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Nino was never good at keeping secrets.
From a slip of the tongue revealing birthday gifts to accidentally leaking Adrien’s credit card number (which was, as he so constantly reminded, really was an accident) to the one time he almost told the entire class where Alya’s most embarrassing birthmark was, he was constantly revealing things.
“You have a problem,” Alya tells him, shoving an ice cream cone in his hand.
“A serious problem,” Marinette agrees, hands full of two cones of her own. She gives one to Alya and keeps the other for herself, taking a quick lick.
“You guys overexaggerate.” Nino bites into his ice cream, drawing grimaces from the two. “I’m not even that big of a blabbermouth anymore.”
“Anymore,” Alya points out. They walk away from the counter, sitting down at an empty table near the front of the shop.
“It’s really not my fault, when you think about it. I just like sharing stuff!”
“Sharing stuff that could end our social lives.”
“Oh please, I haven’t even said anything big! Now, let’s say I was best friends with like Chat Noir or Ladybug. Then, that would be pretty big.”
“Yeah,” Marinette says, chuckling nervously. She nervously twirls the bottom of her pigtails. Thank gosh Master Fu and Tikki always made clear that she could never reveal her identity to anyone, or else Nino would have probably informed half of Paris by now.
Alya laughs, the ice cream slowly sliding off her cone and onto her hand. She sighs, grabbing a napkin and cleaning her hand up as best as she can.
“Ugh, why did we get cones? I’m gonna ask if they can give me a cup to put this in.” She stands up, one hand placed underneath the one holding her ice cream in an attempt to keep any more from dripping. “Keep an eye out for Adrien! He texted me saying he’ll show up soon!”
“Adrien’s coming?”
“Oh, don’t look so surprised, Marinette. You invited him to join us!” Nino says, prompting a glare from Marinette and an arched brow from Alya. “Oops.”
“Marinette, getting bold these days aren’t we?” Alya asks. “I can’t believe you actually asked him!”
“I texted,” she says, cheeks ready.
“You have his number? Girl, you are good!” Alya cups her hand harder, the small trickles of ice cream turning into a puddle. “I gotta get something for this. But when I come back you better be ready to spill.”
“Nino!” Marinette groans out, cheeks red. “I told you I didn’t want Alya to know I invited him! You said you’d cover for me!”
“I forgot,” Nino apologizes, hand out to protect himself from Marinette’s superhero like strength.
Seriously, the girl was built.
She sighs, filling her mouth with ice cream to cool her face a bit. Too much leads to a brain freeze, Marinette squeezing her eyes shut and bringing her tongue to the roof of her mouth.
“It’s alright,” she sighs out once she’s dealt with the brain freeze. She smiles at her friend, letting him know not to worry. “As long as you didn’t tell him The Secret, it’s cool.”
“Now that’s the one thing I can assure you Adrien won’t find out about.” Nino bites into the cone, feeling the chocolate coating the inside buzz on his taste buds.
“Find out about what?” asks a voice behind them.
“Oh, Marinette’s crush on- “ Nino starts, before he freezes once he realizes who the voice is.
“Adrien!” Marinette exclaims, scooting her seat over and shooting Nino a look. “Glad to be you! I mean see you!”
“Hey guys,” he says, flashing the two a smile. He glances around. “Where’s Alya?”
“Right here!” Alya smiles, ice cream planted in a bowl with the cone sticking upwards. She grabs a chair from an empty table and pushes it their direction for Adrien. “What are we talking about?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. You said Marinette had a crush? On who?” Adrien asks, sitting down and staring at Nino. Alya and Marinette stare Nino down, both giving death glares his way.
“On… on…” he trails off, taking a huge bite of his ice cream to avoid answering. Nino cringes, brain freeze racking his body.
“Nobody!” he says after a moment.
“Oh come on, you guys can’t keep me out of the loop! Just because I’m a model doesn’t mean I’m not human. Is he cute? Is he nice? Marinette, why don’t you tell me?” Adrien leans his elbows on the table and places his head in his hands, throwing the bluenette a smile.
Marinette’s eyes widen, heart jumping and skipping in her chest. Her brain has stopped functioning, error_help flashing over and over. Vaguely, she remembers that one perfume ad he once did, the words flashing through her mind.
Radiant… carefree… dreamy…
“Adrien…”
“What?” he asks, confused. “Did you say my name?”
Marinette blinks, backing into her seat so harshly she almost falls over.
“No! Of course not!”
“You know, Adrien’s pretty dense,” Nino whispers to Alya. “You’d think he’d get a clue by now?”
“Get a clue about what?” Adrien asks, looking back at the couple.
Nino straightens his spine. “Nothing!”
Adrien narrows his eyes, looking suspiciously at them.
“Do I know the person she likes? Are they a model?”
“Well… yes,” Alya lets out, shifting in her seat. “But, that’s all we can share I suppose.”
“I guess that means they’re good looking, huh?”
“Very,” Marinette squeaks out.
“Hmm… No one’s ringing a bell!”
“No one? At all?” Alya questions.
“Nope.” Adrien throws another smile at Marinette. “When you want to tell me who it is, feel free to! I don’t look like it, but I’m pretty good at romance.”
“That’d be… great,” she manages to say, pleased in not stuttering. She sighs, glad he’s put the question at rest.
Or so she thought.
“Adrien, the person she likes is you!” is blurted out, a collective gasp gathered. A silence draws over the table, each occupant in utter shock. Marinette’s ice cream slowly falls, splattering onto the table in dramatic fashion. She looks at the person who spoke, but is beaten to the chase for the scolding.
“Alya! How could you?” Nino says, looking at his girlfriend.
“He was pissing me off,” she simply says. “I couldn’t hold back any longer. Marinette, I’m sorry. M… Marinette?”
Marinette’s face is the opposite of what they’ve expected. Pale, too pale. Worriedly, Alya wonders if she’s going to faint, and jumps up to aide her best friend.
“Marinette? Marinette? Want to maybe answer a few questions, let me know you’re okay? Marinette? How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Three.”
“Okay, that’s good. Now, what’s your name?”
“Ladybug...”
“No, sweetie, your name.”
“M-Marinette…”
“Good! We’re getting somewhere!”
“So… want to look at the ice cream flavors?” Nino asks, getting Adrien’s attention away from the two girls. Weirdly, he looks almost as pale as Marinette.
He nods, limply standing up. Nino wraps an arm around him, leading him towards the ice creams.
“And they said I was gonna be the one to spill about her crush,” he mumbles, a bit proud he held up for so long. “To think it would be Alya!”
Adrien tries to follow, but his mind is overall at a lost as he struggles to come to terms with the past five minutes.
“Six months I’ve kept that hidden! Six months!” Nino looks over at Adrien, patting him on the shoulder.
“You know,” he continues, “I didn’t really think I had it in me. I’m glad for once I wasn’t the one spilling the beans, like when I told the class your dad once made you bleach your hair.”
Adrien stops, mind brought to reality. He looks at Nino, pretty boy face gone and “Oh my God what did you do” all over it.
“You told them what!?”
Oops.