Marinette
"Honey! Wake up! I need you to make a few deliveries."
Marinette rolled over, squinting at the trap door in distaste. She slapped her hand over her phone, trying to focus on the time. It was ten thirty? Already? She sat up slowly, loudly groaning so her dad would know she was getting up.
"Great, see you downstairs honey."
She rubbed her eyes, unlocking her phone and going to the call log. They had talked for over four hours last night. She didn't remember hanging up, so he must've.
"Morning Marinette!"
Tiki bubbled, in her always high pitched voice. Marinette slowly climbed down to the floor, grabbing a change of clothes.
"Hey Tiki. Did you know about Chat's home life? About how his uncle is so hard on him?"
Tiki seemed to flinch, and Marinette knew she had known.
"Why didn't you tell me? Ladybug was always so hard on him."
She whispered, slowly pulling on her clothes.
"It wasn't my place to tell you."
Marinette sighed, fixing her pigtails. She would be nicer to Chat, he was in so much pain last night. She wished he had talked to her about it before, not as Marinette, but as Ladybug. She could have been more understanding. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses to hide the dark circles under her eyes, before heading down to the bakery. She kind of stumbled inside, and her father threw a suspicious glance at her mother.
"Mari, are you alright?"
"I'm fine papa. Where are the deliveries?"
He pointed to the counter, and she read the addresses. Luckily, it was only a few blocks in each direction, which also unfortunately meant a lot of back tracking. She had to hurry, she didn't know what time Alya was going to pick her up. She grabbed the boxes, and headed out the door.
By the time she had made the last delivery she was exhausted. That had been alot of walking back and forth. She was making her way back to the bakery, when someone called her name. She turned, her gaze landing on a blonde covered head to toe in pink. Rose had always loved that pink. She was dragging Juleka along behind her, waving excitedly. She met them halfway, and Rose grinned at her.
"Hey Mari! What are you doing here?"
"I was just making some deliveries."
Marinette smiled politely, as much as she loved Rose, she couldn't stand the constantly excited personality. Not right now. Not when she was so exhausted.
"Do you need any help?"
"No I just finished, thank you though."
Rose seemed disappointed, and Marinette smiled at Juleka.
"Hey."
Juleka mumbled a hello, before looking back to Rose. Those two seemed so unlikely to be friends, but they were kinda perfect for each other.
"So what are you doing today?"
"Just going to the beach with Alya. I have to get going actually, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"
She started to turn, that is until Rose squealed.
"The beach? That sounds like so much fun! Can we tag along?"
"Just text Alya!"
She called back over her shoulder, picking up her pace. Hopefully Alya wouldn't mind that she had told anyone. She jogged back to the bakery, where Alya was already parked. Great. Now she had to rush to get everything together. Who went to the beach this early anyway? She walked in, and Alya turned to grin at her.
"Well, aren't you just a vision of beauty?"
"I was out making deliveries."
Marinette snapped, and Alya giggled.
"Go grab your stuff, the boys will be here soon."
Marinette hurried upstairs, quickly putting on a bikini. She wore a tank top and shorts over it, so she wouldn't have to change later. She grabbed her hoodie, and shoved a binder into her bag, at least on the drive she could catch up on her work.
"Marinette!"
She heard Alya shout, and Tiki dove into her bag. She grabbed a towel and shoved it in there too, before heading back down to the bakery.
"You didn't give me any heads up."
"To give you time to come up with a reason you can't go? No way."
Alya responded, just as Nino and Adrien walked in. Adrien was sporting sunglasses, and she wondered if he was using them to hide evidence of a long night, like she was. He went straight to the counter, groggily asking for a croissant. Marinette shifted her bag on her shoulder, looking back at Alya.
"Rose texted. Said she heard we were going to the beach, her and a few friends are going to follow us."
She gave Marinette a pointed look, her face turning red in response.
"It kinda slipped."
"Mhm. Now we have to wait on them to get here."
Adrien turned, croissant in hand.
"That's great. Gives us time to move everything to my car."
"Your car? We're driving mine."
Alya argued, and he shook his head, taking a bite of the pastry.
"I have more room, and I refuse to get in another vehicle with you behind the wheel."
Alya scoffed, crossing her arms.
"He does have more room."
Nino murmered, leaning closer and whispering something to her that they couldn't hear. Her face flushed, and she threw her hands up.
"Fine. Let's move everything over."
She grumbled, and they all went outside, passing bags down from one car to another. Another car drove up, and Marinette recognized it as Rose's. She walked over, and the window of the driver's door rolled down. Luka smiled, and she grinned.
"Luka? I thought you were at college."
"I'm visiting for a few days. Thought I'd tag along with you guys."
She leaned down, Juleka was in the passenger seat, and Rose waved from the back.
"Mari! Come on. Let's go!"
Alya shouted, and Marinette turned back to Luka.
"We're taking Adrien's car, so follow that, and I'll see you guys there."
She turned and jogged back to them, getting in the passenger seat. They were now off on over a two hour drive.
"Did you see him?"
Alya asked once they were on the road, and Marinette sighed. Ever since Alya got with Nino, she was always trying to set her up with someone.
"Who?"
Adrien asked, glancing over at Marinette.
"Luka."
She muttered, and he seemed a little annoyed at the name.
"Ah."
"He used to have a thing for Marinette back in the day, but she was so wrapped up in love with-"
"Alya."
Marinette growled, her voice low and full of warning. Alya shrugged, sitting back nonchalantly.
"Fine. I just thought since you were moving on and all, he'd be a good option."
Marinette felt her face warm, and she shook her head. She already had an option. She was already broken from loving someone for so long. She sure as hell wasn't going to jump back into it.
"I don't have time to date."
"You barely have any time to breathe."
Alya muttered, and Marinette closed her eyes. Like it was her fault that she was so busy. She technically had two side jobs, plus school. It was hard to find time for anything. She pulled out her binder, going to work on catching up all of her calculus homework.
It had been a little over an hour into the drive, and she had most of her school work caught up. She had been so focused, she didn't even notice something was wrong, until Nino piped up.
"Hey man, you okay?"
She turned to look, her gaze first drawing to the steering wheel. His knuckles were white, and he was leaning forward, focused on the road. His sunglasses were pushed up on his head, and she could see dark circles under his eyes, even if they were faint. When was the last time pretty boy had dark circles?
"I'm fine Nino."
He even sounded exhausted. Marinette slid her binder back into her bag, paying closer attention now. Adrien was drifting. The car would dance towards the yellow line, but before it went over he would shift, and it would do the same to the white line.
"If you need me to drive, pull over and we can switch."
Nino insisted, and Adrien started slowing down, looking embarrassed, but grateful Nino had offered. He pulled into the grass and got out, not saying anything.
"Switch with me."
Alya whispered, getting out of the car with Nino. Marinette climbed into the back seat, not wanting to get out just to walk around the car. Adrien got in next to her, rubbing his face.
"Are you okay?"
He forced a smile, and she frowned. Lately he seemed to be lying about how he felt just as much as she did. He opened his mouth to say something, and she held her hand up, cutting him off before any words left his lips.
"You remember telling me that if I needed you, to call, and you'd come running? That works both ways. If you're not fine, don't tell me you are. I'd rather silence over lies."
Hypocritical, sure. But it seemed to do the charm. He smiled, a real one this time.
"I had a rough night. I'm just really tired from it."
She nodded, not wanting to pry too much. She slid over from the middle seat to the door, just as Alya and Nino got back in.
"You can take a nap until we get there."
They got back on the road, and he moved over, loosening the middle belt to hang loosely around his waist. He layed down on the seats, resting his head in her lap. Her heart was back to pounding, and he looked up at her.
"Do you mind?"
"No-no, it's fine."
She responded, trying her hardest not to blush, but he never made it easy on her. He smiled, and flicked his shades back onto his face. She turned her head to the window, completely annoyed with herself. The butterflies were still hanging around after all. Though, they weren't as violent as before. But she wanted them gone. How long would it take for her not to feel them anymore? How much more time would she have to spend with Chat, before she forgot how she felt about Adrien? She couldn't just make out with Chat forever. Could she? Warmth pooled in her at the thought, but it didn't matter. She and him couldn't go on like that. She couldn't lie to him forever, and he couldn't know that she was his lady.
"Mmmm..."
She heard Adrien moan, and she looked down, her heart stopping. She was playing with his hair. And he liked it. The half that still loved him was internally squealing, and the other half was even more annoyed. His shades were covering his eyes, so she couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. When had she started doing that? She thought about removing her hand from his hair, but how could she? She had been dreaming about this for years. Besides. It couldn't make her love him any more than she already did, so what was the harm? It seemed to be relaxing him anyway. So she allowed herself to enjoy it. She ran her fingers through it over and over again, marveling at how soft it was. The sun kept catching it, making it shine like gold. She kept reminding herself that this was okay. She played with Alya's hair all the time. So why did this feel like another nail in the coffin? Why did she feel like she was damning herself, every single time her fingers grazed along his skin? How could something so innocent, feel so painful?