Chapter Text
Of all the things that Marinette expects when she ducks around the back of the school to find a quiet place for lunch, a damp huff coming from the trees ranks fairly low. But, that’s what she hears, and that’s what prompts her to look up and spot Adrien half-hidden within one of the tree’s heavy branches.
He doesn’t seem to have noticed her, but Marinette is still seized by awkwardness, frozen like a terrified rabbit at the unexpected sight. What on earth is she supposed to do? Normally she’d be ecstatic at this kind of accidental opportunity to see her crush, but he sounds so upset. Should she wait for him to feel better? Should she leave him alone? Should she go find his friend and hope he can help?
…Nino isn’t here today. Just like Alya, his absence was noted at roll call, and Marinette had caught more than one of Adrien’s sad glances at his empty desk earlier in class.
So he can’t talk to Nino right now, and the people at his house probably aren’t going to provide much support if they have to resort to stealing her present in order to give Adrien something for his birthday. Especially since her modest scarf was better than the pen that he got three years ago as his last present from his dad.
Right. That means… “Hey,” she calls up to Adrien, “Are you alright?” Even though Marinette might not be, considering just how fast her heart is beating, she still has to find out this much, for him.
The branches above her shake briefly, absorbing the shock of Adrien jolting in surprise. He shifts until Marinette can see one of his green eyes through the shadows, and after a moment replies, “…Yeah. I’m fine.”
It’s quite possibly the most insincere reply Marinette has ever heard, actually, and he seems to want her to be gone, but he also seems so sad. So instead of taking the dismissal, she ventures again, “A -are you sure? Because if you want, I can try and help…”
Adrien snaps, “I’m fine, just leave me alone,” and Marinette flinches. She’s probably pushed too far, she should have listened the first time. And he doesn’t really know her anyways, doesn’t have any reason to trust her, so of course it was a dumb idea to try and talk to him. Marinette feels very much like curling up and never showing her face again right now.
“O-okay…” she answers, “I’m sorry, I should have listened the first time. I’ll just go…”
Turning to run away - with mortification staining her face red - she makes it only about two steps before the tree rustles again and Adrien calls out, “Wait.”
Marinette freezes, then loses balance and flails. She tries to keep herself up and succeeds just enough to avoid falling on her butt, instead spinning gracelessly around to face him again. Adrien has moved further out of the tree now, so he’s more visible past the leaves, and he looks kind of sheepish.
Blushing, he murmurs, “I’m sorry, that was mean of me. I just…” He pauses, like he doesn’t know what he wants to say. Or, like he knows, but doesn’t know how to say it tactfully. Marinette fidgets as he sits silently, then finally sighs, “Never mind, it’s nothing.”
In an instant, Marinette shakes her head and says, “No, it’s fine. What did you want to say?”
Noticing his hesitation, she hastily continues, “I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if you want, I’ll listen? But you have no obligation to tell me. I mean, I’d like to help if I can, but I guess it’d be kind of weird because you don’t know me that well… Um.”
She cuts off as Adrien, for the first time this conversation, laughs. It’s a small thing, little more than a chuckle, but it still lights up the sky and Marinette is beyond glad to hear it, even if it comes at her expense.
Looking lighter than he has all day, Adrien smiles, “Don’t worry about it. I was just wondering…” the laughter fades out of his eyes as he leans his head on the tree and says, “I was just wondering why you wanted to know.”
The last part is barely a whisper, and Marinette was probably lucky to even hear it. Maybe Adrien thinks so, too, because he looks positively baffled when Marinette answers, “You looked sad… and I know for me, having someone to listen helps.”
And right now, she’s the only one here to listen. Irrespective of whatever feelings she may have for him, in this moment that’s what he needs, so that’s what she’ll give him (hopefully without the conversational wipeouts, too). Marinette hates to see people sad, and the fact that it’s Adrien only makes it worse, because unlike with Manon or Alya or Mom or Dad, she doesn’t know if she can do anything to help.
Adrien stares at her, eyes full of something strange. It makes Marinette freeze, because it’s hopeful and hesitant and full of something deep that she doesn’t quite get, and all she can do is stare back without knowing what he’s looking for.
There’s nothing but silence and still air in the space between them, and yet something resonates there. Adrien blinks slowly, once, twice, then releases his held breath with a sigh. He murmurs to himself, “…It helps to have someone listen,” then he slides down from the tree, landing in a four limbed crouch on the grass below.
Closing the distance between them with a slow and cautious walk, Adrien moves closer, then pauses. Instead of moving further, he sits and looks up at Marinette with a questioning gaze, which Marinette answers by closing the rest of the distance.
She settles down next to him - not quite close enough to touch him, but close enough nonetheless.
And they sit in silence, until Adrian finally says, “It’s probably not as important as you think it is, to be honest.”
“If it’s bothering you this much,” she answers without a clue as to what might be wrong, “Then it’s important, no matter what it is. I’ll listen to whatever you tell me.”
Adrien huffs, “If you say so…” A pause, then he continues, “It’s really not much. Just… I dunno. Today is my first free day in a while, and I was going to hang out with Nino. Be a normal kid for once, you know? And then I found out he has a family thing he needs to attend that he can’t get out of, and I really get it, but part of me feels bitter, too.”
He sighs and rubs at his neck, “I don’t even know why I’m so upset about it all. I mean, things happen, right? I feel so selfish...” Marinette closes her eyes with a hum. There’s an answer here, she knows, and she rolls the clues around her head, hoping they’ll click together. Maybe it’s not the answer, the solution to his problem, but the why…
“I think it’s natural to be upset if you can’t meet up with your friend, even if there’s no real helping it,” she muses, almost absentminded. “I know that I was upset that I couldn't see Alya today, even though I already knew she was going to have a dentist appointment.”
With barely a pause to take another breath, she continues, “But I imagine it’s a lot worse when you don’t get that much time with them in the first place, and when you don’t have anyone else to talk to.”
She opens her eyes and turns to look at Adrien. Her heart still stutters just looking at him, but for once her head isn’t filled with fantasies about dating him and naming their imaginary kids. Now, she just sees melancholy in his eyes reflected in a bitter smile, and the only thing she can say is, “It’s ok to be upset. I’m sorry that this happened to you.”
It doesn’t really fix or change anything, but it’s true. It’s all she can offer right now.
With a nod, Adrien accepts the platitude. There’s a smidgen of weight lifted from his shoulders, and they sit together in the silence of a gentle breeze. A spot of red alights itself on Adrien’s knee, catching Marinette’s eye. Her movement prompts Adrien to look down from his distant gaze, and they see the tell tale spots of a little ladybug trailing a meandering walk over blue denim. It prompts Adrien to smile, and even if she doesn’t know why he’s so happy, Marinette can’t help but smile in turn.
Suddenly, she straightens. Ladybug. Manon’s favorite superhero. There’s an idea, but… she wants to be the one to make him happy, she doesn’t want to rely on someone else for this. Adrien is looking at her in bafflement, though, and Marinette decides that helping him is more important than being self-serving. So, she crystallizes her resolve and speaks.
“Adrien, how long are you free?” She faces him and leans ever so slightly closer with an excited bounce, throwing her hands in the grass to keep her upright.
Looking somewhat taken aback by the burst of energy, Adrien nevertheless answers, “Pretty much until nine, when my dad gets home. Why? “
Marinette sits back and claps her hands together, exclaims, “You remember Manon, right?”
“Yeah, the photographer ended up asking for a photo set with her. Why?”
Grinning, Marinette answers, “I remember when you were doing that photo shoot, it looked like you were having a lot of fun with her. Maybe it’s a little weird, but… if you want, you could help me with her. I have to babysit her after school until her parents get back from work, you could spend that time playing with her again.”
Adrien is quiet, and Marinette starts to fidget, wondering if maybe this was a bad idea after all. At the very least, it's a really weird one. Who even invites other people to help them babysit anyways? She must be crazy to think this'd work. Eventually though he sweeps away her fears, when he smiles and answers, “Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks.”
At that exact moment, the school bell rings, and Marinette starts. Trying to jump without getting up for some reason, she manages to face-plant in the grass instead, with a plaintive “Owwwww” trailing behind her.
She sits up abruptly after that as she realizes, “Oh, jeez, I forgot to eat!”
When she’s answered with a giggle quickly cut off by a growling stomach (that’s not her own), she turns to to Adrien, who is standing with a sheepish grin now. He holds out his hand for her, and she takes it with a grateful thanks, before she opens up her lunch and pulls out her meal.
This time it’s fortunately a simple sandwich cut into two triangles, so she extracts her sandwich and hands half of it to Adrien, saying, “I hope you like PB and J. And don’t even think about refusing.”
She hopes she sounds cool, until she realizes, “Unless you’re allergic. Or don’t like PB and J. Um.” Oh, jeez. Why must she be so awkward?!
Adrien stops her minor freak-out with a huff of laughter and takes a bite of the triangle before she can continue to stammer. He swallows and smiles, “Thanks. So, meet you after school then?”
Marinette doesn’t even bother to hide her flushed grin when she answers, “Yes, definitely!”
She can’t hide it, because he’s really smiling now.