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She had put it off long enough. She hadn’t been able to maintain any other relationship because she was always holding out hope that Adrien would finally see her as more than a friend. Sometimes it felt completely obvious that he did. He would look at her like she was his entire world. She felt like she could do anything but that never proved true.
Her abilities always froze before she was able to form the words to tell him how she felt about him. She would get lost in his eyes as he smiled. He looked right at her. She glanced down at his mouth but every time he would pull her into a hug and tell her what a great friend she was.
This would end today.
No matter what happened, she would march right up to him and tell him that she was in love with him. She was laser focused. She was jostled through the crowd. She momentarily lost track of what she was doing, trying to figure out what the crowd was. They were talking and laughing. Tourists. Americans, judging by the English and the accents. She was bumped a couple times but Alya pulled her through the crowd and she could see Nino across the plaza with Adrien. They were in the right spot under the blossoming trees.
---
Damian had a sour look on his face while Steph pulled him along. He couldn’t believe she was actually making him do this. They got a few weird looks from some of the Parisian locals. He was grateful that Steph had at least allowed it to be away from most of the big tourist spots. This whole plan was too absurd. He was fairly certain that Dick had intervened to try to keep the bet out of the press, not so much the bet as the punishment.
She had to have cheated.
He looked over as the crowd cheered. Cass had appeared near them and upon seeing Steph with the sign pulled the blond to her in a kiss. They must have thought it was a reaction to the sign that he would be holding, hopefully until the time limit ran out. When the 2 girls pulled away, Steph had a goofy grin on her face. Cass was smiling back at her but pulled the sign away and handed it to Damian.
“Do wipe that ridiculous look off your face and start the timer,” he said. “I refuse to do this any longer than is necessary and your ability to follow the rules is already in question.”
“Chill out. I won fair and square. You are just a sore loser.”
He clicked his tongue against his teeth and watched until she started the timer before he held up the sign.
People were walking by and pointing at him. He could hear them talking. Every once and a while someone would translate it into French for others. So far they just laughed themselves silly at his expense.
---
Marinette smiled as she approached them. They sat on the bench, as she and Alya had told Nino to do. That would put the blossoming trees right behind her as she sat in front of Adrien. Nino jumped up and said he had to go see Alya and rushed off to where she was watching. Adrien smiled as she sat next to him. He was expecting Nino to be right back but Marinette was hoping they would leave together for their first date.
“What is new with you, Marinette?” he asked.
He was still smiling. She had to remember her words even when he smiled. She took a deep breath but bit her lip as she tried to decide how to respond. He was always so patient with her after years of slow responses from her. She nearly lunged forward as she reached out for his hand.
“There is nothing new with me. But there is something I have needed to talk to you about for a long time.”
He held her hand and then closed his other hand over top of it. She closed her eyes at the feel of it.
“I hope you know you can talk to me about anything. You don’t ever have to hold back. You won’t hurt my feelings because your opinion matters to me.”
“This is about my feelings,” she was looking down at their hands when she started but then looked back up at him as she continued. “But I hope that it matches your feelings too.”
He turned his head slightly in confusion. He opened his mouth but before he responded she put a single finger up to his lips. They were soft and she could feel his breath.
“Please wait,” she said. His lips pressed together and she let her finger slide down to his chin. “Adrien, we have been friends for a long time but I’m not happy this way.”
Hurt filled his eyes but before he spoke she pushed her finger back to his lips to stop the words.
“That came out wrong. I love being your friend. I hope we will always be friends but I want to be more.”
His hand reached up and closed it around hers, pulling it away from his mouth.
“Marinette–”
“Let me finish,” she said. “I have spent so long trying to say the words.”
His eyes held compassion and regret but she had to continue on. If he stopped her she could convince herself that there was still a possibility even though she could see in his eyes that he didn’t see any possibility.
“I love you. I have loved you since you gave me your umbrella in the rain.” She took another breath but continued on before he could interrupt. “Maybe it started as a crush. We were young and the idea of love was so enticing. But at this point it has been years and I still cherish every moment with you. We have grown and so have my feelings, so I can’t let my fear of changing things stop me from telling you.”
She finished talking and whatever he had wanted to interrupt her with was lost. He was sitting in stunned silence and she just waited. The mortification she had shoved back in order to get herself to finally tell him washed over her in an instant.
She pushed up off the bench and turned to run away. He pulled her back to face him but his eyes were still filled with regret. She didn’t know if she was going to cry or find a place to throw up. But she definitely needed to escape.
“You are an amazing person, Marinette. You are so beautiful and kind. You are such a great friend and that is how I love you.”
She had planned for how she would take the news if he didn’t feel the same. But those plans didn’t involve how she would actually feel, watching one of her best friends feel a mixture of helplessness and pity. She tore her hands away from him and ran.
—
Damian only had to make it an hour with this sign but Steph was making sure he was a spectacle by laughing loudly at the reactions. She kept hollering at him to turn and face every person or group approached where he was standing.
“Is this almost finished? I can help you read the clock if you have forgotten how.”
“Very soon. Less than a minute. The timer will beep and then you may stop.”
He glared at her as he turned back. There was only one person in view and she didn’t appear to be paying attention. He was more worried that she wouldn’t look up and would walk right into him. Instead, she seemed to see his feet or his shadow and then looked up and stumbled slightly to move around him.
—
She was pretty sure Alya and Nino were following as well as Adrien but she had moved quickly and they weren’t chasing her down. She kept her eyes down and avoided interacting with anyone. She didn't even know where she was headed, she just needed to get away. She looked up quickly when she saw a shadow move. She adjusted to avoid walking into someone on the sidewalk. That seemed more his fault as he was just standing there.
When she stopped to walk around him she paused to read his sign, feeling bad that he likely had something going on that would have him standing out here with a sign. She took a second to read it. It was in English so she went slow. It had to be wrong. There was no way that he would stand there with a sign that said, “Kiss me; I’m desperate.”
She read it again and she suddenly felt the same. She was going to just walk past but then she could hear the footsteps of her friends racing up behind her. Worried about her emotional state after she had just been turned down. She had held herself back from feeling anything for so long and for what. She turned back to the man and pulled him to her by his lapels. He clearly hadn’t been expecting anyone to respond to his sign. She kissed him as she had hoped to kiss Adrien after her confession. The stranger was shocked and responded slowly. She relaxed her hold so he could pull away when he wished but instead he moved a hand to the side of her face and kissed her back.
Her friends were watching, shocked as the two of them stepped apart. The woman, she assumed was with him, was bent over laughing. Her phone was beeping but she couldn’t stop laughing long enough to get it to shut off. Marinette couldn’t seem to care. It definitely wasn’t the most embarrassing thing to happen to her today.
“Nice sign,” she said to the man before she turned and headed home.
She was almost certain that Alya would be there as soon as she could wrap her head around what had just happened.