Falling From Grace ~ A Miraculous Ladybug fic

Chapter 5

Marinette

So it had been decided. She and Adrien worked better as friends anyway, and Chat had always been there for her. He had always wanted her. And now, now he liked the girl under the mask too. At least, she thought he did. She was willing to take that chance. She leaned back against the bench, stretching her arms out towards the sky to get the muscles in her back to soften some. It was going to storm soon. The sky was still bright, but dark clouds were forming above her. She almost dreaded going home though. The thought of Chat being there made her stomach churn. What was she supposed to say?

"Sorry I turned you down yesterday, I've come to grip with the reality that he will never love me, so maybe we can start over?"

She closed her sketchbook, scowling at herself. Chat deserved better than some half-baked excuse. He had been second runner up for far too long. It wasn't fair to him.

"Watch out!"

She glanced up towards Adrien's photoshoot, and locked eyes with him for a second before a soccer ball slammed into the back of her head. She doubled over, clasping the back of her head. Oh, that was so embarrassing. She hadn't done anything to avoid it. He had literally warned her.

"I'm so sorry!" A little girl squealed behind her, and Marinette turned, putting on her sweetest smile.

The litte girl looked terrified, holding the ball that had previously tried to lodge itself into her head.

"It's fine, really. It didn't even hurt."

The little girl smiled softly, before turning and running back to her group of friends.

"Lying to a child? Have you no shame?"

She blushed, turning and looking up at Adrien, who had his arms crossed over his chest. His broad, probably tan- oh grow the hell up Marinette.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell her that it hurt like hell."

He chuckled, sitting down next to her on the bench. His leg brushed against hers, and she cursed the warmth that seeped into her skin from it. Her gaze roamed over his clothes, he was wearing a leather jacket, ripped blue jeans and a plain gray t-shirt underneath. He kind of rocked that bad boy look.

"I see you looking. I know, I look ridiculous. But father is branching out his designs, and lucky me, I get to model them."

She thought the opposite. He looked like a hunk. Instead of saying anything that would almost positively be stupid, she turned, looking back at the setup. They even had a motorcycle he had been leaning against. Cliche.

"So what are you up to? It's supposed to start storming. Vincent insisted that the grey sky would complete the whole look."

He picked at the frayed ends of one of the holes in his jeans as he spoke, and she smiled to herself.

"Just trying to work on some designs. My imagination is lacking as of late."

He stood, moving in front of her with his signature grin. Her heart fluttered wildly, and she quickly looked away.

"Do you want to take a break with me? We could use a girl in the photos."

"I don't think I really match the aesthetic you're going for."

She gestured to her clothes, and he thought for a moment, before holding his hand out to her.

"I've got an idea. But only if you want to."

She glanced down at his hand, her pulse racing. Could she do that? As friends? Being around him always made her like this. Could she even begin to draw lines, after so many years?