Can You Keep It A Secret?

Chapter 8: Going To Catch Feelings

"I'm back guys." I say to my parents who are still on the couch. "Okay honey." They're really not going to ask me if everything is okay? I sigh and walk up to my room. I take out my phone to text Alya.

Marinette: Hey Alya want to hang out later?

After a few minutes she replies.

Alya: sure what do you have in mind?

Marinette: Movies? Ice cream? Shopping? Honestly anything I just want to get out of my house.

Alya: All of the above! Meet me at the park in 30!

I smile and jump out of my bed and start getting ready.

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"Hey girl." Alya says as I walk up to her. "Hey Alya." "So what's going on at home?" "What do you mean?" "Well we just left Adrien's house before you texted me and you said you want to get out of your house. So what's going on?" "I don't really want to talk about it. It's nothing." Just my parents not really talking to me. She nods. "Well I'm here when you're ready to talk about it." "Thank you."

"So where to first?" I ask. "I was thinking ice cream, then shopping, then movies?" I smile and nod.

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"So you and Adrien have been hanging out a lot lately." She says with a smirk. "Yeah." "Are you guys dating yet?" "Alya! I already told you he's just a friend." "Nino and I were just friends before too. Then we started spending a lot of time together kind of like you and Adrien are." She says as she puts a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. "Are you implying that we're going to end up liking each other?" "I think you already do but you just don't realize it because you're scared of what it'll do to your friendship."

Do I like Agreste? No that's crazy. But he is always there for me... Maybe in different circumstances-No! I can't like him. I only have about 5 months left. I can't feel anything like that for him. "You're thinking about it." Alya says with a smile. "You're crazy Alya! We can't be anything more. I only see him as a friend." She giggles. "For now but with the amount of time you spend with him you're both going to catch feelings." Should I distance myself? I don't want him to get hurt even more. "Oh no. I know that look. Don't even think about pushing him away. You guys are so close already, pushing him away will only hurt you both." I sigh. "You're right." She giggles and changes the subject. "Why haven't you touched your ice cream?" "I'm not really hungry." She nods and takes another bite of hers.

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After we finish shopping we decide to just walk around the park. "I invited the guys." Alya says. "Why?" "I wanted to see Nino and I know deep down you want to see Adrien." I roll my eyes. "I know what you're thinking. I am the best." Alya says with a hair flip. "I was thinking the opposite." She jokingly shoves my shoulder. "Just for that I'm going to leave you two alone." "Oh please! You were going to do that anyway so you and Nino can sneak off somewhere to make out." She blushes. "We are totally not going to make out!" "We'll see about that." I say with a giggle.

"Hey dudes." Adrien says mocking Nino as they walk up to us. "I don't say dude that often." He says as he hits Adrien's arm. "You kinda do." Alya and I say. He rolls his eyes. "Whatever. So what are we going to do?" Nino asks as he wraps an arm around Alya. "Watch a movie." "Which one?" "Ladybug and Chat Noir duhh."

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"I don't get it why couldn't Chat Noir just tell Ladybug how he feels?" Adrien asks as we walk out of the theater. "He did but she rejected him because she loves someone else." "But the person she loves is him!" "She doesn't know that though. They don't know each other's identities." I say. "Why can't they just tell each other?" "Because-"

"They're just like a married couple." Nino whispers to Alya. She laughs and nods. Adrien and I turn around and glare at them. "Anyways back to what we were saying. Wait why do you care so much? They ended up together." "I know but still they could've been together a lot sooner." I roll my eyes "You guys want to get something to eat?" Nino asks. We all nod and start walking to a food truck.

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"Get whatever you want. My treat." Adrien says. "Hm okay so you won't have a problem if I get one of everything?" I ask as I look at the menu. "Go for it." "I was kidding Agreste." He rolls his eyes. "You think I don't know that already? But seriously what do you want?" "I got it." I say and pull out my wallet. "It's the least I can do after you.. keeping my secret." I say whispering the last part. "Mari-" "If you don't let me pay then you can't come with me to my next check up." "Fine." He says and proceeds to order his food.

We get our food and we sit at a table. Alya and Nino sit together on one side while me and Adrien sit at the other. "So how's the bucket list going?" Nino asks. "It's going pretty good. We've completed two things off the list so far. Just 7 left to go." "Why are you trying to finish it so fast? I thought you were supposed to do everything on it before you die and we're young so we still have a lot of years left before we get to that point." "Yeah I know but I just thought it'd be fun to start early." I say as I shift my food with my fork.

"Well save some stuff for the future. I want to be able to do some stuff together with our kids." Alya takes a bite of her food. I give her a fake smile and nod. "Of course." I feel tears pool in my eyes and I quickly blink them away. Adrien notices so he places his hand on my knee and gives it a gentle squeeze. I turn my head and give him a soft smile.