Hello, and welcome to Discovery!
Those of you who follow me on Tumblr may be wondering 'yo, dude, why'd you take so long to upload this to , wasn't this a Secret Santa gift to someone like last year?' to which the answer is... yes. But I completely forgot to upload it to here until like, today. So here we are.
I hope you guys enjoy this fic! Sorry it's being uploaded so late!
He was really really really hoping to have a good day at school. And it was looking like he was going to. He'd made an A on his test, Nino was in class, the lessons were easy to understand, and he even had a clear day in his schedule. He could hang out with Nino all day!
They caught up on the front steps after school and chatted a bit during lunch break, trying to decide if they wanted to eat at Nino's family restaurant or someplace else, when a flash of red caught his eye. He looked over to see Marinette and Alya talking to each other, nothing strange about that. Adrien couldn't help but doubletake, however, when he saw Nathaniel timidly approaching the duo. Nino noticed he'd stopped listening and leaned over to see what he was looking at.
Nathaniel cleared his throat, seemingly mustering strength, before taking his sketchbook away from his chest and pulling out a sheet of paper. "H-Hi, Marinette," he stammered, before taking a deep breath and offering her the paper. "I-I know, the whole Evillustrator thing, it was weird and you're probably creeped out about it, but… I was wondering… if you maybe wanted to, ah, go see a movie sometime?"
"Whoa, is he actually doing it?" Nino asked, eyes wide. Adrien watched, feeling himself tense, get angry.
Marinette smiled at him after looking at the picture. "Yeah, sure! How about this Saturday?"
"Let's go," Adrien grumbled, grabbing his friend's hand and storming off. Why was he so angry?
"Hey, dude, chill! What's up?" his friend grabbed onto his hat and stumbled after him.
"Let's just get some food before lunch break ends."
"Um, o-okay? Why so angry, dude, jealous?"
"Jealous?! I'm not jealous, I- - I'm just hungry, can we just go get some food?" Nino gave him a long look before shaking his head and shrugging.
"Okay, yeah, I'll let you pick this time." he sighed, relenting to letting himself be pulled to their culinary destination.
Adrien had done his best to forget about the exchange from earlier over his lunch, and it had nearly worked. They'd relaxed and talked about anything and everything over an amazing Japanese Steakhouse meal (Nino had called him a weeb several times), and he'd come to school with a smile on his face. But then he walked into the classroom and saw Marinette still gushing over the drawing Nathan had given her, a deep blush on her cheeks as she and Alya looked it over 'just one more time.' Then he saw Nino step to the side to let Nathan in- - his bright blue eyes locking with Marinette's for a moment before an even deeper red crossed both their faces. Nathaniel rushed up the stairs, looking like a little tomato. Alix snickered at him a bit, and he briefly noticed Chloe rolling her eyes. He glared at the boy the whole way as he headed up the stairs, until he sat down in his desk and whipped out his sketchbook. Probably to draw another picture to woo Marinette or something. He frowned and slumped into his desk, pulling out his tablet and ready to take notes. He just wanted to get this day over with. Adrien saw Nino looking out him out the corner of his eye, but he just ignored it. He didn't feel like talking today.
Nathalie, of course, greeted him when he came home and told him the unfortunate news that Gabriel Agreste had an 'unexpected meeting' and would have to stay in Milan for another four days. Which was to be expected- - that always happened. At least Hawkmoth was being quiet lately, so he'd have time to mope about it properly. That, and other things.
He flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. Plagg flew out of his jacket pocket and looked down at him. He stared at him a moment before going to search his backpack for camembert. Once he found a slice, the cat kwami continued to hover above his head, nibbling his cheese as he thought pensively.
"You're angry," he finally concluded.
"Wow. What a thoughtful analysis, Plagg. Anything else you'd like to tell me?" Adrien muttered.
"You're angry," Plagg swallowed the rest of his cheese in one gulp. "Because that redhead asked that girl out."
"I don't care about that," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut with the heel of his hands.
"Then tell me, Adrien, what are you so angry about? Because you were pretty happy until that happened."
"I dunno, maybe I have food poisoning or something? Leave it alone, Plagg."
"Whatever you say. I'll just go eat the rest of the camembert so you'll have to buy me more!" the tiny cat said before zipping off to get into some sort of mischief.
"Hey,wait a second! Plagg!" Adrien jumped to his feet and chased after him. Plagg just cackled as he flew rings around him.
He'd managed to forget about the situation with Nathaniel until he went to lunch with Nino, Alya, and Marinette on Thursday. Marinette was being cute as ever, but she was being cute about Nathaniel.
"He's been sending me so many drawings of his, on his phone! They're all so good, and adorable! And he's so nice! I can't wait until we go to the movies Saturday, I'm so excited!" she said, still stirring and stirring her coffee as she went on and on about how wonderful Nathaniel was.
"We get it, girl, you're excited! But if you aren't going to eat your lunch, then we might as well get you a box." Alya teased, poking at her food with a fork. The girl blushed and began eating.
"So, what even makes him so great anyways?" Adrien suddenly asked. He froze immediately once he realized he'd said it aloud. Marinette began blushing even more.
"Well, he's so nice, once you get to know him! And his red hair, he's like a little tomato, and the way he constantly had to brush it out of his face, its adorable! But he sent me a picture of it in a ponytail and oh my gosh, he was even cuter! He's so talented, and kind, and sweet, and- - "
"Okay, I get it. Forget I asked." his heart clenched just hearing her go on and on. What was up with him?
"What movie are you guys going to see?" Nino asked.
"Wonder Woman! Turns out, we both love superheroes! And I've been wanting to see it since forever, but haven't had the time!" Marinette grinned. "I'm so excited!"
"Cool! I heard that it was great, near 'hundred percent rating! You dudes are gonna have an awesome time!"
"Yeah, good luck on your date, girl!" Alya grinned, snagging some beans from her friend's plate.
Adrien said nothing.
"What does she see in Nathaniel that's so great anyways?!" Adrien groaned, turning away from his computer. On the screen was an after-school selfie of Nathaniel and Marinette, both grinning at the screen. It seemed to be mocking him, turquoise blue eyes burning into his back.
"She explained to you already," Plagg said, peeking out from the trashcan under the desk. "Or did you forget Thursday already?"
"God, I wish I could forget Thursday! Why her, of all people! Of all the people he could ask on a movie date, why her!"
"Would you prefer he ask someone else?"
"Yes!"
"Shame. It's not like you can go back and keep her from saying yes."
"Oh, trust me. If I could go back and change the past, I'd make him ask someone else!" Adrien crossed his arms in a huff. The picture's stare still burned through him.
"Oh, really? Like who?"
"I don't know! I mean, maybe- - I don't know- - maybe I'd get him to ask me!"
"Ask you? But I thought Marinette was who you were- - " Plagg grinned wide when Adrien leapt to his feet.
"I don't want to date Marinette! I like Nathaniel, and I- - " his eyes widened once he realized what he had said- - and that it was true.
"So you like that little tomato head in the back of the class, hm?" Plagg snickered. "Oh, what a mess you're in! What are you gonna do about it?"
"I…" Adrien sat and turned to look at the screen again, looking at those sea blue eyes. "I don't know…"
Nathaniel was giddy, hopping around on his feet as he started to slip into his outfit. Rose and Juleka had skyped him after school yesterday to help him figure out what to wear. He wanted to look nice for his first date, and figured his usual blazer and t-shirt combo wouldn't cut it. But he didn't want to overdo it either- - they were going to the movies, not anything fancy.
Oh fuck. Should he have done something fancier? What if Marinette hated it, what if he spilled his drinks, what if- -
No no no no no. everything would be fine. He just had to stay calm, and get dressed. Bring his best, and hope that Marinette was happy with it.
He looked in the mirror, adjusting his shirt. After some research, both Rose and Juleka had decided that the best outfit he could wear, without seeming out of the ordinary, was a black blazer on a light gray shirt and skinny jeans. The shirt having the top two buttons left open- - no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It felt weird, but he supposed he looked nice, so he would roll with it. Hopefully Marinette liked it.
Nathaniel, to be honest, was surprised by just how easy it was to get along with her. After almost an entire year of pining so hard it was difficult to breathe around her, talking to her was suddenly like talking to an old friend. He was excited to see her every day.
Apparently, too excited- - he still had a good hour before he even needed to start heading to the theatre. Sure, he was thinking about getting her flowers as well, but he shouldn't get those too early, or they might wilt! He had about fortyfive minutes before he needed to even think about leaving… which was enough time to work on his comics. He snagged his sketchbook and pencils, sat at his drawing desk, and set to work.
Maybe about five minutes had passed, and he was right in the middle of sketching out a rough to the next panel, when he heard something land on the balcony. Had Mrs. Lacroix's cat gotten out again? Nathaniel would have to bring him back if it did, and he didn't want to get cat hair on his shirt- - oh shit.
There was a cat on his balcony, but not the small tabby he had been expecting. Instead, Chat Noir stood on his balcony, looking at his baton. He looked up and grinned at him, sending Nathaniel's heart beating. The redhead stood and stepped out to join him.
"Ch-Chat Noir? Is… is there something wrong?" and if there was, then why was he here? Where was Ladybug? Was he here to try and ask something about his akumatization? Oh god Chat Noir was on his balcony and his room was a mess.
"No, no, nothing is wrong! I just- - a little birdie told me you were drawing a comic about me and Bugaboo?" he asked, leaning forward with a grin. Nathaniel flushed, not realizing how far word about it had gotten.
"W-well, yeah, it's really nothing special… did Marinette tell you?"
"Nah, I saw it in the Chat Noir tag on Instagram. That sneak peek you posted was amazing!"
"O-Oh! Thanks!"
"So, I was wondering, if you wanted to get some totally awesome sketches of me to work from?"
"That'd be amazing, actually! I've been trying to zoom in on photos to get details for weeks! Let me go grab my sketchbook!" the big grin on Nathaniel's face sent Adrien's heart reeling, and he had to try and get ahold of himself before he turned around and noticed.
"So, what do you need me to do?" Chat asked once Nathaniel returned from his room.
"Oh, uh, here, can you stand still with your arms out?" the superhero did as told, standing like a T. Nathaniel immediately set to work, scribbling down notes, sketching out details, and asking the occasional question. After about ten minutes, he was done, looking at the pages he had drawn and written on until he was satisfied.
"This is actually really helpful, Chat Noir! Do you happen to know how many spots Ladybug has, or- - " the redhead looked up from his book to see the leather-clad hero of Paris laying across the table, rose in his mouth, eyebrows wiggling, totally in a 'draw me like one of your French Girls' position. Nathaniel sputtered, finding himself giggling a bit. "Okay, we can do some poses,"
Modeling for Nathaniel was amazing. He felt far more free than he did modeling for his father's photoshoots, because he was deciding what poses he wanted to do. Or Nathaniel, but it was more of a request than an order. Plus, with his transformation up, he could do some cool action poses too, balancing on his staff and pretending to fight enemies. Nathaniel seemed to be having the time of his life too, hands flying and papers shifting and turning. Adrien could do this forever.
Too bad he didn't have forever.
Nathaniel's phone buzzed in his pocket, prompting him to look at whatever text he had gotten and see the time. He jumped to his feet, eyes wide. "Oh my god, I'm going to be late!"
"Late? Late for what?" Chat Noir asked with faux innocence, hoping to keep him here just a bit longer, spend just a little more time with him…
"My date with Marinette! Oh, god, I'm not going to have time to stop by the flower shop for the bouquet, am I?!" the redhead flitted around the room like a fairy, putting up his pencils and checking himself in the mirror and trying to ensure he was ready. "I might not even make it in time, what would she think, me showing up late on our first date, I'm really sorry, Chat Noir, I- - "
"Its fine, its fine," the cat boy said with a sigh. Nathaniel stopped for a moment, looking at him.
"Is everything alright, Chat?" Chat blinked and was smiling again, and Nathaniel thought he must have imagined the sadness in his posture.
"It's all good here! I was just thinking- - maybe I could get you there? Soaring over Paris would get you there way faster than walking,"
"Wh-what?! Oh my god, you would do that for me?! I- - I- - thank you!"
Chat had to keep himself from wincing. How selfish could he be? Using Nathaniel's situation to have an excuse to touch him in any way. Hell, how could he just lie to him, act like he wasn't crushing on him hard, approach him as Chat to start his advances instead of the more honest route, as Adrien? But... giving him a lift would technically be helping out. And Nathaniel clearly wasn't unwilling- - he was practically vibrating with excitement.
The red head slipped a smaller sketchbook into his front pocket, a small pencil or two joining it along with his wallet, phone, and house keys, before he looked up at the hero. "I'm ready."
"Sweet," Adrien grabbed him and Nathaniel wrapped his arms around his neck to keep himself secure, blushing at their proximity. "I hope you have a meow-velous ride."
At that, Chat Noir ran forward, jumping off the roof before letting his baton extend to catch their fall. Nathan's grip on him tightened and he heard his breath catch, but they landed on the next roof over and he relaxed, even letting himself laugh a bit. They kept it up until they reached the flower shop, and then started again when the flowers were purchased.
Then they touched down a block from the theatre, people parting as they saw Chat Noir landing in the middle of the busy sidewalk with a boy. Nathaniel was wobbly on his feet for a second, but with a huge smile on his face.
"Thank you so much, Chat, that was amazing!" he grinned, making Chat's heart melt so much more.
"Any time, tomato head. I hope your date goes purr-fectly." Nathaniel laughed a bit at the pun, shaking his head.
"You're insufferable, Chat,"
"I know, I get that a lot. Go on, have that date," he said, waving him away with a hand. Nathaniel turned and ran off to where Marinette was just running up to the theatre, meeting her there. He took her hand as they went to the ticket booth. Chat leaned on his baton and watched him go, barely noticing the cameras around him for awhile. Then he stood and made his way to the roof of a nearby building- - he may as well have a quick patrol while he was out.
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
Nathaniel didn't know what to do. So much had happened in this week alone, and his world felt like it was upside down, moving too fast. It was like an atom bomb had gone off in his life.
The date? The date went great, it was totally fine. They'd gotten along like old friends. Which was when he'd realized, that was all he wanted- - a friend. He wanted to be friends with Marinette, and yeah, of course she was nice and beautiful and talented, but he- - he'd just wanted to be friends with her all along. So their relationship had really only lasted about a week and a day.
Now that he thought back, he'd known this for quite some time. After the Evillustrator incident... his feelings for her had shifted, if anything. He was beginning to question if he'd ever truly had a crush on her, and if he did, if he still had. The answer was no.
Which was fairly disappointing. He had entire sketchbooks full of comics of Marinette and the Evillustrator. He'd consider giving them to her, but that would be weird, to say the least. Plus, one had the new comic in it- - he'd still need that.
Now, he was left in his room, questioning what life choices had brought him to this point, doodling in his sketchbook. He was supposed to be working on his comic, but that wasn't working.
He couldn't stop thinking about Chat Noir. He'd visited him. Him. Why visit him, of all people?! Sure, he was making the comic, but didn't he have more important things to do than hunt down every artist making fanart of him? And he'd stayed for so long too... Why couldn't he get him out of his head?
His phone buzzed, drawing his attention. Someone had commented on his post, the first page of the comic, about how great the colors were. It was... Adrien Agreste? He couldn't help but grin- - he hadn't known he was following his account, but was glad he liked the art!
Now that he thought about it, he'd never really looked at Adrien's Instagram. Maybe he could find some drawing inspiration- - it wouldn't be the first time he looked at models for ideas, or his classmates. He tapped on the blue username to his account and- -
Oh. Oh. The latest picture on his account was a picture of him, of course, but it was cropped to just his eyes. Everything was black and white except for a dazzling green that sent his head into a whirlwind, put butterflies in his stomach, put stars into his eyes.
Was it love at first sight if they'd been in the same class for almost an entire year together? He wasn't sure, but he did find himself scrolling through Adrien'sinstagram for the next three hours, looking at every picture as it sent lightning through his fingertips.
School, to say the least, was unexpected.
Adrien was still trying to figure out what to do about this crush he had. He'd barely managed to scrounge up the courage to leave a comment on Nathaniel's art, and then he got no comment back. Did Nathaniel not like him? Oh, goodness, what if he hated him, what if he thought he was weird- -
"It just didn't work out, apparently." Marinette shrugged.
"Wait. So he crushes on you hard for a good year and then says 'we're better off as just friends?'" Alya asked.
Wait, what? Adrien shifted in his seat a bit, listening in.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm not offended- - we do get along really well and I would hate for something to get in the way of that. We had fun at the movie, and it's not like we left off on a bad note."
"Well, I'm glad for you, girl. Some people get worse. Like Kim."
It was around then that Nathaniel walked into the room, sketchbook in hand. The redhead sent a glance their way, blushed furiously, and slunk up the aisle to his own seat. Nino gave him a look, but Adrien barely noticed.
"Dude. Ohhh my god." his friend murmured, eyes wide.
Okay. he needed to go about this a bit differently than he did with Marinette. He- - he knew he was crushing hard on Adrien- - he'd stayed up half the night thinking about the boy, and the other half having some hazy dream about his eyes. He couldn't survive another year of pining. And he knew his chances were slim- - Adrien was a model. Why would he be interested in even associating with Nathaniel Kurtzberg, local artist of mediocre skill?
He might not even be interested in guys.
He'd cross that bridge when he got there. For now, he just really, really needed to find out a way to confess his feelings. Or- - or maybe not confess his feelings, hell, this had just started less than a day ago, he needed time to be sure. But right now, passion was on his side, and he got an idea.
Nathaniel pulled out his phone and scrolled through Instagram. He was going to make the best work of art he'd ever done, andhopefully ask him out to dinner.
Adrien laid on the couch in his room, blushing down at a sketch Nathaniel had posted on his Instagram.
It was a small watercolor painting of green cat eyes, surrounded by an inky black mask. He'd gone in and added details and highlights to the drawing, until it seemed to raise off the page. The piece had a simple caption- - 'Un Chat Noir.'
"Oh my god, Adrien, are you going to sit there all day looking at some picture?" Plagg asked, sitting on top of his head. The blonde let out a sigh.
"God…"
"Looks like the answer is yes," the kwami muttered, rolling his eyes. "Hey, why don't you get him a gift? You can get people to like you with gifts, especially camembert!"
"I'm not giving Nathaniel a bunch of stinky cheese! That's your thing," Adrien scoffed. Though, getting Nathaniel a gift wasn't too bad of an idea… he had posted about wanting new brushes awhile back…
Nathaniel stood back a moment, looking over his painting.
It had been a good three days since he'd started- - he was taking this slow, he didn't want to mess up. He'd spent a day doing practice sketches alone, then bought the best canvass he could afford to start the final piece. But now he didn't have enough money for those new brushes he wanted…
He'd worry about that later. Right now he needed to focus on the painting. The blurs of grey were blending perfectly, and the washed out monotone of the background only accented the figure to the side, leaning on the wall. His presence was a flash of color, a hint of vibrancy in an otherwise muddled landscape. At least… it would be, once he was finished.
God, but when he did finish, then what was he going to do?! He needed to find the courage to give this thing to him in the first place- - he couldn't just post it and hope he saw it. But wouldn't it be kind of weird, bringing a giant painting (well, not giant, but it was definitely the biggest Nathaniel had ever done) into class and revealing that he had a crush on a model in front of the entire class? Not to mention, Chloe Bourgeois. A shudder racked his body- - he could already imagine Chloe's face once she found out about this. He wasn't sure what would be worse- - her teasing him, or her anger at his attempts to 'steal away her Adrikins.'
He'd cross that bridge when he got there. Maybe, if he was lucky, he wouldn't even have to confront the rest of the class- - he could just play it off as a project for art class until the end of class, somehow manage to get Adrien alone…
Nathaniel let out a sigh, calming his nerves. His hand was getting shaky, and he couldn't mess this up.
It was about two days until Adrien finally mustered the courage to wrap the pack of brushes, and it took the rest of the week until he managed to so much as put it in his backpack and bring it to school. Plagg had spent all this time complaining about him not bringing it in the first place- - 'you fight off akuma's almost daily yet somehow you can't even talk to some boy?' he'd said- - and now he whined about the pack of brushes taking up his space in the bag.
"Plagg, seriously? Weren't you the one wanting me to get this done?" Adrien sighed.
"Yeah, well, its taking up all the room! It doesn't even pay the rent around here!" Plagg grumbled, making a big deal of sitting up against the package so as to exaggerate the loss of space.
"You don't pay rent either, Plagg,"
"I'm a god, god's don't pay rent for stuffy old backpacks."
"Yeah, well neither do inanimate objects. And it won't be there forever, can you deal for a few hours?"
Plagg let out a longsigh, but didn't complain further. With a satisfied smile, Adrien headed downstairs to meet Gorilla at the car.
Nathaniel made sure to get to class early. He didn't want anyone to see him carrying in the painting- - they would ask questions. So, if he was lucky, he could get to class first. From there, he could sit the painting next to him, maybe behind his bookbag so no one else would see it, and then- -
Fuck. Lila.
What was he going to do?! He'd completely forgotten about his new deskmate, he couldn't hide the painting in the seat if she was sitting in it. And she'd ask questions, and it would draw attention, and then Chloe would demand to look at it and humiliate him and- -
His phone buzzed. Drawing him from his panic, Nathaniel peeked at the screen. The message was from Lila, actually.
Lila Rossi: hey tomato. I'm sick and can't come to class, can you send me the notes after school?
Oh. While it was unfortunate she was sick, it did make things a little bit more convenient for Nathaniel- - though this did mean he had to actually try and stay awake during the Physics lesson today. So Phase One could begin, the minute Mr. Haprele arrived and opened the doors to the school, at least.
From there, he could do his best to not let his nerves get to him when he actually talked to Adrien. Crushes tended to make him nervous- - palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy, feeling like he might throw up everytime he stuttered over his words- - he needed to get his shit together. Who knew, maybe he could even manage to be a bit charming, like he apparently was when he visited Marinette during his akumatization experience.
Yeah, sure. Charm the cutest model in all of Paris. Unlikely. But… he could try.
"Dude. Your leg is shaking so hard right now. What the fuck is up?" Nino whispered, leaning in a bit. Adrien firmly put his foot on the ground, trying to keep himself from shaking it. It didn't work for very long.
"Sorry, sorry," Adrien mumbled, clenching his hands into fists at his side.
"Something's up. What did your old man do this time, dude?"
"Nothing, nothing, he hasn't even been home all week. I'm just nervous."
His friend rose an eyebrow, shifting in his seat. "About?"
"You know that text I sent you a few days ago?"
"Oh, you mean the one about your huge crush on Nathan- - " Adrien waved his hands in his face with a hiss, sending a wary glance to the back of the room. Nathaniel sat there, drawing in his sketchbook, blissfully unaware of what they'd said. Another look was sent to Chloe- - she was too deep into her makeup compact to notice them.
"Not so loud! Someone could hear!"
Nino sighed, leaning an arm on his desk. "Okay. The text about 'he who shall not be named,' what about it?"
"I… brought the brushes today. I'm gonna try and talk to him after class." Adrien squirmed in his seat just thinking about approaching the boy. What if he messed up, what if he tripped on his way up the stairs?
"Dude, why not talk to him now, class doesn't start for another five minutes." Nino suggested with a shrug. Adrien shook his head adamantly.
"If Chloe sees, she's going to throw a fit. Who knows how she's gonna react to this. I haven't even told her I like guys yet."
"Fuck Chloe."
"Aaah!" Adrien flailed his hands again, managing to cover Nino's mouth. The boy just chuckled. "Not so loud!"
"He's looking at you," Nino said. Adrien removed his hands from his face.
"What?"
"He's looking at you." Adrien turned around to see Nathaniel. He was, indeed, looking at him- - but when he saw he was spotted, the redhead quickly put his head back into his sketchbook. Adrien also blushed and looked away. "Dude, oh my god. How are you gonna talk to him?"
"Uh. With words."
"Ha ha, very funny, dude."
The time had finally come. It was the end of the school day- - Nathaniel had managed to keep the painting hidden from prying eyes up to this point, and everyone was packing their things to go. Now he just had to wait a few moments longer…
Everyone was leaving, and Adrien and Nino were the last ones out the door. Once everyone else was out of the room, Nathaniel jumped to his feet.
"Adrien!" he shouted. The blonde and his friend turned, looking at him. Nathaniel could feel himself turning tomato red once he had their attention. "I- - uh- - I- - can I me you- - uh, I can talk- - can I talk to- - "
Nino elbowed Adrien in the arm and gave him a look. The boy… blushed. Oh god, this wasn't part of the plan, why was Adrien blushing- - oh god, he was headed his way- -
"I'll talk to you dudes later," Nino said before ducking out the door. So then it was just Adrien and him, alone in the empty classroom. They stood in awkward silence a moment before Nathaniel grabbed ahold of his wits again.
"I, uh- - I…" oh fuck. He forgot what he was going to say.
"I have a gift for you!" Adrien suddenly exclaimed. Then he went beet red, almost shocked by his own volume. He dug into his bag as the redness creeped down his neck. "I, uh, saw on your Instagram that you were hoping to get some brushes, and I thought you might like these!" he proudly pulled out a wrapped package, and Nathaniel bit back a breath. Oh my god, Adrien had gotten him a gift! What did this mean?!
"I- - oh my god, thank you, I- - I also have a gift for you? But I, uh..." Nathaniel grabbed the painting and presented it to the model. "I-if you don't like it, then I can just, uh- - "
"You painted this for me?" Adrien squeaked. "It looks amazing, I can't believe you did this for me, I love it!"
"I'm glad, I'm glad! Uh, I was wondering- - well- - you probably get asked this a lot, but I was wondering- - would you want to go on a date with me sometime?"
Adrien's green eyes blew wide, and for a moment Nathaniel was scared. Was he offended? Maybe he didn't like guys, maybe it was too soon, maybe he hated going on dates, maybe he hated him- -
"I was hoping to ask you the same thing,"
"What the fuck? Wait, fuck, I didn't mean to say that, I didn't mean it like that!" Adrien just smiled.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes! Yes, oh my god, yes, I'd love to! Uh. Yes."
"Cool! Um, maybe I can take you out to dinner next week, if you want- - "
"How about another modeling date, first?" The look of shock Adrien sent him nearly made him giggle.
"I- - uh- - what? What are you talking about?"
"I kind of figured out it was you… I'm sorry? One of the poses you did kind of reminded me of you and-"
"Do you promise to keep it a secret?" Nathaniel nodded.
"With my life if I have to. I won't tell anyone." Adrien sent him a Chat-like grin that sent him reeling.
"Then we've got a deal. I can swing by this Saturday if you'd paw-lease."
"Sounds great." he grinned, heart fluttering with excitement. "I can't wait."
That's the end of the fic! It's quite a bit longer than any other one-shot I've written basically ever, but it was a gift, how could I not?
I hope you all enjoyed it! Have a nice day/night/evening!