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Adrien walked inside the school and across the school yard toward his classroom, bag slung over his shoulder and destination set in mind.
As his eyes roved around, he caught sight of his classmate Marinette up ahead talking animatedly with Alya, her arms flying around as she gesticulated wildly.
Seeing her in her element made the corner of Adrien’s lips quirk upward, the sight of her enough to somehow calm him for reasons he couldn’t understand.
He saw Marinette and Alya reach the second floor now but by some stroke of bad luck, Marinette slipped on a stair when she was close to the second floor, wobbling precariously as Alya tried to grab her to stop her from her impending doom.
It was like slow motion.
Marinette released a high-pitched shriek as she stumbled down, arms flailing about with one hand occupied on her bag and the other clutching uselessly at air, trying to grab Alya’s outstretched hand.
Adrien didn’t think; he acted.
In a split second he ran up the stairs with his arms at the ready, the breath knocked out of him when Marinette’s back collided with his chest. Her bag also whizzed by his head, missing his ear by inches as her fall was jerkily stopped.
His arms curled around her midsection, halting her motion with his own force as he made sure to stand firm on his feet so he too wouldn’t tumble back.
“A – ah!” Marinette stuttered, quickly out of his arms in a second and twirling around to face him, face red as a tomato. “S – Sorry for balling – I mean falling!”
Her blunder around him was something that took some getting used to but now Adrien could proudly say he was able to decipher most (if not all) of her jumbled-up words in their long run as friends.
He smiled to somehow ease her, not wanting to embarrass her further by doing anything reckless or incriminating.
“That was quite a fall. It was a good thing you didn’t break your leg; that would be a catastrophe.”
Marinette giggled slightly but then a pitiful wince escaped her as she crouched down to press both hands on her left ankle, Adrien moving on autopilot to follow her posture, concern written on his face.
Alya had run down the stairs to join them, laying a comforting hand on Marinette’s shoulder as she looked on in worry before turning to Adrien.
“What happened?”
“I managed to catch her but it seems even her ankle wasn’t spared,” Adrien answered. He then turned to Marinette, hesitating for a moment before gently touching her arm, her attention snapping to him and her blue eyes blown wide. It was such a sight to behold that he had to take a few moments to compose himself and unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth to ask, “Can you walk or it’s too bad?”
Marinette shot to her feet then, ready to say she was fine when she whined in pain. She toppled for a moment before Adrien stood to full height, hands shooting out again to steady her by the arms. Pink bloomed on her cheeks as she seemed to lose a breath before locking eyes with him again.
“Mm-hmm yeah this won’t do,” Alya said, breaking the moment and standing as both Adrien and Marinette turned to her with matching blushes. Either Alya saw and chose not to comment or she didn’t but Adrien saw the way the smallest of smirks passed her lips so he wasn’t sure he was safe.
“Wh – what do you mean?” squeaked Marinette, horror in her expression.
“I mean that you can’t go walking around with a sprained ankle, that’s what,” Alya said. She then turned to Adrien. “Sunshine, since you saved her a million times you should take Mari to the clinic. I’ll explain to Mme. Bustier about what happened so you go on now.”
“A – Alya no!” Marinette said breathily, her grip on Adrien’s forearms tightening just a tad. “You – “
“Uh-uh girl you’re in no state to walk,” Alya said, waggling a finger. “Looks like your luck ran out today so it’s either the clinic or you’re going home.”
Marinette moaned before begrudgingly agreeing. She looked past Adrien’s shoulder to see where her bag went, surprise coloring her features as she saw Nino holding onto the strap, winking at Marinette.
“I’ve got you dudette,” he said, walking up the stairs to sling his free arm around Alya. “Now just go before your ankle starts to swell.”
Adrien gave his best friend a smile and helped Marinette down the stairs. It took two steps for Nino to say loudly, “Dude you’ll make it to the clinic after ten years in that pace! Just go carry her!”
“Yeah Adrien!” Alya agreed.
“No no please don’t,” Marinette whimpered, gazing at Adrien pleadingly.
He had half a mind to heed to her request but she wobbled unsteadily and clutched tighter to him, which was enough prompting for Adrien to take off his bag and fling it toward Nino, who caught it swiftly and smirked.
Marinette’s well-being mattered more to him so he gave an apologetic smile before breezily lifting her off her feet, Marinette screaming shrilly in surprise and her arms flying around before finding purchase on his shoulders, fingers digging a tad too much on his shoulder blades even through the material of his button-down shirt.
He made no comment though, walking speedily toward the clinic with one hand supporting her lower back and the other holding the backs of her knees in a typical bridal-style carry.
“Sorry about this, Marinette,” he said as he continued walking. “I saw you injure yourself and almost fall. I don’t want to take any more chances of you hurting yourself so I hope you’ll forgive me for this.”
Marinette’s gaze snapped to him, cheeks pink and eyes wide with her mouth slightly gaping. She seemed to shake herself out of her stupor for a guilty look to pass her features. This worried Adrien, wondering what was going through her mind for such an expression to take its place on her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her back slumping in his arms. “Because of my clumsiness I made you miss class.”
Oh, she was worried about that? It made his heart both ache and soar at how she cared so much about his studies.
“Marinette, studies are all good and I have no problem catching up,” he reassured softly as they reached the clinic, Adrien reaching around to twist the doorknob and push open the door with his foot. He went inside and heard the low hum of the air conditioning before focusing once again on Marinette’s expression, all soft and open. “But you’re my friend and I’ll do all I can to make sure you get better.”
He wasn't able to see her reaction since a nurse then appeared and directed Adrien to the closest bed, where he gently set down Marinette. As her body hit the mattress, he felt her slim arms winding around and off his shoulders, her warmth something he missed instantly.
He stepped aside for the nurse to patch up Marinette’s swollen ankle, prompting her to remove her ballet flat and pressing an ice pack for a few minutes before wrapping it all up tidily with gauze.
The nurse smiled kindly at Adrien and said, “She’ll be good to go in a few minutes’ time but I advise that she doesn’t strain herself too much else her ankle will worsen. Luckily there was no break or hairline fracture in her bone. It was all in the muscle but still, she should take it easy.”
Adrien nodded to show his understanding, determination filling him.
“Yes I understand. Thank you for patching her up.”
Her smile turned warm and she nodded once, seemingly satisfied.
“You take care of her well. I appreciate that and leave her to your hands.”
Adrien felt his cheeks and neck heat up and ducked his head after another nod. He heard the nurse’s tinkling laugh of amusement before her kitten heels clicked away until he was made painfully aware that he was alone with Marinette.
“Adrien?”
At a moment he was already beside her, wanting to help in any way.
A blush bloomed on her cheeks before she said, “You can go now. I’ll just rest here and stay put.”
He quirked an eyebrow, a little unsure. He knew Marinette could be quite stubborn when she put her mind to something, a trait she shared with her best friend Alya. Would she really stay put?
As if he said that aloud or his question was clear on his expression, Marinette chuckled and held his wrist in what was supposed to be a reassuring gesture but all Adrien could focus on was her dainty fingers and how her fingers weren’t able to touch because of the grip on his wrist.
It was a little… cute.
“I’ll be fine, so long as there’s no akuma.”
Crap, she was right. What if an akuma struck and Marinette wasn’t able to run because of her ankle?
“Hey, I’ll be okay,” she promised, enough to make Adrien’s heart calm if only a little.
He wiggled out of her grasp and took her hand in his, smiling gently.
“Okay. I’ll inform the others and we’ll make sure to have stellar notes for you.”
“Thanks, Adrien. Really. You’ve helped above and beyond and I can’t seem to thank you enough.”
She was easing up to him, and it made Adrien fill with joy.
His smile widened a tad as he gave one last squeeze and said, “You’re welcome. See you later, Princess!”
He let go of her hand and threw one last look at Marinette as he stepped out the clinic, a little surprised to see her stare at him with an unreadable expression, eyes wide and little mouth falling open to form an ‘o’. What was with her reaction?
He wasn’t able to think about it more because the clinic door shut in his face, separating them once again.
What was with her expression? Should he be concerned?
Plagg peeked out of his inner pocket and said, “You’re gonna miss class the longer you stare at your girlfriend through that door.”
He felt his cheeks heat up and he attempted to scoff and roll his eyes, already stepping away from the clinic.
“There’s plenty of time, still. And Marinette’s not my girlfriend.”
“Ohoho sure whatever you say, kid,” Plagg said, sniggering. “After all, you know what they say, love is blind.”
Adrien frowned in confusion at his kwami’s words but before he could question it the little black god continued, “And in your case, love is always tripping toward you.”
Satisfied with that remark, he slipped back inside his hiding spot. Adrien was left to stare at his shirt pocket with narrowed eyes before shrugging it off and hurrying to class.