Stray ~ A MariChat Love Story (Complete)

Chapter 14: Free Falling

"I don't understand it." muttered Plagg, "If you like both then just say so. But you're really gonna hurt yourself if you keep this up."

Adrien huffed and walked up the stairs of their school building. "I'm just gonna say hi. That's what friends do." He peered over the mass of students for any sign of Marinette, but he couldn't find her.

"Hey, dude. What's up?" asked Nino. He came up to Adrien with his arm wrapped tightly around Alya's shoulder and grinned. "Did your Dad totally bum out your weekend with all those photo-shoots?"

"Yeah, it was busy I guess." He pointed towards them and frowned, "Did I miss something?"

Nino sent him a lazy smirk and Alya chuckled. "Well," she began, "My boyfriend and I just became exclusive."

Adrien's jaw dropped. "When did this happen?"

"About after that zoo trip. You remember right? The one when you were helping me ask Marinette out?" His words sent an unpleasant shiver down Adrien's spine, but he did his best to ignore it.

"Yeah," he said curtly. Plagg sniggered from inside his shirt and Adrien did his best to keep his expression neutral. When he got home, that cat was gonna –

"Well Ladybug kinda threw us in a cage together when all the animals were stampeding all over the place and we kinda hit it off." added Alya, shrugging off Nino's arm.

"But that was such a long time ago." Adrien thought back to that day –the day he'd thought he'd lost Ladybug. They'd come so far together, but they still weren't any closer to finding Hawk Moth or discovering each other's identities. His heart sunk.

Nino nodded and Alya smiled brightly, "We've been keeping it on the down-low, you know, seeing how this all goes. But after this weekend it's official. You can even check it out on the Ladyblog if you want."

"No joke, Dude. I didn't believe it at first, but it's pretty sick. Turns out the whole class were rooting for us." He chuckled, but Adrien's mind was racing. If they were together, then what would that mean for him and –

"Does Marinette know?" he asked. He felt Plagg shift against him and did his best not to glare.

Alya frowned, "Yeah, of course she does. She was actually the first to know the day after it all started."

He waited for her to elaborate as to where Marinette was or what she was doing, but the brunette kept quiet and Adrien was forced to ask. "So, do you know where she is?" he mumbled. He meant for his voice to come out strong and confident like it usually did, but he felt awfully shy asking about her like this.

Nino's eyes widened and Alya's sparkled. Strange.

"And why are you asking?" she countered, stepping closer to him, "I can always pass on the message if you want."

Adrien's heart raced and he swallowed deeply. "No reason." he replied, "I was just –uh, wondering. We haven't spoken in a while. That's all." He scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, she's not coming." said Nino.

Adrien's head snapped to him, "What? Why? Is something wrong?"

Alya's grin widened and Nino patted his shoulder. "She's sick, Dude. She said she left her window open last night during that cold front and might've caught something nasty."

"Guess you'll be stuck with us then." said Alya.

The window. Of course. It must've swung open during the night. Adrien sighed and nodded to them, "Sounds like a plan."