Marinette
It was now Wednesday, and she was jogging to school. He hadn't picked her up today, which was a bit of a disappointment, but she had to get to school either way. She had a poster board rolled under her arm, and was trying not to bend it. She stopped at the stoplight, looking down at the spot that master Fu had stood years before. He gave her the miraculous because she had saved him. She had been watching when no one else was. A horn honked next to her, and she looked up. Adrien had opened the door for her, and she quickly walked over and got in.
"Sup sexy."
He grinned at her, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Oh what a clever greeting Mister Agreste. Unfortunately you're gonna have to try harder to embarrass me."
"Oh please. Mister Agreste is my father. You can call me daddy."
She crossed her arms, refusing to let one little comment fluster her. He pulled back into traffic, and nodded at the poster board.
"Is that it?"
"Yeah, it doesn't look the best because I didn't have alot of time, but it's got everything on it."
She unrolled it, and he glanced over, nodding.
"It looks great. So I have a question, about our war. Does it have any ground rules?"
Ground rules. She had gotten rid of Chat's. But that was different. She and Adrien definitely needed rules.
"No touching would be one."
"Oh? I thought you liked when I touched you Mari."
She felt her face warm, and she clenched her jaw. He wasn't taking it easy today.
"Of course I do, daddy."
His face immediately turned pink, and she grinned. That one was on him. He walked right into it.
"Fair enough."
He muttered, pulling into the parking lot. She got out, and he followed suit. He took the poster from her, carrying it under his arm. A small part of her heart ached at the sweet gesture, and she ignored it.
"Have you written your poem?"
"My what?"
She turned to look at him, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Yesterday in English. We have a week to write a poem describing how we feel in the weeks leading up to graduation."
"Oh, oh right, of course. No, I don't know what to write."
She had actually completely forgotten about that. Yesterday she had been so distracted by that text. Whoever it was hadn't responded yet, and she was almost sure that they were waiting for school hours.
"Mari!"
Alya waved, and she walked over to her.
"You two seem to be riding together alot."
She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Marinette sent a glare in her direction. Adrien held up the poster, as if brandishing a sword. Marinette smiled, and looked back to Alya.
"Week still isn't over yet. Don't forget that vow of silence you took."
Alya rolled her eyes, before leaning in closer.
"So have you heard?"
"Have I heard what?"
Adrien leaned in closer to hear, Marinette's heart skipping a beat when his arm brushed hers. Alya glanced between the two of them, lowering her voice.
"A certain someone decided to finish their senior year here."
"Uh...okay? Who?"
Alya opened her mouth, stopping short when someone yelled at them.
"Adrien!"
Marinette tensed, closing her eyes. No way that bitch was back. On top of everything, why her?
"Sorry about this Marinette."
Adrien whispered, and she opened her eyes. Why was he sorry? He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side.
"Hey, what do you-"
"Hey lila!"
He called, swinging Marinette around with him. Oh, she could hurt him. She wanted to. But the way Lila's steps faltered when she noticed he was holding her, made her smile. She shook it off rather quickly though, running up to him and jumping into his arms. Marinette rolled her eyes, looking over at Alya.
"I missed you so much Adrien! You haven't responded to any of my texts, I was worried about you!"
He cleared his throat, gently pushing Lila off of him. Why did he always have to be so polite to her?
"Yeah, sorry, I've been real busy."
"Well, I do take up alot of your time."
Marinette teased, and he looked at her, before he grinned.
"Don't make that sound like a bad thing baby."
Hmm. Maybe pretty boy wasn't as clueless as he used to be. She practically swooned when he called her that though. Lila threw her arms around Marinette, squeezing her in a tight hug.
"Enjoy it while it lasts. Because he's mine."
She whispered in Marinette's ear, and a long time ago that would have pissed her off. But she wasn't with Adrien, and her longing to be with him grew smaller each day.
"Good luck with that. I've got him wrapped around my finger. Just watch the way he looks at me."
She whispered back, before pulling away, and giving her the biggest grin she could muster. Lila smiled, but hers wasn't nearly as convincing.
"It's great to have you back, Lila."
* * * * *
She yawned, leaning her head back against the wall. Adrien had offered to give her a ride home, and she had agreed. Too bad she forgot about fencing practice. She just wanted to go home and sleep. Aside from the incident with Lila this morning, it had been a pretty normal day. Maybe kitty would come over for cuddles. She smiled at the thought, and her smile vanished when Lila stepped in front of her.
"Hey Marinette. Are you and Adrien dating?"
How should she answer that? Because no, they were not, but this morning he acted like he didn't want Lila to know he was single.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I've already asked around, and everyone says that you aren't."
Marinette pushed off of the wall, starting to walk around her.
"Maybe we just wanted to keep it quiet."
"Because his father wouldn't approve of someone like you?"
Marinette stopped, and slowly turned to look at her. She had an innocent look on her face, most likely to fool anyone that walked past.
"I don't care if Gabriel approves of me."
"Don't you think he cares? Adrien? Why would he want to be with someone he'd have to hide from his family?"
Marinette rolled her eyes, turning to walk away.
"I'm going to be at his house tonight. He told me to wear something nice to have dinner with his father. And, he told me to wear something nicer underneath my clothes."
She froze, that part of her that still loved him screaming inside. She whirled around, acting on impulse. With one step she was directly in front of her, seething with rage.
"I don't care if you want him. I don't care if you think you can steal him away. But if I ever, ever, hear you spouting lies about him like that again, I'll end you."
Lila took a small step back, and genuine fear flashed in her eyes.
"Marinette?"
She snapped her head to the side, her glare softening almost instantly. He always looked so damn good in that uniform. Ugh. Adrien looked between the two, his gaze settling on her.
"What's going on?"
"Marinette was threatening me."
Lila insisted, and Marinette could feel the rage bubbling back up again. Why was she so angry? She was getting over Adrien. But this felt like so much more than just protecting her friend.
"Is that so? Why?"
"I don't know! She just came up to me and started threatening to hurt me. I was so scared, I thought she was going to hit me. Thank goodness you showed up when you did."
Marinette was surprised at the fear in her voice, at how truthful it sounded. Her eyes didn't leave Adrien's, and he shook his head, making a tsk tsk sound.
"Honey, I thought we talked about this. You can't kick every girl's ass just because they look at me."
"I may not be able to kick every girl's ass, but I know I could kick hers."
He grinned, and held out his hand to her.
"Walk with me to my locker?"
She looked back at Lila, who seemed more annoyed now than scared. She took a small step forward, whispering to her.
"Did you see that? The look in his eye? That was for me. Not you."
It was a load of nonsense, but if she kept repeating that to Lila, she would start to see it. Her imagination would run wild and she would believe it. And right this moment, Marinette wanted nothing more than to break this girl's heart. She turned away, grabbing Adrien's hand and following him to the locker rooms. She let go of his hand the second they were hidden safely away, and he shook his head.
"Did I make you a target this morning?"
"Nah. Lila always hated me."
He sighed, pulling open his locker. She sat down on the bench, closing her eyes.
"She knows we were faking it this morning."
"I thought you were actually about to hit her."
He chuckled, and she opened her eyes to look at him. He had taken off the jacket, wearing a grey tank underneath. Her heart skipped again, and she looked away.
"I probably would have."
"So what really happened? How'd she get you so riled up?"
He shoved the fencing uniform into his duffle bag, and she sighed.
"She said you told her to wear something nice to have dinner with your father."
"That's not so bad."
"And that you said to wear something sexy underneath it."
He made a face, before turning to look at her.
"Aww, Marinette. Defending my honor? How romantic."
She clenched her jaw, reaching her foot out and stepping on his. She would never do it hard enough to hurt him, maybe just scare him.
"Oh don't be embarrassed love. I'm honored."
She rolled her eyes, standing up.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
He seemed to want to say something else, but when he didn't, she walked out of the locker room. Lila was no where to be found, thank god. He was right behind her, and the thought both made her warm, and uncomfortable.
"What are you doing today?"
"Same old, same old. You?"
He stepped up next to her, matching her pace. She liked this better. Side by side.
"I don't know. I'm not ready to go home yet."
He responded, and she looked ahead. Was he asking her to do something with him? Or did he want to go to the bakery? She turned, raising an eyebrow.
"Is this a ploy to get me to invite you to the bakery so mom will feed you?"
He grinned, and she felt a small twinge in her stomach. That last butterfly was still kicking apparently.
"I was hoping it wasn't obvious."
"Oh please. I can hear your stomach growling already."
He laughed, and she closed her eyes. Every time he laughed, it felt like she was hearing it for the first time. Closing her eyes had been instinct. So when they reached the stairs, her body wasn't ready for the sudden drop, and she stumbled forward. His arm wrapped around her instantly, her cheek colliding with his shoulder. He stumbled down a few steps, and she pulled away the instant her balance returned.
"Fucking klutz."
She hissed, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Uhm I thought I did pretty good with that catch."
Her face burned and she imagined she looked like a tomato, that was supposed to have stayed in her thoughts.
"I didn't mean you. Thanks though."
He smiled, and winked. The boy must have planned to send her heart into overdrive today.
"You can fall around me anytime. I'll always catch you."
She wanted to laugh in his face. He hadn't caught her years ago, when he gave her that damn umbrella. Instead, she giggled. It wasn't forced either, and that pissed her off. Sure, she couldn't completely blame him, because she had never told him up front that she was in love, but if he had paid attention...
"Marinette?"
She blinked, turning to look at him.
"What?"
"Thanks for going along with it this morning. I didn't mean to throw it on you like that."
She sighed, glancing up at his car. She couldn't hate him for the past. It wasn't his fault. Things just didn't work out, and she needed to move on. She was moving on.
"You'd do the same for me."
"In a heartbeat."
He whispered under his breath, but she had heard it. And the way it sounded, the way his voice sounded, made her skin tingle.