A/N: I thought Marinette was really ooc the last chapter, but from personal experience, it's hard to just let a crush involving obsession pass. Part 2/3 is going to seem like more of a recap until the very end. I apologize sincerely for letting this story go on a hiatus. More updates to come!
~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉
While Harry was still in Paris, Marinette knew the man came by her family's bakery every day around 5 PM to pick up a little treat for himself. She knew today was his last day, so what better than to try and convince him to make Adrien laugh? To forget his quarrels with Kagami because he seemed so down?
Marinette knew she was ignoring what was really bothering him; it was her yesterday's confession. It was wrong of her to leave him in the dust the way she did. It's just... she didn't want to face it right now. She didn't want to hear from Adrien that while her feelings for him were flattering, he was simply in love with someone else. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. But, she wasn't still in love with him, right? She couldn't love him since he never seemed to notice her. And really, it hurt her.
Anyways, once class was over, she raced to her family's bakery just in time to see Harry waving goodbye to her parents with a baguette in one arm.
The bluenette wasted no time as she pushed the door of her family's bakery open. Her backpack was hanging from her other hand and she looked up to see Harry still there. "Phew!" she exclaimed. "You're still here!" she threw her backpack to the side, which made her parents give her a look of 'Can you not?' to her. Yet, still listened as they loved their daughter dearly.
"Marinette?" the older performer asked in surprise.
She had rushed up to him with her arms over her chest and her fists tightened up into a ball. "How much longer will you be doing your new act in Paris?"
"My final act will be tonight," Harry said as he made a simple hand gesture before placing his free hand back at his side.
"Oh shoot," Marinette's tone of voice became sad as she placed her right palm underneath her chin. Then looked away. "That's that, I guess."
"Oh, but Marinette! You've seen the act already with your lovely family, honk!" Harry turned sideways slightly and gave a wink.
The silly sound caused Sabine and Tom to let out a joyful giggle.
Marinette understood not too long time ago that playing on someone's guilt wasn't right. Or it wasn't right to lie to someone. Or anyone. She brought her attention back to Harry who gave her a kind look. "I... Actually, this wasn't really about me. I know I've seen your show already, but it's for this..." She stopped herself for a moment. "It's for Adrien Agreste. He's such a big fan of yours and I thought he would have liked a chance to see your show before you leave Paris."
She had decided not to add on that she would have liked to laugh with the blond. After, all, her crush was just an obsession. What she was doing, well, Adrien wasn't her crush. He was her friend and she was going to treat him like one.
"Are you a little crazy for him, honk?" he did his signature wink and squeeze of his nose.
"What?" The question Harry asked had caught her off guard. "Me? Crazy for Adrien? No, I'm not. Why would you think that?"
Marinette found herself sighing softly. So, her little obsession over Adrien was still clear as day. She turned away from her parents and Harry. "I don't really think he'd be able to go anyways. Or want to. Even if he did, his father wouldn't even let him go out on a school night." she looked down as she faced the closed bakery door.
Harry approached the bluenette with a sympathetic smile. "Well, I know Gaby very well!"
"Gaby?" her bluebell eyes widened in shock as she looked up at the performer with graying hair.
The gray-haired performer pulled out his smartphone and unlocked the thing. Then, he clicked on the gallery app, scrolled down to a picture from long, long ago and showed Marinette a picture of him in a ridiculous costume. "See this? He designed my french fry costume when I first started performing!"
The picture showed Harry wearing a ridiculous French fry costume that sort of looked like an ad straight out of a magazine.
For what exactly? Marinette didn't bother reading the other text on it and simply eyed the design. "Gabriel designed that?"
He took his phone out of her viewing eyes and placed it back inside his jacket pocket.
"Wait, you know Adrien's father?"
Harry simply nodded as he placed his left hand over his chest on the right. "I'll talk to him! Closing night, I'll have two special guests!" he held up his left hand, holding up two fingers. Then, he placed his hands on his hips in a teasing manner as he continued. "It will be you and your classmate who you don't have a crush on, honk!"
"Seriously?!"
He nodded again with a big bright smile on his face.
"Thank you, thank you!" the bluenette exclaimed as she jumped up and down a couple of times. Once, she let herself calm down, she wondered one thing. "Uhm before you go, Harry, I have one more question. What are you going to say to him to convince Adrien to go?"
"Trust me, Marinette, honk!" he squeezed her nose.
A giggle came from her parents who smiled as their daughter seemed flustered at the events that just happened.
The bluenette smiled. She was going to trust Harry.
~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉
About half an hour passed was when Marinette heard back from Harry and both of them were looking at each other gleefully while running in a circle. In unison, they said, "He said yes! He said yes! He said yes!"
After their little cheers were finished, Marinette sat down on one of the stools in her parent's living room/kitchen.
Harry did the same and put one of his arms over the counter of the Dupain-Cheng's small kitchen counter.
"I really hope you'd be able to get your film produced, Harry. Thanks to you, I'm sure Adrien will have a blast!" she rubbed the back of her neck as a gesture of nervousness. "He needs a break every now and then. I feel like his father always puts too much pressure on him. Uh maybe you can help me make him laugh just as you make everyone else laugh?"
The gray-haired performer gave her a serious look as he spoke to her. "Laughter is a serious business, Marinette." After that, his expression changed to be more cheerful. "But, I'll be happy to help you."
Marinette had stopped herself from saying anything. She let her thoughts take over for a brief moment. "Aren't you supposed to be meeting up with your producer?"
"Don't worry, my friend! Super-Fry always wins in the end, honk!"
Marinette giggled, trusting the process once more.
~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉
The process in hand? Well, it wasn't what Marinette expected at all. When Harry demonstrated some jokes to be said to Adrien followed with skits and what not, she felt uncomfortable. Yet, she had agreed to try and cheer Adrien up. Marinette thought about what he must be feeling as Kagami and him were super close. It was the same for Luka and her. She felt heartbroken when she decided to break things off with him, but now, there weren't any secrets between them.
To step away from her thoughts, Marinette decided to focus on the task at hand. Said task was to go through the skit without a hitch.
So, she and Harry stood just outside the Grand Palais waiting for Adrien to arrive.
"Are you sure I can do this?" As her regular self, Marinette doubted her abilities from time to time. Now was one of the times.
"We've rehearsed this, and you're a natural, Marinette," Harry reassured her.
"What if he doesn't laugh?"
"He will." the gray-haired performer reassured Marinette once again. "If what you said was true about him knowing my skits, then it should run smoothly. Just don't forget that gimmick at the end. It really does wonders. Yee-haw?"
Marinette laughed nervously as Adrien's ride arrived to the front of the Grand Palais. She replied to Harry, "Yee-haw!"
The bluenette waited for the blond model to step out from the vehicle before she decided to put on this act. She thought it shouldn't be too difficult to do since she acted like a different person as Ladybug. Marinette put a country-side hat on her head as she approached Adrien.
"Marinette?" the blond asked with surprise in his voice. Seems he wasn't aware of who allowed him out.
"What are you doing here?" Her face shifted into innocence, but internally, she found herself not following the skit Harry had planned out for her.
"Oh, I was just invited."
"You think he'll do a skit on this clumsy sheriff?" the bluenette asked him with an awkward tone of voice.
As awkward the situation was, Adrien answered back. It seemed he didn't really understand what was going on. "Uh... the clumsy who?"
Marinette glanced back at Harry who pointed at the hat. At that moment, she remembered what she needed to do. So, she mustered some courage to continue with the ridiculous skit she was handed. So, she dramatically tossed her hat behind her. "Oh wow! Where did my hat go?"
"Uh... right there?" he pointed.
She glanced back at Harry once more who pointed at his red clown nose prop. So, she put on the red clown nose prop Harry had given to her, and awkwardly, Marinette swung her arms up and said, "Yee-haw!"
Those words that were uttered from her mouth caused the blond to flinch. He put his arms up in defense away from her.
At seeing this, Marinette felt uncomfortably awkward even more. She wanted to apologize, but she was met with an awkward laugh from him. Still, the skit had to go on and she continued. She had just remembered her hat and pointed at it. "Oh, there it is! It's just clumsy old me who can't remember anything!" As she reached down to get it, she kicked it toward the model.
The gentleman of a human did the nice thing and attempted to reach down and pick up the hat. However, in doing so, he bumped his head into Marinette's, causing both of them to fall on their butts and hold their heads with a hand. In unison, they apologized to each other.
Marinette was the first to get up as she really just wanted to get the skit over. "Oh, there it is!" she had picked up the hat, and right before she placed the hat back on her head, she swung her left arm in a couple of circles. "Yee-haw!" she said with awkwardness in her voice.
Adrien gave her another awkward chuckle. He still didn't understand what was going on.
Another awkward laugh caused Marinette to stop what she was doing. This wasn't funny to her either. It was more awkward and she just... she just couldn't do it. This was supposed to be something fun for Adrien. She was supposed to be cheering Adrien up, but she couldn't help but feel she was stepping over a line again. She decided not to continue. "I hope you enjoy the show, Adrien. Thank Harry if you get a chance. He's the one who spoke to your father about letting you come tonight."
She didn't bother letting the blond get a single word in. She just took off into the Grand Palais to reflect on her actions for the day.
