her voice nearly cracking. They stood a moment longer.
"Uhm... Can I... I mean if you wanted to..." he stammered. Now that the cat was out of the bag, his confidence began to melt a bit.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Could I maybe... Maybe walk you to school? With you? Walk to school with you?"
"Sure."
They turned back their original direction and set off toward the school in silence. Marinette slowly returned to her daydreaming status and Nathanael lost himself in thought. He was, although reluctantly, happy. He was finally walking to school with Marinette. He'd been trying for weeks to work up the nerve to ask her to go with him. He still was a bit angry at her, but the more he thought about her being Ladybug, the more her actions made sense to him.
Marinette hadn't betrayed him, not exactly. She hadn't seen him as Nathanael, she'd seen him as the Evillustrator. Not only that, but she had been seeing him through her Ladybug lens. She wasn't really trying to hurt his feelings, she saw the darkness in his heart and wanted to help remove it. The way Ladybug always did. And to her credit she did still go on the date with him, and he had really, really enjoyed that. She sat next to him and smiled at him... A smile just for him and not for someone else. He drew for her and she loved the drawings.
He was still thinking about the date when they had arrived at the school. They stepped under the awning and shook the water from their umbrellas. Fellow students clamored into the school around them, dripping and shaking water the same. He held the door for her and she stepped inside, waiting for him to come in as well. They stood in the hall awkwardly and Marinette smiled at him.
"Hey, Marinette?" Said Nathanael.
"Yeah?"
"I... I'm sorry for almost drowning you," he whispered, a blush spreading across his nose and cheeks. He avoided her gaze. Marinette blinked away minor shock and began to laugh again, this time for real.
"Oh don't worry, I've had worse happen. Did you really think Ladybug couldn't get out of that?" She asked with a wink.
"I suppose you're right. But you weren't her then. You were you," he said with a shy smile.
"I hadn't thought about it that way," she said softly. "I'll see you in class?"
"Yeah," he said. She had begun to walk away when he called her name softly, just enough for her to hear. She turned to him.
"If you... Uhm if you ever need to talk to someone about... being not you... I'm here?" He offered awkwardly. Marinette smiled.
"Thank you. See you later," she said with a wave. He watched her go until long after she had vanished into a classroom.
The next time that day Nathanael saw Marinette was during literature class. He sat in the back, per usual, and watched her from afar. His bitterness at her had almost completely subsided and his crush was back in full action, pushing blood through him rapidly at the sight of her. His raven haired beauty. His heroine of the night. His Ladybug.
Unsurprisingly enough she took her seat next to Alya, directly behind Adrien and Nino. Alya whipped out her phone and began to scroll through her photos until she landed on one of Ladybug, leaning over to Marinette to show her. Marinette saw her friend bristling with energy or excitement and smiled at her.
"Look at this one," she said. "What do you think?"
"It's a nice picture," said Marinette sportingly. She looked at herself, her other self. Nathanael was right. She really was kind of easy to give away. Maybe she should consider a hair change next time she transformed. Tikki still didn't even know about the whole Nathanael deal. How would she react?
"I think I'm going to add this one to the blog today," Alya said proudly. "It'll be a thank you to all my followers until the next big Ladybug scoop comes up. I totally missed the Evillustrator ordeal! I can not miss the next one. I can't believe you got to personally interact with someone who has been Akuma-ed. Do you know who it was? Did you meet Ladybug?"
Thankfully, before Marinette could squeak out some half formed truths, Miss Bustier entered the class, a flurry of papers and books. Marinette gave her best friend a wink that promised she'd give her the full scoop another time. Lately Alya had been on a binge of trying to discover just who Hawkmoth really was. Ever since she herself had been turned, one of her most popular blog posts, she'd been itching to know who he really is. Marinette had to admit, even she was curious to know who he really way.
"Alright, everyone," said Miss Bustier gleefully, dropping the books and papers on her desk. "Today we're going to start a new project about literature through the eyes of another. Because it's a very subjective topic I will be assigning partners. As much as I'd like you to work with your best friend, chances are you already know how they think and feel."
Alya looked at Marinette and gave a small puppy-dog pout. Marinette stifled a giggle. Her best friend truly was a gem of a person. She turned her attention back to the teacher, hoping beyond hope she wouldn't be settled with Chloe. Then she hopped a little harder she would be partnered with Adrien.
"Alright let's see here..." Said Miss Bustier, searching for her paper with the assigned students. "Ah found it! Okay... Juleka and Sabrina. Nino and Chloe," she continued on. Adrien patted his friend on the back as he sighed, casting a glance at Chloe who glowered at him. "Adrien and Alya, and finally Marinette and Nathanael."
Nathanael perked up at hearing his name mentioned so closely to Marinette's. Project partners? That meant extended time with her. He hid his face behind his book, pretending to write something down as he smiled and blushed furiously. He smothered a laugh. Ladybugs really must be lucky.
Marinette felt a small sigh trickle down her spine and she rested her head on the table. Alya pat her back consolingly, which Marinette appreciated. Why was the world trying to force her and Nathanael together? Conversely why was it tearing her away from her dear Adrien? She looked at Alya with her eyebrows knitting together.
"At least he's not with Chloe," Alya offered. "Or you for that matter. Not to mention, I can drop some hints for you. It could be worse. Nathanael is really sweet and he really likes you. He'll be more than willing to help do his fair share of the work."
"I guess you're right," she sighed, pushing up from the table. "It could be worse. You promise to drop some compliments for me?"
"Duh," said Alya as she reached out to affectionately rub her friend's hair. "What are best friends for?"
At the end of class Miss Bustier told the class to meet with their partners and plan a time to begin working on their project. Marinette was packing up her things to go speak with Nathanael when Adrien turned around to speak with Alya. He gave Marinette a smile and she felt herself melt.
She didn't pull away from the conversation until she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Nathanael, holding a sketchbook to his chest. He brushed he hair from his face. It, of course, fell right back to its original position. She turned her head longingly back to Adrien for a moment and Nathanael felt a tug in his heart. It wasn't exactly private information that she had feelings for Adrien. He cleared his throat so she would look at him again.
"Hi," he said, getting caught in her eyes.
"Hey. When are you free to work?" Asked Marinette.
"Anytime for you. Or... That is to say, uhm, any... any time that works for you."
"We could meet later today in the library if you'd like. Say 4 or so?"
"Yeah that sounds great."
"Okay," Marinette said brightly. She turned back to gaze at Adrien who was now packing his things. "See you then," she added dreamily.
Nathanael felt a stab in his heart this time. He quietly agreed and left the room silently. Maybe he had forgiven her a bit too soon. Walking down the halls of the school to his next class he lost himself in thought. Of course he couldn't really blame her for desiring Adrien before him. How could he even begin to compete with Adrien. He was rich and a model, blond and handsome. Nathanael was just... himself.
Still he was in the library at 4 sharp, waiting for Marinette. He'd found a corner of the library he always liked to go. It was within view of anyone, so he didn't fear her ability to find him. Yet it was also far enough away from anyone else that doing their homework shouldn't be bothersome. He sat in one of the large, overstuffed leather chair, his legs curled up and he drawing in his sketchbook to help relieve his anxiety. At first he didn't know what to draw, but he soon found himself sketching Cat Noir. Maybe Marinette would tell him who he is too?
"Hi!" Came a chipper voice from behind him. Nathanael jumped, tossing his pencil. The body that belonged to the voice swung around to greet him. It was Marinette and she scrambled to get his pencil. She held it out to him with a blush of embarrassment reddening her cute nose.
"Oh gosh I'm so sorry, are you okay?" She said. Nathanael breathed out, not sure when he had begun to hold his breath.
"Yeah, I'm okay. You just jumped me a little. Payback for this morning, I guess?" He offered. She took it and gave him a small laugh as she pulled up a chair in front of him. She curled into the chair and took out a notebook. Then she sat back and flipped through the pages, looking for the paper that held the assignment.
"What's it like?" He blurted.
"What's what like?" Marinette asked, still digging.
"You know... to be... you know?" He asked.
Marinette straightened and stopped digging in her notebook, setting it on her lap and fixing him with a sad look. He wished for the world that he could swallow his tongue and stop saying such useless things in front of her. He felt himself curl in closer to his body, trying to protect or hide.
"Look... I just... I know you know but do you have to like... Know?" Asked Marinette.
"What? What does that mean?" Asked Nathanael, lost.
"Well I mean... You figured it out, but I didn't ask you to know," she said. "Not to be rude."
"Oh. Oh!" Nathanael said, growing red. "I'm sorry, Marinette. You just seem so..."
"So what?"
"Well... Earlier today when you told me you just looked so tired. I thought maybe you needed a confidant."
"Why do you keep offering? Who are you going to tell?" She asked, feeling paranoid. When she and Tikki had spoken earlier about this Tikki had been twice as anxious, warning her to keep a very close eye on him.
"No I... Marinette I promised you I wouldn't tell anyone, believe me. I just think you're... Brave."
"Yeah everyone says Ladybug is brave."
"Well yeah she is, but she is just an extension of you with the right tools. I think you, Marinette, are brave. What you said earlier... I just... I mean maybe I... I think you're every bit of Ladybug and then some. And being a person means being weighed down with life sometimes and when you don't have anyone to talk to you just... Well I guess I mean... If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."
"Thank you..." Marinette said softly. She looked him in the eyes and smiled. A smile just for him and he felt himself burning.
"But uhm let's do the work now, okay?" He said, trying to hide behind his own notebook.
When the work was done they walked to the entrance of the library together. Marinette held a small slip of paper and handed it to him after the doors had closed behind them. They still had a lot of work to do on the project and she needed to be able to get in touch with him. On the paper was her phone number. She handed it to Nathanael and he beamed.
"Here, text me when you get the chance so I can have your number, okay?" She said.
"Yeah," he said happily.
"Thank you again, Nathanael. See you tomorrow, okay?" Marinette said and began her walk home.
"Yeah," he said once more to the air that still held a lingering image of her. He too made his way home, his tummy a mix of emotions he couldn't quite decipher. Certainly he felt better today than he did yesterday. Today however, where there had once been anger there was now a sadness brought about by Adrien Agreste.
When he got home he scrambled to his room and whipped his phone out. He plugged in Marinette's phone number and sent her a text that said, "Hey it's Nathanael! :)" He debated the smiley face for 4 or 5 minutes before finally hitting the send button. Plunging his face into his pillow and giggling furiously, he tossed his phone to the other end of the bed. A few minutes later he got a text back that said: "got it! :D" and he felt his heart beat wildly.
He was texting Marinette!
Of course after that he debated on texting her back for a half hour, before he decided he had nothing to say and slunk downstairs to get dinner. After a meal and a shower he crawled into bed. It had been a long day and he was ready for a night's rest. He lay on his pillow, blanket drawn up snug to his chin when his phone lite up. He adjusted his eyes to the bright screen and unlocked the phone to see who it was from. It was from Marinette! With his heart rate slowly increasing he opened the text and read it once. Twice. Three times. It was a simple message that left his heart beating wildly.
"I need your help."