unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter twenty

marinette's pov
"-then marinette fell off the carousel! oh, girl you crack me up," alya laughed, finishing her story. we all laughed along with her as we walked towards andré's ice cream cart.
"hey! it's not my fault i startle easily," i tried scowling, but i ended up in heaps of laughter once again. "the bruise i had was painful. i couldn't sit for days!"
"i told you to wait until the ride finished to get off! even manon was more careful than you," alya laughed, proceeding to launch into another story, this time of the time she got an interview with chat noir.
in truth, i hadn't actually startled easily that day. i had just remembered that i was late to patrol, coincidentally as the carousel was picking up speed. so, naturally, i thought jumping off the carousel would be a good idea. i was wrong.
i was shocked out of my thoughts when i crashed into the bench on the edge of the bridge. the impact sent me flying, and i braced myself for yet another bruise. the other one had just healed, too. instead, i was met with a familiar set of ocean blue eyes. luka had grabbed me before i could fall to the ground completely.
"you're awfully clumsy, you know that right?" luka teased, helping me steady myself. i gratefully held onto his arms, for some reason remembering the way i introduced myself to chat noir.
"im mari.. ma-" before i managed to finish my sentence, my yoyo slipped, whacking the poor guy in the head. i frowned.
"madly clumsy. i'm so clumsy."
i refocused on luka. "i know, i know! at least you caught me." he smiled at me, opening his mouth to say something.
"you good, marinette?" alya asked, and i released my grasp on luka's arms. our small group had stopped walking and was now staring at us intently.
"yeah! luka didn't let me fall," i giggled, brushing myself off. i caught adrien smiling at us softly, a thoughtful look on his face. i straightened myself up reflexively.
"ANYWAY, weren't we going to get ice cream?" alya laughed at me and threw her arm around my shoulder.
"as long as you manage to get there without needing a trip to the hospital!"
everything seemed to be going perfectly, until, of course, an akuma showed up. hawkmoth didn't seem to want to catch a break, so chat noir and i couldn't either. i tried to think of an inconspicuous lie to sneak off, something original that i hadn't used before.
   "oh! i need to um... use the toilets! i'll be right back!" i stammered, but alya grabbed my arm.
   "really?? can't you hold it?! it's kinda dangerous out there," she said, signaling the chaos the akuma and sentimonster were causing.
   "i'll be quick," i promised, wrenching myself out of her grasp. she sighed and i ran off, trying to find a good place to transform. i was so focused on that, i didn't even notice the massive boulder flying my way.

(a/n: yasss look at me trying to be dramatic and leaving the chapter on a quote on quote cliffhanger)