Marinette sat in Ms. Bustier's class, pencil moving furiously across her sketchbook. Tom and Sabine had decided that it was time to make an advertisement for their bakery. Her parents wanted Marinette to model with their food for a billboard type of sign. Of course Marinette saw this as an opportunity to show off her designing skills.
Alya peeked over Marinette's shoulder at her new work in progress. "What are these new designs for?" Alya asked. Nino and Adrien leaned back, eavesdropped.
"My parents want to do some advertising, with me in it," Marinette replied, frown adorning her face. "So I am just fiddling with new designs that I can wear." She sighed as she erased and scribbled down more notes.
Adrien's interest peaked. Marinette's going to be modeling? His mind went to the gutter, thinking of modeling that her parents would most definitely not approve of, and he shook his head to get those thoughts out. Other questions flitted through his head and he opened his mouth to ask them. "Hey Marinette? Who is going to be your photographer? And have you figured out where you are putting up your ads and all that?"
Her eyes widened when Adrien started talking. "I-I… Photographer we don't - I-I mean w-we don't have a photographer or anything yet," she stuttered, her face burning bright. Heat flooded through her body, seeming to be focused on her cheeks.
Adrien looked at her earnestly, instantly making a decision. "I could help you out with all that." He rubbed the back of his neck, realizing that maybe she didn't want to work with him. He had sort of pulled that offer out of nowhere. "I mean if you want. There are some bad, cheating people out there that wouldn't mind getting a few extra bucks from overpricing their services…" he trailed off somewhat awkwardly.
Marinette's jaw was dropped in astonishment. He wants to help me? "O-of course! T-that would be just perfect!" She started to ramble. "We've been trying to find one for a while, comparing a bunch and just not quite finding what we are looking for and-"
Adrian cut her off, and Marinette dropped her flailing arms. "Why don't you use Vincent? He's my Italian photographer. I'm sure that he would be happy to help."
Alya turned to Marinette and whispered, "Oh my gosh! Adrien's photographer! You have to!" Marinette nodded in a stupor.
Marinette was shocked. Adrien was offering help from his photographer. She twisted her earrings out of habit, which Adrien couldn't help but think that the little tick was endearing. "I-I will have to check with my parents, but that would be, well, th-that would be amazing! Thank you so much!" Marinette gushed, only stuttering a little.
"You're welcome! It's no big deal, anything to help a friend right?" he smiled brilliantly at Marinette. She could've sworn her heart stopped. She bit her lip and then smiled back, just as brilliantly, and then her heart pounded. Blood was rushing to her face and she could feel it's heat on her cheeks, yet again.
Adrien and Nino turned back around, and Alya fanned her face excitedly. In her excitement she did a little victory dance, silently screaming.
In front of the girls, Nino whispered to Adrien. "That was sick bro! That was awesome of you. Did you see Marinette's face?" Adrien smiled and patted Nino on the shoulder in appreciation of his praise. He peeked over his shoulder and saw that Marinette was still smiling brightly, face flushed, and she was biting her lip. He looked at her lips, imagining his own on hers. He turned back around smiling, trying to ignore his previous thought, and Nino looked at him smirking with an eyebrow raised.
"What?" Adrien asked, feigning innocence. Had it been anyone else, he might have fooled them, but not Nino.
Nino ducked closer to whisper, "Do you maybe have some feelings for a certain dark-haired classmate?"
Adrien flushed slightly, his collar getting hot. "I just admire her is all. It's so neat that she can design her own stuff."
Nino looked at him skeptically. "Uh huh. Sure."
TIME SKIP
Marinette and Adrien had been hanging out a lot, planning the photoshoot and everything that went with it. In that time, the shy girl had gotten used to talking with Adrien and stuttered much less. The pair were more comfortable around each other. Every new day with Adrien, Marinette liked him more and more. She had realized when she began to hang out with Adrien, that what she had felt before wasn't completely real. She knew that she had developed a crush on him since that day in the rain, but from there it wasn't real. It was to a point, which Marinette had seen, but she was obsessed with what he did, versus who he was…
It was the day of the photoshoot and Adrien had entered the bakery an hour or so early, to prepare everyone for Vincent's… wild ways. As he stepped forward, Sabine and Tom greeted him. Adrien pretended not to notice Tom's judgemental stare. The same one he always gave Adrien when he came to help. Adrien was dressed in a baby blue button down with its sleeves rolled up to the elbows. The top few buttons were undone, showing off his sculpted chest. His black slacks looked sharp with the top, certainly dressed to impress.
He briefly wondered if he was overdressed, but caught sight of Tom and Sabine's approving look. He had wanted to make more good impressions on them and look professional. He just may have dressed nicely to impress Marinette as well, but that was beside the point.
"Mari's in the kitchen, just getting ready to make some more sweets. She's so nervous! She hasn't always liked the camera and doesn't know how she'll look in that dress..." Sabine trailed off.
"I'm sure that she will look great!" Adrien exclaimed, "She always does," he added in a quieter side note.
Sabine smiled knowingly and pointed to the kitchen for Adrien.
Adrien thanked her and walked over to where she had pointed. He stepped in and saw Marinette bent over, yellow dress coming up scandalously short on her creamy thighs. He dragged his eyes up from the end of the yellow dress, and ended up staring at Marinette's ass. Damn. What am I doing? This is so not okay for me to be doing.
He blushed, tearing his green eyes away from where he was blatantly checking out his, admittedly very, very attractive, friend. He put his hand up to his mouth and coughed awkwardly, making his presence known. In surprise, Marinette smashed her head on the counter. She rubbed the back of her head with a wince. "Hi Adrien," she spoke.
"Hi Mari." He walked over to Marinette, standing close. " Is your head okay?" he asked guiltily.
The teenager brushed it off. "It's actually fine."
Adrien looked at her skeptically. He gently grabbed her face and tilted it down, ignoring the injured girl's protesting. "I said it's fine, Adrien. Stop worrying," she said, exasperated. He spotted a red bump swelling on her head. He carefully rubbed his thumb over it and Marinette squeaked. "Don't touch it!"
"'Fine' huh?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'll go grab you some ice, undo your pigtails so I can ice your head without your hair in the way."
Marinette rolled her eyes at his antics, but complied anyways. She combed through her dark locks with her fingers. She really was fine, this happened all the time to her. Her klutzy ways often shined through, giving her bruises.
Adrien stepped back in and saw Marinette twisting a dark lock around her finger. He stopped walking and gawked. "You look gorgeous!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself. She looks so beautiful with her hair down. It was wavy from taking it out of her pigtails. Marinette froze and turned around blushing and stuttering. Adrien shook off his thoughts of how cute that was, and tried to focus on the task at hand.
He walked over with a bag of ice, and had Marinette sit down. Before he placed the ice on Marinette's head, he leaned down and kissed her head. He whispered in her ear, lips brushing it as he spoke, "A kiss to make it better." Then he placed the cool ice on her head.
Shivers raced up Marinette's body, but it wasn't from the ice. Her heart pounded, and her face felt hot in a sharp contrast with the ice. Adrien smirked to himself. He did that to her. Marinette caught his smirk and raised an eyebrow, deciding she would definitely have to get him back later.
Adrien spoke up out of the silence. "New dress?" he asked, noticing it for the second time. It was a sunshine yellow color, bright and inviting. He figured that she picked the color for that specific reason. It was off the shoulder, showing off Marinette's shoulders and chest. His eyes bulged a little when he saw Marinette's arms. Mari's ripped! He shifted his gaze downward towards the bottom. The dress was a princess cut. Internally he smirked. A princess cut for his princess!
"Yeah. It's the one I was designing in class," Marinette answered him, drawing him out of his thoughts.
Adrien whistled low, "Wow! It turned out great!"
Marinette sat flustered at the compliment. "W-well, I wasn't too sure on the design because at first I thought a pleated bottom that-"
Adrien cut her off, smiling. "You are really bad at taking compliments."
Marinette looked at him, smiling slightly back, " Thank you." The pair both laughed.
Marinette stood up from her seat and went to dispose of what was left if the ice. When she came back, Adrien was just standing there. He looked up shyly, reminding Marinette of a puppy. "Is your head really okay?"
The young girl put a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him. "It's really fine Adrien, I run into stuff a lot," Adrien visibly relaxed and let out a huffy laugh, in which Marinette joined.
Marinette went back over to the bowl she had been getting out before she hit her head. She lifted it onto the counter and went over to wash her hands. "Would you like to help?" she asked, almost shyly.
Adrien's eyebrows lifted with interest. "Can I?"
The dark-haired beauty laughed at the silly question. "Of course you can, but wash your hands first."
Adrien eagerly went over. As he was watching his hands, he called over his shoulder. "I've never really baked before, or cooked much in general, are you sure you still want me? He asked, hinting at something else as well. He waited for Marinette to change her mind and decide that she no longer wanted him around.
Marinette understood his underlying meaning and answered both questions at once. "Of course I still want you. It doesn't matter to me what you can or can't do. I can teach you." After a moment of thought, she teased, "If I didn't know better, I would think you were trying to get out of work."
He shook his head profusely. "I-I want to help. Plus, it will be fun learning from you."
"Then let's get started!" For Adrien, Marinette grabbed a plain white apron with the bakery name on a small pocket, and for herself, she grabbed a white one that said 'kiss the cook' on it.
She tossed it and Adrien easily caught it, looping it around his neck. He put his hands behind his back, fiddling with the tie. Marinette watched his frustration grow, reminding her of a certain stubborn cat. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pushed out in a pout.
After having her fun of watching him struggle, Marinette decided it was payback time. She strutted over, her lips right next to his ear. "Here, let me." The words blew out on Adrien's neck and he shivered. Success! Once it was tied, Marinette went in front of Adrien, "Me too?" she asked.
Adrien complied, leaning into Marinette, maybe checking her out from behind once. Or twice. As he knotted the apron, he planted a kiss on Marinette's unsuspecting cheek. She whirled around, cheeks already flushing red. She looked accusingly at Adrien for making her blush, again. "What?" He asked. "Your apron says 'kiss the cook'." He smiled, feigning innocence on knowing about their little game.
Damn. He's got me again. Better up my game.
Aprons on, the two got ready to make some sweets. Adrien looked to Marinette earnestly. "What are we making chef?"
Giggling at the name, Marinette replied, "We are just going to start with simple chocolate chip cookies, my young padawan."
Adrien's mouth dropped say the Star Wars reference. "Did you just…?" he trailed off. God she's perfect!
"Yup," Marinette cut him off, popping the 'p'. "How many cookies do you want to make?"
The young man's eyes lit up. "One thousand!"
Marinette pretended to think about it for a moment. "Hmm. I think that's a little too many."
Once the pair had decided on four dozen, Marinette went to grab a bigger bowl. She peered in the big flour container before deciding that they would need more. She told Adrien that she would be right back, and the next thing Adrien knew, she was casually walking with a huge bag of flour over her shoulder.
He gaped at her strength. He had truly underestimated her. Sure he knew that she was strong, and he had already noticed her arm muscles, but this was different. He marveled at her strength, and Marinette smiled at him. "You're so strong! What?" he said surprised.
"I guess you learn new things every day," Marinette winked at Adrien who was stuck in a stupor.
"Can you bring over the flour container?" Marinette asked.
Adrien grabbed the huge container and brought it over. She hoisted the bag higher and slowly started to bend over, pouring the flour. Marinette smirked to herself, her lacy bra was showing from get bending over, and Adrien was quite obviously staring. Success!
Adrien watched as beads of sweat formed from her hard work, and how they slipped down under the neck of Marinette's dress, right up to a lacy bra he was positive he shouldn't be staring at.
"Like what you see?" Marinette asked, catching him in the act. Before Adrien could say anything however, the last of the flour plopped in with a thunk, and the flour puffed up and covered Adrien.
Marinette wiped sweat from her brow. Adrien was standing right next to the container of flour, covered. He looked dryly at Marinette. "You couldn't have given me a warning?"
The young woman stood, shocked, before scrambling over to the flour covered boy. "Oh Adrien! I'm so sorry. I was distracted and wasn't paying attention!" She internally scolded herself. Nice going Mari. Everything was going so well too.
"That's okay, I wasn't either," he blushed, thinking about what had distracted him. Marinette's hands were all over Adrien, dusting off the fine layer of flour on him. She patted down his chest, moving his collar to swipe at the flour that had collected on his neck and collarbone.
She moved down, kneeling on the ground and patting flour off of Adrien's black pants. Adrien's mind went to the gutter, again. Her head was right next to his belt, and he couldn't help but think that there were other things, better, more fun things she could be doing instead while she was down there.
Adrien shook the thoughts out of his head. No, bad Adrien. Very, very bad Adrien. He started to laugh at the situation. "Mari, don't worry about it!" he kept laughing, his gut wrenching with laughter.
Marinette stood up and started to giggle a bit before erupting in full blown laughter herself.
Tom and Sabine walked into the kitchen and Tom started to ask, "What's so funny?" before he saw Adrien's flour coated face. Tom smiled and started laughing and Sabine joined in too. "M-Mari," Tom stuttered with laughter. "W-what have I t-told you about-" more guffaws of laughter, "about pouring the flour slowly? Ahahaha! Especially at the end!" he laughed, a loud warm laugh that filled up the kitchen.
When everyone's laughter slowed down, Tom and Sabine headed back out to serve customers, shaking their heads and chuckling. They both wiped under their eyes, swiping away any stray tears.
Adrien looked at Marinette slyly. She was still standing right next to him. Marinette took one look at Adrien's sly look and immediately stopped laughing. "What are you up to now?"
She slowly tried to back away from Adrien, but went too slow. Adrien pounced on Marinette, covering her with a very fine layer of flour. He rubbed his flour coated face on her neck, the flour sticking to her and slightly coming off Adrien's cheek.
Marinette squirmed and Adrien grabbed her hips to keep her steady. He pulled her hips towards his as he rubbed flour all over her. Flour that didn't stick to them clouded around the pair. Another idea sparked in Adrien's head and he began to tickle a trapped Marinette.
"Adri- AHAHAHA! Adrien!" she was tense from his ticking. She tried to get out of his hold and went limp. Adrien held onto her as she went limp and they ended up on the floor.
Adrien relentlessly tickled Marinette, and she laughed, "St-stop! P-please!" Marinette laughed, ab muscles getting sore.
Adrien wouldn't give in though. He was sitting, straddling Marinette as she writhed on the floor. Swirls of flour formed on the floor from her movements. "A-Adrien!" Marinette couldn't stop laughing. Adrien smiled at the sight. Her smile is just gorgeous.
Adrien stopped his tickling for a minute, putting one hand on his hip and the other on his chin, feigning contemplation on stopping. He put his hand next to Marinette's head, supporting his weight. "Hmm. I don't think so Mari. I think you deserve every minute of this for that stunt you pulled with the flour."
"No, please! I already apologized for covering you!" Marinette pleaded.
Adrien knelt down so he was whispering in Marinette's ear, "No, not that stunt."
Marinette gasped. He had caught her. She gasped again when he continued his tickling, both of them laughing and out of breath. A click was heard, but the couple didn't hear, both of them laughing too hard to notice.
"Adrien?" an echoing voice called.