11

"Are you sure that you are okay, Adrien?" She asks again and I chuckle showing how amused I am. She hasn't stopped worrying and asking questions for the past hour.

"Marinette, I told you that I'm fine!" I show her by poking my cheek which is a bad move since it still hurts like hell. "Ahh..." I wince because of the pain.

"See?!" scolded Marinette, "You are not yet okay!" She grabs the ice bag on the chair and she gently makes it touch my face. She applies pressure and now I am starting to blush by how close our faces are to each other. She must haved noticed my red face since she moved the ice bag away from my face. And she leaned closer to look at me.

"You must be feeling cold, aren't you?" She asks, "Stupid me, I didn't even think of covering you with a jacket or a shawl or something..." she gets up from her seat and she opens her bag to look for something. After a while, she brings out a shawl and puts it around me. I wrap it tighter around me and I can't stop touching the fabric and its paisleys.

"It's so soft..." I murmur and she giggles then places the ice bag on my cheek again.

"I made it." She announces.

"No wonder why its stitches are unique..." I whisper, "Your classes in the fashion academy were all worth it."

"Yeah..." She replies, "All worth it." She refuses to look at me and now I know why she is acting that way.

She never got to finish schooling.

I stopped funding her studies ever since we separated...

"Mari..." I reach for her hand but she immediately stands up and claps her hands. "Okay!" She says, forcing a smile. "let's fix your stuff and leave your office already! Let's go home..."

"Mari, listen..." I call her again and she stops moving around to look at me. "I can..." I hesitate, should I be doing this? Should I fund her studies again? But if I offer that to her, she would find it as an insult...

"I can...I can take you home, Marinette."

"I can take a cab..." she mutters.

"Then I will ride the cab with you-"

"No!" she interrupts, "I'm fine. I can take care of myself...you know what? I'm just going to walk home!" she gathers her stuff and I immediately stand up and grab her bag from her.

"Hey! Give me my bag!!" I raise her bag and she just stands still, not doing anything. She grumbles as she crosses her arms. "I'm not falling for that trick, Adrien..."

"What trick?" I ask innocently and she rolls her eyes.

"You want me to jump and try to reach for my bag. I know that you're mocking my height. I'm not falling for that, babe!" she exclaims and her eyes immediately widen out of shock. I am in shock, too. Her face started to turn red starting from her ears and ending with her nose. I scratch the back of my head, the both of us avoiding to look at each other.

'

"I-uh...I..." she stutters and I immediately hand her her bag. "Here's your bag..." I continue in my mind.

"Thanks..." she says breathlessly. "I have to go now..."

"Well I'm coming with you." I immediately fix my bag and put a baseball cap on my head. I'm now ready to go.

Just as I reach Marinette, she places a hand on my chest and gently pushes me away. "Like I said, I can take care of myself..."

"Marinette," I say softly, "you helped in treating my bruise. Let me make it up to you. And," I continue, "I have to see you enter your house..."

"Why do you have to see me enter?" She asks with a scowl and I sigh, trying to be patient with her.

"We just witnessed a shooting, Mari. And I'm sure as hell that you're going to take a cab. So now you trust a cab driver rather than me?"

"Ugh! I'm fine, okay? I'm not wavered by the shooting and I'm in a perfect condition unlike you!" She says, raising her voice.

I grab her arm and hold it firmly. She look right into my eyes and whispers, "I should be the one bringing you home, Adrien...I have to take care of you-"

"No." I immediately reply. "It's now my turn, Mari..."

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

"I wish I never left my car at home..." I grumble, starting to realize that Marinette lives in the other side of Paris, far away from the building of the art exhibit.

There were not a lot of police left in the art exhibit. After all, everything was planned. Also, the guy that Marinette saw getting 'killed' was in fact alive since he wore a bulletproof vest under his disguise the whole time. That gave her relief.

"Now look who's complaining." Mari chuckles and I look down at the sidewalk. "I wasn't complaining..." I say, bashfully. "I never realized that it was late already and you're going to arrive home at a later time. I can tell that you're exhausted, Mari..."

"Stop." she whispers and at the same time, she stops walking.

I stop once she stops and I walk nearer to her. "What's wrong, Mari?" I ask and she doesn't look at me.

"Stop calling me that...I don't like it.."

"Why can't I call you by your nickname? Almost everyone calls you by that name!" I say annoyingly.

"Yes, that's true! But I don't like it coming from you!"

"Is it because we used to be together?" I scoff.

"Yes!" she says, sternly, "I think that you should not call me by my nickname because first of all, we are not friends!"

"What? We have been working together and talking to each other for two months..." I say in disbelief.

"No, I have been working for you for two months. And when we talk, our topics aren't about each other. It's always about work!" she poked my chest everytime she would enumerate her points.

"You sound like you want to spend more quality time with me, Marinette." I teasingly smirk at her and she gasps.

"I do not!" She retorts but her face shows otherwise, she started to blush again.

"Adrien, I'm trying to point out that there should be a line of fomality between us. We have to be civil and not really close to each other!"

"Gosh, you're such a drama queen!" I shout as I roll my eyes. "All that drama should stay in the past. It's been 4 years, Marinette! Can't we at least start anew?!" I shout and I can hear someone nearby shushing us and telling us to 'get a room'.