Behind The Mask ~Ladynoir Fanfiction~

Chapter 3

Marinette...

I slid through my window trying to be as silent as I could, not wanting my parents to hear me come into the house. It was late - very late - and my transformation wore off the moment I slipped in.

The battle with SeisManiac shouldn't have had taken so long - he was a pretty weak enemy after all. It was my bandaged hand that had slowed us down - well, the bandages disappeared when I transformed, but the cut remained nonetheless.

 Even Chat Noir noticed it - he looked oddly at me whenever I winced and held my hand to my chest. I guess he didn't expect me to get injuries.

I threw myself onto my bed, groaning as I thought of how much time I had wasted. I should've called Adrien, but then again, I had no idea what his number was. He's probably pretty annoyed with me.

'Marinette, you should probably change your bandages,' chimed Tikki as I changed.

'I don't have time to, Tikki. It's already 3 am and I haven't even finished my homework. Guess I'm skipping breakfast tomorrow...' I yawned before creeping between the sheets.

'Night, Tikki,' I yawned, asleep before I could hear her answering 'Goodnight.'

~~

'Hey, Marinette!' called a familiar voice. I turned around sharply as Adrien appeared behind my shoulder. Immediately, I shut my locker door, hiding my secrets.

'Hey, Adrien,' I said breathlessly.

'Listen - I'm sorry for bailing on you like that, but my dad's a total maniac when it comes to my safety from Akumas. Forgive me?' he pleaded.

I took a moment to take in the situation. Here was Adrien, the boy who I crushed over since I first saw him, begging me to forgive him. Like my forgiving him was important to him. Like I was somewhat important to him. My heart swelled.

'Uh, no! You don't need to, need to apologise, Adrien! I mean, I get what you said about - about parents being so over-protective. My parents are similiar, they barely let me leave the house. Not saying that I always want to leave the house because, obviously sometimes leaving the house is a bad thing but I -- '

'Shhhhhh...' Adrien placed a finger on my lips,leaning in. WHAAAAT? My heart started racing, sprinting. He. Was. Touching. My. Lips. OMGGG. I might faint!

'You tend to ramble on a lot, don't you?' he laughed, eyes twinkling.

'Er, yea-ah...' I said quietly, feeling warmth on my cheeks.

He chuckled, before pulling out his phone. 'I forgot to ask you but, can I have your number?'

Lucky there was a locker behind me, because I think I might've collapsed. He's asking ME...

'Sure,' I smiled, taking out my own phone. It was only when I realised my background picture was of Adrien that I insisted to type his number down myself.

'Catch you later, Marinette...' he smiled and walked off, looking back once to wave at me. I timidly waved back, leaning heavily against my locker.

'Tikki?' I breathed and my loyal kwami flew to my shoulder. 'Didn't Adrien walk to my house yesterday?' I asked.

'Yeah, Marinette, we both saw him,' Tikki whispered back.

'But then... why did he say his chauffeur took him home when the Akuma attacked?' I wondered and Tikki just shrugged. Was he keeping something from me? Of course, he's keeping many things from me, seeing as we're not proper friends yet but did he lie blatantly to me?

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach and when walking back to class with Alya, I couldn't help but wonder why Adrien might lie to me...

~~

Sorry this is a short one! But I'm writing a chunky chapter straight after I publish this :)

With love,

~Aria