"Good morrrrning Adrien!" Plagg tapped Adrien on the forehead, "Get up pal, or you'll be late for school!"
"Ugh..." Adrien groaned, "Plagg, I am having the best sleep of my life!" Adrien tried to shoo the Kwami away.
"Marinette is going to get worried about you if you don't get to class in time, your breakfast already arrived ages ago! And I want my cheese!"
Adrien sighed, he got up, blinked and let his body stretch out, letting out a groan and then he sighed of relief. "I haven't felt so good in ages"
"Yeah, after clearing all your problems last night"
Adrien got up from bed as his photos of Ladybug appeared on his computer, for a moment, he looked at them and remembered Marinette. He smiled as he remembered her care for him last night.
"But we have so much to talk about..."
"Plagg"
"Yeah?"
"I am going to ask her out"
"What?!" Plagg's eyes widened, "Ask out that bakery girl, are you kidding?" But then he took a second thought, if Adrien dated her he could get all the cheese he wanted "Actually, that might not actually be a bad idea"
"Pfft" Adrien saw right through him, but then he got an idea. "Ah!"
"What?" Plagg asked but Adrien never answered as he quickly got dressed, and he got a piece of paper and coloring pencils and started eating his breakfast as he started writing.
"What are you making?" Plagg asked, taking his cheese off the tray and taking a bite.
"I want to make the day memorable for her, so I want to be able to write her my message so she can keep it forever"
"Huh"
When Adrien finished his breakfast, he grabbed a pink envelope, put the letter in, grabbed his bag and ran out for school.
In class that day-
Marinette felt giddily in class as she walked in with Adrien, she was happy to see him with a big smile on his face.
"Can I sit next to you today Marinette?" He asked.
"Ugh!" Chloe pouted.
"Of course" Marinette guided Adrien to her seat and he sat down, as Marinette let herself be seated next to him.
"This feels like a dream..." Marinette thought.
Alya and Nino were smiling at the new couple from below.
When class finished, Marinette put on a brave face and looked at Adrien.
"Shall we go and have some lunch together? My parents brought a lot of croissants for me this morning" She asked. "Of course! I'd love to"
They went outside and took their seat, Marinette happened to have brought so many yummy things and shared them with Adrien.
"Are you sure...?" Adrien asked, "Yeah! Please, dig in!" She encouraged, "You must be hungry, when you're depressed, you have less of an appetite"
"Are...you worried?" Adrien asked her, concerned.
"Well...the thing is, I'm sorry..." Marinette looked down at her lap guiltily.
"For what?"
"For what I put you through"
Adrien sighed, "From what you told me last night, I understand your reasons"
"But I should have told you about it properly, I didn't make it clear to you"
"Hey" Adrien lifted her chin and looked at her in the eye, "I have never been better in my life when I woke up this morning. I woke up with knowing who you are, your reasons and from that I could understand why you hid your identity and rejected my flirting. Yes, those days got harsh but...I don't want to go back on those days, I want to start as a new person as we are here today. Together"
Marinette smiled fondly, "You're so strong Chat" She grabbed his hand that lifted her chin and kissed it, a bit of shyness in her cheeks when Adrien started getting teary.
"Oh...don't cry..." Marinette frowned and then she caressed his cheek.
"It's okay, I'm just so happy..." Adrien sniffed.
"Do you want to go somewhere more private?" She asked.
"Oh, no, I-I'll be fine" He wiped his eyes.
"Oh come on soggy, man up" Plagg came out of his pocket.
"Plagg, keep down!" Adrien waved him back.
"Is that...your Kwami?" Marinette asked.
"Yes, Marinette, this is Plagg" Adrien introduced.
"Nice to finally meet you, by the way, do you have any camembert?" He asked, his tail wagging.
Tikki scoffed inside Marinette's bag.
"I think I do..." Marinette looked inside her lunch bag, to find a big hunk of cheese, "Will this be-"
"Whoooaaaaa!" Plagg took the cheese and licked his lips, "I like you already, Adrien, you have got to marry this one!"
Immediately Marinette and Adrien blushed.
"What? Too soon?"
"Plagg, why don't you go in my bag and join Tikki so you can enjoy your treat?" Marinette suggested.
Plagg looked at her bag, "Sure, it has more room" He went inside willingly.
"I'm sorry about that, he has always been this way"
"It's no biggie..." Marinette waved it off. "Here, eat up kitty"
Adrien helped himself and started eating.
"So, is 'Tikki' your Kwami?" Adrien asked after gulping down a bite of a sandwich.
"Oh, yeah, hold on" Marinette looked around for anyone, luckily, they were alone. "Come out Tikki" Marinette set the all clear, Tikki came out.
"Tikki, I'd like you to meet Adrien Agreste, aka, the Chat Noir"
"It's nice to meet you Adrien" Tikki smiled at him, she let him give her a handshake. "My pleasure Tikki, you seem very sweet"
"Oh, thank you" Tikki liked the compliment, "I hope that Plagg has been treating you well?"
"All he likes is cheese, other than that, he is a good friend"
"I'm glad" Tikki chuckled at Adrien's stuffed cheeks full of food, "I hope you get better, all Marinette did was worry about you the past few months"
Marinette gawped at the kwami as she told him that, "Really?" Adrien awed.
"Hmm hmm!" Tikki nodded her head. "She cares for you, very much"
Adrien looked at the blushing Marinette. "You've liked me since I gave you that umbrella..."
Marinette squeaked, and nodded her head rapidly. She could hear her own heart pounding in her ears as Adrien awed. "So all this time... I still can't half believe it"
"Yeah, who knew you were the flirty Cat Noir? I didn't know you were like that"
"When I am Cat Noir, it's a time when I can be myself without the restraints of my Father, telling me what to say, what to do, and what I can't do. Even though I may not flirt in public, Cat Noir has always been a part of me"
Marinette recalled what he said about his Father.
"I'm sorry- Your Father...he doesn't spend time with you?" She asked.
"That doesn't matter anymore, I have you now. You mean the world to me" His eyes all soft and full of love, she could see it.
Marinette felt her heart swoon and return the gesture. She put away her lunch bag and scooted up close to him, to put her hand on top of his and they both grasped, to feel Marinette's soft hands.
It feels amazing to finally touch. And the best thing ever is that Adrien actually loves her, as she looked at him, she could see the picture of Cat Noir's face with his mask and ears. The person that was always there, protecting her.
"I love you too kitty"
"Girl! How was your lunch break? I saw you go off with Adrien!"
"Oh- yeah, he's a real sweetheart Alya" Marinette finally frowned in awe, her head going off to dreamland, "He told me that he was in love with me too, funnily enough, long as I have been!"
"You are so lucky! And you have all the time in the world to spend with him!"
"But- Wouldn't you mind?"
"Not at all! I'm cool with it, he's your boyfriend, we can hang out whenever we want!"
"Thanks Alya, I appreciate it. Shall we meet tomorrow after school to study for next weeks test?"
"I will see you tomorrow then" Marinette waved her friend off before Adrien approached her, "Hey"
Marinette almost jumped out of her skin, "Adrien! HI!?"
"Hold your whiskers Marinette, I like it when you jump, you're cute when you do that but I don't bite"
"Sorry, just-jumpy" Marinette half groaned.
"It's okay" Adrien smiled, "I'll see you tonight when I can" He winked, which made Marinette giggle a little.
"Well, see you tonight"
She held her breath and placed a kiss on his cheek, one of the things that she dreamed of doing. As she moved away, she saw the soft blush in Adrien's cheeks, his surprised expression that then turned warm.
"I'll see you too" he said, and returned the soft peck on Marinette's own. As he pulled away, Marinette suddenly pulled him into a hug.
"Whoa!" He chuckled.
"If you ever feel sad...please come and see me, I want to be there for you. Always. When you need me, I'll be here for you"
Adrien felt his worries wilt away as he wrapped his arms around her, it felt like hours before they let go of each other. He didn't want to let go of such an angel, he went over to the car, waved to her, as she waved back and went inside the car.
He couldn't wait for tonight.
When Marinette heard that familiar thump on the rooftop, her heart sprung up and she went up to see him.
To see Cat Noir's face again felt like pure bliss.
"Kitty!" She called out.
"Princess!" Cat Noir called back, as he leaped over to her, he de-transformed, to find himself back in her arms again.
"Oh Chat~!" Marinette nuzzled her face into his chest, "It feels like forever and it's only been hours!"
"Same here M'Lady"
Marinette smiled up to him, "My parents are out until next week, you can stay for as long as you like!"
He hugged her tightly in response.
"Would you like to come inside?" She asked.
"Of course!"
When they got inside, Adrien immediately noticed the pictures of himself on her walls. "Wow. I didn't see those last time I came here"
"That's because I panicked and put them all away...But now, I want you to see them"
Adrien smiled.
"By the way, I have something to spoil Plagg with..." She went to her desk to grab a plate of Camembert, "Here you go!"
"Ohhhhhhh!" Plagg licked his lips and went straight for it before Marinette stopped him. "What's the magic word?" She asked.
"Erm, thank you?"
"Good! Now you can have your cheese" She placed the plate in front of him and he happily obliged to stuff his face full of cheese.
"You're spoiling him Marinette!" Adrien chuckled as he watched his Kwami eat.
"Well, I've learned that first good impressions are great ones"
"True that!"
"So were you able to safely leave your house?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, as long as Nathalie and my Father think I am asleep, I'm good to go"
"Just at night? It is sort of late..."
"When I want to go out, it's usually at night or on my free time, but my free time during the day includes being stuck inside the house. So I am only able to run around freely when another akuma is on the loose, as Cat Noir. So, yeah, welcome to my world"
"Your Father must be terribly busy"
"So he says, he never spends time with me...I don't even know what he does, if i did, I'd be able to understand why he doesn't have the time. But I don't and I don't know what to think of it"
"It must be frustrating" Marinette frowned.
"It always is. But that's the way it has always been, since my Mother died apparently"
"Well. I think that, even though he doesn't show it, he still loves you very much. Remember when he was akumatised as the collector?"
Adrien recalled that time, "Yeah, he told us that he cared for me, and that he loved me..." He smiled.
"Maybe he just doesn't know how to act around you, especially with someone, the love of their life is gone"
"Yeah...that could be it"
"Thank you Marinette, you make my world so much brighter" Adrien gave her a hug, "There are some good things out in the world, I always need to be reminded of them"
Marinette wrapped her arms around Adriens back, as she wondered what could cheer him up.
"What did you and your Mother do when you were little?" She asked.
"Well, we loved playing hide and seek"
"Hmm! Then I have an idea!" She went to her drawers to grab a Cat Noir mask and ears, "I made these once when I was bored, your puns made my days better" She showed them to him.
"Wow, nicely made!"
"I have an idea, we can play hide and seek, but with these"
"How?"
"Easy" She puts the mask on him and then the ears, giggling, she adjusted his hair a bit to make him look like Cat Noir.
"The person hiding has to wear these, and what the seeker does is call out, "Here kitty kitty kitty kitty!"
Adrien burst out laughing, "That's amazing! I don't think I can hide and keep silent doing this"
Marinette was glad that it was making him happy, "We can have fun exploring though my house playing this game. What do you say?"
"I think it's a puuurfect idea!"
They took a while before they both grinned widely, and Adrien twiddled an eyebrow affectionately.
"Silly kitty" Marinette punched him playfully in the arm.
The next thing they were playing hide and seek in Marinette's house.
Adrien hid under a table in the bakery kitchen chuckling as he heard footsteps come in the room.
Then he heard soft taps, until...
"BOO!" Marinette yelled, and Adrien jumped, his head banged against the table. "Argh!" He yelped, immediately rubbing his head, it wasn't so sore, he chuckled to himself.
"You okay?" Marinette asked with her Cat Noir ears and mask on, she looked adorbable with those on.
"I'm fine, you gave me quite the surprise" He let Marinette help him up to stand.
"We have been playing for a thrilling hour, but we both need some sleep for tomorrow"
"Yeah..."
"Would you like to stay the night? If you go back to your house in time, no one would be suspicious"
Adrien blushed, "Really? Is that alright?"
"Of course, I can get some of my Dad's old pajama's and my bed is a double size-" She realized then that she would be sleeping with him, "So it's fine!" She maintained a squeak in her voice.
"Are you really really sure?" His face was full of are you certain?!
Marinette nodded. "I'll go and get some pajama's" And she quickly sped out of the kitchen, leaving Adrien gaping.
"Wow. I love her" He pressed a hand to his heart, "So much"
Soon, she came back with some pajama's. "Here, I'll go change in my room, you quickly go in those and I'll call out to tell you when everything's good"
"Alright then" He said and Marinette politely left the room.
Adrien changed in his own pace and then went out the room to wait for Marinette, until he heard her call, she opened the entrance and he climbed up the ladder.
"Here" he gives his clothes to Marinette. "You can put them somewhere suitable" He got up and shut the door while Marinette put his clothes away.
At that time, Adrien picked up her hair brush and approached her from behind.
"Here, I'll do your hair for you" He said, using one hand to take out her ribbons and put them on her dressing table. "Oh, thank you"
As he hair was let down, Adrien could see exactly how long it was, and it was soft like he imagined it to be and he gently brushed her hair.
"Your hair is really nice Marinette, you should really let it down once in a while"
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's very soft too, you must take good care of it"
The more he brushed her hair, the sleepier she became.
"So...tired..." She yawned.
"Time for bed then princess" Adrien set her brush aside and guided her to the bed, they went up the ladder and Adrien lifted the sheets to tuck her in and then climbed in himself.
It was like the softest bed in the world, his own is plain, boring and cold. And when he settled in with Marinette, she felt so warm.
"Goodnight Plagg, Tikki" Adrien said to the two kwami's.
"Goodnight you two" Tikki said, "Come on, I'll show you where I sleep" She said to Plagg.
Adrien checked on Marinette that had fallen asleep.
"Goodnight Marinette"