#continuatio

She blinked and moved her head a bit closer to his. He was snoring softly, but also mumbling something under his breath that she couldn’t catch. She leaned closer yet, but as quietly as possible so she wouldn’t disturb him.

“...I’m going to miss you, Marinette...”

Marinette froze involuntarily. She quickly crawled back to her previous place, curling up to create as much distance between them as possible, and hid her head in between her legs and her chest. She could feel her face heating up and silently screamed at herself to stay quiet.

I didn’t hear anything, she reminded herself. Just go back to sleep and pretend you never woke up…

***

The next time Marinette woke up, sunlight was flooding the entire attic and she was the only one in the room. Her clothes sat in a neatly folded pile in front of her closet, but Nathaniel was nowhere to be seen. She looked around in confusion, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, when it finally occurred to her how late it must have been. She looked around for her phone, finding it somewhere under the chaise, and clicked it on: the screen read 9:01.

Marinette nearly dropped the device and immediately activated panic mode. She scrambled to gather her things from all around the room and change her clothes as fast as possible. She grabbed a croissant from downstairs, raced down the stairs and sprinted inside the school building. There, she slowed down and paused long enough to only just catch her breath before throwing open the classroom door.

“Sorry I’m late!” she screeched, throwing herself towards her seat before Mme Bustier called her out again.

Only, Mme Bustier was nowhere to be seen. In fact, none of the students seemed to be sitting quietly at their own desks as usual this morning.

“I’ll have you know that my father can easily have you arrested and thrown in jail for drugs,” Chloe announced.

Marinette turned and was surprised to see that the object of the blonde’s declaration was none other than Nino. She stared uncomprehendingly, and Nino, too, looked similarly nonplussed.

“Chloe, for the last time, I swear, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I never once called last night.”

“Oh really?” the heiress asked skeptically. “I got a call last night threatening me if I didn’t go to some shady alleyway at midnight. Who else could it be?”

Nino looked incredibly exasperated as he struggled to convince Chloe that it wasn’t him who had called, and Marinette was just about to intervene herself when Alya came up to her.

“About time you showed up,” she said, unimpressed. “Now spill.”

“Wha-what do you mean?” Marinette asked, more confused yet.

“Come on, girl, don’t beat around the bush. You know what I’m talking about!” When Marinette still looked baffled as ever, the blogger sighed and leaned in. “You know,” she said meaningfully. “What’s up between you and Nath?”

Marinette blinked several times.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked.

Alya arched an unconvinced eyebrow.

“Nathaniel,” she repeated, as if that might surface an inkling of recognition in Marinette’s mind.

“Yeah...what about him?” Marinette responded doubtfully.

Alya rolled her eyes.

“Fine, guess I’ll just have to spell it out for you. Last night, apparently, Nathaniel stayed over at your place and you two got up to some...interesting...activities...hm?” she raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Come on, now, give me all the deets, girl!”

Marinette stared, realization dawning on her.

“Ohhh, you think-ohh, okay, no, nevermind, no-NO! Now I know what you’re talking about...yeah, no, you’re totally wrong, it’s not like that, you’ve got it all wrong...”

***

Meanwhile, Nino had finally managed to pull himself away from Chloe’s paranoid scrutiny and cornered Nathaniel at the back of the room.

“Honestly, dude, I would never have imagined you as that kind of person!” he expressed in incredulity.

“I’m...not?” Nathaniel asked dubiously. “What are we talking about, again?”

“Sure, man, go ahead and deny it now. I guess you never do know what to expect with the quiet ones…” Nino shook his head, sighing. “Seriously, though, I totally had you down for this meek, shy, socially awkward guy. Who'd've thought?”

Nathaniel stared in confusion.

“I'm sorry, what happened?” he asked.

Nino looked at him in disbelief.

“So you're telling me you weren't at Marinette’s last night?”

“Well, yeah, I was-oh. Oh. I see, now…” the redhead let out a shaky breath of relief. “So that's all. I was scared something happened that I didn't know about…”

“And you're totally fine that you spent the night at a girl's place where you proceeded to reveal that this innocent shy guy is all a facade?!”

“Come on, you're making it sound like we actually did something questionable-”

Nino stared in shock.

“What are you talking about?! That's exactly what happened!”

Nathaniel's mouth went dry.

“I, huh? Wha-what d’you mean?” he stammered. “You don't think we were…that, do you?”

“What else am I supposed to be thinking?” Nino replied bewildered. “We got a call from her place last night, nobody was responding but from what it sounding like was going on,” he gestured meaningfully. “Y’know…”

“I...um...sorry, I just…don't know how to respond to that, er… Lemme just tell you that I swear, that is not what was going on, okay?” he asked, almost desperately. “Please tell me no one else knows about this?”

“Well, yeah, why would we tell anyone???” Nino assured him. “Alya’s going nuts, though, she totally thinks you two are having some kind of secret affair-”

“No!” Nathaniel cut him off, pulling away and running to the front of the room, where Alya was interrogating Marinette.

“Hey, Nathaniel, maybe you'll give me some straight answers-” Alya started when she noticed him.

“It's not what you think it is!” he insisted quickly.

She paused, looking back and forth between the two.

“Well,” she shrugged, “if you guys are gonna keep denying it, no point trying to get any answers out of you…” She sighed disappointedly, but stopped questioning Marinette nonetheless.

Nathaniel went to the back of the room after that, and Mme Bustier arrived a few moments later.

“Sorry, class, I ran late this morning and couldn't get here on time,” she apologized, signaling the beginning of class.

Nino quickly slid into the seat next to Adrien, who shifted closer and leaned in.

“Say, what was that all about back there with Nathaniel?” he asked.

“Nothing you have to worry about,” the DJ assured his friend. Adrien shrugged and turned back to the lesson.

***

Adrien wasn't the only one confused and concerned about the incident. Marinette and Nathaniel found themselves being plagued by curious glances all day, and by the time they were dismissed to go home, even Marinette was ready to change her address and move a couple continents away. She assured herself she wasn't being paranoid, but she could self-consciously sense inevitable rumors floating around the school.

***

They decided to meet up at Nathaniel's place this time. His house was further away and more isolated from all the curiosity hovering around the bakery apartment.

Marinette treated herself to a snack that Nathaniel's mom had left out for them, then they both went to his bedroom. Marinette shrugged off her bag and threw herself against the softest platform available, which just so happened to be his bed. She pulled one of his pillows out from underneath her and hugged it to her chest.

“Ughhh, that was the worst,” she expressed hopelessly.

Nathaniel sighed in accord and settled into his desk chair.

“I'm really regretting those prank calls, now,” he agreed. “More trouble than they're worth.”

Marinette nodded glumly.

“So, I guess we're not working on the decorations tonight?” he asked.

“Mm, the stuff is at my place and I don't wanna go back there right now,” she mumbled, forcing herself to sit up.

She got up off the bed and went to Nathaniel's closet, pulling it open.

“Say, were my clothes too loose, you said?” she asked thoughtfully.

“A bit, yeah.”

“And your own? You're always cuffing your sleeves and pants.”

“It isn't really easy to find stuff in my size that doesn't have a super-childish logo plastered on it,” he shrugged. “I like this style, but it didn't come in a small-enough size. This shirt was size extra-small and it only fit me properly after, like, three times in the wash.”

“I could design you some if you want,” she offered. “I sewed practically my entire wardrobe. I could make something for you too.”

“I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience,” he assured her.

“I'd love to, honestly,” she told him.

“Well, uh, okay, then,” he relented.

For some time, there wasn't much talking, just Marinette rustling around, taking measurements and making notes on his style. Finally, she put the last sweatshirt back in the closet and stepped away, a sheet of references in hand. She put it away in her backpack for safekeeping, then returned to Nathaniel's room.

“So, about last night, huh?” Nathaniel asked once she had settled into a comfortable place on the floor.

“Ugh, Alya's never going to let me hear the end of it,” she groaned.

“Mm, but what about the others?” he asked. “Nino swore he wouldn't tell anyone, but I guess they already know something or other. Chloe thinks it was Nino who sent that first prank call.”

“Well, we definitely don't know the person who got the second one, and they most probably won't recognize is ever, so that's one good thing…”

“And after the third one, Alya’s convinced we're a couple or something,” he finished. “She wouldn't believe you, would she?”

Marinette shook her head.

“It's fine, though, we both know that you still like Adrien,” he said in an attempt to brighten the mood.

It seemed to have the opposite effect, however. Marinette looked horrified.

“Oh my gosh,” she groaned, stuffing her face into a nearby pillow. “I completely forgot. What is Adrien going to think after this?!”

“He doesn't know, though…” Nathaniel supplied.

“But he could find out! What if he thinks we're a couple and that I don't like him! That would be the actual absolute worst!” she sighed hopelessly. “My life is ruined!”

“I promise it won't be that bad,” Nathaniel consoled. “If he thinks anything is going on between us, I'll make sure he gets the facts straight. I could even stay away from you so he doesn't get the wrong message,” he suggested. Marinette looked up and glared.

“So you want to leave me, too?” she asked, distraught.

“Nonono, it's the opposite actually,” he explained quickly. “I just want you to be happy. That's all, I promise.”

Marinette softened, the memory of Nathaniel talking in his sleep suddenly resurfacing in the strangest of ways and times. She quickly pushed it out of her mind.

“You're a huge dork, you know that?” she told him.

“Well, I mean, I thought the posters would get the message across by now, uh…” he chuckled awkwardly, waving to the decorations adorning majority of the walls. Mostly anime and comic book superheroes.

“Don't worry, we'll find a way out of this,” she promised him.

“Of course we will,” he agreed. “And, uh, lesson learned. No more prank calls.”

“Aw, really?” Marinette asked teasingly. “Darn it, I was hoping you might use that sweet-talking thing on Chloe, see what she thought of it.”

“Not a chance,” Nathaniel told her stiffly. “Don't even think about it.”

“Well, I guess I can dream, can't I?” she giggled, sticking out her tongue.

“Maybe I should do it to you and send Adrien a recording,” he suggested.

“You wouldn't,” Marinette said in horror.

“Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Okay I'll stop teasing you,” Marinette put her hands up in surrender.

“And no more sleepovers,” he added.

“Right, definitely no more sleepovers,” she agreed.

***

A decision that neither of them would be able to keep.