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Adrien stared at Marinette, worriedly watching her sway on her feet. Glancing at Lila and Alya huddled close together whispering, his concern grew at the scheming gleam in Lila’s eyes. Nearly the whole class was waiting to load the bus, each person faltering as they noticed Marinette had beat them. It was actually incredibly funny, as everyone immediately checked the time when they spotted Marinette.
Adrien was possibly the only person to have not frozen in disbelief when he saw her waiting for everyone. She was nearly one of the first people there. When he hurried forward and greeted her earlier, he could tell she was still mostly asleep. Adrien had been excited, and rushed to say good morning.
She replied with her eyes half-lidded. “Hello handsome. You going my way?” Even as his cheeks flushed, he realized she was incredibly out of it, as she’d never normally say such a thing. So he had kept a cautious eye on her as she shivered in her coat and swayed with the wind, silently waiting.
Finally the last student arrived and Ms. Bustier allowed everyone to board the bus. Adrien couldn’t help laughing at Nino’s almost affronted incredulity at being the last student to show up. Adrien heard him whispering to a giggling Alya, lamenting that even Marinette had beaten him. As Adrien picked up his carry-on bag, he noticed Marinette start to walk off without hers, and Lila perking up, making a beeline towards the bag.
“Marinette!” Adrien called as he hurried forward, snagging the bag right before Lila could get to it. As Lila fixed an affronted glare on Adrien, he looked away, as though he hadn’t seen her. Adrien moved to escort his sleepy princess to her carriage. Adrien gently let the hand not holding Marinette’s bag rest on her lower back as she blinked up at him. She had paused when she heard her name, but obviously hadn’t figured out why he’d called out to her.
Adrien smiled down at her, unexpectedly charmed at her big blue eyes blinking up at him with sleepy confusion. He caught the ‘awww’ right before he could say it, and cleared his throat. “Marinette, you forgot your bag. Let me walk you to your seat, okay?” Adrien spoke in the warmest, most soothing voice he could, carefully attempting to not to bring her to full wakefulness. If she was this tired, she obviously needed more sleep.
Marinette gave him a warm, almost goofy looking grin and nodded, leaning against his shoulder without restraint. He ignored the burning of his cheeks as he barely heard her quiet “…kay…” Adrien squeezed his eyes shut tightly, resisting the urge to squeal at her adorableness and hug her tight. Right now she was too vulnerable to Lila’s attacks, and he needed to protect his princess. He pushed down his urges to cuddle the cute, and together they boarded the bus.
Adrien looked at the mostly empty bus and decided a corner seat in the back would be safest spot to protect her from everyone. He gently pushed Marinette in front of him, easily pulling her away from each seat she tried to sit in until they got to the last row, where he smoothly guided her to the window seat. As Marinette sat down, she frowned and fumbled at her hip for the bag she’d left behind.
Adrien handed her the bag, watching as she rifled through it with her eyes still closed. To his astonishment, she pulled a pillow and blanket out of the bag, easily setting the pillow up against the window and tucking herself in, leaving the blanket open towards the seat next to her. As Adrien heard Lila and Alya coming onto the bus, he caught wind of Lila’s words.
“Oh, Marinette seemed so out of sorts. I’ll sit with her, so she doesn’t get lonely, okay, Alya? You can sit with your boyfriend!” Lila chirped, sounding innocent and sweet. Adrien resisted the urge to flash his fangs at her, and quickly took the seat next to Marinette.
Marinette, already laying against the pillow with her eyes closed silently offered him the corner of the blanket. Adrien gratefully covered himself with the warm fluffy blanket, and settled in. He discreetly kicked the bag Marinette had dropped once more into the furthest corner. Lila wasn’t getting near a Marinette that wasn’t fully awake, or her belongings. He wasn’t going to lose this fight.
Lila and Alya came to a stunned halt in front of the blanket-covered duo. Alya who had just been gushing about Lila’s kind gesture immediately scrambled for her phone, eager to take photos. Adrien pretended not to notice the sound of the camera shutter going off repeatedly. Lila pasted a false smile on her face, and Adrien returned it with a cordial smile of his own. “Oh, Adrien!” Lila crooned in a sugary voice. “You don’t have to sit with poor Marinette. I already said I would.”
Adrien tilted his head, keeping the polite mask on his face. “Oh, don’t worry about it Lila. Marinette’s my seat buddy for trips. We always sit together, right Alya?” Alya’s face conveyed a surprisingly detailed message to him. ‘It was one time, but okay. I’ll take what I can get.’
Alya cleared her throat as Lila looked at her with betrayed eyes. “Well, that’s true. They’ve always sat together on long trips.” Alya smiled awkwardly as Lila scrambled for another argument. “It’s no big deal, right Lila? Adrien wants to sit with Marinette, and I’m sure she’d be happy to sit with him if she were awake to say so.” Alya waved her hands in a dismissive gesture, already claiming the seat in front of Marinette for herself. “Here, Lila, sit in front of me. It’ll be just as fun!”
Lila briefly sent an impotent glare at Adrien that he simply smiled at before turning to go back up the aisles. As though on accident, she snagged the bag nearest her under the blanket with her toes and ‘tripped’. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” She gushed, even as she reached greedily for the bag. To her shock, it was obviously Adrien’s. Adrien quickly leaned forward and took it back.
“Oh, that must have been my fault. So sorry, Lila. I didn’t notice the strap sticking out. You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” Adrien affected a concerned mien. Lila almost cursed out loud, but instead forced her face into a mask of contrition. Alya leaned forward to check on Lila while Nino helped haul Lila back to her feet.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Adrien. I’m totally fine! Sorry about grabbing your bag.” Lila smiled as sweetly as she could manage as she moved forward to sit where Alya had gestured. Adrien watched her hands carefully, not trusting her to keep them to herself. He quietly tucked the bag back under his seat, where it had been before Lila grabbed it with her foot. Adrien was immensely glad he’d gently kicked Marinette’s into the corner when she’d dropped it earlier.
As Adrien watched, the bus slowly filled up, and Ms. Bustier made the typical announcements and reminders before the bus set off. He watched the class chatter, and noticed when someone sent a group message, because almost the entire class checked their phones in unison before glancing back at his seat.
Adrien raised his eyebrows innocently and most of the class gave guilty smiles before turning back to the front, sneaking more glances when they thought he wasn’t looking.
The joke was on them. He was always looking. He was the guard Chat. He was protecting Marinette, his precious princess. There’s no way he’d fall asleep.
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He couldn’t believe he fell asleep. He grumbled to himself about Marinette being too warm and comfortable, as he silently looked at the photos on his phone that Alya had texted him. He was embarrassed but still happily saved each photo to his phone as he scrolled through them.
Thanks to Alya’s stalkerish photo-taking, he could see the steady progression of his sleepiness taking over his awareness until he finally leaned against Marinette. Suddenly the pictures switched. He noticed with chagrin that he’d laid his head in Marinette’s lap. To Adrien’s mortification, the happy smile on his face was all too obvious in each photo as Marinette appeared to rest a hand in his hair.
Considering he’d woken purring in contentment, he was just lucky Alya and Nino hadn’t heard him, and Marinette still wasn’t fully awake. He’d definitely heard Marinette’s quiet forlorn “Kitty?” as he’d pulled away. He’d nearly collapsed right back into her lap at the sad tone. Instead he’d discreetly reached over and pulled her head onto his chest, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to hold her there.
Marinette snuggled into his chest like it was a perfect pillow, giving a soft hum of satisfaction. Adrien felt his purr rumble back to life, and Marinette’s delighted whisper left him smiling happily. “Kitty!” She cooed as she tucked her hand into his over-shirt pocket. He briefly felt a moment of panic, thinking she’d crush Plagg, but Plagg had obviously vacated the pocket. Adrien would find him later.
Relaxing, he was content to stare forward at his classmates once more, proud of protecting his princess, and guarding her from danger, even if he had fallen asleep on her. This trip was worth the trouble, just for the bus ride alone. Adrien rested his head on Marinette’s and smiled.