Chapter 5 – Stolen Glances

It was common Marinette and Adrien to be late for class, what with Adrien's busy schedule and with Marinette being... well, Marinette, but they were going to end up in serious trouble if they don't turn up soon. Alya tapped her pencil on the desk, glancing once more at the clock. The bell was about to ring any moment now and they were both on their last warnings. Marinette's parents wouldn't mind, but Mr Agreste would surely give Adrien some form of punishment, even though it was technically his fault for scheduling so many early morning shoots.

Just as the bell chimed through the hallways, she saw a familiar blond-haired boy through the frosted glass of the classroom door, bumping absentmindedly into and all too clumsy dark-haired bestie. Alya couldn't help but let out a giggle. Just get together already! She thought.

Marinette felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Her sketchbook slipped from her hands and her feet slid from beneath her, but before she could completely loose her balance she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. She looked up, and all she could see was blond hair and green eyes. The sketchbook clattered to the floor, but neither could look away. Adrien was mesmerised with how blue her eyes were. He had never noticed before. He unconsciously tightened his grip around her waist. His mind flashed with the events of last night.

"If you two are done with your staring competition, class began five minutes ago!" The too jumped apart as the voice of Ms. Mendeleiev awoke them from the daze they had both become stuck in. They jumped apart.

"Sorry!" They chimed in unison, more to each other than the teacher. She struck them with her glaring stare, a cold contrast between the one they had just been caught up in, and turned back towards the classroom door, where all their classmates were peering out to watch the drama unfold.

"One class is over for the day, you will see me at my desk for your punishment."

"But I have fenc-" Adrien argued, while Marinette simultaneously squeaked, "I have to m-make deliv-"

"No arguing! Take your seats!"

They both dropped their gazes to look at the ground, and Adrien dropped down to pick up the forgotten sketchbook. He glanced at the page it had fallen open at and noticed sketches of a familiar hero in black and green. He couldn't help but smile, and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. As the shuffled towards their seats, he placed it gently into Marinette's hand. She jumped, thinking she was about to get into even more trouble. Is she really that scared of me? He thought, the smile dropping from his lips. He glanced back at her as they took their seats, and their eyes caught once more. "Sorry" he mouthed, watching a blush creep across her face.

"Adrien!" He started, and felt a matching blush rising in his cheeks.

He turned around to face the board. "Sorry Ms Mendeleiev," he mumbled.

Adrien didn't dare look round for the duration of the class, however the agitation he felt being unable to look at Marinette was almost unbearable. Get a grip Agreste! He thought to himself. She had worn her hair down, like it had been that morning, and he hadn't lied when he had told her she suited it. It highlighted her features and only made her eyes look all the bluer. He wanted to gaze into them again and had to catch himself from turning around. It wasn't until lunch that he could, and he glance at the clock on the wall, counting down the minutes.

As the bell rang for lunch, he took his time leaving the classroom to make sure that Alya and Marinette went ahead, so he could ease the raising ache inside him and look at her once more. Okay, so that ache was probably mostly due to the stitches in his side, which he had almost forgotten about after the events of this morning.

"Dude?" Nino nudged him in the ribs, unknowingly catching him exactly on said stitches and waking him from the daydream he had been stuck in. He winced and grabbed his side. Marinette glanced back as she was leaving the class, her brow furrowing as if trying to remember something. "Hey, are you okay man?"

"Yeah, uhh, fencing injury is all" Adrien grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "Lunch?"

They made their way to the canteen and took the free seats across from Marinette and Alya, the latter of which immediately started talking about her latest footage she filmed last night for her LadyBlog. Adrien's mind wandered to the events of last night, and he felt an all too familiar twang in his chest again. He couldn't resist staring at Marinette again, who was listening intently on Alya's story, but he did notice her glance his way more than once and tried to look inconspicuous in his staring.

Adrien is staring at me why is he staring at me do I have something on my face did I do something to upset him why is Adrien staring at me! Marinette's mind was going into overdrive. She glanced across the table at him again, and once more blue met green.

"Are you even listening to me?" Alya snapped, and both jumped. "Girl you are spaced out more than usual today, and Adrien, you look like you've been daydreaming all day." Adrien shook his head to clear his mind, although he noticed blue eyes following his movements. "As I was saying…" Alya launched back into her retelling of the attack. "I'm surprised neither of them have been seriously hurt, it's been what, three years since they starting saving Paris, and I was sure Chat took a hit last night but he seemed fine-"

"He did get hit!" Marinette blurted out, and then raised a hand to cover her mouth, her cheeks burning. Three pairs of eyes landed on her.

"Mari, what do you mean he got hit?" Alya had her full attention on her friend as the two boys listened in intensively. "We all saw him leave the same as Ladybug."

"He was… I mean, he-he landed on my ro-roof." Marinette spluttered. She knew she wouldn't be able to lie about what had happened, and Alya would get it out of her eventually. "He was in a ba-bad way. I st-stitched him back up and he… he stayed the night."

"HE WHAT NOW!"