Adrien was wandering the streets by himself, his shoot ended up being cancelled and Nino wasn't able to hang out with him today.
The DJ on a date with Alya.
Adrien didn't exactly want to go home, enjoying his freedom outside of his empty house, even if he was alone.
That's when he saw Marinette who was carrying an old looking backpack.
Her outfit was not her normal casual, instead she looked to be wearing dark brown pants similar to what her mother generally wore. A yellow plaid button up was thrown over a plain white top.
She looked as if she was going to work, but Adrien wasn't aware that she had a job outside the bakery.
Adrien couldn't help but be curious.
Did Marinette have some sort of secret?
Well the blond didn't have anything better to do...
He could keep a secret!
And Marinette didn't have to know...
Adrien ducked into a subway, hoping to be quick since Marinette seemed to be walking quite fast.
"Plagg-" Adrien paused as he checked his pocket. The cat Kwami had chosen to take a nap while Adrien wandered restlessly.
Adrien sighed.
It wasn't like he hadn't sucked Plagg into the ring while he was sleeping before.
If anything it was better because it meant Plagg wouldn't be able to tease him about Marinette.
"Claws out," Adrien whispered, being careful not to wake the little devil.
Soon Chat Noir was racing over rooftops scrambling to find Marinette who was moving fast.
When Adrien spotted her, he moved to the ground, noticing there was a lack of people in the area made him nervous about Marinette's safety.
He frowned when she disappeared down a narrow alley way.
He looked around before following her, recognizing the scenery a bit.
They were a street behind a busy more touristy section of Paris. Probably boarding between quiet homes and a high traffic tourist area.
Sometimes Gorilla had avoided traffic with this road.
Adrien blanched as he saw Marinette squeeze between two building in an incredibly narrow alley way.
He gulped as he felt his body uncomfortably get pressed between the walls as he pushed himself through to follow her. He wasn't close to being stuck... but it wasn't anywheres near comfortable.
The first thing Adrien did was hide when he got to the other side.
The second was look at his surroundings.
Adrien touched the leaves and vines that covered his hiding place.
A trellis. It was situated in the corner of the space, on a diagonal.
Brushing leaves aside, Adrien peeked out through the metal structure.
The space was very narrow and rectangular.
On the other end were two more buildings, closing in on the area like some kind of misplaced space. A glitch in the matrix. The twilight zone.
The buildings on the other end emitted sound and traffic could be heard through the even narrower slit between the two structures.
The only entrance was where Adrien had came from.
Adrien pursed his lips. This wasn't very safe.
What would bring Marinette to such a place?
Adrien's eyes widened as he looked again. It had been easy to miss the first time because there was so much of it.
But now he could clearly see the fact that he was in some sort of secret garden.
A small bench was in the corner adjacent to him and there was a small plastic tub next to it with a few bags of soil or fertilizer.
But everything else was alive.
Adrien was floored. There were plants, shrubs, bushes and flowers everywhere.
The space was beautiful.
Adrien's gaze wandered and then found Marinette, who was shrugging her backpack onto the bench and pulling out a few 4 Litre plastic milk containers. She bent over and plucked a metal watering can out from under the bench as she poured a milk container's contents into it. It was obviously fresh water that she had lugged a great distance.
Marinette whipped out her phone and placed it on the bench before moving towards the flower boxes.
Music started to play from the phone as Marinette began to water the plants. She even hummed and sang along, returning to the bench for a refill every now and then.
When she was done, she placed the watering can back under the bench before turning to the little plastic tub.
Marinette fished out gardening gloves and a rake.
She went to work weeding, looking as happy as could be despite the manual labour.
Adrien found himself transfixed.
He'd never realized how much work went into gardens, even though he often had photo shoots at stunning flower filled places such as the Luxembourg Gardens.
After weeding she grabbed a pair of shears from under the bench's and proceeded to trim some of the unruly bushes and shrubs.
Next she was transplanting some potted flowers that he hadn't noticed as well as planting small slips.
While she was packing the weeds into a plastic bag and shoving it into her back back, Adrien realized something important.
He was stuck in his spot. There was no way for him to slip out undetected. The space was so small she'd definitely notice him.
There was no quick way to slip out the only exit.
He sighed. He was just going to have to wait until she left first.
His father was going to kill him. Especially when Gabriel found out the shoot had been cancelled.
Adrien wasn't in a hurry, instead fascinated by everything she did.
When he assumed she was done, she surprised him by instead, sitting on the ground in the centre of the little garden and started talking to her plants.
The music still played softly in the background but her voice was clear enough for him to hear.
"So the funniest thing happened today! I got my Mama to talk about when her and Papa met because it's like one of the best love stories ever!" Marinette gushed, hands moving as expressively as ever, as if she was talking to a regular person and not a plant.
Adrien was interested by the story, tilting his head slightly to hear better.
"You know it's the one that reminds me there's hope for me, because Papa was so shy he couldn't even talk to Mama! He even dropped a cheesecake once because she walked into the shop looking for him," Marinette giggled at this point, a petite hand covering her mouth.
Adrien smiled. Both the story and Marinette filled him with a warm feeling.
"So he communicated with her through gifts!" Marinette continued, voice changing to mimic Tom, "Because there was no google translate then!"
She proceeded to burst out laughing at her impression of her Dad.
"He used to bake her a lot of treats, even learning some traditional Chinese desserts to make her. But. He sealed the deal when he discovered she loved flowers. He overheard that there was a secret language in flowers and then he was determined to speak to her through them."
Adrien's mouth had dropped into an "O" shape.
A secret language in flowers? Like a secret code? That was pretty cool.
Adrien thought about Marinette's stuttering around him and pursed his lips.
Maybe he could get closer to Marinette as Adrien Agreste this way.
Marinette standing caught his attention. He was disappointed that she appeared to be leaving when he watched her dance around her garden in what appeared to be a ritual for the girl.
"Chrysanthemum for friendship, Daisies for innocence, Hydrangea for devotion," Marinette listed, flicking a leaf lovingly on a blue hydrangea.
Adrien was almost reminded of his Lady flicking his bell. It was odd.
"- Admirer is the meaning of a Gardenia, Sunflowers for adoration, forget me nots for rememberance," Marinette continued.
Adrien was surprised to learn that different colors for certain flowers meant different things.
It was hard for him to remember everything but he was happy to spend time with Marinette. Even if she didn't know it.
Finally after that, Marinette packed up and headed home.
Adrien didn't take off immediately, even though his father was probably going to get mad at him.
Instead, he looked around the garden, gloved fingers gently cupping the flowers as he leaned in to admire them.
The garden smelled amazing, beautiful, and... kind of like Marinette.
She had always smelt sweet, like baked goods but he could never distinguish the floral earthy notes in her scent before.
Now it made sense.
She smelled like an entire garden in the best way possible.
.
.
.
Adrien didn't know why but if he needed to breath and relax, or cry and calm down, or even just to be alone...
He would be at her garden.
If he ever suspected she would be there, he would wait and see if she showed up. Her voice was soothing, her stories amusing, and listening to her list the flowers and their meanings was always a treat.
She was constantly flushed from working, looking cute even in her gardening clothes.
Adrien had been surprised to catch her the day after a vigorous gardening session. Usually she came about twice a week.
This time she was more or less relaxed and causal, enjoying her private garden as she drew in her sketchbook.
Adrien sighed in contentment as he sat back down, hidden by the leafy covered trellis.
Eventually he found himself nodding off for a little catnap, ears attuned to the sound of her pencil scribbling on the paper.
Plagg woke him up that time, teasing the boy that Marinette had gone.
Adrien had expected the Kwami to be annoyed about the detours and to pick on him about the garden.
To his surprise Plagg seemed to enjoy it just as much.
"This really brings me back," Plagg hummed as the two were soaking up the sun one weekend.
"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, lying on the bench as he enjoyed the sun's beams.
"Well, Tikki likes berries and she enjoys flowers and stuff because I guess she's a ladybug Kwami. Me? I like the sun and to chase stuff. Sometimes I could take a bite out of the plants too. A garden is the perfect spot for both of us," Plagg explained.
Adrien hummed, the garden was most certainly the perfect place for Chat Noir, and his Princess too.
Adrien bolted up, cheeks burning.
He'd meant to imagine Ladybug and yet somehow Marinette had popped into mind.
He coughed awkwardly as Plagg shot him an annoyed look, the model interrupting his nap.
To be fair it was Marinette's garden.
.
.
.
Every time Adrien was caught in the garden with Marinette, usually by his own doing, he had the odd desire to get her flowers.
The thought always made him blush.
He was walking from a shoot one afternoon when he passed a flower shop and he immediately thought of Marinette.
Maybe he should try that communication thing with Marinette.
He walked into the shop bashfully as an older woman approached him.
"How can I help you?" She asked.
Adrien raised a hand to the back of his neck.
"I'm looking for a specific flower for my good friend, I recently learned that flowers have meaning and I want her to know I admire her," he said to the lady, "Do you have any gardenias?"
Adrien was thinking back to how Marinette had said they meant admiration.
What better way to progress their friendship than for him to tell her he admired her.
She was amazing after all.
The woman shot him a knowing smile.
Adrien only took one flower, anxious to get it into water so it would last until school the following day.
Plagg snickered as his chosen smiled at the flower in the small square glass.
"What is it Plagg?" Adrien said annoyed.
"Nothing. It's just you're giving flowers to your girlfriend," Plagg teased.
Adrien felt himself turn red.
"It isn't like that," he muttered, " And it's a flower."
He was simply going to tell her that he admired her.
As a friend.
That's all. She'd know what it meant. It wouldn't romantic at all. Just a friend giving another friend a message through a flower.
Plagg said nothing and just smirked at Adrien who whirled away from the plant and headed straight for bed.
.
.
.
Nino blinked at Adrien who was showing him the flower at recess.
"What do you think?" Adrien asked, puffing up with pride at his gift.
"A Gardenia?" Nino asked skeptically, eyes examining Adrien.
"Yep, Do you think Marinette will like it?" Adrien asked, once again rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Nino nodded slowly.
"Didn't think you had it in you man," Nino assured.
Adrien shrugged.
"I just want her to know I admire her," he explained.
Nino choked back a laugh as he got up and left to find Alya. Boy was Adrien about to get a surprise.
Said model didn't notice, content that he was finally going to get closer to Marinette.
By the end of the day, Adrien took the flower out of its container and tapped Marinette on the shoulder as the class filed out, Nino tugging Alya away.
"Marinette this is for you," Adrien said shyly as he handed her the flower.
Marinette cupped it in both hands and frowned as she looked up at him.
Adrien winced. Did he do something wrong?
"Adrien, why did you give me this?" She asked.
"Because I recently learned about the language of flowers," he said proudly.
Marinette gave him a small smile.
"Okay what do you think this means?" she asked as Adrien pursed his lips.
"Admiration right?" he replied.
Marinette laughed lightly.
"Okay, just so you know for future reference, this means secret love, it's something a secret admirer would give his love," she explained as Adrien felt his face heat up.
Marinette gave him a sympathetic look and handed him the flower back before bidding him goodbye.
Adrien looked at the flower in his hand feeling a weird sensation settle in his stomach.
It felt like... he'd just been rejected... and he hadn't even been trying to confess.
Alone in the class, Plagg buzzed out.
"Plagg why do I feel so crappy. It's just a little mistake I shouldn't feel like..." Adrien paused, "like I got my heart stepped on."
The black Kwami sighed. Boy, Adrien was dense.
"Kid I think you missed the entire point of Marinette's parents' love story," Plagg said, "Her father wanted to communicate with her mother because he liked her and couldn't say it himself. Kind of sounds like you."
Adrien felt his cheeks redden but immediately saw the connection.
"I- I like M-Marinette?" He stuttered.
Plagg just facepalmed in answer as Adrien gaped at the flower.
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A/N : So for those of you who may already know a bit about the secret language of flowers, if you notice a difference from what you know and what I wrote, I just want to say that different sources say different things. So it really is a personalized language between two people's understanding of a flower's meaning. But for the sake of the story I'm writing the flowers' meaning as I learned it.