Luna sneezed. It wasn't even a graceful sneeze. She was sure snot was dripping out of her nose, now. Of course, she had to get a cold. It made her miserable, too. Her eyes were red and puffy, standing out on her paler skin. She hadn't bothered with her usual primping, which meant no oddly colored lipstick or makeup of any kind. Even her hair was without its usual chalky stripes. She chose to hide it under a black beret, which only served to make her paler.
As she blew her nose, Luna saw Nathaniel inch ever so slightly away from her. She pouted a bit but didn't really blame him. Who wouldn't avoid her right now?
Class was more or less of a blur to her, so it was a genuine surprise when lunch rolled around. Luna tried to wipe away her sniffles before she started packing her bag. Collins had promised to pick her up for lunch break and even bribed her with fresh chicken dumpling soup when she talked about crashing in the nurse's office.
"Hey, girl," Alya said as she came up beside her. "Man, you don't look too hot."
"Words every girl wants to hear," Luna said, sounding a bit stuffy. "Was a little stupid last night and did a little running around. Got a cold 'cause of it."
"Well, that's no good," Marinette said, coming up behind her bestie. "You should take better care of yourself."
Alya raised a brow and folded her arms with a smirk. "Uh, hypocrite much? You pull more all-nighters than anyone I know. It's a wonder you wake up at all!"
Marinette stuck her tongue out childishly. "I don't do it that often. I just have some trouble waking up sometimes."
Luna chuckled at the two of them. Alya raised her brow, nudging her with an elbow.
"So, are we still going to Marinette's? Or are you ditching us?"
Luna shrugged a bit. "Don't know. I've been bribed with soup. And right now, that sounds awesome."
"I'm sure my mom can make you something," Marinette said. "I think we have my uncle's celestial soup recipe."
"Okay, what is celestial soup?"
"Only one way to find out, huh?" Alya said, bumping her shoulder.
The actress pouted. "Oh fine. I'll text Collins."
Marinette and Alya cheered and gave each other a high-five. They helped Luna gather her things and soon the three of them were on their way out of the classroom. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your view, Marinette's legendary klutzy nature kicked in. The girl managed not only to trip over her own feet, but to also send herself careening down the classroom steps and crashing into another student. And not just any student, of course. Alya and Luna stared on in shock as she landed onto Adrien. The poor boy barely had time to yelp before he found himself on his back with his classmate on top of him. On instinct, he managed to wrap his arms around Marinette in an attempt to catch her, but it did little more than making things worse. Bluebell met bright green, both much wider than should be possible. Each teen held their breath. Angry blushes lit both their faces as Marinette finally, and urgently, parted their lips and shot to her feet.
"Oh God, I'm sorry! I'm so so so sorry!" She spoke fast and flustered. Her heart was jackhammering in her chest. Panic sank its claws into her. They kissed. They kissed! Holy Mother of God, they seriously just locked lips! Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! Marinette could finally die happy! Wait... what if he didn't like it? What if he thought she was weird for liking it?! What if he thinks she tripped on purpose just to kiss him?! He may never talk to her again! He'll want to move seats. Or even change classes just to get away from her! What if he leaves school just because he doesn't want to be around the creepy-kissy-weirdo girl?! Nooooooooooooooooooo!
Adrien blinked up at her in a daze, completely oblivious to her internal screaming. He was too busy trying to wrap his head around what the fuck just happened. It wasn't until the sound of snickering reached his ears that he came back to Earth. Propping himself up to sit, Adrien sent a small glare to the two girls utterly dying of silent laughter behind their friend. They were taking way too much enjoyment out of this.
A hand reached down towards the blond, causing him to look up at its owner. Unsurprisingly, Nino was having just as hard a time controlling his own giggle fit. Seeing as he'd been talking to his best friend at the time, the DJ had gotten a front row seat to the spectacle.
"You okay, dude?" he asked between chuckles.
Adrien sighed before taking his hand. "Yeah, I'm good."
"T-that wasn't supposed to happen, I swear," Marinette said, still very red-faced. "I wouldn't purposely k-k-kFALL! Yeah, that's it." She gave a nervous laugh.
The blond held onto his blush as he tried, and failed, to meet her eyes. He did manage to offer her a gentle smile. "It's fine, Marinette. Just an accident, right?"
"O-of course! Just my typical clumsy self, heh heh. It's not like I planned to kiss on you. I mean fall you! I MEAN FALL ON YOU!" Screw dying happy! Marinette would've just been happy dying right then and there!
Thankfully, Alya remembered her best friend duties. She took hold of the poor girl's shoulders and grinned.
"Okay, girl. I think he gets it. We should really get going," she gently chided.
"Yeah, no kidding," Luna chimed in, wiping her nose with her sleeve. "I was promised soup, and I do not have the patience to wait for it."
Adrien raised a brow as he looked the thief up and down. "What truck hit you?"
Luna smirked at the model and, very lovingly, flipped him off. Adrien chuckled, pleased with the reaction.
"I'm really sorry," Marinette muttered, again. She began to fiddle with her hands.
"No, it's cool," Adrien assured her. "Really. Forget it ever happened."
"That's not likely to happen," Alya said through snickers. She gently began to guide the flustered girl towards the door. "We'll catch you guys later."
"Later!" Nino called out. As soon as the girls were out of view, he turned to gently rib his best friend. "Look at you, dude! You literally got girls falling for you! Lucky."
Adrien gave him a small shove. "Come on, Nino lay off. It was an accident."
"Hey, I'm just saying. You've gotta have like the devil's luck to have something that whack happen. And with Marinette, of all people. If I wasn't into Alya right now, I'd be so jealous of that kiss."
Adrien blinked. Kiss... Kiss! They kissed! He won the bet! It was next to impossible for him to keep from grinning like an idiot. Thankfully, Nino was too busy messing with his bag to notice.
As expected, both Luna and Alya made it their mission to tease Marinette as they made their way to the bakery. She had half a mind to just kick them both out and hide in her room the rest of the day. The two eventually eased up on the poor girl as the food was set in front of them. Luna devoured her soup in record time, reveling in the warmth and taste. Despite its odd purple tint, the aptly named celestial soup was truly divine. Best of all, it managed to clear up her sinuses for a bit. She was so gonna have to bum the recipe off of Mrs. Cheng.
Luna's phone buzzed in her pocket, prompting her to take it out. The message icon flashed on her screen, and when she opened it she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
One new message from Pretty Boi: I so won!1!
Shaking her head, the thief typed up a reply: like hell you did!
She was about to hit send when Alya let out an ear-piercing shriek. Her friends jumped and Mrs. Cheng came running into the kitchen, eyes wide in fear.
"What is it?! Is everything alright?!" The older woman said frantically.
Alya glared menacingly at her cell. "'Thief in Cold Water: Hero Turned Assassin'?! What bullshit is this?!"
Mrs. Cheng sighed in relief. "Language, Alya," she gently chided.
"Sorry," the blogger said with a sheepish smile.
Shaking her head, the older woman kissed her daughter's forehead. "I'm going back down to the bakery to help your Papa. Make sure you girls clean up, okay?"
"Yes, Maman." Marinette gave her mother a hug before turning her attention back to her friend. "So, what happened?"
The blogger scowled as she began to narrate the article. "'Police were called to the scene late last night when the infamous Thief of Spades broke into and robbed a local jewelry store. Resident superhero, Chat Noir, was the first to engage the thief, and the resulting scuffle led them atop the Pont des Arts, where eyewitnesses claim the hero mercilessly threw his adversary into the Seine. With no word on the thief's whereabouts, does this mean Paris' favorite feline has gone rogue?'" Alya practically threw her phone onto the counter. "Who came up with this garbage?"
Marinette scrunched her face. "Gotta be a hoax. Who posted it?"
"Don't know. Some upstart blogger? Either way, it's clickbait trash."
"Send me the link, Cesaire," Luna said with a mischievous glint. Alya did as told, and before she even read it, Luna forwarded the link to Adrien. As she waited for a reply, she skimmed the article. Her brow lifted when a comment caught her eye. "Somebody posted a video."
"HUH!?"
Both girls practically pounced on their friend, trying to get a good look at her phone. Luna chuckled as she hit play. Standing cheek to cheek, they watched the amateur video play out. Alya groaned at the shaky picture.
"Doesn't this guy know how to hold a camera?"
"Not everyone is an expert blogger, Alya," Marinette said with a smirk. "Come on. We can see it better on my computer."
The girls did a quick clean-up before heading up to Marinette's room. Alya wasted no time jumping onto her bestie's computer. Her fingers were little more than a blur, taking her directly to the blasphemous site. Marinette watched over her shoulder. Despite her faith in her partner, this worried her. Ever since the Copycat fiasco, the internet would come up with some new scandal involving Chat. None of them had any sort of truth to it and were more or less harmless (despite the several fangirls claiming he "cheated on Ladybug" with them), but Marinette could tell it affected him. Even if he'd never admit it.
And this was way more serious an accusation.
Marinette wasn't the only one worried about the leather-clad cat. Though, for Luna, it was just a tad bit different. In all honesty, she didn't mean to stare at Marinette's wall. But, how could she not? Adrien's face was everywhere! Sure, girls tended to do that sort of thing with celebrities, but he wasn't just some famous face. This was a classmate. This was someone she saw practically every day; someone she talked to... well, attempted to, anyway. As much as she loved the girl, this wasn't okay in her book. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, again, and when she took it out, two messages flashed on the screen.
Pretty Boi: Did 2! There was definitely lip locking!
Pretty Boi: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?
Luna blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as she typed; Told u we might get caught. And no, that doesn't count. U have 2 steal the kiss, remember?
Pretty Boi: Joy. LB's gonna wring my neck.
L: Why would she? It's obvious slander.
A: It's trouble we don't need.
L: Relax, Agreste. It'll blow over. And I doubt LB's gonna be too harsh with u.
A: If u say so.
A: Still say that kiss should count.
L: Keep dreaming.
"Got it!" Luna's attention was brought back to her friends. Alya huffed almost immediately after the video started playing. "This guy seriously sucks. He keeps turning the camera away. We're missing everything!"
"We could try slowing it down," Marinette suggested. It didn't help that the person filming was so far away from the action that the girls could barely make out Chat's ears. With how dark it was, the figures could've been anyone. It wasn't until the police cars came up that they could clearly see Chat on the bridge, illuminated by the headlights. By then, the thief was nowhere in sight. And of course, the cameraman had conveniently turned away to film his friend when the splash occurred. All in all, they couldn't tell what happened.
"Gah! This is a waste of time!" Alya said.
Marinette frowned. She was hoping for something concrete, but the video didn't do anything to confirm or debunk the article's claims. She began to chew her lip. It definitely looked like she'd have to grill her chaton the next time she saw him.
"Uh, hey Mari?"
The blackette glanced over at Luna. "Yeah?"
"I know this is probably out of left field, but-" Luna glanced at the pictures on the wall. "Why, exactly, do you like Agreste again?"
Both Marinette and Alya shared a look as a small blush graced the half-asian teen's face. "W-why do you ask?"
"Well, I'm realizing that this is the first time I've been in your room, and well..." She gestured to the wall. "That raises a few questions."
Marinette went wide eyed and her blush deepened. "Oh, that?! It's nothing!"
Luna gave her a sly smirk. "Girl, don't lie."
The blackette fidgeted. "I mean, well, it's not that weird, is it?"
"No lie, girl? It is a little weird," Alya said.
Marinette pouted. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"Girl, you have his schedule mapped out on a calender."
Luna let out a small whine. "Honey, no..."
"What?! It comes in handy!" Marinette began to pout.
"Oh, like when you stole his phone?" Alya chimed in.
"Don't bring that up!" The pigtailed girl whined.
"Yes, bring it up! I totally need to hear this!" Luna said.
Alya went into a cliffnote version of what happened, much to Marinette's dismay and Luna's glee. The actress couldn't control her giggling. Marinette gave her a playful shove. Even so, the laughter was infectious, and soon all three of them were giggling like hyenas.
"Hot stuff!" Luna howled. "You called him hot stuff!"
"I know, right?" Marinette said. "I literally committed social suicide. I couldn't let him hear that!"
"I still don't even know how you actually erased his message," Alya said.
"It's a secret I will carry to the grave," Marinette said in her best ominous voice.
Luna kept laughing to the point of coughing (her throat was gonna be sore, tomorrow). Once she calmed down, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Girl, I love you. Really, though, you have to know how out there all this is."
Marinette sighed as she plopped down on her chaise. "I know. I can't help it, though. I just get so weird around him."
"And that's normal." Luna scooted in beside her. "What's not normal is the creepy stalker shtick."
"Is it really that creepy?"
Luna took a deep breath and blew it out. "Would you ever tell Agreste the phone story?"
"God, no! He'd totally call the cops on me for invading his privacy, and then he wouldn't ever talk to me again, and he'd forever know me as that one creepy- ooooooooooohhhhh..."
Luna nodded. "Exactly. We don't wanna scare him off."
"I keep telling her to just be herself," Alya said.
"I can't be myself! Myself is a total stuttering klutz!" Marinette huffed.
"Well, look at it this way: being a stuttering klutz did get you a kiss."
Luna shrieked as Marinette grabbed a nearby pillow and chased her down with it.
Whew, that took longer than necessary. Sorry about the month long delay. A lot has been going on lately, and I've been more or less distracted. My vision for this story has gotten a little cloudy, as well. There are scenes that I plan to write out, but I'm still not sure how I want it to end, which is a major problem. I'll push forward with it, but it won't be as frequent as it was when I started. I love this story too much to quit it.
On a lighter note, thank you guys so much for your reviews and continued support. Your feedback keeps me going the most. See you next time!