Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng met on a sunny day in Paris. The weather was pleasant, the flowers were fragrant, the park was calm, and Adrien and Marinette were five.

They were barely aware of each other, with Adrien playing on the monkey bars and slides and Marinette drawing in her sketchbook. There weren’t many kids out on that summer morning, and both kids were content that way. But Adrien was a curious child and wondered about the girl with the ribbons and pencils. Why would someone like sitting with a book instead of playing? Eventually, he approached and looked over her shoulder.

“Wow…” He gasped, amazed. She was drawing the playground and benches, as well as the pigeons and squirrels in the trees. The picture was all sharp lines and precise details. Adrien didn't know it was possible to draw so well. “You draw really good!” The girl startled and jumped in surprise, the sketchbook flying across the yard and her pencils scattering. She looked around for him and Adrien laughed. “I’m up here!”

“Why are you in a tree?” the girl’s tone was a little sharp, but her voice was soft. Adrien shrugged his shoulders, careful not to lose his balance.

“I couldn’t see what you were drawing.”

“You could have just asked.”

“Oh.” Adrien blinked. “Okay. I’ll ask next time then.”

Chapter Text

Adrien grinned up at his bedroom ceiling as he listened to his best friend’s atrocious birthday song. She was trying. He knew that she was, but Marinette just couldn’t sing to save her life and it was great. It was exactly what he needed after a day full of frustrating meetings, long clothes fittings, and repetitive endorsement events.

“I would tell you to blow out your candles,” said Marinette when she finished singing, “but I doubt Gabriel was kind enough to actually get you a cake this year. Not that your diet would allow for it, I guess… “Marinette trailed off. “Anyway, you should still make a wish! I don’t think you have to make your birthday wish over a candle… or a cake.”

“I wish nothing goes wrong tomorrow,” said Adrien. “That’s all I want at this point.”

“Well, I mean, you’re fifteen now,” Marinette replied. “You’re old enough to find your soulmate now.”

“Finding my soulmate does sound nice,” Adrien sighed into the phone. “That’s the best part about my birthday.”

“Just imagine! Your hands will touch, your eyes will meet and then… bam! A whole new world, like Aladdin!”

“A whole new woooorld~!” Adrien sang. He closed his eyes, and pictured himself flying on a magic carpet, touching the stars with his life partner’s arms wrapped around his waist. Or better yet, on a date, Adrien holding someone’s hand while they walked barefoot on a beach, the cold water licking their toes while the sun warmed their skin.

“I know you know the whole song,” Marinette giggled after a moment of silence. “I bet you just started daydreaming again, didn’t you?”

“Shut up,”

“I’m not wrong! What? Are you already booking pottery lessons? Oh! No! You’re naming your pet hamster, aren’t you? You two are going to be a disgustingly adorable couple, aren’t you?”

“What about you, Dupain-Cheng?” Adrien retorted. “You’ve already picked out your house and named all three of your children!”

“I tentatively named our children, thank you!” Marinette argued. “My soulmate’s opinion matters very much!”

“As long as they agree with you.”

“My relationship with my future soulmate is not the point of this conversation,” Marinette deflected. “We’re talking about you.”

“But it’s my birthday, and I want to talk about how you have an entire chest full of birthday and anniversary gifts for someone you haven’t even met yet!” Adrien laughed. A large portion of his and Marinette’s relationship was built on them arguing and bickering over little things. They were both idiot romantics and had as much fun calling each other out on their ridiculousness as they did egging each other on. Adrien was definitely not going to point out that he himself had already planned his future wedding, as well as their honeymoon and first five anniversary celebrations.

“Those are all prototypes and mockups!” Marinette’s voice grew squeaky, and Adrien knew she was getting embarrassed. “I can’t just give my soulmate gray artwork and a monotone wardrobe! Besides, I made all of those two years ago. I’ve matured since then.”

“Your soulmate design journal is full again, isn’t it?”

“Hmph,” Marinette huffed. “If you’re just going to call me out like this, I’m going to hang up.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” said Adrien. “Try to be on time, I want to give you your present first thing in the morning.”

“I make no promises,” she replied. “You’re spending the night at my house tomorrow, right? You did promise to be there.”

“Nathalie reminded me and Father yesterday, and I haven’t heard about my schedule changing.”

“It’s your father and Nathalie.”

“I’ll run away if anything changes.”

“I mean, I could always --”

“Be good!”

“You take the fun out of everything.”

“Goodnight, Marinette~!”

The line clicked and Adrien returned to staring at his ceiling, a smile on his face. After ten years, Marinette still had a way of putting a smile on Adrien’s face in a way that no one else did.

Chapter Text

In the ten years Adrien has known Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she has always been late. He was pretty sure that she’ll even manage to be late to her own funeral. It was just one of many of Marinette’s quirks, and Adrien loved her even more for it. Even today of all days, Marinette arrived in class just seconds after the last bell rang, sneaking into the room while Madame Bustier’s back was turned. While it was entertaining, it also meant that they couldn’t exchange anniversary presents until lunch time.

Adrien felt like he could burst with excitement.

Marinette didn’t let Adrien buy her gifts often, which was unfair because if he already had everything he wanted, why shouldn’t he spend the money he earned on his friends? But since Marinette only allowed Adrien to buy her anniversary and Christmas presents, Adrien made sure the presents he bought were absolutely perfect, and he thought the one-year member to his dad’s favorite fabric store would definitely warrant one of Marinette’s loudest screams and tightest hugs. He was determined to win at anniversary presents this year.

“What are you grinning about, Sunshine?” Alya Cesaire nudged Adrien from his thoughts.

“I’m just thinking about the positively fantastic present I bought for our friend-iversary.”

“You two are so cheesy,” Alya rolled her eyes. “A friend-iversary? Get real! When are the two of you gonna start dating?”

“We aren’t like that, Alya.” Adrien repeated for the umpteenth time. It was a debate he and Marinette have been having with their other friends for as long as he’s been in school. He didn’t understand what was so strange about his and Marinette’s relationship, but everyone seemed determined they would start dating before they graduated lycée.

“Right,” said Alya, “and I’m Ladybug.”

“Like Ladybug would use her secret identity to prove a point,” Marinette elbowed her best friend. As she joined them at the table.

“That is my point.”

“No, your point is to embarrass Adrien into agreeing with you,” said Marinette. “Leave us alone.”

“Well, I don’t know…” Alya grinned mischievously. “I don’t exactly need an excuse to try embarrassing Mr. Teen Weekly over there.”

“That’s enough, Alya.” Marinette’s tone allowed no room for arguing. Adrien was thankful; he could feel the tips of his ears burning already. “Anyway, here you go!” Marinette grinned and handed over a wide, flat box. Briefly, their fingertips brushed, and Adrien was caught in a wave of dizziness. He blinked away the black spots dancing across his eyes and shook his head. “Are you okay?” Marinette asked.

“Yeah,” Adrien nodded with his eyes closed. He leaned forward and held his head in his hands, waiting for the feeling to pass. “Just got a bit dizzy is all.”

“You need to drink more water,” Marinette chided. “And eat actual food. Here, I asked Mama to pack extra so I could share. Open that and then eat.” Adrien agreed absently and blinked his eyes open.

The world was in color.

Chapter Text

It was hard for Adrien not to let on that he was seeing color. It was hard for him to believe it. These were the greens, the browns, the blues he had dreamed of and they were… well, quite frankly, they were giving Adrien a headache. Everything was just so different that it was overwhelming. The Adrien’s depth perception felt wrong, and the sudden onset of color felt so bright that Adrien was developing a headache. It was hard to concentrate on his friends during lunch, or his classes after, and he got the impression that Madame Bustier knew. It was embarrassing, and Adrien expected Madame Bustier to call him out or pull him aside at any moment.

Thankfully by the end of the day, Adrien’s eyesight felt more adjusted. Now, he found himself easily distracted by how dazzling color was. Adrien marveled at the sky, his hands lifting above his head to measure how much bigger it seemed from this morning. Then, he noticed that even the skin on his hands and arms held some color, a soft tone that hid beneath something lighter and not-gray, more visible in some places than in others. Hovering above his fingertips was what used to be a white sun, now haloed in something so bright that it stung and left multi-colored spots dancing in his vision. Adrien tried to blink them away, but the colors only followed his line of sight, back down to the pale colors of the buildings surrounding him, no different from how he remembered this morning. However, sitting below their windows were delicate now-colorful flowers inside plain, still-dark boxes. Adrien wanted words to describe what he was seeing, and he had them, he just didn’t know which were the right ones. Was the sun green? Was it red? What about the sky, was that blue or was it purple or pink? The flowers were more varied, the leaves and stems all various tones of the same color while the blooms represented the entire rainbow, whatever that actually looked like. The world had changed so much, and Adrien still felt overwhelmed and a little nauseous, but he loved it. The world was so gorgeous and it was all because of Marinette.

“Are you feeling okay, Adrien?”

Adrien glanced in Marinette’s direction. Her outfit was a pretty combination of light and dark colors. He realized her hair was not black, like he had always seen it, but a much, much darker version of the sky. Her jeans looked like the pretty flowers in the window at the florist’s. Marinette’s favorite jacket was still as dark as Adrien had always seen it, and her shirt was still white, but the patterns on the front were the same color as her jeans. She was, in a way, prettier than Adrien had always believed, but she didn’t stop his heart. Adrien got to experience a whole new world because of Marinette, yet everything he felt for her was exactly the same. He felt guilty and frustrated. Why was it Marinette?

Then, Adrien realized he must look ridiculous, “touching” the sky like a toddler, head swiveling like a fan. It had to be obvious to most adults that Adrien had just discovered color for the first time. He returned his hands to his side and tried to focus on the street in front of him.

“I have a bit of a headache,” Adrien admitted sheepishly. “And maybe a stomach ache too?”

“Is it the same headache you had during class?”

“You noticed that?”

“You literally sit in front of me,” Marinette reminded him. “Was I not supposed to see you rubbing your forehead and laying on your desk?” Adrien didn’t answer; he knew he wasn’t meant to. “Don’t worry. I’ll heat up some soup or something at home to settle your stomach.”

Adrien had never looked at Marinette as anything more than his best friend. Even when he thought about a future where he met his soulmate, Marinette was his best friend and his soulmate was his spouse. Now it seemed like Adrien’s future spouse was Marinette and that made him feel… uneasy. Adrien adored Marinette, but that was in a very she’s-so-sweet-and-hopeless-and-I’m-so-glad-I-met-her kind of way, not a she’s-so-pretty-and-kind-and-I-hope-she-likes-me-back way. Soulmates were meant to spend their lives together and while Adrien wanted Marinette in his life, he didn’t want her as his wife.

“But you know,” Marinette gave Adrien a squinty-eyed look. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you found your soulmate already.” Adrien’s heart leapt into his throat then promptly plunged to his navel. “You’re just reminding me of a neighbor who found theirs last month. They had this glazed look on their face for a week…. Are you sure you don’t have anything to tell me?” Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. Adrien felt for a moment like he swallowed his tongue. He could tell her. He should tell her. Adrien and Marinette didn’t do secrets. But at the same time, Adrien didn’t want their relationship to change. Not yet.

“No,” he told her. “I just don’t feel very well.”

Chapter Text

The apartment above the Dupain-Cheng bakery held an extreme contrast of colors. The walls looked soft, but the furniture was bold, and the space felt smaller than it had before. Adrien frowned to himself. Color seemed to change his perception on things. The sky looked bigger now that it had a color, but the Dupain-Cheng apartment felt smaller. Adrien looked around himself, curious about what else there was to see.

“Geeze, how bad is this headache?” Marinette spoke softly, steering Adrien into the kitchen, “you look disoriented…. Let’s get you something to eat.” Marinette pushed Adrien into a chair.

“Food doesn’t fix everything,” Adrien pointed out. “Maybe I just need rest?”

“Are you turning down Mama and Papa’s food?” asked Marinette. “Are you turning down croissants?”

“No, ma’am, I’ll take five.”

“Had me worried for a moment.” Adrien sat at the kitchen table while Marinette gathered pastries, fruit and cheese onto a plate. She placed it in the middle of the table and sat down across from Adrien. “Are you really just sick? There’s nothing else wrong? You aren’t like, thinking about your dad or your mom or Nathalie or something?”

“Not really, no,” Adrien mentally kicked himself as soon as he spoke. He could have taken the out if he had thought about it! Marinette had handed him an excellent excuse and he didn’t take it! Adrien could talk for days about his problems with his dad or how much he missed his mom or how worried he was about Nathalie, and yet he chose to tell the truth and tell Marinette he wasn’t worried about anything at all. Except…

“I am worried though,” Adrien admitted. “I know I’ll know if I meet my soulmate now, but… well, what if Father doesn’t approve of them? What if you don’t approve of them?”

“Why wouldn’t I approve of your soulmate?” Marinette laughed. “You’re my best friend, I approve of anything that makes you happy. Well, as long as it doesn’t hurt you, and I don’t approve of your dad either, but you love him so I can’t exactly do anything about that, but everything else, I’ll support happily!” Adrien snorted at that.

“Yeah, I know,” Adrien said, “but I’m still worried.”

“You’re being weird,” said Marinette. “It isn’t like you to be worried about things you can’t control. If your dad disapproves of your soulmate -- and he disapproves of a lot of things -- there isn’t anything he can do about it, because your soulmate is yours and if you want to claim them that’s for you to decide. And if I disapprove of your soulmate, then it’s up to you to smack some sense into me. I just want you to be happy, Adrien.” Adrien’s stomach sank.

“What if… I don’t approve of my soulmate? What if I don’t want them?”

Marinette blinked. Adrien watched her face morph through expressions, from surprised to confused to worried and back to confused.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Just… what if it turned out that my soulmate was someone I already know… and I just… don’t want them to be? If they’re someone I haven’t gotten along with or someone I just… don’t want to have that connection with? What do I do then?”

“I think you’re worrying too much,” Marinette said decisively. “I think you’re trying to steal my job, and I haven’t even thought of things like that. If you have a soulmate you don’t want -- and I highly doubt that would ever happen -- I think you should talk to them first. Figure out why fate decided you belonged together. Maybe you match better than you think you do. And if you don’t… well, nothing says you have to marry your soulmate, right?”

“Right.”

“It just… there are people who don’t find their soulmates. You can maybe marry someone like that.”

“Yeah... maybe.”

Chapter Text

Mama and Papa said we can cook dinner tonight,” Marinette abruptly changed the subject. “Did you still want to help, or do you want to lay down in my room?”

“I’ll help,” Adrien said. Despite the weight on his chest, he didn't want to spoil their time together. He knew he was making things worse than they actually were. He'll get over himself eventually. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind. I feel bad, but I’ll probably be okay. What are we cooking?”

“I was thinking cheddar and broccoli soup?”

“That sounds fine,” Adrien agreed. “Just tell me what you need me to do.” With an assortment of vegetable and other ingredients set before them, Adrien and Marinette began to work. Chop the onions, cut the broccoli, graze the carrots. Sautee, boil, add flour, simmer. Adrien wasn’t great at cooking on a regular day, but this day saw him thoroughly distracted by the mundane-turned-amazing. Cheese blocks and broccoli had once been similar shades of shadow, but they were now two vastly different colors. Flour was still the palest thing Adrien had ever seen, but the texture seemed more distinct mixing in with sunny, liquid butter and striped, transparent onions -- speaking of which changed colors when they cooked! Was it really his fault that he paid more attention to the magic happening around him than if his measuring up was overflowing?

“You are being so weird today,” Marinette laughed. The broccoli floating in the creamy soup had Adrien mesmerized. He stood at the stove, poking at it with the spoon, curious about what other things he might find. The spoon left pretty, dark trails in its wake.

“I’m weird everyday,” Adrien countered.

“Hmm… you got a good point there,” said Marinette. “Stop poking the soup and help me clean your mess.”

This was a regular routine for the two of them, especially on anniversary days. Traditionally, Adrien would go spend the night, or even the whole weekend, at Marinette’s house. They would cook dinner or breakfast or dessert together, watch movies, and have game tournaments. By the end of the night, they would find themselves daydreaming about finding their soulmates and planning their futures. The two of them had careers mapped out, universities picked, and admission essay topics outlined; they had wedding venues shortlisted, vacations pre-priced and accounted for inflation, and even houses and schools picked. And if Adrien thought about it, they picked it all together, planned it all with their friendship in mind. Adrien and Marinette were inseparable; would it really be so strange for them to just… take the next step? Would the next step in their relationship be dating? Everyone says they should… Maybe it really was logical? Adrien and Marinette were soulmates, it couldn't be a bad idea.

Something in Adrien’s heart ached. No, dating Marinette wasn’t a bad idea, but it still wasn’t what he wanted.

Chapter Text

After a boisterous dinner and a few short hours of playing Overcooked with Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, Adrien and Marinette retreated to the loft. They built a blanket fort around Marinette’s bed -- more like a blanket teepee or tent -- and collected every spare pillow in the house. Marinette encircled them with a few sets of fairy lights and pinned the blankets so they could feel the cool air coming in from the window and look out into the cloudy night sky. These lights too reminded Adrien of the sun, but a softer, kinder version. The atmosphere felt friendly, but also… strangely intimate. It was a comfort, but also tied his stomach into knots as he lay beside his best friend and tried not to flinch every time she touched him. Adrien guessed he’d done a good enough job as Marinette hadn’t fussed at him yet.

“One day, I want to look up and see actual stars,” Marinette whispered wistfully. Adrien smiled despite his discomfort.

“You always say that.”

“I always mean it.”

“A princess like you won’t survive in the wilderness long enough to see the stars,” Adrien teased. The words came easily enough, but his heart felt like it was beating in his throat. It was a struggle to maintain a light tone.

“Please, like a blond ponce like you will do much better?”

“Absolutely not,” said Adrien. “I’m the one being realistic here.”

“Realistically,” -- Marinette kicked his feet off the headboard, nearly knocking him off the bed in the process -- “you’re supposed to support my hopes and dreams.”

“I support you one hundred percent,” Adrien laughed and righted himself. “But as your best friend, I should also keep you grounded… pun intended.” Adrien shoved her back, and just for a moment, he felt more like himself. It was easy to be with Marinette. There was never any pressure to be Adrien Agreste, teen heartthrob, to maintain an image or expectations. Marinette didn’t have any expectations.

It was just the universe that did.

“Yeah, yeah, supportive friend of the year award,” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“I deserve it,” Adrien agreed.

“Maybe I should look into houses in the country?” She said, changing the subject. “I’ve only looked in Paris. Maybe a countryside home would be good instead? Then I can see the stars every night.”

“Marinette, you’ll probably be successful enough that you can have a house in both Paris and the countryside if you want,” said Adrien. “You can probably own homes in Milan, New York, and London too.

“That’s a little excessive, don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” Adrien shrugged. “But if you own houses around the world, you won’t have to pay for hotels when you go overseas.”

“I’m planning on being successful enough that it won’t matter.”

“Then why not just buy a house?”

“I’ll think about it,” said Marinette. “But what do you think? Fontainebleau? Barbizon? Those towns would be kind of picturesque.”

“I’m thinking the middle of nowhere,” Adrien mused. “A small house -- a cottage -- surrounded by fields or trees. It would be peaceful. Quiet. Neighbors would be a mile away in any direction.”

“Really?” Adrien could hear Marinette considering it.

“That’s the sort of house I would want,” It was never anything Adrien considered, but if Marinette wanted a house in the countryside, Adrien could at least consider it, right? And it wasn’t a bad idea… He had been partial to maybe a penthouse of some sort, or just downsizing into a smaller apartment altogether. A country home was a big difference, but it was also a nice thought. Not exactly what Adrien had imagined for himself, but it was appealing. “The kids would have a lot of room to play outside.”

“It’s a good idea, right?” Marinette cheered. “I might rewrite my list. I don’t really want to go too far out of Paris, but the stars.”

“You can always take the train into the city, Marinette,” Adrien turned over, playfully pulling on one of her pigtails. “That’s why it’s there.” He was smacked for his trouble.

Chapter Text

“Speaking of ‘being there,’” Marinette curled on her side to face Adrien. “You’d tell me if something’s bothering you, right? I know I’ve been asking all day, but…. I’ve known you longer than anyone else. I know when something’s wrong and I know when you’re lying to me. So if something is on your mind -- I know it’s not your soulmate, so don’t try that again -- don’t hide it from me, okay?”

Up close, Marinette’s eyes were just as pretty as the rest of her face. Even shadowed, they looked like the sky, and felt just as comforting. They made Adrien feel safe. Adrien always felt safe with Marinette, from that very first day in the park until now, ten years later. He took another moment to digest her words. Adrien couldn't keep seeing color a secret for half a year, but he could try. Adrien was very good about trying things he knew he would fail at. It was only Marinette he would be keeping the secret from… his stomach hadn’t stopped roiling from keeping the secret for a few hours, there was no way Adrien would last all the way until her birthday.

“I am worried about my soulmate,” Adrien admitted. He rolled back onto his back. It was easier to look away from Marinette. Instead he admired the soft lights surrounding them and the deep color of the sky through the window. “I… actually found my soulmate today.”

“You did what?” Marinette shot up, almost punching Adrien in the stomach in the process. “How could you not tell me? Adrien Agreste, that's insane! What was is it like? Oh my gosh, no wonder you’ve been staring at everything like you don’t know what it is! You have to go with me to pick out fabrics now, you even got me a membership to that fancy fabric store, we can totally start there and -- you have to tell me, who --!” Marinette cut herself off with a gasp and Adrien could practically hear the gears turning in her brain. He knew the moment Marinette realized what he wasn’t telling her. “Adrien… who is your soulmate? We’ve been together all day, I… You should have told me by now. We were so excited yesterday…. What happened?”

“Marinette,’ Adrien answered vaguely.

“What?”

“You asked me who my soulmate is. Her name is Marinette.”

“My name is Marinette.”

“Yeah, it is.” Adrien decided he wanted to see her reaction. They stared at each other for a long, silent moment.

“When?”

“When you gave me my friendiversary present,” Adrien answered, “your hand touched mine.”

“You got dizzy. I thought it was just because of your diet. Your portions get limited and you forget to actually drink water sometimes… I thought…”

“You I was being me, I know. So did I… but then it wasn’t.”

“And you didn’t tell me!”

“I know.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Adrien didn’t speak, unsure how to answer her question. “Adrien… why didn’t you tell me I’m your soulmate? Aren’t I -- ? Are you disappointed? Did you want it to be someone else?”

“Honestly?” Adrien whispered. “Yes.” Suddenly, it felt like there was a large and heavy stone sitting in the pit of Adrien’s stomach. He regretted his words as soon as he said them.

“Well I’m sorry I’m not good enough for you,” Marinette spat her words, suddenly very angry and Adrien threw himself forward to explain properly.

“That’s not what I meant!” he said urgently, reaching for Marinette before she left the fort. “I’m not disappointed! I’m… I’m… I’m confused! Why is it you? You’re my best friend and I love you, but I don’t want to marry you! I don’t want to kiss you! I don’t want to have kids with you or date you or anything like that! I just… I just want to build blanket forts and daydream and play videogames and tease each other about how ridiculously romantic we are… Marinette, the idea of you being my soulmate scares me because I never saw you that way. Why is it you?” Adrien didn’t mean to say the last sentence out loud, but it happened anyway.

“Adrien…” Marinette said carefully. “You do know soulmates don’t have to be lovers, right?”

“I… they… don’t?”

“No, they don’t.”

“Oh.”

Chapter Text

Adrien felt Marinette’s fist before he saw it coming. A lovely, solid bit of weight connected with his shoulder and Adrien very nearly fell off the bed and onto the ground several meters below. He blinked at his best friend in confusion.

“Oh?” she nearly screeched. “Oh?! He keeps a secret as important as his soulmate for half a day, and nearly breaks my heart because he’s so stupid, and all he can say is oh?!”

“In my defense, you’ve known I’m stupid literally since the day we met.”

“Ugh,” Marinette sighed. “It’s sad because you aren’t even stupid, you just overcomplicate simple things.” She sat back on her heels and fixed Adrien with one of her no-nonsense expressions. “Why did you think we had to get married?”

“Well…” Adrien trailed off, feeling embarrassed. “My mom and dad were soulmates, and your parents, and Nino’s… and in books too. It seems like all soulmate pairs fall in love and live happily ever after. Plus, all of our friends keep insisting we should date. It was easy to ignore before, but after this morning… I started thinking they were right.”

“But you didn’t think they were right,” Marinette rolled her eyes. “You were trying to talk yourself into dating me all afternoon, weren’t you? When you weren’t fascinated with colors?”

“Yeah,” said Adrien. “I was.”

“And how did that work out for you?”

“It didn’t.” Adrien finally picked himself from his awkward position hanging off the bed to throw himself back down beside Marinette. “It felt weird. I wanted to be happy it was you, but instead I kept thinking about how much I didn’t want to kiss you or date you or anything. It felt… my skin crawled.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Okay, what about you? Do you want to date me?”

“Ew, no, thanks,”

“Exactly!” said Adrien. “Also, you didn’t have to agree so quickly.”

“Sorry, it was a reflex.”

“So it’s a reflex to hurt my feelings?”

“I’m sorry, who started this?” Adrien chose to not reply. He might have the best grades in their math class, but Marinette could out-logic almost anyone.

“So, I kind of screwed up.”

“Just a little bit.”

“And you’re still my best friend?”

“Absolutely forever now.”

“And I don’t have to marry you?”

“Not unless you want to. I prefer you didn’t though,”

“Not even for the tax benefits?”

“We’ll talk in ten years.”