DAY 2
Marinette sat down at her desk next to Alya, telling her good morning and looking around the room. Students were gradually trickling inside, the teacher already there. She was unusually early.
Max was talking with Kim, his hands waving about eagerly. Alex was on her phone, but she joined in on their conversation, leaning on Kim's shoulder. Mylene and Ivan sat together, Rose and Juleka in the back row reading something on Rose's tablet.
Marinette was so grateful she was able to remember all her friends. She loved them all, and all of them had beautiful personalities.
The door opened again and Marinette glanced to see who was coming in next, and found her eyes on Adrien.
He was wearing a black hoodie.
Her eyes widened.
Adrien usually wore very light colors, it made his hair glow and it worked for him. He never wore anything completely dark. And today he was. His jeans were black, his shoes were black, and his hoodie was black. It contrasted with his hair and his green eyes - his green eyes that immediately met hers. He smiled - no - he smirked. She had never seen Adrien smirk before.
She blushed down to her toes.
"He looks really good in black," Alya whispered. "I mean, looks better than he usually does."'
Marinette bobbed her head up and down repeatedly, a twinge of her old crush on him snapping her back into her memories. "Why doesn't he wear it more often?"
Alya agreed immediately, and Marinette involuntarily let out the tiniest squeak when he passed his seat and walked up to her. Her face was burning, he had to notice that.
He leaned his forearms on her desk, making Alya's brows raise and Marinette's face catch fire. "Marinette, do you want to go to lunch with me again?" He asked lowly.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wow.
She fought to gather her composure and took a deep breath before thinking about what she was going to say before she said it.
"Sure, same place?"
No stuttering. She was impressed with herself.
He nodded his agreement and left to sit in his own seat.
A few hours later, Marinette found herself sitting at the same table as the day before, across from Adrien. She was trying not to stare at him.
"I like your hoodie," she blurted out of freaking nowhere. "You look good in black." Marinette, what the hell?
He looked up from his salad and gave her a smile full of secrets. It was a little familiar, and Marinette was afraid to place it.
"Thank you. I should wear it more often, then."
She blushed, unsure why that smile made her feel so warm. "You should."
Their conversation consisted almost entirely of small talk, though it wasn't awkward like Marinette had expected it to be. It was what she had always been reaching for when she had had that enormous crush on him.
Now she sometimes wondered if they ever would have gone anywhere. She had learned over time, or noticed, that Adrien had some part of him that he hid. Some part of him that yearned to be free, and show itself to the world. She had thought about why he wouldn't allow that part out of its cell, but she had never figured it out. There had to be a reason, right?
Adrien had secrets. He wasn't as open about his feelings as other people. Yes, he was the kindest person Marinette had ever met, but she wondered if his true self was locked away somewhere. Somewhere dark and cold and alone.
There was a hoarse scream from down the street, and almost in reflex, Marinette shot up and turned in that direction, eyes scanning for danger. They hadn't had an akuma in weeks.
"I have to go - you should run and hide," she said quickly to Adrien.
"I'm not letting you fight alone."
She whirled back around upon hearing his words. He couldn't fight - he was a civilian! She wouldn't be able to take it if he got hurt.
She was about to tell him that, but he was gone.
//
After ducking into an alley and transforming, she swung around a building to get to where she had heard the scream and discovered that there was, in fact, no akuma - it had been a car crash.
She had dealt with a car crash before in the past, but very few. They were always frightening - especially when they were bad, and people were dead.
She swung to the site and helped a woman out of the passenger side of a battered car. "Where are you hurt?" From what Ladybug could see, it was just an arm injury, but sometimes there were wounds you couldn't see.
"Ladybug, we're fine over here. There's no need for you to intervene," said Officer Roger. "We have everything handled."
She nodded. "Call me if you need help with anything."
She turned and swung away, towards the cafe where she had lost Adrien. She stopped on a nearby roof and peered down.
"My Lady, how are you this fine afternoon?" said a very familiar voice from behind her.
Ladybug started. "Chat!"
She lunged at him and tackled him in a hug.
He took a step backwards. "Whoa! You missed me, I take it."
"So much," she mumbled, burying her face in his chest.
He laughed, his shoulders shaking. He caressed the back of her head. "I missed you, too."
"I thought there was an akuma."
"Me too. Though I'm not sure if it's good or bad that it wasn't."
"He couldn't have just...stopped. He must be waiting for something." She looked up at him, struck with how grateful she was that she wasn't alone in this fight, and that she had such an amazing person by her side. She wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for Chat Noir.He's saved her life so many times, she couldn't recall them all. And in saving her life, the rest of Paris.
Sometimes she was simply struck by how good of a person he was - to sacrifice himself for her and for others so easily. She would, she thought, do the same, but with Chat, it seemed to be instinct.
Chat took her face in his hand. "We'll win, Mari. We always do. Because you're the strongest person I've ever met."
She smiled and blushed. How did it take so long for her to fall in love with him?
Adrien. That's why. She had been stuck on something that was never meant to be. She wished she hadn't wasted so much of her affection on someone who was always going to see her as just a friend. It was ironic that now he wanted to get to know her better.
"Have I seen you yet?" She asked Chat.
"Yes, in fact we've spoken both yesterday and today."
She groaned. She'd already seen him? Today? "There's no one like you, Chat Noir."
"I'm not myself without the mask," he said softly. "I don't have the room to be myself. But here, with you, I can be free, because no one is there to tell me who I can and can't be." His green eyes bore into her own.
She blinked and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. You can always be yourself with me, Chat. You can be weak with me."
"Thank you," he whispered hoarsely.
"Tikki, spots off." She leaned against him as her suit vanished and Tikki flew out of her earrings and disappeared into her purse. Marinette wrapped her arms around Chat's torso and rested her head against his shoulder. "Chat?"
"Yes, princess?"
"I want to hold your hand. Without the suit on. I want to feel your skin."
He took a deep breath. "Do you want me to de-transform?"
She nodded quietly, holding her breath. She had just blurted out the request without thinking first, but she knew she really wanted it. She wanted to feel him.
"Plagg," he said, after a moment's hesitation, "Claws in."
Her fingers, intertwined with his, felt as the leather and spandex barrier between them vanished, and she felt his skin.
He was warm, so warm. With her eyes closed, she leaned up and pressed her lips against his jaw.
"I love you," she whispered. "I love you more than anything in the world."
She placed her hands at the waistband of jeans - he wore jeans. For some reason that seemed so strange, so normal. Then she brought her fingers underneath his shirt and placed her palms against his skin.
He gasped, "Marinette."
She moved her hands all along his chest and back. She had been close to Chat before, so close, but she had never touched any of his skin but the skin on his face.
"We've got to get back to school," he said softly.
She nodded and waited for him to transform. When the flash of green light subsided, she opened her eyes. Chat was watching her intently.
"Have you given me hints yet?"
He grinned. "Very obvious ones, Marinette."
She huffed. "They weren't obvious enough."
He laughed quietly, and shaking his head, cupped her face in his palms.
He bent down and whispered in her ear, "I'm very close, Marinette. Much closer than you think."
...
I know I said the hiatus was over, like, 10 months ago, and then didn't update since, and I'm sorry. I have never been so busy with schoolwork in my life, and it's just going to get worse from here.
I suppose the biggest reason I didn't update, however, was that I lost motivation for this story. I got bored of it. But I reread it and I feel more inspired, so I will continue working on it.
I always intended to finish it, I just never knew how long that would take.
IMPORTANT: After rereading, I noticed this story is a complete mess. I forgot things and then contradicted others, and it desperately needs to be edited. The point is this: I'm not sure, when I finish, that I will head into polishing it up right after. I have a few more Marichat stories sitting in storage that I think you guys would enjoy, and I want to get started on them, but not until Amnesia is finished. This will be my first finished story ever, so I'm accepting that it's a bit of a... rough draft. I'm letting you know that it is a mess, and I know it is a mess, and someday I will fix it up, but not anytime soon. Other than that, look forward to new fanfics! I'll give you a hint about one of them; it's another mental illness, except this time I'm not hitting anyone with a car >:)
See you soon!
- Victoria