heartstrings(marichat)ps not mine

chapter 7

Adrien's fatigue is nearly non-existent. He'd been lit up like a Christmas tree after seeing Marinette last night, and it took a while for him to unplug and wind down. His dazzled excitement led to a poor night's sleep, though he can't feel it. He's still running on adrenaline, unsure if he'd even slept at all last night, or if he'd just fallen into a daze.

When his phone buzzed at 5 a.m., announcing his wake-up call for a last-minute charity event, he rolled out of bed without reluctant fanfare. The sooner he got it over with, the sooner he'd be able to go to school. The sooner he'd be able to see Marinette. Anything was worth it if the mere promise of seeing Marinette was what waited on the other side of the obstacle.

Now that it is all over, he's practically vibrating with energy. He shakes the hands of the event organizers with overzealous vigor, smiling brightly even as he tries to tie up the loose ends of the conversations as quickly as possible. Most of the volunteers are too euphoric about his father's sponsorship and Adrien's involvement to take offense.

"I thought we were never getting out of there," Plagg says as Adrien practically skips to the car, where his driver waits in the front seat silently. The model waves one last time over his shoulder at the volunteers with a Chat-like grin and then opens the vehicle door.

"Me either," Adrien replies with buoyancy, light as air.

"You're awfully cheerful for someone who didn't sleep last night," the kwami observes.

Adrien shrugs. "Imagine having the best slice of Camembert possible and multiply it by a thousand."

"That," Plagg surmises with curiosity, "is some strong cheese."

"That's Marinette."

"You're comparing Marinette to cheese?"

Adrien laughs good-naturedly and holds up his hands in surrender. "I thought you'd understand the analogy." He slides into the car, silencing Plagg from making anymore snide remarks. Once the door is shut behind him, his driver pulls away from the curb and stars toward the school.

Since its on the other side of town, Adrien pulls out his phone and hums tunelessly under his breath as he thumbs through the news updates. The first couple are in no way noteworthy. He doesn't even remember the headlines as he flips past them, only part of his attention even focused on his phone. Most of him is absent, lost in a haze of heaven-blue eyes and warm sugar words whispered the night before.

So he almost doesn't catch the last headline. The only reason he scrambles to find the photo he flicked past is because he recognizes the wrought iron railing and the small pot with a rosebush hanging over the fence.

The blood drains from his face as he shoulders stiffen and a gasp of terrible surprise rips from his throat. Shit, he thinks staring wide-eyed at the picture on his phone, hand trembling slightly. Shit, this is definitely a picture of him as Chat Noir. On Marinette's balcony.

Kissing her.

His mouth goes dry as his heart squeezes in panic, a sudden rush of guilt making him clutch at the seat of the car. He frantically checks the publication time of the article and feels sick to see that it's been posted for over four hours now. Marinette has been at school for two at this point, facing the fallout of this all on her own.

Adrien drags a hand down his face, trying to breathe deeply.

"Adrien? Are you okay?" His driver asks, some measure of concern in his voice.

The model blinks, eyes feeling hot, burning as he stares at the image in his hand. "I-I'm fine," he replies quickly and unconvincingly. He's not. The lie is ugly in his mouth. He's the furthest thing from fine. Adrien is used to publicity as both himself and when he's Chat. Being under the lense of a camera is nothing new to him. He's learned how to sneak away just enough to balance his double lives without anyone being aware.