maricat love story

Part 16- Confessions

Marinette eyed the three of them, the blue of her eyes darkening with suspicion. Her foot was tapping impatiently, the two kwami's and the blonde model in her room remained silent. It was a trick she knew well. They were in a pact, to hold their silence. If no one spoke, no one would get in trouble.

Or so they thought.

"No one is going to own up to any of it huh?" She asked sternly, catching each of their guilty eyes in turn before focusing on the big blue ones to her left.

Tikki was biting uncomfortably on her bottom lip the longer Marinette stared. She could do this. She could stay calm and stay focused. All she had to do was stay silent, and the prize was in the bag. Marinette always looked at her first when things like this happened, she hated lying to her holder, but not admitting to anything wasn't exactly lying... was it?

Marinette finally turned her gaze to the chat-like green eyes. Plagg was staring back at her unwavering, his arms crossed defiantly. At least, outwardly it seemed that way. He had seen first hand what an angry Marinette looked like, and he was not willing to be on the receiving end of such a wrath. He WOULD remain silent, for the sake of his precious cheese if nothing else.

She could tell that Plagg was in for the long haul, and felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth. "Adrien."

He visibly flinched, her eyes turning to him with a Ladybug vengeance. Oh god, he was going to crack. He couldn't deal with this pressure. He knew what an angry Marinette was capable of and he was NOT in the market for a repeat show.

"We didn't mean to!" Adrien told her, putting his face in his hands.

The kwami's turned to him instantly, "ADRIEN!" "DON'T YOU DARE!"

"I just reached for one, and then Tikki swooped in and grabbed it, so we ran around the room while she played keep away. I knocked over the yarn basket and Plagg started burrowing into the balls of yarn until they unraveled everywhere. Then I tripped and tried to grab onto the desk and, everything just went flying everywhere!" Adrien said all in one breath, glancing toward each of the affected areas.

A mix of cookies and croissants littered part of Marinette's desk and floor. There was yarn trailing everywhere from the chaise to the hatch that led downstairs. Her desk chair was turned on its side, and her carpet was crumpled up from when he tripped.

"You didn't even last two seconds!" Plagg complained, "All you had to do was sit there and say nothing!"

"I can't lie to her Plagg!" Adrien said with a frown.

"You could have lasted more than a few seconds though." Tikki said before floating over to Marinette and nuzzling her cheek, "We are sorry. We'll clean it up."

Marinette let out a heavy sigh before laughing, "Good grief, you three are impossible. It's not that serious."

The three of them looked shocked, "Really?"

Marinette shook her head, "It was an accident. It happens. Tikki can help Adrien pick up the food, and I'll help Plagg detangle this mess of yarn. Then we'll go to the park and get ice cream or something."

They were all instantly suspicious. There was no yelling. There was no great wrath thrust upon them to make them regret what they had done. And now she wanted to reward them with ice cream?

Adrien said it first, slowly so he wouldn't spook the mysteriously calm beast into a frenzy, "Ice cream?"

Marinette scowled at the tangled yarn, "Yeah. You know, frozen treat, comes in many flavors? Those were the last of the cookies and croissants from the kitchen, so I don't want to take more from the bakery. Ice cream seemed like a good alternative. If you're hungry we can go grab something to snack on at that little bistro down the street instead."

No one moved for a minute as they watched her expertly detangling the yarn. Plagg voiced what they were all thinking, "You are oddly calm about the giant mess we made in your room."

Marinette finally turned to them, realizing no one was helping her, "I told you, it's really not a big deal." She had a smirk on her face and Adrien narrowed his eyes at her, "Something's up."

Marinette started laughing and they all waited on pins and needles, thinking this would be the moment she would start to be angry. Instead, she wiped the joyful tears from her eyes and tried to stifle her giggling, "Okay, okay, the truth? You didn't trip on the rug, I heard you guys and knew you were going to make a mess, so I tripped you when you passed by the hatch."

"MARINETTE!" Adrien scolded, causing another round of giggles from his girlfriend.

Tikki said it offended, "You wasted all those cookies just to trip Adrien! Shame on you Marinette!"

"And here I thought it was MY fault and you were going to give me some awful cheese substitute!" Plagg said before joining in her laughter.

Marinette continued to laugh, "Not this time. Adrien usually has better balance so I didn't think he would really trip like that. It was funny to see."

He faced tinged pink, "Bugaboo!"

She wrapped him in a hug, giving him a soft kiss, "Aww I'm sorry Kitty. Come on, help me clean this up and I'll reward you with ice cream."

Her kiss sent a spiral of happiness into him and he said it lovingly, "Okay."

They cleaned up and headed out to find Andre. With ice cream in hand, Adrien finally turned to look at her after a few bites, "Wait, what do you mean reward me? You were the reason the room got dirty in the first place!"

Marinette smirked, taking another bite of ice cream as she told him teasingly, "Took you long enough."