Finally Falling For Her

🌲Chapter 12🌲

When we all get to the dock, Mylène, Ivan, Kagami, Adrien, Nathaniel and I decide to go on the boat while the rest stay at the dock.

Adrien drives the boat while the rest of us sit around on the seats soaking in the sun. Well, except for Kagami who is talking Adrien's ear off and snuggling up to him while he's trying to drive.
Personally I think that's very unsafe.
He pulls into a small cove with soft sand. The sun is over head so I need to put on some sunscreen.

"Yay! This is so much fun! I've never been to the lake before!" Mylène yells. "Marinette come on!" She runs and jumps into the water, Ivan at her heels. She comes up laughing, splashing Ivan with water. He chases after her, and he is faster than her too. He grabs her wrist, pulls her to him and then... I look away.

They are so cute together. I wonder what my happily ever after will be like. Will it be with Adrien or someother guy? Will we have a hamster? How many kids-

Ahhhhhhh, I need to stop doing that. My cheeks go red so I turn around to get my sunscreen. I get it everywhere except for my back.

I look over to Mylène, but she's to busy with Ivan looking for rocks.

"I can help." That silky voice of his creating goosebumps along my arms. I look over to see Adrien holding his hand out with a crooked smile on his face. Next to him Kagami is looking angrier by the second.

SERIOUSLY!? ADRIEN!? I guess I have no other choice but Kagami who would probably stab her sharp blood red nails into my back and smile at me.

She pulls off her over clothes and then walks down the ladder of the boat looking disgusted the whole way down.
"Uh, sure. Thanks!" I say giving him the sunscreen. Our fingers brush ever so slightly and I instantly look up at him. He's looking at me too. It sends shivers down my spine.

I turn around and he starts lathering the sunscreen on my back. His warm hand gliding over my skin. They take their precious time rubbing the lotion into my back, especially around my waist. It's almost as if he is caressing me, because I feel warm fast breath on my neck. It takes sheer focus not to shiver uncontrollably. He suddenly snaps out of it with a light tap on my shoulder telling me he is done.

When he's done he asks if I can put some on him.

"Of course!"

He turns around, showing me his muscular back. I get some cold lotion in my hand and hesitantly put it on him. His muscles twitch under my fingers as I rub the lotion in. My hands shake as I will myself not to spill the sunscreen onto the ground. "You are all set!" I say.

After we're done we both jump in the water and we all splash and play with one another for awhile. Well, of course except for Kagami.

She walks up the beach hips swaying over to Adrien. She takes him by the hand and drags him farther down the beach still where we can all see them and then she kisses him. Hard. Like she's mashing her face against his. He is completely frozen during this endeavor and when she pulls away, he instantly looks over at me and I quickly look away.

I get up on the boat and decide to read a book for a little while.

Nathaniel come up onto the boat and after he's dried off, sitting right next to me.

"Hey Mari, whacha readin'?" He leans over my book trying to look at the pages.

"It's called Serafina and the twisted staff." I say closing my book.

"Isn't that book for little kids?" He says looking at me funny.

My cheeks turn red. "Uh, I guess. But it's still one of my favorites." I say opening the book back up and ignoring him.
He chuckles and puts a hand on my wrist. I jolt at the touch because it's not a good one.

He lowers his voice and says, "Hey Marinette, later tonight do you want to watch a movie? Just the two of us?" He looks at me hopefully.

"Look Nathaniel, uh, I'm going to be really tired tonight since I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I look back at him hoping he doesn't take it the wrong way but also hoping he gets that I don't like him like that.

"Uh, sure. I get it." He says looking disappointed.

When everybody is worn out and ready to go back we pack everything up, lift the anchors and head back. The whole time Adrien is sneaking glances my way. I don't look at him, but I can see him from my peripheral vision.

When we get back we unload everything and sit on the dock to relax. Some people are splashing around in the water and some are just floating but we're all having a good time.

That is until Kagami sways over to me and looks down at me ever so sweetly.
"Hey Marinette! Can I speak with you for a second, si vous plait?"

I look up at her. "Uh, sure." I get up and follow her to the boat shed on the shore where all of the lake toys are kept. I can feel Adrien staring a hole through us the whole way there.

She turns around and her sweet smile turns into an icy glare.

"You listen here 'Mari'. I will not stand by and let you take my boyfriend away from me right in front of my eyes. He's mine! He doesn't like you. Who would ever like you to be honest?" She looks me up and down before continuing. "I've worked tooth and nail to get him to be with me. You are nothing. You will always be some helpless girl who can barely string a sentence together around him. Who can barely keep her selfconciousness from overflowing onto others. You are disgusting Marinette. And I will not have it!" She looks at me waiting for me to cower but honestly, I don't really feel like it.

"Thanks Kagami for the little preview of your thoughts. To begin with I would never steal a girls man. That's wrong. I have more self worth than that. I hope you have a GREAT day! I hope God blesses you with whatever you are lacking right now." I say sincerely because I mean it. Only insecure people would say those things about others. "May the lord be with you."

With a stunned look on her face she tries to come up with something to say. I turn on my heel back to the dock.
Adrien gets up and walks over to me.

"Hey Mari, is everything alright?" His warm hand touches my shoulder.

"Yeah, it's all good. I'm just gonna go lie down for a bit if you don't mind." I give him a tight-lipped smile. "Can you let Alya know?"

He nods his head but still looks worried.

"Are you sure?" He tries to get my attention with his eyes but I just stare over his shoulder.

"Yeah, don't worry, Adrien." I smile again and then spin and walk the long way back to the house. My eyes fill with hot tears that threaten to spill over.

The truth is I'm not as confident as I put off. Kagami was right. I am self conscious and frightened of what people think of me. It's a struggle to get through everyday. But isn't it that way for everybody?

Kagami must have hit the right nerve because it set me off in a spiral.

I make it to the house opening the glass doors. I walk to the room I'm sharing with Alya. I pull off my swimsuit hang it to dry on the bathtub. Hop into the blazing water and take a relaxing shower.

It helps calm my thoughts a bit and puts me in a better mood.

I towel off and put on an oversized shirt and a pair of comfy paperbag shorts. The neck of the shirt is too wide however, and falls off one of my shoulders. I think it's cute though so I don't change.

I call my parents to let them know that I'm safe and we chat for awhile which makes me feel 100x better. Nothing my parents can't fix that's for sure.