The class decides to do something special for Mylène to apologize for the outcome of the movie. Poor Mylène doesn't know how to react to the attention she receives after the end of The Horrificator.
.o.O.o.
Mylène couldn't stop her leg from bouncing anxiously in the passenger seat of her dad's car on the way to school. Although being akumatized wasn't as big of a deal as it had been when it first began to happen, her nerves were getting the best of her. The spotlight had never been a comfortable spot for Mylène; she much preferred staying out of the limelight. She was afraid that her classmates might treat her differently and that they might walk on eggshells around her.
The car pulled to a stop behind the collège. "Alright sweetie, time to head in." Mr. Haprèle turned to his daughter with a smile. "Have a good day. I love you," he murmured, then planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Thanks, dad. I love you, too," she smiled back, feeling more confident with her dad's support. The bond they shared was a powerful one and Mylène always felt better when her dad reassured her. His boldness on stage was something she would never possess, but he passed down a little bit to her when she needed it most. In return, she taught him how to appreciate the little things in life and how to attune himself to nature. Together, they shared kindness and a willingness to look past someone's mistakes, a hope that someday they will become better.
Mylène stepped out of the car with a smile on her face, ready to face the day. She was almost to the entrance when she paused and looked around. That's strange, she thought, normally Ivan would be here by now, waiting to walk me to class. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued on her way, thinking that perhaps he was running late.
The classroom was usually pretty empty when Mylène arrived, since her dad had to be at the school early for work. Today, however, was different. When she opened the door, Mylène's heart started racing anxiously as she took in the balloons and macarons on her desk.
"Good morning, Mylène!" a very excited, and oddly early, Marinette exclaimed. By the looks of it, the entire class came early and everyone was looking her way with bright smiles. Everyone except for Chloé that is, as well as a red faced Ivan who wouldn't meet her eyes.
"Uh, g-good morning, Marinette," she stammered, "What's going on?" Perhaps if she played clueless her friend would take the hint and calm down. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the love and concern, but Marinette tended to go a little overboard when she was trying to encourage her friends. She was so energetic and optimistic, but would sometimes take her ideas to the extreme.
The hint, unfortunately, went right over Marinette's head. "Well, since you were akumatized yesterday because of us, we wanted to make it up to you!" She put her hand on Mylène's shoulder. "We're all here for you, alright? You can come to any of us if you need help. Well, except for Chloé," she added under her breath.
"Thanks, Marinette, really, but I'm okay!" She responded cheerfully, removing Marinette's hand. "Thank you, everyone," she said quietly, addressing the class. The walk to her seat felt longer than usual with so many eyes on her, but she tried to ignore the sensation. As she slid in next to Alix she tried sneaking a peek to Ivan, but he still refused to look her way.
She looked down at the treats in front of her sorrowfully. Ivan was the one person that she wanted to be comforted by, but he wouldn't even acknowledge her. Her stomach erupted with the fluttering of butterflies when she thought of the kiss they shared yesterday, their first, and she hoped that he was just feeling shy. He wasn't the type to kiss then break up, right?
Sighing, she decided to munch on a macaron. After offering one to Alix, she pulled out her textbooks and hoped that everyone would forget about the Horrificator incident altogether.
"Alright, class, quiet down, "Mlls. Bustier announced. "Today you're in for a special treat. Instead of having class indoors, we will be going to the park across the street and studying the nature around us!"
The classroom burst with chatter as Mylène's eyes lit up. This was right up her alley. It was a beautiful day and the flowers were in full bloom right now. Everyone seemed to be just as excited as she was.
"Now, now, class, calm down! We will head out in a moment, but first, please thank Marinette for the suggestion." Mylène thought that she saw Mlls. Bustier wink towards her friend, but she wasn't positive.
"Thank you, Marinette!" the class shouted in unison. The pigtailed teen giggled out a "you're welcome", then turned and gave Mylene a wide smile.
Instantly, the butterflies in Mylene's gut began flapping their wings again, yet this time it wasn't the pleasant buzz at the reminder of Ivan's gentle lips against her own. No, this was a nauseating sensation caused by her worries about what Marinette had up her sleeve.
The walk to the park was short, but dragged on for Mylene. Marinette had fallen into step beside her and was currently listing all of the things she admired about her friend. She praised everything about her, from her kind heart to her "awesome sense of style", but Mylene was hardly listening. Her eyes kept wandering to her boyfriend's back as he walked several feet ahead of her, talking to Rose.
Jealousy wasn't a foreign feeling to Mylene. She was often jealous of her friends for possessing attributes she lacked, like Alya's boldness or Alix's athleticism. Being jealous for Ivan's attention had never been a thought for her until today, however. She wasn't angry with Rose at all, but she felt brokenhearted from her boyfriend's apparent shunning of her. Had she done something wrong? Had he not meant to kiss her and now he regretted it?
Her mind was so preoccupied with worry that she didn't notice they had arrived at the park until Marinette hugged her tightly, exclaiming, "Surprise!" There was a table in the park with more balloons and DJ equipment that Nino hurried over to. A large homemade banner was painted with bright purple lettering, reading "We Love You, Mylène!"
The next few hours were a blur as everyone showered Mylène with attention. She felt extremely uncomfortable and couldn't wait until the lunch hour arrived so she could make her escape. Once they arrived back at the school, she ducked into the girl's restroom and locked herself into a stall.
"Alright, deep breaths," she whispered to herself, trying to repeat Mlls. Bustier's breathing exercises. The deep, purposeful breaths always helped her calm down. After ten minutes or so, she finally felt relaxed. Her sense of tranquility was interrupted, however, by a knocking on the outside of the restroom door.
"Mylène? I know you're in there. Would you please come out? I'm worried about you."
Ivan. "Were you worried about me this morning, too, or did you just decide to because everyone else is?" She regretted how harsh the words sounded once they came out, but she couldn't help it. Her breaths became ragged as tears flowed down her cheeks and she tried to calm down, if only so she didn't get akumatized again.
Silence hung between them through the walls and Mylène began to question if he was still there. She came out of the stall and walked towards the outer door, daring herself to peek. Once she cracked the door open her heart plummeted at the sight of Ivan standing right outside with his own set of tear tracks racing down the sides of his face.
His eyes widened, as if he hadn't expected her to ever exit the restroom. "Mylène," he gasped. Swallowing hard as if to summon courage, he took a step toward her and lifted his arms slowly. He hesitated as he reached towards her, then wrapped her in a tight embraced.
Mylène's body tensed with surprise, and she tried to resist relaxing in his arms. He had hurt her and she didn't want to brush that aside without addressing it. "Ivan," she began as she stepped back from him. His hurt by her action was written on her face, but she remained stoic. After her adventure yesterday, she knew that it wasn't healthy to keep her hurt locked inside and she felt courage rise in her. "You ignored me all morning. Why? Yesterday you were there for me and we-" she clenched her fists and lightly pounded them on his chest, "We kissed and now you're pretending like I don't exist and you don't want to be around me! What happened?! Are you ashamed of me?"
She began to sob fiercely as her fists came to a rest on him. He pulled her close again and caressed her back lightly as she cried. When she ran out of tears, she hiccuped and looked at him.
"Mylène," he began, kneeling down so he was at eye level, his large hands on her shoulders. "I could never be ashamed of you. You're amazing! It's just, I know you. When everyone started talking about doing something special for you I knew you wouldn't feel comfortable with all the attention, so I thought I wouldn't treat you any differently. I guess I was so scared of giving you extra attention that I didn't give you any at all." He sighed and looked down. "I'm so sorry, Mylène. Could you forgive me?"
When his grey eyes looked up at her, Mylène could tell he was sincere. "Alright, Ivan, I forgive you. But next time, please ask me how I feel. It's important that we are open and honest with each other. If we just acted on speculation, where would we be?"
"Not together, that's for sure," he chuckled lightly. "You were the first person to not assume that I was some sort of thug or bully and didn't hold what I had done as Stoneheart over my head. You're always looking past my flaws. I know that I'm not the best guy out there and you deserve much better than me, but I love you a lot and will be anything you need me to be. I'll never make this mistake again, I promise."
Mylène paused and thought back to what she had learned from being akumatized. "Ivan, don't look down on yourself. Nobody is perfect and I don't expect you to be. You're you and that's who I love. I don't want anyone else and I don't want you to change who you are for me. I love you, Ivan Bruel, exactly the way you are."
The way his jaw dropped at her words made Mylène let out a watery giggle. This seemed to knock him out of his stupor and he brought her close to his chest. "I love you, Mylène Haprèle, exactly the way you are, too."
Mylène stood on her tiptoes and came to the realization that second kisses induce just as many butterflies as the first.
.o.O.o.
Next time: When Adrien makes a pun about being turned into a knight, Marinette decides to impress him with her sense of humor. She decides to turn to Chat Noir for assistance after the end of Darkblade.