Pretty Bluebell

chapter 12

Unable to put her appreciation in words, she pulls the girls closest to her into a hug, which eventually turns into a big group hug among the entire class.

"Childish," Marinette hears Lila tell Chloé on her way back to her seat, and she mutters under her breath, "I'd say the same for you."

She noticed since that whole situation at the cafeteria and later with Adrien, Lila had become a lot more salty, more than she would. This made her promise herself to watch her words around her more, but that remark earlier had just slipped out.

Because the way she kept calling Adrien her boyfriend when he was clearly not, when he clearly showed discomfort, and even forced him to remain in the spotlight when he didn't want to any longer was immature. Very. In fact, Marinette was fuming just thinking about it.

Alya nudging her as soon as she sat down stopped her actions. "I bet you she's still salty about Adrien. That article about their alleged relationship got taken down within hours. Adrien definitely wasn't having it with her."

"I don't think that gives her an excuse to be ruder than she already is, but we can just leave her be. If she's going to get into the trouble she deserves, I'm not getting dragged down with her," Marinette stated her opinion, her best friend musing. "Smart."

➳

      Adrien had just finished his Mandarin classes that evening, that was scheduled to make up for his missed ones during his intense fencing practice pre-tournament.

He sat on his computer, scrolling on Twitter to read about what fans were saying about his interview. He hadn't done one in a while, so he wanted to see what were the public's opinions.

But while he tried to focus on the tweets, his mind wandered off to a certain someone who happened to be at the studio when the interview was taking place.

Upon remembrance of a particular scene that set his face ablaze, he felt that exact feeling reoccur once more.

      He was just trying to get water on the table, when somehow, as he's about to get back to set, one of his bracelets get caught on a loose tablecloth thread. "Oh, shoot!" is his first reaction, drawing Marinette's attention to him.

She noticed his predicament, and immediately gets up to get a closer look. "Hey, what happened?"

Adrien slowly lifted his hand to show that his bracelet chain had entangled in some loose thread. "It got caught on the tablecloth," he tells her.

"Oh. I can...I can take a look, if you don't mind?" she offered hesitantly, unsure if he wanted her to be fiddling with such precious accessories.

His eyes wander off to the crew who were all currently occupied, before nodding. "I'll surely entrust a talented seamstress," he replies coyly.

A little smile makes its way onto her face, which infects the blond boy; her smile was the epitome of contagious.

Her touch was soft as she grabbed ahold of his hand to inspect, and thanks to her agile fingers, she was able to fix it within seconds.

"There you go," she says softly, letting go of his hand.  "All done."

For a hot second, he had wanted nothing more for her hands to stay securely holding his. The lingering warmth of her gentle touch was something he craved.