Numbers and Letters

Adrien glued his eyes onto what the teacher was writing on the board. He never allowed his eyes to slip anywhere, but from his page of notes then to the teachers' writing then back again. They were studying physics, which was his best subject. He was 'copying' the formulas down. He knew those formulas by heart and had used them in higher level physics problems than they would ever cover in this class, but it was something to do other than overthink every one of his classmates' actions.

His pen stalled on his paper as he saw from his peripheral vision Nino shifting to get comfortable on the bench. Adrien shook his head pulling his attention back to the paper and more writing and… Nino shifted again. What was Nino thinking right now? Was he thinking about how boring this class was? Or was he trying to come up with a way to convince the teacher to allow him to change seats. The seats were assigned and Adrien suspected that if that were not the case Nino would have already moved from being his seatmate.

Adrien sighed and shoved those thoughts aside as he focused again on copying the numbers and letters that the teacher was taking forever to write and explain. Adrien heard a rhythmic scuffle behind him. He imagined Alyas feet swinging back and forth only touching the floor at the lowest point of the swing. It was her way of releasing her anxious energy. She always seemed to have extra energy that she used primarily to get the scoop on the newest Akuma. He had overheard that she was a bit worried about the content of the blog now that Akumas weren't ever going to happen again.

NUMBERS AND LETTERS ADRIEN! He yelled at himself. They didn't want him anymore; they rarely said a word to him now and could he blame them? He didn't think so. Hawkmoth was his father. He had lived with him for the past 3 years that Hawkmoth had been tormenting the citizens of Paris, his class particularly. He had heard the rumors that said he was the reason the school was targeted so much. He was the reason why so many of them had to be saved from themselves by Ladybug and Chat Noir. He was the reason that so many people were scared with the memories of hurting people. Out of his whole class everyone had been akumatized except for him.

He was the only exception. He gave up trying to copy the formulas down. Instead he let his mind wander around the room looking at all of the victims of his father. Rose, Princess Fragrance; Nathaniel, Illustrator; Ivan, Stoneheart; Marinette, …. Wait, that couldn't be right. He thought through all of his memories of defeating his akumatized classmates. Marinette had never been akumatized before. A glimmer of hope shimmered into his dreary thoughts. His father had never akumatized Marinette. He strained his ears to listen for any sound that was coming from the girl who sat behind him, but he could only hear the scratches of pencil and that could be from anyone.

Marinette was one of the few that he had not tried to talk to after everyone found out his father was Hawkmoth. Only because he thought it would be cruel. If she found his regular self to be so intimidating that she could barely string a sentence along. Then he, as the son of Hawkmoth, had no idea what her reaction would be and he didn't want to hurt anyone else. So he just stayed aways from her, but this new knowledge intrigued him.

Why didn't father try and akumatize Marinette? Wait, but he had. He had tried to akumatize Marinette when she was being expelled, but something had happened. So… if his father really had tried to akumatize her why hadn't he been successful?

Before he could really start to speculate the bell for lunch rang and all of the students started to pack their bags as the teacher called out the homework assignment. He packed his bag, but waited as most of the students left to stand up. As was now usual Nino had fled with Alya before Adrien could try talking to them. It hurt like a sinking black hole permanently set into his heart. The love that he had felt with them had got him through many rough patches and now he didn't know how to cope without it.

As he stood up he looked behind him and saw Marinette still sitting in her seat looking dazed and sleepy. She didn't seem to notice that class had ended or that she was now alone with the infamous son of Hawkmoth. Adrien looked out the door and into the hallway, but no one was around. He went up to Marinette.

"Marinette?" He called softly. She didn't move or even blink. He looked down at her sketchbook that was laid open to one of her drawings. It was a drawing of him. Well, Chat Noir-him. He creased his brow. 'Was this why she was so dazed?'. He called to her again and this time touched her shoulder. This seemed to work and she seemed to come out of her daze and look up.

"Oh! Hey, Adrien. What's up?" she said with a smile that shot warmth into his heart. It had been a while since someone had smiled at him like that.

After a brief pause to catch his breath and get accustomed to the warm smile, he spoke. "Ah, nothing. You just seemed really dazed. Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I mean this works out great! I was having my doubts and he is allowed his. This works for the best for all involved, right?"

"Right?" Adrien said, confused. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"Right." Marinette said with more conviction. She finally looked around the room and noticed that they were alone. "Ummm, where did everyone go?" she asked.

"The bell rang, it's time for lunch," Adrien told her. He was really proud of her for being able to talk to him. He was also relieved to be able to have a friendly conversation with at least one of his (former) friends.

"Oh!" Marinette gathered her things into her bag and stood up. "I-I didn't even realize!" Marinette still seemed a little dazed to Adrien as they walked together to the lunch room. He wanted a reason to continue talking to her before they lapsed into an awkward silence so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"So… you like Chat Noir?" Adrien asked, referring to the drawing that he saw earlier.

Marinette started like she had been jolted from her thoughts. "Ummm, what?" She asked. He pointed to her sketch book and she seemed to understand. "Oh! Ah yeah, but I mean who doesn't love the heroes of Paris? They are cool and powerful and…" she abruptly stopped making Adrien turn back to see her. She looked at him and paled. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to… Ugh I mean…" she started to turn red.

Adrien knew what that meant. She would say something, turn red, wave her hands about, then after all of that she would turn and run from him. That was the pattern with Marinette even before Hawkmoth's true identity was revealed. Adrien looked away from Marinette. He couldn't watch another one of his friends run from him.

"Adrien? O-okay are you? I- I mean are you okay?" Marinette said.

He realized he had lost his model smile as Marinette started to freak out. It was getting harder each day to keep that smile on his face. "Yeah, Marinette. I'm…" he stopped himself. He wasn't okay. He had tried so hard to be okay for Ladybug, for his friends, for everyone around him, but in front of Marinette it seemed impossible to try and hide the hurt he felt. Her blue bell eyes bore into him as he tried to keep the tears at bay.

She immediately took his hand and led him out of the school. Marinette never was so bold before, but she did have a strong grip that he felt like he couldn't break even if he tried. not that he tried.

She dragged him out of the school across the street. They ended up on a bench next to the river. The entire time Marinette never released his hand. Adrien was very grateful for the physical connection even more so when they sat down and she cradled his hand with the hand that wasn't in his grasp.

"Adrien?" She asked more with her eyes than with her words, but he felt her meaning.

"I- I'm… not okay." that was when the tears started rolling down his cheeks "I feel so alone even more so than when I was not allowed to come to school. The entire class hates me. Nino won't talk to me. I-I…" Marinette started rubbing soothing circles onto the top of his hand. He had never been on this end of her comfort. Sure, he has seen her care for everyone around her, but to be the one receiving it was a whole different kind of experience. The tears in his eyes slowed to a crawl after a few minutes. Marinette never removed her hands from his and kept drawing circles onto the back of his hand. "Thank you. Marinette" Adrien said finally calming down enough to stop crying. He felt so much better after crying. He had needed this more than he thought. He could feel the blackhole inside of himself become smaller filled with this comfort that Marinette showed with the little circles on his hand.

Marinette turned a little pink at his thank you. "It- It's nothing. I- I am yours… I MEAN! I FRIEND am yours…" Her cheeks turned a few shades darker and with a little huff she quietly said "I am your friend, Adrien." He had liked the word friend before this moment, but the word seemed to have a deeper meaning in this moment. Marinette was still his friend. She was his friend even though she knew all the terrible things his father had done. He felt the tears make a second appearance in his eyes. "Adrien?..." He cut her off by wrapping his arms around her, giving her a tight hug.

"You are my Friend too, Marinette." Adrien said. Marinette had frozen, but before Adrien could pull back to see if he had crossed a line she returned the hug. They sat like that for a few minutes until Adrien calmed down again. He pulled back to see a red faced and frazzled Marinette, but she was still sending him that warm smile that he swore could warm the entire planet.

They heard the bell for the end of lunch and decided to head back. Marinette didn't say anything on the way back, but they still had their hands locked together as they walked into class.

Authors Note

Hi! Thanks for reading so far. I am trying to write for everyday of the month of November. So this is my second day and the second chapter of this story. I have a whole bunch of different stories that I have been wanting to publish for a while, but I finally got up the courage sooo I hope you guys enjoy.

Please review about what you think about the story as well as any suggestions you have to make my life easier. ;D Thanks.