Guys! Hey!! I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to leave your hanging for so long!!!! Well, guess what... I have chapter 20 for you! I really hope you like this one. I made it a little longer, too, and added a little extra spice. And no, not the spice you are thinking of lol Anyway, enjoy!! And there will definitely be more very soon because I finally have an idea of where this story is going 🙃
(And just so you know, there's no crying in this chapter... I'm just saying cause the picture has them crying. But yeah, no crying, peeps 👌)
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The events of last night couldn't leave Marinette's mind. There were so many things that happened, and she still couldn't get over any of them. And she still needed to tell Chat about the sudden kiss Adrien gave her.
Marinette couldn't help but stare at the milk as it swirled cereal around her spoon, her mind swirling, too. The tap of the juice carton being placed on the table somewhat lured Marinette's eyes away, looking up to see her mother twisting the lid off the juice container. Then, pouring some in a glass to place it next to Marinette's bowl.
"Thank you," Marinette spoke with her soft, sleepy, and concentrated voice. She dropped the spoon lightly and grabbed her glass, taking a sip of the apple and banana flavored juice. That didn't seem to calm her nerves down like she hoped it would, though.
"You alright, sweetie? You seem a little out of it," Sabine said, with her sweet, high voice. She put her hand on Marinette's shoulder as she walked back to the fridge. "Is it about school that you're worrying about?"
Marinette shrugged, putting her glass back down on the table. "Uh, kind of, I guess...?" She said it like a question. Partially yes and partially no.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sabine smiled. The sound of clinking dishes sounded behind Marinette, hinting her mother was doing morning dishes. And Marinette sighed.
She wished she could tell her mom. She wished she could tell her everything about what was going on in her life. But why was it so hard? Especially, why did she have to hide the fact that she was Ladybug? That she was risking her life nearly everyday?
Marinette's head started to hurt.
The pain started to go away once she thought about Chat, though. Thinking about how it felt for him to hold her. And that made her feel warm inside. But also hot in the face. Because thinking about him ment thinking about the hot night they shared. Or the way he looked at her and touched her.... or the sweet, little note he left for her when he left...
I love you, princess.
"Marinette?" Sabine interrupted her thoughts.
"Huh?" Marinette said, shaking her head as if to shake her thoughts and blush away. "Oh! no, mom, it's fine. I'll get over it!" She gave her mom a smile, reassuring her that she really will.
Sabine nodded with a smile, and then caught the time. And by the look on her face, Marinette already knew she was late for school yet again. Making her scarf her cereal and juice down and then run upstairs to finish getting ready.
• • •
It was stressful for Marinette, with her quickly getting ready, grabbing her backpack and ushering Tikki into her purse. And then soon after bolting for school. It didn't help that Alya started talking her head off about last night, though. That made her much more stressful.
She was definitely getting a headache later.
Marinette rubbed her temples, everything getting to her. And then she groaned.
"Is everything okay with you, girl?" Alya asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Marinette sighed, "I'm a little annoying today, I guess... I don't know." Marinette groaned again, and dropped her head onto her desk. Right away Alya placed a hand on Marinette's back, hoping to comfort her as much as she could.
"Annoyed? Could you be more specific maybe...?" Alya was hesitant to ask. She didn't want to annoy her even more. "Am I apart of it?"
Marinette immediately rose her head and shook it at Alya, her eyes wide. "No! Not at all! Why?"
"Woah! hey, calm down!" Alya laughed. "Okay, if it's not me, then what is it? Or who is it?"
"...it's multiple things, and not exactly annoying," Marinette let out, slowly. And right away, as if fate would have it, Adrien walked in through the door. Marinette met eyes with him briefly, noticing a faint blush on his face as she did. She looked away immediately.
"Is it maybe," Alya lowered her voice, "him?"
"Who?" Marinette asked.
"Adrien."
"Why would it be him?" Marinette bursted out. Her whisper came out as a little yell, drawing a few eyes to the two girls. It caused Marinette to shrink a bit. She asked a again, keeping her voice quiet.
"Well, I don't know, because of the thing that happened between the two of you last night?" Alya said in an "it's obvious" tone.
Marinette's eyes nearly bulged. "What do you know?"
"Woah, girl. God, calm down. All I know is that... he—," Alya pointed with her eyes, "—ran out of the room and went back home." Alya moved in closer, slowly.
"What exactly happened between you two, hm?"
At this point, Marinette's brain was going berserk. She had to get out. She needed fresh air... or—or something to calm her down. She looked at Alya for a second, her head pounding from the headache that already grew. She stood up and ran out of the room, leaving her backpack, purse, and nearly tripping as she got to the door. She felt like she was about to puke with how anxious she was.
The door shut hard behind her. She ran as fast as she could to go outside, until she tripped on the last step of the stairs. She grabbed the railing before hitting her knees on the concrete step. A slight wince left her mouth, her right ankle aching and headache getting worse, and she sat down with her hands on her head. Deep, slow breaths was all she could think of to calm down, taking in the words that Tikki told her repeatedly over all the battles and years. Thinking about Tikki, Marinette called her. But that was until she remembered she left her in the classroom.
"Damn it," she whispered.
Then, she heard a click coming from her classroom upstairs. It made her want to look back, but she stopped herself as to keep her head and neck from moving. She closed her eyes and felt someone take a seat next to her.
"Hey..."
Marinette's eyes grew as she heard Adrien's voice. Why did he make her anxious now? Not the "oh my, it's my crush" anxious, but the "oh no, it's him" anxious... why did it change? Was it the kiss? Most likely. But that shouldn't make her mind change about him like that. No way.
Marinette didn't say anything back. She sat still, trying not to say a word as to what he would say next. To be honest, she didn't really want to talk to anyone.
It stayed quiet for awhile between them. It made Marinette wonder what he was going to say. At the same time she was hoping he'd not say anything... but that would just make things extremely awkward. Until after about 2 minutes, Adrien finally broke the silence.
"So... how's that stock market?"
Marinette's face scrunched up in confusion, but then she started giggling. And, somehow, it helped to make her head stop pounding. She felt better, just because of that dumb joke.
Almost reminded her of Chat...
She looked up, her eyes still closed, and looked over at Adrien as she opened them. A little smile on her face. Then, as she saw the look on his face, how worried he looked, her smile slowly turned into a frown.
"What is it, Adrien?" Marinette asked. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm fine."
"No, you're not," Adrien said, shaking his head.
"I'm telling you I am."
"And I'm saying you're not."
Marinette let out a huff of air through her nose. And Adrien only gave her a knowing look.
"You clearly look... like your brain is full," he pointed at her head, Marinette focusing on his finger. "How about we see what's in that brain of yours?"
Adrien gave her a gentle smile, giving Marinette a nice feeling. She wanted to smile, too. But when she looked at him she noticed how close he was to her, causing her to scoot back. Adrien's smile left and he looked away from her. Just as she did from him.
"Is it my fault?" Adrien spoke out. He felt Marinette look at him, but kept his eyes away.
He wished he was Chat right now. It would make this... better and different. She'd be more comfortable.
He wished he could go back to last night. To when they were dancing in the gazebo. To when they were at the top of the Eiffel Tower. To when he was kissing her in bed.
To stop himself—Adrien—from kissing her and ruining the relationship Marinette had with him—Adrien.
"No—why would you think that—it's not your fault!" Marinette said, immediately. Her voice sounded shaky.
"Yes, it is." His voice was low and sounded a bit angry. "It's because I kissed you, isn't it?"
"Wha—"
"I ruined everything." Adrien looked over at Marinette, seeing a sad look in her eyes. "I shouldn't have kissed you... I should've kept everything the same."
"Adrien, what do you mean?" Marinette interjected. She put a hand on his. They both went silent. And Adrien just stared at her eyes, seeing sadness. While Marinette looked in Adrien's and saw... regret.
A drop of rain fell onto their holding hands, and they both looked up, feeling a sprinkle of rain on their faces. Then, the rain fell harder and faster. Adrien took hold of the hand Marinette was resting her hand on, and quickly took her off the stairs and to a covered area.
Once under the platform, where the upstair classrooms were, Adrien checked Marinette to see if she was wet from the sudden rain. Then, he took off his white over-shirt and draped it over Marinette's shoulders and back. He softly brushed his hands down from her shoulders, to her upper arms, semi trying to warm her up a little.
"Warm?" Adrien said lowly.
Marinette looked up at him. And all she could do was hug him, laying her head on his warm chest. She hoped this answered him. Letting him know she was warm, but also helping him understand that he didn't ruin everything. That everything was exactly the same. He was still the sweet, caring guy she knew him to be. And she was still his friend.
"Adrien," Marinette said, her voice soft.
She tightened her hug, wanting him to hug her back. And he did, giving her as big as a hug as she was. His head nuzzling itself close to her head.
"You didn't make anything worse or change anything...," Marinette spoke. She brought a hand up to his hair, stroking her fingers through it. A little laugh came out of her. "All you did was... make me confused."
Adrien hummed, a laugh like hers spilling out. He pulled back, his hands moving to her lower back as they looked back at each other. Marinette smiled, and then it changed to a small frown. Although, contemplated at the same time.
"Why did you kiss me?" Marinette asked, hesitantly. A small blush grew on her face, the feeling as if the kiss was fresh on her lips. Being strangely familiar at the same time.
Adrien looked all over her face, like he was trying to figure out what he was supposed to say or what he should spill out. He stopped his eyes on her lips. And he could feel himself getting closer to her. It was like her lips were a magnet, and the rain was even trying to push them closer. Taking him back to when he lent her his umbrella. But he stopped himself.
Adrien licked his lips. "There are many reasons," he said. And his eyes went back to hers. "One that I want to tell you... that I need to tell you."
"Adrien?" Marinette whispered. She felt hot, her ears humming the sound of her heartbeat. She felt anxious again. Nervous. Worried. Scared even. Scared because she didn't know if she wanted to here what he was going to say next. Scared because she didn't know what this all ment.
Adrien took in a deep breath through his nose, letting it out quickly through this mouth. His hands shakily left her back and held her hands. He nodded to himself, closing his eyes and telling himself that it was time. It was time to end putting this off.
He opened his eyes and parted his lips.
"Marinette," Adrien bit the inside of his cheek, "I am—"
A loud rumble stopped him mid-sentence, making him and Marinette look around to see the ground shaking terribly, the puddles of rain rippling non-stop. There was no thunder or lightning, making Adrien worry about what was causing the ground to shake. He held Marinette's hands tighter. They looked at each other at the same time.
"I have to go," Adrien quickly said. He gave her hands a squeeze, but before he could let go, Marinette kept her hold on his hands.
"Meet me back here, okay?" Marinette's voice almost sounded like a plead.
Adrien paused. "As you wish."
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Yup. I added in The Princess Bride again... and some cheesiness lol I really love this chapter though!