Adrien was excited to get started on the project. For starters, he'd been paired up with Marinette, probably one of the most talented people he knows, and he was happy they were able to pick China for the project. He knew how important it was to Marinette.
The pair exited the locker room and headed for the exit. Luckily, Adrien had thought to text Nathalie beforehand, and she'd approved his visit to Marinette's house.
It wasn't often that Adrien was able to spend time with a friend after school. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd hung out with Marinette. He glanced over at his partner, who was currently sending out a text message.
Marinette chewed on her lip, her brows drawn together with worry.
"Are you okay, Marinette?" he asked, startling the girl. She jolted, and quickly tucker her phone into her back pocket. She beamed unconvincingly at Adrien.
"Of course!" she said, "Everything's fine."
He knew the look she had on her face very well. Lips downturned in a frown, furrowed brows, and unfocused bluebell eyes. It was so unusual seeing them without their usual lively spark. Then again, Marinette had appeared to look under the weather for the past few weeks.
It saddened him to see his friend look so tired and he wasn't able to offer her any help, especially since she was telling him that she was okay.
He thought of his dream, recalling with a start that all of his friends had made an appearance but Marinette. He could vividly remember the weight of her lucky charm in his hands, the bright pink and green beads and vibrant red thread connecting them catching his eye so easily.
How was it possible that he forgot Marinette in his dream?
It was so hard to not notice her in his day to day life. The everyday Ladybug was a central pillar in the classroom, always going out of her way to help everybody else to the best of her ability. Marinette was resourceful and kind and clever and absolutely unbelievable.
She was important. Not just to the classroom, but to Adrien.
He glanced over at Marinette, taking in her appearance. She looked how she normally did, though her eyes revealed a fatigue that wasn't unfamiliar to him. No, he'd seen the same look many times before on Ladybug's face.
Ladybug, his best friend, who was currently trapped under the weight of her own responsibilities (who also wasn't currently talking to him, Adrien noted sadly). He frowned. Was Ladybug also doing a project that was worth a hefty chunk of her grade? Was she eating well? Getting enough sleep?
Was someone there to comfort her when she cried, which seemed to be often these days?
His heart gave a sharp pang, wanting more than anything for it to be him holding Ladybug, promising her everything would be alright.
"Adrien?" he looked up to see Marinette starting back him, concern reflected in her blue eyes, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" he said quickly, "Just thinking of some stuff…"
Marinette paused, eyeing him carefully, "…you know…if you still wanted to go on your date with Kagami, you can," she offered slowly, "We can always reschedule the project. Nino talked about how excited you were, and I don't want you to—"
"No, it's fine!" Adrien interrupted, mentally kicking himself for forgetting, "I can just tell Kagami, it's fine. I never get to hang out with you anyway," he reassured, flashing Marinette a smile.
Her cheeks warmed, and she looked away, "You should probably go and tell her now," Marinette said quietly, she backed away from Adrien and headed for the exit, "I'll wait by the door."
Adrien watched Marinette as she walked away, wondering if the girl was sick. Her feet dragged across the floor and her shoulders slumped as she tiredly headed for the door. It was only a few moments later that Adrien spotted Luka approach Marinette. He spoke to her, and she gave him the softest look that made Adrien's heart stutter the slightest bit.
Turning away from them, he headed towards Kagami, who he spotted across the courtyard.
If he were being perfectly honest, he envied what Luka and Marinette had. They were just two people who had feelings for each other. There wasn't anything complicated about it. No secret identities, no other crushes in the way-
Nothing unrequited.
Just pure, unadulterated love.
He wanted something like that.
Kagami smiled at Adrien as he approached and adjusted her bag. "Are you ready?"
He shifted, "I'm sorry Kagami, I'm going to have to postpone it. Marinette and I have to get started on this really big project and this is one of the only times I'll be free long enough to make a dent in the workload."
"You're working with Marinette?" she asked, her golden gaze falling on Marinette.
"Yeah!" Adrien chirped excitedly, "We're gonna be researching China. I'm so excited, Marinette's an awesome partner, so we're definitely gonna do well—"
Kagami didn't seem to be paying attention to what he was saying, instead focusing on his blue-eyed partner as she spoke to Luka, who was now accompanied by the rest of Kitty Section. Adrien couldn't read the look that was on Kagami's face, which was something that he'd become accustomed to.
What he wasn't used to, however, was the fact that she wasn't telling him what was on her mind. He stopped, cocking his head curiously at Kagami.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Kagami hesitated for a moment, another out-of-character thing for her to do. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally sighing to herself and asking, "Didn't you want to work with your best friend for the project?"
Adrien blinked, "Nino?"
She nodded, "Don't you think you'd be suited working with someone you're close friends with?"
Adrien wasn't sure where she was coming from.
"We were assigned our partners," Adrien explained carefully, still not understanding what Kagami was thinking, "And Nino's working with someone else…Marinette's a good friend, so I'm sure we're gonna do some awesome work."
Kagami looked uncertain, and Adrien couldn't understand. It was so unlike her.
"Trust me, she's a really good person to have on your team!" Adrien insisted, waving his arms, "She's creative and smart—" another dark-haired girl flashed through his mind, "—and she always knows what to do."
He glanced over at Marinette, who was now waving bye to Kitty Section. He smiled softly, waving at Marinette as she met his gaze. She waved back nervously.
Kagami sighed, "Okay, I understand. Maybe next time."
Adrien grinned, "Thanks Kag—"
She spun on her heel and headed towards the door, passing Marinette without even sparing the girl a glance. Adrien took note of the hurt look that crossed his partner's face and frowned. Were they not talking?
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen much of Marinette lately, and Kagami had always been by his side. He would have seen her if Kagami decided to hang out with Marinette. He wondered if they were in a fight…
Crossing the courtyard, he placed a hand onto Marinette's shoulder.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
Marinette nodded, though her eyes told a lot more than she was willing to share.
"Yeah," she reassured half-heartedly, "Let's go…"
The trip to Marinette's house was short, as she only lived across the street from the school. Nevertheless, Adrien couldn't help but be excited. The last time he spent time with Marinette was for the Ultra Mecha Strike III competition, and that was cut short because of Hawkmoth.
He hoped nothing would come up now.
Adrien loved his visits to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Marinette's home was warm and inviting. He was envious; he would have loved to grow up in a bakery. Marinette must've had a lot of fun growing up in such a loving environment.
Her mother was at the register when they entered the bakery, smiling at the pair. She called out for Marinette's father, who dashed out of the kitchen, beaming widely.
"Hello again, Adrien!" they both chimed.
"Hello!" he greeted.
"We hear that you and Marinette are doing a project on China," Sabine said. Adrien nodded enthusiastically, "We are! We wanted to start as soon as possible since it's such a big chunk of our grade."
"You guys will do great!" Tom interjected, throwing an arm around is petite wife, "Cher, we haven't been back to China since when? Two years ago?"
Sabine nodded, "I'm going to have to call my sister about our next visit together. But if you two need any help at all, you can ask me!"
"And," Tom added, "If you knead any snacks from me, just call and I'll be up faster than you can blink."
Marinette narrowed her eyes at her father, "Was that supposed to be a pun?"
"Of course not!" Tom fibbed, kissing Marinette's forehead. Adrien observed the scowl on Marinette's face, feeling as if he'd seen this scene play out before. Why was this so familiar to him?
"Don't mind Marinette!" Tom chuckled at his daughter's caustic glare, "One of these days she'll learn to appreciate her old man's jokes."
Adrien laughed, enjoying the playful banter between father and daughter. Marinette grumbled, "He's gonna subject us to puns all day today, I can feel it in my bones."
"I don't mind at all!" Adrien chirped, "Scone be fun!"
Marinette was flabbergasted, and Tom let out a howl of laughter, clapping a hand to the boy's shoulder. Adrien grinned widely at Marinette's father, and allowed his stare to fall on his classmate. She stood with her arms crossed, an exasperated expression on her face.
"Not you too," Marinette sighed.
Adrien had seen this look before, but he couldn't recall when or where. However, he did know that the girl was unimpressed with him and her father. More laughter bubbled to his lips, and he joined Tom.
"Oh, I like this one!" Tom said, "He's fun. You should bring him around more."
Adrien saw Marinette's lips curl into a gentle smile. Her bluebell eyes sparkled fondly at him, and for a moment, Adrien felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Warmth flooded to his cheeks under the weight of Marinette's gaze.
"—well!" Marinette chimed in, tearing her eyes from Adrien, "We really need to get going and start on the project. We'll be upstairs if you need us."
"Just call if you knead us!" Tom yelled after the two as the ascended the stairs. Adrien snickered behind his hand, and Marinette waved her father off.
"That's the same joke!" she hollered before she and Adrien reached her trap door, "We don't recycle bad puns under this roof!" Adrien could hear Tom's roars of laughter just starting up as Marinette gently closed her door. She turned towards Adrien, eyeing him with an incredulous stare. It reminded him so much of his Lady, who shot him the same look whenever he delivered his own jokes. He smiled, not at all sorry for his transgressions.
"Scone be fun?" she repeated.
"Scone be fun!" he confirmed.
"I didn't take you for the punning type," she remarked.
"I am full of surprises, Marinette," Adrien replied. "Just never had the opportunity to declare my love for well-timed puns."
Marinette cocked a brow, before shaking her head in amusement, smiling softly as if she'd discovered something precious. Something dark shifted in the corner of Adrien's eye, and he turned, gasping at his newest discovery.
"Who is this?!" Adrien asked.
A little black kitten sat on Marinette's work table underneath her loft, the precious little thing's jet black fur standing out against the soft pinks that covered Marinette's bedroom. He sported a red and black polka-dotted collar with the tiniest bell attached.
The kitten blinked, his emerald green stare observing Adrien.
"Kitty!" Marinette called.
The kitten let out a whiny meow, and hopped onto the ground, maneuvering around Adrien and heading towards his owner. She scooped him up into her arms and dropped a kiss on top of his head. He snuggled into her, peeking up at Adrien from the safety of Marinette's arms.
"You have a cat?" Adrien asked.
"Yeah, I just adopted him," Marinette replied, stroking the kitten's fur affectionately, "I met him at the cat café around the corner. Apparently, I was the only customer he'd ever go near, so I just decided to take him home."
"He's so cute," Adrien cooed, stepping closer to Marinette. "What's his name?"
To his surprise, Marinette's cheeks warmed to a lovely shade of pink. Embarrassed, she looked away from Adrien, biting her bottom lip.
"O…Oh, I…I just call him Kitty…" she mumbled shyly. She nuzzled the kitten, starting down at him with a softness Adrien hadn't seen before.
He felt his chest tighten the slightest bit.
What was even going on? Adrien thought to himself.
"His name is Kitty?" Adrien asked in an attempt to distract himself. Marinette glanced up at Adrien, shooting him a sly smile.
"Something like that."
Something in her expression told Adrien that she wasn't telling him the entire truth, but he decided to let it slide. He beamed softly at his classmate and her kitten, who leaned over to sniff at Adrien.
Adrien offered Kitty an outstretched hand, thrilled when the kitten mewed and rubbed his head against Adrien's open palm. He gently scratched the kitten behind his ears, similar to what he often did to Plagg.
If Adrien was being perfectly honest, Marinette's cat actually looked a bit like Plagg. With his midnight black fur and iridescent green eyes, it wouldn't be a surprise to Adrien if the cat wound up liking camembert.
He snorted in amusement.
"It's nice to meet you, Kitty," Adrien said, "I hope you don't mind me taking some of your maman's time for a bit. It's very pawsible you'll be seeing me often from meow on—I'm sure we'll be clawsome furends!"
Adrien couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled to his lips when he saw Marinette's downright disrespected expression.
"I cannot believe you!"
"I had to!"
Adrien decided that he quite liked spending time with Marinette, even if she scowled at his puns. Though his schedule had prevented him from getting to know his classmate better in the past, he was glad that he was finally given the opportunity to become better friends with Marinette.
"Let's get started!" Adrien announced, clapping his hands together. "Where do you want me, Marinette?"
"Hm?" she was setting Kitty in his kennel, "Oh, you can sit at the work station over there in front of the computer. I'm just gonna get him settled down."
"Okay!" Marinette's work desk was covered in a wide variety of completed and uncompleted projects. Colorful fabrics and threads lay to the side in a vibrant heap. Stacks of Mode magazines were neatly piled onto one side of Marinette's computer, right in front of the bulletin board of sketches that were pinned to her walls.
Adrien noted quite a few photographs of Marinette and their friends were also featured throughout the board. His gazes zipped from each photograph, taking note of those who appeared in more than one image, mainly Alya, Kitty Section, and her family. He couldn't help but notice—with disappointment—that he wasn't in any of the photos.
He frowned, trying to recall a time that he and Marinette pose for a photo, just the two of them.
Quickly opening his Instagram page, Adrien scrolled down his feed, shocked to discover that there wasn't a single photo the model had taken with his friend.
It shouldn't be a big deal, Adrien tried reasoning with himself, but deep down, he knew that he was shocked by this recent realization.
Wasn't Marinette his good friend?
Don't good friends take tons of pictures together? He had countless images with Nino, Chloe, and Kagami. Adrien wasn't entirely sure what to think, all he knew was that it bothered him. He wasn't able to dwell on the matter more though, as Marinette plopped down in the chair next to him, let out an exhale.
"Sorry for the mess!" she said, "I was hit with the need to design stuff this morning and summoned a tornado before I realized it."
She ran a hand through her hair, smiling sheepishly and banishing the negative feelings from the back of Adrien's mind. Something in Adrien warmed at the sight of Marinette relaxing and smiling.
He gestured to the designs on her board, "Did you make all of these yourself?"
She nodded, "They're all preliminary sketches, so they aren't nearly as polished as I'd like—"
"These designs are awesome, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed. He carefully observed each page, impressed by the world his partner had done. Marinette blushed, and bit her lip.
"They aren't perfect," she admitted shyly, "But I am satisfied with how they're coming along."
Adrien stared at Marinette curiously.
There goes that word again. Perfect. Adrien's previously playful mood dissipated, replaced with the familiar fear that gnawed away at him day by day. He hated it, feeling this way. Was there going to be a day where he wasn't pressured to be perfect? He wondered how Marinette was able to navigate such a loaded word.
He frowned.
Marinette tilted her head, "What's wrong?"
He hesitated, unsure if this was something he wanted to talk about. He was just beginning to have fun with Marinette, and his stupid hang up a word was going to ruin the mood.
"Adrien."
Marinette's voice, now soft and gentle, shook him out of his reverie. Adrien met her gaze, startled at how blue they were. They revealed exhaustion, concern and another emotion Adrien couldn't quite place.
"You can tell me," Marinette informed him. "You're okay to say whatever you want here."
She was giving him a lifeline.
She was giving him the chance to open up to her.
Could he, after spending the past year burying problem after problem after problem? He hadn't even been able to bare all of his heart to Ladybug, though he was planning on doing it once he saw her again.
Adrien bit his lip nervously.
It's now or never, he thought to himself.
"…would…" Adrien paused, allowing the words to form in his head. He clenched his fist on the tablet, digging his nails into the palm of his hand.
How was this so hard?
This was the first time he was entrusting someone with this kind of information. This was the first time all of this was coming out of his mouth.
To Marinette's credit, she did not push him. Instead, with a confidence that Adrien had seen countless times before, Marinette boldly reached over to place her hand over his clenched fist. Adrien closed his eyes, focusing on the warmth of Marinette's palm.
He took a deep breath before turning back to Marinette.
"…would you consider yourself a perfectionist, Marinette?"
"Absolutely," Marinette replied without missing a beat. She paused, observing her creations pensively for a moment before adding, "But I'm trying to give myself a break every now and then."
"What made you do that?" he asked quietly.
Marinette shrugged.
"Perfection is overrated. It's impossible. Recently, I've been learning that it's just better to accept strengths and weaknesses as they are," she answered, "Imperfection isn't bad. It's just something that makes us all a little different. It's something we all have to learn to accept."
Marinette spoke gently, but with clarity. She was looking directly at Adrien, her bluebell eyes boring into Adrien's. Her face relaxed, the fatigue that had seemed to follow her everywhere for the past few weeks apparent in her expression now. He could see it clearly.
Adrien realized with a start that he'd seen that look before.
It was the very look that haunted his dreams. The memory of the bright blue stare of another dark-haired girl in Adrien's life filled his mind.
His shoulders slumped.
"How's that part going for you?" Adrien whispered. "Accepting that perfection is impossible?"
Marinette hummed, finally pulling away from Adrien. He noted just had cold his hand felt without hers the moment she sat back in her chair.
"I'm working on it," she answered truthfully, "It's an ongoing fight, but I'm sure this is the right thing for me."
"And how do you know when you've done the right thing for yourself?"
A small smile curled up on Marinette's face.
"You don't. It's a leap of faith, but luckily, I have this to give me luck." Marinette lifted her wrist, revealing the orange and blue charm Adrien had given her on her birthday.
She pushed away from the table, declaring that she was going to fetch snacks for the two of them, leaving Adrien to his thoughts.
Adrien allowed Marinette's works to sink in, for once feeling validated and thankful that he'd trusted Marinette enough to confide in her. For the umpteenth time since meeting her, Adrien thanked the universe that he had a friend like Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
He appreciated her cleverness, her kindness, her creativeness—he just appreciated Marinette and he wanted to spend more time with his friend. She made him feel better about himself. She made him feel like he could do anything.
If Adrien was being perfectly honest, she made him feel like he was with Ladybug.
He missed her terribly and, after their fight, he wanted nothing more than to make up with his Lady and do his best to be a better friend and partner. He'd already resolved to do that with Marinette, he just needed to find Ladybug now. He wanted to be better for them.
Adrien realized, with a start, that he also wanted to be better for himself. He wanted to chase after the things he wanted without being manipulated or jerked around in another direction.
"Food's here, Adrien!" Marinette declared, emerging into the room with a tray full of goodies. "I know your father keeps you on a diet, so we have a variety of healthy stuff, and other treats, if you want to be a criminal with me."
All I need to do is take a leap of faith, Adrien thought to himself. Accept that I am myself, and that's okay.
Marinette grabbed a cookie and began munching on the treat, gesturing for Adrien to join her.
He reached over and snagged a cookie from the pile, taking a deliberate bite from the dessert.
"I guess we're gonna be criminals together then," Adrien joked, automatically holding his fist out for Marinette.
She wasted no time pressing her fist to Adrien's.