When Adrien got to school the following day, there was only one person on his mind; Marinette Dupain Cheng. Now, that wasn't so out of the ordinary, but what was different was the cold fury that Adrien felt simmering at the edges of his mind. It was like nothing he had felt before because usually, situations saw him as the understanding one, the one willing to bend over backwards trying to forgive people and accommodate them.
Not this time though. This time, someone he very dearly loved was being targeted again and again. This time was different because it was his breaking point. There's only so much a person can take before they trip over themselves trying to forgive and forget. So many times, he had forgiven the same people in his life over and over again only for it to bear no result whatsoever. And Adrien had waited long enough, he'd given people enough chances. He'd waited two years for his father, months for Lila.
Years for Chloe.
"Adrikins!"
She leapt at him, fully expecting him to catch her in his arms like he always did. Instead, with all the grace that came with being Chat Noir he side-stepped and allowed her to trip past him and kept walking. To her credit, she managed to catch herself in time before she fell to her face and she quickly swerved around to face his back. She came back at him and latched onto his arm, but Chloe was caught off guard when her precious 'Adrikins' stopped in his tracks. She looked up to see the sharp green eyes of a predator looking down at her.
"Chloe. Not today."
In all the years that she had known him, she'd never seen him this angry. Sure, he got upset with people time to time but he always forgave quickly. It was the one thing that allowed her to get away with all that she did after all. Today though, she could only describe the look in his eyes as one of absolute fury and she pitied the poor sod who'd inflicted it. She was smart enough to immediately back off and let him continue on his way, wishing whoever was up against him the best of luck, because they'd certainly need it.
Adrien continued down on his warpath, an objective in mind, and his anger only calmed down when he finally saw her.
Marinette.
He made a beeline towards her as a large portion of his anger ebbed away and before anyone could get a word in, he was turning her around by her shoulder and pressing his lips to hers in desperation. Whatever she had been saying to Alya, who now stood dumbfounded behind Marinette with her jaw hanging wide open, was swallowed into Adrien's lips. It took her a second to gather her bearings but once she had he felt her arms circle loosely around his shoulders. He let out a happy hum, doing nothing to break the kiss as he pulled her flush against him by her waist and for a moment, it was just them and nobody else. The spell was broken when they pulled away but not once did he loosen his grip around her, only resting his head. against her with a happy little smile.
She giggled and pecked his lips again, "Well aren't you rude, interrupting me like that. Don't you know I was talking to someone?"
"You know you love me princess."
She sighed happily, "That I do, that I do."
She gave him one final kiss on his nose before pulling away and turning to face Alya again but he only adjusted himself by wrapping an arm around her waist. Over Alya's shoulder, hidden partially by the shadows, he could see Lila's furious scowl even from halfway across the courtyard. He only smirked when he caught the lair's eye and slowly bent down to peck Marinette's cheek, never breaking eye contact.
Who knew this would be so much fun?
Explanations were as always painful and tiring, but he was smart enough to take the lead considering that Marinette had no idea what was going on. The story was that he was now finally rebelling against his father, much to his friend's delight. The most approving probably had to be Nino, who kept clasping him on the back at regular intervals, saying that he knew Adrien had it in him. On the other hand, while the boys showed him nothing but support, all the girls seemed to have mixed reactions. He assumed it was because of what he had overheard the other day, looking at how Alya kept shooting concerned glances at Lila.
