CHAPTER 14: Ready or Not

Alya and Nino stepped into the Dupain-Cheng bakery, still holding hands. The shop was empty, so they were able to walk up directly to the counter.

"Hi, Mrs. Cheng!" Alya greeted, waving the hand that wasn't connected to Nino's.

"Hello, Alya." Sabine smiled at her daughter's best friend, subtly noticing the contact between the two teenagers. "What can I do for you, sweetie?"

Alya's expressed turned concerned. "Do you know if Marinette is here? We kind of lost her when the akuma attacked earlier."

"Oh, that's not good," Sabine replied, frowning a little. "I'm sure she's alright, though. Ladybug and Chat Noir just defeated the akuma a few minutes ago."

"We know," Alya confirmed, nodding her head. "So, Marinette isn't upstairs?"

"I don't believe so," Sabine glanced back to where the apartment stairs were and shook her head, deciding to explain further. "We were upstairs waiting for the attack to be over, so we would have been there if she came home. It's possible that she slipped by me in the last few minutes as I was reopening, but…" She trailed off, giving a little shrug to the teens.

Alya nodded in understanding. "I should probably just call her." She let go of Nino's hand to fish her phone out of her pocket and did a double take as she realized that she had been holding his hand for the last five minutes. The two teens locked eyes, each giving a sheepish smile to the other.

Alya glanced away first, feeling a little overheated. This is so weird… She refocused on her phone to navigate to Marinette's contact, pressing on the call icon. But maybe a good kind of weird?

"Yo, Mrs. Cheng! Can I get a few cookies?" Alya looked up as the phone started ringing, motioning to Nino that she was going to take her call outside. He nodded and turned back to Sabine.

She had just walked out the front door of the bakery when Marinette answered.

"Listen, Alya, I'm sorry about earlier."

"Girl, it's alr-" she tried to respond, but Marinette cut her off.

"I should have never told Nino that I'd set up a date for you. I just wasn't thinking. But I'll explain everything to him, so don't worry. Promise! Do you forgive me?"

Alya could only laugh, especially when she saw Marinette appeared around the corner. She doesn't even know the half of it…

The girls put their phones away, and the bakery door opened as Nino walked out. He handed Alya a cookie, which she gratefully took. "Thanks, Nino."

Nino took out another cookie from his bag and offered it to the designer. "Do you want one, Marinette?"

Alya stood amused as her confused best friend turned to her and not-so-subtly whispered, "Uh, what's he doing here?"

"Ladybug locked us up in the same cage all afternoon," she explained, figuring that was the best way to describe why she was currently hanging out with Nino.

"It turns out, we have tons in common," Nino continued, giving Alya a knowing look. But he then turned back to Marinette. "You know Marinette, the girl I've got a crush on?"

"Oh! Yeah, Mmmhmm!" Marinette glanced at Alya before smiling at Nino.

"Actually, it was you," he admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Huh?" Marinette was taken aback by that, and glanced between the two in confusion.

"Or, that's what I thought. But after chilling with Alya that whole time-"

Alya quickly cut him off with a nudge, unsure as to how much he was planning to tell. "Yeah, well, we don't have to give her all the deets, do we?"

"Oh, yeah." Nino smiled at her and raised his hand. "My bad." Alya was relieved as he went along with her wishes. They hadn't had the opportunity to talk about them being soulmates and who to even reveal that information to. Marinette was certainly someone she wanted to tell, but not right at this moment. Alya needed a little longer to get used to the idea that she even had a soulmate- let alone it being Nino- before she told anyone.

Focusing back on their conversation, the blogger remembered something she did want to share her best friend. "The funniest part of it was that Nino was being totally coached by Adrien at the zoo!"

Marinette turned wide-eyed at this, her hands fisting in front of her in excitement. "Huh?! Adrien was there?"

Alya chuckled. "Yep! L.O.L. right?"

Nino pointed a finger gun at Marinette. "Alya tells me you've been crushing on some dude." His eyebrows were raised knowingly, and Alya fought the sudden urge to punch him as Marinette gasped in horror.

"He doesn't know who it is! Pinky swear!" Alya hastily wrapped her own pinky around Marinette's and sighed. "Cause…. Cause I don't make decisions for other people," she sassed, slightly teasing her best friend for what happened earlier.

Nino piped up again, stepping forward as he did so. "But if you want, I could totally make it happen!" Alya immediately stomped on his foot, trying to get him to shut up. "That is, if I know the dude!"

"Nino!"

He gritted his teeth in a smile. "Fine. Pretend I never said anything. But if I can help!"

"Nino!" Alya couldn't believe him! Did he not understand that she needed him to drop it? If he said one more thing, she was really going to punch him!

Marinette giggled at them, putting a hand over her mouth to try and cover the sound. The blogger mock-glared at her best friend for a few seconds, before all three of them burst out laughing.

Suddenly, Alya's phone started ringing. "It's my mom," she told her friends, before answering. "Yeah?... Alright, mom… Yeah, I'll be there soon… Love ya too. Bye." She hung up and turned to the others. "I have to go home and babysit my sisters," she explained.

"Oh, that's alright! I need to get started on homework anyway," Marinette reassured. "Gotta stay on top of it with all these akuma attacks."

Nino nodded at that. "True, dude."

"See you guys tomorrow then?" Alya asked.

"Of course!"

The girls shared a hug, and Marinette gave Alya a look before going back inside her home. The blogger fretted a little, knowing that her best friend was curious about what happened between her and Nino. What do I even tell her?

She heard a throat being cleared and glanced over to see Nino staring at her. He looked away when they made eye contact and adjusted his hat.

"Um-"

"Uh-"

"You go first," Alya offered.

Nino stepped closer to take her hand. At once, she felt all her anxiety vanish at how right it felt to be touching him, even though the fluttering in her stomach remained. They smiled at each other, both sporting a bit of a blush.

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to talk later tonight?"

"Yeah, I could do that." But then she shook her head, amending her previous statement. "Well, it would have to be after I'm done with watching my sisters, at least."

"That's fine. Whatever works, dude. Uh, no rush?" He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Yeah, we'll figure it out."

Nino nodded, and glanced down at their conjoined hands. She reluctantly removed her hand from his, knowing that she really needed to get home.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Alya asked, stepping back in preparation to leave.

"Yeah."

She waved at him and turned towards the direction of her home. "See ya!"

"Yeah, bye!" He waved back, watching her go from his standing place in front of the bakery.

Just as she was about to turn the corner, a voice echoed her mind- a voice that she was bound to get more familiar with as time went on.

She is really something.

Her blush persisted all the way home.

[7:48pm] Nino: Hey, are you done watching your sisters yet?

[8:16pm] Nino: Can you talk yet?

[8:32pm] Nino: Alya?

[8:53pm] Nino: If you can't talk tonight, that's fine. Message me when you're free.

Alya stared at the messages on her phone, anxiety and excitement pooling in her stomach. She had already been delaying their conversation for over an hour; she really did need to respond to him.

She had gotten his first text just as she was making sure her sisters had brushed their teeth properly. She put away her phone without responding, as she was still watching her sisters, after all. He would understand.

But then, after putting her sisters to bed shortly after eight, she received his second message. That was when she started to feel anxious. What did he actually want to talk about? Granted, they really did need to discuss some things- like who it was okay to tell about them being soulmates, for example- but she wasn't completely sure she was ready to talk about her feelings. In fact, she didn't even know what she was feeling. It was extraordinary how one simple touch could change everything she knew about her life, irrevocably changing her reality. She knew deep down that from this point on she would always have Nino by her side.

Which was a scary thought itself. Nino was the one who was her perfect match. Nino was the one with the personality that complemented hers, like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Nino was the one that was supposed to perfectly balance her in every way. Nino was supposed to be the one person in her life that would be the easiest to love. Oh, god. If she wasn't freaking out before, she was definitely was now.

And then she got his third text, and she couldn't help but give in to all the worries that had sprouted up throughout the day after they parted. Like, what if he wanted them to be in a relationship right away? What if he straight up confessed his love for her? What if he used cheesy pickup lines on her? What if he was super romantic all of a sudden? What would she do?

I'm not ready for this.

She had holed herself up in her room, wanting to respond to him but not feeling brave enough to talk to him yet. It was unlike her since she usually tackled everything head-on. So, in trying to distract herself from her thoughts but unable to think about something not soulmate related, she tried to figure out how to transform into her fox self again. She wasn't completely sure how to activate it, especially since the first time was through touch, but she knew from her own research online that she didn't have to touch her soulmate every time to transform into her soul animal.

What she hadn't realized was that there was a learning curve to transforming. She tried thinking about Nino to trigger it, but quickly gave up on that idea as it only led her back to the worries (and the boy) she was trying to distract herself from. Then she thought about how she felt as a fox, and imagined fur forming on her arms and legs, but that didn't work either. Finally, she tried to tap into the spark she remembered feeling during the times she had touched Nino. She felt something stir inside her, like a string going taut, and her skin electrified with a current only she could feel. But before anything happened, she was startled out of her meditation by her phone buzzing a fourth time.

[8:53pm] Nino: If you can't talk tonight, that's fine. Message me when you're free.

And that was when the guilt punched her in the face. She was straight up avoiding him at this point. She was avoiding her soulmate. Ugh, what was wrong with her?

She took a deep breath and typed out a quick message, pressing send before she could chicken out of it.

[8:59pm] Alya: Sorry, I'm free now.

She saw he had read the message and held her breath as she waited for him to respond. What would he say?

She definitely wasn't prepared for him to call her over the video-chat feature.

I'm not ready for this, she thought as her heart pounded in her chest.

I'm not ready for this.

[8:59pm] Alya: Sorry, I'm free now.

Nino breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he had done something wrong when she hadn't responded to his texts. She must have just gotten caught up with her sisters, or homework, or something.

He quickly navigated to the call feature on his phone and selected the video chat option, figuring it would be better if they talked face to face for this conversation. They were going to talk about soulmate stuff, after all. Plus, he was hoping to ask her to lunch tomorrow, if only to get to know her better. Even though the thought of asking her made him slightly nervous, it was amazing how much more confident he felt now that he knew she was his soulmate- a stark difference from earlier today with Marinette. If they were meant to be together, he couldn't mess this up too badly, right?

It took Alya a few rings to answer. When she did, Nino saw a flash of a worried frown on her face before she beamed widely at him. "Hi, Nino!"

He smiled in return, feeling a wave of calmness wash over him. "Hey, Alya! How was watching your sisters?"

"Oh," she looked surprised for a second, before her shoulders relaxed. "It was the same as always. Sometimes they can be little monsters, but they were better tonight."

"That's good." Nino chuckled a little, before continuing their conversation. "So, I wanted to ask you-"

He cut himself off as her side of the screen jumbled around. It stilled for a second on a black screen, before flashing around a bit more and returning to Alya's face.

"I'm so sorry," she said, her face a bit red. "My phone slipped from my hand."

"No worries, dude. Anyway-"

"Hey! Have you tried turning back into a turtle yet?"

He was silent for a second, processing her sudden question. "Uh, no?"

"Oh! Well, you should try! I think I almost had it earlier. Maybe it'll be easier when we're together?"

Nino nodded, briefly considering it in his head. "Yeah, probably. Speaking of being together, I was wondering if you'd like to-"

Alya's face turned panicked, and the video turned to face another part of her room. "Yeah, Mom?" he heard Alya ask, her voice uneasy. Figuring her mother wanted something from her, he strained to hear what was going on, but only heard silence.

When the screen returned to Alya's face, she had a hard time looking at him. "Is everything okay, Alya?"

"Yeah! Yeah, everything's fine!" Her voice was pitched a bit higher than normal, and Nino narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Are you sure? You're not really acting like yourself," he observed. He could see her floundering for an answer and decided to ask another question. "What did your mom want?"

"Uh, she wanted to, uh-"

He watched Alya jump as what sounded like a door opened on her side of the screen. "Alya, honey, how were you sisters tonight?"

The screen moved to show the top half of Alya's face as she lowered her phone in the air. "They were fine, Mom."

"That's good. Are you talking with a friend?"

Alya's eyes turned back to the screen, a blush reddening her cheeks before she looked back to her mother. "Yeah, I am."

"Well, finish up in the next few minutes. It's a school night. Did you get all your homework done?"

"Uh, most of it."

"Make sure you get it done before you go to bed tonight."

"Of course, Mom."

"Okay, well I love you and goodnight, honey. Tell your friend hi for me!" Nino heard Alya's mom giggle a bit, watching as Alya adjusted the screen to show her whole face again.

"Night, mom," she said distractedly, and Nino heard the door close in the background behind her. Silence reigned between them for a few seconds before Nino took pity on her and spoke.

"Your mom seems nice." He frowned at her as another thought came to him, though. "She wasn't really there the first time, was she?"

She visibly cringed, and Nino knew he was right. "No," she responded, her voice quiet, and her cheeks flushed.

"Alya," he said, his voice taking on a firmer tone. "What is going on? You've been acting nervous the whole time we've been talking and you… you lied to me." He paused, feeling one of his own worries float to the surface. "Is it because you don't want me as your soulmate?"

"NO! Nothing like that. Gosh, I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous… I'm not, like, disappointed it's you, okay? It's just that this is so weird and strange and I don't even know what I'm feeling and-"

"Alya." He held up a hand to try and catch her attention. "Breathe."

"I'm sorry," she said again, her eyes scrunched closed and her head bent low.

"Dude, it's alright," he tried to reassure her. "I understand, okay? This is, uh, scary for me, too."

He watched her nod on the screen, her head still bent down. He hated seeing her like this, so different from the confident Alya he was used to interacting with. What was going through her head?

She looked up at him briefly before looking away again. "I need to go."

"Alya-"

"I'll talk with you tomorrow, okay?" She stared at him, a bit of her normal stubbornness shining through.

He paused, a little irritated and unwilling to let it go. But seeing the pleading in her eyes, he relented. "Alright." If she wasn't ready to talk about this stuff, then he could give her space. He could be patient.

She gave him a forced smile. "Thanks Nino. I'll see you at school."

He sighed. "Yeah, dude."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Alya ended the chat from her side. Nino just stared at his screen, the end-call sound echoing in his head. That was not how I expected our conversation to go…

But if she needed time, he was willing to provide it. They could take it as slow as she wanted; he needed time to process his own emotions about all this soulmate stuff too. Everything had changed in an instant and they were both still getting used to it. It would all be fine eventually.

Yeah, it'll be fine, Nino reassured himself. He plugged his headphones into his phone and turned on some music. It'll be fine.

A/N:

We're going to take a quick DJ Wifi detour with this story, which I really enjoyed writing even though it wasn't originally planned. Luckily, it's just for a few chapters, so don't worry, we will return to our normally scheduled Love Square soon!

Meanwhile... *rubs hands together excitedly and goes to type Chapter 19* *pauses* IDEAS. WHY. WON'T. YOU. COME. UGGGHHH *proceeds to slam head against metaphorical wall repeatedly*

Wish me luck, guys. And thanks for your reviews and support!

Starlin's Ghost

*Edited 11/25/19*