[ marinette ]

Adrien was acting strange.

When I joined him as he drank warm milk at 4 am, he was eerily quiet. No, wait - we were eerily quiet.

Well, weirdly, I would have cracked up a conversation, but I sensed that he was not in the mood or something, because something was really off with Adrien.

After that small 'I-am-probably-homesick' exchange we had, I left him to drink his milk alone - yeah, I know, I admit that that's kind of rude - and went back to sleep. Thank god, I got myself to sleep after that.

I woke up at 7 - which was a record - and went down to eat breakfast. It had already been laid out on the silver platters, but Adrien wasn't here yet.

I sighed. Maybe he didn't like me? I was probably too annoying.

I dug into my breakfast, finished it up, and put it in the dish washer. Same old, same old; the only thing that was different was the fact that Adrien didn't join me for breakfast in the twenty minutes I spent to eat. I may sound like a whiny, overreacting fangirl, but I had to admit that I was kind of disappointed.

What did I do, exactly? I didn't say anything wrong, did I? He couldn't have been offended when I said I was homesick - could he?

Thoughts were swirling in my head like a whirlpool, and I tried to shake them off. Sadly, they stuck to my head, and it made me even more disappointed at myself.

===

Adrien didn't even show up for lunch.

So, I just did what I usually did - eat, put the dish in the dishwasher, and then go upstairs to brush my teeth.

Once I was in the bathroom, I realized that I had brought my phone for some unknown reason, making me shake my head.

"I wear disappointment as if it were perfume.", I sighed, then glared at myself in the mirror. I was about to pick up my toothbrush and toothpaste, but my phone started ringing. An unknown number was calling me.

Something inside me was telling me to pick up the call, so I did. "Hello...? Who is this?"

"Marinette, it's Nino and Alya, we--", Alya had started to say, but was cut off.

Apparently, the call ended. Huh. Maybe they had something to tell me, but accidentally pressed the "end call" button?

I shrugged it off and brushed my teeth.

===

It was about two in the afternoon when I heard a knock on the door.

My heart was beating rapidly. "Adrien? Is that you?"

"Uh, no, it's Chéyenne. Just wanted to tell you that we're going to the Catacombs today, so go get ready.", the voice from the other side replies, "Where's Adrien?"

"I don't really know - I haven't seen him all day, so...", I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

I heard her grumble something inaudible under her breath before her heels started to click away as she walked down the hallway.

I wonder what that could have been.

===

[ third person ]

"He just doesn't know how to hold off his side of the deal, doesn't he?", Chéyenne grumbles under her breath, hoping Marinette hadn't heard her.

She walked as fast as she could to the blond's room. He was sitting on a couch, playing a video game on a computer.

He was starving. He didn't want to go downstairs and eat meals with his possibly new found friend when he would know that, one way or another, she would find out and hate him forever. Yeah, sure, his father's life was at stake, but the thought of having to choose between two things haunted him.

The thought of Marinette hating him in the end haunted him.

He didn't know why that girl was suddenly turning everything upsidedown for him. He knew that, if she was like any other girl, such as Chloé, he would simply not care about hurting them or the thought of them possibly hating them in the end. But Marinette - she wasn't like any other girl. She was different from any girl in every way in Adrien's eyes.

It was either her timid persona or he had feelings for her. Whatever it was, he couldn't decipher it - and he knew he never could.

Chéyenne had been glaring at the boy for ten minutes straight, but he did not move an inch or make an effort to appreciate her presence.

"Adrien, I thought we had a deal?", she says in a calm tone, but Adrien sure as hell knew that she was mad. Really mad.

"We did.", the boy says blandly, "And I didn't choose."

"Oh,", Chéyenne laughs - obviously faking it, "You're really pushing me to do this, sweetheart."

"What 'pushing you'? You're the one who made the deal in the first place.", Adren sassed, "You're pushing yourself."

"Try to tick me off one more time and, the next time you see your father is when he's in his coffin.", she growls, holding her phone tight, as if she was going to crack it at any moment now.

Adrien fell silent. Chéyenne waited for a few moments to see if he would dare open his mouth again, and, when he didn't, a triumphant smirk appeared on her face.

"Get ready. We'll be going to the Catacombs in an hour."

===

They pulled over at the entrance of the Catacombs.

"I availed a tour pack for three since it was more affordable.", Chéyenne tells the two, shooting Adrien a look that only he knew.

She was practically telling him to "make a move or face the consequences".

Adrien did not like her bossing him around. He found it really unfair. If he ever told anyone, they'd just laugh and tell him that he was going absurd - even his own father. Nobody really seemed to listen to him - that was, until Marinette came.

And, right then and there, an idea popped into his mind - saving the pain from anyone.

They entered the Catacombs, and a young man welcomed them in and led them to a group of people.

"Good day, ladies and gentlemen.", the same young man greets the group. Marinette sensed that he was Polish one way or another, judging on his accent. "I am Yakob, your tour guide, and I will be touring you all around the Catacombs on this wonderful day."

The group started moving, and Yakob pointed out graves and relics and remains of different Parisian martyrs and saints. In between the skulls and the torch Yakob was bringing, Adrien could almost feel the hard look on Chéyenne's face as they walked. He should do something, now.

Chéyenne kept her distance from the two teenagers, but was close enough to see whatever they were doing. When she saw Adrien was doing nothing to do his part of the deal, she kept a firm glare behind his head. Adrien noticed this and scooted closer to Marinette.

He gently wrapped his hand around hers and thought that it was now or never. Marinette was flustered at his gesture, like always, and, no matter how many times she came out flustered in front of the blond boy, he always found it cute every time.

"Hey, Marinette,", he whispered to her, so that only the two of them could hear. Marinette kept her gaze in front of her, biting her bottom lip to prevent herself from screaming. The walls made of skulls might tumble down at the sound. "I have to tell you something, later at the mansion. Just meet me at the main bathroom after changing."

Adrien knew that there were certainly no security cameras in the bathrooms, so that's where he decided they should meet. Marinette could tell that this was something important.

He paused. "Now, uh, can you laugh that cute laugh of yours to make it look like I told you a horrible pun?"

Marinette whispers a reply back. "Sure."

She laughs softly, making it loud enough for whoever was walking behind her to hear it. Luckily, Chéyenne was behind her, and she smiled - not in the good way. She smiled quite evilly, knowing that the blond boy was giving in to her plan to earn money.

The tour went along. Adrien was finding himself telling her horrible puns about death - "I bet they were dying to have their skulls as wall decorations." - and Marinette couldn't stop herself from laughing at these. Chéyenne smirked. All she could think about as she stared at the two was that her money was coming, and her money was coming fast.

===

The two did meet at the main bathroom. Luckily, Adrien didn't find any overhanging 'hidden' cameras leading to the main bathroom, so it was a plus.

Marinette was already there when he went. He closed the door behind her, anxious to tell her what was going on.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?", her voice echoed through the room.

"I-I--", Adrien stuttered, then looked around, and came closer to her. "It's about this - well, all of this."

Marinette cocked her head to the side, still confused. "What do you mean?"

"Okay, so Chéyenne called me yesterday, and--", he told her everything. He told her that this was a TV show, and that Chéyenne had threatened him yesterday. He told her about the threat. He told her how afraid he was if she hated him at the end of this event - she was the only person so far who listened to him. He told her that, if he wasn't going to make her fall in love with him by the end of the show, she (Chéyenne) was going to kill his father.

After explaining everything, Marinette was silent. Adrien could feel his heart practically exploding in his chest. Either she was going to help him, or hate him for the remainder of these fourteen days.

And then she spoke up. "I always knew that there was something wrong going on with that lady."

Adrien laughed - in a relieved way, mostly.

"So, how are we going to pull this off?", Marinette asks, then Adrien tells him his plan.

And, somewhere, Chéyenne was growling at what she had heard from the sound recorder in that very bathroom.

===

[ A/N ]

Oh no!! Just when you thought that things were finally going up. I know I'm a good author >:) Oh, Chéyenne, vous êtes un tel chienne :P

If you can't figure out what that means, go Google Translate it hehe ;)

Anywhale, here's a long chapter for all of you, sweethearts!! 1700+ words. What a record, Pia. *pats self on the back* if I published this with the last chapter, it'd probably reach 3000 words ;-; holy shít I have never been so pumped to write a story mY hEart

Vote and comment if you enjoyed! xx (I know you didn't enjoy this at all hehe >:D)

Stay wonderful :)

- Pia <3