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“Oh my God, Alya, keep those eggs away from me!”
Adrien was discovering that having lunch at school was a lot more entertaining than he would have expected.
“Marinette, they are plain boiled eggs. What is wrong with them?”
“They stink, alright?” Marinette replied, her voice distorted because she was holding her nose with two fingers.
“Eggs don’t stink, do they?” Nino asked, confused.
“I just hate eggs!” Marinette groaned.
“Marinette, do you want us to move to another table?” Adrien offered, hoping to diffuse the tension. Marinette looked at him in surprise.
“Um, that’s… Oof! "She’d forgotten about her nose, apparently, so she made a face. But then smiled widely and turned her back to Alya. “Great, yes.”
“So eggs?” He asked when they settled down.
“It must have been something that happened when I was a child, but my mum refuses to tell me. I just know the smell makes me sick.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. It happens. For some unknown reason people just love boiled eggs,” she sighed with a grimace.
“You’re safe with me, absolutely no eggs in sight,” he assured her as he took his bran muffin out of his brand new lunch box. Yay for healthy eating!
Marinette gave him a shy smile, her cheeks tinged bright pink, and for some reason his brain decided to catalogue this very valuable insight into her preferences. Along with the way she acted around him. Because for the rest of lunch, they talked at length and she seemed to be enjoying his company. And all this made a plan form in his mind.
*
“I’m telling you, having sweets for dinner is totally fine,” Ladybug explained, a macaron in hand. “Besides, after the day I had, I deserve it.”
Adrien tried to open the salad container as noiselessly as possible, making it seem like he was doing nothing strange. And then he waited. It didn’t take long.
“No way!” She practically leapt out of her seat, crumbs flying as she looked at him as if he’d betrayed her to their enemy.
“What is the problem, m’lady? You have something against my egg salad?” He asked innocently.
“You’re not eating that, right?” She looked at the offending salad in his hands.
“Why else would I bring it with me?” It was not like he had a plan to try to get confirmation that yes, indeed his lady was Marinette, disregarding all the evidence to the contrary. Nothing like that.
“Ugh, fine, but I’ll have to go to the other end of the rooftop,” she huffed.
“What is wrong?”
“It stinks,” she said, holding her nose with two fingers.
This was the final straw. She looked just as indignant as she’d been earlier in the day and Adrien couldn't hold it in this time. He guffawed, while trying to set the container of salad aside and close it.
“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he managed to say eventually as he noticed her looking offended at him.
“It’s not funny, I just hate eggs… wait, what did you call me?” She asked, eyes widening.
“Marinette,” he smiled serenely. It was really her!
“But how…?”
“The eggs were a bit of a giveaway after today,” he chuckled. “You made it clear at lunch…”
“After today? Lunch? No!” She gasped. "Adrien?" She added in a whisper.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have set this as a trap,” he apologised.
“You did this on purpose?” She looked even more shocked now.
“Well, I kind of suspected and knowing something you hate so much… it was tempting,” he replied, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.
“Oof,” she groaned, plopping down on the rooftop next to him. “Revealed by egg salad.”
“I’m not actually going to eat it, if it’s any consolation,” he said.
“You’re going hungry?” She asked, obviously finally able to focus on something other than eggs. And who her partner was.
“I’m hoping you would give me some macarons,” he smiled hopefully.
“Ha! After this trick?”
“I thought you would be happy,” he noted, feeling suspicion creep in for the first time. Maybe he’d been too optimistic. “You were pretty happy to have lunch with me today.”
“Um, I - punch, lunch, oh dear…” She groaned into her hands.
“Are you okay?”
“Can you just ignore everything I tell you from now on?”
“It’s just me.”
“It’s just you, my crush.”
Oh. So he’d been right. There was something more.
“Is that a bad thing?” He still asked.
“I am a mess around you.”
“Well, maybe sometimes. But you’re Ladybug. And Marinette. You’re awesome either way.”
Her face transformed, her eyes softening.
“I want to kiss you but you kind of don’t deserve it,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“What can I do to deserve it?” He looked at her pleadingly.
“Stop being so cute, oh God..” She looked like she was fighting with herself, not being able to decide what to do.
“I… can’t?” he laughed awkwardly.
After another internal battle, with a determined look on her face, she leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose.
“See? I can’t even kiss you properly!” She cried out, her face red.
“Shh, it’s ok. Let’s try again.”
He lifted a hand to her cheek. It was trembling because all this was unreal. It was finally happening.
“Maybe you sh-should..” She stammered. “Do it,” she finished in a small voice.
He smiled, trying to keep his own nervousness under control. He could do it.
“You know, I’m nervous as well,” he said as he traced her bottom lip with his thumb, careful with the claw.
“You are? I don’t believe it. You’re usually so confident and.. You.”
“But I’ve waited for this moment for too long. I don’t want to ruin it,” he admitted.
“Just do it,” she pleaded. This did it. The need in her voice had him leaning in no time.
Their lips met and it was instantly clear that it had been worth the wait. He’d dreamed so many times of kissing her, of remembering the moments that were sadly lost to him. But this was better. It was them finally open with each other, no secrets between them. She loved him just like he loved her and together they could overcome the awkwardness and nervousness.
She tasted of sugar and smelled of vanilla and he decided that he didn’t actually need to eat anything. Her kisses could sustain him just fine.
“I’m so happy you didn’t eat the salad,” she sighed when he pulled back, her eyes shining. “I wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise.”
“No eggs, noted. I can go without eggs, but not without kissing you,” he declared.
“Good,” she grinned.
Besides, eggs had already played their role. They had led him to his lady.