All's Well that End's Well

*Part Ten*

___________Eden's POV___________________

Okay, so full honesty, I tried really hard to keep my crush a secret. I did! But Adrien could tell something was up and wouldn't stop pestering me. I swear, every time I left my room, he popped up out of the shadows asking "Are you sure you're okay?" and "Why do you keep avoiding everyone at school?" and "How come it looks like you were crying?" For the record, I wasn't crying, he just caught me after I'd sneezed.

So after three days of this, I finally gave in to his incessant nagging as we were walking home from his Mandarin lesson.

"Okay, okay, fine, but if I tell you, you have to shut up," I declared, rubbing my eyes. I hadn't even started and I already had a headache. Adrien gave me a cheeky grin.

"Deal. So what's been bugging you lately? You're acting super weird like you don't know how to act with people," he complained and I sighed.

"For someone so oblivious, you sure do notice a lot."

"Don't change the subject."

I stopped walking to lean against a storefront. Adrien stopped to stand in front of me, eyebrows raised.

"You know we're gonna get in trouble if we're late, right?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, but what I'm about to tell you is a secret. I don't want anyone overhearing it and I don't want it getting out. Understood?"

"Come on, El, I'm literally your brother at this point. You can trust me. Spill."

He did have a point. If I had to tell someone, it'd be him all the way.

"Okay, lean in because I'm gonna whisper, 'kay?"

Adrien leaned in, shoulders hunched so that he would be at my eye level. Shielding my mouth with my hand, I said in a voice barely above a whisper:

"I kinda sorta have a crush on a certain Couffaine twin with blue hair."

Adrien pulled back, grinning ear to ear. The heat was already rising in my cheeks and I fixed my gaze on the ground.

"You like Luka?!" He whispered excitedly, and though there was little chance anyone could hear him, I shouted at him to be quiet anyway. Embarrassment was flooding my veins and I regret ever saying anything.

"El, this is great! You guys would be perfect together," He said, linking my arm to his as we began walking again.

"No, no it's not great, because he likes someone else," I said.

Adrien stopped walking, looking down to face me, but I wouldn't meet his eyes.

"What? Who? Who could he possibly find cooler than you?" He demanded, and I bit some of the dead skin off my lips.

"He likes Marinette, but she likes... someone else, so..." I trailed off. Adrien was frowning at the cement under our feet. I wanted him to say something optimistic, but I also wanted to change the subject.

"Uh, that... I'm sorry El, I'm not sure what we can do about that," He admitted, releasing my arm to squeeze my hand.

I sped up, suddenly not wanting to be talking about my struggling love life out in the open.

"I'm not going to do anything, I'm just gonna wait it out until I don't like him anymore, and no one is going to know that I ever liked him. Besides, I'm not looking for a relationship when I'll just have to leave in five months," I admitted, and Adrien let go of my hand to grab my shoulders.

"What? No, that's not what you should do at all! Have you told him, what if he likes you back-," He started, but I yanked his hands off my shoulders and leveled my gaze at him.