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The fact that it was an akuma that had (FOR THE FOURTH TIME IN A ROW) interrupted Adrien and Marinette’s date was quick to fix up felt like her sole saving grace.
When she dashed up to the restaurant, Adrien was waiting for her outside, and the tenseness on his face didn’t fully leave when he saw her. “Marinette! What happened?”
“There was an akuma attack,” Marinette mumbled, “and-”
“I know,” Adrien cut in. “But I saw Chat Noir directing the akuma away from here. Where were you? Why didn’t you come back to me?”
“I-I… nothing bad, I promise!”
Adrien only grew more worried. “I believe you, Marinette. I really do! I’m just worried… and glad you’re here. It’s not like it’s your fault Monarch keeps interrupting our dates… you aren’t Monarch, are you?”
“No! Definitely not, no, not at all, he’s way taller and also a guy and probably three times our age-”
Adrien breathed out a sigh of relief. “I don’t think I want to date anyone who has anything to do with him, anyways. The guy’s been nothing but scary…”
(Stepping outside of Collège Paul Bert, Cerise sneezed.)
Scary, huh?
A genius idea came to her.
“I’m sorry for hiding the truth from you, Adrien,” Marinette admitted. “The truth behind why I ran off is… the akumas really freak me out. I’ve been getting panic attacks since they started, and I always run off, and I can’t control it. It’s truly miraculous that I’ve never been akumatized.”
“Same here. I wonder why he never targets us?”
“He’s tried before,” Marinette admitted. “I just fended it off.”
“You have?” Adrien gawked. “How?”
“Swallowing my negative emotions whole,” Marinette proclaimed proudly. “Fake it ‘til you make it!”
Adrien looked mildly uncomfortable. “Is that healthy?”
“… probably not. But at least I’m not getting akumatized-”
Adrien wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry that I never noticed you suffering like this, Marinette. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, okay?” Receiving a nod from his girlfriend, he added, “You can come to me if you ever need to calm down, okay? I’d like you to, honestly… but you don’t have to. And if you need somewhere to hide from akumas, I can see if my bodyguard will let you hide with me… unless I’m the akuma’s target… or if Father is.”
The quip elicited a giggle from Marinette. “Thank you, Adrien. I feel better now… e-especially with that off my chest. Can we eat now?”
“I’ll see if they’re still open. We’ll find somewhere else if not.”
Marinette is being honest with me… I’m such a good boyfriend!
I’m not being honest with Adrien… I’m such a bad girlfriend.