Miraculous | Meant To Be

Chapter 16

Adrien's POV

I woke up Monday morning, dreading school. How was I supposed to face Marinette after what happened Friday?!? I had finally come to terms with My Lady being someone else's, and I, myself, having someone else to love, and then Ladybug goes and kisses me!!

Okay, fine, I kissed her too. Like I had been previously dying to do! It was everything I'd ever imagined! (Except for that last bit where we ran off, but I wasn't counting that.) How is it fair that it had to happen now!

I grumbled, then suddenly sat up.

Poor Marinette! How would she take this? Not that she'd probably know for a good long while... But I love her, and I know it. There's just so much to love! She's so sweet and kind hearted, I don't want to hurt her with this, or with anything!

I smashed my face into my pillow and screamed.

"WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE ME??? "

I pulled my face out of my pillow and sighed. My only hope now is that Marinette can somehow forgive me, someday, and that school won't be too awkward.

But with my luck? It wasn't very likely.


—————

Marinette's POV

I groaned and rolled over as my alarm blared from my phone on the shelf above my bed.

"Marinette!" Tikki called from somewhere above my blankets, "you need to get ready for school!"

"Can't I just skip today? Call in sick?"

"Oh Marienette, you know you can't."

I grumbled incoherently.

"Marinette, it's a Monday! You can't miss the first day of the week!"

To be honest, I probably couldn't miss much more class anyways. What with being gone as Ladybug all the time. Being a superhero doesn't exactly leave room for a perfect attendance record.

"Alright," I groaned, sitting up,, finally shutting off my still beeping alarm.

I was not looking forward to school today. Even though it had been two days since I'd last seen either of the two boys that had been driving me crazy, I was sure I was going to be a walking disaster should I encounter either of them.

I walked down the stairs 5 minutes later and sat down at the counter with a bowl of cereal. Tikki sat across from me on the counter, eating a macaroon.

I sat there at the counter, silently and gloomily eating my cereal, when I heard someone sprinting up the stairs. Tikki immediately phased into my purse which was on the counter next to her, and I tensed.

"Marinette!!" I looked over to see Alya at the top of the stairs, speeding over to sit across from me at the counter.

"Hi" I said, looking at Alya almost warily.

"Hi!" She smiled.

"Uhhh.... what's up?" I asked, giving her awkward finger guns, still a little wary from her sudden entry.

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to see how you were doing."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Just like I said yesterday on the phone, I'm doing fine. How are you??" I was very confused.

"Oh I'm doing great." She beamed.

Right then, Tikki phased back out of my bag and began eating another macaroon. They shared a knowing glance.

Now I was even more confused.

I was about to ask them what they were on about, when my mom called up from the bakery.

"Mari, honey, school starts in 5 minutes! Shouldn't you be on your way?"

I groaned and Alya smirked. I noticed this, and gave her my "I'm judging you" face.

She laughed and stood up, grabbing her bag from the floor where she'd dropped it.

"C'mon Mare-Bear-" she said as I begrudgingly stood and grabbed my own bag.

"Don't you even, Alya. I told you, that nickname is a thing of the past." I said, my finger very nearly stabbing her in the eye as I pointed accusingly.

We walked down the stairs and through the bakery, almost out the door as we waved to my parents.

"Have a good day honey!" Maman called.

"Bye, Mare-Bear!" Papa waved as I facepalmed and Alya grinned.

"What's got you in such a good mood anyways?" I asked, trudging behind my best friend, dreading what would occur once we inevitably reached the classroom.

"Oh nothing!" She smiled, glancing at my bag with Tikki in it. "What's got you so mopey?"

I turned red.

"I dunno.... I woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess..." I said. You know, like a liar. I knew perfectly well why I was acting the way I was. I just was not ready for Alya to know. She may be my best friend, but this was too embarrassing to even admit to myself, let alone my teasing best friend.

We had made it to the locker room by that point, and I grabbed my tablet out of my bag before putting it in my locker. I closed my locker, my tablet in hand, and Alya dragged me out to the staircase.

"C'mon!! You don't want to be late do you?!?"

"I'm always late Alya! It doesn't matter!"

"Why don't you surprise Ms. Bustier by being on time for once?"

"Not today Alya. I'm not... I can't... I-"

But it was too late. We were already in the classroom, Alya dragging me to our seats.

Adrien wasn't there yet, but Nino was in his seat and waved to us, a smile and a look of vague concern on his face.

Alya waved back, grinning from ear to ear as I let her drag me behind her. Nino's eyebrows only furrowed further.

Once we sat down, Alya and I continued chatting about whatever, and Nino turned to join our conversation. And at the very last second, right as the bell rang, Adrien appeared at the door. All but sprinting to his seat.

If I thought my face was red, it appeared his was worse. He gave me an awkward wave/finger guns/smile before turning to face the teacher, his ears, barely visible, but quite red.

If anyone should be embarrassed, it should've been me! Why was he turning red?

Oh no. Had he found out??? I put my face in my hands, my face instantly flaming, and I began legitimately debating if turning into Ladybug to escape out the window would make things better or worse.

I was pulled out of my panicking when Alya poked me. "She's here Ms."

My head shot up, and I nodded. "Here! I'm here!"  Adrien turned and smiled at me, still red faced as the class laughed at my very red, very awkward face.

Worse. So much worse.

—————

After class, in which I have no idea what we talked about, I instantly sped to the bathroom, Alya following at a more comfortable pace.

I sat down on the chair in the corner of the room (that was for some reason still there from when Juleka was akumatized) and pulled my knees up to my chest.

Alya walked in, one hand on her hip, looking at me with a face that said "seriously?"

"Seriously girl?" I totally called it. "What's up with you and Adrien? You guys were doing so well on Friday!"

I sighed. Time to tell Alya I suppose.

"Well.... you see... the thing is... uh so Alya?"

She stared at me, arms crossed, and eyebrows raised.

"Yes?"

"Well... you know how, I kinda have a second soulmate?"

"Chat Noir yes I-"

"SHHH ALYA!!" I whisper shouted, "Not so loud! I told you, keep it on the down low!"

She just looked at me. I continued.

"Well so um.... I may or may not have.... uh... kissed him...." I mumbled, each word quieter than the last.

"I know."

"I know, I know! I'm terrible, but before you start yelling at me hear me- hold on, what?"

"I know."

This time I looked at her. She was smirking, one eyebrow raised, shoulders slightly shaking. She was laughing at me!!

"Wait, Alya! What do you mean, you know???"

This time she actually started laughing.

"Alya!!" I cried indignantly.

This only made her laugh harder.

"Alya!!!"

She was wheezing now, bent over, clutching her sides.

I groaned and stood up.

"Whatever. We need to get to Mandeleive's before it starts because that's a class I will not be late to."

I grumbled and walked out the door. Alya followed, still laughing her head off. I was just about ready to turn around and tell her off, but when I looked up from the floor, it was only a split second before I crashed into someone.

"Oh! Sorry, I-" he turned, and before I even saw his face, I knew I was doomed. "Eep! Uh, Adrien!! Hi?"
I said, knowing I probably sounded like an idiot.

When his eyes met mine, they went wide, then he looked away, his face aflame.

"Hi! Um, hi there Marinette! I uh.... hi?"

Nino, who I had just noticed standing next to Adrien, elbowed him, rolling his eyes.

"I was hoping we'd run into you guys." Nino said, "although I didn't guess it would be so literal."

Alya snorted. "Hey Nino-"

I knew what she was doing. I glared at her. She just smiled back.

"I was wondering if you could help me out with my headphones? They aren't working very well."

Nino's eyes lit up. "Yeah! I could totally check them out! I'd need to grab some stuff from my locker tho-"

"That's totally fine!" Alya smiled at her boyfriend. "Bye Mari, we'll be back!"

"Hey what about class?" I called after her, my face turning red already in anticipation.

"We have ten minutes still!" She called back as she and Nino disappeared around a corner.

I rolled my eyes. I knew that her headphones hadn't been working, she'd told me. But did she have to do something about that now?

I turned back around to look at Adrien, but he wasn't there. I blinked a couple times in shock.

"Adrien?" I said, spinning to see if I had just missed him, which admittedly, wasn't likely, but I checked anyways. "Adrien?"

He was nowhere to be found. I shrugged and began walking towards the classroom. That's one less awkward confrontation for me.

"Wait! Marinette!" Or not.

I turned to see Adrien running to catch up.

"Sorry!" He said, "my kw- ahaha my phone went off and I had to answer it. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay! I just uh, didn't wanna be late to class! Yep! Because class is soon! Yeppppp!"

Aaaaand the awkward is back. My face, undoubtedly, was flushing yet again.

"Yes Chemistry! Hahaha we have that.... uh we have that nEXT!! Yeah.... yeah next! that's the next class!" Adrien rambled.

"Yeah! Chemistry!! We have that class together! We have Chemistry... class! I don't have chemistry with anyone else. Any other guy? Alya's in there, and Nino! So yes other guys but- uh..."

I cringed. If Alya were watching, I would absolutely get bugged about her secondhand embarrassment later.

I felt my phone buzz against my leg. I pulled it out of my bag, looking for an escape. I had no such luck.

I read the text from Alya which read, "Hey! Nino is going to be my lab partner today! Guess you and blondie are going to have to be buddies today!! ;)"

I turned red, and immediately texted back.

">:O Alya! Don't you dare!"

"Oops! Too late! I've already informed Mandeleive! ;P"

">:(   I'm revoking your cookie privileges"

"*le gasp* you wouldn't DARE!! :O"

">:) oh but I wOULD."

I looked up at Adrien to see him looking down at his own phone, typing furiously, his face also red.

I cleared my throat. "So uh, it looks like we're going to be lab partners today!!" I was sure I looked as awkward as ever.

"That's what Nino told me.... did uh, did Alya text you?"

"Yep," I said, giving him finger guns and internally screaming.

"Cool, cool.... so uhhh, did you wanna head to class?"

I looked at the clock on my phone. "Shoot! We only have three minutes before the bell rings!"

Adrien muttered under his breath, then nodded. "Alright let's go."

We both took off running down the hall, across the courtyard, and took the stairs two at a time. We kept pace the whole way, falling into the front seats as the one minute bell rang.

We started copying down the notes on the board, preparing for today's lab, when I made a sudden realization. Adrien wasn't out of breath in the slightest. We just ran across the entire school, and he didn't even break a sweat! I mean, neither did I, but I ran across Paris almost daily, so the school was nothing in comparison.

I let myself wonder about it for a minute while I was taking notes. Suddenly I facepalmed. Duh! He does fencing! I'm sure they make them run laps or something.

Adrien looked over at me, probably concerned about how I'd just smacked myself in the face. I just flashed him an awkward smile and kept writing on my tablet.

When the bell rang, and class began, Ms. Mandeleive started droning on about lab safety, again, and instructing us about the lab we were going to be doing today. As per usual, my notes slowly became doodles. The doodles gradually starting to form a sketch.

I kept scribbling, adding on to what I already had, not really paying attention to class or what I was doing.

I was so busy not paying attention, that I only looked up when my tablet was whisked away from me.

"Ms Dupain-Cheng, why aren't you paying attention?! Accuracy is critical in this lab!  If you get this formula wrong like you did your last one, the consequences could be catastrophic!!"

I turned red, embarrassed by her rebuke. The last lab I'd done had ended with Ivan, Alix, and I with singed eyebrows, and a trip to the nurse's office.

"-and where have you placed your focus instead? On a drawing of Chat Noir no less! This reminds me of the time I had to send Mr. Kurtzberg to the princip-"

I'd stopped paying attention as soon as she had labeled my drawing for what it (quite obviously now) was. Oh no. Oh no. OH NO!! This was the WORST thing that could happen!!! Okay maybe not the worst, but it's certainly not ideal!!!

I realized not paying attention was what got me into this mess so I focused back on my teacher.

"-cause I don't want to be the cause of another Akuma," she rolled her eyes, "I suppose I'll let you off with a warning and an extra equation to balance." She placed my tablet back down on my desk and returned to the front of the classroom.

I was frozen to the spot, staring at Ms. Mandeleive pace the length of her desk, back and forth, back and forth, pretending I was paying attention.

A few seconds later I went to scribble some notes down for the lab, but I realized my tablet wasn't on the desk. I looked around, even checking my bag to see if I'd put it away absentmindedly.

No luck.

I turned to ask Adrien if he knew where it went, only to see him holding it, examining my Chat Noir doodle. His cheeks were red (yet again! Was he wearing blush or something today?) and I wondered why. I was the one who had reason to be embarrassed.

He looked up and blanched, seeing me stare at him, my mouth open. He handed me my tablet back and his hand went to the back of his neck.

"Sorry," he whispered.

I nodded, trying to assure him it was okay.

As I started writing down the instructions for the lab, I let my thoughts wander again. Why was Adrien acting so weird today? Why was he embarrassed about my drawing? I was the one who got in troub- ...oh NO.

Oh no, oh no, OH NO!!

Adrien is my soulmate!! Of course he would be bothered that I was drawing some other guy in class!!!

Dang it!! This is a disaster!! I'll apologize as soon as we start on the lab portion... that is, as soon as Ms. Purple Spikes quits talking.


—————

Adrien's POV

I was just writing down the notes, paying attention best I could with everything that was going on, when Ms. Mandeleive started rambling on about Marinette not paying attention. I wasn't really focused on what she was saying until I heard my name.

"-a drawing of Chat Noir no less. This reminds me of the time I had to send Mr. Kurtzberg to the principal's office for drawing you! I swear art students-"

I never heard what she had to say about art students, because I was too busy staring at the drawing on Marinette's tablet.

Marinette was drawing me? Well, Chat Noir, but close enough. But why? Why would she draw me? I couldn't see it well enough to have any reaction except shock.

As soon as the teacher put Marinette's tablet down on our shared desk, I gently grabbed it to see the picture up close.

It was amazing. The amount of detail, especially for a sketch was incredible. Had she drawn this from memory? I continued to admire it until I looked up to see Marinette staring at me, confusion evident on her face.

I blanched.

"Sorry" I whispered as I handed her tablet back, my face probably red yet again.

She nodded reassuringly, and I smiled as she began taking notes again.

But my brain could no longer focus on the teacher's instructions. My thoughts were running in circles, trying to figure out why Marinette would be drawing Chat Noir? And why was she so embarrassed about it? To be fair, her embarrassment could be due to the fact that she'd been called out in front of the class, but why had she been drawing me in the first place?

I shook my head, and finally focused back on Ms. Mandeleive, and she finally released us to begin the lab. I shoved my thoughts about Marinette's drawing to the back of my mind.

Those were thoughts for another day.

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Hey guys!! Thanks for coming back to read this chapter!! Lol I was initially planning for 15 chapters and maybe an epilogue, but it's beginning to look like 20. 😆 Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I'll see you on the flip side!!