Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 54,
"Well, there's the girl whose the talk of the whole school." Alya said as she rushed over to her best friend.
"Hey, Alya." Marinette said. Alya hooked her arm with Marinette's and playfully punched the sweet girl's arm.
"You dog." Alya continued her childish praise and Marinette rolled her eyes.
"If I am, it's only because of you." Marinette said.
"Me?" Alya asked.
"Yeah, you with that whole spotlight thing. Was it really necessary?" Marinette asked and Alya laughed.
"Oh com on. You looked so beautiful, how could I resist?" Alya said.
"Wow, what a compliment. Should Nino be jealous?" Marinette asked.
"Well, only if you wanna make out." Alya said.
"Ok, pucker up." Marinette said and Alya gently pushed her away.
"You tease." Alya said and they both laughed.
"What are you dudes talking about?" Nino asked and Marinette winked at him.
"Dating each other." Marinette said. Nino's eyes widened a moment, but then he smirked.
"Oh yeah? I thought you had your eyes on Adrien. If you date Alya, whose gonna date him?" Nino said and Marinette blushed.
"Uh, me? And Adrien? I mean, I have no idea who Adrien is going to date. How would I know? I am not Adrien, and only Adrien would know who he would want to date. Well, I think he would anyways. But in any case, I am not Adrien and it's not like I would build a device that could read Adrien's mind or , so I would have no idea who he would like to date, much less who he will eventually date in the future. The far, far, future. I'm no mind reader after all." Marinette said. Alya laughed and held Nino's hand.
And I was beginning to think your nervous days were over." Alya commented and Marinette sighed.
"Whatever. Where is Adrien anyways?" Marinette asked and Nino blinked.
"Actually, I haven't seen him today. I was hoping you guys may have seen him." Nino asked and Marinette hesitated.
"Have you texted him?" Marinette asked and Nino nodded.
"No response. I'm almost worried that the dude is on house arrest again." Nino said and Marinette nodded. She glanced around and looked at everyone. Some walking, some standing, some sitting... and then she noticed someone sitting underneath the staircase. They were wearing a black hoodie, so she couldn't really tell who it was. She also noted a black object beside them. Marinette had a sneaking suspicion that it was a phone; with that in mind, she sent Adrien a simple text. Almost immediately, the black object lit up and Marinette relaxed.
"I'm sure he's fine, Nino." Marinette said. Nino eyed her, obviously wanting to ask more, but sighed and looked at Alya.
"Alright." Nino said and Marinette pulled out her notebook.
"Hey, Alya. Before you guys rush off..." Marinette paused as she wrote something down.
"Can you give this to Ms. Bustier, right before the bell, if you don't see me rushing to class?" Marinette asked. She tore the page from her notebook and folded it neatly before handing it to Alya.
"Strange. Should I be worried." Alya asked and Marinette shook her head.
"No, I don't think so. It may not even be needed, truth be told, but... just in case." Marinette said. Alya and Nino glanced at each other unsure and Marinette giggled.
"Knock off the 3rd degree and trust me already, would you?" Marinette asked and finally Nino and Alya nodded and walked off.
Marinette walked over to the staircase and, to avoid scaring the boy, she started to hum a certain Anna Blue song they both knew. His head turned slightly, but only for a moment before ignoring her again. Marinette smiled gently and sat next to the boy. Adrien looked at her when she did this, but since she said nothing, he turned back to his original position. They sat there, not speaking at all. All they did was listen to the sound of the school yard. Average school talk of music, studies, movies, basic stuff you'd overhear at any school on earth. Then, after a moment or two, the bell rang. Their classmates went off in every direction to classes they needed to be; yet Marinette and Adrien stayed there.
"You don't have to miss class for me." Adrien finally said.
"It speaks." Marinette said with a smile, but Adrien looked at her, clearly not amused.
"Sorry." Marinette said and Adrien sighed. He lowered the hood of his sweatshirt, and ruffled his hair.
"No, it's fine. I may have even laughed if I wasn't so upset." Adrien said.
"Well... that's ok. I can make jokes later." Marinette said and Adrien chuckled softly at her.
"You want to know why I'm upset, don't you?" Adrien asked. Marinette bit her lip, gently reached over and held Adrien's hand.
"What I want doesn't matter. But I saw that my friend, who looked a little lonely, and I thought I'd keep him company." Marinette said.
Adrien was silent for a while, simply staring at Marinette's hand, as it held his. And then his lips started to twitch, and his eyes watered before the tears fell down his face. He embraced Marinette, who held him and ran her hand soothingly up and down Adrien's back. Adrien couldn't believe that he was crying at school, and he just hoped that no one heard him. And while he was somewhat embarrassed by the whole situation, Adrien was comforted by Marinette's words and actions. After what seemed like hours, but was actually a few minutes, Adrien settled down. Yet even then, he couldn't bring himself to pull away from the girl.
"Father fired Nathalie last night." Adrien finally said and Marinette froze for a moment.
"I'm so sorry Adrien." Marinette said and Adrien shook his head.
"They got into this huge fight last night. It was so hard to listen to. Father was saying things like 'he's not your son', and how he should have called the police on her, and if she wanted a chance to redeem herself." Adrien said and Adrien sighed.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that." Marinette said and Adrien shivered slightly.
"Yeah. But you should have heard Nathalie though. I bet you would have loved hearing her tear my father a new one. 'You never let Adrien do anything' 'you use school as a way to control your own kid' 'you've been living with this lie for so long that you even started believing it was true'. I never heard her talk to father that way before." Adrien said and Marinette rose her eyebrows, impressed.
"Go Nathalie." She admired.
"Father said she was fired because she was rebelling and had a destructive personality that was bad for me... I can't believe father fired Nathalie... I thought she was always gonna be a part of my life." Adrien said and Marinette hesitated.
"I'm sure that you will see her again." Marinette said and Adrien sighed.
"Well, you're right about that... she's volunteering to help us with the fashion show whether father wants her to or not... but after that... I may never see her again." Adrien said and Marinette gently pressed her hand on the back of Adrien's head, lovingly.
"You will." Marinette said.
"How do you know?" Adrien said. Marinette paused and then she gave the top of Adrien's head a kiss.
"Because you love each other." She whispered. They sat there for a few moments longer and then Adrien wiped his eyes.
"I suppose we should head back to class, shouldn't we?" Adrien asked and Marinette shrugged.
"There's no rush." Marinette said, and Adrien looked up at her.
"Why not?" He asked and Marinette smiled.
"I asked Alya to give our teacher a note that said we may be a little late to class since we're preparing for the fashion show." Marinette said and Adrien chuckled.
"I love how smart you are." Adrien said and Marinette giggled.
"Thanks a million, I love you too." Marinette said.
Adrien relaxed and he closed his eyes to try and memorize this moment. He and Marinette in this tender embrace, the feeling of comfort and care he wasn't use to receiving, and the urge he was fighting to kiss Marinette and tell her that he loved her, over and over again. But this moment wasn't about that. There would be plenty of time to kiss after they were an official couple; they had their whole lives ahead of them. After all, they are an unstoppable team.