4 | "look at them"
"Look at them." Alya scoffed from her seat at their lunch table. Her usual spot gave her a nice view of the courtyard behind the school from a large window, allowing her to also have a perfect view of Adrien and Chloé sitting underneath a large oak tree and eating lunch together.
With a gloomy expression, Nino lifted his gaze from his sandwich and spared a glance out the window. Marinette, on the other hand, pretended not to hear what Alya said and continued to eat her own lunch unperturbed.
"Since when did Adrien and Chloé become such good friends again?" Alya went on when her friends remained silent. "I thought he dumped her ass a long time ago."
"Weren't you the one who said Chloé was changing her ways and trying to become a better person?" Marinette only lifted her eyes from her food so that she could raise a brow at her friend, which came off as somewhat challenging.
"I guess... but just look at how they're acting." Alya gestured to the window with a wave of her hands. Marinette did not dare to spare a glance. "They're acting all... I don't know... couple-y."
"Adrien would never date Chloé," Nino interjected glumly, "They're like siblings, and besides, she's not his type."
"Well, maybe his type has changed to blonde, self-centered liars."
"Alya." Marinette's chastised as her expression morphed into a look of blatant disapproval. "Stop directing your anger at someone who isn't even involved in this."
"She could be." Alya raised her fork only to point it in Marinette's direction. "How do you know Adrien hasn't told her anything about this whole situation?"
Marinette found that incredibly hard to believe. Mostly because, even though Adrien and Chloé had once been childhood friends, they didn't spend much time together. Chloé had her group of friends and Adrien had his.
Well... he had his. It made sense that if Adrien stopped hanging out with them, Chloé would notice and probably question him about it. That didn't make them close though.
Right?
"I'm sure she knows, just like everyone else, that we are no longer on speaking terms," Marinette said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, but if he told her about 'you know what'?"
"Are you guys ever going to tell me about 'you know what'?" Nino suddenly interjected, sounding a bit irritated. There was a frown on his lips when he met Marinette's eyes from across the table, and the look she offered in response was her sincerest apologies.
She wasn't ready to tell him that she was pregnant yet. Only her parents and Alya knew. She also didn't want to be the one to tell him that Adrien was actually Chat Noir.
Alya knew, but only because Marinette had been in a rough place and had needed to tell someone, but that was a mistake. As much as she really disliked Adrien right now, it wasn't her place to be telling people his secret identity. She knew that when he found out that Alya knew, he would be upset—and he would have every reason to be.
She would have to eventually apologize to him for that, but for now, she wanted to keep her distance. At least until she could figure out whether or not she wanted to tell Adrien about their unborn child.
"I'm sorry, Nino, but now is just not the place... or the time." Marinette sighed defeatedly, suddenly feeling incredibly exhausted. Perhaps it was the toll of her pregnancy finally kicking in. "Besides, what Alya knows... I shouldn't have told her. It wasn't my secret to tell."
Alya met her eyes from across the table, and the best friends shared a look of understanding. Marinette didn't have to elaborate for Alya to know that she was talking about Adrien's identity. That was something that had slipped past her lips in a moment of weakness.
Nino rolled his eyes and scoffed. His gaze fell back downwards to his practically untouched tray of cafeteria food. "So, you won't tell me anything, and neither will Adrien. Why am I the one who has to be left in the dark?"
Marinette's eyes widened slightly at that. "You've asked Adrien about our situation?"
She would've thought Adrien would have been open with Nino about what happened. She wasn't sure if he would ever willingly reveal his identity to him, but she had been certain that Adrien would at least tell Nino that she and Adrien had had sex.
But apparently, she'd been wrong. Adrien hadn't said a word about their intimate activities, and she wondered if he ever would, or if he would continue to play along with the story that she and Alya had concocted.
"Of course I did," Nino answered as if that were an obvious question. "I know there's something more to it than him just rejecting you, but he refuses to tell me anything."
"Maybe... that's for the best," Marinette replied with a shrug. "For now, at least. You'll find out eventually, Nino, but I want to be the one to tell you... when I'm ready."
"I'll be holding you to that," Nino replied with a huff. He didn't seem to particularly like that response, but at least he seemed to accept it.
"Neither of you think it's weird that Adrien is smiling at Chloé like that?" Alya, completely disregarding their conversation, jutted her thumb towards the window, throwing an aghast gaze at both her boyfriend and her best friend.
Marinette didn't even bother glancing up from her food as she rolled her eyes in half-amusement. Nino simply raised an unimpressed brow at his girlfriend. "Why do you care so much about what Adrien and Chloé are doing?"
"I don't." Alya folded her arms across her chest. "But since Adrien used to hang with us, I don't exactly feel comfortable seeing him hanging around Chloé out of all people."
"Chloé is harmless." Marinette briefly spared a glance up at her best friend. "She doesn't know anything that will change that, and neither does Adrien, so them hanging out is the result of one thing: Adrien is lonely."
"Loneliness can make people say and do things you wouldn't expect." Alya pointed out. "You really think Adrien wouldn't tell Chloé about the two of you?"
Marinette shrugged, unperturbed. "So what if he does? I don't really care what Chloé or anyone else thinks about Adrien rejecting me."
"That, and whatever else he apparently did," Nino added in a mumble.
His comment was left ignored. Alya leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table. "So, you would be totally okay with Lila, for example, spreading that around campus? You know how Lila is."
"Of course I know how Lila is." Marinette shot her best friend a knowing look. She couldn't go into more detail about that topic, not unless she wanted to spill the truth to Nino right then and there. However, she was smart enough to know that too much information about her situation out in the open would never work in her favor.
That was the whole reason why she hadn't told anyone else about her pregnancy.
With that, Alya leaned back in her seat, arms folded across her chest. "I just think you should be a little more cautious, is all."
"I am cautious. What I'm not is worried."
"Can we change the subject?" Nino's voice was pleading as he urgently interjected, his gaze shifting between his two friends nervously.
Marinette offered him a sympathetic smile as she nodded. Alya's response was an audible sigh as she turned her back to the window. It seemed she intended not to look back out it again, but Marinette knew her best friend. Alya would look again.
"Fine." Alya roughly shifted in her seat. "Our final year school trip is coming up in a few weeks." She eyed her boyfriend expectantly as if waiting for him to thank her for obliging his request. "I know Marinette's going... are you?"
"If you're going, I'm going," Nino replied with a shrug.
Alya, of course, didn't miss a beat as she asked, "Do you know if Adrien's going?"
"Alya..." Nino grumbled as a frown slowly overtook his lips. "I don't want to talk about Adrien or anyone else that's a part of your drama. That's why I asked to change the subject."
"It was just a question." Alya said, sounding somewhat offended. With a frown of her own, she rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to her food.
Marinette looked up from her food to survey her friends. From just their sullen expressions, it was easy to gather that even when Adrien wasn't in the room, he was still causing an issue for not only her but for them all. After all, her falling out with Adrien didn't just affect her. It tore apart their whole friend group.
Swallowing down her pride, Marinette let out a sigh of defeat and pushed her remaining lunch off the side, appetite lost. "I guess I should make it clear that if Adrien does go on the school trip, I'll be civil with him. There won't be any any awkwardness on my end... or tension."
"Pssshhh. Yeah right." Nino looked up from the table to shoot her an unconvinced roll of his eyes. "How could there not be any awkwardness or tension? You guys haven't said one word to each other in weeks."
"Because I need space. But the school trip is for everyone in our class, and I don't want Adrien to skip out on it just because he wants to respect my space."
"That's... surprisingly nice of you, Marinette." Alya said. Her tone implied that she was shocked Marinette would even say such a thing—that she would consider Adrien's feelings in any of this after all he had done to her.
Marinette was upset, sure. Heartbroken even. But she wasn't cruel.
She already knew, especially after knowing Adrien since they were young teenagers, that he already had difficulty getting out of the house. Even though he was eighteen now—practically an adult—his father still held tight reigns no matter how many times Adrien strived to rebel.
He rarely ever got to visit new places, unless it was a trip that his father took him on which involved nothing but business and endless hours of modeling his father's brand.
The school trip would be good for Adrien. She wanted him to be able to go.
"Okay..." Nino's shoulders slowly relaxed as he seemed to realize her words were genuine. There was still a frown on his lips, though.
Marinette pressed her lips together and eyed him worriedly from across the table, unsure of what else she could say to ease this current tension.
Thankfully, she was saved by the bell when it shrilled, signaling the end of their lunch period. Nino stood first and hastily said his goodbyes. Alya tried to reach out to him for a brief hug, but her boyfriend brushed right past her without another word.
Both friends watched as he weaved through the crowds, and their gazes only averted when he stepped underneath the threshold of the lunch doors and out into the hall, disappearing around the corner as he turned.
"Try not to take it personally, Al," Marinette said when she heard her best friend let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "He's just frustrated. He'll come around."
Alya met her best friend's eyes, her expression sullen. "Do you think you'll tell him soon?"
"About my interesting stomach bug? Maybe. About Chat Noir? No."
"Fair enough." Alya nodded slowly in satisfaction. "I shouldn't really know about that either. I guess I've been so focused on being angry at Adrien that I was really surprised by what you said earlier, about saying you think he should go on the trip."
"There's nothing wrong with being angry, Al. I'm angry."
"Yeah... but you don't let anger make you a mean person. I do."
Marinette slid one strap of her backpack over her shoulder. She approached Alya with a smile and placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Then that's just something we gotta work on, right?"
"'We?'" Alya chuckled as she inclined her head to keep her best friend's gaze.
"Well, yeah," Marinette said as if it were obvious. "Your problems are my problems."
"Well... in that case... right back at you." Alya playfully countered.
"You better." Marinette teased.
The two friends ended up erupting into a fit of laughter, the earlier tension of the mention of Adrien and Nino's coldness completely eradicated. Marinette was glad she was able to get her best friend to smile again. She didn't need Alya to tell her for her to know that everything that had happened between Marinette and Adrien was affecting Nino and Alya's relationship.
She supposed she needed to tell Nino about her pregnancy sooner than she intended.
Not that she didn't want to... but perhaps she had hoped to keep it enclosed in the smallest circle as possible for a little longer to avoid people like Lila or even Chloé from finding out.
Not that she thought Nino would tell, but Nino was known to be pretty bad at keeping secrets. She also knew that when he found out, he would get overly excited (as any uncle would) despite the circumstances.
Marinette couldn't help but smile at the thought regardless. She knew she had a great support system. She knew her parents, Alya, and Nino would be there for her each step of the way, and when the time for the baby to be born came, she knew they would all have to be held back from the room as she gave birth.
A part of her foolishly hoped Adrien would willingly be a part of it. If she could hurry it up and work up the courage to tell him.
Marinette slowly lowered her hand from Alya's shoulder and sauntered over towards the window in silence. As she gazed from above and took in the scenery of their campus, she found Adrien exactly where Alya had said he was, seated next to Chloé with his back up against the largest oak tree on their campus grounds.
Almost everyone else that had eaten lunch outside had already cleared the courtyard, leaving Adrien and Chloé pretty much alone.
Neither of them had bothered to pack up their stuff and head to their next classes either.
Alya came up to stand by Marinette's side. Surprisingly, she stayed silent, and thankfully, didn't bother to put in her two-sense on what was before them. Marinette was glad she didn't. In truth, she didn't want to know why Adrien was potentially skipping class with Chloé.
Marinette didn't want to believe it was because Alya could be actually right—that Adrien would resort to Chloé as anything more than a cure to his friendless loneliness.
But... after how things had shattered between her and Adrien, she didn't really know him as well as she wished she did. All of his actions that followed were unpredictable now.
"He's typing so vigorously on that laptop." Alya finally broke the silence with a snort. "He's going to break it if he keeps it up."
Marinette couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that. She did have to admit, watching him type like the world was about to end was a funny sight.
"I bet he's finishing an assignment that's due this period." Marinette shook her head, mostly in fondness, as she watched him ridiculously. "He's more of a procrastinator than I am."
Back when they were still friends, it hadn't been uncommon for Adrien to find his way to her house after school hours begging to do homework together. Oftentimes, they never really did homework. They played video games or talked in her room for hours...
Marinette let out a sigh. She missed those days. In some strange way, she missed Adrien too.
But in the long run, this distance that she had requested was better for her both mentally and emotionally. She would tell Adrien about the baby... soon. She would allow him to be a part of the baby's life. Perhaps they could even co-parent and maybe become great friends again one day. But she didn't think they would ever be anything more than just friends again... and she certainly didn't think they would ever become a family.
A small part of her secretly hoped... but the rational side of her wouldn't hold onto that hope too tightly.
After all, Adrien had told her that he was in love with Ladybug.
And Ladybug was just an act she put on. Although she considered Ladybug's personality to be part of her, she wasn't all of her. Adrien was attracted to both sides of her—that much was clear—but he only seemed to love one side of her. Little did he know that Marinette had fallen in love with both sides of him, and had been relieved more than hurt (considering Adrien had already rejected Marinette before) to discover that both Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person.
Lately, she found herself wondering what would happen if Adrien were to find out she was Ladybug. Would he spew his devotions of love to Marinette if he knew? Would he only be with Marinette if he knew she was Ladybug?
That's what she was terrified of.
A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts as Alya reminded her that they would be late to class. Marinette spared one last look at Adrien—which hopefully didn't reveal the bit of longing her heart betrayed her for by feeling—before she turned to follow Alya.
It wasn't her job to worry about Adrien. That was one of the reasons why she had wanted this distance. But somehow, even when she thought she knew what she wanted, her heart was still trying to make room for him somewhere among the pieces that were trying to put themselves back together.
She hated how much he still had an effect on her.
Trying to shake Adrien from her mind, Marinette forced herself to pay attention to each step she took, humming idly to whatever Alya said as they hurried down the hall. When they reached the history room, Marinette was welcomed back by some of her other classmates. She offered them all an uneasy smile as she shyly made her way to her seat.
A quick glance around the room was enough to ensure that Adrien and Chloé were not present. Chloé's usual seat by Sabrina was vacant and so was Adrien's beside Nino. For some reason, that had Marinette feeling both disappointed and relieved.
"Do you mind if I sit next to Nino this period?" Alya asked her, breaking her from her thoughts. She was standing by the bench, hesitant for some reason. Marinette hoped that hesitance was not in regard to the fact that Alya thought she would be upset if she left her side.
"Of course I don't mind," Marinette said with a soft smile. "I'll be perfectly okay sitting alone for forty minutes, Al. Don't feel like you have to stay glued to my side all day."
"Are you sure?" Alya was still uncertain, and she supposed it was with good reason. "Because if you need me—"
"I will let you know."
Although Marinette preferred the comforting presence of her best friend at her side, Alya was not her security blanket. She had to be comfortable being alone if need be... and she was. She would be perfectly fine going through the motions of the school day alone if it came to it.
Alya offered her a soft, thankful smile. "Okay."
Marinette watched her best friend go with a small smile, hoping as Alya hesitantly took the seat beside Nino, that the couple would be able to make amends. Unfortunately, Marinette knew the tension between them wouldn't be fully eradicated... regardless of Alya's attempt at peace—not while Nino knew Alya was keeping a secret from him; a secret she was only keeping because of Marinette.
Marinette couldn't be selfish. She needed to tell Nino the truth. Soon.
Marinette leaned over her tablet, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes. It was in moments like these that she was forced to really consider some difficult choices. Where she had no choice but to be selfless. In this case, she owed that to Nino, and as much as she hated to admit it, she felt like she owed that a bit to Adrien too.
To be honest, that is. Adrien didn't deserve anything else but that.
The lecture began like a dull murmur in the back of Marinette's mind. She hardly paid attention to what was even being said. Her notes were more like doodles than they were study material. A part of her knew she would have no choice but to copy off of Alya later.
And then... the bell shrilled, ending the forty-long minutes of their history lecture in what felt like seconds. Marinette's head quickly shot up from where it had been propped up on her hand. Her tablet had turned off from its lack of use, and apparently, she had dosed off.
Marinette quickly packed her things. Her next period was a study hall, and she had every intention of spending it in the library where it was quiet. She spared a brief glance up, catching Alya's eye at the front of the classroom. Her best friend simply offered her a look that conveyed everything she needed to say without words. She still needed to talk to Nino.
Marinette smiled and nodded, telling her friend that it was okay.
She watched as Alya returned that smile, and then she hesitantly looped her arms with Nino's, tugging him lightly to follow her. Marinette could tell with just his body language alone that Nino was being stubborn, but he grudgingly followed nonetheless. She watched them until they had disappeared out into the hall.
Marinette sighed and moved to collect her bag. A part of her just wanted to skip the last three periods she had for the day and call it a day. But she had already missed the first week of school and missing any more days would actually not work out in her favor.
"It's good to see you feeling better, Marinette."
Or perhaps it would work out in her favor considering she didn't need an unnecessary stressor like Lila Rossi poking her in the side like the thorn she was.
Marinette forced a smile as she turned to acknowledge Lila. Surprisingly, there wasn't anyone tagging along with her. "Thanks, Lila. That sickness was brutal."
"I'm sure it was." Lila's fake smile was impressive, Marinette would give her that. "What did you say it was you had again?"
"Stomach virus."
"Right... well, it's a good thing you got that out of your system, huh?" Lila's pearly whites were almost blinding to look at. "By the way, if you need any help catching up on any of the work you missed, just let me know. I have all the notes you missed."
Marinette had no intention of asking Lila for help. Ever.
"Thanks... but Alya's got me covered." Marinette smiled.
The way Lila's smile widened didn't go unnoticed by Marinette. The liar simply chuckled and sashayed away, flipping her sausage-like hair over her shoulder. Marinette couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sight. She wasn't sure what Lila was up to... but she had a pretty good feeling that keeping her guard up would be in her best interest.
Marinette was one of the last to exit the classroom... mostly so that she could make sure Lila exited first and had no intention of following her. As she stepped out into the hallway, Marinette was met with a crowd of students hurrying to make it to their next period. She carefully pushed her way through the crowd, her hand involuntarily rising to protect her stomach from the few who shoved carelessly past her.
It took her a while before she was finally able to escape the crowd. However, she was only a few feet away from the library itself when she realized she'd left the book she was meant to return at the end of last year in her gym locker.
Marinette threw her head back and groaned. If it wasn't because she had until today to return it without penalty, she wouldn't have bothered going back for it.
The gym locker room was surprisingly empty when she entered. She hurried to her locker and pulled it open, having every intention of just grabbing the book and heading back to the library as quickly as possible.
But an envelope slipped out and fluttered to the floor, stopping her in her tracks.
Confused, Marinette tilted her head as she stared down at it for a moment, before she bent down to pick it up. The letter was addressed to her—her name handwritten in pencil. But what confused her the most wasn't even that it was addressed to her.
It was the fact that Adrien's name was written in the top left corner of the envelope.
_______________________________
"See you again on 4/14/2023!" is what I told you all in the last chapter. Well... clearly that didn't age well considering I'm giving this to you six months later.
I'm so sorry for the long wait. Things in my life happened unexpectedly and I lost inspiration for this book. But I'm here now. I won't be promising any specific dates for updates at the moment... but just know that I am working on this story again and any updates will be published on Fridays.
I hope, despite the wait, that you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to those who have been patient with me and this story!
Hope to see you again in the next chapter (whenever that may be)!
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