What the hell happened?

Did he do what he thought he just did?

Oh my god, his head was screwed on... right?

Adrien sat on the edge of his seat in the back of Gorilla's limo, his eyes gazing out the window and looking at the streets of Paris.

He, Adrien Agreste, was probably 10 seconds away from cheating on his girlfriend and kissing Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Wait... Technically Chloe isn't his girlfriend.... Their parents just want him and her together because of the family businesses benefiting.

That was it. Money brought them together, but there wasn't any love there...okay, maybe some friendship love, but nothing more. Never anything more.

He sighed and rested his hand on the armrest, staring out into the landscape of Paris.

He couldn't believe he had did that.

In all honesty, he wanted to make Marinette feel better. He did. But he also noticed that the way she smiled was also similar to the way his bugaboo smiled as well.

She looked like Ladybug.

But when he came back to reality, it was Marinette instead.

"Dammit." He hit his head on the window pane. "My Lady is gonna kill me."

Like she's ever gonna know, though. Adrien was planning to keep that whole thing under wraps; for the sake of Marinette and for Chloe.

They finally arrived back at the Agreste mansion, where Adrien got out and once in the house went straight to his room. He didn't greet Nathalie or plan to grab a snack from the kitchen, he just threw his stuff on the couch in his room and threw himself on the bed.

Various different thoughts and questions clouded Adrien's mind as he sunk his head deeper into his ivory pillowcase.

Marinette.

She was definitely something different.

He never really knew Marinette on a personal standpoint, since she used to be too shy to stand within a 50 foot radius of him. Sometimes they'd have a small conversation and others Marinette looked like she was gazing at the stars when she talked to him.

Like she was in her own world.

But for the last few weeks, she's hardly seen her until today, and today was the most they've ever talked (or ever gotten close) in the history of their friendship. And for some ungodly reason, it bugged him. It really bugged him.

Nathanael's small glare this morning made him uneasy just even thinking about Marinette. He wondered why he was mad, why he cradled Marinette like a child or even tried to send some mixed messages towards him. Adrien had done nothing wrong, so what was his deal?

He sighs a little before Plagg pops out of his bag after eating his delectable wheel of Camembert, flying right in front of the flustered blonde.

"What's up?" He asks. "Caught your own tongue, Chat Noir?" 

Adrien shuffles to sit upwards as he glares at the small guardian, crossing his legs and looking down at his sheets.

"No, I just..." his eyes avert to the picture frame of him and Ladybug on his night table. "I thought she was Ladybug. I thought that maybe I was actually gonna be with her but then when I found out it was someone completely different, I regretted it."

Plagg rolls his eyes at his owner. "Haven't you ever thought that maybe your heart is telling you something completely different?" He looks at the heart-struck boy, annoyed. "I think you might have a crush on her."

Adrien just shuffles on his bed. "I don't have a crush on Marinette. She's just a friend." He looks at the ceiling. "Besides, I have Chloe."

"Adrien, I know you haven't been enjoying your time with Chloe and you can't deny she's a pain in the butt to deal with." The Kwami retorted, sighing at his transparent lie.

Plagg was right, Adrien did like Chloe as a friend, but going on romantic dates to the Louvre and to the Eiffel Tower just felt forced. It was awkward. She was much more into it than he was. It was wrong.

"It's not my fault that my dad and her dad paired us together two years ago." He sighed and looked out the window.

He loved Ladybug.

But why did he almost kiss Marinette?

__________________________

"Can you pass the stir fry sauce, Mari?" Nathanael asks, his face stained with the required ingredient.

She giggles and pushes the bottle from her spot on the couch, looking at his mess.

Nathanael was cooking dinner for Marinette while she was sitting down on the couch with an ice bag on her nose. She and her mother went to the doctors an hour earlier and fortunately her nose was exactly what Adrien said- bruised but not broken. However, they told her to take it easy for a couple of days, thus Marinette was at Nathanael's house not only to hang out but for dinner as well.

Marinette thought it was sweet of Nathanael to do all these things for her. Most of the time she cooked herself; of course since she lived in a bakery for pete's sake. So being the person sitting out and not helping him made her a little sad.

He took his pan off the stove with very fresh stir fry and started plating plates. Nathan looked so focused, happy and at the same very nervous.

He was trying to impress her. Marinette thought it was adorable and thoughtful, watching him cater to her.

After wiping up the counter and setting up the table, he courted her to her seat as the two started to share their meal together.

"Thanks for making dinner, Nate." The shy protagonist looked up at him with a smile stretching across her face. "It looks delicious."

"Anything for you, Mari." He takes a sip of his water. "By the way, I'm sorry again for not being there in the infirmary- Rose just texted me while I was in art club and I just-"

She cuts him off with a smile. "Nate, it's fine. I'm okay now. Don't worry about it, okay?" Her hand softly grabs his as he blushes as red as his hair.

"O-okay." he stutters as another forkful of stir fry goes into his mouth.

Marinette giggles at his antics, as she takes her hand off and takes a sip of her water.

"So..." Nathanael stuck his fork in a piece of beef. "Nose broken?"

"Just bruised." Her mouth turns into a wide smile just thinking about Adrien and the  "almost" kiss they shared.

As much as she wanted to hate it, there was still a small part of her that thought that it was a slice of heaven; almost quite literally.

"Adrien had checked me out before Kim showed so..." Marinette rambles, shyly looking at her plate.

She was in a good mood until Nathanael put his glass down with a little too much force. It immediately startled her to the point of her almost dropping her own glass.

"You still speak to him?" Nate asks, looking slightly angry at Marinette.

She swallows hard. "It was only for 15 minutes max, Nate. Adrien just helped me out with my face and got me things. Nothing else happened."

And that my friends, was yet another lie to add onto her list of many.

"I don't want you near him, Mari." He basically scolds. "I can't bear to see him hurt you again..." His eyes avert to the hardwood, not once looking back at his crush.

At first, Marinette is very confused. Why would he not want me near him? But after hearing the second sentence, she realized why she stopped talking to him in the first place.

Because he hurt her. He poisons her. What if that almost kiss was just for show ? What if he was doing it just to make her keep coming back and getting more hurt ?

She sighs and smiles.

"It's okay, Nate." A cool breeze from the window blows in and makes the atmosphere more bearable. "If you're here with me, there's no way I'd get hurt."

He just looks up a bit before Marinette grabs his hands for the second time, clasping them in hers.

"I promise." She says, and he's immediately smitten.

"Uhh..." he stutters. "Okay."

_____________________________

FINALLY AFTER DECADES I REVIVE

I'm so so sorry y'all I've been so busy with school and band and more school and now work and now I have literally no time for practically anything BUT IM ALMOST ON SUMMER BREAK SO BLESS

But yeah, this one was mostly a filler, mostly just stretching Adrien's conflicting thoughts and strengthening the Nathanette bond ... DONT WORRY I PROMISE ADRIENETTE BUT I GOTTA BUILD THAT ANGST.  

Okay kiddies I gotta go but hopefully next time my updates won't be this slow.

xoxo,

(a tired and sore) Ember 💕