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“I’m only here to establish an alibi,” Adrien rushes out the moment he steps into her room. It’s late, way past the acceptable time for someone to enter her room, and even more past the acceptable time for a boy to be in here. Marinette’s looking up from her sewing machine and blinking in shock, almost to make sure it isn’t a figment of her imagination.
“An alibi? Wait- what are you doing here?”
“Your parents let me in,” he explains, already tugging off the jacket he had on. He throws it onto the desk, gaze on Marinette as he starts rolling up his sleeves.
“Did you read my texts?”
“No…. Should I?” Marinette asks, watching as Adrien looks around her room. He nods at her, and tries to find a place to sit in the cluttered space.
Reaching for her phone, she unlocks it and quickly skims the many, manytexts he’s sent.
Oh, she thinks, setting her phone down and moving her clothes off a chair so Adrien can properly sit down.
“So, that’s gonna be your excuse for the night?” Marinette asks once he’s seated and her pile of clothes has been moved elsewhere. She takes the chair closest to him and quirks a brow, wondering what he’ll say in response.
“What, you think she won’t buy it?” he asks, and Marinette can’t help but roll her eyes.
“No, she’ll buy it all right,” Marinette says. “I’m just worried that she won’t be the only one who does, Adrien.”
He’s hiding out in her house, still out of breath after running up two flights of stairs to reach the room. While Marinette can’t say she wasn’t happy to see him (which she was with cherries on top), she couldn’t be all too pleased about the details surrounding why.
“I mean, how are you going to spin staying the night at my house in anyway positive?”
“That’s the point.”
“That’s the point?” Marinette repeats. She’s in disbelief, on the verge of breaking out into a classic Marinette stutter, complete with lack of balance and dizziness.
Adrien sighs, leaning forward and gazing at Marinette intensely.
“Come on, Mari,” he starts, using her nickname in the hopes she’ll soften up a bit. “You know how Lila is… how she lies like crazy whenever she gets the slightest control on something. I made the mistake of going on a date with her, but I can make sure she won’t start spouting lies if I can say I spent the night here with you!”
“Well, you’re right about that,” she manages to get out, anger flaring up at the thought of Lila’s stupid little face bragging about what a wonderful and amazing Parisian night she had with Adrien Agreste. “She’s probably trying to sell stories as we speak.”
“See? I knew you’d understand!” he exclaims. “Now, we just need a picture or two that I can post, and- “
“That still doesn’t mean I’m all on board,” she says quickly, hands held up in attempt to silence him. “While I support you and hate Lila, I’m not for having tabloids write accusations about what went down while you just ‘stayed the night’.”
“Marinette, don’t worry! I’m sure they won’t think that way.”
“You said the same thing when you need my help hiding from fans, and we ended up trending as a couple for two days, Adrien,” Marinette points out. Her heart flutters at the reminder, but she puts an end to it quickly.
“Well then, let’s just stay out on the rooftop. That way, we can show paparazzi snooping by that nothing happened, and make sure Lila can’t spin the story her way,” he suggests. Marinette’s quiet for a moment, wondering if there’s any way to tear his suggestion down, something that’ll prove she’s right and he’s wrong.
She finds nothing.
“I still don’t know why you went on a date with her when you know she’s a liar,” Marinette ends up saying, itching for the upper hand.
“Well, you know I just can’t say no, and- “
“You better start learning, Adrien. I’m telling Alya to sit you down and give you a thousand lectures how to if needed before you wind up in a situation like this again.”
Marinette’s dogging through her closet now, pulling out as many blankets as she has to keep them warm during the night. Balancing the stack, she starts for the hatch above her bed, not waiting around for Adrien to follow.
The Marinette of a year ago wouldn’t have done this, she tells herself as she prepares the balcony seats, layering blanket over blanket. Hell, even a few months ago she wouldn’t have. She couldn’t have imagined Adrien as one of her good friends, or that he’d be at her place first when a problem emerged. And to have her staring him down and talking like he was just another one of her friends, without a trace of the once nervous and crush-stricken girl she had once been… well it was definitely something.
But, Adrien Agreste was nothing more but a friend to her. Her crush had long been gone, and with it arrived the simplicity of conversation with him. It let her function for this long alone in a room with him without frying out, or turn red enough to paint the town. It let her relax, finally at peace with the fact she didn’t care for him anymore.
At least, that was what she had been telling herself ever since she found out he liked someone else.
Whatever the reason, Marinette finds it easy to sit on the balcony seats next to Adrien (who decided it’d be best to press them as close as possible to each other). She laughs at his jokes and sneaks food from the kitchen and bundles up when the late night breeze comes in and is just about to ask him hey, do you think Ladybug could kick Chat’s- when she notices he’s fallen asleep.
And yes, Marinette supposes she makes quite the alibi, brushing back his hair and making sure he’s not cold. She’s gazing at the stars then darting back down because she’s sure there’s some similar shimmer in his eyes, she’s positive of it. She’s watching over him until she feels the night’s sand dust her eyelids and make them droopy, still trying to bat them away and failing. She’s whispering a good night to him and leaving a hand rested in the space between them, one that doesn’t end up uncovered as the night goes on.
And yes, she makes quite an alibi indeed.