Chapter 2: Take me somewhere nice
Song: Take me somewhere nice - Mogwai
Marinette freaks out, Adrien goes to school and Gabriel plans.
A girl wearing spots jumped into a balcony on the top of a building that consisted of a bakery and a few apartments. From there, she opened a hatch on the floor and entered the bedroom below, dropping her transformation.
A red creature floated from her earrings, while the girl, looking as calm as someone who will explode any minute, went to the small sink on the corner of her room to rinse her face with water.
"Marinette… I- I honestly don't know what to say…" said the red kwami. Tikki didn't really know what to make of this situation, never before had she and Plagg belonged to humans so young, and so dramatic too.
"It's okay, Tikki. I know you couldn't tell me his identity… Chat's identity… Adrien's…" With that, Marinette started to tremble, she lost force on her legs, making her knees buckle, and her whole frame fell to the floor, while her eyes widened. "OH MY GOD, TIKKI! Adrien is Chat Noir, I kissed Adrien, Adrien loves Ladybug, I KISSED ADRIEN! TIKKI!"
Tikki floated in front of her face, attempting to calm her chosen down "But that's wonderful, Marinette, that means he loves you…"
"No Tikki, can't you see? He loves Ladybug, not me! He's so amazing, and I'm just, I'm just me! I'm nothing next to him… And he transformed in front of all that people to save his life, because I was trapped, and I just left him…" She whispered, regretting every single decision she took after learning his identity. "I'm such a horrible person, Tikki, I left him there, to deal with the aftermath of his reveal alone… The media must be hounding him…"
"Not exactly, Marinette… You see, when you cast the restoration spell, I made sure, that that part of the battle was also set right, so everyone forgot about it, except you, because you're Ladybug, and Adrien, because it affected him directly" Tikki explained, much to Marinette's relief.
"That's good, I guess.." The bluenette hesitated "But… I… That doesn't change how far away from my league he is, if today has taught me anything, was how perfect Adrien really is, I thought he was perfect before, but now, he, he has to conciliate his crazy schedule with being Chat Noir, he must be so exhausted, and he still manages to be kind to everyone. Oh, Tikki! I really don't have any chance with him, I can't even look at him now…"
"Marinette, you are so much more amazing than you realize, you are the youngest chosen I had ever had, and you still manage to be one of the best! Please give yourself a chance…"
Marinette felt a warmth on her chest when she listened to Tikki's words, her kwami always knew how to cheer her, the bluenette couldn't even fathom what it would be like to lose her, she didn't think she would ever be able to cope with such a loss.
The designer still didn't know how she would deal with Adrien at school, but now, she had to go to bed, and try to sleep, or else, she wouldn't be able to go to school at all.
Meanwhile, a much more famous designer, standing with his hands clenched behind his back, was staring intently to the painting of his beloved partner. Behind him, his always stoic assistant, now with a subtle baffled expression, was looking between her employer and the painting that seemed to haunt the room.
"Are you sure, sir? That plan sounds too risky! Adrien won't like that at all… you might lose your son after this…"
"I know Nathalie… but he will have his mother, I will have my wife back" Gabriel answered, never taking his eyes off the painting.
"I thought you didn't want to hurt your son, isolating him will certainly do that."
"I'm going to keep him safe, it's finally time for him to help me, and even if something happens, my wish will set everything right again, there will be no more mourning in this house," Gabriel explained, approaching the painting. After releasing a sigh, he moved the portrait to reveal a hidden safe, once he opened it, he picked a piece of jewellery, one that was very dear to Emilie, and tucked it inside his pocket.
Nathalie's eyes followed his every movement. Rationally, she knew what her employer was doing was wrong, it was very wrong, on the other side, her heart didn't let her do anything about that, she quirked an eyebrow at that. When did her heart win against her brain? How did this man, this cold, calculating man, managed to crawl his way into her heart? When did he gain so much power over her?
She placed a hand on his shoulder "I'll always have your back, sir, we're going to get her back."
"I can't thank you enough for your loyalty, Nathalie. You really are the perfect assistant."
She stared adoringly at the designer, for now, his compliments were more than enough to keep her going.
Adrien sighed against the car window as he stared at the front of his school, filling with students. He knew he had no reason to panic, no one remembered what happened, at least the news didn't mention it, and he thought that a reveal like that was worthy of a few headlines.
He saw the Gorilla looking at him through the rear-view mirror. Right, he needed to go to school. The blond opened the car door and walked towards his best friend.
"Hey, dude! You totally need to listen to this new song I've found!"
'Good, he didn't mention it' Adrien thought, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Hi, Nino! Of course, I will, the one you sent me last time was so cool, by the way" he answered.
"Of course it was! When it comes to music, your bro will always have your back, you need to learn all the masterpieces there are!"
"Thanks, bro!" Adrien smiled at his friend, Nino's friendship was one of the best things that ever happened since he started public school.
"Anytime, du- Look! It's the girls, let's meet them!" the DJ exclaimed while running towards Alya and Marinette, not even waiting for Adrien. The model released a chuckle at his best friend's antics, Nino had fallen so hard for Alya, there was no way he could deny it.
Nino hugged Alya and waved at Marinette, earning a teasing greeting from the latter, it must have been something snarky, as both Nino and Alya went beet red after that.
Despite all the bantering, as soon as Adrien approached them to greet them as well, he saw Marinette's expression change to one of panic, her eyes widened, as she avoided looking at him, it almost seemed that she was trying to hide behind Alya.
"Morning, Adrien! Has Nino showed you the new song he found? He couldn't stop nagging me about it, like, it's not that good Nino…" and with this, Alya earned a gasp from her boyfriend, who immediately started to point out reasons on why Thom Yorke was a genius.
Adrien started to laugh, his friends managing to lift his spirits for the second time that day. He then looked at Marinette, who was distracted, watching Alya and Nino bickering each other. She still looked oddly tense, at least, tenser than usual. He didn't know why, but whenever he would approach her, she started to stutter and acting like she was uncomfortable being near him, maybe it was his father that intimidated her, Adrien knew she wanted to be a designer, he should surprise her one day, maybe he should try to convince his father to accept her on a Summer internship, she was so talented, there wasn't anyone else who deserved to succeed in fashion as much as her.
"Hi, Marinette!" He waved. The bluenette immediately choked, pulling Alya's arm.
"Girl, what are you doing?" questioned the redhead, startled by her best friend.
"H-H-Hi, Ad-d-drien!" As soon as she waved, she pulled Alya's arm harder, signalling her to go inside.
"Ok, girl! Geez, what is wrong with you today?" Alya protested while being dragged by the secret heroine, leaving the boys behind in awe.
"Nino, do you think Marinette will ever like me?" Adrien asked, he was starting to worry he would never befriend Marinette.
The teen didn't know why, but his best friend just started to laugh and put a hand on his shoulder "Dude, you really are blind, aren't you? She likes you, trust me."
Adrien didn't object that, this wasn't the first time they had this conversation, and Nino always made sure that Marinette liked him, however, she was so different with everyone else, making him question if she really was his friend.
"Okay girl, are you going to explain why you dragged me all the way to the classroom?" Marinette didn't answer her, instead, she just kept herself busy with taking her notes from the backpack.
"MARINETTE! Why are you so fidgety today? Why were you avoiding Adrien like the plague? Did something happen?" Her best friend asked.
Marinette wanted to tell her, she really did, but, how could she? She wasn't supposed to know Adrien was Chat Freaking Noir! Her sweet, kind Adrien, was also the obnoxious, but also wonderful partner, he was leagues above her. "It's nothing, Alya. I just realized I will never have a chance with Adrien…" The heroine sighed looking at her desk.
"What's that, Mari? You are so amazing, and Adrien will see that someday" Alya tried to cheer her "I mean if he hadn't already. I've seen the way he looks at you sometimes. And girl, let me tell you, those are not 'just a friend' looks. Even if he's in denial now, he will come to his senses, you'll see".
Marinette made a small smile at hearing her best friend, but she had decided, she spent the entire night thinking about it, this was for the best… she thought… "I've already made up my mind, Alya. I will try to move on from him. I'm just going to focus on my studies and my designs."
"Are you sure, Marinette?"
"I am, a hundred per cent." As she finished the sentence, Nino and Adrien entered the classroom and sat on their seats, right in front of them. Adrien turned behind with a small smile of what looked like encouragement and looked at her. 'Okay, eighty per cent sure'.
Wow, I didn't really reveal anything useful in this one, did I? Don't worry, this is just the calm before the storm, and what a storm… this is so far from ending xD.
Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews, they really encourage me to go on with the story. Hope you liked the chapter, and stay tuned for more.
Next Chapter: Plans start to be set in motion. Expect angst, MUCH ANGST, AHAHAH! Sorry, just got excited.. I'll let myself out.