Alright, here's the next installment, albeit shorter than usual!
Between Marinette acting flat-out off and Adrien playing hooky at school, the situation is nothing short of awkward! Does Adrien want Marinette out of his life? Or is it something else?
This chapter's going to feature some moments from Adrien's perspective, FYI. But this story is mostly from Marinette's perspective.
Song(s) Included, With/Without Modifications:
If I Can't Love Her - Beauty and the Beast on Broadway
When Words Fail - Shrek the Musical
Marinette didn't sleep a wink that night. The sight of Adrien's scars had practically burned itself into the back of her eyes and brain that evening. The idea of someone wanting to hurt Adrien made her sick to her stomach, and the questions of how Adrien got those scars, who was responsible for them, etc. were driving her crazy. When her parents asked her if she was okay at dinner that night, and then again breakfast the following morning, she didn't answer.
Good thing it was a weekend. She decided to hole up in her room and finish working on her projects for her friends. She'd been so freaked out by the possible scenarios that led to Adrien's scars that she'd nearly lost her focus.
As she was beginning to get back to work on Nino's Halloween costume, she saw her phone was ringing. Alya was calling her.
Marinette picked up the phone and said, "Hi, Alya."
"Hey girl," Alya said over the phone, but her clever, cunning tone of voice was still there. "So, how'd it go with the birthday boy yester-"
"I don't want to talk about it," Marinette said firmly. "Listen, I'm making great progress on Nino's suit. You should come by and see it some time."
"But girl, what about Adri-" Alya began to question.
"Alya, your suit's all but done! I can't wait to show it to you," Marinette cut in, once again avoiding the topic of Adrien. "You and Nino are going to look great together this Halloween!"
"...Okay, what's going on?" Alya asked. "You're dodging the question, and-"
"Alya, I mean it: I don't want to talk about Adrien," Marinette said, holding back tears. "Drop it, please."
"...Fine." Alya said, giving a resigned sigh.
Relieved Alya gave up (for now), Marinette turned the phone onto video chat and she walked her best friend through the designs she was working on. While she could tell Alya still wanted details about the previous day's events, Marinette wouldn't budge on the issue.
The rest of the day came and went. Time flies when one's distracted. When Marinette woke up the next morning, she did not want to get up, instead lying in bed and letting her alarm go. She knew that she'd have to talk to Adrien, especially since they were now seat mates.
She moaned and covered her head with her pillow as her alarm blared.
"Marinette!" Sabine shouted from below. "You're going to be late again!"
Marinette groaned as she got out of bed and got dressed. She was dreading the day, and all because she didn't want to be back to square one with Adrien.
As she dashed to school, her heart was throbbing with fear, anxiety, and hope that she and Adrien could talk without any hostilities between them. When she stood in front of the stairs to the building, she swallowed the lump in her throat and began to walk in, hoping to get to her classroom and think of what to say before Adrien got there.
"Hey girl!" Alya shouted from behind. Marinette turned to see her best friend running up towards her.
"Hey Alya." Marinette greeted back as Alya caught up to her. They started walking to their classroom together.
"So, Marinette, I really need the deets about what happened with Adrien on his birthday!" Alya said, acting just as curious as she was concerned.
"Um... No, Alya," Marinette said, tensing up and shaking her head. "I... I'm not comfortable talking about it..."
Alya looked at her with a worried expression before saying, "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Marinette responded as the girls went inside their classroom. She looked at her desk, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Seriously, girl, what happened?" Alya asked again. "You usually look forward to sitting next to Adrien."
Marinette once again didn't answer, merely going to her seat. Alya looked on just as Nino came in.
"Hey babe," Nino said as he hugged Alya from behind and kissed her cheek. He whispered in her ear, "How'd it go?"
"I think my little matchmaking scheme backfired. Look." Alya murmured back as she used her eyes to direct Nino's attention to Marinette.
Marinette looked relieved, but she still seemed very anxious. Every time the door opened and shut, she looked up, wondering if it was Adrien. It didn't take very long for the rest of the class except Adrien to arrive in the room.
When the teacher came in and did the roll call, Marinette saw that Adrien still hadn't shown up. Was he running late? Or skipping? But poor Marinette, she felt a combination of both relief and sadness that he didn't come. And she hated herself for it.
She moaned as she held her head in her hands and hung it over her tablet as class started.
Her questions regarding Adrien were saturating to the brain to the point that she couldn't think about anything else. So, she just mentally indulged in those questions. How did Adrien get those scars? How long had it been since he acquired them? If someone gave him those scars, then who was it? And why?
Adrien's rage at her the other day still gave her the heebie-jeebies. She wasn't sure if he was raging towards her or if he was more scared that she saw his body and face. Either way, she was more worried about him than actually scared. He never did anything to hurt her. In fact, he'd helped her out a few times.
"Marinette!" The teacher said, calling upon Marinette.
Marinette looked up and saw Mme. Bustier was looking at her with a smile.
"Y-Yes?!" Marinette asked.
"Since Adrien isn't here today, will you be so kind as to bring him his classwork after school?" She asked.
"Um-I... Um, yes, I will!" Marinette said, albeit her voice was laced with anxiety.
Later at lunch, Alya gathered up the girls and ate at their usual table. Marinette hadn't arrived yet.
"You've noticed it too, right?" Alix asked. "Marinette started the weekend as chipper and eager to help Adrien as always, and then she comes out looking pretty shell-shocked."
"You think something happened between them over the weekend?" Zoé suggested.
"Most likely. Marinette keeps avoiding talking about it and every time his name is brought up, she gets tense." Alya agreed.
Juleka mumbled something.
"You're right, Juleka. I think she's relieved that Adrien didn't show up today." Rose pointed out.
"Question is, why?" Myléne mentioned. "It's not like Marinette to be afraid of someone."
"Shh! Here she comes!" Alix hissed as she subtly pointed Marinette out.
Marinette started walking towards her group, her lunch tray in hand, but still looking pretty upset.
Alya made a hand signal to tell the girls not to mention Adrien or anything else. Marinette sat down, and she said, "Hey girls."
"Hey Marinette," Alya said. "So, how are your projects coming along?"
"Making great progress," Marinette said. "Your fox suit is all but done, and Nino's turtle suit is coming along great! I was thinking of making other animal suits for us for Halloween this year, too!"
"Hey, great idea!" Rose said, with the other girls giving agreeing nods. "What kind of animals?"
"I was thinking something like a combination of a honeybee and a wasp for Zoé," Marinette said as she took out her sketchbook and showed off some of her ideas to the girls. "Juleka could be a tigress, and I was thinking purple and magenta for the suit."
"Why a tigress?" Alya asked.
"Because I think Juleka has a tigress inside her, and I want to help bring it out." Marinette said as she looked at Juleka with a empathetic smile.
Juleka smiled back in response.
"How about me?" Alix asked.
"You're swift, agile, and have an abundance of energy - I think a rabbit would be your perfect fit." Marinette said as she showed Alix a sketch.
"Wow, a rabbit? I normally wouldn't think bunnies would be my thing, but you make it look great!" Alix said.
As Marinette talked with the rest of the girls about her designs, Alya noticed Marinette seemed so much more at ease.
Once school got out for the day, Marinette and Alya were walking out of the building. Alya looked at Marinette and asked, "Are you going to be okay? Mme. Bustier asked you to bring Adrien the classwork."
Marinette tensed before saying, "I... I'll be fine."
Marinette quickly texted her parents to let her know what she was doing before running to the metro station. Alya watched her best friend, and she sighed in concern.
"Alya!" Nino said as he came over to hug his girlfriend. He kissed her cheek.
"Hey, Nino," Alya responded as she looked at the metro opening. "So, hear anything from Adrien?"
"Not a thing, babe," Nino reported. "I've hit him up on his phone, but he hasn't responded. I don't think he's even read any of the messages."
"Well, Marinette's going over to his place to drop off the homework," Alya said. "Maybe she'll work up the courage to talk to him?"
"I hope so. If she can handle him before, she can handle him now," Nino stated. "I think she's the only person who can tame that beast."
"He's gotten less monstrous lately, though, hasn't he?" Alya pointed out.
"True." Nino agreed as he held Alya's hand.
Marinette made it to Adrien's home in record time. Like last time she was there, she looked at the building in anxiety.
'Ugh, come ON, Marinette! Just go in, give him the classwork, and get out!' Marinette thought as she rang the doorbell.
"Hello?" Nathalie said through the intercom as the camera ball came out.
"Hi, Nathalie," Marinette said. "It's Marinette. I have the classwork and notes Adrien missed and I'm here to drop them off for him."
"Thank you. Just put them in the deposit box." Nathalie said as a compartment opened in the wall.
Marinette put the items in the box, let it shut, and she said, "I... I... I..."
"Yes?" Nathalie asked. "Need anything else?"
"I... hope I'll see Adrien tomorrow. Bye!" Marinette said.
She turned on her heel and dashed away from the building and into the metro station to go home.
As she sat on the train, she buried her hands in her face and was about to start crying.
She was thinking, 'Oh, WHY didn't I insist on seeing him so I can talk to him about what happened?! Am I THAT much of a coward?!'
She heard her phone go off and she saw it was a text from Alya.
"Did you talk to him, girl?" - Alya
Marinette responded with the following.
"No. I chickened out. I just dropped the materials off and left." - Marinette
She saw the three dots that signaled Alya was typing another message for her to read. When her message popped up...
"Are you for real, girl?! WTH were you thinking?!" - Alya
Marinette rolled her eyes and responded.
"I was THINKING that maybe I need more time to think of what I'm going to say to him when I see him again tomorrow *Face with rolling eyes, face with unamused expression*!" - Marinette
Alya quickly texted back.
"Ah. I gotcha, girl. *Thumbs up*" - Alya
Marinette sighed in relief, but her scared thoughts came back. All the questions regarding Adrien's face and body were still plaguing her. She was hoping for a good night's sleep this time and by extension, be mentally and emotionally prepared to face Adrien.
But that wasn't to be. Well, the latter part, anyway.
Marinette once again came to school, prepared to talk to Adrien in private and hopefully make amends with him. Unfortunately, Marinette was once again sitting alone at her desk.
She sighed, put her hand to her cheeks, and asked herself, 'Why can't I just work up the courage to talk to him? Even a text message wouldn't be THAT hard!'
"Because you're afraid. You're afraid that he'll not only yell at you again, but that he doesn't want to see you again after that." A voice in her head that sounded a lot like her said.
'I know that. And honestly, I miss him calling me "Princess" all the time. What I want to know is WHY I feel like this!' Marinette thought.
When she looked up, she saw Alya and Nino come in. They were holding hands, and Nino gave Alya a kiss on her cheek. Seeing this, something in her mind clicked.
"You like Adrien. As in, you like Adrien the same way you like Luka. Maybe even more." That same voice said in Marinette's mind.
Her heart pounded at the epiphany. Realizing that, Adrien's bad attitude notwithstanding, he was a great guy, she heaved another sigh before looking at her tablet to look over the class materials for the day.
Up front, Alya and Nino saw this before leaning in closer to each other.
"Poor Marinette. Any word from Adrien?" Alya asked her boyfriend.
"Nothing. I've been messaging him and he hasn't responded." Nino reported to her.
"Seriously?" Alya asked. "What the hell is up?"
"I don't know, babe..." Nino said as he sat down next to his girlfriend.
The rest of the week went by with the same routine. Marinette waking up, hoping to see Adrien at school to talk to him, only to be disappointed by his absence and then being sent to his house with the classwork/homework he missed so he could catch up. Every time, she tried to ask if she could come in to talk to Adrien, but something was holding her back, so she ran.
That Friday, it was raining. Marinette was sitting in the art room, working on some of her extra projects. She'd already finished up Nino's shield for his suit, and she was already working on the main parts of it (the legs, the pads, etc.). Like she'd told Alya before, she wanted to avoid anything too much like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so no ninja weapons OR bandana masks or whatever.
"Hm... A hood would look great on this," Marinette said. "I'm sure Nino would appreciate it."
She looked at her phone and saw that there was an ad on her online browser. It was one of Gabriel's older campaigns (meaning over a year ago), and the person in the ad was Adrien. Marinette remembered all of the gruesome scars on his body, and she was grossed out by all of the possible scenarios behind their creation. She immediately turned the browser off and pulled up her music app to distract herself.
Outside the art room, Alya and Nino were watching, both worried about Marinette.
"Marinette still won't talk about what happened. None of the girls could glean anything from her. What about Adrien?" Alya said.
"He's not responding to my texts, either," Nino reported. "I don't understand what's happening here. Something major must be going on."
Alya looked inside the room and saw Marinette was hard at work. She'd put on her earbuds to listen to her music.
"Come on, let's leave her alone. If we bug her about Adrien, she'll just shut down again." Alya said.
"Okay, but I am so gonna lay into the dude! I'm calling him after school!" Nino ranted as the two of them walked away from the art room.
When classes got out (and they got out earlier than usual), everyone left the building. Marinette looked up and saw that it was still pouring rain. She had a pink umbrella on hand. She opened it up as she heaved another sigh.
Depressed, she thought, 'Adrien hasn't been here all week... Fitting how the weather matches my mood right about now. I wonder... Is it the same for him?'
Behind her, Alya and Nino were watching.
"How do we know something even happened between them at all?" Nino suggested.
"There's no way nothing happened. Marinette's been depressed since Saturday, she gets anxious whenever try to get her to talk about him, Adrien hasn't come to school all week - this can't be a coincidence. You think he's going out of his way to avoid Marinette or something?" Alya asked Nino.
"Since he did the same thing after the school field trip, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's happening now." Nino responded.
Alya looked at Marinette before saying to Nino, "I don't think I've seen Marinette this upset before..."
"Neither have I, babe," Nino agreed, hugging Alya close. "This is worse than any time she's been on the receiving end of Chloé's or Lila's crap..."
"He'd better not be avoiding her!" Alya growled under her breath.
"I'm sure there's an explanation," Nino said. "I'm gonna see if Adrien's willing to talk. Not gonna give up until he does."
Marinette, oblivious to her friends' conversation, merely decided to go to Adrien's place to drop off the classwork again, and then go home forget about her problems with him for the weekend.
Unfortunately for Alya and Nino, they were right. Adrien was actively avoiding Marinette again.
There he was, sitting on his bed in his bedroom, hugging his knees and leaning his face against them. Tears were slowly dripping down on his face, similar to the rain pouring down outside. There was a thunderclap and lightning flash, too.
Ever since lashing out at Marinette, he'd hidden himself in his room and refused to come out the whole week. Not for Nathalie, his father, anyone. But the events of him screaming at Marinette and all but chasing her out of his room replayed in his mind like a loop. He couldn't get over it, to the point where he was having nightmares.
'What have I done?' He thought, guilt rattling his brain as tears kept flowing. 'Oh, WHY didn't I call her and ask her to come over so I can talk to her about what happened?! Am I THAT much of a coward?!'
There was no way she'd want to talk to him again after that. If she went back to sitting next to Alya and never even looked at him again, he wouldn't blame her. After the way he acted? After seeing his face and body, and realizing that he was damaged goods instead of the Golden Boy model he once was?
He lifted his hand to his face, resisting the urge to claw at himself.
"And in my twisted face, there's not the slightest trace of anything that even hints of kindness..." Adrien sang in anguish as he got off the bed and slowly trudged to his full length mirror.
He looked at his face in the mirror, and he was once again about to cry. He sang at his reflection, "And from my tortured shape. No comfort, no escape. I see, but deep within is utter blindness. Hopeless, as my dream dies, as the time flies."
He put his hand against the mirror glass, hanging his head in shame.
"Love... A lost illusion. Helpless, unforgiven... Cold and driven to this sad conclusion," Adrien sang as he lifted his face and looked at himself in the mirror again. "No beauty can move me, no goodness improve me. No power on earth, if I can't love her."
He began walking away from the mirror, once again hugging his arms. He sang, "No passion could reach me, no lesson could teach me. How could I have loved her and make her love me too. If I can't love her, then WHO?!"
He charged over to his computer and looked at the picture of him and his mother. He all but glared at it, feeling nothing but rage, frustration, desperation, etc.
"Long ago I should've seen all the things I could've been! Careless and unthinking, I moved forward!" Adrien cried in song. He pulled away before he could start having flashbacks.
"No pain could be deeper, no life could be cheaper," Adrien sang as he kept crying. "No point anymore, if I can't love her!"
He saw a small, heart-shaped, rose gold picture frame that had a picture of the aforementioned girl in it.
He picked it up before singing, "No spirit could win me, no hope left within me. Hope I could have loved her and that she'd set me free."
He hugged it closer to his chest, singing in anguish, "But it's not to be. If I can't love her, let the world be done with me!"
He put the picture down, went back to his bed, and started crying into his pillow.
Just as he was about to sink further into his depression, his phone started going off. He looked at it and saw it was a video call from Nino. He quickly put his hoodie on and covered his face before picking up.
"Hi, Nino." Adrien greeted, still feeling a bit choked up.
"Dude, you okay?" Nino asked.
"Not really, no..." Adrien confessed.
"Sometimes it's okay to NOT be okay, but we have GOT to talk, dude." Nino said.
"What happened?" Adrien questioned, his tears beginning to subside.
"That's what Alya and I wanna know. What happened between you and Marinette, dude?" Nino asked, cutting to the chase.
Adrien groaned, hung his head, and he asked, "Why am I not surprised?"
"Out with it, dude. What happened?" Nino repeated.
"What has she said so far?" Adrien asked tentatively. Did she say anything about his scars?
"Marinette's been tight-lipped. She's been down all week, and every time we mention you or try to talk about your birthday, it gets worse and she changes the subject. Did you two get into an argument or something?"
Adrien sighed loudly and face-palmed before saying, "Or something... Just listen and I'll explain..."
After giving Nino a shortened version of what happened without revealing that she'd seen his face and body...
"Dude... That's bad." Nino said.
"I KNOW it's bad!" Adrien shouted. "She didn't do anything wrong, and yet I went and acted like a monster towards her!"
"Calm down," Nino advised. "You're going to have to talk to her about this and apologize."
"After what I did? There's no way she'll even want to look at me." Adrien denied, emphasizing the word "look" like it was a sin.
"You're beating yourself up too much. If anything, Marinette's more worried about YOU not wanting to talk to her again." Nino told him.
"I..." Adrien began before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I'm not ready. I need to give her some more space before I think of a plan of attack."
"Fair enough, but hurry it up, dude! Alya and I hate seeing Marinette this upset, and we're just as worried about you, too." Nino confessed.
"You... You're worried about me?" Adrien asked.
"Yeah, dude." Nino confirmed.
Adrien didn't resist the smile coming onto his face as he said, "Thank you... Glad you guys care."
"Of course we care, dude," Nino said. "You're our friend."
Adrien, feeling a little better, couldn't hold back choked, happy sobs.
"Let it out, dude. Sometimes that's the best thing to do." Nino said, allowing Adrien to cry.
Adrien covered his eyes with his hands as he kept crying, his smile growing as he felt the relief that came with letting his emotions out.
"Call me when you're ready, and I can help you with your game plan," Nino said. "I gotta report the situation to Alya."
Adrien, still worked up with joy over his best friend caring about him, he gave a nod and sniffle. Nino hung up the phone before calling up Alya on video chat.
"So, what happened?" Alya asked.
"Um... Well, Adrien didn't give me too many details, but to put it bluntly, he sort of reacted badly to Marinette being in his room out of nowhere and then he wound up yelling at her and scaring her off." Nino summarized.
"She knocked though, didn't she?" Alya asked.
"Yeah. Door wasn't locked, though." Nino told her.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Alya questioned.
"I told Adrien I would help him when he was ready. Other than that, let's stay out of it." Nino said.
"Good call. There's a fine line between helping and meddling." Alya agreed.
Nino nodded in agreement as he changed the subject. He gave his girlfriend a flirtatious smile and asked in a singsong tone, "So, how about a game of Super Penguino? "
Alya smiled in a similar way and responded, "You're on, Nino."
Later at her home, Marinette was up in her room. She'd finished her homework and was now finishing up more of the suits.
"Okay, so maybe a tutu or some sort of skirt for Rose's suit... Maybe a panjas claw for Juleka's costume..." Marinette said as she went through her sketches. "Maybe a hood and a grey suit with ear parts for Myléne? She may be scared of mice, but she's very resourceful and successful with getting over her fears."
As her mood lifted, it seemed like the weather did, too. The rain started to clear up and the sun started peeking out from the clouds. Marinette smiled at it and she giggled.
"And..." Marinette said as she put the finishing touches on Nino's suit. "Viola! Done! Now to start on Zoé's suit!"
Marinette folded Nino's suit up, placed it next to Alya's, and she got out the black and yellow fabrics for Zoé's. As she started getting the black stripes on the yellow fabric and the yellow stripes on the black fabric, she all but forgot about her troubles.
The rest of the afternoon came and went. When evening was upon the city, the sun was setting and one could see the crescent moon in the pink sky.
Adrien, on the other hand, was still pacing around in his room. His hood was up, he was wearing the scarf Marinette made him, but seemed anxious, and he kept looking out the window to look at the moon, while thinking, 'Marinette is out there... I gotta talk to her.'
He was still walking around, rubbing his neck in his usual nervous tick, and he thought aloud, "Calm down... You can do this. You just gotta go up to her, apologize, and then..."
He heard his computer's video call alert going off. Adrien turned around and saw Nino was calling. He walked over to his screen and picked up the call.
"Hey dude." Nino greeted.
Adrien waved at Nino and said, "Hi, Nino."
"Ready to get to work?" Nino asked.
"Sure am," Adrien said before rubbing the back of his neck in worry. "I... I just hope I can do this."
"Dude, you're gonna have to do this," Nino told him. "You can't just let this awkwardness go on."
Adrien nodded in agreement before saying, "...You're right..."
"Okay, so you got the flowers?" Nino asked.
"Check," Adrien said as he held up the bouquet for Nino to see: white orchids and tulips accompanied by blue hyacinth. "In the language of flowers, this is a sincere apology."
"Good thinking," Nino said. "Now, what are you going to say to her when you face her tonight?"
"Um..." Adrien began, coughing into his fist before taking up Marinette's picture in his free hand. "Princess... I, um... First of all, how is it going? Good? Me too... I'm okay..."
He took a deep breath before singing, "I got you these flowers. Right over there, is where they grew..."
Nino watched, albeit with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
"And I don't really like them, but they made me think of you, because they're pretty..." Adrien sang, stammering on his words. "Is what I'm trying to say, is that you are also pretty, and I'm sorry 'bout the other day."
Nino gave a discomforted nod before motioning for Adrien to keep going.
"So please accept these flowers, with their petals and their stems, which represent my feelings and tell you how-" Adrien sang, still red in the face and stumbling over his words.
"Dude, you're in trouble." Nino cut in, giving his best friend a deadpan expression.
Adrien returned the expression (though Nino couldn't see it under the hood), before his face became worried.
"When words fail, what will I do?" Adrien sang in askance as he looked at Marinette's picture. "When words fail, how will she know how I feel? When words fail, will I fail too?"
Adrien took a deep breath, and he caught sight of the rising moon out of his peripheral. He got an idea, cleared his throat, and tried again.
"Hello, dear Princess. Hey look, the moon is out tonight," Adrien began. "You remind me of that moon, because its big and bright."
Nino gave a smile and nod, but he grimaced when he saw Adrien seemed to panic at one of the implications he might've giving.
"And by big I don't mean chubby! Obviously, you're not fat! But your personality is biggish, is what I meant by that!" Adrien sang before giving an anxious chuckle; Nino used his cap to face-palm. "Sorry 'bout that fat thing. I'm on the chunky side myself. I have to blame the gene pool, which reminds me of-"
"Any idea where you're going with this?" Nino interrupted again, with a deadpan expression and tone of voice.
Adrien sighed again, realizing Nino was right. He slumped his shoulders, frustrated.
"When words fail, what will I do? When words fail, how will she know how I feel? When words fail, will I fail too?" He sang as he started coming closer to the screen.
He sat down at the desk, hands propping his hands up, and he sang, "Do I have a snowball's chance? Are my prospects just too grim? I spent my life stuck in the dark, now I'm crawling out on a limb."
Nino looked at his friend in concern. Once again, Adrien looked at the picture of Marinette in his hand. Her sweet smile made his heart flutter, one could see his cheeks tinting if they looked at the right angle, and he felt his mood brighten as he put the frame down.
"If words fail, she'll know what I mean," Adrien sang, realizing he'd been overthinking it the whole time. "If words fail, she'll just take my hand. She sees me like no one else has."
Nino began smiling as Adrien started to get an idea of what to do or say.
"If words fail, she'll understand. She'll understand!" Adrien sang before looking at Nino.
Determined, he said, "I've got this, Nino. I'll just go over to her, apologize, and give her these flowers. Easy peasy."
"That's the way, dude!" Nino said. "You're gonna nail it."
"Are you sure?" Adrien asked.
"Sure I'm sure. Just don't overthink it and you'll be fine," Nino promised. "Anyway, I gotta get going. Dinner's almost ready. See you at school on Monday?"
Adrien, feeling more confident, said, "Yeah. I will."
Nino hung up, but even with his best friend's reassurance, Adrien's nerves seem to return. He took out his phone to text his driver, while thinking, 'Here goes nothing...'
Coming up, will Adrien finally work up the balls to clear the air with Marinette? And when/if he does, what's gonna happen afterwords?
I know this was a shorter chapter, but the last chapter was longer than I expected, meanwhile the next one is going to have things come to a head for our two protagonists. In what way? Stay tuned to find out!
Keep the comments coming, you guys! The more, the better!
