Gotham's Lucky Charm (Daminette)

Ch 13 - Everything is Perfectly Fine

Marinette was sure that her brain must be broken. After everything that had happened over the past few hours, the only thing that Marinette could think of was how hard Damian's chest had felt when she stumbled and crashed into him.

And how nice his hug had felt.

And how warm his breath had been against her neck.

And how good he looked right now in his motorcycle jacket.

Marinette hid her burning face behind her hands. What was wrong with her? Why was she thinking about these things?

"Marinette?" Damian called her name. "Is everything alright? Are you sure that you don't want to go to the hospital?"

"Haha, everything is perfectly fine!" Marinette laughed. "Nothing to worry about!"

Nothing to worry about, except that she had lied to Damian and the police. She was being forced to skip her second day at Gotham Academy for "mental health reasons" when she wasn't even sure how she was going to manage dealing with akuma attacks for the rest of the school year. And her eyes couldn't seem to stop staring at Damian's chest!

"If you're sure..." Damian sounded unconvinced, but he didn't pressure her further. He held up a second jacket; a smaller one that would fit Marinette perfectly. "Here, let me help you."

Marinette complied and slipped her arms into the jacket sleeves. "T-thank you."

Why was she stuttering so much today? This was ridiculous! Hadn't she gotten over her stuttering problem when she realized how pointless her crush on Adrien Agreste had been?

Damian handed Marinette her backpack. His own backpack had been left behind in his locker since Marinette had made Damian promise that he would return to Gotham Academy, and attend the rest of the day's classes, after he drove Marinette to her apartment. Marinette tried to not stare at his brilliant green eyes as she pulled the backpack straps over her shoulders.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to carry the bag for you?" Damian hesitated as he handed her a motorcycle helmet. "All those textbooks and notepads are fairly heavy. And heavy backpacks are notorious for causing back and shoulder strain..."

"I can handle a heavy school bag." Marinette playfully rolled her eyes as she grabbed the helmet from his hands. "Besides, how would you carry my backpack if I'm sitting behind you on your motorcycle?"

"Tt, I suppose that would be difficult." Damian mused. "After all, you need to hold on to me during the ride and an object as bulky as a backpack would create too much of a distance between us."

Holding on to Damian? As in...wrapping her arms around his chest to prevent herself from falling off the motorcycle while they sped down the road? Together? Just the two of them?

Marinette pulled the motorcycle helmet over her head to hide the blush on her face. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this. Her heart was beating concerningly fast.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. It was fine. She would be fine.

This was Damian: her new friend. She had no reason to be nervous.

When Marinette finally had the courage to look at Damian again, he had already placed his own helmet on his head and climbed onto the motorcycle. Damian offered his hand towards her, waiting to help her climb on the back seat.

Marinette tapped the small cross-body purse that Tikki and Kaalki were hiding inside for good luck. She let Damian's hand pull her onto the motorcycle. Her other hand attempted to hold down her plaid Gotham Academy uniform skirt.