Chapter Text
They were trapped. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to transform. She was trapped with Adrien Agreste, another of Hawk Moth's awful love akumas chasing them insisting that they be removed from her perfect world of love or whatever it is she was spouting about. Marinette hadn't really been paying attention, too preoccupied on the blonde boy who had grabbed her hand and tried to lead her to safety, who stood protectively between her and said akuma even now, as it loomed nearer.
"Run, Marinette. I'll distract her-"
"Do you trust me?" Adrien blinked in surprise.
"I... Yes?" He took his eyes off the akuma for only a second to look at his friend, and suddenly her hands were on his face and her lips were on his. They were soft, and warm, and her lip balm tasted like vanilla because of course Marinette had vanilla lip balm. She pulled away, and he blinked his eyes open - when had he closed them? - to see her beautiful blue eyes framed in a flush almost as red as Ladybug's suit.
"I... I love you, Adrien. You mean everything to me..." Her voice was breathy, and her eyes flicked between his face and something to his left. He blinked back stupidly. Her eyes grew panicked and she jerked her head to the side.
Right! Akuma. Something about love, couples, single people being.. deleted?
"I..." the words died on his tongue, and his cheeks flushed. She looked even more panicked, so he did the only other thing he could think of. He kissed her. His hand tucked behind her head, his other on her waist, he drew her in close and he kissed her. He felt her tense in his arms, felt her arms snake around his neck. He cracked an eye open to peek at the akuma, pulling away only once she was definitely leaving. Marinette all but jumped out of his arms, and his chest tightened at the sudden loss. Her face was red, and he was sure his was the same. Her fingers hovered millimetres from her lips, and he swallowed nervously.
"I'm... so glad you caught on. A-and that the plan worked," her voice trembled, and she refused to look at him. "I-I think we're safe now. Um... I'll just... hide. S-sorry..."
"Y-yeah... Uh... Goo-good thinking. I mean. With the... Akuma. And the, uh... the..." his mouth watered a little as the kisses they just shared flashed through his mind, and he had to swallow again, lest he be caught drooling over his classmate. Because it was just to get the akuma to leave them alone. It was just a plan. It wasn't real. He had to remember that it wasn't real. "...Y'know. Um. Plan, yeah... that was a good plan."
As soon as Marinette was out of sight, Adrien called on his transformation. It didn't take long for him and Ladybug to take the akuma down, and if she noticed that Chat Noir couldn't meet her gaze she didn't say anything.
Much later that night, he laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, unable to think of anything but the feeling of Marinette in his arms, her hands on his face, the taste of her lip balm. He absently licked his lips, searching for any hint of it left behind, for probably the hundredth time since. He rubbed his finger tips together gently, as if the sensation could replicate the softness of her hair - it couldn't. He turned onto his side, curling his arm under his pillow, clamping his eyes shut, trying desperately to think of something, anything, other than the girl that had been residing in his thoughts all afternoon. Her smile flashed through his head, her laughter rang in his ears, and for just a moment the smell of vanilla and cinnamon overpowered the constant stench of camembert that permeated every corner of his room. Something between a groan and a whimper escaped his throat as he jammed his other pillow over his head in a futile attempt to block out the imaginary stimulus.
He would never be able to look at Marinette the same way again.