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Marinette sits at their usual table in the cafeteria, waiting for her friends to arrive. She takes a bite of her sandwich and watches Alya in the lunch line, slowly moving inch by inch.
Adrien arrives first, setting his lunchbox down in the seat opposite Marinette, next to where Nino usually sits.
He smiles up at her and she smiles back, silently cursing that it wasn't Alya who got there first.
"Hi, Marinette," Adrien says with his usual cheeriness.
"Hi, Adrien," Marinette replies, glaring at Alya and sending her mind beams to hurry up.
"Something... wrong?"
"Huh?" Marinette looks back at him. "Oh! No, it's just... Majestia was on TV last night, and I know Alya really likes her, so..."
"You want to talk to her about it?"
"Mostly I want to listen to her talk about it," Marinette chuckles awkwardly.
"It's nice listening to the people you love talk about stuff they're passionate about, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Marinette sighs. "M-not like I like Alya like that! It's just... nice to listen to her ramble."
Adrien frowns. "Like her like what?"
"Like," Marinette fidgets. "Like, *like*-like her. I mean, I *like* her, just not in the... fluttery, heart-skipping-a-beat, romantic kind of way."
"Ohh. That makes sense! You're both girls, after all."
"Yeah," Marinette says. "Although Juleka and Rose... and, I mean, I wouldn't say my heart *skips a beat*, but maybe it pounds a little bit? But that's normal for me around Alya, I'm just excited to see her.
"And maybe I don't get fluttery, but I do kind of feel like im... walking on air? if that makes sense. And it's not romantic, I just feel safe and comfortable around her."
Adrien nods, smiling. "That sounds really special."
"Adrien," Marinette says, gripping the edge of the table so hard her knuckles turn white. "I think I might be in love with Alya."
Adriens eyes widen. "What?"
Marinette pulls desperately at her pigtails. "This is a disaster! What am I going to do?! I can't be in love with Alya! We're best friends! It's too complicated. And I'm straight!" she wails.
"Glad to hear it," Alya says, appearing behind her and taking her seat next to marinette.
"AH!" Marinette screams. "How long have you been standing there?!"
"Just long enough to hear you validate your sexuality. What even brought that on?"
"Oh!" Marinette laughs nervously. "You know me! Always rambling! Always... wording over my trips! T-tripping over my words!"
Alya just smiles knowingly, glancing between Marinette and Adrien, and turns her attention to her food.
Nino joins shortly thereafter, and Marinette speaks as little as possible for the rest of the school day.
Marinette paces around her room, surely wearing grooves into the floor with her steady path as she rambles to Tikki.
"I can't be in love with Alya, it doesn't make any sense! Alya's my best friend, of course I enjoy being around her! And I'm in love with Adrien!"
"Marinette, you can be in love with multiple people. Just because you love Adrien doesn't mean you can't also love Alya!"
"You're not helping," Marinette hisses before dropping her head into her hands and groaning.
"Marinette..." Tikki hesitates. "You know, many of my holders have been in relationships with other women. It's not unusual. Humans loving other humans is... very common."
"I know gay people exist," Marinette says. "The possibility isn't the problem, the problem is that I'm not one of them."
"It sounds like the possibility is kind of the problem, Marinette."
"Argh! Fine! Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I do like girls. If I did, what would being in love with one feel like?"
"Maybe... your heart pounding, feeling like you're 'walking on air', and feeling really safe and comfortable?" Tikki supplies.
Marinette rips at her hair. "This is a disaster!"
"So you've said," Tikki sighs.
Just then, Marinette's phone rings. She has an incoming call.
From Alya.
Marinette throws her phone in the air and nearly drops it, fumbling until she finally catches it.
"What do I do?!" she hisses to Tikki.
"Answer it!" She says. "It's still Alya."
Slowly, miserably, Marinette presses the green answer button.
"Girl, where are you?" Alya says. "You were supposed to be here half an hour ago."
"I... was?" Marinette asks, grimacing.
"Yeah, for the group project?"
"Group project? Group project! Oh crap! Crap, sorry Alya! I'm leaving, um, right now! See you soon!"
Marinette mashes the hang-up button, quickly grabbing her purse and backpack and dashing downstairs, hurriedly waving goodbye to her parents.
She makes it to Alya's shortly, barely stopping at stop signs on her scooter and nearly leaving it on when she gets there. Nora lets her in, and Marinette walks into Alya's room.
And then just stands there.
Staring at her.
"You can take a picture, it'll last longer," Alya teases. "Seriously, what is up with you?"
"Nothing!" Marinette says too quickly. "I'm perfectly fine! normal Marinette! Nothing out of the ordinary here!"
"Okay..." Alya puts her hands on her hips. "You've been acting weird all day. I thought it was just because Adrien was there, but," she gestures around the room. "Adrien's not here."
"Right, well..." Marinette bounces nervously, and then sighs. "Sorry, Alya. It's been... a weird day."
"You coulda just said that," Alya smiles. "Wanna just watch a movie instead of working on our project?"
"That would be nice," Marinette loosens in relief.
Alya nods, and sets her laptop up with movie neither of them have seen, and sets it on the bed before scooting over for Marinette to sit.
Marinette tenses again. Alya wants her to sit next to her. On her bed.
She sidles over, uncharacteristically silent, and sits down gently. She hangs halfway off the bed in her attempt not to touch Alya.
"What the heck are you doing?" Alya grabs her by the waist and pulls her in so that the warm line of her body lights Marinette's veins on fire. "Like we haven't done this before."
Marinette decidedly doesn't relax, especially not when Alya doesn't remove her hand. It stays there, on her waist, keeping her in place.
Marinette breathes slowly and carefully, albeit not deeply. She tries to act totally cool and normal so that Alya detects that absolutely nothing is wrong whatsoever. Because it isn't! Everything's fine! Marinette is not in love with her best friend!
Her eyes stay fixed to the screen, absorbing absolutely zero information in their only role of convincing Alya that she's actually paying attention.
When Alya chuckles, Marinette echoes nervously.
"Funny joke, right?" Alya asks.
"So funny."
"What was your favorite part?"
"Um. The. Punchline?"
"Right! Which was?"
Marinette gulps, not daring to look at Alya. "Um. Something about a fox?"
Alya levels her with a look. "There was no joke. It was a fake laugh. To catch you."
"O-oh..."
Alya sighs and pauses the movie. "Marinette, you're not in trouble. I just want to know what's bothering you."
Marinette swallows hard. "I..."
She looks up at alya, kind eyes staring back at her, and she hesitates.
"I th-think... I'm in love with someone."
"Someone who isn't Adrien?"
Marinette nods. "S-someone whos... kind of a girl...?" She looks up at Alya, wincing.
Alya snaps in recognition. "This is what you were talking about with Adrien earlier! Marinette, it's fine if you're gay, you know that. What's the issue?"
"It's just... it would be really complicated if I liked this girl."
"How come?"
Marinette grimaces. "She's kind of... my best friend...?"
She half expects Alya to get hurt, to get confused, to argue no, I'm your best friend.
Instead, her eyes go wide and her hand flies to her mouth in shock.
"Oh, Marinette," Alya pulls her into a hug.
The dam breaks. Sobs wrack Marinette's body as fear overtakes her.
"I d-don't want to lose you," she sobs.
"You won't, Marinette, you know that," Alya rubs comforting circles into Marinette's back. "Even if I didn't feel the same way, I'd never leave you."
"I know, I know, I just--" Marinette breaks away suddenly. "If you didn't feel the same way?
Alya cups Marinette's cheek with one hand, placing the other on her neck to rub circles into her jaw with her thumb. she brushes away a stray tear as she says, "of course I love you, Marinette. How couldnt i?"
She places a kiss on marinettes wet cheek with a loud mwah! and Marinette giggles. When she pulls back to look at her again, Marinette's smiling.
"Don't suppose... you got any more of those?"
"Sorry," Alya crosses her arms and Marinette immediately mourns the loss of warmth. "According to the rules, for every one kiss I give you gotta pay me back with two kisses of your own."
"What!" Marinette huffs. "Thats outrageous!"
"Blame inflation," Alya deadpans, and they both giggle like it was the funniest joke she's ever told.
"Okay, okay. I'll trade with you. But you gotta give me the goods first," Marinette says seriously.
Alya's hand returns to Marinette's cheek, and Marinette's heart skips a beat (so it does do that around her!). Alya leans in, slowly, like she expects Marinette to stop her, before surging forward and kissing her with determination.
Alya's lips taste like green grapes, is the first thing Marinette notices. The second is that Alya's lips are really, really soft. The third is that her heart is hammering out of her chest. She places a hand over Alya's chest and hers is, too,
They both pull back, momentarily stunned and breathing quickly.
There's a long pause, before Alya says breathily, "okay, now you owe me two."
Marinette nods, simultaneously unsure if she can do that again and certain she wants to do it for the rest of her life.
She leans in and places two quick, nervous pecks onto Alya's lips.
"That's not fair!" Alya says. "Those kisses were not of equal quality!"
"Wasn't in the rules," Marinette says, and tangles her shaking hand in alyas soft hair.
"...You okay?" Alya asks gently.
"Yeah, just. That... was my first kiss."
"What?!" Alya gapes. "You should've told me! I would've made it romantic!"
"It was plenty romantic," Marinette murmurs and rests her head on Alya's shoulder.
That night, they fall asleep to the sound of a movie neither of them are paying attention to, tangled up in each other's limbs, warm and safe and happy.