MARINETTE

"W-what?" he says in disbelief. "I must be daydreaming right now. Whoo, let me ask you again."

He holds my hand firmly between his two hands and he is looking straight into my eyes.

"Marinette," he starts slowly, "I am asking if you can be my plus one in Alya and Nino's wedding."

"And I told you," I reply, "I can't. I am Nathanael's plus on-"

"How?" he cuts me off, "How in the-" he lets go of my hand and looks away. He heaves a sigh and ruffles his hair, annoyingly.

"Are you mad?" I ask carefully, slowly resting my left hand on his arm.

"Mad?" he asks, "No! I-I'm very ma-surprised! I'm very surprised!!"

"Oh-"

"But how? A-and why??" he stutters and brings his arm closer to him, making me lose my hold on him.

"Adrien..."

"Can you like, kindly explain to me how he asked you?" he interrupts. "You were busy the whole day. Heck, you even broke your elbow today!"

"He called me just before I joined the game..."

"Oh..." he says quietly, "and you complied to his request?"

I look at the horizon to see the sun setting. I avoid his stare and sigh. "Of course, I did." I whisper, "He asked me first. I couldn't say no."

"You're too kind to say no." he mumbles and I look at him. He is playing with the sand with his head resting on his right hand. He looked...sad.

"Adrien-"

"I shall be going ahead." he stands and pats his shorts, taking away the sand. "See you at dinner..." he mumbles before leaving me.

I watch him walk back to the main area and never did he even turn back just to look at me.

-----------------

A dinner date?!

With other women?!!

How dare he!!

"Adrien." I seethe as I go down the bleachers, "Who do you choose? You have me already! And you said yes to those snakes??"

I exit the court and head to the nearest palm tree. I stand under its leaves for shade because it's hot! It's damn hot!!

"Argh!!" I shout out of frustration. "Why does he affect me so much?!!" I cross my arms in front of my chest and breathe heavily.

"Bad vibes." I grumble, "Bad vibes all around me!" I kick the tree out of anger and immediately wince in pain. "Ouch!! Stupid Marinette! You're letting him affect you!" I rub my big toe and I feel my phone vibrating. I grab it and look at the caller I.D.

Nathanael.

I press the answer button and I bring the phone to my ear.

"What?" I snap at him and I hear him inhale sharply. "Make it fast." I continue, "I'm not in the mood right now."

"Oh..." he sighs sadly, "you know what? Just forget that I even called you..."

Oh no. Now I feel guilty.

"Wait!" I shout on the phone. "I-I didn't mean to vent out my anger on you. I'm sorry." I apologize and I hear him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Now do you want to talk?" he asks.

"So," I start, "what's the reason for your call?"

"Umm..." I hear him clear his throat and suddenly, I hear pieces of paper being thrown across the room. What the...

"Nath? What's going on over there?"

"Aha!" he exclaims with a loud voice. "I found it!"

"Found what?"

"Uh..." he goes back into being the shy man I'm familiar with. "I-it's just the invitation. I've been invited to Nino and Alya's wedding..."

"Oh that's wonderful to hear!" I say joyfully and he laughs lightly.

"I know right? It's about time they get married! I'm happy for them...and I want to share my happiness with you too." he whispers at the end and we are just left with an awkward silence between us.

"Nath..." I whisper, trying to break the tension. "what are you trying to say?"

"I want you to be my plus one, Mari..."

I inhale sharply upon hearing his request and I look around to see if anyone was nearby or was even eavesdropping on our conversation.

"Nath...I-"

"Please Marinette. Be with me at their wedding..."

Oh no. He's practically begging me right now.

"Nath. Honestly..."

I expected someone else to ask me. But to my dismay, he seems to not be interested in asking me.

"Honestly," I continue, "I would like to be your plus one."

Damn it. Why can't you say 'no' Marinette??

"Are you serious?" he whispers and I whisper a silent yes to him.

"Oh my God." he laughs on the phone, "You don't know how happy I am right now! Let's see each other some time?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah...we can see each other next time..." I sigh and end the call without even saying a good-bye. I sigh and look at my phone. What have I done? Is this the right thing?

"Marinette?"

I jump in surprise and look at Karla who is walking to me. "What are you doing here?" she asks and I nervously put my cellphone in my pocket. I cross my arms and look away from her.

"I-I just answered a call." I quietly answer and I see Karla examining me weirdly then she shakes her head.

"I was wondering if you know where Mister Agreste is?"

I scowl just by the mention of his name and I bitterly spit, "That two-timing jerk?! He's over there enjoying himself with his ladies." I point to the basketball court.

"Oh thank you- wait...t-two-timing jerk? Did you just call Mister Agreste a two-timing jerk?"

"Yes I did!" I exclaim and take a deep breath, "He's a two-timing jerk!"

"Since when has Mister Agreste become a two- timer?"

"Since...since he decided to take those women on a date! A dinner date to be exact! Does he find himself enough with one already?!" My ranting stops once I hear Karla snort.

"What's funny?" I hiss and Karla bursts out laughing.

"Marinette!" She exclaims, "Do you realize that you just confessed? You just confessed that you're jealous!"

I gasp in utter disappointment. "Excuse me!" I sassily say, "I am not jealous for your information!"

"Oh, so you can go back to the basketball court and watch the game? Are you now dying to know who the winner will be?" She teases and I start to feel that my face is flushing.

"I heard that he is only going to bring the MVP with him..." she continues and I am left in shock. My mouth opens wide and I can't seem to close it.

"That-that idiot!"

"Admit it. You're jealous." she crosses her arms and gives me a know-it-all look.

My facial features may look like as if I have calmed down already, but my blood is still boiling with anger.

"Fine." I mumble incoherently. "It's just that...I don't know. I don't like it when he plays with their feelings! I don't even know if he is playing with their feelings! This is making me frustrated!"

"Do you like Mister Agreste?" Karla quietly asks. I look at her but I can't seem to utter anything to her.

Do I like him?

Of course, I do.

I do like Adrien...

"I do...I mean, who wouldn't?" I confess after awhile, "He's handsome, charming, and he's caring and generous too. He may be mean at times but he has that aura to make you forgive him..."

"So why can't you just confess to him, Miss Marinette?" she asks.

"Oh, so now we are using the term, 'Miss'?"

"Well, I may be speaking with the future wife of Mister Agreste..."

I scoff and look at her in disbelief, "Like as if I would become his wife." 'again', I quietly add.

"Oh, Miss Marinette, you have no clue. And don't worry, I won't tell him." she teases and looks around the area, "I was supposed to be part of one basketball team right now, but I have to relay important news to Mister Agreste...would you like to take my spot?"

"Me? Playing basketball?" I scoff, "No thank you, Karla."

"I heard that my team is winning the match-"

"Sign me up now. Please."

---------------------

Ramona and I try to find a table where we can eat on in the cafeteria. She is carrying two meals on one tray since I only have one available hand right now.

"Let's sit there!" Ramona says excitedly, pointing at an empty table.

We head to the table and Ramona places my meal in front of me. Thankfully, we are just having a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. I grab it with my left hand and start to devour it.

"Woah!" Ramona takes away my sandwich from me and puts it on her plate, "Let me slice your sandwich first, so that you just eat it with a fork."

"Thank you.." I whisper as she slices my sandwich.

"You're so stupid. You that right?" she mutters while pushing the plate to me.

"What?"

"You decided to join the basketball game even if you knew that you couldn't play any sport. But in all honesty, you were actually good at the court."

"Thank you.." I say again, acknowledging her compliment.

"But why did you do it in the first place? Now you have a broken elbow all because of your stupidity!"

"I'm aware of my broken elbow, thank you by the way for reminding me." I sarcastically utter. Ramona slams her hand in the table and glares at me.

"What?!" I ask and she rolls her eyes.

"Come on! Spill it, Mari!"

"I just wanted to join! That's it!" I explain and she just gives me a face that looks like she is judging me. "Ramona, are you judging me-"

"Marinette, I know that you are not like that." she cuts me off, "We have been working together for 4 months already and never have you ever joined something that involves physical strength. Girl! I know you!"

"What do you know about Marinette, sister?"

We both turn our attention away from each other and to Beezus standing in front of our table carrying a tray filled with food.

"Ugh. It's you again." Ramona rudely says.

"Excuse me!" Beezus counterattacks, "At least now I know the correct term for the ball used to play volleyball!"

"Really?!" Ramona fights back, "Then what is it?!"

"It's a VOLLEYBALL! V-O-L-L-E-Y-B-A-L-L! The game and the ball have the same term!"

"How sure are you?!"

"I searched it on the dictionary, stupid!!"

The two sisters kept on fighting about the term, I started to lose interest in what they were fighting about already.

"That's funny..." I whisper to myself, "Adrien said that we would be seeing each other at dinner."

I look at every table in the cafeteria and I notice that Adrien is nowhere to be found. I stand up and grab Ramona's sandwich from her plate. The two sisters stop fighting once they saw that I was acting weird.

"What are you going to do with my sandwich?" Ramona frantically asks and I just shake my head.

"Nothing. I-I just need it right now. I'll be back." I head outside the cafeteria and I look around the camp area, trying to find Adrien's cabin.

I walk around the camp area and after a few minutes, I spot a cabin that is lit up and I hear sounds coming from a television.

Maybe this is Adrien's cabin...

I could just knock.

I stand behind the door and raise my left hand, ready to knock on it.

"Adrien?" I whisper as I softly knock on his door first. Nothing happens and I knock harder on the door.

"Adrien?!" I slowly start to raise my voice and still, nothing happens.

"Adrien! If you don't open this door, I'm going to bring my foot up your-"

I hear the television being turned off and the door opens. Standing right in front of me is a groggy-looking Adrien. He just woke up from sleeping I guess since his hair is looking shaggier than usual.

"I'm up, woman...geez." he yawns and his eyes bulges out once he realizes that it's me standing in front of him. "Oh my gosh, you're here." he sputters out and immediately grabs a comb from his dresser. He combs his hair in front of the mirror as I awkwardly stand at his doorstep.

"You don't need to comb your hair just because I'm here." I utter, "I mean, I've seen you with that kind of hairstyle for alot of times already."

"Now you're making me regret not making myself look presentable when we were still together..." he mumbles and I think that I was not supposed to hear that. So instead, I let it go.

"I brought dinner." I utter, showing the sandwich and Adrien walks to me.

"For whom?" he asks as he inspects the sandwich I brought.

"For you. Well, for the two of us actually. I didn't get to finish mine in the cafeteria."

"Why did you even bring dinner for me?" he asks, leaning on the door ledge, "I could survive without dinner."

"You're my boss. I have to take care of you."

"Just your boss?" he inquires and I flash him a small grin.

"And you're also my friend..." i whisper. His face is full of shock and his mouth is left wide open.

"F-friend?" he says with that stupid grin of his, "We're in that base already?"

"I think that we have been in that base for a long time already." I give him a small smile and cluck my tongue. "Now step aside," I push him away from the door ledge so that I can enter his room, "we're going to be eating our dinner."

Just looking at the man in front me, I recall our last dinner we had together.

It was the night before we had to go to court. Adrien invited me to eat dinner with him at my favorite cafe. And the last thing he said to me that night...gosh. I will never forget what he said to me that night-

"I think that it's healthy for the both of us if we end our marriage with at least a good memory..."

And now, I am having dinner with the same man after 4 years. It feels different because instead of feeling resentment towards each other, we were enjoying each other's company.

"So Nino and I were walking one night and mind you, there were only a few street lamps that night. So I decided to play with him. I pushed him out of nowhere but instead of him falling on the street, he fell in a manhole! And I was panicking because he was nowhere to be seen!" Adrien narrates one of his stories with Nino and I am sitting across from him trying to hold in my laughter.

"And what did he do?!"

"That was the first time he unleashed his colorful vocabulary at me! Fortunately, he only got a wound from his fall. But he smelled like crap that time!"

"Is that the cause of his scar on his right arm??"

He snaps his fingers in realization, "You got it!"

"Where was I when that happened?" I ask.

"I think that you were with Tommy that night- oh." He stops once he sees me stiffen upon hearing his name. "Marinette, I didn't mean to-"

"Stop..."

He gets cut off as I wrap my arm around his waist and hug him tight. I rest my head on his chest but I can't stop my tears from falling. We sink to the floor and lean on his bed. I couldn't hold my feelings in. Our baby boy will always be a senstive topic for the both of us.

He wraps his arms around me and he soothingly rubs my back in comfort. I feel his tears falling on my hair and he intakes his breath sharply. "Marinette," he whispers, "don't suffer by yourself. I won't let you grieve by yourself. I'm here, let me in..."

"Who knew that a happy dinner together would turn into a sad and gloomy one..." I whisper and I look at him. Our faces are just centimeters apart and he leans to kiss me on the forehead.

"Stop doing that, Mari..." he whispers against my forehead.

"Stop what?"

He places his hands on both sides of my cheeks and looks straight into my eyes. "Stop thinking that you have to endure all of your pain by yourself..."

"You have me, Marinette..." He cooes and rests his forehead against mine. I close my eyes, allowing him to comfort me amd care for me. "You will always have me, Mari..."

You're right, Adrien. I will always have you...

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Hi! So...I hope you enjoyed the chapter and honestly, I am so excited to write the chapter wherein Alya and Nino gets married! I want to give spoilers but ugh! I can't! You guys don't know how tempting it is for me to tell you!

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