ICE BETWEEN US

Chapter 4: Bad Idea

Marinette was halfway through washing dishes when Alya called.

She balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear while scrubbing aggressively at a plate someone else had left in the sink.

“So?” Alya demanded instantly. “Tell me everything.”

Marinette sighed tiredly.

“He’s worse than I expected.”

“That bad?”

“He’s arrogant. Annoying. Flirts with everything that breathes.”

Alya laughed loudly through the phone.

“So exactly like the internet says.”

“Yes.”

Marinette rinsed the plate harder than necessary.

“And he keeps looking at me like he’s trying to figure me out.”

“Maybe he is.”

“He doesn’t need to.”

A pause.

Then Alya’s voice softened slightly.

“You okay?”

Marinette glanced toward the hallway automatically.

Always checking. Always listening.

“I’m fine.”

“You sound tired.”

“I am tired.”

No response came for a second.

Then:

“You need one day off.”

Marinette nearly laughed.

“That’s funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“Alya—”

“No. Listen to me. You work constantly, you study constantly, and your family treats you like unpaid labor.”

Marinette’s grip tightened slightly around the dish towel.

“You need one normal day.”

“There’s no such thing as normal in my house.”

“Then lie.”

Marinette blinked.

“What?”

“Fake an excuse.”

“That won’t work.”

“It could.”

“No, it literally couldn’t.”

Her adoptive mother tracked everything.

Questioned everything.

Controlled everything.

Alya hummed thoughtfully.

“What about Ivan and Max?”

Marinette frowned slightly.

“What about them?”

“Tell them to cover up for you.”

Marinette paused.

Actually paused.

Because Ivan and Max were the safest possible excuse.

They never did anything wrong in their mother's eyes. Not even when she reported them to her.

“That…” Marinette hesitated. “That might actually work.”

“Obviously. I’m a genius.”

“You’re terrifying.”

“So you’re going to a hockey game with us later today. Nino has practice. Luke is coming too.”

Marinette almost dropped the plate.

“Absolutely not.”

“Yes.”

“I hate hockey.”

“You’ve literally never watched hockey.”

“I watched one fight compilation once.”

“That’s basically the same thing.”

Marinette groaned quietly.

“Alya—”

“You need air. And maybe seeing Adrien Agreste get slammed into a wall will heal you spiritually.”

Marinette hated that part of her almost smiled.

—

The rink was loud.

Violently loud.

Marinette flinched slightly the second they entered.

Music blasted through massive speakers while crowds of students packed the stands wearing jerseys and screaming at random intervals.

Cold air rolled through the arena carrying the sharp scent of ice, sweat, and something aggressively masculine.

Marinette instantly wanted to leave.

“There are too many men here,” she muttered.

Nino laughed beside Alya.

“That’s kind of how hockey works.”

“I hate it already.”

Luka smiled softly from beside her.

“You’ll survive.”

Marinette wasn’t convinced.

The players skated across the ice at terrifying speeds while bodies slammed violently into walls hard enough to make the glass shake.

“How is this legal?” she asked weakly.

A whistle blew.

Two players immediately started shoving each other aggressively.

The crowd cheered louder.

“Oh my God.”

Alya looked delighted.

“This is the best part.”

“That’s deeply concerning.”

Then the arena erupted suddenly.

Screaming.

Whistles.

Cheers.

Marinette looked toward the ice automatically—

—and saw Adrien Laurent.

Unfortunately, he somehow looked even worse on the ice.

More dangerous.

More confident.

Like chaos fit him naturally.

He skated effortlessly across the rink with sharp controlled movements while another player tried and failed to stop him.

Then—

goal.

The crowd exploded.

Adrien barely reacted.

Just turned calmly while teammates slammed into him excitedly.

Arrogant asshole.

Why did he look so good doing that?

Marinette folded her arms tighter immediately.

No.

Absolutely not.

Alya noticed instantly.

“Oh, you’re staring.”

“I’m…. observing.”

“Sure.”

Nino laughed under his breath.

The practice eventually paused and players started skating toward the benches.

That’s when Nino waved.

“Adrien!”

Marinette’s stomach dropped instantly.

No.

Absolutely not.

Adrien looked up.

Then immediately spotted Marinette standing beside Alya.

His eyebrows lifted slowly.

He skated toward them while removing his gloves with his teeth.

Which honestly should not have looked attractive.

But unfortunately—

it did.

Marinette hated this entire arena.

Nino grinned.

“Didn’t know you knew Marinette.”

Adrien’s eyes stayed on her.

“She insults me professionally now.”

Alya burst out laughing immediately.

“I like him already.”

“You shouldn’t,” Marinette muttered.

Adrien smirked slightly.

Then four other players approached behind him.

Loud energy instantly followed.

The first one pointed dramatically at Marinette.

“Oh my God.”

He looked at Adrien.

“She’s real?”

Adrien looked exhausted already.

“Shut up, Kim.”

Kim ignored him completely.

“You’re the tutor?”

Marinette nodded carefully.

Kim looked delighted.

“That’s hilarious.”

Another player stepped forward calmly.

Serious expression.

Captain energy radiating off him instantly.

“Alex,” he introduced simply.

Then another quieter player beside him nodded once.

“Plag.”

The last one grinned immediately.

“I’m Sam. Unfortunately.”

Marinette blinked.

“…Unfortunately?”

“You’ll understand eventually.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Alex muttered.

Kim leaned dramatically toward Marinette.

“So tell me.”

His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Why aren’t you obsessed with him?”

Adrien groaned quietly.

“Jesus Christ.”

Marinette looked confused.

“What?”

Kim pointed toward Adrien.

“Girls usually react differently.”

Sam nodded solemnly.

“Usually there’s screaming.”

“Or crying,” Plag added quietly.

Adrien looked deeply offended.

“I hate all of you.”

Marinette accidentally laughed.

Just once. Small.

But Adrien noticed immediately.

His gaze flicked toward her sharply.

Like he hadn’t expected that sound.

Which only made her stop laughing faster.

The coach suddenly shouted across the rink.

“Agreste!”

Adrien looked away reluctantly.

“Practice.”

Kim grinned at Marinette.

“Watch him closely. His ego grows every time he's on the rink.”

Adrien shoved him hard while skating away.

The team disappeared back onto the ice moments later.

Marinette tried not to stare.

Failed.

Because on the ice—

Adrien transformed.

The arrogance stayed.

But now it had purpose.

Precision.

Focus.

He moved like instinct instead of thought.

Fast enough to make her nervous.

Bodies crashed violently around him but he kept moving like none of it mattered.

Then another player slammed into him hard near the wall.

Marinette flinched automatically.

Adrien hit back harder.

The crowd screamed approvingly.

Psychopaths.

All of them.

Still—

she couldn’t look away.

For the first time since meeting him, she understood why people tolerated his behavior.

Because he was talented.

Terrifyingly talented.

And maybe people forgave beautiful talented men too easily.

Practice ended almost an hour later.

Players started exiting the rink sweaty and exhausted while students crowded nearby waiting for attention.

Marinette stood beside Alya, already ready to leave.

Then suddenly—

a blonde girl rushed directly toward Adrien.

Fast.

Without hesitation.

She practically threw herself against him.

“Oh my God, you played amazing.”

Adrien caught her automatically before she slipped on the floor. The girl giggled while touching his chest openly.

Marinette’s expression cooled instantly.

There it is. That’s the real him. The flirt. The scandal.

The arrogant hockey player surrounded by girls constantly hanging off him.

Adrien glanced toward Marinette briefly.

Then frowned slightly. Because she’d shut down instantly. Again.

Interesting.

The girl pressed a kiss against his cheek.

Marinette looked away immediately.

“Can we go now?” she asked flatly.

Alya sighed dramatically.

“You’re no fun.”

—

The plan failed.

Spectacularly.

Marinette knew something was wrong the second she walked through the front door.

The house was too quiet.

Her adoptive mother stood in the living room waiting.

Holding her phone.

Marinette’s stomach dropped instantly.

“Your little study group called,” her mother said coldly.

Oh no.

Apparently Ivan and Max had forgotten the lie entirely.

Panic flooded Marinette immediately.

“I can explain—”

The whip cracked before she even finished speaking.

Pain exploded across her back instantly.

Marinette cried out involuntarily.

“You lied to me.”

Another strike.

“You ungrateful little bitch.”

Marinette stumbled backward shaking.

Her adoptive father ignored everything from the couch.

Like always.

Like her pain was background noise.

Another c***k.

Burning pain ripped across her shoulder.

Tears blurred her vision instantly.

“I’m sorry—”

“You should be.”

Her mother’s face twisted with fury.

“You eat my food. Live in my house. Use my money.”

Another strike.

“And this is how you repay me?”

Marinette curled into herself afterward in bed silently crying into her pillow because making noise only made things worse.

Her entire body hurt.

But somehow—

the humiliation hurt more.

—

Morning came too fast.

Marinette kept her sweater on despite the heat.

Long sleeves. High collar. Careful movements.

Alya noticed immediately.

So did Luka.

“What happened?” Alya asked quietly.

Marinette looked away.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Luka’s expression darkened slightly as he noticed the marks near her wrist.

“We can call someone.”

Marinette laughed weakly.

“And say what?”

They knew how it ended last time.

Alya looked furious anyway.

“I hate them.”

“So do I.”

The three walked silently toward the library afterward.

Then Alya suddenly grabbed Marinette’s arm gently.

“At least this stupid tutoring job pays well.”

Marinette nodded slowly.

One hundred dollars a week.

Enough to matter. Enough to survive for. Barely.

“You can do this,” Luka said softly.

Marinette exhaled shakily.

“I know.”

The library felt too warm when she entered.

Adrien already sat at one of the back tables looking bored out of his mind.

His eyes lifted immediately toward her.

Then narrowed slightly.

Something changed in his expression instantly.

He stood slowly.

“You look awful.”

Marinette blinked.

“What a polite greeting.”

“I’m serious.”

His gaze moved briefly toward the faint mark near her wrist before returning to her face.

“You sick?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“I said I’m fine.”

Adrien watched her quietly for another second.

Then surprisingly—

dropped it.

The session started badly.

Very badly.

Adrien kept making jokes instead of answering questions.

Or leaning back in his chair like everything bored him.

Or deliberately giving stupid answers.

Marinette’s headache worsened by the minute.

“Adrien.”

“What?”

“That’s not even remotely correct.”

“Subjective.”

“It’s literally economics.”

He smirked slightly.

“There’s that attitude again.”

Marinette slammed the pen down.

“You know what? Forget it.”

Adrien blinked as she started gathering her books.

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.”

For the first time, he looked genuinely caught off guard.

“Why?”

“Because you clearly don’t care.”

The words hung heavily between them.

Adrien’s expression changed instantly.

Not anger.

Something else.

Something sharper.

“You think I don’t care?”

“You act like this is a joke.”

Silence.

Then Adrien looked away first.

And suddenly—

something clicked.

Marinette frowned slightly.

Because it wasn’t laziness.

He kept rereading questions too long.

Skipping words.

Answering verbally better than he wrote.

Avoiding reading directly from the textbook.

Covering confusion with arrogance.

Oh.

Oh.

Marinette slowly sat back down.

Adrien looked tense now.

Like he regretted something.

“Read this paragraph,” she said carefully.

His jaw tightened immediately.

Interesting.

“I already did.”

“Read it out loud.”

A pause.

Then:

“No.”

There it was.

Not laziness.

Embarrassment.

Marinette’s frustration softened slightly.

Not pity.

Understanding.

She quietly turned the textbook sideways.

Then grabbed a blank paper.

Instead of paragraphs, she started drawing diagrams.

Breaking concepts apart visually.

Simpler.

Cleaner.

Adrien watched silently.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “Forget the textbook. Explain it to me like a hockey play.”

His eyes lifted immediately.

“What?”

“You understand strategy, right?”

“Obviously.”

“Then use that.”

A long pause.

Then slowly—

he started answering differently.

Better.

Much better.

Marinette blinked slightly in surprise.

Because he understood the material.

His brain just processed it differently.

And apparently nobody had noticed.

Or cared enough to notice.

Nearly forty minutes passed without either realizing it.

Adrien answered the final question correctly.

Then looked genuinely shocked.

“…Oh.”

Marinette smiled faintly before she could stop herself.

“There you go.”

Adrien stared at the paper quietly.

Then at her.

Something softer entered his expression for the first time since meeting her.

Real.

Unarmed.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

Sincere.

Completely sincere.

The words caught Marinette off guard instantly.

Because somehow—

that was the first honest thing either of them had said to each other.