"It's winter now!" Adrien declared with a grin to Plagg.
"Why are you so happy about that? Cold weather makes my fur stand on end," Plagg complained, floating around Adrien's head.
"I can wear the scarf dad got for me again," Adrien explained, digging through his large walk-through closet. "I think I put it…here!" He snagged the blue scarf and wrapped it around his neck.
Plagg nuzzled into its folds too. "It's really soft. Hey, what's that?"
"Huh?"
Plagg pointed to the end of the scarf.
"Is it fraying?"
"No!" Plagg rolled his eyes, and flew down to the scarf's end. He lifted it up to Adrien's eyes. "See? I thought I saw a flash of gold on the edge. At first I thought it was some cheese the scarf accidently picked up, but it doesn't smell like cheese at all."
"Of course you'd think of cheese," Adrien rolled his eyes and took the scarf end in his hands. "Oh, the gold spells a name." Adrien squinted at the artisanal cursive writing. "Mar…in…ette… Marinette?"
"That weird girl?" Plagg scratched his head. "I thought your father got you this scarf?"
"Me too. I doubt he would hire a classmate to make me a birthday present. He didn't even know her until the derby hat contest. I guess Marinette made this for me. Why didn't she tell me?"
"Are you gonna stop wearing it now that you know the truth?"
"No," Adrien said quickly, turning slightly red, and avoiding Plagg's gaze. "It's soft."
"Can I sleep in it?"
"No!"
/
The bell rang, signaling the end of class for the day. Adrien waited for Nino to sling his bag over his shoulder before following his friend out.
"So get this," Adrien said as the two of them left. "My dad didn't get me this scarf. Marinette made it for me."
"Seriously? Dude, what a letdown," Nino patted Adrien's shoulder sympathetically. "I thought your dad was actually a little bit cool for a couple months there."
"Yeah, same here. There's a silver lining though. Marinette made it for me."
"She did? Dude, sweet! She's cute."
"Yeah…" Nino was right, but
Nino gave Adrien a friendly shove. "She's right over there, man. Go tell her thanks."
"Ya know what? You're right. She made a great derby hat and a great scarf for me. Might as well." Adrien broke into a warm smile and headed over.
"I'll just be waiting outside, dude," Nino told him with a little chuckle in his voice.
"Hi Marinette."
Marinette nearly dropped her books she was so surprised. She was clearly flustered, and her cheeks were cherry red in no time. "A-Adrien. Uh, um, you, I, hi!" She finally stuttered clumsily. Her eyes darted to the side, where Alya, stealthy friend that she was, had skedaddled to give Marinette and her crush some alone time. "E-Everything okay? Cuz I'm cool, everything's cool with me, but you're cooler. Like ice cold, colder than cool, like liquid nitrogen cool. Ya know?" Marinette mentally slapped herself in the face. Idiot! Stop talking! He must've come over here for a reason!
"Uh, yeah, okay. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about this scarf," Adrien shook his addled brain of Marinette's awkward speech patterns, and held up the end of the scarf with Marinette's name sewn in. "You made it for me, didn't you? My dad didn't get it for me."
"Yeah, I did it. I mean I made it!"
Adrien smiled, pleased. "Well, thanks. It's really soft and blue is my favorite color."
"Sure," Marinette giggled nervously.
"But why didn't you tell me earlier? Now I feel like a jerk for not thanking you sooner."
"Oh, well I saw how happy you were to have a cool gift from your dad. I didn't wanna spoil it for you."
Adrien's green eyes blinked in surprise. "Wow. Thanks, I really owe you one."
"Oh no, you don't have to worry-"
"Adrien!" Chloe cooed irritatingly. She literally threw herself into the conversation, and wrapped her arms around Adrien's neck. "Are you going to another photo shoot today? Mind if Sabrina and I tag along?" She turned, spun in a circle, and perfectly flipped her blond hair into Marinette's face. "I know the camera would love to see us together!"
Marinette growled angrily, but she took the hint. Her conversation with Adrien was over, but what a conversation it was. He'd been so sweet and happy to learn that she had made the scarf!
"So?" Alya demanded when she walked out the front doors of the school.
"He found out I made the scarf for him! He was thanking me!" Marinette squealed.
"That's what I'm talking about, girl!" Alya patted Marinette on the back. "But how did he find out?"
"I forgot I sign my name into all my designs."
"Finally you remember to sign a gift for him," Alya grinned widely. "I'm rooting for you, girl."
Marinette clutched her books closer to her chest. Her cheeks were still rosy with warmth. "Thanks…"
/
Adrien ignored Chloe's attempts to continue a conversation, mostly about her best camera angles, and watched Marinette walk away. Maybe Nino was right, maybe she was cute. How had he never noticed before? Either way, she was no ladybug. That was for sure. Marinette was just too…awkward and unsure to be the confident, bad ass, beautiful ladybug.
"No photo shoot for today, Chloe. I finally have a day for just me, so I'm spending it admiring Paris," Adrien hoped the lack of photos would deter her.
On the contrary. Her eyes lit up. "Well, this is even better!" She seized Adrien's arm. "We can walk through the city of love and lights together on our first date!" Chloe batted her eyes, leaned against Adrien's shoulder, and pressed her lips into a pout. She spotted Adrien's scarf. "Ew, and get you a new scarf that isn't pathetic."
That was it. No more nice excuses. "I like the scarf, Chloe, and I'd like to be alone. See you tomorrow." Adrien wrenched his arm free of her vice-like grasp and didn't look back as he left.
"If you wanna be alone for today, does that mean we're hanging out tomorrow instead, dude?" Nino asked, joining his bud on the walk into the city.
"Nah, you can come along. I just said that to get rid of Chloe."
Nino snorted and broke into a mischievous grin that could rival Cat Noir's. "Nice. Where to first?"
"How about the Eiffel Tower?"
"I like the way you think, my man."