•●•●•●•●•
"Second of all, it's easier said than done."
"Is it really?"
•●•●•●•●•
I can apologise to Adrien right now, but I didn't have an excuse to have taken a whole month just to steel my resolve. "Maybe I can do it tomorrow."
"Absolutely not," Grimm snaps. "This dilemma has been prolonged for far too long. All you need are three short words and it would be over."
"But what if he doesn't forgive me?" I say in panic. "Besides, I can't do it now..."
"Yes, you can." He eyes me, unamused. "Selene, focus. You're thoughts are all over the place. I need you to breath in." I suck in a ball of air obediently. "And breath out." I exhale slowly.
"Think things through one thing at a time and isolate each goal. I need you to take baby steps now." He says slowly. "Simply refer to three words 'I sincerely apologise.'"
"I'm really sorry," I say in translation.
"Excellent."
I knock onto Adrien's door and enter when he replies, "Come in."
"Little kitty on a roof," he hums Emilie's lullaby that she used to sing to us. "All alone without his lady."
"Adrien?" I say tentatively.
"Selene," he stands up suddenly, hands behind his back.
I frown. "What do you have there?"
"It's well..." Adrien reveal a small piece of cheese from behind is back. "Uh yeah."
I shake my head, chuckling. He does have a strange craving for Camembert. "Anyway, I came to say something." I rub the back of my neck nervously. "I'm sorry about last time and I'm really very sorry that it took a whole month just to apologise. I knew you kept your secret from almost everyone."
"What are you talking about?" Adrien says, mildly confused, and taking a careful step back.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for not taking your crush on Ladybug seriously."
"Oh, that!" Adrien exclaimed, surprising me. He sighs in relief. "You shouldn't be. I know crushing on the city's superhero sounds like a faraway dream so I can't blame you."
"You're not mad at me anymore?" I ask, hopeful.
"What do you mean? I never was."
"But you were giving me the silent treatment this whole time," I point out, brows furrowing. So this whole month he never held a grudge against me while I was wallowing in regret?
"I was?" He shakes his head and rakes his finger through his golden locks. "I'm sorry, Selene. My mind has been elsewhere lately. Like fencing classes, modelling and superh- I mean school."
"I can tell Nathalie about it," I offer. Did he stutter because he's nervous to be honest with his feelings?
"No, the last thing I need is for everyone to worry about me."
"There's nothing wrong about that Adrien. They care about you- your dad, Nathalie, your friends. That's why they worry. And I worry the most," I say, desiring to tell him anything to make him feel better. "Also, I promise I won't make fun of your admiration of Ladybug."
"Thanks, Selene. I can always count on you." To my surprise, her wraps his arms around my in a warm embrace. I reciprocate it affectionately. If only I could protect him from the negative thoughts that gnaw on him, but only Emilie could ever do that.
Although at the back of my mind, I was still furious that Adrien never understood my inner turmoil from our fight, I'm still glad that we managed to resolve the problem.
•●•●•●•●•
"What are stained glass cookies?" Grimm asks.
"They're buttery sugar cookies with it's centre made of hard candy. So they look like stained glass windows since it's translucent," I answer, making my way towards the kitchen.
"Sounds festive. Are we celebrating something?"
"Not really, but I think I'd bake enough to share with my friends, especially Adrien. He needs to cheer up! I'm pretty sure he ate all my sugar cookies that time so I want to try baking the next best thing. Oh, and Luka too since he'll be starting school soon."
"But you said so yourself; you're a terrible baker."
I scoff but I can't deny it. "I'm not doing it by myself." I gesture to the kitchen door. "Quick- hide before I enter."
He dives into my pocket before the door open with the family chef greeting me. "Ms LeClaire."
"Good morning, chef! Thanks for letting me use the kitchen," I saunter into the room, despite the baffled looks he throws at me.
"Are you sure about baking by yourself? How about I assist you?" He offers, obviously concerned about the good condition of the kitchen.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I have a friend coming over. She's the best baker I know."
"Well if you insist..."
There's a knock on the door and Nathalie opens it from the outside. "Selene, your friend is here."
"Hi," Marinette says meekly, waving an awkward greeting.
"Just in time! Thanks Nathalie," I exclaim. Leading the chef to the door, I continue. "Well she's here now. I appreciate your concern but we'll be fine. I promise not to burn down the kitchen."
"But I-" I close the door behind him, leaving just me and Marinette.
"So uh," Marinette begins.
"What's the matter? You said you'd do anything you can to help," I say, teasing her. "I like you Marinette so, let's be friends."
She seems to relax at my request. "All right then. I'm kind of excited! I've never made stained glass cookies before!"
"Really? In your whole life?"
"Nope, it's like how you've never eaten macarons huh?"
"You're going to love them just as much as macarons!" I say eagerly. "Atleast I hope so. I'm a disaster at baking so you have to help me."
"Ready for duty!" She says gleefully.
"Could you read through the recipe book as I set up the table?" I say pointing to a thick recipe book on the counter. As she scans through the book, I glance back to her before I scoop out Grimm from my pocket.
"You can do anything you want while I bake. If you're leaving the kitchen just don't take too long or get too far away," I whisper. "The crackers are on the cupboard to the left if you're hungry."
"Um where are the cookie cutters? Aha." After rummaging through several drawers, I take a few star-shaped cookie-cutters from the eighth one. This kitchen is so ginormous that I easily get confused of where materials are stored.
"Will you take forever?" Grimm asks impatiently.
"Not long, maybe just an hour."
"Meaning; you'll take all day," he says.
I tsk. "Shut up. Go occupy yourself with something else just don't let anyone see you."
"You didn't really invite Marinette to befriend her did you?" He deduces quickly.
"I need to test her. She's been obsessed over Adrien lately. I have to make sure she isn't a threat to him," I say confidently. "I'm multitasking. I'll test her, maybe befriend her and as an added bonus, make cookies for my friends."
"Look into the mirror once in a while. Are you sure she's the obsessive one?"
"Grimm," I say, gritting my teeth. "Rule number one?"
"Right. No more insults. I apologise." He continues, "You're being obsessive and that's a fact."
"Go bother someone else, right now!" I say out loud.
"Is everything all right?" Marinette asks.
"Oh yeah." There's just an annoying fly that keeps buzzing around. "Shoo! Go away." I say to the empty air. Marinette shrugs and turns back to the book.
Grimm snickers and buzzes off. "See you later."
•●•●•●•●•
Grimm's POV.
To be frank, isn't she tired of eating sweet things for the past week? Her father was more of a savory type so she probably inherited her sweet tooth from her mother.
I recall back in the old days when the signature chili crab was the most ubiquitous dish in Singapore. Perhaps I'd recommend it to Selene later.
I glide through the kitchen, careful to avoid Marinette's line of sight. I bear no intentions to leave the kitchen at all. It's rather unwise to be too far away from the holder.
"Beat the butter and sugar until smooth," Marinette recites. "Add the eggs one at a time, the vanilla and salt, then slowly mix in the flour until thoroughly mixed."
"That's the simple part," she says while Selene stares at a ladle and a rubber spatula doubtfully.
I hold in a chuckle. Her mother was an incredible baker. If she wasn't so busy being the superhero's strategist, she would've opened her own bakery. Selene may look like her mother but she acts like her father- indecisive, cautious and loves to do everything at once.
The noise of a bowl clattering onto the floor draws their attention to the opposite end of the counter. "Did you do that?" Selene asks, confused since no one was near that side of the table.
"N-no," Marinette says. "Oh wait! I think I accidentally left the bowl on the edge of the table.
"Atleast it's plastic," Selene says, going over to pick it up.
Marinette blocks her path in a hurry. "I'll do it!"
"O-okay." Selene raises an eyebrow, but turns back to her work. Marinette sighs, seemingly in relief. In all my years, I've met countless humans who were either clumsy or shy, but I know when something is amiss.
At the corner of my eye, I spot a blur of red whizz past her head. What was that?
I turn slowly, surveying the large kitchen. A red splotch appears for a moment then disappears the next near a cabinet. My wings give me a boost as I glide over to the spot and-
"So what's next?" Marinette suddenly turns around- about to face my direction. I come to a hasty halt and duck down behind a bowl of eggs. Another red blur zips into a drawer. It moves too fast that I couldn't discern what it is.
I follow it silently into the drawer. Aha! I caught it now. It's a-
The thing chirps loudly, ringing my ears. What in God's name is that?! The vile creature extends its little wings and starts flapping in the small space.
"Watch it!" I exclaim impulsively as the bird creates a kerfuffle among metallic utensils in the drawer.
"Eeekk!" I hear Marinette shriek from outside. "There's something in there!"
I rush out through the small opening of the drawer before I could be exposed. "Agh!" I yelp, ramming straight into someone's hand.
"What is that?!"
•●•●•●•●•
Selene's POV.
I heard the strange commotion in the drawer. At that moment, I saw two things. One- a red-breasted robin flitting out from the drawer and my bat kwami- Grimm.
"Look, the window is open!" I say quickly, pointing a finger at the window. Naturally, Marinette turns her head to its direction and I hurriedly capture Grimm with my hands. Gently placing him into my pocket, I say," Quick! Get the robin out through the window!"
Marinette grabs a broom, to my confusion, and starts batting the bird away. "Uhhh, I don't want to be rude, but the exit's that way!" She says to the bird. The birds squawks in fright and eventually leaves through the window. I run to the pane to lock the window closed.
When that was all over, we both sigh in relief. Marinette giggles. "Well, that happened."
"It must have flown in through the window." I laugh. "You can put that broom down now."
"Gah," she says surprised, dropping it entirely. "Whoops."
"That gave me a heart attack," I joke. "Come on. We still have plenty to do."
I crouch down behind the counter and pull out Grimm. I whisper, "What were you doing?"
"I apologise. Did she see me?"
"No, she only saw the robin, but be careful. You almost got caught." I open the cabinet with the box of cheese crackers and carefully place him down. "You can stay here."
He seems to still be in a state of shock as I silently close the cabinet doors. What am I going to do if he gets hurt? Wait, I shouldn't care! I slap my cheeks, trying to call back my normal self.
There's a knock on the door and it opens slightly to reveal a set of golden hair and stunning green eyes. "I heard a commotion. Is everything all right?"
"A-adrien?!" Marinette squeaks, almost dropping her cooking tools and making a blunder. "I didn't k-know you were home!"
"I just got back," Adrien says, giving her a peculiar, tender smile that I didn't noticed before. "What are guys up to?"
"Uhm well...y-you see," Marinette begins, tripping over her words. I stand back up and dash towards Adrien.
"Oh no. You're not supposed to know," I say, pushing him out the door.
"What? Why not?" Adrien says, pouting which causes me to roll my eyes.
"If you must know, it was supposed to be a surprise." I sigh. "Since it's ruined now, I guess I can tell you."
"Wait. No! That's okay! Go continue whatever you were doing and I'll pretend this never happened," Adrien says hastily. I smirk. Ha! That's the magic of reverse psychology. "See you later then. Bye, Marinette!"
"Goodbye- b-bye, Adrien!" Marinette eagerly replies. I slam the door behind him.
I fold my arms and watch her as she stares up at the ceiling- face red. She gushes, "he greeted me..."
I start to fume. "I didn't want to say this because I didn't want to make you feel bad. You're a really nice person Marinette, but..."
"What is it?" She asks, detecting the urgency in my tone.
"I like Adrien." My mask hardens as I throw her a gentle smile. "Since we were little."
She tenses up at my confession as her eyes widen into giant discs. I continue as I clasp my hands. "I really want us to be friends but I need to ask so, please be honest with me." Staring down on the floor. "Do you like him as fan or as a boy?"
Silence stretches out to a full minute. I wait patiently for her answer, daring to hope that she'd choose to hold back instead.
"N-no, of course I like him as a fan. I mean, I-i do like him since he's famous as a model," she says. They were lies. All lies. Suddenly, I wished that she had told the truth instead. It felt wrong- I felt wrong.
"G-great," I say, stuttering- and I don't to that often. "I'm glad we got closure for that."
She nods sadly. The dull, desolated shade in her baby blues eyes sends shivers down my spine.
•●•●•●•●•
"What's the matter? You should be ecstatic. You managed to resolve everything today," Grimm says after the baking session and Marinette left. His tone ends flat.
I remain quiet, gripping one of the bags of stained glass cookies Marinette and I made together. She managed to giggle and joke with me after my proclamation, pretending that everything was fine for her. That girl has an iron will. If I had only half of her power, I would be able to do anything.
"You feel it, do you not? As if it was cruel."
I grimace, brushing him off. "No, I don't. Don't put stupid thoughts into my head."
•●•●•●•●•
All right. I know it takes a day or atleast several hours to fully prepare stained glass cookies but oh well, Christmas is coming soon.