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The first time he noticed her he was too tired to think properly. He was sluggish, hungover, and irritated at the flurry of snow. After a fairly warm winter, the weather was unexpected and he was very unprepared.
Adrien was on his way back home from a party at his friends with nothing on but a coat and just wanted to go to sleep.
That was when he met her.
Well, he heard her before he saw her. His eyes were firmly planted on the ground so no snow would be hitting his face. He only looked up when he heard a horribly out of tune rendition of an old cheesy love song. The first thing he noticed about her was her ugly grey hat with giant ladybugs checkered on the edges. Her arms were spread out wide as if she were conducting an orchestra and she swayed under the weight of her red backpack. She took small steps as if she were taking a stroll in a warm park and not in the middle of a snowstorm. He questioned her sanity for it was 5 am on a Saturday. Clearly she had been studying part, if not most, of the night.
He was all prepared to ignore her obnoxious singing and was ready to just walk past her when she suddenly stopped under a street light and looked up. He slowed down his pace and attempted to see what she was doing. She didn’t move for 20 seconds, lost in thought staring at the lamp post. He tried seeing what she saw, but there was nothing other than more falling snow. Just about as he was about to ask if she was ok, she sighed deeply and turned onto a different road. The faint hum of “White Christmas” could be heard. He shook his head at the slightly insane girl. Christmas had been over a month ago.
Thinking nothing more of the encounter, he walked back to his apartment and fell asleep on the couch.
--
The next time he met her, he didn’t realize who she was until after she left. The image of the senile girl in the checkered hat was long gone. Between classes, his modeling gig, and his social life he barely had time to eat let alone think. Which is why he wasn’t surprised when he walked into his Physics class and discovered that he had left his calculator at home.
He wanted to slam his head against the desk. It was test day and it was just his luck that he had forgotten it. Feeling slightly foolish he walked to the front of the classroom and asked his teacher if she had an extra. He could feel himself blushing when the teacher shook her head and proceeded to ask the rest of the students in the class, the judgement and disapproval clouding their faces. Just when he was about to accept his failure for the test, a girl with blue pigtails wearing a sweatshirt with the school logo came up to him and handed him a scientific calculator. She smiled, wished him good luck, and sat back down at her seat. Even though it wasn’t his graphing calculator he was extremely thankful he wouldn’t have to solve the equations in his head.
Nothing but pencil scratching could be heard for the next hour. When the first chair was heard scraping back he and about 100 other people looked up from their test to see who had finished first. It was the girl who had lent him the calculator. She pushed her hair out of her face as she walked up the stairs back to her seat. There was a slight frown on her face as she stared at the ground. He watched her stumble as she tried to put her coat on without making too much noise. With one hand she grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. The other hand was holding a grey and ladybug checkered hat. As she left the classroom he stared at the hat in her hand. The memories of the incident from a couple weeks back replayed in his mind. He smiled slightly at his calculator and snapped out of his daze once he heard the teacher call out the 30 remaining minutes on the test.
--
The third time he met her he realized they lived in the same apartment building. It had finally warmed up a bit and he decided to celebrate by taking his black cat Plagg out for some fresh air. Sitting on the bottom of the steps to the apartment he was thinking about what to make himself for dinner while Plagg hissed at a snowbank on the side of the parking garage. He heard the door open behind him and slightly turned to see who it was.
She stood there with her coat, backpack, and that stupid hat. She turned red and smiled at him slightly when she noticed his gaze. He felt his cheeks heat up at how adorable she looked completely swamped with her winter coat and hat that covered half her face. She took careful strides down the steps, her backpack swinging behind her and glanced at him for a second as if she wanted to say something, opening and closing her mouth, before walking away.
He took a deep breath and released a puff of air before calling after her.
“Nice hat,” he gave her a toothy smile and ruffled his blond hair, hoping he didn’t sound as awkward as he felt.
She turned and gave a bright smile in his direction and walked off.
It was only after she left did he realize that he still had her calculator.
--
The fourth time he met her, Adrien found himself utterly smitten.
The stress of midterms was finally over and Adrien was able to breathe a bit more freely again. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for the entire weekend, yet here he was, forced into a three piece suit and a black mask that covered half his face.
Yup, somehow Nino had convinced him to go to a masquerade ball.
Nino had mentioned that a girl he was interested in would be coming to the ball. He had wanted to go there, but needed moral support. That’s where Adrien decided it was his moral obligation as best friend to step up and help out.
What he should have realized was that it meant he would be forgotten about the second Nino laid eyes on his secret crush.
‘This isn’t too bad,’ Adrien decided sipping on his second beer of the night. It was always entertaining watching the antics of other drunk college students. He just wished he could see Nino from his corner. He wanted to meet the girl that got Nino all flustered.
“You having fun?” A feminine voice broke him out of his thoughts.
He turned around to find a woman with long midnight blue hair and a black cocktail dress. Her face was covered by a bright red mask, the only part visible was her equally red lips and cerulean blue eyes.
“Hi,” He grinned at her, “I got ditched.”
The mystery girl let out a small chuckle, “Me too. So I’ve been drowning my awkwardness with Long Islands.”She held up her half finished drink.
Adrien held his beer up in commiseration, “Well we here at the forsaken corner appreciate your presence.”
She clinked her glass against his bottle, “Glad to hear it.”
Her eyes twinkled in the dark and Adrien felt as if she were the only person in the room.
“How long have you been here?” She asked.
“About 20 minutes. I was left behind 15 minutes ago. What about you?”
The girl brushed some strands of hair away from her face, “I’ve been here about an hour. We’re actually supposed to go to another friend’s party after this.”
“Any special celebration?”
“Exams are done. Isn’t that enough of a reason to celebrate?” She smiled at him and Adrien felt his heart skip a beat.
Maybe it was because of the alcohol coursing through his system that he decided to ask, “Do you want-”
“Hold that thought,” The girl held up a finger and dug through her small purse. She pulled out a phone with a black and red case and fumbled with it for a few seconds.
“Hello?” There was a pause as she listened to the caller, “Yeah. Yeah, where are you? Ok, give me a second. Yeah, bye.”
She ended the call and looked at Adrien apologetically, “Sorry, the friend I’m here with just called me. I need to get going. She’s waiting for me at the front and I still need to grab my coat.”
Adrien’s heart sank that she was leaving so soon, but he smiled at her, "I'll walk you to the coat rack."
"How sweet. And they say chivalry is dead,” she giggled.
The two quickly walked over to the coat rack and the mystery girl quickly found her coat. She shoved her phone into the pocket and downed her drink.
“You’re drinking that a bit fast aren’t you?”
She stuck her tongue out at him, “ I paid 8 bucks for this. I’m not wasting a single drop.”
Adrien laughed at how cute she was being, “Yeah that’s a smart idea.”
The masked girls phone buzzed and she swore underneath her breath, "I better go before Alya has an aneurysm. It was nice meeting you."
The girl waved at him and walked off toward the door. Adrien watched her for a few more seconds and was about to turn around when he noticed her reach into her pocket and pull out a ladybug printed hat. His eyes widened and he sprinted towards the door, trying to get through the crowd. "Wait! Bugaboo!"
A few people gave him a weird look at that nickname, but he ignored them and pushed through the crowd towards the door.
Just as he reached outside he saw a taxi pull forward down the street. He ruffled his hair and let out a deep sigh. He was doomed to never know her name and she was doomed to never get her calculator back.
--
The fifth time they met Adrien knew for a fact that he was in love.
Adrien drummed his fingers on the table’s counter, waiting impatiently for everyone else to show up. He had been waiting at the table for ten minutes already. After a few more minutes of strumming, Nino finally showed up.
“You’re late again.”
“Sorry,” Nino grinned at him, “How do I smell?”
Adrien froze for a few seconds and gave him a look of confusion.
“I put on some cologne,” He responded.
Adrien shrugged and leaned in closer, taking a quick sniff, “Is that the sample I gave you from my dad’s collection?”
Nino sheepishly nodded, “I had a hard time choosing, but this is the fanciest thing I own. I want to impress her.”
“You look great, buddy.” He patted Nino’s shoulder, “She’s probably as nervous as you are right now.”
Nino gave a wistful sigh that had Adrien holding back a laugh. This was the most lovestruck he had seen him.
“She never gets nervous about anything. She knows exactly what she wants and she gets it. Alya is perfect.”
Adrien rolled his eyes, “You’ve been saying that for days now.”
“That’s because it’s true!”
“What’s true?” A loud voice interrupted. Two girls approached the table, and from the pictures Nino had shown him he recognized the first one as Alya. The other had dark blue pigtails, bright cerulean eyes, and an ugly knit cap.
Adrien’s eyes widened as Nino jumped up off his chair, “Babe! You’re here!”
“Hi Nino,” Alya waved, “Sorry we’re late.”
“Alya couldn’t figure out what outfit would look best,” The other girl piped in.
Alya scowled and lightly punched the girl’s shoulder. “Shut up Mari,” She hissed.
“It’s ok, Adrien interrupted before the squabble could escalate, “Nino was late too. He had trouble picking out a good cologne.”
“Bro!”
The other girl caught Adrien’s eye and lightly blushed. She smiled at him and turned an even darker red when he returned the smile.
“It’s good to see you again Bugaboo.”
“Bugaboo?” The three echoed in confusion.
“Because… her hat... has ladybugs?”He weakly explained causing Nino and Alya to fall into fits of laughter. The mystery girl’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion
“It’s a great nickname,” He defended causing Nino and Alya to laugh even harder.
“Anyways,” He held out his hand towards the girl with a large grin, “It’s great to officially meet you Bugaboo, sorry I stole your calculator. I’m Adrien.”
The pigtailed girl grasped his hand firmly, and with a slight smile and blush she responded.
“I’m Marinette. It’s nice to meet you Adrien.”