A Winter's Tale

Chapter 14- A Christmas Carol

Adrien smiled as he watched Marinette sigh and pick up her cell phone to make the call. The bluenette couldn't believe she tripped over nothing again. One second she was winning, and the next, Adrien had winked at her, and she dropped like a sack of potatoes. It was so unfair.

The truth was Marinette was not ready to go on a date with her ex-boyfriend, Luka, but she hated seeing Adrien's smug smirk when he claimed he'd wait as she made the call. It was almost taunting. He was genuinely happy for her not to go on a date with Luka. But why?

Marinette sighed as her finger hovered over Luka's name. Was she seriously rejecting him this close to Christmas? It was the 23rd, for Christ's sake.

"I'm waiting," Adrien spoke as he realized she was struggling. Her hesitation was beginning to piss him off. What was it about Luka that was so good? Was he better than him? He almost quit being a model but stayed for her because she claimed he was part of her inspiration. Has Luka ever done that for her? I think not!

Marinette furrowed a brow in confusion. That was a whole new side of Adrien she hadn't seen before. It was almost possessive. It was a side to him he never showed and one she didn't like. For the first time in history, Marinette found something in Adrien she didn't like, making him less perfect than she believed him to be.

"Why do you want this so badly?" She asked, placing the phone in her back pocket and stopping herself from making the call.

"Marinette, we had a deal," the blonde responded, feeling his aggravation rise. He needed this. Adrien needed Marinette to call Luka and say no. He needed reassurance that his feelings were the least bit important to her. Adrien wanted reassurance that a relationship with her was worth fighting for. Marinettenot doing this for him meant he was misreading her actions and should take a step back. No matter how badly it hurt.

"Why? Why does it matter?" Marinette repeated, trying to make sense of the situation. God knows if it was that important to Adrien, she would do it in a heartbeat, but she needed to know. What reason did he have?

"Because it matters to me! Last night you said you would never lie to me. You promised never to go back on your word. So what is it going to be, Marinette? Are you going to do it or not?"

Marinette bit her lip at his angry response. While she still had no idea why rejecting Luka's advances meant so much to Adrien, the blonde had admitted it did. Therefore she would do it. She will do it for him, but that didn't make her any less angry at his possessiveness. It almost felt like he wanted her to be alone forever. That couldn't be it. Could it?

"Fine," she whispered, pulling her phone out of her pocket and walking away from him toward her bedroom. Adrien sighed as the bluenette almost pushed him out of the way just to get away from him. He almost felt guilty for doing this to her. Almost, but Luka could never make her as happy as Adrien could make her. Luka could never love her as he did.

Adrien was confused. Marinette had done what he asked, yet she wasn't happy with him. What did that mean? Did she want to be with Luka or not? He was more confused than ever.

But Marinette was unhappy, and that wasn't his goal. He should have never pushed her. His goal was to make her happy, and if Luka was it, then he needed to man up and accept it.

And it started with

"Marinette," he called, running after her. He needed to stop her. He needed to apologize and tell her he was wrong, but Marinette didn't want to hear it anymore.

Marinette clenched her jaw as she heard his voice again. What was it this time? Was he going to tell her she couldn't go to Nino's upcoming DJ gig or Nathaniel's art exhibit? What was it? What was next?