Chapter Text
Adrien watched as Marinette blew her nose, turning away from him because she didn't want him to see her while she was "being gross". But they both knew that there was no way he could ever think that about her. Despite this, he let her do what she wanted, glancing at the cold medicine on her desk.
When Marinette turned to him, her eyes narrowed, "I'm not taking that, it's disgusting."
"Maybe, but you'll get better faster."
Marinette shook her head, crossing her arms in a cute, pouty, gesture, "Not taking it."
After the events of the previous day, it was a miracle that only one them got sick, but it made Adrien feel bad that it was Marinette. After all, he was the reason there was risk for them to get sick in the first place. He once again cursed his kiss-dazed mind for letting go of the umbrella. Why did he have to do that?
To kiss Marinette better, duh, his mind retorted.
Looking back on it, if he hadn't let go of the umbrella, he could've been kissing Marinette in that moment. Stupid brain.
"Come on, Marinette," he tried again, deciding to let some of his Chat take over, "if you take the medicine, not only do you get better faster, you can kiss me sooner."
She snorted, causing her to turn away and cough a bit. "Careful, Adrien, your Chat is showing." Despite the coughing fit, she smiled at him, making his heart flutter. "I still don't wanna take it, though."
Well, it was time to play dirty. "Well, you can just, not take it. But then, what if someone gets akumatized? You can't fight while you're sick." When she raised an eyebrow at him, opening her mouth to say something he quickly continued, "I won't let you fight while you're sick."
"That's a low blow, you know."
"That's true," he smirked, "but you made me."
She sighed, scrunching up her nose as she looked at the cold medicine bottle, "You're gonna have to get me the bottle and a cookie."
He grinned at her, happy that she finally complied, "Ok! And trust me, you'll be better in no time." He then kissed her forehead and bounded down to get her the items she requested.
Marinette stared after Adrien, watching as he slipped down to the kitchen to get her a cookie. How had she gotten so lucky? The two most wonderful guys in her life turned out to be one, super amazing, affectionate person. She couldn't be happier. Well, she could be if she wasn't sick.
She leaned back against the headboard of her bed. At the time, the kiss they shared had been perfect. She didn't care about how cold she had started to feel, or how her hair and clothes stuck to her uncomfortably as the rain kept pouring. All she had cared about then was the fact that Adrien was there with her, his lips on hers, his arms wrapped around her, and there were no masks between them.
And now? Despite being sick, she was still happy because he was there, right by her side, just like he had been all along. Having him there with her, beside her even when she felt all gross, it made the sickness a little more bearable. And she had to admit that she liked him fussing over her.
Sure, they hadn't really talked about what they were yet. But Marinette knew she still loved him, maybe even more so after knowing his identity. And if he didn't love her, he wouldn't have kissed her and he wouldn't have been there with her right then. Or maybe he would be there, but not as affectionate as he had been. So, obviously there was something there.
And he did mention wanting to kiss you didn't he? When you get better, of course. And don't forget the forehead kiss, her brain reminded her.
She waved the thoughts aside, trying to fight the warm that threatened to take over her face. Soon, Adrien came back into her room, running up to her with the medicine bottle and a cookie. The way he smiled at her, like a little, happy puppy--no, like a little, happy kitten-- made her heart skip a beat. She was so lucky.
"Alright," Adrien said, pouring some cold medicine into a spoon, "all you have to do is drink this," he pointed to the spoon, "then quickly eat a bite of the cookie," he nodded toward the cookie on the shelf above her, "and you'll be better in no time."
She frowned at the spoon of gross medicine in distaste, "Is it too late to back out?"
"Way too late, sorry," he shrugged.
She feigned an exasperated sigh, "Ok, ok."
She took the spoon, waiting for Adrien to grab the cookie before putting it in mouth and quickly swallowing. But not before the horrible "cherry" taste made its way to her taste buds. She yanked the cookie out of his hand, chomping on it and taking a bigger bite than normal, all for the sake of getting rid of the horrid taste in her mouth. Why did they even call it cherry?
She kept eating the cookie, liking her lips repeatedly to get rid of any leftover medicine taste. Before she knew it the cookie was gone, and the medicine taste wasn't. Sure, it wasn't as strong, but it wasn't gone. She frowned, being sick sucked.
"So, now you should feel better by tommorow. You might not be one hundred percent better, but you'll be better."
Marinette smiled, leaned over and hugging Adrien tight. "Thank you, I really appreciate this."
"I'm just doing what I gotta do, it's nothing fancy," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her securely.
"Yeah, but," she moved so she could look at him, "you really didn't have to, I know you skipped Mandarin for this."
He smiled at her so softly she thought her heart would explode, "This is more important."
"I love you." Suddenly, it was just so easy to say those words. After three years of trying so hard to say them, it came naturally to her. It was odd how things could change so much.
"I love you, too," he said, kissing the top of her head softly.
He was right here all along.