Adrien can tell the type of day he's about to have by his morning coffee.
He's not crazy, it really does happen like that! Mochas are good, espressos are bad and his mother's experiments are unpredictable. So when he's sent off to school with a travel mug of iced coffee and a shot of strawberry syrup he knows today is going to be a weird one.
In class there's a new girl in the seat right behind him. Chloé leans on her desk and he isn't sure what to make of this. Everyone else is giving them the side eye though and he gets that they're wary of one of Chloé's friends. Still, his mother raised a gentleman.
"Morning ladies," kneeling on his seat he rests his arms on the new girl's desk. "I'm Adrien," he finishes with a wink to the new girl.
She looks slightly confused, eyes darting to Chloé and then to his. Hot damn, he's in love. She's delicately pretty with glossy jet black hair and eyes the colour of bluebells on the first day of spring and skin smooth and fair as porcelain. She smiles and Adrien can hear the angels sing.
"Marinette, nice to meet you." The hand she offers is as perfect as her face with manicured nails and when he shakes it there are actual sparks on his skin and fireworks in his head.
He doesn't want this one to think he's an idiot.
"It's berry nice to meet you Marinette," and he's done it, game over, send mother his love and give Nino his computer because there's no way he will survive this.
A hand presses to her pink lips, which are plush and shiny, and she giggles quietly. She giggles. At his pun. Someone call 112 he's having a heart attack and then call a priest because they're getting married ASAP.
Someone outside their moment, and he doesn't need evidence to prove that it is one, coughs and he's almost glad Chloé did that because he's been staring like a lovestruck idiot for at least a minute.
Sitting down properly, he turns and Nino raises a brow over the edge of Adrien's travel mug. Adrien shrugs.
"Hey man." Like his life has not changed completely, he hasn't met his soulmate and she's sitting right behind him.
"Dude. What is wrong with you and your face?" Nino hands back his coffee and Adrien doesn't care that it's weird it's his new favourite.
"Nothing, everything is perfect," and it is even though his dreamy sigh seems to make Nino nervous.
Marinette, he learns, is more than just beautiful. She's the smartest student in the class, a real leader, polite, kind, generous and the daughter of fashion powerhouse Sabine Cheng.
Only some of those attributes show up in the articles he finds. Not that he Googles her or anything but this is his future wife and he wants to know her better. He'd talk to her himself but she smiles that smile and he melts into a puddle of bad puns. Which is terrible because usually his puns are top notch.
Oh yeah and she's quickly becoming BFFs with Alya who is also one of Adrien's friends so he spends loads of time with her. Loads. On top of being right in front of her and maybe he can't see her or talk to her but proximity is good! He can smell her perfume and pass notes with funny doodles and she doesn't respond in class but she does outside of it and they are totally becoming friends.
The only downside to Marinette is spending more time with Chloé who's determined to start her two person heiresses club. And Sabrina who's generally alright. Not that either of them ever laugh at his good jokes.
Marinette taps her pen on her lower lip and Adrien is so in love.
He's also going to have to redo his reading at home because they're all studying in the library and he hasn't gotten past the first page he's been so distracted.
She turns a page and her eyes flick up to meet his. Something smile-ish forms on his face and she returns it then looks down right before his face does something embarrassing. Like blush.
Chloé snaps her compact shut with an unnaturally loud click. It's time for their regularly scheduled break, which is only so because no one can work while Chloé is complaining.
"This is so boring, why don't we go shopping instead?" Sabrina nods along with Chloé and Alya's head thunks down on her book.
"Chloé," Marinette's voice is soft, coaxing. Adrien would totally do anything she says. "You can go, but we have to finish our assignments."
With a haughty toss of her head, Chloé stands up. "I insist we go shopping, Marinette. Having just Sabrina is getting boring."
Marinette closed her book. "I can't go today, Mère wants me home for dance lessons in twenty minutes. Maybe next time?"
"I'm letting this happen today because we're friends, Marinette, but next time we're going shopping. Come on Sabrina."
The door hasn't even swung closed when Alya says "Good riddance."
"Was she grinding your beans? Driving you bananas? Crumbling your cookie?" Adrien pauses to think of more and Nino takes the chance to speak.
"Dude, knock it off with the food jokes, I'm starving here. We should totally go to your shop and grab something." Nino flopped dramatically over the table and pouted at Adrien.
"Euron your own, you still owe me thirty euros. And there's muffin you can do with negative thirty anything." Folding both arms behind his head Adrien basked in sweet victory and his fantastic puns.
"You have a job?" And his life is so over because she's not laughing at his jokes. Marinette's phone buzzes in her hand but she doesn't look away.
"Yeah he works in that hole in the wall coffee shop his family owns." Stage whispering to Marinette, Nino shot Adrien a sly look, "but you heard him, he doesn't want us to go."
"What? No? Shut up Nino, you're not giving me mocha to go on." And she smiles that smile and oh god, Adrien is in love.
"Oh yeah, can you even drink coffee Marinette?" Alya slings an arm around Marinette's shoulders, saving Adrien from humiliating himself. Or having a moment with Marinette, because that could totally have been a moment.
Thoughtfully, she presses her phone to her mouth. Then she tilts her head. "Once in awhile, they'll let me have some in moderation." And isn't she the cutest cutie ever to be cute? Even frowning at her messages she's so super cute Adrien could kiss her. "I really do have dance lessons now and Alexandre is already there. I'll see you around, Alya, Nino, Adrien."
She jokingly blows them a kiss from the door and Adrien feels his feet leave the ground.
"So who's Alexandre?" Just to have Nino pull him back to Earth. Thanks bud.
Alya's already on her phone even while she talks. "Alexandre is Marinette's partner in basically everything. Here, they look good together, no?"
The photo has "First Love -Sabine" written across it in curly font and shows Marinette and a guy holding hands and walking alongside some river, laughing. She's radiant and he's gorgeous and they somehow look like the perfect couple that only exists in fiction. Adrien could totally imagine himself in the guy's place. Then Alya has the nerve to swipe to the next photo.
"This is the picture that made Marinette a model, actually. And you can read that in my article on the school website." Ignoring the smug tone that Alya's voice has taken, and Nino congratulating her on even making it to onto the page, Adrien stares at the screen. It's a kiss, of course, between Marinette and this Alexandre guy and it's so electric that he's sure they don't know there's anything in the world but each other.
"What are they even selling?" Adrien needs to know so he can buy it. Whatever it is. Just looking at the way their bodies gravitate together even through the static image, he's both jealous and intrigued.
"Clothes, her Mom designed the clothes they're wearing. Or she owns the company that did. And you should read my article, Adrien. Everything's in there." Alya takes away her phone and Adrien's watering eyes thank her for it. Then she pokes him in the forehead. "Chill out, it's not like they're together."
Rubbing at the sore spot, Adrien does not pout at her. "Dude, did Marinette just text you guys too?" Nino waves his phone excitedly. "She want to go to Adrien's cafe the next time we're all free."
Scrambling for his phone, Adrien unlocks it just for Alya to swipe it. She tosses it back to him with her article opened and bookmarked in his browser. "Gee, thanks…" Not that she heard him, already deep in discussion with Nino about their calendars.
Marinette's text is just asking when they could all go to his coffee shop, with a few days she's available. Adrien sneaks a look at the others and they all got the same message. He's about to reply that anytimes good, because he has no life but she doesn't need to know that, when another message pops up from her.
A tiny pink heart.
He is so in love with this girl.
This was fuelled by the bucket of salted caramel milk chocolate cookies next to me, thanks Cookie time you're a VIP. Also it would never have been posted without the decision to let the people decide whether to go on with the "plot" which has kinda been plotted or to make it a 4 shot series showing the ship square in this universe (not plotted but easier to do).
Of course, this could just be a oneshot. IDK, up to you?