LadyBugOut AU (Snippets)

Summary:
Nino sulks after his confrontation with Adrien.

Chapter Text
Nino sat miserably near the bushes at the front of the school, hidden at the outer corner of the school stairway and the wall. He groaned, burying his face in his hands and contemplating how everything could've gone so wrong.

Lila. Alya. Adrien. Just like that, his friendships had been broken. He stood by them and now his world was falling apart. He--

"Lahiffe!" a voice suddenly called from above.

Nino straightened on alert. He looked up just in time to see a blur of purple before it disappeared in a flash of pink.

Ladybug squatted down on the roof as recalled her yoyo. When she tapped the top, a white butterfly fluttered out.

Nino clutched his chest. Oh gosh, he'd almost been...

Ladybug dropped down from the rooftop, landing carefully in front of him. "Are you okay?"

Nino stood, a bit shaky, but nodded. "Y-yeah. Thanks, Ladybug."

She smiled. "It's all part of the job."

Nino felt guilt growing in his gut. Ladybug knew that he was connected to Alya (and thus, the Ladyblog) yet here she was, comforting him when it wasn't necessary.

Ladybug frowned. "Do you want to talk?"

"I..." He hesitated. "Look, about that picture--"

She snorted, waving dismissively. "I already know a lot of the details. You don't have to tell me. It's not like it was you who posted it."

"But I didn't do anything about it," Nino muttered.

"You feel bad, don't you?" she asked. Smiling, she added, "So it's not a big deal."

Nino wanted to retort, but Ladybug seemed insistent that he was forgiven. He relented, but that still left one other task for him.

"I still don't know how I'm gonna apologize to Marinette though."

Ladybug's eyes widened. She blinked, then softened her expression. "W-well... I'm sure she'll at least listen to you. You just have to talk to her."

"Really?" he asked.

Ladybug rubbed the back of her head, glancing at him almost sheepishly. "If she's worth apologizing to, you might as well give it a shot anyway, right?"

Nino nodded, a bit more confident as he grinned. "I will. Thanks, Ladybug."

She grinned back, then waved, hopping up and disappearing back along the rooftops. Conveniently for Nino, Marinette soon emerged from the school, seeming not to notice him as she started heading for her house.

"M-marinette!" Nino called, walking towards her. He was set to follow her to her house if he had to.

Marinette stopped, glancing his way. "Oh! Hi, Nino," she said a bit too casually, though Nino wasn't about to complain there.

"Listen. I..." He tipped his hat down, trying to hide his face. "I'm really sorry about Lila. You're not a liar and I should've listened to you when you warned me. I'm sorry about everything, really."

"No no, it's fine!" Marinette waved dismissively. "You learned. That's all the matters, right? I know how hard you were trying hard to support Alya."

"Y-yeah..." Nino murmered, rubbing his arm. "But... I broke up with her, so now I won't do that anymore."

"Wait--you--" Marinette blinked, surprised. "You broke up with her?"

He nodded.

"Oh..." She frowned. "I'm so sorry."

"Nah. I don't regret it," he assured. "I still want to be there for her, but... definitely not like I was before, y'know? And I need a break first anyway." After a pause, he added, "And from Adrien too."

"Him too?" she asked. "But... that means--"

Nino chuckled bitterly. "Yeah. I'm a lone wolf for now, I guess."

Marinette couldn't help feeling bad for him. Sure, Nino did some bad things and was undoubtedly one of Alya's enablers, but...

Marinette leaned forward, tipping Nino's hat up to encourage him to look at her. "If you ever need someone to talk to, the bakery's always open. We can talk over sweets."

Nino gaped, honestly stunned that Marinette would still tolerate him after everything that happened.

Nevertheless, he smiled. "T-that'd be cool. Thanks, Marinette."

As she walked away, looking satisfied, Nino remembered why he'd had a crush on Marinette before he got together with Alya.