Behind The Mask ~Ladynoir Fanfiction~

Chapter 12

Marinette...

It's been a week since our first dance lesson and the end of the half-semester was nearing, which meant that the deadline for our costumes was only three days away. My study sessions with Adrien had become shorter and shorter - we didn't want to know each other's designs because we wanted it to be a surprise so there wasn't much we could do together without revealing the secret.

I'm not gonna lie - I've been working so hard on the project and the tux/suit thing is really coming together! I've used red material with black, velvet polka dots and black undershirts. As well as that, I've started making a black fedora with a small ladybug symbol in the black ribbon. Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait for Adrien to try this stuff on!

Alya only told me recently that we had to make masks, so that afternoon I was playing around with some ideas when Maman knocked at my door.

'Marinette, your boyfriend's here,' she smiled sweetly. Boyfriend...? OH, ADRIEN!

'He's not my boyfriend, Maman,' I laughed loudly, feeling a small rush as I imagined being Adrien's girlfriend. Pffft. Like that will ever happen.

We hadn't scheduled any study sessions today so I was curious about what he what he was doing here. And wasn't Adrien grounded permenantly anyway?

'H-hi Marinette,' he smiled up at me as I made my way down the stairs - I was careful this time; I don't want a repeat of the first time that Adrien came here this month...

'Hey Adrien. Aren't you grounded?' I questioned as we both took seats on the pink couch, Maman and Papa leaving to give us privacy.

'You want me to leave so soon?' He faked a wounded look. 'My princess doesn't want me here...'

Princess... My mind flooded with confusion and fear as I remembered a certain black cat naming me his 'princess' only last night. Surely that was a coincidence, right?

'Marinette?'

'S-sorry. Was just lost in thought...' I murmured, playing with my fingers nervously. Whether he was Chat Noir or not, Adrien still called me his princess... I couldn't help but let a smile fall on my lips. And Chat Noir obviously can't be Adrien - I mean, they have totally different personalities. Chat Noir is ... stronger and funnier and .... combusted wildly, like a flame while Adrien was like the calmest water, a still sea...

'Marinette, you're worrying me now,' Adrien said. I looked up to find his face intently reading mine.

'Nothing, Adrien. I was just ... thinking.'

'About what?'

'Chat Noir.' The two words slipped out before I could stop them and I immediately looked at Adrien, waiting for his reaction.

To my confusion, he grinned. 'What about Chat Noir?'

'Nothing - it's not important,' I said hotly. 'What's important is why you've come here.'

'Well, I, uh... I'm not actually supposed to be here - I'm meant to be at a photoshoot but it got canceled, so I figured I might as well come over here while Father thinks I'm off somewhere else...' he quickly explained. 'If you're busy though, I don't mind going back home... that much.'

'No! Don't leave - it's f-fun having you here,' I rapidly said, trying not to blush as I stumbled over the words. Dang it, I broke my no-stuttering streak. 'I was just curious why you wouldn't go hang out with Nino. I mean, you are best friends after all and since he's banned from your house I just thought that you might want to have spent extra time with him, but I'm not saying you should go because you - '

His finger pressed against my lips again, smiling playfully down at me as I stared with dumbfounded eyes at him. 'You're doing that rambling thing again,' he chuckled.

My insides froze as his scorching finger slid from my lips to my cheek softly before trailing off my face. I gulped loudly as Adrien smiled crookedly at me, obviously aware of how much he had an effect on me - I tried swallowing again and attempted a smile.

'Sorry.' My voice was slightly hoarse, which only widened his grin.

'Don't be. It's cute.'

Shock and ecstacy bubbled inside me as I tried to contain a squeal. Cute! He called ME CUTE.

'Anyway, I'm not hanging out with Nino because he... er... he and I...' Adrien eyes turned cold and sad and I sensed pain behind them. 'I guess you could say we're no longer... friends.'

The blow of this information was dull and sickening - Alya and I had already suspected something off between the forced conversation between the two males doing classtimes and I had noticed how little time Adrien spent with him during breaks.

'How? You guys seemed so close.' I frowned at Adrien, whose eyes dropped to the ground, looking misreable.

'We had an argument.' His voice was emotionless, thick. 'It didn't end well.'

'An argument about...?' I prompted, scooching closer to Adrien with sympathetic eyes, encouraging him to trust me.

'About how he thought I was not paying attention to him, that I was spending all my time with someone else,' he said slowly, not looking at me but allowing me to gently hold his hand.

'Spending all your time with who?' I frowned.

He looked up at me with a darkly amused expression. 'You.'

'Me?!' I widened my eyes in surprise as Adrien laughed one short, humourless laugh.

'I haven't been spending much time with anyone else, Marinette. You haven't noticed?'

'I guess I didn't,' I murmured, immediately feeling guitly for being the reason two best friends had broke up. 'But I didn't mean for this happen! Why don't you go talk to him?'

'He won't listen, Marinette! And... I wouldn't know what to say.' He uncomfortably hugged himself, taking his hand out of mine.

'You could say that... you weren't going to spend so much time with me anymore because you've learnt the importance of your friendship with him and that you will balance time betweens friends from there on,' I advised, smiling gently at the teenage boy who stared at me with large eyes. After a short silence I continued. 'Urm... but you d-don't need to say-'

'No, that's perfect, Marinette. I didn't even realise what I was doing to Nino - your advice was really... helpful,' he quickly said, interuptting me with a soft smile. 'It's just that I enjoy spending so much time with you.'

My heart spluttered loudly at his words and I let a friendly smile shape my lips. He enjoys spending time with me! I could hardly believe it.

'Still... you should balance time with friends,' I hastily replied. 'I can tell you're not as happy as you were when Nino was still your friend.'

He looked at me for a while and I could almost hear his brain whirring as he processed my opinion. 'You're right,' he concluded slowly. 'I'll talk to him at school tomorrow - as soon as I see him.'

'Great!' I exclaimed, relieved that Adrien was trying to solve the problem. 'So, umm, what are you going to do now?' I couldn't help but ask.

'I actually should sprint home before Father realises I didn't come home when the photoshoot was called off - Hopefully Nathalie won't tell him,' he said, with a slightly worried expression. He raised his gaze from his watch to me, a small smile beginning to form. One of his hands found mine and held it suddenly to his chest. I stared up at him with bewildered eyes.

'Thank you, Marinette,' he whispered, bending down to tenderly brush his lips against the back of my hand. I held my breath, something inside me imploding as he looked up at me with a soft smile.

'Anytime,' I breathed as he dropped my hand gently and left quietly. I faintly heard him say 'goodbye' to my parents as I sat starstruck on the pink couch, the ghost of Adrien's lingering kiss fading from my skin.

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