unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter ten

marinette's pov
adrien's voice played through my phone, and it was enough to make me sit up in bed.
"adrien? hey uh, what's uppp?" i said, stifling a yawn.
"i couldn't focus on my homework, or sleep, so i decided to call a friend. is this a bad time? you're probably tired," he replied, and i giggled. i checked the time. 11:58. i knew i had an early patrol tomorrow, but a few minutes on the phone couldn't hurt.
"no, it's fine! i'm not that tired. anyway, why couldn't you sleep?"
"oh, uh, it's just," he started, pausing and sighing sadly. "it's just that nathalie is back on bedrest. i know i shouldn't worry so much, but she was finally getting better. she was beginning to do her old tasks, but now it seems like we're back at square one. i don't want to lose her. she's become my family."
i frowned. he sounded so sad about this, and i felt my heart shatter a little. first his mom, and now nathalie.
"i'm.. so sorry adrien. i wish i had more to say but, i'm not very good with words."
"that's okay marinette. i'm just, glad i have someone to talk to. thank you."
"anytime, adrien."
we stayed in silence for a few seconds before adrien said something.
"let's talk about something else, as a distraction. okay, so the other day at the zoo we were talking about our childhoods. let's talk about our futures now. what are your plans?" he inquired, and my eyes went wide. well, up until recently they were to marry you and have three kids but i guess i really can't tell you that. i probably also can't tell you about the fact that i'm the guardian of the miraculous now so that probably super influences whatever step i take.
"i want to be a fashion designer. i've always loved fashion and i really, really want to make clothes when i'm older. ooh, i also want a hamster. i love hamsters," i told him. it wasn't completely a lie. in fact, it was hardly one at all. i just don't exactly know where my fashion career lays if i also have to care for the miracle box.
"well if you ever need a model, i'm here! and hamsters are adorable, i'm also here if you ever need a pet sitter." he offered, and i laughed.
"i'll definitely have to take you up on both those things."
we kept talking for what seemed like a few minutes, about small nothings in life. adrien seemed to become more and more relaxed in his voice, and it was refreshing to be able to be myself in front of him, or, more specifically, on the phone with him. (a/n: adrienette friendship adrienette friendship !!!!)
"gosh, i wonder what time it is," i laughed after adrien finished his story on how chloe got stuck in a fence when they were younger. i turned to the clock. 3:24 am. THREE AM ?!
"GAH! it's 3:24 in the morning!" i squeaked, and i heard a faint laugh coming from the other end of the phone. what seemed like a few minutes turned into a few HOURS, and i realized i had to patrol with chat at 6:00. that left me with less than three hours of sleep. i looked at tikki with wide eyes, and she merely shrugged.
"i guess we should probably hang up now. thanks for picking up the phone, marinette. you're amazing. we really should have more all nighters," adrien chuckled, and i felt my cheeks heat up. just a friend, marinette!
"we definitely should, i'll see you at school later," i said as i regained ability to talk. with that we hung up, and all of a sudden i felt a wave of tiredness hit me. yawning, i layed back down and dozed off.
   too soon, my alarm went off, signaling that it was time to get up. i transformed lazily and headed towards the arc the triomphe, where chat and i had agreed to patrol.
   as i arrived, i saw that he was already there, bundled in a small blanket. i walked towards him and narrowed my eyes.
"really? a blanket? on patrol?" i laughed, and he tossed me another similar one.
"the morning is nearly as cool as me, m'lady. i'm just trying to keep us warm," he grinned. i refrained from making a 'who needs a blanket when you're hot enough to keep us warm' remark and instead just bundled myself similarly to him. i shuddered a bit. why'd i even come up with that? he seemed to see my shudder, and mistook it for cold.
"see? i told you it was chilly," he smirked, and i turned away, scanning the streets for any sort of danger. nope, clear.
"why are we patrolling so early? it's not like anything exciting happens at 6 in the morning, everyone's probably asleep!" i said after yawning. chat noir smiled before pointing at something on the ground.
"everyone except for mr. ramier. look, he's already feeding his pigeons." i followed his finger and sure enough, there was mr. ramier. he seemed to notice us and gave us a warm smile and wave before turning back to the birds.
"i feel so bad for him, hawkmoth never leaves him alone! all he wants to do is feed his pigeons," i groaned.
"he's got to hold some kind of reco-..." he paused in the middle of his sentence, and i looked around to see why. there was a small child in a stroller, probably no older than 4, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"BUT MOMMY!! IT'S LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR!!!"
chat and i exchanged a look before leaping towards where he was.
"sweetie, please calm down. look, they're here!!" his mom said, pointing at us. the boy looked at us with glossy eyes, and chat noir approached them slowly.
"hello, ma'am, can i talk to your son for a bit? maybe it'll calm him down," he offered. the woman smiled, but then grimaced a bit.
"i'd love that, but i don't have the time. i need to take him to his father's house before my job interview. he hasn't been taking the separation very well," she muttered the end, more to herself than to us. i frowned, feeling sorry for the both of them.
"if you want, we could take him there, that way you don't have to worry about being late," i offered, and her face lit up.
"really? oh, thank you thank you thank you!" she said, hugging me. i hugged her back, happy to help. "his address is 17 rue gotlib. there should be a black car parked in the front, if i remember correctly."
"perfect, that's marinette's street! i know the way, your child is in good hands," chat noir piped in, standing up from the crouch he was in while softly calming down the boy.
his mother walked away quickly, and i began pushing the stroller.
"so, little guy, what's your name?" chat asked him, and the boy just stared. i laughed lightly.
"not much of a talker, huh? don't worry, chat does enough talking for the three of us," i teased, and chat scowled. the boy, however, smiled an adorable little toothless smile.
"how unfair! i'm the funny one, not her," chat mock pouted, and the boy finally spoke up.
"she's funnier than you," he said, his face so serious that it was hard not to laugh. chat looked at the kid incredulously, then scooped him out the stroller. he placed the boy on his arms and began to run around the sidewalk, nearly bumping into five lampposts.
"who's the funnier one now?" i heard him say, but eventually he got far enough where all i could hear were the boys muted shrieks of joy. i smiled at the sight before catching up to the pair.
   "so, now do you wanna tell us your name?" i asked him, and his little face scrunched up.
   "fine. my name is albert," he said, toying with chat's ears. "i'm named after my dad."
   "that's sweet. are you excited to see him?"
   "kinda, but if his new girlfriend is there it won't be no fun. he always listens to her more than me. mommy says that it's not a big deal, but i wish he played with me like he used to," albert replied, and i looked at him sadly, not really knowing what to say. luckily, it seemed like chat did.
   "that is no fun. next time you want to play with him, tell him chat noir and ladybug told him to play with you, yeah? he can't say possibly no to us," he said, letting go of albert's leg for a second to flex his arm. the boy giggled in response, and eventually we got to his dad's house. he thanked us and took albert's hand.
   "bye bye ladybug and chat noir!!! you guys are my best friends!" albert yelled, and i giggled.
   "and you're ours!" chat noir responded, doing a small salute.
   "he was so cute," i gushed once we were out of earshot.
   "not as cute as me," chat grinned, and i pushed him, rolling my eyes. how many times have i rolled my eyes around him? too many to count. "but, yeah, he was. poor guy. all he wants is for his dad to pay attention to him," chat said, frowning. it seemed as if there was something more behind the frown, but i didn't want to push him.
  we walked in silence for a few minutes, chat bundled in the blanket i returned to him after he gave his to albert. it had taken some convincing, since he claimed he wasn't cold at all and that i needed it more than him, but after a while he finally gave in. i looked up at him curiously and felt my heart swell a little. out of, pride for my partner, obviously.
yeah, right.
i looked away before he could catch me.
   shut up.