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When Marinette was asked to drop by her daughter’s school for a meeting with her science teacher, she was admittedly a little nervous. What if Tina wasn’t adjusting to her new teachers as well as Marinette thought? What if she was causing trouble, or acting like a bully? Becoming a mother seemed to have given Marinette a wealth of new things to worry about…
Fortunately, when she went to the meeting, M. Agreste had nothing but positive things to say. “Tina’s a very creative child. She has many good questions and often comes up with new ways to do experiments on her own; that’s very advanced for her age,” M. Agreste said. “I think, with some additional tutoring, she could do very well in science. She might be able to enter the advanced track once she hits collège.”
“That’s a relief… I was worried something terrible had happened.”
Agreste smiled a sunbeam smile that Marinette was sure made women swoon. Even those kinds of smiles never worked on her, though. “Trust me, Mme. Dupain-Cheng, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your daughter. In fact… I would like to thank you for raising such an empathetic little girl.”
“Hmm?”
Agreste chuckled. “Not to get too personal, but my son, Paul, attends this school.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “He’s had a hard time making friends, but Tina always makes sure to include him. I’m very thankful.”
“That’s Tina for you,” Marinette said, with a smile. “Always a social butterfly.”
“Does she take after her mother?” M. Agreste asked.
Marinette shrugged. “I try my best, but I think it comes more naturally to Tina.”
“Fair enough,” M. Agreste said. “Actually… would you and your daughter like to come to my place later this week? Paul has been asking for an… ahem, playdate.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun!” Marinette gasped. “I’d love to! I’ll ask Tina tonight if she’s interested!”
“Wonderful! Alright, I won’t keep you any longer, Mme. Dupain-Cheng. Thank you for coming to see me. I apologize if I took time out of your work or anything.”
The two exchanged goodbyes, and Marinette left the school with a spring in her step.
When Marinette asked if Tina wanted to go for a playdate at Paul’s house, her face lit up. “Paul wants me to come over? Really?”
“He asked for you specifically,” Marinette added sweetly.
Tina squealed with excitement. “That’s brilliant! Oh, I’m so happy! Paul’s really sweet, you know? He just acts grumpy sometimes.”
“I didn’t know that,” Marinette remarked. “His dad seems very friendly.”
“M. Agreste says it's because Paul gets overwhelmed,” Tina explained. “Kinda like me? I think that’s why we’re such good friends!”
Marinette smiled, going to ruffle Tina’s hair. “That’s good to hear, sweetheart. I’ll message M. Agreste and tell him you’d like to come over.”
“Yes, please!”
As Marinette watched Tina and Paul play video-games together, cuddled up on the couch, she was reminded of Socqueline, and how they used to spend every day together during the summer. She’d actually had a pretty huge crush on Socqueline, but it never really went anywhere, and they stopped spending as much time together when they hit collége and went to different schools.
When she had that thought, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Tina was about the age where kids sometimes started developing crushes, so it wouldn’t be too surprising. It wouldn’t surprise her if Tina had a crush on Paul, since they were very close.
When M. Agreste stuck his head around, asking if Marinette could help him bring in some snacks for the kids, Marinette jumped at the chance. “So… Tina and Paul seem very close,” she remarked, grabbing a bowl from the counter.
Agreste smiled. “They are. I’m very thankful that Paul’s found someone special…”
“Do you think they might like each other? Romantically?” Marinette asked.
Agreste paused. “Hm… there’s a chance, but I don’t want to push. My father pushed me into an engagement when I wasn’t ready for it, and it hurt my relationship with my ex-fiancée quite severely.”
“Oh… that’s really unfortunate.”
Agreste hastened to add, “We’re close now, though. All of that’s in the past!”
“I’d like to encourage them to spend time with each other, whether or not there’s anything romantic there,” Marinette said, nodding along. “It’s been a while since Tina’s been this close with someone her age, M. Agreste.”
“Agreed,” M. Agreste said. “If we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other, you should call me Adrien. It’s less of a mouthful.”
“Adrien, hmm?” Marinette said. “Call me Marinette, then.”
Adrien smiled. “Will do.”
A few months and much more time spent with the Dupain-Chengs later, when Adrien and Paul were eating dinner together, Paul spoke up. “Dad? How do people know if they’re… in love?”
Adrien hesitated, his forkful of lasagna halfway to his mouth. “Why do you want to know?”
“I just, umm… me and Tina watched a movie the other day, and it was, you know, about love, and… I dunno, I was thinking about it, I guess?”
“Is that so?” Adrien put on a serene smile. “I’m sure it had absolutely nothing to do with Tina being there…”
Paul’s face went bright red. “Maybe a little bit…”
“There’s nothing wrong with having a crush at your age,” Adrien said. “It’s all very normal.”
“Dadddddddd, don’t make it weird!” Paul grumbled. “Seriously, just tell me how I can know?”
“Afraid I can’t answer that one for you, kiddo. Love feels different for everyone. All that matters is how you feel about Tina.”
Still blushing, Paul mumbled, “I really, really like her, Dad. Whenever I’m with her, I get this weird feeling in my tummy, like butterflies? And I feel like I’m gonna barf, but in a good way? Arghhhh, it’s so weird!”
“I’m not going to tell you how to feel, but that sounds like a crush to me,” Adrien said. “How does that make you feel?”
“Scared but also… excited? I think? I wanna talk to her. Soon.”
Adrien reached out a hand, placing it onto Paul’s. “I’ll ask Mme. Dupain-Cheng if you and Tina can spend some time together this weekend.”
“Thanks, dad!”
“Mom, can I ask you something?” Tina asked.
Marinette looked up from her phone, where she had been texting Alya. Her best friend had somehow convinced herself that Marinette had a crush on Adrien, since she was spending so much time at his house. No matter what Marinette said, she couldn’t convince her otherwise.
“Of course, sweetheart. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Um… would you be mad if I asked Paul on a date?”
Marinette lit up before she could stop herself. “Oh? What a surprise!”
Tina rolled her eyes. “Mom, you’re not fooling me. I know you knew.”
Marinette chuckled. “I should have known I could never fool you, sweetheart.”
“So… is that a yes?” Tina said.
“Of course.”
When Paul and Tina found out they both had crushes on each other, there was a lot of giggling, followed by them shooting each other a look, and then more giggling. The pair talked for a long time before deciding what they wanted to do for their first proper date.
They had both insisted on going to a cafe for their first date. As Paul approached the counter, standing on the tips of his toes so he could pay for some hot chocolate and cheesecake for him and Tina to share, Marinette and Adrien shared a slice of cake and some coffee, watching fondly.
Granted, Tina and Paul didn’t know they were there, but that wasn’t important.
It was sweet, watching them together. Marinette had a feeling that this particular childhood crush was going to last, and she was glad to have gained a friendship with Adrien from it too.