Until Next Time, My Lady

Please Take Care Of Him, Marinette

"Alya, I totally screwed up!" She squeaked.

Alya rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her soda. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did! He probably thinks I want to be more than just friends," she uttered.

"So what if he does? Isn't this something you've wanted for years?" Alya pointed out.

"Well- I- Maybe," Marinette sputtered. "But I didn't want it to happen like this."

"How would you've wanted it to happen? By him choosing you over Chloé five years ago?

"No, but-." Was all she could manage before Alya cut her off.

"He can't change what he did five years ago, Mari." Alya grabbed a fry off her plate and took a bite. "I'm surprised he admitted that he used to have a crush on you in the first place."

"I know," she grumbled. "I'm just not ready for a relationship right now. I need to focus all my attention on the winter line. That wouldn't be fair to him."

"You do realize that he enjoys just being around you, right?" Alya snickered. "You could probably literally not give him attention for days, and he'd just be happy sitting in the same room with you while you worked. He's kind of like a cat when it comes to you."

"It still wouldn't feel right," she mumbled. "I want to give him the time he deserves. He doesn't deserve someone who doesn't have the time for him."

"You've seemed to have plenty of time the last five days," Alya remarked. "I haven't seen you in two weeks. I'm lucky I even got this lunch date with you."

"I know, Al. But I just want to be there for him right now," she murmured. "I'm not emotionally ready for anything more."

"If you say so," Alya smiled. "So you wanna tell me how you called him, 'handsome', again?"

Marinette glared at her. "Preferably not. I'd like to forget it ever happened."

"You know that he won't, right? I bet he's stressing about this just as much as you are."

"Why would he be doing that? It'd be a waste of his time to stress over me. I'm nothing compared to the woman he's still in love with." She started to pick at her untouched salad.

"Girl, I'm sick of you selling yourself short. You need to have confidence in yourself again." Alya scolded, slamming her hand down onto the table. "Adrien cares about you so much and he'd never make you feel unwanted."

She looked away from her. "I know what you're saying, Alya, but I'm not ready for anything serious. I don't want to hurt him."

Alya started to roll her eyes again, but the server came and placed another soda in front of her. Her demeanor changed as she thanked her.

"Marinette, you won't hurt him. His heart is guarded just as much as yours. Why do you keep pushing him away?"

"Apparently, I wasn't this morning or last night," she mumbled. "What am I doing, Alya?"

"Well, you're poorly flirting with him," Alya observed. "Also, I believe you're making dinner with him tonight."

"I still have no idea how he kept up with me!" She exclaimed. "He hasn't been running in months."

"Hmmm... Let's think about the reasons for him to keep up," she pondered with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "One, he doesn't like you running alone. Two, he cares about you. Three, you offered to make him dinner. Four, you called him, 'handsome'... Would you like me to continue?"

"No," Marinette sighed.

She finally took a bite of her salad. The dressing was bland and the leaves were starting to wilt. She pushed it off to the side in the hopes that the server would come pick it up on her next round.