Half Way

An Abandoned Backpack, A Flower and A Dinner Invitation

Marinette never came back to class.

After the final bell rang Alya went to the girl's bathroom to try and find her, but she wasn't there. Then she took a quick look in the courtyard before going back to Miss Bustier's classroom.

"I can't find her," Alya told Adrien and Nino.

Adrien's heart sank. She had promised him that they would talk after school. "Thanks for checking Alya," he said quietly.

"Look Adrien, I don't know what's going on between you two, but you can't give up on Marinette," Alya said. "She has loved you too much for too long. Whatever happened, make it right so you can be together again."

"Just be yourself dude," Nino added. "That's how Marinette fell in love with you in the first place."

"Thanks guys. I'm going to wait here for a few more minutes to see if she comes back for her backpack. I'll see you tomorrow."

Alya and Nino said their goodbyes and left the classroom, leaving Adrien all alone. He went up to Marinette's seat and packed up all of her things. When he was done, he waited a minute before trudging to the hallway and down the stairs.

Once outside he went over to his bodyguard. "I'm just going to drop Marinette's backpack off at her house. I'll be right back."

His bodyguard grunted at him in reply.

Adrien walked the short distance to her house and went inside the bakery. Like usual, Sabine was at the counter. "Adrien, what a wonderful surprise!" she announced at seeing him.

"Hi Mrs Cheng, Marinette left this at school. I just wanted to bring it home for her," he said, handing her the bag.

"That's strange, I didn't even see her. She must be up in her room. Would you like me to go get her?"

"Oh no, you don't have to do that. Just please tell her that I stopped by."

"I will dear," Sabine replied as he left.

Adrien almost made it back to the town car when he heard a noise that made his heart skip a beat. He looked up to see Marinette running towards him.

"Adrien!" she called again before stopping in front of him. "I'm sorry I'm late. I needed to find something."

"You... needed to find something?" he asked, clearly confused.

She nodded. "For you."

He was shocked. "Marinette, you didn't have to get me anything."

"Yes I did," she insisted. "Adrien... I need to tell you something, and I'm afraid it's going to upset you."

Now he was even more confused. "What is it?"

She took a step towards him and glanced around quickly, making sure that no one else was around. "Adrien..." she started, tears in her eyes again.

"Marinette?" He moved towards her.

She looked up at him as she struggled to speak. "Adrien, I..." She cleared her throat. "I'm..."

"It's okay, you can tell me."

Marinette shook her head and looked down. After a second she reached over to her purse, unclasped it, and pulled out a single red rose.

Adrien looked down and stopped breathing at seeing the flower in her hand. His eyes went back up to meet hers.

Not saying anything, she took two steps backwards and kneeled down on one knee. Then she held the rose out towards him.

He took a small step back as the feeling of deja vu swept over him. This scene was way too familiar, except that the roles were reversed. He was always the one on the other side holding out the rose. This couldn't possibly mean what he was thinking. There was no way.