Half Way

Butterflies, Elephants and Secret Identities

Adrien found Marinette sitting at her desk the next morning at school. It was evident that she was trying to avoid eye contact. She didn't look up at him as he took his seat. He couldn't blame her.

But he needed to speak with her. "Hey Marinette," he said gently.

Her face was bright red, just like it had been the day before when she confessed. "Hey," she squeaked out, keeping her eyes down.

"I wanted to apologize about yesterday..."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it," she quickly interrupted.

"Marinette, I..." he trailed off when he saw Nino and Alya walk up.

"How's it going, girl?" Alya asked, sliding into her seat.

"Fine," Marinette replied, not looking at her friend.

Alya scrunched up her face. She could tell that something was wrong. "Is everything alright?"

Marinette nodded her head.

The redhead wasn't convinced. She glanced over at Adrien, who was still turned towards them with a pained look on his face. 'What's going on?' she silently mouthed to him.

He simply looked at Marinette once again before spinning back around to his desk. Alya narrowed her eyes at him for a second. Then she refocused her attention to the front of the classroom as their teacher Miss Bustier started speaking.

************************************

Like Adrien expected, Marinette avoided him all day long. Not once did she look him in the eyes.

Instead, he started getting daggers from Alya. Marinette must have told her what happened and she seemed pissed. She didn't say anything though, she just glared at him from afar.

He desperately wanted to talk to Marinette in private but he never got the chance. Not until the end of the day.

When the final bell rang she quickly got up to leave. Adrien grabbed her hand as she walked down the steps past his desk. "Please Marinette, I need to talk to you."

Alya looked over at them and frowned, but continued on her way out of the classroom.

Marinette was startled by his touch. "There's nothing to talk about," she insisted, attempting to pull her hand away.

Adrien held on firmly. "Please?"

She glanced around at the students making their way out of the classroom before she nodded curtly.

Adrien let go of her hand which she immediately pulled back. She stayed in place looking down at the floor until they were alone in the room.

That's when he stood and moved up to her. "Marinette, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I was a total jerk and I feel horrible."

"You don't have to apologize Adrien. It's not a big deal. I completely understand." She still didn't look at him while she spoke.

"I was just surprised. That's why I didn't say anything," he explained.

"It's fine, really." She paused momentarily. "I, uh... I should go." She started to turn towards the door.

"Wait!" Adrien protested, causing Marinette to stop. "I wanted to give you the answer to your question."

She finally looked up at him.

He continued. "I would love to go out with you sometime."

Silence again, but this time it was very different.