The Renegade's Secret

Chapter 10

Marinette slowly opened her eyes as her alarm went off. She'd been fighting waking up for a few minutes already when Tikki started gently poking her cheek. She abruptly bolted upright.

"Wait, how did I end up in my bed? The last thing I remember is sitting with Cat on the chaise..."

Pollen flew over "Oh, well you guys actually fell asleep together for a while but then he tucked you in when he left, it was so cute!" 

"WHAT?! He didn't just leave? Why?? Well, I mean, I guess I don't really mind since he was really upset, I get why he didn't want to go home..." She paced the room, then stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait, nothing else happened right? Just sleeping?"

Tikki giggled, "Marinette, you know Cat Noir would never do anything you didn't approve of, he was a perfect gentleman, and very tired..."

"Right, of course. I know Cat wouldn't have done anything, it's just weird not remembering." Then she realized they must've been pretty close as she could smell his cologne on her shirt. Somehow he still couldn't quite place the scent, she knew she'd smelled it before but it was like something was keeping her brain from connecting the dots, so she gave up and got ready for school.

........

As Marinette reached the classroom she noticed Adrien looking at her with a bit of a sparkle in his eye. She blushed and nearly tripped on the step, but managed to catch herself before anything embarrassing happened. 

The encounter did not go unnoticed by Alya who gave her a smug look as if to say 'I told you the just-a-friend stage is ending'. 

........

Later, in Ms. Mendeleiv’s class it was Alya and Max’s turn to present. Their project was on radio frequencies and wireless communications. 

School was over in a flash and Marinette found herself headed down the front steps to go home for the day. She noticed Adrien getting into his car, bumping his head on the door frame as he realized she was looking at him. He laughed and waved at her. She blushed and waved back.

"See you tomorrow, Marinette!" He called from the window.

"Bye Adrien!" She smiled.

"Wow, not even a single stammer, I'm impressed." Alya smiled. 

"I only said two words to him, I'd hope I'm not that bad..."

"I don't know, you used to be" Nino laughed. 

Marinette groaned. "But really, since the project, I feel like we've become normal friends for the most part. I guess spending so much time together alone helped me to not feel so nervous around him."

"Hmm, interesting... Time alone, huh?" Alya looked at her questioningly.

"It's not like that and you know it!" Marinette protested. 

"I was only joking, I know Adrien's a perfect gentleman." Alya winked.

The feeling came back, that familiarity surrounded by confusion. Hadn't she heard someone say that recently? Who was it they were talking about again? She couldn't remember as hard as she tried.

"Are you alright girl? You look like you're about to explode." Alya watched her.

"No, yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something but I can't remember for some reason." She shrugged it off, said her goodbye's and walked home.

........

Adrien arrived home and thankfully was only greeted by Nathalie as his father was still too busy to grace him with his presence. He walked straight to his room with only a nod of acknowledgment to Nathalie, knowing if he opened his mouth he would probably say something he'd regret.