Marinette gazed at her salad sandwich. Despite not having eaten for five hours, she didn't feel very hungry. Then again, her appetite hadn't been great this morning, either. She'd only felt up to eating a piece of dry toast, but when her mother had checked Marinette's forehead, she hadn't seemed unwell.
Marinette was pretty sure her stomach wasn't the problem. It was just her emotions. She felt none of the fiery anger that she had yesterday. Now it was guilt, confusion, and self-hatred.
After listening to Chat last night, and dwelling over to the conversion for way too long, Marinette had realised just how immature and dramatic she'd been. She'd been so angry while on patrol that she'd gotten severe tunnel vision, and forgotten that Chat Noir would never intentionally hurt or anger her. And then she'd pushed him off the freaking roof. Total overreaction on her behalf. And when she hadn't even bothered to stick around to see if he was okay? Yep, she completely sucked.
And after realising how heartbroken Chat really had been last night, and comparing it to her own 'heartbreak' last time he visited, Marinette had come to the conclusion that she needed to clean up her act. For God's sake, she hadn't even been dating Adrien when he hadn't been able to make it to Andre's.
So, yeah. Marinette really hated herself. She couldn't be mad at anyone, not after seeing how much damage her anger had caused to Chat Noir. When Marinette had seen Alya that morning, she'd flung her arms around the blogger, simply because she needed a hug.
Marinette poked her sandwich. She had to apologise to Chat. As soon as possible, but would he even let her? Maybe she'd scared him off.
"Marinette, you going to eat that? It won't change if you stare at it, you know!" Alya plonked down next to Marinette on the courtyard bench, quickly followed by Nino. Both had trays on their laps, but the contents of the trays were very different. Alya's held yoghurt, a snack bar, and orange slices. Nino had a salami sandwich, a packet of chips, and some weird, high-in-salt energy drink.
Marinette shrugged. "I'm not very hungry."
Alya eyed her. "Listen, girl, if this is some diet thing, drop it. You are perfectly healthy."
Marinette laughed. "I'm not on a diet, Alya. I, uh, had a big breakfast," Marinette said, hoping she sounded convincing.
Nino nudged his girlfriend. "Just eat, Alya. Marinette will eat when she wants to. Yo, Adrien!" He waved at the blonde, who was approaching their bench. "Sit down, bro."
Adrien obeyed, which wouldn't have been a problem, except the bench was almost full, and he was forced to squeeze in next to Marinette. She could have died as Adrien's shoulders pressed against her own.
"Sorry, Marinette," he apologised. "Do you mind?"
"Ummm, well, no," she stammered.
Suddenly, Adrien stiffened, his eyes fixed on someone on the other side of the courtyard. "Hell," he muttered. "Sorry, guys. Gotta go, back in a sec!" He jumped up and sprinted away, causing Marinette's sandwich to fall out of her lap and onto the floor.
"Bro, what the heck?" yelled Nino, but Adrien had vanished.
A shadow fell over the three students. Marinette looked up, and immediately wished she hadn't. Chloe and Sabrina stood in front of her, and knowing them, whatever they had to say wasn't going to help Marinette in any way, shape, or form.
"Has anyone seen Adrien?" asked the blonde girl snootily. Her strange valley girl-ish accent grated on Marinette's ears.
"Why?" asked Marinette.
Chloe glanced down at her. "None of your business, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But it's very important. I have to speak with Adrikins immediately.
"Nobody's dying, Chloe," Alya said, annoyed. "Surely it can wait."
Chloe glared at her. "No one asked your opinion, Little Miss Ladyblog. Actually, it is very important. But I'm not going to tell you. That's I decision Adrien and I need to make together." She batted her heavily mascaraed eyelashes.
Alya opened her mouth, no doubt about to slap Chloe with a stinging retort, but Marinette was faster. "He went that way, Choe," she said sweetly, pointing in the direction that was the complete opposite of the one that Adrien had gone.
The blonde looked at her haughtily. "I suppose you're not a complete incompetent, after all."
She turned on her heel and was about to sashay away when Sabrina spoke.
"Uhh, Chloe.." she said nervously.
"What is it, Sabrina?" snapped Chloe.
Wordlessy, Sabrina pointed at Chloe's feet. Looking, down, Marinette suppressed a laugh. Chloe had stepped in her sandwich, and her expensive ballet flats were now smeared with tomato, cheese, shredded lettuce.
Chloe let out a howl. "My shoes! Do you know how much these cost?" she spat. Storming away, she let out a furious "Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"
Marinette, Alya and Nino howled with laughter. The salad- covered shoes, expression on Chloe's face, and her famous catchphrase had been truly hilarious.
Eventually, Alya to stop her cackling. "So that's why Adrien ran off. Marinette, you should probably go warn him that Miss Bourgeois is on the prowl." Alya winked.
Marinette went pink. "Um, well, I really don't know where he is, and I should probably clean this-"
"Go on, girl," interrupted Alya. "I'm handing you a golden opportunity. Adrien will be very grateful if you tell him. You can thank me later." With a knowing smirk at Nino, she gently shoved Marinette.
With a sigh, Marinette marched off. God, Alya was so annoying. But she also really amazing.
Marinette climbed the staircase, and looked into a classroom. Adrien stood in the corner, on his phone.
Deep breaths, Marinette told herself. You've got this. Clearing her throat, she pushed open the door. "Adrien?" she said, fighting to stay in control.
He turned, looking nervous, but his expression broke into smile when he saw Marinette. "Thank goodness it's you. I was worried it was Chloe. I really don't want to talk to her right now." He suddenly looked hopeful. "Would you mind hanging out here with me for a bit? It's kind of boring on my own, and Chloe won't find us here."
Marinette nodded. "Um, s-s-sure!"
Adrien beamed at her. "Thanks, Marinette. So, um, how was your evening?"
Marinette hesitated, but it didn't matter. The careful control that she had held over herself snapped, and a flood of words poured out. The pent-up feelings that had been tormenting her all day gushed out, and Marinette was powerless to stop it.
"Honestly, it was really crap,"she replied without thinking.
Adrien looked surprised. "Really? How?"
Marinette hesitated, but it didn't matter. The careful control that she had held over herself snapped, and a flood of words poured out. The pent-up feelings that had been tormenting her all day gushed out, and Marinette was powerless to stop it.
"Well, I met up with this guy. I've known him for ages and I really trust him. But I was kind of in a bad mood while I was with him. He started acting weirdly, cracking jokes and stuff. Normally I wouldn't care, but I wasn't myself. I told him to shut up. He didn't. Then he… well, he said something really rude. I got offended." Marinette paused for breath.
Adrien was watching her closely, eyes wide. "What did you do?" he asked.
Marinette flushed, shuffling her feet. "I, um, well, I punched him," she said sheepishly. She decided that 'pushed him off a building' was a tad dramatic.
Adrien's curious expression turned to shock. "You- you punched him?"
Marinette cursed silently, hoping her response hadn't tarnished Adrien's view of her. "Yeah."
To the bluenette's immense surprise, Adrien started to laugh. "Jeez, Marinette, I didn't think you had it in you!"
Marinette smiled weakly. "Neither did I, actually. It wasn't my finest moment."
"Was he hurt?"
Marinette shrugged. "I didn't stick around. Like I said, I wasn't myself."
"Oh." Adrien thought for a moment. "He didn't hit back, did he?" asked the model, recalling the bruise on Marinette's arm last night.
Marinette shook her head, seemingly shocked. "Oh, no. He would never do that."
"Good." Adrien was relieved. He thought for a moment, then made a decision. "Actually, my night was pretty bad, too."
"Care to tell me?"
"That would be great. It was actually pretty similar to yours. I was with one of my old friends. She was out of sorts, so I tried to cheer her up, and accidentally made her mad, to cut a long story short. She slapped me and left."
"Well, that was short, but definitely not sweet," commented Marinette. "Sounds like we both had a rough night."
"Yeah," agreed Adrien. He watched her for a second. Despite having just recounted a negative experience, she seemed far more relaxed than usual. Adrien was surprised at how easy and enjoyable it was to talk with her. He and Marinette were never really alone together, and she was usually shy and flustered, which made conversation hard. Sure, they'd come a long way since the whole gum-on-seat incident, but Adrien wished they were closer. Marinette was a good friend, someone to talk to after a rough day when Nino wasn't around.
The bell suddenly trilled, causing them both to jump. Marinette smiled slightly.
"Well, we'd better go. Are you prepared to face the wrath of Chloe?" she asked cheekily as they walked out.
Adrien laughed. "As ready as I'll ever be. She's got some good qualities, Marinette. I know you two aren't exactly best friends, but she could use a bit of help."
Marinette froze. "Are you suggesting that Chloe Bourgeois needs my help?"
Adrien shrugged. "She's had a tough life. I know she hasn't exactly made things easy for herself, but two friends isn't really enough."
"A tough life?" Marinette could hardly believe her ears. "You call having a butler, stylist, personal chef, and countless maids a tough life?"
"Marinette, her mother left her when she was four. That's what I mean by tough," said Adrien patiently.
"Oh." Marinette swallowed. Chloe's mother had left her? That explained quite a bit, actually. "Sorry, Adrien. I didn't know."
Adrien gave her a lopsided smile. "It's okay. She hasn't made it public. As far as I know, she doesn't even talk about it." He paused, and considered Marinette. "You know, Marinette, I find it kind of odd that we're only just talking like this now."
"What do you mean?" asked Marinette, falling into step beside Adrien.
"Well, we see each other a lot, but we're usually with Nino and Alya. It's never, you know, you and I."
"Yeah. I see what you mean," Marinette said thoughtfully. She looked at Adrien shyly. "Do you ever feel awkward third-wheeling with Nino and Alya?"
"Definitely." Adrien nodded. "I mean, I don't resent them, or anything. But sometimes I feel like I'm in the way, or kind of jealous that they have a relationship like that."
Marinette looked away, suddenly shy. This was her dream come true- a chance to talk to Adrien about relationships. But she couldn't make herself do it. Not now.
While she was thinking, Marinette didn't notice a stray backpack in her path. In classic Marinette- style,she tripped, arms flailing. Just as she was about to hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, two strong hands caught her around her waist, and pulled Marinette back into standing position. The girl found herself gazing up at Adrien, his green eyes full of concern.
"Are you okay?"
Marinette nodded, breathless. Adrien's hands were still firmly clasped around her waist, and she didn't want him to let go.
Adrien didn't seem to want to let go, either. They stayed like that for a moment, swaying gently, almost like a dance. Then a harsh shriek shattered the moment like glass.
"ADRIKINS! Where have you been? I've been looking for you!" Chloe stomped up to Adrien, shoved Marinette aside, and flung her arms around the model. "So, did your father tell you the great news? I can't wait. Just imagine, you and me. It'll be so romantic!" she purred.
Adrien gently pushed her away. "Actually, Chloe, I haven't spoken with my father yet, and I'd prefer it if you didn't talk about it until I've discussed it with him. And you might want to apologise to Marinette."
Chloe glared at Marinette, then realised Adrien was watching. "Sorry." She kissed Adrien's cheek, and strutted away.
Adrien sighed. "Sorry about that."
Marinette could barely reply. She was dizzy with happiness, and felt like her heart might burst. Adrien had stood up for her!
Now, if she could just work things out with Chat Noir, life would be perfect.
Hi! I've decided to make my chapters longer, but unfortunately that means there'll be a longer gap in between chapters. Never fear though, as I promise I'll deliver at least one chapter per week, unless the circumstances change dramatically. Thanks for reading, and remember to drop a review. See ya!