"Stop."
Adrien began to panic. Why was she stopping him? He looked around the hallway before grabbing her arm and pulling her into a closet.
"No, I'm not going to stop. If you don't want to hear that speech I'll say the other. Marinette, stay away from Luka, he's dangerous." Marinette raises her eyebrows pushing aside the previous speech.
"That's funny Adrien. Luka wouldn't hurt a fly-" It was then she noticed a bruise forming on Adrien's nose. "Adrien! Your face!"
"What? You like it?" He flirted with her. Marinette turned red as her head began to spin.
"What? Yes? No? Not the point. There's a huge bruise on your nose. It looks broken. We need to get you to the infirmary!" She went to leave when Adrien stopped her.
"This is what I mean! Luka punched me in the bathroom and insulted me." Marinette looked at him in shock. "I know it sounds-"
"I believe you," Marinette said. "I trust you Adrien and when you say Luka did that I trust you're telling the truth. You'd never lie to me. Thank you for warning me. Let's go to the infirmary." Marinette grabbed his hand and led him out of the closet and to the infirmary. Adrien smiled from behind her. From the warmth surrounding his hand and for getting her back. Marinette nearly forgot about how his first speech was identical to the one she told Chat last night. Nearly.
"Mari!" Luka called from wherever he came from. Adrien shot a dark look at him. "Oh my god, Adrien what happened? Did you fall?" Luka lied.
"Shut up Luka, we'll talk later." She continued dragging Adrien not paying attention to the smirk Adrien gave Luka on their way.
• • •
"Luka. I know you punched Adrien. I don't wanna listen to your explanation. Just whatever this," She waved her arms around, "is, is over. Whatever happened yesterday just forget it. You hurt one of my closest friends and lied about it."
"Mari please give me another chance. Ever since we met you've been the music playing in my head. You're the most extraordinary girl, Marinette. As clear as a musical note and as sincere as a melody. I've never felt this way about anyone before. Please don't let this one thing ruin what has barely begun. I'll do anything." Luka pleaded with her. Marinette felt her heartstrings pull at this declaration.
"Apologize to Adrien. A real apology. No underlying tones. If you can't do that well that's it. Otherwise, I'll need time." Marinette said locking eyes with the tall boy. He nodded and ran out of the room to the infirmary. Today was a Saturday so Marinette had some time to herself. She made her way to her bed and laid down with her eyes closed despite it being so early.
"Marinette? Do you want to talk about what happened with Adrien?" Tikki asked her. Tikki somehow knew magically of what happens in Marinette's life. She rolled over to face the colorful owl beside her bed. That's something she could never get used to. The talking owl.
"You heard him Tikki. He was saying verbatim the speech I helped Chat with last night. Maybe Chat was asking for a friend? No, you saw him. He was miserable. He couldn't have been asking about me. That means Adrien feels something for me. Something. But that also means." Marinette sat up. "Adrien is Chat Noir."
• • •
"I'm sorry Adrien. It's just, I thought that the reason why you were upset was because of me and Mari. I got worried. I was afraid you had feelings for her and I initially thought she had feelings for you as well. I acted on jealously. I'm truly sorry Adrien." Luka said looking at his feet. Adrien stared confused at the now calm boy beside him.
"So you said all the cruel crap you did because you were afraid I had feelings for your girlfriend...?" Adrien sat up on the bed. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Fine. I'm afraid you're going to steal her away from me. I finally got her just for her to end it because of my one freak out. I worked so hard, I had feelings for her since day 1. But she just wasn't reciprocating. I had it convinced that she had feelings for you. Then yesterday happened and I saw you act up and I was afraid that it would all go to waste because suddenly you liked her back. So I blew up. I'm sorry that I punched you and for what I said." Luka walked up to him. "But if you try to make a move on her, it will happen again." Luka turned around and began to walk away. "Also if Mari asks, I did say a sincere apology." Adrien gaped at the audacity of someone he once considered a good friend. How dare he. How dare he.
Adrien was dismissed quickly from the infirmary and headed to quidditch practice. He hoped to talk to Marinette but she wasn't at practice. Now he was worried. He made up an excuse saying she had food poisoning from the feast yesterday. After he raced to the common room to find Alya and Nino on the couch.
"Hey guys have you seen Marinette?" Adrien asked them. The two looked up from their game of wizard chess. Alya was teaching Nino how to play.
"Shouldn't she be at practice with you dude?" Nino said while moving his piece.
"No. That's why I'm worried. She never misses practice. I had to make up an excuse for her. If you see her tell her that she had food poisoning from the feast last night and that's why she missed practice."
"Okay, we will. I'll check our room to see if she's in there." Alya left the game of chess to their room and didn't come back until dinner. Adrien played with Nino but wasn't paying attention. His mind was focused on the bluenette who seemed so confident early that day who disappeared. Did Luka say something to her?
• • •
"Marinette? Are you in here?" Alya walked into their room to see a sad lump on Marinette's bed sniffling. She saw the odd owl beside her. She ran to her friends' side and sat on the bed to rub her back. "Shhhh Mari, it's okay. Do you want to talk about it."
"I can't."
"If you want to you can."
"No, I'm not allowed to. Alya there's nothing I want more than to release all this frustration to you but I can't." Marinette broke down crying. She sat up and Alya pulled her into a side hug.
"Shhh, I gotchu girl. I'm here. I'll always be here." Alya rubbed circles on her back to soothe her best friend. They remained like that for hours. The only thing Marinette could say was the Luka thing. Which made Alya even more confused. If it worked out why was he so upset. Dinner time rolled around and Alya decided to fix the broken girl up. She braided her messy hair and put concealer around her eyes and on her nose, red from crying. She dragged the reluctant Marinette downstairs to the common room where the boys sat playing chess. Adrien jumped up at the sight of Marinette who hid behind Alya in response. Alya shot a look at Adrien that made him back down. The four walked to the Great Hall in silence. When they arrived Luka was waiting at the door for Marinette. Adrien stood in front of her defensively.
"Mari... can we talk please," Luka said to her softly. He reached out his hand to her. She grabbed it and he lead them away. Adrien looked at Alya in shock.
"Is she really giving him another chance?"
"Marinette is a kind person Adrien. And not another word out of you. You're part of this." Alya gave him one of her infamous glares.
"I thought we were good. We had a nice talk this morning and she took my side then. What changed?" Adrien sat at the table with Nino beside him.
"She won't really tell me specifics. What happened?" Alya asked him sitting across from the boys.
"I don't know where to start."
"I do." Nino finally spoke. "After they kissed at the concert he was miserable. He basically cried for hours." Adrien was about to correct him. "I said basically. Anyway, he woke up feeling better, walked into the Great Hall to see Marinette and Luka together which sent him spiraling. Luka went after him, insulted him, and punched him. That's all I know." They look at him to continue the story.
"Well, I went to tell Marinette about what happened, how Luka punched me. I pulled her aside and pulled out a speech I wrote last night. It just said that I don't want to lose her and our friendship. She interrupted me and seemed shocked. I said the second thing about Luka and she flipped on him. Took me into the infirmary and shooed him away. She and Luka talked and she had him come in to say a "sincere apology" to me." Alya thought for a moment.
"What's in the first speech you wrote yesterday?" Alya asked him. Adrien pulled out the crinkled paper and began to read.
"Hey I know you're with this guy and that's awesome. So happy for you. I just want you to know that I hope we can still hang out like we always did. There's more but this is where she stopped me."
Marinette came back with Luka behind her in silence. Luka sat near them but no one spoke. The Gryffindor table was silent.
1618 words