Where Does the Red String Go? -Miraculous Ladybug AU Soulmates

Chapter 26- Wide Smile

Marinette's POV

The silence between us is tangible enough to touch.

Adrien's back from his modelling shoot, and he hasn't talked to me all morning.

When the bell rings to signal the end of lunch, Ms Bustier calls us both down to talk to her.

"I know with the trial, Marinette's hospitalisation and Adrien's modelling schedule that there's very little time for you guys to focus on schoolwork. But I can only extend the assignment for one more week. Everyone else has already handed their essay in and in order to mark them all I need yours." Ms Bustier says. A sigh escapes my lips. I knew this was going to happen soon.

"But Ms Bustier, we've finished everything except for the last question. We don't know how to answer it." Adrien says warily. "What character are you doing?" She asks.

"We're going Puck from Midsummer's Night's Dream. We can't see how his character impacts the story." I jump in. It's been a month and I can't believe I've been pathetic enough to not answer a simple question. My cheeks burn in shame, what would my parents think?"

Ms Bustier clasps her hands together and looks at us expectantly, like she's waiting for us to figure out the answer ourselves. When she's met with our blank, confused stares she sighs.

"Looks like you're not there yet." She murmurs under her breath. "Can I have the essay?" She asks. When Adrien gives her the assignment she crosses out the last question on the criteria sheet and writes a new one.

"I'll give you guys some time to think about it. In the meantime, answer this question." She taps her finger on the question she just wrote. "I'll have you answer the other question at the end of the year for extra credit." She smiles.

"But what if we don't want the extra credit?" Adrien asks. Ms Bustier's smile grows. "Trust me, you will."

Me and Adrien push past the doors and enter the cafeteria. We still haven't talked and the silence between us is growing. I look at the new question on the criteria sheet. It's a simple one, so easy that I nearly thoughts Ms Bustier made a mistake.

"Why did Lysander and Demetrius both want to marry Hermia?" I say out loud. Adrien snorts. "It's obvious isn't it? Demetrius doesn't love Hermia and is only marrying her for his own use and Lysander wants to marry Hermia because he actually loves her!" Adrien continues. "And the reason why Lysander is being protective is because he actually loves her! Lysander has been there the whole time and he's saved her from countless situations but Hermia won't see and she keeps falling in love with Demetrius who doesn't even care for her at all and all he wants is to hurt her for his sadistic ways!" Adrien bursts out. His face is red and he's panting.

We stand there for a few seconds, the awkwardness stretching out. I don't know what to do after his outburst, so I do the only thing I know how: make things worse.

"Maybe... Demetrius actually cares for Hermia?..." I say meekly.

"NO HE DOESN'T!" Adrien shouts and stalks away, leaving me there. His words still echo in the hallway.

What did I do wrong?

"Hi Luka...can I sit here?" I ask. When I arrive at the cafeteria Adrien is no where to be seen. Since Alya is away and I'm only popular when's she there I have no one to sit with. Luka was sitting alone at the corner of a table, his eyes fixated on the same group of people.

"Sure Marinette!" He says, jerking out of whatever daze he was in. He gets up and pulls out a chair and I sit down. "How are you and Adrien?" He asks kindly, what I think is concern in his eyes.

I sigh, it's all I can do not to burst into tears. My life has been hectic the last few months, and I had to keep all my feelings bottled up. "It's been alright actually." I begin. I realise Luka's eyes have drifted off to the same group of people. What was his obsession with them?

"But we just got in a fight, you know." I continue. Immediately Luka turns his attention back to me, his eyes shining. "What happened?" He says, his features tight.

"I don't know!" I burst out so glad to have someone listening to me for once. "Adrien keeps saying that I should stay away from you but I think you've changed for the better...and we have an assignment we have to finish and he yelled at me! We were talking about some character Hermia and Demetrius and I don't know why he's angry." I say. Tears are beginning to gather on my cheeks.

"Adrien doesn't want you hanging out with me?" Luka asks. I nod, tears still in my eyes. "He's right you know... you shouldn't be hanging out with a criminal like me." He says, his eyes suddenly sad. He looks away. "I'm nothing. My parents are mad at me, no one wants to talk to me and I'm a loser." I immediately reach out an arm to comfort him.

"No! Your not a nobody. We all make mistakes when we're angry and it's important we forgive ourselves for them and understand why we did it. So then we can make sure that we don't repeat it in the future. If it helps, I forgive you." I say to Luka, hoping he'll be happier. "I trust you." I add, softly squeezing his arm.

"Y-you trust me?" He says. I nod, hoping he sees the good in him. All of a sudden his eyes narrow and he smiles wide. "That's great Marinette, that's great." He says, his smile growing wider and wider. I start to get a gut feeling.

Still smiling wide, he reaches out to hug me, whispering something in my ear.

"I knew I could always count on you."