Work Text:
Marinette was convinced the world was against her.
There was no other explanation for why Adrien was standing here, 8am on a saturday, in her doorway watching her have a meltdown over school for the third time in as many days. Her hair, which was usually neatly tied into two pigtails, was now on top of her head in a messy bun she hadn’t dared to touch since she last washed it. Recently dried tears streaked down her face, and her pajamas were rumpled with lack of sleep.
“AUGH-” she screams, standing up quickly from her desk chair and ducking under her computer table. Slowly, she allows her head to peak out from underneath, and stares at the intruder.
“How did- what did - WHY are you in here?!?!”
Adrien gave her a worrying look, his face pinched with concern.
“You’re Mom let me up. I was just here to… well I noticed you weren’t in class on Friday and Alya sent me here with the work you missed.” His hand reached up and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sorry if I startled you”.
Marinette allowed herself to peer at him around her desk chair, still hiding underneath. She worries her lip and her eyes are darting between her state of clothing and the stack of papers in Adriens hands. What a mess she must look like. She knew her and Adrien were more friendly nowadays, and she could usually get a few sentences out without stuttering. As of recently however, with all the stress she’d been under, she hadn’t been able to speak properly to her own Mother, let alone Adrien Agreste.
“Oh…” she said, looking sheepish. Marinette slowly, oh so slowly, crawled out from underneath the desk, refusing eye contact with the boy standing only a few feet away. “Thank you then.. I’m sorry about..” she gestures to herself “all of this. I just finished the history project due next week and I’m a little…. Stressed I guess”.
Adrien glances behind her towards her desk, and she knows what he’s looking at. A very artistic display of old ramen cups, granola bars, and enough papers to convince someone no more trees exist lined her table top. Her room, which was normally at least slightly clean, had also suffered from her recent academic breakdown. Clothes and more papers were scattered over every inch of her room, and she could have sworn there were at least thirty water bottles hidden throughout.
Adrien eyes meet hers again, bringing her back to reality.
“No it’s okay! You look great! I mean good! I mean… fuck. Don’t take this the wrong way Marinette but are you okay?” His face was lined with concern, and she felt her heart melt just a little bit.
“Yeah, I think I’m just overworked.” She walks further out and sits on her futon, only now noticing how exhausted she was just from standing. “Jagged needed me this week for a photoshoot, Alya needed help with her Ladyblog, my mom needed me more than usual in the bakery and that’s not even mentioning school”. Marinette sees the pity start to form in his eyes.
“But I'm fine! I promise! I just finished history and only have math, science, language… art and” she looks at him and blinks, suddenly overwhelmed once more. Fresh tears formed in her eyes. “I can’t do this” she whispered, mostly to herself.
Adrien walks over slowly, hands out in a show of caution. He puts the stack of papers on the only clean corner of her desk he can see.
“Marinette, let’s breathe for a second okay?” He comes to sit next to her, which only makes her breathe harder.
He backs away slightly, but still sits facing her on the futon, one hand on her shoulder. “Breathe with me okay? In through your nose for five, out for three. You got this, that’s right”. He continues to speak with encouragement, guiding her through breathing exercises. She starts to calm down, knowing Tikki was just out of sight was comforting. A sudden wave of nausea hits her, and she has to keep herself from running away. It is only then she realized the last time she ate was…well probably the morning prior when her dad brought her some pastries from the bakery.
She finally looks up at him and sees a small smile on his face. “ There she is” he says, removing his hand from her shoulder. She finds herself craving the warmth almost immediately.
“I’m sorry for freaking out. I guess I’m a little overwhelmed. Everyone needed me this week and I fell behind” She tucks a stray hair behind her ear, taking a second to collect herself. “I didn’t notice how behind I was until it was too late, and I used friday to try and catch up” she glances at the stack of papers he brought in, “but I think missing school did the opposite. I feel like I have a years worth of work due by Monday and I don’t know what to do.”
Adrien looks at her with something worrisome, not exactly pity, but rather understanding?
“Mari, I’m so sorry I didn’t realize. I am so sorry for freaking you out by coming here but, I think I may have an idea” he gets up and walks towards her desk. “My fathers photoshoot for me got canceled this afternoon so I have a little free time. I could help you if you’d like?” He grabs the packet on top of the pile he brought. “We have all the same classes.. And I have work I need to do too”. He puts the paper down and sits in her desk chair.
Marinette stares, blinking owlishly at him. She must have heard him wrong, theres no way he just offered to help her. She must take too long to answer, because suddenly Adrien looks worried and glances at the exit.
“Or I could go, I’m sorry I didn't mean to overste-”
“NO! - I mean sorry no it’s okay” she smiles sheepishly at him, her tears all but gone. “I think I’d really appreciate someone to work with”.
“Oh- great! Okay well first things first…” Adrien says, a playful glint in his eyes.
“What is it?”
“We gotta clean this desk, I think i saw something moving”.