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It felt wrong.
Wrong to betray his lady, though the little voice in his head kept telling him: Are you betraying her? She doesn't even show and interest in you. She haven't since you first met her. Not when you were thirteen, not now, three years later.
How was he betraying her? The answer was simple. Marinette fucking Dupan-Cheng.
Maybe it was the way how whenever she talked to him her cheeks bloomed red. Or the way she was clumsy and shy. It could also be how she stands up for her friends and becomes brave when needed. Or how she loses herself in the middle of class, doodling her designs.
Adrien Agreste truly did not know, but all he did know was how truly wonderful she was.
Sure he didn't exactly acknowledge her as a love interest before Nino pointed out how she had the worlds biggest crush on him. But that's not what interested him in the first place.
It's not that he necessarily thought Marinette was shallow, but most people who had crushes on him beforehand only liked him for his looks. It was easy to assume she was the same. Now thinking that about Marinette made Adrien's stomach churn with guilt.
What had actually caught his eye on the girl was when he saw her comforting a defeating akuma victim.
The akuma victim, Unfriender, was a girl who was dumped by all of her friends right before they had all planed on going to a dance together.
After the fight Adrien was on his way home to transform back to himself, though he was stopped as he saw Marinette sitting next to the fallen akuma victim.
Even though it was minutes after the girl had been rampaging through Paris ruining everyone's friendships, Marinette treated her with kindness, gave the girl her phone number and treated her with a dinner from her parents bakery.
It was that moment when he felt his heart swell with happiness and something else. Something he wouldn't understand until the next day.
The next day at school Adrien and Nino decided to sit with Marinette instead of their usual loud tables of boys.
As usual Adrien had his average lunch. Half of a ham and swiss sandwich, a bag of almonds and a bottle of milk. A model diet was a meager one. Though, while he burnt hundreds of calories a day as Chat Noir, he didn't exactly mind, considering while he was still Chat Noir he stopped on his way home at stores and, basically, emptied out the snack section.
Anyways, as Adrien began eating he noticed Marinette starting at his plain, small lunch. He could basically hear the voice in her head thinking about how little food he had. He took this moment to look at hers and he almost drooled all over the table. She had a croissant egg and cheese sandwich, a small dish of roasted potatoes and broccoli, a bag of different types of nuts and finally a red velvet cupcake. No doubt from her parents bakery.
While Adrien was taking the final bite of his own lunch Marinette must of caught him starring at her own. She ripped a half of her cupcake and gave to him.
She quietly said "here" as Adrien hesitantly took it from her.
"Thank you," he told her. He could feel his cheeks heat slightly and he took the cupcake.
Sure, it was just a cupcake (one hell of a delicious one at that) but still. Adrien never asked for half, Marinette took a look at his food and noticed how little he had. She saw how he was mouth watering over her cupcake. It was a such a small gesture that could mean the world.
That lunch, after Marinette gave him the cupcake, he watched her return to her conversation with Alya and Nico. The whole time he kept quiet and constantly was stealing glances at Marinette.
Adrien couldn't help but think how cute she was. Or how nice. Or how clumsily adorable. Or how she was thoughtful... Kind... Sweet. He instantly loved everything about her.