Archive of Our Own

The room was filled with a scribbling sound, Marinette’s tongue peeking out of the corner of her mouth, while Tikki sat on her holder’s shoulder and hummed some song she overheard on the radio. Other kwamis were sprawled all over the room, finally silent after the needless begging from the guardian.

Marinette brushed the corner of the table off, hoping she didn’t miss any crumbs from the many cookies that Tikki ate. Brushing off her hand on her jeans, she held up the paper with a wide smile. The dress was finally to her liking.

Suddenly her phone buzzed in the corner of the table. Glancing at it, she listened to the buzzing to stop, only to start again after a second. It must’ve been Alya spamming about some Ladyblog stuff. All the kwamis perked up at the noise, and they seemed upset when Marinette just shrugged and returned to adding colours to the design. The phone buzzed again and again, never stopping.

Marinette let out a sigh, putting down the marker. As she reached out for her phone, Tikki flew away from her shoulder. The kwamis instantly flew over, settling down on different parts of her body to spy on the content of the notifications. Marinette frowned seeing that all of the notifications were from either Twitter or Instagram. And they kept coming, the buzzing of her phone tingling her hand.

She went to Instagram, the notification opening the post where Marinette’s page was tagged alongside Adrien's one. Her heart bottomed out, the frown deepened and Marinette quickly swiped to the post, not quite looking at the comment. She had a good feeling where this was going.

At the top of the post was a picture of Marinette and Adrien.

“Oh, it’s from the day you went to the movies with Alya and Nino,” Tikki helpfully provided, looking over the phone.

“You’re so cute here,” some kwamis cooed.

Marinette rolled her eyes ignoring the blush that appeared on her cheeks. The picture was cute. They stood beside each other, and Marinette could even see Alya beside herself. Though, she was cut out of the picture half way. Adrien in the picture had an honest smile, it made the dimples show on his cheeks and the top of his ears red. She could remember the exact moment the photo was taken.

They were discussing Disney princesses, and Adrien bashfully admitted that he liked all the movies. Nino reached from the other side, punching him lightly at the shoulder, “Of course, you would like the movies, dude. You’re literally the princess waiting for her handsome prince.”

Alya snickered. And Marinette was thrown back to a couple of months ago, when Nathaniel and Marc presented the drawings. Alya discreetly nudged Marinette when the rose hue appeared on her cheeks. Adrien made a peace sign turning to them.

“I would make a cute princess, though,” Nino guffawed at that, bending over.

Adrien’s eyes darted to Marinette as though waiting for her reaction. Marinette’s eyes went to the floor, and she whispered, “You’re already cute.”

Adrien choked, and she hastily turned towards him, surprised he caught that. He just turned away from her with the biggest smile and red ears.

It was a beautiful picture. Marinette’s finger hovered over the buttons to screenshot it into her folder full of their photos. But the caption made her pause. The person who posted the picture assumed that they were dating. Marinette hesitantly turned to the comments, seeing her account being tagged over and over again.

She was blinded by the people cooing over Adrien and saying that they looked good together. It made her heart warm. But she felt apprehension on the reaction Adrien would get. Her mind whizzled over the way his dad might ask him to explain the situation, which turned into Gabriel forbidding Adrien to ever see Marinette again.

Her phone pinged again.

[the gang chat]

ladyblogger
Marinette, you dog. Why didn’t you tell me xd

THE dj
Alya, you owe me! I totally called it

sunshine boi
Please, stop betting on my tabloids.

[Adrien & Marinette]

Adrien <3
I am really sorry you got dragged again into that.

Marinette
it’s ok
should I sau sth/?

Adrien <3
No, Nathalie said it is better to ignore that.
Again, I am really sorry.

Marinette smiled, bringing her phone close to her chest. Adrien was such a good person, apologising for things from his control. Tikki sent her a look, while the kwamis returned to their own business, getting bored of the news.

Her phone kept buzzing, she looked back at the screen and noticed the comments notification turned to the notifications of the new followers and likes on the images of her designs. She almost dropped the phone when Adrien texted her again.

[Adrien & Marinette]

Adrien <3
You got new followers, at least that’s good!
I am really happy for you. ^.^

Marinette
I kind of feel bad, though
I don’t mean to gain anything from you

Adrien <3
You deserve it, Marinette.
You’re amazing, and the world should see it too.

Marinette
Are you sure?

Adrien <3
At least my modelling is good for something, right?

Marinette burst into the cafe, stumbling over the doorstep but catching herself at the last minute. She huffed, lightly patting her purse as an apology to Tikki. Her eyes darted around the place, catching the side of her friends. She lifted her hand with her phone and waved, bouncing on the top of her feet. A huge smile was plastered on her face.

Alya noticed her first, waving to Marinette. She nudged Nino, who turned almost instantly. Adrien followed the motion quickly after that. Marinette saw the moment his eyes stopped on her. He stood up, his face lighting up at the sight of her. Alya raised her eyebrows and coughed at Adrien, who immediately sat down, looking embarrassed. Marinette sprinted over to the table and put her hands on the table, wiggling in one place.

“Oh, c’mon, out with it, girl. Have you already got your shot of coffee or what?” Alya laughed at Marinette’s antics.

“I finally finished with new pieces and put it on my website!” Marinette exclaimed and bowed her head after getting looks from people around. Everyone laughed at her. “I posted the link on my Instagram, and people are happy!”

Everyone congratulated her, making Marinette blush. Adrien even made a show of taking his phone out and looking over designs, complimenting each and every one of them. Marinette sat down beside Alya, giggling at Adrien’s silliness.

“Stop it! I was just excited to share that!” She stomped her foot under the table.

Adrien shot her a crooked grin and pocketed his phone at the request. The waitress came up to them, taking all of their orders. Alya put her hands on the table and leaned forward to the guys like she was sharing a secret.

“How long do you have, sunshine? Marinette’s news is all good, but we totally need to discuss that you will be voicing Chat Noir in the movie, again!” Alya subtly glanced at Marinette, who pursed her lips at the blogger. “Did they already share a script with you?”

“Ah, well, I have half an hour before the driver takes me to the photoshoot,” Adrien’s hand went to his neck. “And I can’t really discuss the script, I’m sorry.”

“C’mon,” Alya pouted, and put her thumb and index fingers together, squinting her eyes at the small space left, “just a teeny tiny detail.”

Nino threw a hand over Adrien’s shoulders, making a puppy face. Adrien stuttered a bit at the pressure. Marinette groaned at her friends, “Leave him alone. You don’t have to tell us anything!”

Adrien gratefully smiled at Marinette. There was a sound of footsteps, at which everyone turned. Several girls stood beside the table. One of them was a bit in front of the group, as though leading others. Nino removed the hand from Adrien’s shoulder, Alya’s lips turned into a line. Marinette could see the way Adrien’s shoulders slumped, while she scowled at the intruders.

Nobody liked the way their time with Adrien got interrupted. It wasn’t like he had much time to spend with them to begin with. The leading girl fumbled with the phone in her hand and stepped even further.

“Hi, Adrien,” she waved with a smile. “Can we take a picture with you?”

Adrien faced his friends at the table with a lost look on his face. Nino shrugged at his questioning gaze, Alya huffed but didn’t comment. Adrien then turned to Marinette, who focused on the table. She couldn’t actually forbid him from doing that for his fans. Marinette felt bad when Adrien visibly deflated even more before putting up his model smile.

He stood up from the table, politely nodding to the girls who squealed. They formed a sort of queue, one by one coming to Adrien for a selfie. Some grabbed his forearm, or pressed their cheeks together, or even kissed him on the cheek, while the waitress had to circle around the commotion to bring food to the table. Adrien had a polite smile through the whole ordeal. Only his friends noticed the slight furrow of his eyebrows as the sign of displeasure.

The group of girls thanked him enthusiastically, going back to their tables. One of them, though, stayed for a second, quickly capturing the photo of the whole table, when Adrien sat down, apologising for inconvenience. Alya glared, attempting to stand up, but Marinette quickly grabbed her hand to keep her from making a scene.

Everyone was silent for a moment, looking at the time and noticing that there was only ten minutes left before Adrien would be taken away. The food at the table didn’t look that appealing anymore.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Adrien mumbled at the table.

Nino patted him on the back, “It’s okay, bro, not your fault.”

Marinette’s phone started buzzing almost instantly. She turned a confused gaze towards everyone at the table and mumbled an excuse, while taking it out. It all seemed to repeat the notification boom from a week ago, but now most of them were coming from Twitter. Marinette ignored the questioning glances, opening the first one.

AdrienAgresteFranceFans @adrien_agreste_france
[picture] Just met Adrien at the cafe, he was on a date with @marinettedesigned. I feel so insulted, bc she was so angry when some fans asked for a picture!

Marinette’s finger hovered over the answer button, clicking on it at last. The messages blew over the screen. Her eyes got wide at the amount of angry fans tagging her and putting on angry messages.

Wow, she really thinks a lot about herself.
Who does she think she is?
Typical jealous girl, lol!
She isn’t even that pretty!
Did you see that she posted some new ‘designs’? It’s totally a publicity stunt for her!
Wow, another gold digger, poor Adrien.

Comments blurred in front of her. She didn’t even see the positive messages some people wrote about her, defending her. Her heart sped up, she took a sound breath, squeezing her eyes closed. Alya put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Marinette lifted her eyes from the phone, finally noticing worried glances of her friends.

“Marinette?” Adrien nudged, when she kept silent.

Marinette breathed out, giving her phone to Adrien. Nino leaned in when Adrien went back to the original tweet. Marinette could see the moment Adrien finished reading. His face slowly morphed into an angry one. His eyes found Marinette’s.

“Hey, don’t listen to them.”

“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Alya exclaimed impatiently.

Adrien silently gave her Marinette’s phone. Alya took only a second to skim over a tweet, before growling. She hastily turned to Marinette, “Girl, don’t even listen to it. We all weren’t happy with them.”

Adrien nodded, but Marinette still averted her gaze, “But the comments. They think I posted the info about the website on purpose before meeting with Adrien.” She looked at Adrien with a fire in her eyes. “I would never do that, I promise.”

“I know that, Marinette,” Adrien said softly, and then he scowled “You really shouldn’t listen to them! You shouldn’t go through that because of me.”

Marinette’s heart hurt at the guilty expression Adrien sent her. She bit onto her lower lip, feeling tears welling in her eyes. She swallowed.

“It’s not your fault, Adrien,” Marinette hugged herself with one hand. “I’m just not used to it.”

Adrien’s face fell even more. She felt the blood coming from her lower lip. He looked like he wanted to tell her something else. But his phone buzzed and Adrien let out a sigh. He hastily took out the phone from his pocket frowning at it, before standing up.

Adrien stood there for a moment, his arm reaching out to Marinette as though he wanted to touch her. Their eyes locked; Marinette felt like he was begging her for something. She averted her gaze and his hand fell down to his side. His phone pinged one more time and he left the cafe with slumped shoulders.

Alya’s elbow was intertwined with Marinette’s, walking behind the boys after lunch. Nino held a phone in front of Adrien showing him new music he found, one of his arms flailed with the words girls couldn’t hear through their laughter.

“And Penny asks for a commission and then Uncle Jagged just forbids her from ordering something,” Alya giggled, fixing her glasses. “Just because he doesn’t want me to spend less time on his one! Penny looked so pissed.”

They reached the classroom. Adrien and Nino sit down without ever interrupting their conversation. Marinette released Alya’s arm and dashed to her own seat. Alya took out her phone, slapping the table excitedly.

“Did you already post a new design on Instagram?”

Marinette shook her head, taking out her own phone, “I’m going to do that right now. I already prepared weekly posts on new designs. So it shouldn’t take too much time.”

Adrien and Nino turned around. They leaned on the girls’ table to look at Marinette’s quick fingers tapping on the screen, copying and pasting some information and aligning photos for a new post. Alya clapped her hands when the notification went out on her phone.

“I’m totally gonna repost that!”

“Oh, thank you, Alya!” Marinette side-hugged Alya, wiggling in her seat.

Adrien opened his mouth with a thrilled glint in his eyes. He didn’t have time to say something; the door behind opened and Lila strutted inside the classroom. When Marinette’s face deflated, Adrien turned around, noticing Lila. Marinette could see the way his shoulders tensed, hands going to his knees. Adrien the friend instantly turned into Adrien the model.

Alya and Marinette exchanged glances, when Lila didn’t immediately go to her seat but put a hand to Adrien’s shoulder with a somber expression.

“I’m really sorry that you have to go through that,” she patted his shoulder, her voice not quiet enough that their classmates discreetly started paying attention to the front of the class.

Adrien turned to her with a frown, “What are you talking about?”

Lila fumbled with her bag, rummaging inside until taking out her phone. She unlocked it and turned the screen to Adrien. Marinette was sure Lila angled it in a specific way, so that Marinette could have a good view of the tweet.

It again contained an image of Adrien with Marinette on their lunch. Nino and Alya were in the picture in the background purposefully blurred out. Marinette couldn’t quite read the text, but from the way her phone was engulfed with the notifications, it couldn’t have been anything positive.

Marinette sighed. The photo from the cafe was posted only two days ago. She hoped that it would all stop by now. But the time between the posts was becoming smaller and smaller. With her heart speeding up, she scowled. Tikki patted her hip through the bag, and Marinette breathed out.

Lila turned to Marinette then with a concerned smile, “Such a coincidence that Marinette’s posts her information each time your photos are posted, right?”

Whispers erupted all over the class. Marinette’s eyes widened and she turned to Adrien. His face was completely smoothed out. The nerves flared up, she felt the lump forming in her throat and her hand sweating, making her wipe them out on her jeans. Alya squeezed her shoulder.

“Are you implying that Marinette uses Adrien, Lila?” Alya’s voice was saccharine. “Everyone knows she didn’t like him at first.”

Marinette sent an appreciative smile to Alya. Lila looked surprised and when more agreeable mumbles filled the room, she schooled her expression. Lila clasped her hands and brought them together with apologetic expression. Her whole attention was turned onto Marinette.

“Of course not, Marinette would’ve never done something like that. After all we all heard her schedule of posts, it’s not like she could ask someone to take photos of her and send them to these accounts.” Lila smiled and went to her seat.

Marinette glanced over her shoulder seeing everyone getting back to their own business. She sighed in relief but she felt heaviness settle in her soul. Lila was able to apologise while still plotting some seeds of doubt in her classmates. Marinette’s gaze turned to Adrien. The corner of his lips were curled downward, eyebrows pinched together. When their eyes met, the frown lessened and a small smile almost grazed his face.

“I know it’s not true, Marinette. I’ll even ask Nathalie to post about you, so that people know that I think you’re amazing,” Adrien’s eyes sparkled at the end of the sentence.

Marinette blushed at the sincerity and conviction in his voice. She brushed the strand of her hair behind her ear, “Y-ou thank!” Her face became even hotter, eyes growing wide at the stumble. “I mean, thank you! Don’t do that, please!”

Adrien’s face fell. Alya elbowed Marinette and whispered, “What are you doing, Marinette?”

Marinette flailed her hands in front of her face, panicking. Adrien’s eyes darted all over the place waiting for her to say something. Marinette opened her mouth and closed it back. Finally, she groaned and bumped her forehead on the table, repeating the word “disaster.”

She squeezed her eyes closed, not wishing to see Adrien's slumped shoulders and patient expression. He was too good for this world. Alya gently petted her spine. Marinette breathed out her panic when the bell rang and Mlle Bustier entered the classroom.

Messages kept coming. It was like the dam had broken and everyone had some sort of opinion on Marinette and Adrien’s alleged relationship. Marinette was getting angrier with each notification. If only they actually would be in a relationship, she wouldn’t be so upset at the messages. But it looked like she had to experience every bad thing of dating a star without actually dating them.

At first, she brushed over the notifications scoffing at the content. People talked about her appearance, her alleged richness that allowed to have some sort of contract with Gabriel. Someone even stated that her designs were just a project of Gabriel.

“Stop reading that, Marinette,” Adrien finally ordered, yanking her phone from her hand, when Marinette kept scoffing at her phone at lunch.

After that she started to read them more discreetly. She got that Adrien worried that she took the words at an honest value. But she didn’t care. She got all these things from Chloé all the time. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to it.

Maybe that was why Marinette didn’t notice how all the negativity took a toll on her. Tikki kept stopping her when Marinette attempted to dart across the room at every buzz of her phone.

“Stop it, Marinette, you’re only hurting yourself!” Tikki chastised her.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Tikki. I’m just waiting for all of this to stop, you know,” Marinette shook her hand dismissively, starting another session of comment reading.

She was stubborn to deny the effect. Until the phone became her enemy. Her heart shattered when the comments went from her appearance, through her parents’ job, and up to her race. And when a new photo went up to the internet, Marinette felt her breath quicken and her stomach churn at the thought of even touching her phone.

Tikki shot her a sympathetic glance, when Marinette didn’t dare to touch the phone over the weekend. She was sitting on the chase with a ball of yarn in her hand preparing a beanie for Adrien. Her phone pinged, and Marinette ruined another line of stitching.

“It’s only Adrien, you can check it,” Tikki gently said.

Marinette tightened the hold on the needles. She tried to smile at the little kwami, but wasn’t fooled that the smile turned out to be honest. She took a deep breath, lessening the tremble in her hands.

“I’ll check it later, I want to finish this present for Adrien,” Marinette weakly offered.

Tikki shared a look with other kwamis, but Marinette just focused on making stitches. One after another. The little goddess flew to her holder, nuzzling into her neck. Marinette absent-mindedly patted her in appreciation.

“Would you try to confess to him again?”

Marinette opened her mouth to give a positive answer. Her phone pinged again. She sighed and went across the room picking it up. The new notification wasn’t from Adrien. Marinette’s breath hitched, when the Instagram app opened up, the page scrolling to the comment with her tag. Words flew in front of her eyes.

Gold-digger. Marinette squeezed the phone, keeping her hands steady. Chonky. Her vision blurred, sounds muted in the background. Ugly. The next breath caught in her throat, heart speeding up. Slut. She opened her mouth, trying to breathe in. Get your dirty hands off Adrien. Marinette felt her stomach churn, the bile coming up to her mouth, so she had to swallow it down.

Marinette couldn’t see anything except people laughing at her. She suddenly was standing in front of the whole school, students pointing fingers at her and throwing insult after insult. Marinette stumbled back hitting her computer chair with her back. The pain grounded her a little. When the phone dropped to her feet with a clatter, Marinette’s head turned to the side, realising the kwamis kept calling her name all this time.

She couldn’t see them clearly, only the blurry balls of different colours. She saw a red streak flying in front of her face and small paws touching her cheek.

“Marinette, take a deep breath!” Tikki demanded.

Marinette squeezed her eyes so hard she could see stars at the back of her eyelids. She took a sound breath.

“Now hold it in.”

Her mouth closed shut. She felt Tikki’s paws gently petting her cheek. The sounds slowly came back, kwamis in the background kept exclaiming with concerned voices. Marinette opened her eyes, finally focusing on the darkened computer screen.

“That’s right, now slowly breathe out,” Marinette followed Tikki’s example.

The breath left her lungs soundly, her body slumping like she just fought the hardest akuma ever. She sat down on the chair behind her, cupping Tikki in her arms. Tears burst from Marinette’s eyes and she hiccuped.

“What am I going to do? Am I really like that?”

Tikki’s eyes grew wide, “No! Marinette, you’re Ladybug. You save Paris without asking anything in return. These people are just jealous of you, because you’re amazing. Anyone who knows you will tell you that.”

Marinette brought Tikki back to her cheek, nuzzling her closer, “Thank you.”

Her phone was thrown carelessly in the bag along with the beanie that she finished. It took her more time than Marintte would have liked, but at the end it was carefully wrapped and waited for its time. The plan was easy. It was the day when Adrien was allowed to eat lunch with the others. Alya would drag Nino away after lunch to give some space to Marinette and Adrien.

Marinette received a good pep talk both from Alya and Tikki. And the absence of her phone made Marinette more confident. Alya and Nino were in front of Adrien and Marinette, happily chatting. Adrien and Marinette, though, walked silently. He turned his face to her.

“Will you post a new design today?”

“No, I decided to stop the Instagram promotion for a bit,” Marinette said off-handedly, fiddling with the strap of her bag.

She could see in peripheria how Adrien frowned, “Why?”

“It doesn’t bring that many people to the website,” she shrugged. Marinette put a smile on her face, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you. Can we stay a bit behind?”

Her heart beat in a sporadic rhythm. Adrien looked like he wanted to say something else, but after a while he smiled at her, nodding. Marinette breathed out. The walk didn’t take too long, Alya and Nino waved to them in front of the school, going inside, while Marinette and Adrien stopped.

Marinette lifted her index finger asking to wait and started rummaging in her bag. Her heart sped up, palms became sweaty and she felt her face already getting red. She grunted a little bit at herself. Then she saw a wrapping paper and hastily dived to it, getting it out. Her bag lightly smacked her in the back, when she let the strap go and Marinette turned her gaze up.

She opened her mouth, when some girl walked up to them. Marinette looked surprised at the girl. She smiled at Adrien, who awkwardly shuffled on his feet.

“Oh, I never thought I would meet you, Adrien,” the girl exclaimed. “Some fans posted that you started getting lunch in the city, but I didn’t believe it was true.”

Marinette felt her heart shutter. It wasn’t long till the bell, and she wanted so bad to give Adrien her present and confession. She and Alya were almost sure it would result in Adrien admitting his feelings back. His eyes darted between the girl and Marinette.

“I’m sorry, but I’m busy right now,” his hand went to his neck.

The girl’s face morphed into one of disgust. She barely glanced at Marinette, scoffing at the designer, “Oh, c’mon, what do you even see in her? She’s clearly using you.”

Marinette stepped back from them. The grip on the present became weak. She didn’t even acknowledge the clatter sound as it fell to the ground. Adrien scowled at the phrase, grabbing Marinette hand in his.

“Marinette is an amazing person and I won’t stand here listening for you to insult her. My fans shouldn’t attack people I care about,” his voice was harsh.

It only made the girl glare more at Marinette as though she was the one who said that. The girl hastily turned around scoffing at them and going away. Adrien turned to Marinette with a concerned expression, paying no more attention to the fan. He looked down and crouched to pick up the wrapped present.

“You wanted to talk?”

Marinette took a deep breath in an attempt to slow her heartbeat. Her eyes darted between Adrien’s face, her present in his hands and back to the back of the girl. She opened her mouth only to let out a small whimper.

How could she say something to him right now? All the words she spent so much time erasing from her mind kept coming to her. She thought she could escape them. If she only kept her phone away, it should’ve been okay. She removed every little post from her Instagram, she made the page private. She did everything.

She was supposed to be alright. But it caught up to her even outside. Marinette spent so much time thinking Adrien never saw the messages. But when his eyes became sad, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder, she knew that he saw every last one of them.

Marinette didn’t wait for tears to start, she abruptly turned around, ignoring Adrien’s calls and ran to her home. Sabine threw her a concerned gaze, but didn’t say anything, when she saw the tears on her daughter’s face.

Marinette sprinted to her room, throwing herself on the bed. Her breath ragged like she ran a marathon. Pathetic sobs left her mouth and she clutched at her pillow. Adrien knew what a disgrace she was, how ugly she was, how imperfect.

“Marinette, you should calm down!” Tikki cried out, flying around her shoulder. All the kwamis settled themselves on Marinette’s hair and back, nuzzling her in comfort. Marinette let out a whimper. “You could get akumatized, Marinette, please, calm down.”

Marinette breathed out, turning to her back and jostling all the kwamis. They settled back on her stomach. Marinette stared at the ceiling.

“Sorry, Tikki, I know I shouldn’t be upset about it.”

“It’s your feelings, and they are valid,” Tikki sighed, worriedly flying around as though she wanted to spend some stressed energy. “But you shouldn’t think like that about yourself.”

Marinette turned her gaze to Tikki, smearing tears all over her face. “It’s just... If so many people think like that, it must be true, right? How could so many people be wrong?”

Marinette didn’t leave the bed for the rest of the day. Her parents came up only once, bringing her hot chocolate. They hadn’t asked anything, but she was confident, they knew why she was upset.

When her phone rang with Alya’s ringtone, Marinette just groaned. Tikki brought her the phone, “Talk to her, she’ll make you feel better.”

Marinette sighed, accepting the call.

“Girl, Adrien told me what happened, are you okay?”

“I’m better now,” Marinette sighed, turning to the side and clutching a pillow to her chest.

“Then did you see what he posted? It’s so cute!” Alya’s voice became more excited. “Did you confess? His post is such a hashtag-couple-goals.”

“I didn’t,” Marinette quietly whispered. “We got interrupted and then I sort of freaked out.”

“Oh, girl, you should check his Instagram then.”

Marinette agreed and Alya kindly changed the conversation, rambling about the assignments they received in school. She promised to send materials to Marinette, before hanging up. Marinette fumbled with the phone in her hands. She shook her head at Tikki’s questioning eyes. And when the kwamis scrambled around the room, she unlocked the phone.

It wasn’t hard to find Adrien’s post on Instagram. She got tagged a lot on that.

adrienagresteband Adrien Agreste
[picture]
My Father’s company spends a lot of time bringing people from different backgrounds inside the field. Imagine how upset it becomes when people who suppose to believe in Gabriel’s values try to insult people I care about in my everyday life. Most of these people are the same as all of you. They go to school, they struggle with teenage problems and try to achieve their dreams. Marinette is one of the closest people in my life, and seeing her hurt makes me wonder how my fans could be so cruel to her. She is an amazing person who never hurt anyone, her designs are something the world should see and cherish.

Marinette’s breath hitched, she sniffed trying to keep a new set of tears at bay. Her thumb hovered over the comments button. She really shouldn’t read them. But who would be able to stop all the hate, if not Adrien? Her heart shattered.

adrien_number_one
wow, I thought she was just using him, but apparently it’s all a public stunt

111adrienthebest
how could you be so blind?

asjndlskd
omg, how much had she brainwashed him? #freeadrien

fashion_lover
I’m losing all the respect for Gabriel. Never thought they are able for something like that, using some teenage romance as PR

Marinette was slightly glad that they didn’t talk about her that much, but seeing the amount of hate Adrien got made her even sadder. That was all her fault. She shouldn’t have been that upset, she was alright. She needed to just get over herself and not ruin anything for Adrien.

The decision came to her easily. She could handle the hate, but she would never forgive herself if Adrien had to go through that. What if Gabriel finally decided that Marinette was dangerous for his son? She wouldn’t be able to live with that.

The next day both Adrien and Marinette were subdued. Marinette came into class almost at the beginning of the lesson to lessen the amount of time they could actually talk. She darted to her seat with bowed head.

“Marinette,” Adrien turned to her, she lifted her gaze. His hair was unkempt but she noticed that her beanie was nowhere to be seen. Marinette mentally chastised herself, because she shouldn’t feel sad for that. After all, soon she wouldn’t be his friend. Adrien looked at her with a pensive expression. “I’m sorry, I really thought the post would help.”

Marinette’s heart expanded and deflated instantly. Adrien always thought about people, but right now it didn’t matter much. She gave him a weak smile, tugging at her pigtail, “It’s okay.”

They didn’t talk after that; Adrien gave her a nod and turned around, completely ignoring the conversation Nino had with Marinette and Alya later on. And when the homeroom came, both Marinette and Adrien somberly shook their heads when their friends asked them about their plans for their next weekly lunch.

It didn’t occur to Marinette up until the end of the week, that she wasn’t the only one who was avoiding someone. Adrien kept asking if Marinette would be there when someone invited him to the outings. And gave a negative answer if there was a chance that Marinette would actually agree to the invetation.

And it was really okay, it’s not like Marinette spent almost the whole night running over the rooftops to calm down. She couldn’t fault Adrien for wanting to keep himself away from her. After all, didn’t she decide it for him in the first place, putting his career before everything else? It just hurt because Adrien called her one of his closest people, and then didn’t spear her another glance.

But he had others, actually someone who couldn’t destroy his job or the company. Some of them even helped it. Like Kagami who received a lot of gushing from Adrien’s fans after their outing to the movie premiere. Marinette sat down on her bed going through all the positive comments from the people who still made a jab towards her or Adrien.

He never tried to defend her after the failed post on Instagram.

“Oh, that’s golden!” Chloé’s shrill went over the whole room.

Marinette lifted her eyes towards her, sighing in trepidation. She could see how Adrien also lifted his head that was leaned on his arms. He had bags under his eyes and he regarded Chloé with a frown. Marinette looked away from him, focusing on Chloé. She sat on her table swinging her legs back and forth. Her phone was in front of her face, and she had a smirk on her face. She turned to the class making sure everyone was paying attention.

“After a sensational post of young Agreste, there weren’t sightings of him and his,” she made air quotes and turned to Marinette, scoffing, “significant other. So what was it? A fleeting romance that crumpled under the pressure, Adrien finally realised that the young designer used him or their publicity stunt was finally over?”

Tears welled up in Marinette’s eyes, Chloé’s voice moving to the background and Marinette could actually hear her own heart thumping in her ears. She shakily took a breath, registering how Adrien stood up, yanking the phone from Chloé.

“Stop it, Chloé,” Adrien’s harsh voice brought Marinette back to the surface.

She felt her heart shattering at the thought that he finally believed what everyone wrote about her. Marinette stood up, her chair hitting the table behind her, and sprinted from the classroom, ignoring Alya’s screams after her. Marinette went to the library up to the furthest aisles, sitting down on the floor.

She clutched her head, squeezing her eyes closed. Tikki gently patted her on the knees. Marinette started breathing in and out. She could see how Adrien started sending her these small looks, like it visibly hurt him being near her. When had he started blaming her? She ironically chuckled realising that Lila didn’t need to do anything for Marinette to lose Adrien. She could do it by herself.

Maybe she should have received the kwami of destruction.

Marinette took out the phone, quickly finding the article on them. Tikki flew in front of her phone with a disgruntled expression, “Marinette, don’t read that.”

Marinette sniffled, brushing away tears from her cheeks, “I just want to know what he thinks about me.”

“Adrien doesn’t think bad about you, especially not like the stupid things they write about!” Tikki frowned, sporadically flying from side to side.

Marinette hugged herself, “He didn’t even try to talk to me, when I started avoiding him.”

Tikki opened her mouth to say something else, but then just flew back to Marinette’s purse. She frowned at that until she heard footsteps from the front of the library. Her heart sped up in fear. She didn’t want to talk to anyone especially if Chloé or Lila came to gloat at Marinette.

She saw Nino’s sneakers first and let out a sigh looking up at him. Nino fiddled with a cup in his hand, shifting from one foot to another.

“Ah, I hoped I would find Adrien, actually.”

“Adrien?” Marinette frowned.

“You’re both been a bit out of it for a while,” Nino provided to her as an answer, he looked over his shoulder and sighed, “C’mon, Alya would be waiting for you.”

Marinette’s gaze fell to her hands, “I don’t really want to talk right now.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that,” Nino muttered, “Look, I could leave, but Alya will come instead of me, and I don’t think she has enough patience anymore.”

Their eyes met and Nino looked thoroughly apologetic. Marinette sighed and stood up, going after him. She fiddled with her fringe, making it fall onto her eyes more as to hide the fact that she was crying. Nino brought them to a classroom. He opened the door for her and stretched out his hand, so that Marinette went in first.

Only Adrien was in the classroom. Marinette instantly turned around, but the door was already closed. She sighed, turning back. He was silently watching her with a blank expression.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you’d be here,” Marinette took out the phone to text Alya.

“Why are you sorry? Aren’t you angry at me?” She didn’t even type the first letter, looking up at Adrien and blinking stupidly.

“What?”

Adrien’s hand went to his neck, and he looked away from her. Marinette hesitantly stepped forward, not really knowing how to proceed. It was like they were talking in two different languages. He shrugged.

“You stopped talking to me, I figured you were angry about the stuff that happened with my fans,” Adrien winced.

“You stopped talking to me too,” Marinette pointed out.

“I didn’t want to see you hurting anymore,” his lips were pursed and his eyebrows were pinched. He looked so sad, stating that, squeezing his eyes closed. His voice came out so small, as though Marinette would start yelling at him, “I couldn’t even do anything. It’s like I’m always helpless, failing everyone around me.”

Adrien rubbed at his eyes, but Marinette could still see his misty eyes. She breathed in, her eyes watering right back, she let out a sob, “I thought you didn’t want to be my friend anymore, because it was hurting your career.”

Adrien hastily stood up looking offended. He went around the table, cupping Marinette’s cheeks, his thumbs gently wiping off the stray tear. Her lips parted.

“You deserve all the careers in the world, Princess,” Marinette blushed and smiled. Adrien’s hands fell down, his sad expression back. “But you shouldn’t have to handle all the downsides of fame.”

“Especially when we don’t actually date,” she bitterly chuckled.

She wasn’t sure how he could look even sadder at that. He nodded looking away from her, before turning around to rummage in his bag. He had her beanie in his hands. It was blue, the same shade as the scarf she gifted to him all those time ago.

“I really like your beanie,” he fiddled with the edge of it. “What did you want to tell me that day?”

Marinette stuttered something incoherable. Adrien’s hopeful eyes made her forget all the words. She opened her mouth and closed it. Could she actually confess to him? She tried to kill down the hope in her soul.

“I –” he looked at her, smiling encouragingly. She closed her eyes. “Ireallylikeyou.”

There was a gasp. She hesitantly opened her eyes to see the biggest grin on Adrien’s face. Her heart pounded in her chest at the sight of his happiness. His beanie was clutched to his chest. He stepped forward, one hand cradling her cheek.

“I was hoping you would say that,” he breathed out. Marinette’s breath caught in her throat. She subconsciously licked her lips, looking at him with wide eyes. “Can I kiss you?”

She nodded. Adrien leaned in, their noses bumped before lips finally meeting. Marinette gasped, clutching his overshirt. It was barely a brush of lips, both of them not sure how to proceed. But Marinette wouldn’t have it any other way.

She heard a click, and they jumped away from each other. Marinette turned to the side, seeing Alya with her phone in her hands and a cheeky grin and Nino who politely looked away with a content expression.