She winced as she worked to steady her shirt over the wound before it suddenly became too much, irritated under the constant brushing of fabric, half staining her darker than usual shirt, and all in all, making it much harder to hide her wound from her classmates and her parents.

Marinette grunted at the pain and muttered softly under her breath as she lifted up her black shirt that was almost an exact parallel of her whiter one, with red blossoms crawling up the top, and she stared at the wound that looked bigger than she remembered, gushing blood though thankfully not very fast, and she sighed as she grabbed at the bandages that were already mostly slipped off.

As she pulled off her shirt after her jacket in the supposedly empty locker room, she heard a gasp, and she felt hands just a breadth away from her wound, nervous and worried.

When she glanced up, she met the worried, green eyes of Nathanael's, and her heart broke in her chest; it somehow meant the world that he was worried about her and not concerned about the fact that she wasn't wearing a shirt right now.

His worry overtook any other aspect of himself, and she couldn't help but admire him a little more as the young artist opened up his own locker to grab a spare shirt, reminding her with the motion that she'd forgotten one at home.

"Do you have anything for me to stitch it up with? It looks bad." He winced as he said the last few words, and she realized that he cared more than she'd known; how hadn't she noticed that not only did he have a crush on her, but he also worried over her.

It made his crush appear far less fickle in her eyes though she'd never really considered him fickle to begin with; she'd just assumed that his feelings would probably pass before the school year did, and things would go back to normal to where no one really seemed to have a crush on her.

Nino had moved on after all though Kim hadn't moved on from Chloe, and that probably showed a higher level of perseverance than just about anything.

Kim was stubborn that's for sure.

"I have my sewing kit..?" She wasn't quite sure what to say really as she grabbed the bag that Tikki was in and opened it away from Nathanael's eyes though it probably didn't matter as he worried over her wound.

"That might work." Nathanael sent a soft and sweet smile her way, and Marinette couldn't help but feel that joy radiate through her own being at just the gesture of such a sweet smile, clearly meant to calm her down if she were worried.

Marinette watched Nathanael work, wincing at the pain of the needle moving through her, though she was pleasantly surprised at how steady his hands remained and how absolutely focused he was.

Once he was finished, he moved away from her to grab a small, first aid kit of his that sadly came with barely anything other than bandages, and he took to wrapping them tightly around her, though not tight enough to make her wound reopen.

He offered her his spare button up shirt as soon as he'd finished tying the bandages.

"Thank you so much." Marinette let out a relieved breath as she buttoned up the shirt that hung at least a little loose over her, "Are you sure about lending me your shirt? I may bleed all over it."

"I'll be fine." Nathanael shrugged with another reassuring smile, "Besides, if you want it, you can keep it. You need it for today more than I do."

"Thank you." Marinette felt more than a little grateful as well as more than a little surprised by how fast he acted.

"What happened to you?" His soft voice broke her quickly growing distracted thoughts.

"I was," She took a deep breath, "Out and about, and just fell wrong."

"You didn't go to the hospital?" Nathanael asked softly, "They would have stitched you up with just one look at your wound."

"My parents don't know." Marinette answered quickly, "I didn't want to worry them."

Nathanael's eyes softened, "Just come to me if something like this happens again, alright?"

"I should be fine." Marinette shrugged, not sure that she should bother Nathanael with any of this again just in case he found out her identity or rather how the injuries that lasted past the Cure which were rare would show up right after Akuma attacks.

Nathanael's worried eyes stayed locked on her, "Do you want me to wash your shirt, so that your parents don't see the blood?"

"You don't have to." Marinette took a deep breath, worried that she was already taking up so much of his time and putting him in danger with this much even though she knew that Hawkmoth didn't know her identity.

"I want to." Nathanael answered her, "If it will help you out any."

"Okay, thank you." She handed her shirt and overcoat over.

Nathanael's slightly relieved smile eased a part of her heart, and she couldn't help the joy that spoke through her own answering smile.

She nervously fidgeted in Nathanael's deep orange, button up shirt shortly after when she realized that they should probably leave the locker room and head back to class; her bathroom excuse probably wouldn't hold up for long anyway.

Marinette watched Nathanael tuck his first aid kit and her shirt into his locker, carefully hiding her shirt, before he shut his locker and locked it.

She smiled as she put her sewing kit away, "Thank you for stitching me up."

"It was no problem." Nathanael spoke up, just barely above a whisper, "I was worried about you, and just wanted to help you get better to the best of my ability."

"You did a good job." Marinette murmured, thankful, and she realized that Nathanael was letting her walk to class first, just in case she fell over or had another medical emergency.

Once she entered their class again, he waited for a bit before making his entrance to avoid the rumors that could surely spread when Chloe was around.

Marinette found that her bandages once again kept her shirt from irritating her wound that hopefully wouldn't be as festered and ugly tomorrow as it was today; she already knew that it had to be healing, little bit by little bit.

She just hoped that no one paid too much attention to her change of shirt or the fact that she'd definitely limped when she left the classroom earlier; she just wanted to keep her identity as much of a secret as she could and heal as fast as time would let her.