I imagine this to be about the French equivalent to fourth grade? I can't research the French school system without getting majorly turned around. Summertime, ya know?

Chapter One: Of Stained Bracelets and Ruined Days

Marinette has had a horrible day. She had to give her teacher her messy, crumpled up homework, she had accidentally spilled grape juice on the cloth bracelet she had made to match her white headband and completely ruined the piece, and her best friend has slowly been turning against her over the course of the school year it seems. To top it off, her parents had called the school to let her know that they would be nearly an hour late to pick her up. Usually she would go home with Chloe until her parents were free, but on this particular day, her friend hadn't even glanced in her direction when she heard of her predicament. Marinette, too confused by Chloe's new attitude towards her, had been too shy to approach and ask directly.

Her parents had suggested that she work on her homework in the school lobby while she waits, so Marinette has spent the last thirty minutes staring blankly at her math book, perched on the uncomfortable wooden bench lining the wall beside the gym door. The squeak of sneakers from the basketball team grates against her headache. She halfheartedly wipes at the glossy pages of her book, trying to dry the teardrops wrinkling the pages. Her purple splotched bracelet catches her eye and her breath hitches once more, tears beading in her eyes. In a fit of frustration, she rips off the band and chunks it away.

The gym door beside her swings open and the noises of the basketball team inside grow ten times louder. Marinette refuses to look up, instead glaring resolutely through her tears at the bracelet in the center of the floor.

"…Marinette?"

Instantly, she recognizes the voice. She slowly looks up, scrubbing at her eyes. "O-oh, uh… hi, Kim."

Kim glances behind him and allows the gym door to swing shut, muffling the bellowing of his coach once more. "The water fountains in the gym are broken, so we have to find one out here… but um… are you okay?"

She sniffs, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "...I've had a really bad day."

Kim nervously glances behind him at the closed door. "I'll… be right back. Okay?"

Marinette laughs softly, hoping it doesn't sound as pitiful as she feels. "I'm not going anywhere any time soon…"

He nods and spins on his heel, trotting back into the gym. Five minutes later he returns in fresh clothing with a sports drink in hand. Marinette lifts her chin off of her knees as she looks up, surprised as she takes the offered drink. She sniffs, confused. Everyone knows that Kim relishes every second of his time in the gym, often staying late just to get in a few extra minutes of practice. What is he doing out here?

"What's going on?"

Kim trots away a few paces to scoop up the stained bracelet before plopping down beside Marinette. "I convinced Coach to let me go early to help out a friend. Practice was almost over anyways."

Marinette stares at Kim, shocked. "You… cut down your time in the gym for me?"

He scratches the back of his head. "Well, yeah. You're out here alone and obviously had a bad day… As your friend, I should cheer you up, or at least try, right?"

She shifts and closes her math book, setting it down beside her bag to make more room for Kim. "You're not… contractually obliged or anything…"

"I don't even know what that means." Kim frowns at her. "But I'm out here because I want to be here for you, Mari."

Marinette promptly bursts into tears. There's an awkward moment of silence before a hand rests shyly on her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades. It takes her a few minutes before she can calm down enough to apologize.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mari, everyone has their moments. It's okay." Kim frowns and pats her shoulder, lowering his hand. "What's got you so bummed though? I don't think this and your parents being late would usually get you so down."

She shrugs with one shoulder, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her jacket. "…Am I annoying, Kim?"

He blinks. "What?"

"Am I annoying? Is that why Chloe doesn't want to hang out with me anymore? Does she think I'm annoying? Or have I always been annoying and she's finally had enough oh my gosh this whole time she's just been too nice to say anything but she' finally had enough!"

"Whoa, whoa, Marinette." Kim frowns. "You and Chloe have been friends for a long time. I don't think her attitude change has been because of you. She's been a lot meaner to everyone recently. You just… feel it most. Because you're closest to her."

"But why? Why is she doing this we've been friends for forever!" Marinette cries, her distress audibly noticeable in her voice. Kim pats her head, shifting.

"I dunno, Mari, but she may just be going through something. I'm sure you two will be back to being, um, besties in no time."

Marinette bites her lip. "You really think so?"

"Of course! You're both too stubborn to let so many years of friendship go down the drain, especially for… literally no reason." Kim smiles. "You two will be fine, I'm sure of it."

Marinette halfheartedly matches his smile. "Thanks, Kim… I guess, well, that's been on my mind a lot lately, and all the little things that happened today just… set me off, I guess. I stayed up way too late working on that bracelet, too." Marinette sighs. "And it's ruined after not even a day."

Kim holds up the bracelet, peering at the purple blotted fabric and the lopsided stitching. "Ruined? I think it looks cool like this."

"It looks… cool?" Marinette looks dubiously at the ruined cloth. "But it's… it's supposed to match my headband. I made them as a set."

Kim squints at the two, holding up the bracelet to the headband for comparison. "Well… you could stain the headband? I dunno, that's probably dumb."

"No, no, that's… that's really smart." Marinette smiles softly. "You're really smart, Kim."

A small, shy grin begins to creep up his face. "Y-yeah? I've never… yeah?"

Marinette nods. "Yeah, you… you've really helped me feel better."

Kim ruffles her hair, despite her quiet protest. "Anytime, Mari. You'd do the same for literally anyone else."

Marinette smiles shyly and hugs Kim tightly. "That doesn't make what you've done any less valuable to me."

Later: "But Kim?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't ever say 'besties' ever again."

I couldn't put this line because this one is third person limited to Mari's POV and it would definitely break narration, but I loved it so much because I'm pretty sure Kim does not know how to work with emotions: "Marinette promptly bursts into tears. Kim jolts, hands fluttering as he debates if he should wrap her in a hug, and if so how- like, a one armed bro-hug, or both arms, and where do his hands go in such a hug he doesn't hug anyone but his mom like that and Mari is so much smaller it wouldn't be the same at all like how does one hug people?"