To Love Thy Enemy

Chapter fifteen - ice cream

"Omg, there's Andre! We should totally go get ice cream!" Rose exclaimed, dragging Juleka towards the cart.

"I'm alright." Two voices spoke at the same time, resulting in Marinette casting a flat look in Adrien's direction and for him to purse his lips and completely ignore her.

They didn't say anything. Pretending the other didn't exist like they had the past hour.

The skating session had ended with the both of them avoiding any contact out of awkward embarrassment and pride.

"Aww come on Marinette, I'll pay?" Alya begged, clearly immensely guilty over abandoning her.

Marinette smiled, "I'm good Alya, I think I'll just go home."

Nino glanced over at Adrien, the same question in his eyes, to which Adrien answered with a shake of his head.

Truth be told, he was tired. Other than patrol, he planned to go home and forget about certain people while reading through the latest Ladyblog post. Alya had been excited about it so it was bound to be good.

Nino lifted his hand to wave goodbye as they approached the cart, "Alright see you du-"

"Nino and Alya! My favourite lovebirds!" Andre called, "And you brought friends!"

"Oh no, we're not-" Marinette tried to explain, to no avail.

"For Alya and Nino, your usual, and for the newcomers; blackberry for her hair and peppermint for his eyes!" The boisterous man announced, handing over a single cone with two scoops of a disgusting-looking combination piled on top.

The cone hung untouched from Adre's hands.

"You can have it Marinette," Adrien said, avoiding her eyes. Why couldn't he look her in the eye?

"No you go ahead, I actually...have somewhere to be," she responded, checking her phone.

Where could she possibly have to go at this time of night? Just take the ice cream.

Wait come to think of it...

Adrien checked his own phone, which read twenty to nine.

Adrien had patrol in twenty minutes.

"No, Marinette, really. Take the ice cream."

Andre looked visibly upset, cutting in before Marinette could offer a rebuttal, "I have two spoons, one for you and one for you, you can't eat a lovers ice cream alone."

Adrien's frown deepened, "but we're not-"

"Okay! We'll take it," Marinette interrupted hastily, grabbing the melting cone in one hand and Adrien's wrist in the other, dragging him over to the bench that sat Rose and Juleka, who were waiting for them to finish ordering.

"What are you doing?" Adrien hissed, leaning in to whisper by her ear. He had to leave. He had to meet Ladybug. He couldn't waste time eating lover's ice cream with Marinette.

"This is probably the very reason he got akumatised into Glaciator," Marinette huffed in response, "let's not let that happen again, shall we?"

"Got another person akumatised?" Adrien said snarkily, irritated at being dragged like a dog on a leash.

"I'd ask your girlfriend that same question."

"My- Chloe?" Adrien stuttered as they reached the bench, "For the last time she's not my girlfriend!"

"Only a matter of time," Marinette was unfazed and pulled Adrien down onto the bench beside her.

Right beside her.

Way too close beside her.

Before Adrien could make the slightest move away, Nino plopped down right beside him, trapping him against Marinette's stiff body.

"Do you want- um- ice cream?" Marinette asked, her voice an octave or too higher than what was considered 'normal.'

"No, I do not want toothpaste-flavoured berries, thank you," Adrien scowled. How was he supposed to make it to patrol now?

Marinette rolled her eyes, clearly trying to play off the whole thing, and slowly stabbed her spoon into the peppermint scoop.

"It's not toothpaste," she said insistently as she swallowed, her breathing appearing heavier than normal at his proximity.

Or maybe it was everything that had happened today.

Or both.

"Oh it so is," Adrien argued, lounging back against the bench and resting his arm dramatically along the back of the bench behind her, "and whose idea was it to mix it with blackberry? I mean come on."

Marinette leaned slightly forward away from his arm, "We'll it explains a lot doesn't it."

"What are you two talking about?" Nino asked, making Adrien look out at the four onlookers who were torn between bursting with laughter and playful concern.

Feeling his face flush against his will, Adrien rolled his eyes and attempted to play it off with a jovial, "ice cream flavours," which made the group - excluding Marinette - let out incredulous laughs.

"Okay well I do really have to go," Marinette said, trying to extricate herself from where she was crammed between Adrien and the arm-rest, "Adrien you can have this," she handed him the remains of the ice cream, only the blackberry scoop remaining on the cone, and continued to push herself off the seat.

Adrien stared blankly at the pinkish treat in his hands as all his friends bid Marinette goodbye, only realising once they had all re-seated again that he had to go too.

Before he had come up with an excuse, he leaped into a standing position, startling everyone else.

"I have to go too," he said, fidgeting with the cone that was dripping melted blackberry onto his fingers, "curfew, you know..."

He wasn't lying exactly. He did have a curfew, but there was somewhere else he needed to be.

His friends gave him confused goodbyes and he raced awkwardly down the street, dumping the half-melted cone into a bin and ducking into an alleyway once he was out of eye-shot.

"Ah I'm late," he muttered, his phone reading 9.15 pm.

"Plagg, Claws out!"

~♡~

Short chapter whoops.

Things will *hopefully* start speeding along and soon, once I get a couple things figured out. I don't want it to be too long so I'll probably aim for under thirty chapters, if I can.

Bug out!