Miraculous Ladybug: Bloodied, Bruised And Broken

Are we partners?

A week passed since the Ladybug and Chat Noir celebratory festival, and Alya still hadn't mentioned the recording. Maybe she deleted it! I smiled.

'Alright class, settle down,' Mdme. Bustier motioned with her arms for everyone to sit down. 'Today we will be having art class, and yes...you are allowed to choose the partner you will be working with today.'

Alya nudged me excitedly, probably suggesting I pair with Adrien.

'But, I must warn you. The person you choose must be comfortable with being with you, just as you are with them. Because today we will be drawing portraits of each other.' She smiled. 'You may choose your partners now if you haven't already done so when you weren't paying attention to me.

I gulped. Well that left Adrien out then, including the automatic choice being Chloé. I could choose Alya, but then she might strike up a conversation with me about a topic I didn't particularly like. What about Nathanaël? Yeah! Nath is really friendly to me, and he's an amazing artist. I should go with him!

'Hey Nino, partner me?' Alya leaned over the desk and smiled. She turned to me for a second and smirked devilishly before returning to respond to Nino's answer.

'Sure, Alya,' Nino winked happily. 'But wait what about my bro Adrien? Who is he gonna partner with? It better not be Chloè.'

All of us frowned and stared at the yellow demon that was ordering Sabrina to do both of the portraits, however hers had to be "the best looking out of all the artworks, becuase it's the truth in real life."

'Yeah no, I'm not going with Chloe on this one,' Adrien shuddered, turning his head back to our conversation. 'She's extremely clingy to me and with a project like this, she'd make it too...intimate.' 

We all agreed with him; me most of all. I was so glad that Adrien didn't want to go with Chloé as his partner. But I also felt anxious, I didn't want him with anyone else, yet I can't even talk to him!! Ugh, why is my life so unnecessarily difficult?

Alya suddenly spoke up, that shit-eating grin still plastered on that smug face of hers. 'Good luck finding a partner Adrien,' she smiled good-naturedly, however I knew the mechanics behind that mask. 'Hey Marinette!' She then turned to me. 'Who are you partnering up with?'

'5 minutes left to decide, class!' Ms Bustier's voice chimed out, like bittersweet bells declaring a deadline.

'Uh...um...w-well...' I stuttered, completely unnecessary seeing as I had already decided who my partner would be. 'I was going to go with Nathanaël!'

Behind me, I heard a thump and soon after, the familiar sound of dropped books. Adrien looked towards the noise along with Alya, but I took the opportunity to stare into Adrien's gorgeous face. Although...it wasn't his best face for some reason. He was making a really wierd look at Nath's embarassment-not jealousy, but...annoyance maybe? As some random idea, I thought he looked like a grumpy cat or a child that just lost his crossants.

'You okay, dude?' I heard Nino ask, and a mumbled, babbled response of "yes" was returned.

'You have one minute left, so grab a partner now or I will pair you myself.' Ms Bustier announced once again.

Adrien suddenly started to laugh. His hand slapped the table slightly, and he shook his head in glee. 'I'm such an idiot!' He chuckled between his sentence. 'Marinette, we can be partners!'

...
...What?
Oh mon dieu, Marinette.exe has stopped working!!
Partner with Adrien?
But. But. But I. I couldn't even.

'Uh-uh?! Y-Yes! I'd lovener to part you with!' Oh no. 'I mean, I'd partner with you to love? No! Wait! Uhm..I'd love to partner with you!'