Plagg watched Adrien as he was slumped against a beam, dreaminess practically floating out of his eyes. "Adrien. Adrien!"
He jumped. "Huh? What is it, Plagg?" The kwami shook his head. "I've been calling your name for the past five minutes! Stop daydreaming!" Adrien frowned. "It's the middle of the night." Plagg threw up his hands. "Then go to sleep!" Adrien sighed and looked out the window. "I can't. I can't! Ladybug said she loves me," he sighed.
Plagg groaned. "She meant it in a friendly way! Don't get head over heels for that one little comment!" Adrien still had a huge, goofy smile on his face. "She loves me…"
He snapped to attention. "Wait! Plagg, what if she knows?" He frowned. "Knows what?"
"My true identity! I did say I knew Cat Noir and she saw me passed out in the street when Nightmare attacked! What if she found out? It's not that hard to piece it together…" he fretted. Plagg flew around him. "So you were a little less careful. It still doesn't mean she knows who you are."
Adrien gave his friend a look. "She's smart, Plagg. She finds ways to use things that are completely useless to our advantage. I could never figure it out, that's why I'm second-in-command-" "Which means no command," finished Plagg. "Yeah, yeah, I know."
"My point is, she's not stupid. She's more than capable of connecting the dots-" Adrien was panicking. "What if she knows me in real life? What if she knows me and doesn't like me? What if it turns out that Adrien isn't good enough for her-" Plagg put up a paw-like hand. "Hold it."
"You're saying that Adrien, the dude with the most money second only to Chloe, looks, and respective 'charm' that everyone's talking about isn't enough for Ladybug?" Adrien frowned. "Ladybug doesn't care about things like that. I mean, Cat Noir's got them too, and she doesn't even care-" "I thought you said she looooved you?" said Plagg slyly.
Adrien groaned. "I know. I don't know! Love is confusing." Plagg patted Adrien's head. "So don't give a second thought and go to sleep."
Adrien smiled a bit, "You're getting weird these days, Plagg. You're being helpful."
"Ha, it's all for the cheese."
O-O-O
Marinette was falling asleep as Ms. Bustier continued her lesson. "All right, the origin of all texts in a story is a plot, a twist, and a- Marinette!" she snapped. Her head popped up. "Huh? Oh, sorry…" She'd barely gotten any sleep the night before, much less the entire week. It was hard being Ladybug and Marinette at the same time without getting some backlash.
After the class, Marinette practically melted into her chair as her eyes closed on their own. "Girl, you need an energy pill," commented Alya as she shook her awake. "What were you doing, re-reading every magazine that Adrien's ever been in?" Marinette shook her head as she yawned. "Some work I had to do. It was nothing."
Alya let out a short laugh. "Nothing? I'd say something, because you look like you're about to pass out any second now. Thank goodness it's the end of the day. Come on, I'll get you some coffee."
"Mind if we join you guys?"
Now that was a major wake-up call. Marinette sat up straight as Adrien and Nino strode over. "Hey," greeted Nino. "Alya, Marinette." Marinette smiled weakly and waved, "Hi."
Adrien had a concerned expression on his face. "What's wrong with Marinette? It looks like she's been steamrollered over." Alya chuckled as she said, "Marinette's done some work yesterday that really drained her. What, you get a new offer from Jagged Stone to design something again?" Marinette sighed, "I wish. I just had to do something really nerve-wracking."
Adrien rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I feel you. I had to do something yesterday as well, really drained me. Anyway, coffee sounds good. I'll buy!" Alya whooped, "Oh, yeah!"
Marinette wished she could've been happier. She really did.
But a still, nagging thought in her mind remained- Is Adrien really Cat Noir?
Leave it to a model to take them to the best place in town.
Marinette gaped at the prices. "These are super expensive! We could've just went to the shop near my street," she fussed. For once that day, she was completely 100% awake.
Adrien laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Nah, I'd rather come here to hang with my friends. It feels a little more welcoming, you know? And the coffee here-" "Is the best! Whoo!" shouted Nino, attracting a few stares in the obviously-celebritized coffee shop.
Marinette gazed at the options. "I- I don't know what to get," she murmured to Alya, who nodded solemnly. "Same, girl, I don't know any of this fancy junk," she snickered quietly back.
Adrien just held up a palm. "It's okay guys, just catch a table and I'll come right over with the best coffee in town. Believe me." With that, he left with a wallet full of cash. Marinette hesitantly edged towards a sleek mahogany table, with sofas instead of chair and throw pillows to boot.
"Excuse me, but that happens to be my seat."
Alya groaned. "Look out, it's Little Miss Mayor."
Sure enough, Chloe Bourgeois was standing in front of Marinette, a hand on the polished table. "Get lost, Chloe. We called this table first," said Marinette, exasperated and not wanting a fight. "And what are you going to do with it? Do your petty homework?" She and Sabrina laughed as if this was the funniest thing in the world.
Marinette squinted at her. "Of course. You're supposed to do your homework too, you know." Chloe waved an absent hand. "Please. I've got Sabrina to do it for me, and cramming information in my head other than important things is a total downer. So what are you losers doing here? I doubt that all your savings put together doesn't scrape enough money to buy one measly cup of hot chocolate." She laughed nastily.
"Take that back, Chloe. That wasn't very nice of you to say."
Adrien stood with a tray of four different steaming cups of coffee, frowning at Chloe. "Adri-kins! Honey! What are you doing here?" she gushed, running up to him and knocking both Sabrina and Marinette over in the process.
Adrien frowned and held a hand for Marinette as she winced and rubbed her back. "Thanks," she muttered as she was pulled to her feet. The tray was still perfectly balanced in Adrien's hand.
He frowned at Chloe. "They're here because they're my friends, Chloe. And I'm treating them to coffee because we're going to hang out. As friends." She made a face. "Though I don't understand you, Adrien, and I probably never will, I just wanted you to know that you are cordationally-" "Cordially," whispered Sabrina behind her. "Right, right, whatever. You are cordially invited to my table any time you want!" she smirked at Marinette.
Adrien shook his head firmly. "No way, Chloe. Anyway, you'd have to find another seat. Marinette saved it first, right?" She nodded, a bit numb. "Yeah." He smiled. "Thanks for that- Chloe, find another seat," he said, a little more sharply.
She ugh'ed and stomped off to another equally fancy table, tripping Sabrina again in her tantrum walk.
Marinette smiled gratefully. "Thanks," she told him while taking the steaming cup of coffee. Her eyes widened in surprise. "It's cold!"
It in fact, was very cold. So cold that Marinette's hands burned at the slightest contact. "I know, right? Totally wicked," commented Nino as he took his cup, hands bare. He took a sip and shivered. "This is totally awesome, dude. Thanks a bunch."
"Don't mention it."
Alya bumped Marinette, then pointed to her phone peeking out of her designer bag.
"Girl what happened to you?!" she texted. Marinette frowned slightly. "Not sure what you mean," she tapped back. Alya rolled her eyes at that.
"Something wrong?" Marinette raised her head to Adrien's perplexed expression. "Oh! No, I'm fine," she said, smiling a little nervously. "You know what I mean! When did you learn to be so collected when Adrien's around?" said her reply.
Marinette winced. What was she supposed to say? That she might know him in his double life? That she even suspects that he has a double life? She ran all possible answers in her head. All of them sounded fake.
"I'm waiting," said an impatient Alya. "Umm…" Marinette tugged her hair. "I guess I just made it past the fangirling stage?" She had an impulse to groan and barely bit it back. How lame was that excuse?
But Alya seemed to buy it as she said back, "Good going, girl! At least now you don't need a wingwoman to back you up. Good luck!"
"Marinette. Marinette!" She snapped to attention. "Huh?" Adrien was frowning. "Aren't you going to try your coffee?" Idiot, idiot, idiot, she thought. Even if Adrien was the silly kitty, she couldn't ignore her ever-thumping heart. Reluctantly, she wrapped a napkin around the freezing-cold coffee and took a sip.
It tasted… divine. "This is so…" She took another sip. It didn't taste like any other coffee she had tasted before, it had a more flavoring kind of like her father's mocha cake. Sweet, creamy, melted right on your tongue. Her eyes brightened at each sip. "I know, right? Totally awesome," laughed Nino as he fist-bumped with Adrien.
"See, I always come here when I'm feeling down, and this just hits the spot," he explained, tossing his hair. Marinette sighed contentedly. "So how do you feel, girl?" asked Alya expectantly. "Like I could throw Chloe ten miles." Adrien laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's good, I'm glad you're feeling better," he said kindly.
Traces of her old stammers and stutters with Adrien popped up in her mind as she fought for something to say. Failing, she decided to just take another huge gulp of the coffee.
Bad idea.
"Ahh!" She winced as she placed two fingers to her temple. "Brain freeze," chorused Alya, Adrien, and Nino all together as they all laughed. Even Marinette joined in. "Yeah, it's really cold so you might want to take little sips," laughed Adrien as he patted her shoulder.
Marinette smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much for buying this for us," she said to Adrien.
He cleared his throat. "No problem."
And Marinette's heart went ka-bump.
(If you don't like Author's Notes, please stop reading here and move on to next chapter :P)
Uh-oh Marinette's getting suspicious! And OH GODDD WE REACHED 2,200 VIEWS? xO
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