Living With Agreste

Chapter 29- Worse

The entire drive, Adrien eyes were locked on a red-cheeked Marinette with a look between confusion and awe. Marinette, on the other hand, felt awkward in her dress and makeup, so she leaned into the window with tinted cheeks. She hadn't realized how nervous she was acting until Adrien asked her if she was okay.

"M-Marinette?"

"Yes?" She turned to face him, her eyes glossy.

"You're... shaking?"

Marinette looked down at her hands, which were balled up in fists lying on her lap. He was right.

"Oh, yeah.. haha, sorry." She blushed and flattened her hands, pressing them together and folding them across her lap.

"It's okay to be nervous." He said, avoiding direct eye contact with the bluenette.

"It's..." Marinette wished she could tell him all of her worries, but when most of them were centered on him and the rumors, she felt like there was a tangible wall between them. "I'm not..."

Adrien knew from the shake in his friend's voice that she was most definitely not alright.

"I promise I'll stick up for you if anything goes wrong, okay?"

Marinette tensed. Just that one sentence seemed to ease her nerves in seconds. He was so kind... that for a split second, she felt as if she had fallen in love with him all over again.

"I... Thanks... A-Adrien..."

When Adrien and Marinette arrived at school, and the car pulled up to the school doors, Chloe greeted the two of them almost immediately.

"Marinette Dupain-CHENG!" She screamed, walking up to her and pointing a finger in her face, while Sabrina followed her like a lost puppy.

"How dare you take advantage of my Adrikins! You should have just gone with your parents! Instead, you're putting a bunch of stress on him and his father, staying with him while rumors spread! Ridiculous!"

Marinette hadn't even had time to completely adjust the bag around her body. Just when she opened her mouth to speak, Chloe gasped.

"And w-what are you wearing?"

"I'm... wearing... a dress."

"It..." Chloe flushed as her eyes trailed down Marinette's body. For once, the girl looked more fashionable than her.

"Nevermind... ugh," She lifted her hand and grabbed Adrien's arm, "Hey Adrikins! How was your week off? I heard you had a ton of photoshoots! Did you have fun?"

No.

"Yes..."

Chloe beamed. "What went on?"

Marinette almost died.

"Just photoshoots and stuff..."

"That's so cool! You know, if you're not busy we should totally hang out sometime this weekend!"

While Chloe and Adrien were talking, Marinette remembered that since she hadn't been to school in a while, that nobody knew what happened to her, and the rumors were still spreading hard.