No More Secrets

Chapter 3

Marinette's eyes fluttered open, her blue-bell gaze landing on the ceiling above her. It was late, she noted, the bright sun filtering from the window and onto the pink-colored walls of her room.
Marinette sat up and gently ruffled her hair as she glanced around, before placing her feet on the small ladder beside her bed, only for her to lose her footing and tumble down to the floor beneath her.
Marinette only groaned as she got onto her knees, rubbing the exhaustion out of her eyes, the memories from the day prior rushing back to her head.
She had given away her identity, had her first genuine kiss... Lila... It truly had been a grueling day.

Marinette could only sigh as she idled her way downstairs and into the kitchen where she saw her mother sitting on the couch, the faint noise coming from the TV silently echoing on the walls.

"Good morning, maman," the bluenette smiled as she walked towards her seated mother.

"Good morning Marinette."
Her mother returned the bluenette's smile as she spoke, before giving her daughter a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Did you sleep well?"

Marinette slowly nodded as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a croissant that sat on a tray on top of the kitchen's stove.
It only took the young high schooler a few bites before the decently sized pastry was gone, but as soon as the girl grabbed her bag from a chair and made her way to the door, her mother called for her attention.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Marinette's brows furrowed as she glanced around the room.
The older woman's sigh made Marinette look back at her mother who was now pointing at Marinette's attire. Looking down at her clothes, Marinette felt an embarrassed blush rise to her cheeks, which earned a silent giggle from her mother.

There was no way she was about to go to school with her pajamas...

~~~

As Marinette walked down the street and towards her school, she made sure to push the incident from the morning to the back of her mind. She didn't want this tiny mistake to ruin the rest of the day — despite knowing how dumb it was to get so embarrassed from something so minor.

The girl sighed as she ruffled her bangs abashedly, not at all paying attention to her surroundings. Of course, this in itself had its consequences, and she soon came to realize this as she felt herself collide into something — in this case someone — not soon after.

Stumbling back, Marinette inwardly groaned, slightly irritated with herself. This was not really her morning, was it?

"Marinette?"
Adrien's familiar voice pulled Marinette to the current reality, her head whipping upwards to meet his gentle emerald eyes.

"A-Adrien... hi...!"
Marinette internally slapped herself for stuttering.

"Are you alright?" The young model asked her, his hand finding her shoulder.

Marinette never thought she'd feel so uncomfortable.
"Yeah, of course!" She gave him a warm smile as she kindly shrugged his hand off. "Just, uh... it's been a weird morning."

Then, it got silent. It wasn't in any way a comfortable one — in fact, Marinette never wanted to hide from the young Agreste more. And so, after a few moments, Marinette let out a cough before speaking. "We should really head to class now. I don't wanna be late... again."
Walking past him, Marinette let out a quiet sigh, now determined to make it to class on time.

But, of course, her plans were instantly ruined the moment she heard an explosion.

Whirling her head around to face source, the first thing she saw was a large cloud of smoke tainting the formerly clear skies.