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She unzips the side of the dress more aggressively than she should. Irritation is laced with all of her movements as she steps out of said dress and dumps it on the ever-growing pile of fabric accumulating on her desk chair, then she crouches with a sigh.
Folded in on herself on the floor of her bedroom, Marinette groans in frustration, attempting to blink away the tears that are trying to escape from the corners of her eyes, which is ultimately futile.
The hatch leading up into her room opens, Alya popping up with a glass of soda in each hand. She frowns in concern at her best friend’s antics and silently frees her hands by setting the glasses on the desk. After closing the hatch, she plops herself down next to Marinette.
“What seems to be the problem, bestie?”
“The same problem that was happening five minutes ago,” Marinette whines. “Nothing is good enough. I’m going to look so stupid.”
“Nonsense,” Alya says. “And even if you’d look stupid – which you won’t – Adrien is still Adrien. He’ll love whatever you’re wearing anyway.”
“I’m not too sure about that, Al,” Marinette says with a sniffle, the tears having now released despite her attempts at repressing her emotions. Stupid cat. “I don’t think he even wants to go out tonight.”
“What are you talking about, girl? Last time I checked, the man is head over heels for you. I doubt that’s changed.”
“Well…”
“You’re just being self-conscious, M. That’s fine, but you shouldn’t let it ruin your date. Now, let’s pick out something super cute and blow Mr. Noir’s mind, okay?” With a rub on Marinette’s shoulder, waiting for her to nod her head in agreement, Alya gets up from her spot on the floor and starts digging through the clothes closet once again. “Did you decide on a color yet? I was thinking red so you can have that Ladybug vibe, just to tease him, you know?”
Marinette chuckles at that when she gets up as well, cleaning her cheeks from tears with her hands. “I don’t have a lot of red, and I don’t think it suits me that well.”
Alya’s expression turns deadpan. “About 50.000 people liking the recent picture of you on the Ladyblog tend to disagree.”
“That’s different,” she returns with a wave of her hand. “Marinette doesn’t have that aura Ladybug has.”
“Aura, you say,” Alya snickers. “And you do realize you’re talking in third person, right?”
Marinette rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
She lets Alya do her thing, rummaging through pieces of clothing and holding it in front of her, only to shake her head and put it down again in order to continue on with the next one. Frankly, she’s tired and wants to take a break, so she does that by letting her mind wander for a bit while scrolling through notifications on her phone.
She still has to do her hair and makeup as well as her nails. Should she do her toenails, too? She’s not sure if she wants to wear sandals, or if she should keep it slightly casual by opting for boots or maybe even sneakers. Would Adrien have a preference? What is he wearing? Is he going for formal or casual? Should they match?
Don’t panic. It’s going to be totally fine, a voice inside her head says, eerily sounding like Tikki.
The voice is right though. It’s Adrien, what’s the worst that can happen? An Akuma appearing? It would suck, but they can manage.
Perhaps he won’t show up. Or he actually will show up and won’t have a good time. Because he has made it more than obvious that he doesn’t feel like that anymore about you.
That will be terrible, but it’s not the worst scenario she can think of.
He’ll be nice to you the entire night, all polite smiles and careful words of affection until he brings you home and he’ll admit that it was a nice evening, but that they should leave it at that.
It would genuinely be her worst nightmare come true.
Not counting Chat Blanc that is, but she definitely doesn’t want to think about Adrien like that for the rest of her life.
She’d rather want for him to just be blunt and direct with her, then she at least can cry her eyes out for as long as she likes until she can manage to move on with her life.
But Adrien is nice. Too nice. And it makes her anxiety skyrocket because she doesn’t know what to expect.
Marinette also doesn’t want to make him think that he is obligated to go out with her just because she got the courage to ask him. Adrien has a hard time saying no, but she at least hopes that he can say no to her. It’s not impossible, as he has been cross with her as Ladybug on more than one occasion.
That was before he knew who she was though.
Before they accidentally revealed themselves to one another, Ladybug and Chat Noir weren’t on the best terms, so she wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still bitter about some things but doesn’t want to mention them. But they’re a duo and – especially now that they know about each other’s identities – they should have everything out in the open. No more secrets.
You haven’t exactly been treating him like your partner though, have you?
She shakes the thought out of her mind. That’s something to unpack gradually, not tonight. It’s true that she has more responsibility now that she is the Guardian, and Adrien should respect that as well, but indeed she should have had a good discussion with him beforehand until she decided to do things on her own.
It took a lot of smacking and yelling from Alya to realize that she isn’t as alone as she thinks she is, and that not including Chat Noir is a big mistake on her part.
Step by step though. It’s been a few weeks now and she has started to divulge more information to him (like Alya being in on the operation as well), but they still have a lot to discuss, which will happen over time.
She just wants tonight to be about the two of them, no matter his intentions with the date.
Her internal debate with her herself has curiously calmed her racing thoughts. In the meantime, Alya seems to have decided on an outfit, nodding appreciatively at the combination she’s made.
“M, I think this is the one.”
Marinette takes a look at what’s laid out in front of her, then smiles. “I think we have a winner.”
She nervously fiddles with the sleeve of her red blazer in search of a distraction.
He’s late. He’s never late. He’s not coming.
“No,” she tells herself. “If he wouldn’t come he would have texted me.”
Then, is he late because he doesn’t care about keeping her waiting?
Marinette tries to calm herself, but her mind runs rampant with terrible confirmations of why Adrien Agreste is definitely, absolutely, entirely not interested in her romantically whatsoever and is just being nice by agreeing to go out with her.
It’s not even low self-esteem talking – she is confident in herself most of the time and a boy is not going to change that – but the lack of affection he has shown Ladybug over the past weeks is all she needs to let doubt take over. It’s no coincidence that it happened after their identities got revealed to one another. What else is she supposed to think?
Her spiraling thoughts are put on hold when she sees a black blip in the distance coming closer to the restaurant. She immediately knows it’s him, of course, but that bright smile that she sees appearing on his face when he spots her is confirmation enough, no one else smiles like him.
She wonders why he is taking the aerial route, though.
And… is that a bouquet?
He hides behind a building a little bit down the street, then Adrien comes jogging towards her a moment later, the flowers she saw before carefully held in his hands to protect them from the wind, most likely preserving them as much as he still can after having dragged them across Paris for quite a while, considering where his house is.
“I’m so sorry,” he says as greeting, being slightly sweaty she can tell. “Father was keeping me and he doesn’t exactly know I’m here now so I had to sneak out. Then I still had to go to the flower shop so…”
Adrien ends with holding the bouquet – of what she can now tell are roses – out to her with a sheepish grin. “For you. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I hope these make up for it.”
She stares at the flowers in front of her with a gasp, gently taking them while keeping her gaze.
He takes his flowers seriously, so he knows the meanings behind them. Which is why she’s confused.
There are multiple colors.
The bouquet consists of yellow, red, pink and peach roses, which she’s aware all have different meanings. The distinction between giving someone a yellow and red rose, for instance, is appreciating them as a friend or convey love and devotion, respectively.
This does not help her at all.
“You like them?”
“Oh! Yes, absolutely, they’re gorgeous, thank you.” She internally applauds herself in victory for not stammering. “Shall we go inside?”
Adrien nods, then opens the door and stands behind it in order to let her go in first. “Mademoiselle.”
With a giggle hidden behind the bouquet, she steps inside and is immediately mesmerized by the atmosphere and the wonderful smell. Adrien insisted that he pick the restaurant, and in return she refused to Google it so she wouldn’t pass out by seeing the prizes, already prepared for what type of eatery he would consider. With the way this restaurant looks, it’s most definitely out of her prize range, and Adrien for sure knows that too, which means that his plan all along was for him to pay for it.
While the gesture is sweet, she’s not entirely happy with him making that decision for her. She feels slightly out of place and uncomfortable. She doesn’t belong in a fancy place such as this.
“Are you okay?” he asks, placing a hand on her shoulder in a concerned manner.
Better be honest, she thinks to herself. “Well, it’s just that… this place feels so expensive, Adrien. I can’t afford this.”
“That’s totally fine,” he assures her with his patented smile. “I don’t mind paying.”
“I expected as much, but you should have asked first. We go here together so I wanted to pay, too.” Marinette feels bad for reprimanding him for just being considerate, but she should be honest with him if she feels uncomfortable.
“I see… I’m sorry, Marinette. I know that you probably couldn’t pay for it, but I can totally miss the money, which is why… wow, that makes me sound like a jerk.” He drags a hand down his face with a groan. “What I mean is, if you don’t like it here, we can go somewhere else, no problem.”
“It’s fine, you made a reservation and everything,” she mumbles, just loud enough for Adrien to hear. “Let’s just sit down.”
“All right,” he says with another smile, but she can see the tension behind it.
Just great.
Once they’re being seated the silence that ensues is painful. Neither of them say a word while they’re looking at their menus, the first ones that they say being aimed at the waiter when ordering.
“So,” he starts, “I didn’t mention it yet, but I like your dress. You look great.”
“Thank you,” she responds with a blush, her right hand fiddling with the plastic wrapped around the flowers that she placed on the right side of her on the dining table, her left hand pointing at his blouse and sweater vest combo. “You look great, too. Aren’t you warm though from the running?”
“I’m fine, nothing this cat can’t handle.” His grin is completely Chat Noir.
She answers by rolling her eyes.
Their chatter picks up after that and it flows comfortably and naturally. It almost feels like one of the picknicks they would have on rooftops from time to time, that is, until she became Guardian.
They should do that again sometime.
She says as much.
“Absolutely,” he says excitedly. “The weather is turning warmer again, so I think it would be nice to do that in, like, three weeks?”
When she takes a bite of her food when it arrives, she can’t help but moan and has to admit that Adrien has great taste in restaurants. Definitely worth the money.
“That good?” he asks with a chuckle, yet he also can’t eat from his own plate without an appreciative hum himself.
“I’m never eating anything else ever again.”
The rest of the evening slowly passes with the world turning darker and darker by the hour. The moon is especially bright tonight though, illuminating the city in a magical glow befitting of the current evening.
It’s nice.
But what does it mean?
His intentions are still unclear. Yes, dinner is wonderful and talking with him is just like old times; comfortable and funny and on the edge of flirtatious… but it also feels too perfect and perhaps slightly stiff on his part, like he gives her what she wants in order to get it over with, thus she is still uncertain of what he wants.
Adrien pays, of course, but does apologize one more time for not taking her opinion into account.
“I just wanted to spoil you. Next time, you pick the place, okay? We can go wherever you want.”
Next time.
He wants a next time?
It’s still quite early, and Adrien admits that his conversation with his father wasn’t only keeping him home longer, but was also not necessarily a nice conversation. He doesn’t feel like returning yet, so he proposes they can go out for a bit on the roofs.
She agrees.
Before leaving, she carefully places the flowers in the corner out of the wind on top of a roof that she will hopefully remember.
Despite the many times she has seen him transform now and the many times they have jumped, fought and ran next to each other with the knowledge of it’s him, it’s really him, it always remains a surreal feeling, knowing that this boy next to her is really more than she could have hoped for.
And he has no idea that she feels that way.
They end up de-transforming behind her house. It’s becoming a bit cold, so they go in and up the stairs, prolonging the time they spend together for as long as they can, but it results in them awkwardly standing in front of the door leading to the apartment.
“Tonight was really nice,” she says to break the silence, holding the ever-frustrating bouquet of flowers with both of her hands to make them stop fidgeting.
“Yeah,” he answers with a nod. “We should do it again soon. Just the two of us.”
“Definitely.”
Just the two of us.
When she’s about to say goodbye and run inside in order to scream all emotions out, Adrien takes a step forward to her and rests a hand on her arm, tilting his head down slightly. “Can I?”
She looks up at him at the gesture, her eyes wide in question. It takes her a second to decipher what he’s asking, then she can feel herself blushing massively.
Nevertheless, she manages to make herself nod.
He leans lower towards her face, his lips parting and his eyes closing. She does the same.
They are more clumsy than she envisioned them to be, but it makes her laugh nonetheless and so does Adrien. It’s awkward and not all like in the movies, but what should she expect? Things have always gone drastically different whenever she wanted to confess to him and even their technically first kiss was while he was under the influence of Dark Cupid, which, for one, he can’t remember and was aggressive and done in haste; their teeth clacking and with no time to think about it.
Of course, at the time, she didn’t even have any intentions behind it except for saving him.
They separate with another giggle, Adrien’s hands taking her by each of her arms while rubbing them, her own still holding on tightly to the bouquet of roses.
“I don’t understand,” Marinette admits after a moment when doubt rises up again, looking down at the flowers in her hands.
He catches on quickly. “Oh! Right, I should have realized that would send mixed messages with no explanation. Is that why you were so tense tonight?” He rubs her arms in comfort once again.
“A little,” she replies. “I just wasn’t sure what you wanted. Things have not been the same for a while now, so I didn’t know where you were standing.”
“Actually, I wasn’t sure where you were standing either, until you asked me out,” he says while rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, the other still holding on to her. “I was pretty excited.”
“Oh.”
Adrien smiles, pulling her closer, then letting her go in order to hold the bouquet, taking out a single red rose and placing the rest of the flowers back in her hands. “I have given you many roses in all the time that I’ve known you. While my feelings changed or were different before I knew who you were, all of them still apply in some way.”
He takes the one red rose and raises it in front her, a blush now evident on his cheeks. “But it will always come back to this. You’re my best friend and the most wonderful partner I could have asked for. I know that things have been kinda weird, but I think we should just talk and go from there. My feelings for you will always remain the same though, my Lady. I love you.”
She blinks away the tears that are forming rapidly and can only nod in response, taking the rose and pressing it against her nose. “I love you too, silly.”
Marinette puts the rose back with the others, then holds the collection of flowers out of the way when she presses herself against his chest while her free arm embraces him, his arms encircling her and holding her tightly in response. She can feel him lowering his lips in her hair.
For now, things are definitely not perfect. There is still confusion and things left undiscussed, but she can tell this is the first step in them moving forward and becoming equals yet again. He’s her partner, best friend, her love.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.