IF ONLY. marichat | ✔️

six

Chapter Six: Figure Out Your Feelings

Adrien is woken to Marinette's mother knocking on the door, requesting permission to enter. Immediately, he drops to the floor hiding beneath the desk. He waits for the inevitable, the door opening. Thankfully, Marinette had locked her door. Great, now that that's dealt with- what time is it? He reaches for his baton, only to be met with a horrifying thought: 

I detransformed!

Adrien takes a moment to look at the facts. If Marinette had seen his identity, she'd probably of kicked him out especially considering her anger towards him. She would've had questions about life as a superhero and wondered if others knew. She wouldn't have fallen asleep. Breathe, Adrien. It's fine, it's fine. 

To make matters worse, Marinette rises from her chair. Shit, she's awake. His heart hammers against his chest, beating a thousand times a minute. He holds his breath, hoping to go unseen. 

"Is Chat Noir still here?" 

Why is she referring to his superhero alias in third person? 

"No, Marinette."

Did she change to a baby voice? Is she having a conversation with herself? Maybe the delirium of waking first thing in the morning is doing this to her. 

When her footsteps retreat to the bathroom, Adrien doesn't skip a beat. "Plagg, claws out."

That was too close. 

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•

Yesterday Morning

He slinks through his window, detransforming. Not only was he concerned with being caught, but he was also trying to beat the clock to leave the house. He had about thirty minutes to get his life together. Adrien zooms around the room; doing his hygiene, putting on clothes, shoving his homework into his backpack. When he feels a presence in the room with him, he turns seeing Nathalie there.

"Adrien, where were you last night?"

"What?" He asks, trying to feign innocence.

"At curfew, your bed was empty. Start talking before I take this to Gabriel."

"Sleepover."

"Excuse me?"

"I've been having sleepovers...with a girl."

Her face wrinkles up in disgust. "Okay, I get the picture. No need to divulge anymore details. Be out here in ten minutes."

Adrien snickers to himself at the obvious miscommunication, but wow these trips to Marinette's are getting riskier and riskier. 

So, why is he still taking that risk?

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•

The last bell rings, signifying the end of school. Adrien is scheduled for fencing with Kagami today which has turned into dates for them now that they're an item; however, since he's been hanging with Marinette, his stomach is in knots the whole way there. 

"I'll be back in an hour," Placide tells Adrien as he leaves the vehicle.

He's guilt ridden, all his gallivanting as Chat Noir is catching up to him. As he puts on his gear, he decides to handle his uneasy belly. He has two options. Obviously, he can't confess what Chat Noir has been doing but he can choose life as Chat Noir or as Adrien. Kagami or Marinette. Which can he go without?

Adrien gets in position to start, seeing his competition on the other side, Kagami.

"En garde," their trainer calls.

They stare at each other, trying to read the other's mind.

"Et aller."

The two go back and forth, both fierce fighters matching and out maneuvering the other. Adrien had managed to shove his morals into the back of his mind for over half the match. That was until he saw Marinette's face while staring at Kagami. Yeah, that did it. He dropped his sword, giving Kagami the perfect opportunity to hit his chest. 

"Did you let me win?" She raises her helmet, offended by his actions.

"No, I...I have a lot on my mind."

Kagami leads him to a spot against the wall to sit with her. He does, hands cupping his face. Her hand rests coolly on his back, rubbing it. Adrien takes a deep breath, ashamed with what he's about to say. He can't lie to Kagami, not when she's been so good to him. He lets it all out, every word that stayed in his head was hers for the taking. Well, except the superhero bit.

Her eyes are wide, full of wonder. "You have a crush on Marinette. Wow, this is- wow."

"I'm so sorry I didn't realize this sooner, but I don't want to string you along while I figure out my feelings."

"What about our parents?" She shakes her head. "Actually, I'll let this go as long as you say we're still dating. My mom has already created our wedding album."

He didn't want to send the wrong message, but he understood what she meant about her mom glorifying their relationship. His father won't be thrilled either.

"For how long?"

"Until you figure out your feelings."

"Deal and again I'm so-" but the rest of Adrien's words are lost to the air, Kagami long gone.

Adrien leaves fencing practice with time to spare before his chauffeur would return. He decides to walk around for a bit to sit with his thoughts. When he finds himself sniffing distance from Marinette's parent's bakery, he shouldn't be surprised. Impulsively, Adrien walks into the store, hoping he'll 'bump' into her. She's nowhere to be seen. he buys a chocolate croissant.

"Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, is Marinette here?"

Marinette's mother nods. "Marinette! You have a guest!"

The bluenette rushes downstairs, oblivious to his presence. Until he clears his throat and says hello. She freezes, shooting daggers at him. Marinette eyes him for a moment, noticing his bag. 

"Well, now that you've said hello, is there anything else?"

Her mother hits her sternly. "Manners."

"Sorry, Mama." She returns to Adrien. "What can I do for you?"

Adrien never had a battle plan, despite her resentful spirit, he had only hoped he could melt her the way Chat Noir seemed to; however, he couldn't use the same tactics as his superhero alter ego. And what exactly does Adrien charisma look like? He hadn't a clue.

"Cat got your-" She stops herself, "Sorry. Adrien, why are you here?"

"Would you wanna go out sometime?"

"Hell, no," Marinette says without thinking.

Ouch, he hates her more than he thought. 

Marinette shakes her hands frantically. "Sorry that came out wrong, but you have a girlfriend and I don't really want a relationship right now."

You don't want a relationship? Or you don't want a relationship with me?

"I'm not with Kagami, well, not technically."

"What does that mean?"

"Our parents idealize our relationship so we made a dea-"

"Oh great, so when you're not pretending to be with someone else, we can chill? No, thank you."

"Marinette, it's not like that."

"Oh, really? Then, tell me what it's like," she shakes her head repeatedly,"Actually, I want you to leave."

"Marinette, wait."

"I want you to go. Leave. Please."