Chapter 3

Marinette was starving.

As soon as they made it to the grassy clearing where their classmates had gathered she abandoned all notions of the tall, handsome blonde who had his arm wrapped protectively around hers. She mourned momentarily as she felt the warm embrace of his fingers on her bare skin slip away, leaving goosebumps and flushed cheeks in their wake- but her stomach was louder than her fluttering heart, and Alya had grilled cheese.

"Thank goodness," she collapsed onto the gingham blanket, practically snatching the food out of the little wicker basket which held the lunches Alya had packed them. It was picturesque, really- the perfect Saturday if not for her operatic appetite and falling off a cliff.

She bit into one of the rich pastries her parents had sent her with, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. She chewed slowly, more keen than ever to enjoy life's simple pleasures, and slipped the rest discreetly into her purse for Tikki.

"Marinette, aren't you going to invite Adrien to sit with us?"

In her haste, she hadn't realized that Adrien hadn't followed her to the blanket, but instead had stayed where he was, standing alone. His backpack was slung awkwardly over his right shoulder, and he played with the strap, anxiously looking around. He was trying to appear calm, but as he looked around at the groups of students, a disheartened look fell across his face. Most people were coupled off, already enjoying their own private patch of sunshine. Even Chloe, a last resort, was distracted with telling Sabrina that she was setting up her lounge umbrella all wrong, and didn't notice her precious Adrikins' dilemma. With how quickly Marinette ran off to sit with Alya and the uncertain circumstances between them, no wonder he was apprehensive. She hadn't meant to make him feel alone, she realized, a resounding pang shooting through her chest.

She lifted her hand towards Adrien, but Alya had already waved him over, so she offered an apologetic smile. Relief washed over him and he walked towards their group. He settled next to the two friends, forest green eyes (Chat Noir's eyes, she reminded herself) lingering on Marinette- not that she was paying attention or anything. Definitely not.

If Alya noticed, she didn't say anything, but Marinette knew she'd be getting an earful later. Adrien had opened his backpack, pulling out a fancy assortment of cheeses and crackers, including a few wedges with a particularly foul odor, which he slipped into his shirt when no one appeared to be looking at him. Probably for his Kwami, she realized. How many times had he done something like that and she hadn't noticed? Not only had Chat Noir been right under her nose, but so had Plagg. It made her wonder about Tikki- they'd been close to one another this whole time, just out of arm's reach. They must miss each other, Marinette realized, a sadness settling within her. To have existed for so long and not been able to talk while a few feet apart every day must have been torture. She made a mental note to talk to Tikki about it later.

The afternoon passed pleasantly, the four friends finding comfort in the food and one another. Nino had joined them after ending a game of Frisbee with Ivan and Kim, and was now going on about a party downtown he was going to DJ at later that month. Marinette has trying to listen, but was hyper-aware of the space Adren took up to her left. It made her insides turn to cotton when she thought about him, heart fluttering when he spoke. He's Chat Noir, she reminded herself. Just think of him as Chat Noir. Bad puns. Cat ears. Bell.

This worked for a time, at least long enough for Nino to get bored with sitting.

"Hey dude, let's go play some more Frisbee. I think Kim is starting another game." Nino stood, offering a hand to Adrien, who nodded and put away the last of his food.

"Okay girl... spill." Alya hadn't wasted a second in asking after the boys were out of earshot.

"What do you mean Alya?" She tried and failed at playing dumb, knowing her best friend would get something out of her anyways.

"Come on girl... you and Adrien fall behind the group for like ten minutes? Don't tell me it took that long to look at a bird. Plus, you've both been acting weird since you got here. I know something's up."

For a second, a fleeting moment, Marinette actually considered telling her best friend the truth. Sure, she would never reveal Cat Noir's identity, but she could tell Alya about the fall, the transformation, her reveal to Adrien. Alya had always been there when Marinette needed her most- and right now she really needed someone on her side who wasn't Adrien.

But the logical voice in her head took over- one person already knew her identity, which was one too many. What made it worse was that it was Chat Noir, the one person who absolutely couldn't know. Yet, he did. He knew and she knew and the thought of what could happen because of it chilled her to her very core. What if he became Chat Blanc again? Turned against her? Destroyed the world? All because she was too nervous around Adrien to stay on her own two feet.

Plus, if she told Alya, it might make fixing things harder. Marinette half expected Bunnyx to appear and chastise her about making yet another mistake, revealing their identities when they shouldn't have. Everything has its time, she'd said. If she told Alya now and Bunnyx had to interfere, it was one more loose end that could make things harder to fix.

So she sighed, looked her best friend in the face, and prepared to lie to her again. "We took so long, because, I uh... lost my earring! Yeah, it must have fallen in the dirt a few meters back on the trail, so he was kind enough to help me look. Thats why it took so long- he found it back around the corner in the dirt."

A good lie this time, not a bumbling excuse. She hated what it said about her that she was getting so good at lying to her best friend.

Alya shook her head in exasperation at Marinette's apparent tendency to lose things. It was typical of her, after all.

"Well thank goodness Adrien was there to help you find it. Plussss you got some alone time with him!" The latter statement came with a suggestive quirk of Alya's eyebrows.

"Right, yes. Alone time with Adrien." She muttered half heartedly, the events of earlier playing in her mind. The slip over the edge. The plunge in her stomach as she fell. The horror she saw reflected back at her when she met Adrien's eyes.

She shuddered, forcing her gaze and mind elsewhere and away from the memories that seemed to claw around inside her head, squeezing at her throat. But it did no good- her classmates enjoying a sunny picnic became distressed pariseans fleeing in terror from some terrible event like Chat Blanc's cataclysm or Hawkmoth's unfolding wish. It didn't matter which- either way, it was her fault. All her fault.

She stood suddenly, unable to sit still. The sun went from warm to beating down on her, sweat forming on her neck and making her head feel fuzzy. Her throat felt closed, her vision blurry around the edges. She needed to move, leave, get ahold of herself, something.

"I'll be back. I'm going to get some air." She didn't wait for Alya's response, turning her back on her friend and heading away from the group, into the woods adjacent to their picnic spot that looked much cooler than being in the sun. She didn't know where she was going, just that she could be there any longer, suffocated by the memories and the pressure and the possibilities.

Her brisk walk broke into a run, and before she knew it she was deeper in the woods, unable to hear her classmates any longer. She stopped beside a tall tree, resting her palm against its trunk, trying to steady her breathing. She sank down onto the soft earth, back resting against the bark, head swimming. If only she hadn't tripped. If she hadn't tripped then they never would've revealed their identities. If she hadn't been so stupid as to let something like this happen. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and fell unrelentingly down her splotched red cheeks. She'd taken every precaution to protect her identity from everyone, even Alya and her own parents. It was for the safety of Paris, the good of the universe as they knew it. The ladybug and the black cat- powerful apart, catastrophic when brought together.

She'd once allowed herself to dream about a day when she could show Chat Noir who she really was, learn his secrets too. To finally have someone she wasn't lying to all of the time, someone she could be completely truthful with. Maybe one day she could've told Adrien too, she had thought. It seemed so selfish now, so childish to indulge in that kind of fantasy. It was before she knew the reality of it, what could happen if they really did divulge those secrets. Before Bunnyx had interfered.

In her spiral, she had failed to hear the soft footsteps that had approached her, and the blonde hair and concerned emerald gaze that came with them.

"Marinette?"

She looked up, her blue tear-stained eyes meeting his kind ones. She quickly wiped them from her cheeks, the second time she'd done that in front of him today, she realized. Great.

"Hey Adrien," she sniffed. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you head into the woods while I was playing frisbee and I decided to follow you, just to make sure you were okay. I didn't want you to get lost or hurt or something- although I'm sure you could handle it," he added, bending his knees and sitting down beside her.

"You didn't have to," she said, staring off into the tree line. "I'm fine, really."

He nodded, silent. She was obviously not fine, but he didn't push. They sat for a moment, in the stillness of the woods, no sounds but their own staggered breathing. She found herself calmed by him, her heartbeat slow and the buzz in her head quieting.

She looked down at her palm at the press of something soft and firm into it. Adrien's hand covered hers, and between their hands was a small citrus fruit, an orange she realized.

"My father has them shipped from somewhere far from here. They're special, I think- expensive. Anyways, I've always liked them. I have one every once in awhile, when I lose a fencing match or mess up in a piano lesson. It's comforting, and since my father orders them sometimes it feels like he's the one doing it. I'd like to think he orders them because he knows I like them." He added the last part softly, almost to himself.

Tears dry and worries long forgotten, Marinette turned the orange over in her hand, fingers tracing the round edges. Such a small gesture, and yet her heart swelled and settled in her chest, warmth spreading through her.

She stuck a nail through the thin rind, peeling it in two large pieces. She split it gently in half, handing one of the halves to Adrien, who accepted, hands brushing as she passed it to him.

They ate in silence, savoring the sweet slices and each other's company. They ate until their fingers were sticky with juice, that and the peel the only remnants. It was like watching a rainstorm through a window or falling asleep after a long day- they found solace in the cool shade and the silence and each other.

Maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay. Maybe she could trust him like she always had. Maybe this wasn't a tragedy, but a chance.

Bellies full, Adrien stood and offered a hand to Marinette. They stood, dusting their clothes from the dirt on the ground where they'd sat.

"We should go back. They'll be wondering where we went... again."

"Y-yeah," she agreed. "Yeah we should."

Neither one of them moved, hesitancy burning the air between where their eyes met. He brought up his hand slowly, letting it brush against her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat, and she was sure her face was flushed darker than her Kwami. She didnt dare blink. She could feel the softness of his hand against her face, his eyes stirring with a cocktail of emotions she couldn't begin to describe. The silence was deafening now, heavy at their feet, the air around their heads spinning.

Finally he let his hand go from her face, reluctant but decidedly, and they began their walk back to their friends.

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Notes:

Thank you to those reading and any feedback would be helpful!