Marinette woke up grumpy, having slept terribly. She was mad at Cat Noir. She was mad at Tikki too, but that was hardly the kwami's fault. All she'd done was ask what was wrong about a thousand times and offer words that were supposed to be comforting but didn't fix anything. She buried herself deeper into her warm blankets, too tired to move but too alert to go back to sleep.
She'd have to get up for school soon and see him. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to think about him. She didn't want him to come haunt her balcony again. She didn't want to go fight an akuma, where she was guaranteed to see him.
A quick glance at her cell phone told her she only had a few minutes until she had to start getting ready. Marinette set it back down slowly and quietly, hoping her movement wouldn't upset the spot on her pillow where Tikki's small weight dimpled the fabric.
He'd changed his mind so easily. Two days ago, he'd taken every chance he had to tell Ladybug that she was amazing, they were meant to be together, that she was the only one for him. And he dropped that crush in a few measly hours. If he'd gotten over her so easily once, how quick would he be to get over her a second time? She'd never be able to keep the attention of a flirt like Cat Noir.
A part of her wished Tikki would just intuitively understand what was wrong. She didn't want to have to explain. But she was pretty good at imagining Tikki's arguments anyway. "He probably didn't mean it that way. Wouldn't it be easier to just ask what he meant?" "You turned Cat Noir down. You wanted him to move on, didn't you?" "Weren't you complaining to me – just last week – that you thought he only liked you because he thinks you're a 'perfect' superhero and not because of who you are?" "You won him over from yourself. Isn't that a good thing?" "Don't you want him to like you?" The answers were all yes, of course, but that didn't make her feel any better.
She sighed and twisted in her blankets. (It wasn't like she could get any more tangled, anyway.) At least something good had happened from this whole thing. She'd learned that she barely stuttered around Cat Noir, which was a huge relief. They'd both be safer if she could function as a normal human being in his presence, and he'd be less likely to guess her identity. The bad news was the lack of stuttering was probably due to her still partially viewing them as two separate people. She'd need to work on that.
Her twisting and turning was slow to wake Tikki, who had been putting up with it for most of the night, but wake she finally did, looking as cheerful as ever.
"Good morning. Do you feel better?" she asked cautiously.
"Not really." Marinette threw the blankets back over her face. Did ladybugs make cocoons? They totally did, right? Because she wanted one. It was dark and snug in here. It smelled familiar and soothing. And Adrien wasn't in here, so that was an added bonus. Adrien snuggling under the blankets with her... Another benefit of cocoons: no one could see her embarrassed blush.
"Maybe school and Alya will help take your mind off things," Tikki said. She phased right through the covers and landed on Marinette's nose. She only groaned, so Tikki tried again. "Do you want to talk about it now?"
"Just leave me alone to die," she moaned and swatted at her face.
Tikki dodged out of the way. She must have been tired of being pushed away, because her tone was clipped as she phased back out of the blanket. "Get. Up."
Marinette's goal for the day was easy: Avoid Adrien at all costs. It shouldn't be too hard, she reasoned. She only had to see him the WHOLE STUPID DAY!
She made herself late on purpose, so she wouldn't have time to talk to him before class, though it wouldn't have mattered. He showed up thirty minutes late himself, informing the teacher that he'd had an emergency photoshoot. Apparently, the pictures from yesterday hadn't been good enough and needed to be redone. Marinette propped her book open on the desk and hid behind it before he could look at her. Her fault. He'd been distracted after she'd shown up. He sat down without a word and unzipped his bag quietly.
Alya poked her in the shoulder and raised her eyebrows, then nodded toward Adrien, wordlessly asking what was going on. Marinette pressed her face into the table and didn't say anything.
She kept the book up as a barrier all class, but it couldn't stop her from hearing every time Adrien shifted in his seat. Was it her imagination, or was he more fidgety than normal today? Twice, she peeked around her wall and found that he was sneaking a glance at her. Both times, she squeaked audibly before ducking back out of sight. The second time, it had been loud enough to get the teacher's attention. The end result was that Marinette was told to lower her book shield and pay attention. She could unhappily fulfill one of those request, but paying attention turned out to be too much to ask for. She couldn't focus her eyes or thoughts on anything but Adrien, who kept his head bowed for the rest of class.
At the end of first period, Marinette sprinted out of the classroom, Alya in tow. She had it all figured out. She would claim that she needed to talk to Ms. Mendeleiev about something, so she couldn't possibly be expected to talk to other students between classes. Then, she'd spend lunch at home, and maybe she'd conveniently have a fever that afternoon.
"You can't avoid him for the rest of your life," Alya said as they powerwalked down the hallway.
"I can try." Marinette kept a firm grip on Alya's wrist.
"I'll catch up with you later, girl," she said, tugging away from Marinette's grasp. "Gotta talk to Nino real quick."
"Wait!" Don't leave me!
Alya broke free and moved out of reach before Marinette could grab her and keep her there. She hadn't said anything earlier about Nino. Why was it so urgent now?
"Hey, Marinette." Adrien said.
She tried to jump at the voice and spin around at the same time. It didn't work out too well, and she ended up losing her balance. The lockers were kind enough to catch her as she fell. She made quite the crash when she hit, and several people looked over before continuing on to their next class.
"Oh, h-h-hi, Adrien." There were only five minutes in between classes. And this was Cat Noir! She could last that long against Cat Noir, right? Sweat already trickled at the back of her neck. Probably wrong.
He'd reached out to help steady her, but retracted his hand before he touched her and dropped his gaze quickly. Something was different. He seemed more hesitant, and he took a small step back when he saw that she didn't need his help staying upright. She knew it. He was put off by her weirdness and wanted to keep his distance!
"I- I'm sorry about yesterday. Are you okay?"
"Oh, sure!" she said, smiling in what she hoped wasn't a creepy way. "It's your fault." She watched his face contort into a crinkled frown. "I mean, MY fault! NOT your fault. Sorry." She held her books up and ducked behind them. How many more minutes until class started? It'd been five already, right? Please tell her it'd been five.
"Listen," he said, pushing her books down so she would meet his eyes. "I was- I was thinking, and I figured I should probably tell you-" He seemed to think better of whatever it was. "Is something bothering you? I mean, you've been really quiet all day, and I was just wondering if maybe something happened yesterday, maybe at school, or... or after school, that you wanted to talk about? You seem... really upset."
He shuffled his feet nervously, and she suddenly felt guilty. She'd never stopped to think what running out on him would make him feel. She expected Cat Noir would think she was just a weird random citizen, laugh it off, and go find someone else to flirt with. But Adrien would be concerned about his friend and maybe a little hurt. She had to stop seeing them as two separate people.
"Oh, I'm okay," she said. "Really. You don't need to worry." Should she tell him she knew? She didn't think she was ready. But she also didn't want to hurt him. If Cat Noir and Adrien were the same person... it had been bad enough rejecting her kitty and hurting his feelings, but – her heart squeezed painfully as the full weight of the realization sunk in – but she'd been rejecting her sweet Adrien, too. Did he still feel that way about Ladybug? Or had he moved on already?
"Okay," he said, finally taking his hand off her books and scratching the back of his neck. "As long as you're sure you're fine." He didn't sound very convinced.
She started to reply, offer some comfort, tell him the truth, but she stopped when she heard a loud shriek.
"MY HAIR!"
She'd heard Chloe's screaming enough to be able to identify it from a distance, and she gave an exaggerated sigh. It was only when more people joined in that she realized something was wrong.
Marinette and Adrien locked eyes. Clumps of students stampeded past them, looking for shelter, and they were quickly left alone.
"We should, uh, get to class?" she said. No, stupid. He's not going to believe you're still going to class during an akuma attack! "And- and lock ourselves in for safety?" NO! That was even worse! "I m-mean-"
"Good idea," Adrien said, panicked. "But I'm... going to go check on Chloe first. Yeah." He dashed in what was clearly the opposite direction of the screaming and started glancing into open doors, probably looking for an empty classroom to transform in. Marinette watched him go until he turned a corner and was gone.
Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's purse. The akuma must have been close, because the hallway was already emptied of other people.
"See?" Tikki said. "He likes you."
"But which of me?" she asked. "Spots on."
She knew she didn't have time to wait for an answer, and Tikki couldn't provide one for that question anyway. Did he really like Marinette? Did he still have feelings for Ladybug? Cat Noir could be an insincere flirt sometimes, but Adrien didn't strike her that way. When her transformation was complete, Ladybug raced down the hallway, where she could hear Chloe's wailing.
So which was it? Who did he truly have feelings for? Or was he just playing both of her identities? There had to be some way to find out.
Author's note: The next chapter features my favorite side of the square: Ladynoir! 3 You know, when I was planning this story out, I thought it was going to be a one-shot. Then I thought it was going to be multiple chapters, but they'd only be about 500-1000 words each. *facepalm* I always underestimate my own wordiness.
To my guest reviewer: You're right. Adrien's type is veeeeery specific. :)
Incorrect Miraculous Quote
Kim: Going to classes, writing stuff down. You love all that nerd stuff.
Max: Writing stuff down is nerdy? What do you do?
Kim: Just forget stuff, like a cool person.
-Brooklyn Nine Nine
