Ways to be Wicked - Descendants 2 AU

Chapter 5

 Days had taken on a blurred effect for Marinette, like looking out a window in a thunderstorm and having the landscape blur and distort like a watercolor painting. Days were lost, dates were too much to handle and she barely found time to breathe let alone eat sometimes. For the budding lady of the court, the most she felt she could keep up with was that yesterday was gone, today was barreling by, and tomorrow was always too close for her comfort.

She leaned her head against her locker, now paint free after she swore to be good. The remnants of spray paint that were still etched into the locker grates, along with the mix of royal and sky blue notebooks she had shut away inside, were the only remnants of her wild ways. That and Circe's Spell book that she couldn't seem to shake. She needed that spell book and its knowledge far more that Alya understood if she were to be the lady Adrien deserved. If it meant one more secret... she'd learn to live with that.

She idly picked at a speck of spray paint on her locker, feeling all too hollow at the cruel irony of her scraping away at the paint fleck in the same way she had chipped away at herself to become something else. She was lost in her thoughts, feeling all too sorry for herself at that moment, when a figure leaned up against the locker just beside hers.

"Hey there," Adrien said with a grin, his shoulder propped against the locker and his hands in his trouser pockets. His smile was crooked and familiar, the one that he seemed to reserve only for her and gave her a glimpse to the true boy hidden beneath all the refinery and politicking. It chased her own self-loathing away, warming her from the inside out. "Come here often?"

"Well, it is my locker," Marinette replied, leaning back her locker door and trying to suppress the smile that threatened to break her demure facade. He was incorrigible sometimes with his odd sense of humor. It was one of the reasons he had grown on her so much.

"I have a little surprise for you," Adrien sung to her, practically vibrating from the excitement at having something for her.

"Again?" Marinette asked in an incredulous tone. "Wow, that's, like, everyday now."

"Every other day," Adrien corrected, his finger coming up to tap her on the tip of her nose affectionately, making Marinette's cheeks flush. "The even dates. Because you're even more perfect than I thought."

Marinette half-heartedly shoved him away with her shoulder, not quite meeting his eyes as she gave a forced laugh. "Yup... that's me. I am perfect."

"Come on," Adrien said as he tugged her back to face towards him, his hands warm on her shoulders as he rubbed them gently. "Let me spoil you. You didn't have a lot growing up."

Marinette's brow furrowed at his comment. It wasn't his intention, but the insinuation made defensiveness rear its head. She may not have had much on the Isle, but at the moment, she would have given anything to have her little slice of island over all the riches in Auradon. She pulled away from him some, holding herself.

"We managed," was all she said in response, turning to slip one of her textbooks back into her locker. When she opened it, Circe's spell book sat front and center, a wordless declaration of her personal rebellion.

Adrien's brow furrowed together as he looked from Marinette's secret book and the girl who was floundering for an answer. "I thought you donated that to the museum?"

"Is that still there?" Marinette laughed nervously, shoving her textbooks inside before quickly closing the door. She had to change the subject and quickly. "Umm... I gotta get to class, I really don't want to be late."

"Nope," Adrien said immediately, taking her hand in his to pull her down the hallway.

"Where are we going?" Marinette asked curiously as he pulled her out one of the exit doors to a small inner courtyard.