Marinette's POV
"I thought you liked Mister Bug?" Plagg asks as I splash water on my face.
"I do! No, I don't. Well, it's complicated," I groan, standing over the sink.
I told Alya that I had to use the bathroom before we went back to see the boys. Really, it was just so I could have a mental break. I don't know how much more I can handle today.
Plagg snickers. "You two timing cat. I knew I liked you~"
I groan and lean against the wall. "I just... I just don't know how I've fallen two different people. That's so unlike me."
"So you admit you like Mister Bug?" Plagg asks again.
I groan and wipe my face with a towel. "I don't even know anymore."
"Well, make up your mind! I need to know which ship I'm rooting for."
"Plagg!"
"Just saying~"
I finish calming myself down the the restaurant's bathroom and scurry out to greet Alya with Plagg silently hiding in my purse. We leave the restaurant and make our way back out to the park to meet up. Although we couldn't all agree where to eat for lunch, we all definitely decided we wanted to eat fro-yo together.
"Hey y'all, how was the burgers?" Nino asks as we walk back to the fountain in the center of the park.
Alya pulls up her sleeves from the beaming hot sun. "Good."
Ugh. You know a girl's mad when she gives you one worded answers.
"Okay then," Nino replies, sensing the awkwardness and rubbing the back of his head. "Anyways, let's go get our fro-yo, this heat is killing me!"
I keep my head down the whole time as we walk to the shop. Adrien senses something is up, but I can't bare to look at him.
After about ten minutes or so, we've got our ice cream. I got birthday cake with gummy bears and syrup, while Adrien got red velvet. I don't understand how. Red velvet is disgusting if you ask me.
We all sit inside in the cool air conditioning in plastic chairs. The window next to us gives a clear view of the stunningly beautiful park. It's about noon, so the shop is crowded, but not packed.
"Are you still sticking with your theory about the miraculouses being ancient technology?" Adrien asks as he takes a bite from his fro-yo.
"Nope. I have a new theory now," Alya snaps.
Adrien flinches in his seat. "Care to explain?"
"I don't need to."
"-Anyways!" Nino jumps in, slightly annoyed at his girlfriend. "What do y'all think about the new home ec. project we have coming up?"
"You mean the one about where we have to sew our own clothes to wear that day?!" I excitingly comment.
Adrien laughs and shoulder bumps me. "Of course you would be excited about that!"
"Yeah... I guess..." I reply with my cheeks heating up. "I think it's gonna be easy, considering that I make my own clothes!"
"Speak for yourself!" Nino laughs. "I've never even held a needle in my life!"
I gasp and throw my hands in the air. "What?! Nino!"
Nino laughs. "You're incredibly talented, M! You make your own clothes, scarves, sunglasses... I bet you even made your ring!"
Without thinking, I immediately recoil my hand and pull it in. "No, I-I didn't make this."
Alya looks at me curiously.
"A-Anyways, I'll be glad to help you Nino if you need help! You could come to my place tomorrow and we can get to work," I quietly reply.
"Nah, thanks for the invite, but my bro Adrien is the one who's gonna need the most help," Nino replies, playfully slugging Adrien in the shoulder.
Adrien chuckles. "I guess I'll be the one coming over to your place tomorrow."
"Y-Yeah!" I squeak, squirming in my seat.
"Will that be before or after you take the Adrien posters down from your wall?" Plagg whispers.
In response, I take my purse off my shoulder and carelessly throw it on the ground.
"Few, what a day right?" Adrien asks as he walks me back home in the setting sun.
I nod. "Too bad Alya had to go home early. Her sisters sure are a handful."
"It was nice of Nino to walk home back with her though!" Adrien chirps.
"Yeah, and I guess I should thank you too for walking me back home," I reply with a shy smile.
He smiles like a child. "It's no problem, Marinette!"
We stare at eachother, waiting for someone to make the move.
"Hey, uh, sorry about earlier. You know, the kiss," Adrien apologizes quietly. "You didn't look to happy afterwards."
My eyes widen. "N-No, don't say stuff like that! I was totally fine, I promise! In fact I loved it!"
As soon as the words slip my mouth, my face flushes bright red. Adrien stands shocked, but then doubles over and laughs.
I rub the back of my neck. "Anyways, my parents won't be home 'till late. Want to come in for some evening snacks?"
Stars sparkle in his eyes. "Really?!"
I giggle. Alya was right, the way to a man's heart is their stomach.
I unlock the bakery with my keys, then step inside the shop. The bell on the door rings and shuts behind us. The lights flicker as I turn them on. I toss my keys on the counter, then walk over and pull out a batch of freshly baked cookies.
"Here, take one!" I insist.
Adrien doesn't hesitate. "That time I came over to your house that one day was amazing, but man, how I wanted to try your dad's cookies. Now I finally can!"
I laugh. "Oh yeah, when you came over so we could practice for the tournament! I just wanted to play our game and to not deal with my dad's constant pestering!"
Adrien rolls his eyes. "Pestering? As if. Your dad is an amazing baker and was just offering us cookies!"
"And distracting us, duh!" I playfully reply.
We continue to talk as we much on the cookies. All the remembering of the last time playing video games makes us nostalgic, so I suggest to play a rematch, and Adrien agrees. We climb up the ladder to my room.
I open the trapdoor and step into my room. "And, here we ar- AAAAH!"
Posters. Pictures. Collages. Everything you can imagine that remotely relates to Adrien is hanging on my wall!
I instantly slam the trapdoor down on Adrien's head. "G-Give me a second!"
Adrien's POV
Well, that was unexpected.
I stumble down the steps of her ladder and lean against a wall, rubbing my head. I wonder what was so important that she had to hide? Maybe it was Plagg's stack of camembert...
Plagg! That's right! I quietly run downstairs and open their cabinets and fridge, looking for cheese. I smile when I rest my eyes on a block of camembert. I quickly break a piece of it off and dash to the counter, tearing out a piece of paper from a random notebook and scribbling something down.
Hey stinky sock, how's it going with Marinette?
I hid this piece of cheese in the note because I know that's the only way I could get you to read this!
Make sure to be nice to her, and not to demand too much cheese.
-A.
I wrap the paper around the cheese and walk back up to the second floor.
My plan is to drop this note with cheese in it on the ground. Plagg will smell it and come out of his hiding spot, and read the note. It's risky, I know, but I'm really starting to miss him. I just wish that I could at least see him once while I'm here.
"Adrien?" Marinette whimpers from upstairs. "I-I'm sorry I slammed the door on your head, I just wanted to clean my room really quickly. It was a mess! You can come up now, though!"
I step into her room. "It's no problem, really!"
I instantly smile as soon as I rest my eyes on her room. It's so cute and... lived in. Nothing compared to my professionally picked out and decorated room. Fairy lights dangle from the ceiling, giving the room a nice warm look to it. Various fabrics litter the floor. Fashion sketches and pieces of paper are scattered across her desk, and I can't help but take a peak or two.
"Marinette, what's this?" I ask, pointing at a pink polka-dotted notebook.
She frantically runs over to me and grabs the book out of my hands. "Nothing! Did you read anything?!"
I freeze. "Wait, was that your diary? Oh my god, Marinette, I'm so sorry!
She nervously giggles. "It's okay, just, let's play the game, 'kay?"
I agree. She turns around and sits in her chair, and I sit in one right beside her. As she's pulling up the game on her pc, I drop the note quietly on the ground and silently pray that Plagg finds it, and not Marinette.
"Here, pick your character!" Marinette insists as she hands me a remote.
Since the newest update, not only do they have Ladybug and Chat Noir, but also Lady Noir and Mister Bug. I smile. I pick Lady Noir and watch as Marinette's face turns pink. She silently picks Mister Bug.
"You're gonna make them fight each other?" I tease.
"Duh, what am I supposed to do? Make Ladybug and Lady Noir fight each other? They're the same person, Adrien!" I laugh.
We play a round, and not surprisingly, Marinette won. I congratulate her, and she smiles shyly.
"I want to show you something really quick, 'kay? Just give me a sec!" She beams.
I nod.
After a while, I hear the slight crumpling of paper. Marinette doesn't seem to notice however. I look behind her and smile when I see who it is. The tiny black kwami I haven't seen in weeks silently sits behind her, eating his camembert and smirking at me.
"Uh, could I use the bathroom?" I ask Marinette.
She smiles. "Sure! Downstairs and to the right."
I stand up and look at Plagg, tilting my head, signaling him to follow me.
I reach the bathroom and lock the door, and no less than a second later, Plagg phases through the door and greets me.
"I bet you feel like an idiot right now, knowing that Marinette is Ladybug," Plagg insults me.
I scoff. "I haven't seen you in a week and that's how you greet me?!"
"Yeah yeah, where's sugar cube?"
Tikki flies out of my bag and greets the black kwami. "I told you a million times to not call me sugar cube!"
I laugh. "Wait, Plagg calls you sugar cube?"
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Yeah, even though it's annoying!"
I smile. I lean against the bathroom wall and the light above us flickers slightly. It feels nice knowing that I can see Plagg again. I feel safe.
"So, What is she like?" I ask. "You know, when she's not around me?"
"Oh, for one, she can actually say sentences," Plagg remarks.
"What he means is she's super sweet and kind, she just gets nervous around you!" Tikki interrupts with a bright smile.
I blush. "My own Ladybug getting nervous around me... how sweet!"
Plagg groans. "Ew, now you're remind me too much of her with all that gross lovey dovey stuff! Get outta here!"
I laugh and cross my arms, leaning in close to the tiny kwami. "Come on. It's not that hard to admit that you like her as the cat miraculous holder."
Plagg groans. "Well, she does give me lots of cheese, and she does like to make me warm sweaters..."
"WHAT?!" Tikki and I scream. "She makes you sweaters?!"
I didn't even know it was possible for black cats to blush, but today I was proven wrong.
"They're warm, okay? And she only makes them because she has left over scraps from her project. Nothing more," he replies stubbornly.
I laugh and place my hand on my head. "Who knew that the god of destruction would like home made sweaters?"
I continue to laugh, but slowly trail off when I realize that Plagg is staring at me rather oddly.
"Plagg?" I ask. "What's wrong?"
The tiny black kwami flies up to my face, and his tiny green eyes grow wide.
"Oh my god," he mutters. "I didn't know it was happening to you too this badly..."
"What?" I ask again.
He points toward the mirror. I noticed that I wiped away some of the concealer and the black magic can be seen growing from my earrings. It looks thicker now.
"Oh no..." I whisper.
"Adrien?" Tikki whimpers. "Will you be okay?"
I sigh. "I-I don't kno-"
"-ADRIEN!" Marinette screams, suddenly banging on the bathroom door. "There's a really dangerous akuma! You need to hide!"
I hear her quickly run away and down the hall. I freeze, and look at Plagg. He solemnly bows, then phases through the bathroom door. Tikki sighs, and her red antennas fall slightly.
"I miss Plagg. A lot. I know he's taking this very hard. He misses you a lot, you know," She whispers.
I nod. "I know."
It's getting worse. Starting next chapter, it's going to get bad.
Anyways, I'm going to Galveston tmmr, so I won't be able to post a new chapter. Thank you for understanding!
also my banner thing ISN'T working which is reallllyyy annoying so until then...
~melody <3