Dream a Little Dream (On Hold)

3

She walks in the room, and looks startled when I am in Alya's seat and Alya is in mine. She smiles at me, and a light blush covers her cheeks. "H-hey A-A-Adrien." She stutters, and I greet her back.

"I wanted to give Nino and Alya a day, you know? And I wanted to spend some time with you. So it all works out." She nods, and pulls out her tablet. I do the same, and the teacher comes in, starting the lesson right after the bell rings.

———
Lunch
———

Nino and Alya walk out of the room, after telling us about their date that they have planned for lunch. I turn to Marinette, and watch as she places her tablet back in her bag. "Want to eat together?" I ask, and she turns to me, smiling. "S-Sure." We walk together out of the school, and I ask, "Where to?" She shrugs, and I run my hand through my hair, thinking.

I grab her hand, and she looks surprised. "I heard about this new cafe down the street. We should eat there." The blush returns and she nods, and we begin to walk together, hand in hand.

We get there, and sit at a small table inside after ordering. I decide to just get straight to the point. "So, I was wondering what you think about Ladybug and Chat Noir." I say, and she seems to consider it for a second. "I t-think that they are v-very brave, and very nice. I h-h-have only ever met Chat Noir, and t-that was when he saved me from Nathanial, My grandma, André the ice c-c-cream man, and my dad when they w-w-were akumatized."

She says, smiling at the memories. "What do you think about Chat Noir? Isn't he like a side kick for Ladybug or something?" What I say must offend her, because her tone changes and she stares me directly in the eyes. I don't think she has ever done that before.

"Don't say that! He is in no way a side kick. Yes, ladybug is the one where she de-evilizes the the akuma, but Chat Noir is not a side kick. Thank you," she says, as the waitress places her crepe down. She pauses for a second, waiting for the waitress to walk away, the entire time keeping eye contact.

"He is Extraordinary, and is very important. He is involved in every fight and she wouldn't be able to win if he weren't there. He is no sidekick" she says the word with disgust. "He is apart of a team. Any one who thinks otherwise is wrong. And yeah, at times his puns can get annoying, but he helps. He keeps the fight going, and keeps it light. He is always looking for the good, bright things in the bad dark ones."

"He is like you in that way. You do the same. I admire it. It is a strong characteristic. And one that I wish I had. I also wish that I always had confidence. But I don't. It only hits at certain times or when I need it. I'm getting off track."

"I think Chat Noir is an amazing, smart, funny, kind person. And no, in no way is he a side kick towards that bug." She looks down, and takes a small bite out of her crepe. I stare at her, and take one out of my salad. If she is ladybug, it just showed. Really bad.

"So, what do you think about Ladybug?" I ask, and Marinette takes a few more bites before answering. "I think she is misunderstood, and gets too much of the credit. She also probably has a lot of pressure on her. I bet, underneath all of that confidence and courage, there is just a normal girl who is terrified and unsure. I bet her life is so confusing and hard, that she can never be her true self."

"Like, she can't be akumatized. I'm not saying that it isn't possible, I'm saying that it would be awful if she did. I'm not going back on what I said at all, but she is needed if someone is akumatized. Chat wouldn't be able to fight her. He would be too scared to hurt her. Even though it would be saving. He is too in love with her to even consider hurting her. And afterwards, she probably wouldn't be able to live with herself because she would feel so awful for what she had done. The world would be in ruins, and she wouldn't be able to handle it."

"I'm sure Chat could handle it though, if he got akumatized. And he would be ok, I think if he didn't see the damage. But I feel like it would hurt ladybug even more if he did. To have to fight him to save him. It is a cruel mix." She looks up towards me with her dark long eyelashes, and continues, "To have to save someone you love by hurting them, then fixing everything, just for him to forget and have no idea what happened, when all he remembers is the story that she doesn't even know..."

She trails off, and I think that the last part she wasn't speaking to me anymore. "I think they would both know the story. Or at least, he would explain. And I'm not sure that she loves him." She looks at me, and slightly laughs. "What?" I ask, and she responds with, "Irony." I give her a confused look, and say, "I have no idea what you mean." She smirks and answers me with, "I'm counting on that."

She sighs, and takes the last few bites of her food. "I'm sure that she loves him. Maybe not romantically like how he loves her, but more like a friendship love. Or family. Have you seen the way she cares about him, or whenever he gets hurt or something how worried she is? She may not be in love with him, but she still loves him. I think it's impossible not to love that ally cat."

I stare at her, and she begins to take a drink of her water. "Well, then, Marinette. I think that you cleared something up for me. What you said was purrfect." She begins to laugh, and water shoots out her nose onto her plate. I begin to laugh now too, really hard. We both laugh for a few minutes, and she presses a napkin to her nose, trying to stop the water from running out. She pulls the piece of cloth away from her nose, and even more drips out onto the plate.

I let out a huge laugh, and gasp for air, not being able to breath. I grab onto my side, because it hurts so bad. I have to look away from her, and I eventually calm down. I wipe my eyes and take a few deep breaths, before I look back to her. Her eyes are a little red and her nose has a bit of water dripping out of it, which she dabs at.

I snicker, and she begins to laugh too. I write the check and stand up, walking to the other side of the table and grabbing her hand. We walk towards the school, laughing the entire time. The bell rings as we walk in, and we make eye contact out of the corner of our eyes. We both gasp for air, and we walk into the classroom. A few other people are in there, and we sit next to each other.

She pulls out her tablet from her bag, and takes a deep breath as she places it on the table. I copy her movements, and she whispers, "Don't you ever tell anyone, or else." She says, and I let out a small chuckle. Once everyone is in class, the teacher starts the lesson.

The entire time I'm trying not to laugh, and every now and then I see Marinette's shoulders slight shake. Even though we are learning about the "Black Death" right now, I can't stop.

The final bell rings, and I glance over at Marinette, who is already looking at me. We continue laughing, and I take in her beauty, and how much she looks like ladybug, and acts like it. We walk to the front of the school after stopping by our lockers, and she says, "See you tomorrow Adrien, and remember, no soal can be told." I smile a little, and she walks away.

I watch as she does, but then I see something strange; a little red creature floating by her head, and she seems to be talking to it. I stare in shock, and whisper, "I found you M'lady."