III. Étude

An étude ( French word for " study ") is a musical piece that is played for the sole purpose of practicing a specific technique.

~•~

With the strap of her violin case wrapped over her shoulder, Marinette strode into the living room of her boyfriend's house. Félix was already seated at the grand piano, moving his fingers lightly along the black and white keys as the entire house exploded with tremendous sound. The movement of Marinette's figure brushed against the corner of his eyesight, making his warmup come to a halt. He turned in his stool to face Marinette, who barely even smiled as she lifted her hand in greeting.

"You're fifteen minutes late," Félix pointed out, "Where the hell were you?"

"My parents needed help with remodeling the bakery," Marinette explained, "Sorry for the inconvenience."

The pianist opened his mouth to speak. Before a single sound could leave his lips, a somewhat muted marimba tune sounded through the silent room, accompanied by the harsh resonation of continuous vibrations. Marinette pulled her phone out, holding it to her ear as she answered the call.

"Hi, Mom."

One of Félix's golden eyebrows twitched in annoyance as his girlfriend continued to speak into the phone. He's already wasted enough time waiting for her to arrive. He exhaled a rather audible sigh, rising to his feet.

"I think they're in the cabinet under the sink," Marinette said into the phone, "But if they're not in there, then check the一"

In one quick motion, the phone had been snatched right out of her hand. Gasping, Marinette extended her hand towards Félix in an attempt to grab her phone back. Félix turned away from her as he raised the phone to his ear.

"Sorry, Sabine," Félix said, "We're busy rehearsing here. You can talk to your daughter later."

Marinette angrily reached her arm over his shoulder from behind, "Félix, wait! It's impor一"

Félix pressed the red telephone icon at the bottom of the screen, ending the call. Marinette's mouth dangled open, her eyebrows curling upwards in a pair of arches. Finally, Félix threw her phone back at her. Marinette, being the clumsy young woman she is, just barely managed to catch the mobile device as it bounced in her hands.

"Let's get practicing," Félix mumbled, taking his seat in front of the piano, "We're wasting time."

Marinette's dark blue eyebrows straightened out into a pair of steep, downward slopes. Her bluebell eyes burned with fury as she glared at her stubborn boyfriend. Stubborn was an understatement, though.

"What is wrong with you?!" Marinette snapped, "That was my mother I was talking to!"

"We don't have all the time in the world you know," Félix pointed out, "Just hurry up and get your instrument out."

Marinette's fist clenched around the rough strap over her shoulder, "If you care more about practicing than my own family, then I don't know why I'm even dealing with you."

Félix darted his eyes towards her, lifting one eyebrow.

"Do you realize how ridiculous you sound right now?" Félix asked, raising his voice, "This is your career, Marinette!"

"That doesn't mean I should put it before my family!" Marinette defended.

"Jesus Christ, Marinette. I'm tired of this," Félix growled, standing up from his seat yet again.

Marinette scoffed angrily, "You're tired? How do you think I feel?!"

Félix stopped directly in front of Marinette, his eyes narrowing angrily at her.

"We argue literally everyday now," Félix hissed in annoyance.

"Well, then I guess this will be our last time," Marinette muttered.

Félix's teeth grinded against each other as she turned away from him. His arm extended itself out to her, gripping onto her shoulder. He forcefully shoved her back around to face him. Leaving his hand on her shoulder, his voice became low and grave as he spoke.

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Marinette's eyes fell to the floor, avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. A tight knot tied up inside her chest as she gave him a single, subtle nod.

"Yes," Marinette mumbled silently, "I am."

Félix clenched his free hand into a fist, "What did your redhead friend tell you this time?"

At the sound of his words, Marinette's eyes darted back to his. She lifted a single eyebrow in disbelief, the rage within boiling up even more. Furiously, she grabbed onto his wrist, yanking his hand off her shoulder.

"First of all, she has a name," Marinette snapped, "Second, why are you bringing Alya into this?"

"You know she never liked me to begin with," Félix responded coldly.

"Well, this is between us and only us! She has nothing to do with this!" Marinette yelled, "I don't know why we're still arguing at this point. I'm leaving."

Marinette whipped her body back around, storming away from the living room. Félix clenched his other hand into a fist, his knuckles bleaching white from the tightness in his fingers. Both of his hands trembled violently as he watched her stomp her way across the house.

"Good luck performing without an accompanist next week, then!" Félix shouted angrily.

Marinette's eyes widened to the size of a dinner plate the second her brain processed those words that had been thrown at her. How could she have been so stupid? She completely forgot she had an upcoming performance, which slyly snuck up on her like a snake. Perhaps she should have waited another week before ending their relationship. Gritting her teeth, Marinette took off into a sprint.

Once she was out the door, Marinette threw her violin into the passenger seat of her red and black-spotted bug car. She wiped her angry tears on the back of her hand before twisting her car keys inside the keyhole. The engine stuttered to life, causing her seat to vibrate underneath her. Without taking a single glance back at the house, Marinette lowered her parking brake and entered the street.

Her hands gripped themselves around the steering wheel as she drove her way down the road. Thoughts buzzed around her head like a massive swarm of angry bees, too many thoughts to even describe. From the breakup with Félix to her upcoming performance, all of it was just一

Marinette gasped and slammed her foot down on her brakes at the sight of two male figures crossing the street. Her tires screeched unpleasantly against the rough concrete, the seatbelt clenching tightly around her body as she nearly fell forward from the powerful impact of her sudden stop. The two males, Adrien and Nino, stared at her with their eyes wide as if their feet had been glued to the ground. Trembling slightly, Marinette rolled down her window and stuck her head out.

"Sorry, guys!"

"You're good!" Adrien called back.

Nino grabbed onto Adrien's elbow, pulling him along as the two of them continued their way across the street. Marinette waited until the boys reached the other sidewalk before lifting her foot off the brakes.

~•~

Her chopsticks clenched a strand of noodles between them. She lifted the noodles to her face, blowing on the warm steam of the soup that engulfed them. Just as the salty strands brushed against her lips, a loud ding emerged from the front of the house.

"It's open!" Marinette called out.

The doorknob turned with a click as the door swung open. Alya stepped inside the house, closing the door behind her. She stepped up to the table, where Marinette sat with noodles hanging from her mouth.

"Girl, are you okay?" Alya asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You haven't answered a single call or text message ever since you broke up with Félix two days ago," Alya responded, "And from the looks of it, you've been cooped up in your house living off of instant ramen as well."

Alya's eyes scanned Marinette's appearance, where her dark hair had been tied into a messy and frizzy bun. Visible purple spots smudged underneath her eyes, and she was dressed in a pair of light gray sweatpants and a black, oversized sweatshirt that looked as if it hadn't been thrown into the washing machine for months.

"By the way, you should start locking your door when you're home," Alya added.

"I lock it when I go to sleep, don't worry."

With a sigh, Alya pulled out the chair right next to her and took a seat. Marinette continued her meal as if she had never been interrupted.

"There's something else other than the Félix stuff that's bothering you," Alya stated, "Isn't there?"

Marinette perked up in her seat, "How did you know?"

"Don't pretend I didn't know you since middle school," Alya said, rolling her eyes whilst smiling, "Now tell me, what's the problem?"

Marinette's fingers released the pair of chopsticks, allowing the tip the two sticks to sink into her bowl of ramen. Then, Marinette was on her feet at the speed of light, slapping her palms flat on the table so hard that the large piece of polished wood trembled underneath her weight.

"I'm an idiot and completely forgot I had a performance next week!" Marinette screeched like a pterodactyl riding a rollercoaster, "And now I don't have an accompanist!"

Alya leaned into her seat, taken aback by Marinette's unpredicted upheaval. The redhead stepped up to her best friend, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This is a disaster, Alya!" Marinette wailed, "What am I gonna do?!"

"Well, why don't you try looking for a new one?" Alya suggested, "Or, if it comes to it, just be a badass and play without one."

Marinette groaned as she sank back down to her seat. Alya's lips tugged downwards into a frown, her eyes traveling constantly between the bowl of ramen and the stressed-out (most likely sleep deprived) musician.

"You should fix your hair and get dressed once you're done eating," Alya said, "You look like you could use some time outside."

"Fine."

Marinette blew her midnight bangs out of her face, allowing them to fall back over her eyes. Her fingers brushed her bangs behind her ear as her other hand regained its hold on her chopsticks.

Alya and Marinette sat down at the coffee shop, same table and same drinks as last time. Marinette stared down at the white lid of her beverage, the heat of its contents melting into her hands.

"Your drink's gonna get cold if you don't drink it soon," Alya said.

"I will soon," Marinette looked up from her cup, "It's too hot right now."

From the corner of her eyes, Adrien's figure walked past their table with another boy by his side. Marinette turned her full attention to him and the red capped boy, watching as they made their way towards the small piano in the corner of the shop.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be making drinks right now?" Nino asked.

Adrien shrugged, "The shop's nearly empty today. Besides, this thing hasn't been played in a while. I just want to see how it sounds."

The blond lifted the tablecloth from the instrument, revealing a row of large, pearly white keys with smaller, jet black keys in between. Adrien took a seat in front of the instrument, relaxing his fingers onto the keys. His fingers pressed down onto the instrument, emitting a thick chord to vibrate through the entire shop. He then moved his fingers along the keys, creating a blissful melody from the combination of notes.

With her drink hovering near her lips, Marinette's eyes sparked at the sight of the pianist. She lowered the beverage back down to the table, watching in awe as the musician played his tune. Alya turned in her seat, watching the pianist like the rest of the few visitors.

"I never knew he played piano," Marinette breathed, "Maybe he can be my accompanist."

Alya turned back around to face Marinette, "Get a closer look at him, he's definitely related to Félix. They look way too similar to not be related."

Marinette rose from her seat, not taking her eyes off the pianist for even a mere second.

"Well, I don't have much of a choice," Marinette said, "Besides, it will be just for this one time."

Alya's eyes followed Marinette, watching from her seat as the bluenette strolled across the coffee shop.

Marinette nervously approached the two boys, fidgeting with her hands right in front of her. Adrien, upon seeing this, looked up at her. His hands stopped running along the keys, ceasing its melodies.

"Hey," Marinette smiled, "Sorry for interrupting."

"No worries, Girl Who Almost Ran Over Me The Other Day," Adrien chuckled, "You know, if I were you, I would have一"

The side of Nino's fist pummeled into the back of Adrien's head, cutting off his initial speech. Adrien rubbed the back of his head to soothe the small throbbing sensation that came as a result.

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence," Nino said, "Let's not make jokes like that here."

"Sorry," Adrien mumbled.

Nino turned to Marinette, "Anyways, did you want something?"

"Yeah, actually," Marinette said, looking at Adrien, "I wanted to ask if you would be interested in being my accompanist?"

Adrien's eyebrows shot upwards. He slowly lowered his hand, darting his eyes rapidly between Marinette and Nino. His trembling lips parted while his mind fought to figure out the right words to say.

Did he hear that correctly? Marinette, the musician he strongly admired, just asked him to be her accompanist?

He wasn't dreaming... Right?

"I... Uh..."

"He'd love to," Nino answered for him.

Adrien gasped, shooting his eyes to his best friend, "Nino一"

"Great!" Marinette exclaimed, handing him a small slip of thick paper, "There's my card, it has my address and contact info on it."

"Woah, wait a minute," Adrien said, "What about my cousin? Isn't he already your accompanist?"

"It's a long story, but he's not anymore," Marinette answered, not wanting to elaborate, "Anyways, are you free to rehearse at my place any time tomorrow?"

Adrien shrugged, "Sure, I guess."

"Cool," Marinette took a step back, "I'll see you then!"

And with that, the midnight-haired girl turned away from them. Adrien's mouth hung open as his eyes landed on the card in his hands, trembling in disbelief. Nino perched his elbow on one of his shoulders, eyeing the card as well.

"Did that... Really just happen?" Adrien asked.

Nino nodded, "Want me to punch you to make sure it's not a dream?"

Adrien laughed as he shook his head back and forth.

"I'm good."

Although, he still had a hard time believing it. He didn't even see himself as a good musician, yet somehow he was soon to be accompanying Marinettte like he had dreamed of doing.

AN: hello all! Thank you for checking out my story. I have an important note here! :D

I'm not sure whether I'll continue publishing chapters on this website or not, I'm not really a fan of the format :/ but if you want to continue reading this story, I'll still update on Wattpad and AO3 [same username (BobaBunnies) on both sites]. I generally update every Sunday, but AO3 updates may change to Saturday pretty soon.

Anyways, I hope you like the story so far! :D