"I thought you were my friend!"
"I am, and it is my duty as your friend to tell you that you suck at this."
Adrien pushed Nino away playfully as he tried to work on his letter to Ladybug. Having Nino know about his double life came with a few positives but a lot of problems, one of them being his constant teasing about Ladybug. Their three year crime-fighting anniversary was coming up and he wanted to try and tell her his feelings. Nino wasn't exactly helping. Adrien sighed and crumpled up the paper, tossing it in the general direction of the already over-flowing rubbish bin. He groaned and banged his head on the desk, waiting for the sweet release of death, or for Nino to come and make him get up, whichever came first.
"Come on man, we've been at this for hours. Look I really gotta go, I have a huge biology paper due tomorrow, but I'll catch you later, ok?"
Nino chuckled as his friend groaned again in response, and he gave him some advice before he left,
"Bro, maybe you could like transform for a little bit, run around Paris, clear your head? You'll feel much better."
Adrien moved his head a fraction to watch his friend leave, and contemplated taking his advice. Sure, it was raining, but only a light drizzle, and magical powers came with magical bottomless pockets, so he could bring an umbrella. He straightened up and called out to Plagg, who had holed himself up in the bathroom with some Camembert, having been wary of Nino since a certain incident involving a jam jar. Plagg came out in a huff, and reluctantly flew into Adrien's ring, sighing as he went. Now transformed, Adrien leaped out the window and over the streets of Paris.
Marinette's steps were small and shaky as she walked down the near-deserted street beside the park.
"Why did I decide to walk to Manon's to give her back that toy? God, it's freezing out here, and I think it's starting to rain..." , she thought to herself. She folded her arms across her chest for warmth and continued her lonely, or so she thought, walk home. She paused outside the park gates and gazed at the fountain, which had a small icy stream trickling down from it. She sighed a little and thought of the time she could have modelled here with Adrien, but of course, being Ladybug had to come first. Being Ladybug always came first.
A small voice piped up from inside of her thick jacket,
"M-Marinette, you ok?"
"I'm fine Tikki, we'll be home soon."
The girl could feel her kwami shivering against her skin, and picked up her pace slightly, lest she get sick. Magical colds were terrible.
A few seconds later, she felt large drops of rain slide down her neck, so she put out her hand to feel for more incoming droplets. What she felt instead however, was a pair of lips brushing against her skin, making her jump backwards in surprise, only to be caught by, you guessed it, Chat Noir.
"God damn it kitty, you scared me half to death."
"Well, you look fine. Much better than fine actually."
Marinette felt a light blush creeping up her cheeks and tried to ignore it. Chat always did this. She felt a familiar coy smile slide onto her face, one that she always wore when Chat was around, and prepared a witty retort.
"Why thank you Chat, I was standing out here, in the freezing cold, just waiting for you to come along and notice how gorgeous I am!"
"Unsurprising; people have done it before, Princess."
"Name one person."
"Uhh... you?"
"Can't you understand sarcasm kitty?"
Chat crossed his arms and turned his head away from her, pretending to be offended. She giggled in spite of herself, making him turn back around.
"Well, if you're not here to wait in hope that your hero arrives, what are you doing out here?"
Marinette giggled a little and said through chattering teeth,
"I'm j-just out on a walk; I was bringing a toy back to this l-little girl, Manon."
Chat looked at her with concern in his eyes.
"All on your own? Are you ok? Aren't you cold?"
"O-of course I am kitty, but I can handle it."
The wind had really started to blow by then, and the girl's shivering was plain to see, the rain only making it worse. Chat reached into his pocket and brought out the umbrella, perplexed at the lack of confusion on Marinette's face, as he had just pulled out a 20in object from a 3in space.
"Magical pockets.", he said.
"I guessed.", she replied dryly.
He opened it up and held it over her head, shielding her from the rain.
"Take it."
"It's fine, my house is only 5 minutes from here, I-I can walk without it."
"Just take it."
"Honestly, it's ok kitty."
Chat smirked at the girl's stubbornness and pushed the umbrella into her hands, before leaving her with nothing but a wink and her thoughts.
A/N: Third attempt at writing a new fiction, hope you guys enjoy!
