"Adrien, what are you doing?"
"Asking you out."
Chloé let out a horrified shriek for the scene in front of her. Alya had been giggling for the last three minutes after hearing the entire conversation from two seats away.
Practically everyone on the coach was invested. Some people were muttering varieties of "I knew it" under their breath.
"Adrien. Please don't do this here." Marinette had practically begged. This was too much for her to handle- the crush she'd had for however many years was actually asking her out?
Was this just a prank? Was it a way to get back at Chloé once and for all? Was it just for teasing her? The blonde had been suspiciously open and affectionate towards Marinette the last few days, and knowing he was also the boy in a black get-up suit wasn't exactly helping either.
"Mari, I want you to go prom with me." This boy was far to insistent. Was he not aware there were nearly thirty pairs of eyes on them?
"No. No you don't. Stop. You're lying."
Chloé cackled, putting the back of her hand to her mouth. "Why, of course he is! You really think Adrien would want you? A simple bakery girl. That's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"
"That's enough, Chloé," Adrien all but growled, "I've had enough. I'm not your toy to just tug around whenever you feel like it. We're done. You're not my friend."
The class gasped. Nino whispered a quiet "dude..", which caused Adrien to immediately turn to and give a grim expression.
"But! But, Adrikins-"
"Shut up, for once, please!"
Marinette's breath caught in her throat and Chloé made a strangled noise before sending a look of pure hatred to Marinette. She then got up and sasheyed a few rows infront of where she was previously sat, right besides Sabrina.
The coach was caught up in a hush, which was later broken by someone sneezing and earning a hesitant "bless you". Everyone later broke out into awkward conversations.
Marinette had coiled up on herself. Her knees were up to her chest, feet resting on the chair. One hand was propped under her chin as she intently stared out the window, and the other was curled around the pencil in her hand.
To say the least, she didn't appreciate all of this attention. She was planning on going to prom with a group of friends, not a model!
Although, would Adrien technically be considered as Marinette's friend..? What even was their relatipnship?
"..ri. Mari. Mari. Marinette!"
The girl in question slightly jumped and nodded. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry - about all of that."
" 's okay. You didn't do anything."
Adrien frowned, because; no, he didn't do anything. There wasn't particularly a reason for the girl to be so worked up about this.
Sure- having that many eyes on you at once is definitely anxiety-riddled, and yeah- suddenly snapping out at Chloé like that wasn't entirely necessary.
"Are you okay?"
That's a very good question, Mr. Agreste. Am I okay? The natural wonders of life.
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going with me?"
"... I'm not sure."
Adrien hummed at that. Understandable. The girl needed time to think. Makes sense. Did she even like him, or is she just trying to get out of an awkward situation?
He'd obviously come on too strong. Going into her changing room, (both half naked, might he add), was certainly 'too strong'.
Marinette huffed and turned her head to meet the boy's. "Stop it.'
"Stop what?"
"That face. It's your Thinking Face. So whatever you think you've done wrong, you haven't."
Adrien blinked at her. "Am I that easy to read, or have you been studying my expressions?"
The girl snorted and rolled her eyes to look back out of the window. "Touché."
Knowing that Adrien Agreste was also Chat Noir was somewhat settling to Marinette's schoolgirl crush.
Because that's all that was.
A crush.
But did she like Chat? He certainly wasn't on the lower end of the scale - which would've made sense, seeing as he's a model. But Marinette had only ever seen him as a partner. Her best friend.
And then, there came the question of: did she even like Adrien, romantically? Was it only the fangirl inside of her growing to something overwhelmingly large because she saw her idol's son?
The possibility of it being the latter plummeted on Marinette like the dread of dropping your phone into a puddle.
She'd never experienced love before. She didn't even know what it felt like.
Sure, Marinette had gotten far more able to control herself once the pair had gotten closer. Adrien seemed interested in her, which would only excite the possibility of 'if' inside her.
"Mari? Your nails are digging into your skin. You'll bleed."
A friend. That's all Marinette has ever seen Adrien as. And that's what she'll only ever see him as.
Adrien didn't deserve a girl who'd only admire him for having a famous name.
"Adrien.." Even the name felt normal to the lips - the name once graciously cried out.
"That's me. In the flesh."
"I can't go to prom with you."
The coach slowed to a stop. The airport's parking gates came into view. Their trip would be over in the next two hours.
"What?"
"I'm sorry. I can't."
________
Sorry for so little dialogue today!
If you were confused, I'll summarise the chapter:
- Chloé freaks out when Adrien asks out Mari
- Mari has a mini panic-attack from being the result of an argument and Adrien's Angry Voice seemed to be the trigger.....
- She then realises that if she couldn't love Chat (the real Adrien) she could never love him as a whole. She'd only fallen for the Media version, which was a fake description
Before you're mean to Mari:
She's only a young girl (17 in the current story line). She doesn't really have a strong grasp on love and immediately thought that what she felt towards Adrien was true
