"Remind me why I'm here again?"
Nino's voice turned high and squeaky when a model, clad only in a bikini, brushed past him to get to the food table he was standing by. She picked up a few carrot sticks and sauntered off, leaving Nino all but covering his eyes from the sight of her near naked body. When she was out of sight, he picked up a tray of donuts and nervously shoved one into his mouth whole.
Marinette giggled, plucking a donut off of the plate herself. "Adrien asked us to meet him here. Why? You scared of the sexy models?"
"I'm not scared!" Nino cried. Although, with a mouthful of donut, it sounded more like 'Imff noh sahrred!" and a few sprinkles flew out of his mouth. When Marinette raised and eyebrow at him, he finished chewing and added, more clearly, "I just- you know- Alya and stuff. I don't want her to think I'm ogling other girls like some horn dog."
"Well that's very noble of you," Marinette teased as Nino shoved another donut in his mouth, just as she finished her own. "Although, you're going to be made of dough if you keep nervous eating like that."
"The models aren't going to eat them, are they?" Nino shrugged. "More for us!"
"You make an excellent point," Marinette agreed with a wry smile, taking the tray away from Nino. "All for me!"
The pair began half-wrestling for the donuts, laughing and earning the ire or amusement of nearby staff and models alike. Neither of them noticed one such model approaching them.
"Ah come on Mari, no fair!"
"Na-uh! I'm cutting you off for the night, you've had enough."
"I'll tell ya when I've had enough!"
"You two look like you're having fun."
The pair froze in place, Marinette still clutching the tray as Nino had been unable to retrieve it from her clutches. There they stood, in some sort of strange sitcom-esque freezeframe, which Adrien chuckled at them for.
Nino himself wasn't bothered by the sight of his friend and was the first to recover. Standing up straighter he raised a hand to Adrien and offered a friendly head bob, which Adrien returned.
Marinette wasn't so quick to recover.
The thing about swimsuit photoshoots, she realised all too late, was that it wasn't just the female models who were half naked.
Her brain jutted to a halt, completely overwhelmed by wild hair and glistening skin and abs. ABS. Since when did Adrien (Mr 'I'll just wear a casual sweater over a button-down because I desperately want you to know I'm a graduate student') have ABS?!
Idiot, Marinette chided herself, he's a model, you've seen him in advertisements before, you know he has abs. You've just never seen them in person before.
But it was seeing those abs in person, his broad chest and wonderfully toned arms, that had her shaken to her core. The way every inch of him seemed sculpted by the gods themselves, that had her legs quaking, her arms jelly-like and no longer able to support anything she was carrying.
She dropped the tray.
The metallic sound might as well have been a gunshot for all the attention it drew. All at once the buzz around the studio died as the ringing sound of the metal on the hard, stone floor echoed around the room. At least a dozen eyes were now turned onto Marinette and the fallen pastries at her feet.
She wanted to die .
"THE DONUTS!" Nino yelled, distraught.
Marinette swore under her breath. Turning her eyes away from Adrien's chest (holy heck was is defined) she instead focused on cleaning up the mess she made. She mumbled an apology and leaned down. Nino, sensing her embarrassment, tried to cover it up by making a bigger fool of himself. Picking up a few donuts and cradling them to his chest, he faked a sob that Marinette was only half-convinced wasn't real. "It was before your time, little dude. So young. So fresh. Not yet eaten."
As she scooped up a particularly smushed pastry, her hand brushed another. By the time she looked up, Adrien had retracted his hand away as though he'd been burned. Her breath caught at the look he was sending her way. Nobody that shirtless should look that soft and sheepish. It was entirely unfair.
"S-sorry," he said, though Marinette had no idea what exactly he was apologising for.
"No, it's ok," Marinette replied and the pair began to pick up the remaining donuts. They lapsed into an awkward silence, in which Marinette grew more and more annoyed with herself. Adrien was her friend . Just because he was 'drop food' levels of hot (one of the highest levels of hot there was), it didn't mean she should start losing her head around him, drooling over him like she was a stray dog and he was a piece of steak. She might as well be one of those creeps that stalk the models present on Instagram.
Oh, and there was also the fact that she had a sort-of boyfriend who she had regular trysts with, and whom had a very, very...very nice body himself. An aforementioned Instagram-model worthy body.
Double tap indeed.
A part of her wanted to argue that it was ok to find Adrien attractive. She wasn't blind after all. But she also didn't think it was appropriate to get all flustered over another guy when she was planning to confess her identity to Chat Noir that same night.
So there she was, stuck in an internal war which rendered her incapable of saying much beyond a mumbled 'thanks' to Adrien and Nino for helping her pick up the donuts.
"No problem," he replied offering her his hand. Frosting covered and all, Marinette placed her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet. His bare arm muscles tensed for a moment and Marinette's thoughts went somewhere she really didn't want them to go. Once again her legs felt unsteady, as though they might melt at any moment and leave her falling to the floor and further beyond it, in to the deeper parts of hell.
And hell, she was beginning to suspect, was exactly where she belonged.
Adrien still hadn't let go of her hand. His eyes bore into hers, the intensity familiar in a way, but there was uncertainty there. A question Marinette couldn't understand nor answer. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. All of it left her at a loss, adrift in a sea of confused and yet his hand was the lighthouse guiding her home and WOW these were NOT appropriate thoughts. This was NOT what friends did.
Why wasn't he letting go? Why did she want him to keep a hold of her?
No.
Bad Marinette.
STOP.
Nino coughed and whatever spell had had its hold over the pair broke. Adrien dropped her hand and a rush of relief and guilt came over her so strongly that she felt almost high from it. High and low at once. The feelings festered in a little ball at the bottom of her stomach, knotting and twisting unpleasantly.
So she did the only thing she could think of doing. Ignore the heck out of it.
When Marinette turned to Nino, alerted by his previous cough (which, in hindsight, sounded incredibly fake), she found an Alya-like expression written across his features. This was worrisome in more ways than Marinette could count, but the motives behind the expression remained unclear.
With a cheeky grin, Nino sauntered over to Adrien. "Soooo, buddy," he said, wrapping his arm around his friend before yanking it back again with a cry of disgust. "ICK! Why are you all greasy?"
Adrien laughed, which sounded nicer than normal, and Marinette started considering whether or not her Ladybug powers were evolving, because she was certainly burning a hole through the floor with how hard she was staring at it. Everything about this was wrong and she hated it.
"Yeah, they oil us up for swimsuit shoots. So it looks like you're all hot and sweaty and beachy. It's... pretty uncomfortable actually," Adrien then wiggled a little, to emphasise how strange it must feel to have your whole body covered in oil. "But it looks good in photos apparently so yeah." He shrugged.
"Well I guess that works for some people," Nino replied, wrinkling his nose as he wiped the excess oil off of his bare arm. "I bet it works for the other models, right? Especially the girls."
Marinette's head shot up and she glared daggers at Nino. Nino simply shrugged, the Alya-like smile still one his face. He adjusted his glasses, one hand coming up to cover the side of his face closest to Adrien and winked.
What the hell was his game?
"Girls? You mean the other models?" Adrien blinked, looking so doe-eyed and innocent that for a moment Marinette had trouble remembering he was actually a few years older than them.
Nino scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Come on dude, I've seen the way some of those girls have been staring at you. You can't tell me that you don't get a little...you know...with them."
He did a little dance with his head, elongating his words to emphasise what he was trying to imply, and Marinette suddenly understood the term 'fight or flight' in the most visceral of ways. Because she wanted to crawl under the food table and shove her fingers in her ears so she didn't ever have to hear Adrien's answer and, at the same time, desired nothing more than to grab Nino's cap and shove it directly into his mouth.
Finally, Adrien understood what Nino was getting at. His eyes bulged, his cheeks flushed and he turned to Marinette with a panicked look in his eyes. "Wait- you think I hook up with-? N-No, I don't. Never. Not once." His eyes once again fixed on her in a way that made Marinette feel like he was desperate to prove to her that Nino's assumption was wrong. "I'm not like- I'm not the kind of guy. I don't..."
Nino, sensing Adrien's growing distress, relaxed his fake 'douchebag' persona and smiled fondly at him. "Hey dude, relax. It's ok. I was only teasing."
"Yes, please , ignore Nino," Marinette replied through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the funny feeling in her chest she had at the fact that Adrien has focused solely on her in his mission to convince them he wasn't (as Nino had put it previously) a 'horn dog.' "He's recently suffered a tragic donut loss. He's not thinking clearly."
"She's right," Nino nodded. "I'm a mess."
Adrien looked between the both of them with a wary (but not suspicious) expression. Luckily, Marinette was able to force down any feelings of murder or discomfort at that moment, so that she could look reassuring. After a few moments, Adrien relaxed, even being as good humoured as to giggle at his own expense, which was far too endearing. "Ok, you got me. Good one."
He offered a fist out to Nino, who casually bumped it back. "See now you're making me feel bad, bro! You're too kind to tease."
Adrien laughed. "Sorry, but you shouldn't feel bad, I was the one that changed our plans because of this last minute schedule change. Besides, this place is a lot stuffier without you guys around." He smiled warmly. "I'm really glad you came today."
Aaaaaaaand Marinette was back to feeling both confused and all gooey. God damn it.
Luckily, she was saved from any further suffering or awkwardness, as Adrien's photographer called him over to start another round of shots. The man was short, with a heavily oiled comb-over and a handlebar moustache. He reminded Marinette of those silly old black-and-white comedies her grandmother used to watch. From beside her, Nino chucked at the photographers crazy, mime-like gesturing.
"Got to go," Adrien added with another sheepish smile, only this one looked markedly more tired at the prospect of getting under those hot studio lights again. Marinette couldn't blame him. Just being on set was intense enough, and she was merely there for moral support. "You can always get closer and try to distract me by pulling silly faces."
"Is that a challenge Agreste?" Nino said with an air of playfulness. "Because I think you're underestimating just how dumb I can make my face look. I'll have you breaking your sexy model persona like that." He clicked his fingers.
"We'll see," Adrien replied with a flash of something wicked and challenging in his vivid green eyes. For a moment, Marinette was struck with such a feeling of déjà vu, that it gave her emotional whiplash.
"We'll jump up on you," Marinette squeaked. "I MEAN- KETCHUP. I mean CATCH. Catch up! We are going to catch up to you. In a minute."
For a second Marinette wished she had another tray of donuts to drop. Then she heard Adrien laugh once, deep and low, and then flipped to a more absurd wish of the donuts dropping her. Preferably in a black hole.
"Cute."
Her head snapped up again. "Heh?"
Well. At least she wasn't the only one to feel blindsided. Adrien's face drained of colour, his mouth opened and closed repeatedly, like he'd been caught doing something he really shouldn't have. "I- I just meant. Umm... never mind. I'm going to go now."
He about turned as quickly as possible, all but sprinting away and nearly knocking over a light in the process. He didn't look back.
Nino was the first to speak. Or rather laugh.
"Oh my god, you guys are so obvious it hurts."
This broke Marinette out of her daze. Cute? Adrien thought she was being cute? She scowled at Nino, as if he was the only one holding back the answers. "What do you mean? And also"- she poked his side and he leapt away from her with a yelp- "that for that dumb 'girl models' question. What the hell were you thinking?"
"Hey I was only looking out for you," Nino replied waving his arms. "If I had to pretend to be one of those types of gross dudes to do it, so be it. You're like my sister you know? And I know we've known Adrien for a long time, but we don't know anything about his love life. I was just- you know- checking. Making sure he wasn't a pump and dump kind of guy." He looked at her seriously then. "Was I over the line?"
Marinette thought about it for a moment, before relenting with a gentle sigh. "No. It's ok. You were trying to be a good friend," she said, wandering closer toward where Adrien was taking photos. "I mean, your actions are totally misplaced though. Adrien doesn't like me like that."
Nino smirked, following her. "But you like hiiiiim right?"
"Nino," she warned.
"Oh come on I know I have a handsome, young face, but I wasn't born yesterday," Nino argued with a snort. "You were totally drooling. Not that I blame you. Dude's ripped like a pair of noughties jeans." He then frowned. "Woah. It's finally happening. I've been hanging around you too much. I'm starting to be fluent in Fashion."
"Har-har," Marinette rolled her eyes. "I'm ignoring that drooling comment. It's wrong and you're wrong."
"You can ignore me but you can't ignore the t-r-u-t-h," Nino spelled out in a sing-song voice. "That's the title of my next album. The first single is going to be about Adrien's Totally. Obvious. Crush. He called you cute."
"I can't hear you over the sound of the clicky cameras!" Marinette raised her voice just a little louder, as if that would have any impact in driving Nino's words from her mind. The opposite happened. His words burrowed into her mind like little seeds of doubt.
Crush? Really?
No way. There was no way!
They came to a stop on the side of Adrien's photoshoot. Beside her, Nino was muttering something about if he'd been that annoying to deal with before he and Alya got together, but Marinette ignored him. Instead, worries about silly boys and things like that were pushed to the side in favour of getting some first-hand experience of the fashion industry. A familiar excitement bubbled in her, the feeling of opportunity and possibility. She imagined, for a moment, designing clothes which models like Adrien would wear on photoshoots exactly like this one.
Her love life might be a mess, and these new allegations that Adrien had a crush on her had certainly rocked her to her core, but fashion was concrete. Fashion was something she knew as well as her own hands, as well as the fact that she was Ladybug.
As a designer, she probably wasn't going to be as involved in this part of the process, but it was still exciting to get any exposure to a world she was attempting to make a name for herself in. That excitement gave her reassurance and clarity.
The photographer who'd beckoned Adrien over was moving around Adrien with such speed that he seemed to blur at the edges. Marinette watched from the sidelines, so entranced by the show that she failed to notice a figure slowly approaching to her right.
Adrien was posing, shoulders broad, skin glistening, chin up proudly. He stared into the camera with a serious expression, as one of his thumbs disappeared underneath the waistband of the swim shorts he wore, branded with that signature "G" on the bottom right. Somewhere, a fan was blowing so his hair ruffled, becoming windswept and unkempt. He looked unfairly sexy, so different to the mild mannered and gentle guy Marinette had come to know.
"It's good Adrien, it's good," the photographer encouraged as he lowered his camera and a few makeup artists dashed out of the shadows to touch up Adrien's foundation before scurrying off again. For some reason, this tickled Nino, who began chuckling until one of the assistants shot him a dirty look. Then he fell silent. "But I need a little more. Your body says yes but I need your expression to say it even more."
"What do you mean?" Adrien said, tilting his head.
"Your eyes. They're distracted," the photographer waved his hand. "I need them to be here, in the moment. The camera is your love, your desire. I need you to think of someone you want. Someone you desire more than anything in the world. Imagine they're here right now and you want nothing more than to seduce them. That's the look I need from you."
How people could say such things seriously, and not want to melt in embarrassment, Marinette had no idea. But Adrien was looking down, frowning in thought, so whatever the photographer had meant must have made sense to him at least.
However, whatever Adrien's seductive expression looked like, Marinette never found out. As soon as they began shooting again, she was distracted by a tap on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"
When she turned her head, she came face to face with another half-naked model. Although it looked like his shoot has finished. He towered over her, too close for her liking, and she took a step back. Clad in a fluffy half-open bathrobe, his dusky brown hair tied up in a man bun and his skin clearly artificially bronzed, he evoked a Greek God type of persona. He'd certainly look at home lounging on a chaise, being fed grapes by his scantily clad female servants.
And, judging by the way he was eyeing her, it looked like this stranger wanted Marinette to be one of those scantily clad servants.
Still, Marinette was a girl taught to judge by people's actions, not their appearance. After all, he was probably paid a pretty penny to look like a douche. But maybe he used that model money to rescue abandoned puppies or something?
So she gave him a slightly confused smile and replied with a simple, "Err, yes?"
He placed his hands in a prayer-like position and rested them against him lips. "I really need your help, if you'd be so kind," he said, his voice so urgent that it spiked Marinette's Ladybug instincts. Was there trouble?
Before Marinette could inquire further, the stranger came around to her side, all but elbowing Nino out of the way, and placed his hand on her lower back. For a split second, Marinette froze at the touch. That second was apparently all it took for the guy to press his hand against her harder, manoeuvring her away from Adrien's photoshoot. "Umm..." she began to protest with a frown.
The stranger cut her off, with a smile so blindingly white that Marinette thought his teeth were fake for a split second. Maybe he had them bleached? "Thank goodness someone here can help me. The water in my dressing room has berries in it and I specifically requested cucumber water!" He said this as if someone had kicked his grandmother. "The sugar in the fruit will make my face puffy, we can't have that now can we?"
He turned to her with a wink and Marinette was so taken aback by it all that she gaped like a koi fish. Questionable science aside, she had to wonder what was he doing asking her about this? Then the penny dropped. "Wait, do you think I work here? I don't."
Once again, he ignored her, and was still pushing her away from the photoshoot into one of the darker corners on the room, no doubt towards his dressing room. Alarm bells started going off in Marinette's head and she began digging her heels in. "Naturally, I know it wasn't you who made this mistake, you just can't find good help these days. But I'd be ever so grateful if you could fix this for me, Sweetheart."
That did it. In a flash, Marinette twisted around, yanking the stranger's hand from her back and stepping away from him with a scowl. "Hey, asshole do you need your ears fixed? I said I don't work here. And even if I did, that kind of pet name is totally inappropriate. What the hell is your problem?"
His face dropped from one of confidence to one of almost exaggerated horror. He took a step back, arms raised, looking more like a caricature than the photographer with his crazy gestures. Marinette crossed her own arms, raising an eyebrow as she waited for whatever he was about to say. Oh. This ought to be good.
"I am terribly sorry Mademoiselle," he crooned, leaning down towards her in a half bow. He placed one hand against his heart. Well, at least Marinette knew why he was a model. His acting was appalling. "I should have known, you are far too beautiful to be part of the help. Are you a model yourself?"
"No," was all Marinette said in response. Perhaps it was icy of her, but the more he spoke, the more bad vibes she got from him. Why did he keep referring to all the assistants as The Help? Didn't he know how rude and snobby he sounded?
Nevertheless, her less-than-impressed attitude didn't seem to defer him from whatever goal he had in mind. Marinette had a fairly good idea as to what his goal was too.
And she wasn't having any of it.
Her arms tightened around herself, her eyes narrowed. Body-language wise, she did everything in her power to make sure she had a metaphorical "GET LOST, JERK" sign plastered on her head.
The stranger was yet to be deterred. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am François. But you've probably heard of me already. And your name is?"
Marinette wanted nothing more than to honestly tell him she had no idea who he was, but was prevented from doing so as Nino hurried over, calling her name. "Marinette! There you are! Where you been? Adrien's finished with his photoshoot and he's just signing some autographs. He'll be ready to go soon."
François's eyebrow arched and he gave Nino a sweeping glance laced with judgement. Nino gave him a blank stare in response.
"Anyway," François replied, as if that one word might dismiss Nino from the conversation. He turned his body to face Marinette more, making it clear that Nino was not welcome. "Marinette, was it? Beautiful name."
"Gee. Thanks," Marinette said, tone so dry she might as well have been speaking after spending a week in the Sahara. From beside her, Nino snorted. She deliberately didn't look at him, else she might burst out laughing.
"Allow me to take you out, to make up for my earlier faux pas. I feel so very awful about it. What do you say, Sweetheart?" He winked.
From beside her, almost too quiet to hear, Marinette heard Nino whisper a despairing, "Dude," under his breath.
"Well, for starters, stop calling me Sweetheart," Marinette said, wrinkling her nose. "Secondly, that's kind of you to offer, but I'm seeing someone right now."
She hadn't meant to say it. She really hadn't. It just slipped out! But maybe it was for the best? François didn't have to know who exactly she was seeing, and Nino would assume she was lying to get rid of François. So really, it was a win-win.
François scoffed, his smile widening as though he was trying to force it to stay there. It made him look more like a cat about to catch a canary. "Please, pardon me if this might seem forward. But I have a lot to offer a lady such as yourself."
"Hey, Man-Bun," Nino scowled, moving forward more, the frown on his face was one Marinette was exceedingly familiar with. She called it his big brother look. "Learn how to take no for an answer and we can all move on with our lives and have cake or whatever gluten-free, no carb, no sugar, no fun snack you eat. No need to make this embarrassing."
For the first time, the smile on François face disappeared. He fixed Nino with a threatening glower, but Nino stayed put. Not budging. François dropped the staring war they had first, turning his attention back to Marinette.
"It would be a good opportunity for you, wouldn't you say? I'm sure whoever it is you're seeing can't possibly compare to this," He gestured to himself, the winning smirk back on his face, and Marinette honestly wanted to gag.
"No. I already told you I'm not interested. I'm very sorry. Have a good day."
She turned around, gesturing for Nino to follow her, and the pair made their way back towards Adrien, who was chatting to an over eager looking fan with mop of dark brown hair and alarmingly skinny jeans. He waved at them and they wandered over casually.
"God, what a creep," Nino said, wrinkling his nose.
"I know!" Marinette cried, "he was so weird."
"I hope you're not talking about my shoot," Adrien grinned cheekily as the pair of them walked up to him. He signed another one of the posters the over-eager fan was brandishing at him with a flourish.
Marinette frowned, "Oh damn, I'm sorry Adrien! I missed practically all of the last bit! I was...err..." she trailed off, wringing her hands. How could she explain the predicament she'd gotten in?
"Some model was hitting on her," Nino added bluntly.
Adrien dropped the pen he'd been holding.
"Don't worry, Adrien, I've got it!" the over eager fan said, diving for the pen and scrambling to hand it back to him.
"Thanks Wayhem," Adrien replied to the fan distractedly, before turning to Marinette with a strange look on his face. "A model was hitting on you? W- Who?"
"It doesn't matter," Marinette replied with a dismissive hand wave, "I turned him down anyways. The guy was creepy. It's over now. I'd really like to forget about it."
Unfortunately for Marinette, however, she wasn't about to forget it any time soon. A tap on her shoulder revealed that François had followed them over to Adrien. Without addressing anyone else, he leaned down towards Marinette. Before she could say or do anything, he pressed his lips close against her ear, whispering gently. As he did so, he reached out and began running his fingers through her green hair ribbons. Her Chat Noir ribbons.
Marinette immediately recoiled backwards, away from his touch, but this didn't seem to phase him.
"Here's my card. I wrote my personal phone number on it. I only give that out to the most special girls." At last, he stepped away. "In case you change your mind."
Marinette saw red. She shoved the card back towards François' chest with enough force that he stumbled backwards. "I don't care! I already told you I'm not interested and I'm seeing someone! I don't know who you think you are, but you're incredibly rude and even if I wasn't seeing someone, I wouldn't want to date you. Now leave me alone!"
The façade of suaveness was gone now. Instead, François glowered at her. "Now really, who could you possibly be seeing worth your while enough to turn someone like me down?"
"ME."
Adrien's voice cut above the din like a knife slicing through butter. The commotion his remaining fans were making suddenly stopped. Everyone in the nearby vicinity fell quiet.
Marinette's mouth opened, but she quickly closed it again before François could see. Her heartbeat stuttered to a halt.
"You?" François replied. For a moment, the tension in the room was so tight it was hard to breathe, as the pair stared each other down.
Nino, sensing the heightened emotions, took a step in between them. Holding out a palm towards François, he fixed him with a stern stare. "You heard them both now, Marinette's turned you down twice. Come on. Let end this nicely, yeah? No need for things to get heated."
Adrien edged closer towards Marinette. For show, Marinette slipped her arm around his waist and gazed up at him with an adoring smile. Adrien's body stiffened for a split second at the contact, before he relaxed, reaching up to play with her ribbons. She much preferred him touching them than freaking François. Of course, Chat playing with them would always be her favourite. Still...this was nice.
Too nice, in fact. Marinette was a hugger, and she'd hugged Adrien many a time. But this fake show felt oddly real- natural- as if they'd always done it. The robe he now donned, similar to François only tied up for modesty's sake, was warm and soft, clearly made of expensive materials. She wanted to snuggle up into it.
The pretend display, along with Nino's placating words, was enough to finally get it through François mind that he was fighting a losing battle. After another moment of sharp silence, he shot one last glare at the group before storming off.
"Jeez what was his deal?" Nino grumbled, wrinkling his nose. Adrien, who Marinette noticed still hadn't let go of her, shrugged.
"He's always been like that, just ignore him," he replied, turning to Marinette. Their close proximity was thrown into the light when she noticed just how long his eyelashes were. As soon as their eyes met, Adrien softened considerably. The tenseness from the confrontation was gone and, when he spoke again, his tone was so gentle that the world fell away and only the two of them were left and oh my god, what was happening?! "Are you ok?"
"Who, me?" Marinette blinked, bobbing her head in a baffled manner. Why did her throat feel weird? Like all she wanted to do was throw up word vomit. She scoffed, waving her hand. "I'm fiiiine ." She was not fine, but for other reasons. "I can handle guys like that, you know me!" As if to emphasise her toughness, she pulled her free hand up into a fist.
Adrien chuckled once, low and fond. It reminded her of sunshine and darkened corners and secret kisses. It reminded her...of something- tickled the corners of her memories and taunted her emotions until her mind felt like it was scribbled in by kids who didn't know how to colour inside the lines.
"Yeah. Yeah, I do," he said.
A bright flash went off, which Marinette wouldn't have been too bothered about, having gotten used to the sight of random camera flashes during her short time at the studio. But this particular flash was so close, and the shutter didn't sound like it came from a heavy, professional camera.
It sounded like it came from a phone.
"Oh my god this is amazing," the intense fan, Wayhem, cheered from the other side of the camera. Marinette was unsettled by the overwhelming, hyper-intense joy in his eyes. Was that normal fan behaviour? Did he run some sort of Adrien fan club? "I've never known you to have a girlfriend before, Adrien, congratulations!" He took another photo "Marinette was it?"
"Wayhem," Adrien said, the softness in his voice gone. The world came violently back into view, and Adrien and Marinette stepped apart. "Please don't post those online. The tabloids will go crazy."
"Ok, ok, avoid the tabloids. Gotcha!" Wayhem beamed.
Adrien raised a hand in panic, as security approached his few remaining fans and began to usher them out. "No wait that's not what I meant."
But Wayhem could no longer hear what Adrien was saying. With one last, furiously enthusiastic, wave he disappeared from the studio doors, along with Adrien's other fans, and was gone from sight. Marinette, Nino and Adrien were alone.
There's a type of silence, a strange kind of liminal space, that occurs between friends only after a series of baffling events have taken place in quick succession. A shared sense of being rooted to the spot a yet floating at the same time, as though reality hadn't quite caught up with what happened. Like pressing the snooze button on the alarm a few times. Such silences are usually broken by one of the friends swearing and this instance was no exception.
"Yo, what the fuck just happened?" Nino spluttered, somewhere between shocked and amused. His head swivelled between Adrien and Marinette "Did you two just get outed as being in a fake relationship? Unless there's something you need to tell me?"
He said the last part in his teasing dude-bro voice from earlier, but eased up when Adrien groaned and buried his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Marinette," Adrien whispered after a while, head hung low. He avoided eye contact.
Marinette smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "It's alright. You were only trying to help. It was good of you to hop on my lie like that. Sometimes guys like that don't take no for an answer until another guy steps in. It's gross, and sad that it has to be like that, but it happens."
She thought her words might offer some semblance of comfort to him. If anything, however, it seemed as though she'd made it worse. He looked more panicked and torn than before.
"Right," Adrien replied with a nervous laugh. "Because we're not dating! I wasn't thinking of anything like that when I stepped in or anything. I just wanted to help," he laughed again before heaving a sigh. "I guess I made it worse though, huh?"
"You don't know that Bud, that freaky Wayhem guy might not post those pics," Nino replied. He shuddered. "Did anyone get anyone else get chills from him? Something seemed seriously off."
"And even if he does post those pics or start acting weirder, I can handle it," Marinette said and she meant it. She'd handled far worse after all. Though she couldn't say that without opening a Pandora's Box she'd rather keep closed.
"Of course," Adrien replied kindly. "It's just... all that stuff. It's such a hassle to deal with. I'd like to protect all my friends from it if I can."
"Behold the noble hero!" Marinette chuckled with a flourish. Adrien laughed back, this time with the absence of any fear or guilt. It was good to hear.
"Now can the noble hero please put on some actual clothes so we can go grab something to eat?" Nino huffed.
Adrien agreed, letting them know he wouldn't be long, but that he did need to have a quick shower to get rid of the remaining oil on his body. He went to his dressing room, leaving Nino and Marinette waiting by the studio doors. The commotion around them had quietened considerably, though a few models were still finishing up their shoots.
Sticking his hands in his pockets, Nino began scuffing the floor with his shoe. "Look, I'm just going to ask you just the once ok? And whatever you say, I'll believe you."
Marinette wrinkled her nose warily, "Okaaaay?"
"Are you sure you don't have a thing for Adrien? I mean, you two looked pretty cosy, canoodling back there. I'm only asking because, if you did like him, I think you two would be great together. And I think he seriously likes you too, like beyond a crush. You know he looked at you when the photographer asked him to think about someone he wanted seduce? And you should have seen how angry he was when that François dude touched you. He looked like he wanted to rip his fingers off."
Marinette felt trapped, unaware of what exactly she should say. All she knew was that, not for the first time today, a heavy guilt settled on her chest. She couldn't even begin to fathom the idea that Adrien liked her in that way, or how conflicted that made her feel.
And why should it make her feel conflicted? She loved Chat. She'd loved him since she was sixteen years old. He was her first love, in more ways than one. They'd been through so much together. They were dating...
Except they weren't. Not really. Not honestly. She was hoping to fix that last part tonight, but the anxiety about that was like the hands of a giant grandfather clock, incessantly ticking above her head, driving her ever closer to madness.
When she hadn't spoke for a while, Nino (sensing her distress) put his arm around her and gave her a friendly squeeze. "Feelings are super hard to work through. If you are going through some stuff, you know you don't have to do it alone. I'm here, so is Alya, and you helped us through all our relationship drama way back when. I just hope it goes better for you."
"Well I won't make a pact to not date him, get drunk and sleep with him, if that's what you're suggesting?" Marinette teased.
"No I'm suggesting do the literal opposite of that," Nino laughed. "Go for it!"
The lightness she'd recovered in teasing Nino faded and the heaviness settled back into her bones. Suddenly, all she felt was tired; tired of secrets and lies and half-truths. Marinette bit her lip. "Nino... it's complicated."
He regarded her, bobbing her head his head to the side, "Ok, that's fine too. But, be careful ok? With whatever you're dealing with. You're smart so I know you can handle whatever your complicated stuff dishes out. But if you do need help, your buddy Nino's always got your back!"
"Don't I know it," Marinette replied, bumping Nino's side playfully. "Seriously though, thank you."
Their pleasant, if a bit too real, conversation was suddenly interrupted by the reappearance of Adrien. At first, Marinette wondered if she and Nino had talked long enough to cover the length of time it would take for Adrien to get showered and dressed. However that didn't seem right, and the fact that he was still in his bathrobe confirmed it.
"Is everything ok?" Marinette asked, because he certainly didn't look ok. Adrien's face was pale, ashen. He held his phone in his hand. For a wild moment, Marinette thought news of her and Adrien's supposed 'relationship' had been posted online already.
She would come to wish it was so simple.
"N-no," he stammered. "Can you guys come with me really quick?"
Sharing a look of worry between them, Nino and Marinette hurried off, following Adrien as he hastened back to his dressing room, holding the door open for them. When they were inside, he closed the door and locked it shut.
"What's this about?" Nino asked.
It took a while for Adrien to reply. He paced the plush carpet of his dressing room. Marinette couldn't help but muse that such a pretty, glamorous room, with its assortment of fluffy white pillows and bright dressing room lights, was a strange setting for whatever unknown drama was occurring. She'd never seen Adrien so rattled. Not even during Springtime Exams.
"I- I can't come out to eat today," he said. "My mum called."
Now, usually, Adrien talking about his mother was a thing with joy. Everyone knew that Madame Agreste has gone missing a few years ago but, with Ladybug and Chat Noir's help, had been safely returned home. He spoke of her often, and with such happiness that it was contagious. So why did Adrien sound so solemn?
Luckily, he didn't leave them waiting too long before he stopped pacing and explained the situation. "So something happened, and I don't want you to panic because these things happen in the industry ok? And I've had it happen to me before, but because it was sent to my parent's house and with all of our history, they're kind of freaking out and-"
"Adrien," Marinette frowned. "What"-
"I got a death threat. Sent in the mail to my parents but directed to me."
His words were like a punch to the gut. Marinette's skin felt white hot. She bubbled with both rage, protective instincts, and questions. Why would someone send Adrien a death threat? What sort of person would send him such a thing? And where were they based, so she could hunt them down and kick their ass with all the fury her Ladybug powers would bring her?
"That's messed up," Nino replied simply. "What are you going to do?"
"Well, my parents want me to come back to their place for the night, as they have security and stuff," Adrien sighed, running his hand through his hair. He began pacing again. "They're sending a car for me right now, along with their own personal security guards. The police are the house already and they want to talk to me and they've even sent someone to my apartment to pick up my stuff."
"Adrien," Marinette approached him.
"Why couldn't they have sent it somewhere else? Why'd they have to mess with my parents? Hasn't mum suffered enough?" Adrien was muttering under his breath, his eyebrows knitted into a deep frown.
"Adrien," Marinette repeated, reaching out to touch his arm as she'd done earlier. He stilled and she wrapped her arms around him. When she spoke next, it was the voice of Ladybug ringing true, although he didn't know it. She hoped the strength and determination in her tone would be enough to comfort him. "It'll be ok. I promise . Nothing is going to happen to you. Or your family."
Just like before, Adrien stiffened at her embrace. It was strange, the way he acted with her physically, as if he wasn't allowed to touch her. The split second of awkwardness passed, however, and he opened himself to her, wrapping his own arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. This sent a jolt of panic and guilt straight through her. Chat did that all the time.
But this was different. This wasn't embracing a lover. It was comforting a friend.
"So how can we help?" Nino asked, clenching his fists. "Need any more hired guards?"
"I asked for cars to be sent for you guys too," Adrien said. "If it's ok with you guys, I'd feel a lot better if you went straight home. Just so I knew you were safe. People know I'm friends with you, they've seen us together. The last thing you need is to become a target because of me. I don't know what the message was, or what exactly they threatened besides...you know."
There was a knock at the door and a low voice rumbled. "Monsieur Agreste, I'm here to pick up your friends."
Marinette turned back to Adrien. This didn't feel right. She couldn't leave him, could she? Adrien caught her look of despair and tried to look reassuring.
"Don't worry about me," He said, "I still need to get changed and stuff. Besides, knowing my parents, they've probably sent half the military."
"Are you sure, man?" Nino worried, voicing Marinette's own concerns. "I don't like leaving you like this."
"I'm sure they're over-worrying," Adrien assured with a shrug. "I'm mainly stressed about talking to the police. But it'll be ok." He wandered over to the door and unlocked it. "Let me know when you get home. I'll be in touch later ok?"
"Ok," Marinette whispered. She stayed put, even as Nino began walking out the door. Leaving him just didn't sit well with her.
But the world didn't care for how well this nasty turn of events sat with her. In the end, with one last worried look at Adrien over her shoulder, she followed Nino and the security guard out to the car.
There was nothing she could do right now. And that thought, more than anything, hurt her the most.
The first thing Marinette did when she got home was set a google alert for any news about Adrien Agreste. She had a feeling he wouldn't be able to contact anyone for a while and, she thought with a lump of fear in her throat, if something did happen, the internet was probably going to be the quickest way to find out.
She collapsed in her desk chair, kicking her feet up onto the desk and almost knocking over her cup of coffee as she did so. The next few hours were spent idly scrolling on her phone, refreshing the news and social media over and over again, as well as texting Nino about how crazy the situation was and wondering if they should tell Alya or not- would Adrien mind? He'd become close with both Alya and Nino since joining the gaming club, but it was also clear he didn't want this getting out. They decided to wait until they got the go-ahead from Adrien to tell her, just in case. But, as expected, he wasn't responding to any messages.
This was no good. She was too distracted, her mind muddled by the meeting with that creepy fan and the even creepier François. That, coupled with Adrien's death threat and the apprehension of confessing to Chat Noir later meant her nerves were more frazzled than her hair was after fighting the Electroshock akuma a couple of years ago.
Tikki flew down from her perch, munching on a cookie. "It's going to be okay Marinette, you know that."
"I feel like I've never known less in my entire life and that includes every biology class I've ever taken!" Marinette cried, slumping further back in her seat. "I feel like I should do something to help Adrien, but Ladybug wouldn't know about the death threats unless news breaks. They're clearly trying to keep it under wraps right now. So it'd be suspicious if I just turn up at the Agreste Manor as Ladybug, right? Ugh, I wish I cared less about that stuff, Tikki, you know? 'Cause I really wanna kick the ass of whoever sent Adrien a death threat."
"You always make the right decision," Tikki soothed, landing by her keyboard. She almost dropped the cookie, but managed to hold on with her tiny hands, and resumed happily munching. "Besides, I'm sure the police will investigate it thoroughly. Adrien seemed more worried about his parent's feelings than the actual death threats. So maybe it's not so serious? Maybe it's a practical joke taken too far."
"Even so!" Marinette said, sitting up quickly and leaning towards Tikki with a frown, "Doesn't that make him a reckless target? If he doesn't care about his own wellbeing, that means he's more likely to do something rash."
"But this is Adrien. Has he ever acted rash before?" Tikki questioned.
Marinette wracked her brain for a bit, wrinkling her nose as she tried to remember any time when Adrien had acted out in any way. "You're right. He's protective, but he's not foolish. Maybe I am worrying over nothing."
"That's the spirit!" Tikki encouraged, before giggling sheepishly. "I mean, not the worrying over nothing, but reasoning with yourself. I think Adrien will be fine. After everything that happened, his parents are sure to take threats to his safety super seriously. He'll be safe."
The sun was setting, filling the room with a warm light, but Marinette was still cold with worry. Was Tikki right? Would Adrien really be ok?
"You should focus on Chat coming over tonight instead! It's the night of your confession after all," Tikki encouraged, interrupting her thoughts. "He'll be here in about an hour, right?"
The sharp reminder caused Marinette to squeak and she stumbled from her chair, she ran over to the mirror, checking her reflection. "Oh my god is that really the time?! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I'M NOT READY!"
Over the course of the next half an hour she tore her wardrobe apart trying to pick the right outfit to confess. Something pretty but not seductive, something that would soften the blow of the lie she'd be confessing to. She settled on a soft cotton dress that stopped mid-thigh, pale pink in colour with a few white butterflies sewn onto the hem and over her heart. It was rather apt. She'd made it last year to celebrate the anniversary of peace in Paris. Her green ribbons, as always, stayed put, but she curled the ends of her hair and applied some rose-coloured eyeshadow and pink lip gloss. Then she wiped off the lip gloss for fear of being too pink. Then she panicked about the state of her room but decided she could deal with that a bit later.
Tikki watched all of this with an amused smile.
Once she was sure she was ready, Marinette stood in front of the mirror and began practicing the speech she'd written down, her confession to Chat Noir.
"Chat," she began, "No- no- that sounds too serious." She cleared her throat. "Chat! Ugh, no that sounds too nonchalant." She frowned, tapping her foot on the ground. For fun, she imitated Nino for a second, pointing finger-guns up to her mirror self and winking. "Yo dude, just wanted to tell you that I was Ladybug, my guy. I've been her the whole time! Like whaaaaat?!"
Tikki giggled.
"Tikki," Marinette whined, spinning around and slumping against the mirror. "This is so hard!"
"You'll get it Marinette!" she cheered. "Just look inside your heart and speak from there."
Speak from the heart. Ok. She could do that.
Turning back to the mirror, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Speak from the heart, speak from the heart.
When she opened her eyes once more, her mirror self vanished, and she imagined Chat Noir standing in her stead. Taking one more deep breath, she exhaled, and began her confession.
She didn't hear her google alert go off.
"Chat," she said, soft, gentle, thinking of the way he spoke to her on that rainy day a lifetime ago, when he gave her the yellow friendship rose. "The time we've spent together these past months has been the best time of my life. I love you, so much. Words can't even begin to describe. But... there's something I need to confess. I've actually loved you far longer than you think. You see, I've known you for many years, and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to tell you. I hope you can forgive me for being scared, confused, conflicted with what I should do. But I realised the other day that I can't keep up this lie anymore. It's not fair to you. It doesn't feel right. I hope you aren't mad at me but I'll understand if you are. Please know that I didn't hide who I was out of malice, or because I wanted to trick you. I hid it because...I was afraid. Afraid to lose you, afraid of how this would change us, of how real it would be. But I'm not afraid of it being real anymore. Because loving you, meeting you, is the most real thing that's ever happened to me."
She stepped back, coming back into the present. "That's when I'll turn into Ladybug."
Tikki clapped. "That was beautiful, Marinette. I'm sure his heart will melt!"
Her phone buzzed again.
"You know..." Marinette replied, threading her fingers together. "I was terrified about this, but now I'm- I'm kind of excited. Really excited actually." She scooped up Tikki and gave her a kiss. "I'm going to do it!" she laughed. "I'm going to confess to Chat!"
"And then you can be together for real!" Tikki cheered. "Because I'm sure he'll share his identity with you too. Now that Paris has been safe for so long, I know that things will be ok!"
The pair of them giggled as Marinette span them around in an excited little dance, before she stuttered to a halt, her eyes wide with horror. Her room was still a mess!
By the time she'd finished frantically shoving her makeup back into their proper bags and picking up all her discarded outfits from the floor, the sky had darkened, casting the room in bluish shadows of twilight. When she shoved the last of her skirts back onto a hanger, her eyes lingered upwards, to the top of her closet, and her hands stalled. An idea struck her.
As she run downstairs to fetch the necessary equipment to carry out her idea, her phone went from buzzing a few times a minute, to buzzing every few seconds. Tikki sat beside it with a frown.
Marinette hurried back into her room, grabbing an old white box from the top shelf of her closet and the empty glass jar and hurrying over to the desk to begin her task.
"Your phone sure has been talkative!" Tikki told her.
"I'll get it in a minute," Marinette replied, too focused on her task to think about how late the hour was becoming, or why her phone going off might be something of a concern. With her tongue poked out for added seriousness, she opened the box, stopping to stare at its contents for a moment.
The yellow forever rose was as it always had been, perfectly frozen in time, exactly as beautiful and fresh-looking as it had been the day Chat had given it to her all those year ago. The thing that had changed most was the meaning behind it. It was symbol of their beginning, a culmination of all the things they'd gone through together. Yellow. Friendship. Trust. Partnership.
Marinette opened her ribbon drawer, cutting a piece of ribbon and tying it delicately around the rose. The ribbon was red. Passion. Devotion.
Love.
Settling the rose in the jar, she sat back with a smile, admiring her handiwork. Once her confession was over, if all went well, she would show Chat the forever rose, a symbol of how much they meant to each other. Her heart was an excited drum, her smile was shaky, but she felt good. This was good. She tried hard not to focus on the bad outcomes, how upset Chat might be with her lies. He wasn't entirely guilt free after all. He was hiding his identity too.
She might learn that tonight.
All the secrets would finally be over.
They could finally be together, for real!
Her phone buzzed again.
"Oh for the love of"- Marinette huffed, snatching her phone from the desk and unlocking it.
Then she let out a screech.
LOVE AT LAST! ADRIEN AGRESTE AND MYSTERIOUS NEW GIRL SPOTTED TOGETHER AT PHOTOSHOOT.
WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN CAUGHT SNUGGLING WITH ADRIEN AGRESTE?!
LOOK OF LOVE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THESE PHOTOS OF ADRIEN WITH A SECRET FLING!
Marinette slammed her phone back onto her desk and scooted back in her chair, recoiling in horror, as though the thing itself was cursed.
The photos. The photos of her and Adrien were out. That creep Wayhem must have shared them and now, like a bad virus, they'd multiplied, sent out to every nook and cranny of the internet. Her phone was blowing up with messages from her friends at the gaming club. Nino and Alya had both tried to call her at least 5 times.
Adrien hadn't contacted her at all.
She wasn't aware she was having a panic attack until Tikki flew up to her shoulder and whispered, "Marinette, it's ok, breathe."
"The tophographs," she whispered, "I mean the photographs. The photos of Adrien and I. There everywhere. Everyone thinks we're dating. EVERYONE CAN SEE THEM."
She stood up, pacing the room and tugging down at her hair ribbons. "Everyone can see them. Oh my god Tikki. What if Chat sees?! What if Chat Noir sees and thinks I'm dating Adrien Agreste?! THERE'S PHOTO EVIDENCE!!!!"
"It's just of you two cuddling, right? Besides, you and I both know that cuddling doesn't mean anything," Tikki soothed, following Marinette's trail of woe, circling around and around the room. "He's reasonable. Knowing Chat, he'll come to you first for answers. It's fine. Don't worry."
Marinette stopped. Twirling around to Tikki with wild, desperate eyes, she replied. "Are you sure?"
Tikki nodded. "I'm sure! I know how much Chat loves you. He wouldn't abandon you over this. He'd want answers from you."
With her legs shaking from the massive adrenaline rush she'd just experienced, Marinette half stumbled over towards the desk and collapsed at it once more. "You're right," she uttered, more to soothe herself than anything. "You're right, Tikki. He'll still come tonight."
"Exactly, and once you've cleared everything up you can move on with your confession and everything will be ok," Tikki nodded sagely, moving to Marinette's head and readjusting her hair ribbons. "All that's left to do is wait for him!"
So Marinette did exactly that.
She waited.
And waited...
And waited.
But he never showed up.
It was morning, and Marinette's neck was stiff. Her eyes were dry and her face rough. A random thought struck her that she was grateful she'd worn waterproof mascara, as if that really mattered.
The sky outside was a picturesque, endless blanket of blue. Birds were tweeting. The yellow rose was still sitting opposite her, the whole scene was loud and happy and obnoxiously mocking. Marinette wanted to throw stuff at the sky to make it stop being beautiful. In the movies, whenever things went wrong, there was always rain. Always thunder and lightning. Where was her pathetic fallacy?! She demanded it damn it!
She slumped back in her desk chair, having fallen asleep there the night before. The blanket Tikki must have draped across her in the night tumbled to the floor with a soft thwump . She blinked, a heavy hollowness weighing down her chest.
Heartache was a physical pain, as though it had been ripped from the right timeline, the right course of events, where Chat had showed up the night before and everything had gone ok.
Why? Why had it happened like this? She'd been so excited...so ready to end all the secrets. It felt like she'd switched to an alternate reality where everything was switched around. Nothing made sense anymore, everything was scrambled. Even her bedroom felt foreign to her, cold and lonely. The yellow rose stared at her. For a moment she wanted to throw it away.
But she never could. Never. No matter what happened. Some promises could never be broken.
She wandered over to her circular window, staring out at the city. Where was he now? Where was Chat? Was he somewhere out there, hating her? Feeling betrayed? Why hadn't he come?
She wiped a wayward tear from her face. This wasn't fair, she'd only been trying to do the right thing after months of being wrong. But it had been too late. All of the fears she'd ignored over the past six months, the knowledge that- if they carried on hiding their identities from each other- they were going to get hurt, all of them were right.
She'd been too late to stop it. By her own inaction.
Her emotions snapped, switching from despair to anger as quick as a flash. So she didn't act? Well, what was he doing? Punishing her? Playing mind games? What the hell was he thinking? Didn't he trust enough to at least ask her? Who stood someone up like that? Wasn't he meant to be a gentleman? Asshole!
She turned away from the skyline, her brow furrowed, and she marched back towards her desk with an annoyed scream, muffled only by her hands.
And then, as quick as the anger came, it faded.
To fear.
What if he never showed up again? What if he was done? What if he'd been having doubts and fears himself and this was the final straw for him?
What if he never came back? How would a confession go then? Would she have to meet him as Ladybug, reveal herself to be Marinette, and have their partnership forever dissolved?
She buried her head deeper into her hands. What a mess. What an absolute mess her life had devolved into. Her relationship with Chat was more complicated than ever, and she was now famous as Adrien's not-so-secret girlfriend. People all over the internet were debating her sex life, if she was a gold digger, if she was pregnant with his child. They probably knew her name, her age, and they'd probably figure out where she lived soon. Her poor parents.
It was in the midst of all her deepest worries about her parents being trampled by rabid paparazzi, that her phone rang. She groaned, having turned off most of her notifications, but she picked it up against her better judgement. If Alya was calling her again, she was just going to explain that she was hiding away like a coward for the day.
But it wasn't Alya calling.
Marinette stared in shock at the number, a number that she had in case of only the direst of emergencies, but one she never, ever thought she'd see on her screen. Ice flooded through her body about what it could mean, for that person to have called her.
She almost dropped her phone on her way to her ear. "H-hello?"
"Good morning Marinette, it's Emilie Agreste," came the gentle, sweet voice of Adrien's mother from the other end of the phone. "I'm terribly sorry to call you first thing in the morning. First, I'd like to say Adrien is fine for now. He's safe with us. But I need your help."
Marinette sat up, clutching the edge of her chair so hard that it was in danger of snapping off. "My help? How?"
"I'll explain everything later," Emilie said, "I'm not sure if my phone is being bugged . I am sorry to be bothering you with this, I know you're a busy Lady , but I couldn't go to just anyone with the kind of help I am asking for. I need someone special. Someone miraculous ."
Marinette stood up, nodding her head. "Understood. I'll be there soon."
"Thank you my dear," Emilie said, sounding relieved. "As always, we don't deserve you."
They hung up the phone. Marinette set it to the side, and closed her eyes, forcing her pain into a quiet corner of herself, where she could hide it whilst she did what needed to be done.
"Tikki!" she cried, "Transform me!"