"Alya, I hope you know how much I truly hate you right now," Marinette wailed over the phone. She had been rummaging through her closet for the past hour. Like she had anticipated, she was done in the bakery by noon, but that only gave her two hours to get ready and get to the park for her date with Adrien. And her wardrobe was not cooperating.
Marinette had been checking the weather compulsively all morning. What if she wore a sweater, but it got too warm? Or what if she just wore a t-shirt, but it got too cold? Or was a t-shirt too casual to wear on a first date? Maybe she should wear a dress, but the forecast had said it was going to be breezy, and Marinette did not trust herself to come out of that situation not completely mortified. She was probably overthinking this, she had known Adrien for over a year now and he knew what she looked like. He had seen her at her worst… Marinette shuddered as she remembered the times she came to school with her hair half done or two different shoes on because she had been running late. And for some reason, Adrien actual freaking supermodel Agreste still didn't have a problem being seen with her in public.
"Marinette, calm down! You and Adrien hang out all the time, just with… other people around. But this isn't any different, not really!" Alya's voice crackled over speaker phone.
"But Alya, that's the thing, there's always been other people! Not all of the attention is on me and I can just respond to other people instead of having to come up with stuff! What if we run out things to talk about and he thinks that I'm boring and leaves-"
"Marinette," Alya's stern voice interrupted her friend's slight panic before it could build. "Listen to me. You are a smart girl. You're funny and you're an incredible designer, you care so much about other people, and you make a great class representative and leader. Sure, you're clumsy and slightly awkward, but you're so much more than that! And I have been reliably informed by my wonderful boyfriend who would never dare lie to me-" There was a slight pause in which Marinette could picture Alya giving Nino The Look before she continued, "-that Adrien also has feelings for you, but the poor boy is more socially inept than you are and doesn't know what to do about said feelings. Since neither of you were going to do anything, I decided to step in and get you started. Marinette… you're not really mad, are you?"
Marinette sighed. "No, I'm not, I promise. I'll probably thank you for this eventually, if I don't die in the process. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook for this!"
She could practically hear Alya beaming on the other side of the phone. "Ok so I'm assuming you haven't decided what to wear yet, right? Remember those black skinny jeans that make your butt look awesome? Go put those on. And that red top I made you buy! Oh girl, that'll be perfect!"
Marinette grinned, and then looked at the clock. "Oh my gosh, Alya! I need to be there in twenty minutes and I still haven't done my makeup! I later you call- I wait no, I'll call you later!" She heard Alya's laugh and a quick 'good luck' before she hung up the phone. Marinette scrambled around her room, getting dressed in the outfit that Alya had suggested.
"So I hope you didn't really have plans today," Alya said, lounging across Nino's bed once she hung up the phone.
"Babe, I literally had no plans at all today and then you sprung this on me. I was planning to hang out with our friends," he reminded her. She grinned, the same grin she had at the pizza parlor the day before. Nino groaned. "What? What could that face possibly be for this time?"
"Well I was hoping we could go get lunch in a little bit, I'm getting hungry." The grin left her face as quickly as it came. So all she wanted was him to buy her lunch, he could handle that.
Nino nodded. "Yeah sure, I could go for some food. Where did you want to go?"
"Well, there's that little café over on Second Street that we could go to, they've got decent food," Alya proposed.
"Last time we were there, all you did was complain…" Nino trailed off. Finally, it clicked into place. "ALYA! That café is right across from the park, you just want to go spy on Adrien and Marinette!"
Alya didn't say anything, but her grin was back. Nino wasn't sure if he was terrified or in love.
Marinette ran to the park, she was late of course she was late why did she ever think she could be on time, Adrien had probably left already- She stopped as she rounded the corner and saw Adrien sitting on one of the benches. Marinette took a few deep breaths to steady herself and then walked over to where the boy was sitting.
"H-hey Adrien!" Marinette waved awkwardly
Adrien looked up from his phone, quickly pocketing it when he saw who was there. "Hey Marinette!" He chose not to comment on the fact that she was nearly ten minutes late, since she was honestly earlier than he had expected her to be. Which thankfully gave him less time to worry. After some pleasant, albeit awkward, niceties Adrien asked, "So ah… did you have any ideas of what you wanted to do?"
Marinette looked like she had seen a ghost. "I uh… n-no, I didn't… I don't…"
Adrien laughed nervously. "That's ok ha, I um, came up with some ideas for stuff we could do, if you wanted?"
"Yes!" Marinette blurted out. "I um… yes, what did you have in mind?"
"Well, Alya mentioned that you were going to be working on a dress for that fashion contest, and since you were helping your parents this morning and we were together yesterday- well I mean, all of us, you, me, Nino, Alya…" Adrien broke off awkwardly. "Anyways, there's a new little shop that opened, just down the street actually, that sells materials and fabrics and stuff. If you want to, we could go check it out and see if you can find anything you might like for it? And I'm not a designer, but I know my way around fabric, so maybe I could help, you know, as a second opinion? Or we can just talk or hang out or… something," he finished lamely.
"I would really like that! The um, the st-store I mean, if that's ok with you?" Marinette could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.
Adrien smiled, relieved that she had liked the suggestion. "Sure! Yeah of course it's ok, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it."
The blush on Marinette's cheeks got even redder. "Oh right I, um… stupid, I'm-"
Adrien saved her from further embarrassment by grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction of the store. "I'll lead the way, come on," he grinned. Marinette's mind might have short circuited a little when he took her hand, but she recovered quickly and with only a minor amount of flailing.
The walk was mostly silence, but it had only a slight edge of awkwardness to it this time, unlike the usual overwhelming awkwardness that they faced. Adrien hadn't been wrong, and the walk was short, with the store being on the same street as the park. When they arrived, Adrien pulled the door open and motioned for Marinette to walk inside.
She took one look and knew she was in love. The place was packed floor to wall with every color and pattern she could think of. They had everything sorted by gradient, so the outside of the room was a literal rainbow of colors.
"Hello dearies!" A voice called from behind the counter. An older lady with grey hair waved at them. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"
Adrien turned to Marinette. "I think I would like to just look around for now, I've got an idea in mind but I'd love to see what you've got in here," she answered.
"Of course, take your time! As you can see, we have a large assortment of choices," the old woman smiled and Marinette thanked her.
"So… do you think you'll be able to find what you need?" The model nudged his slightly stunned friend.
"I think this is what heaven looks like," Marinette gasped. "Adrien… how did I not know about this? This place is perfect!"
Adrien felt warmth spread through his body. "I'm glad that you like it! Ok so… describe the dress to me: cut, length, color? It's an evening dress, so for a classy occasion, but what do you want it to feel like when it's being worn?"
And with that bit of prompting, Marinette launched into an explanation of the dress she wanted to make, how she wanted it to be a sleek, tight-fitting navy dress, with beading on the bodice and a high neckline. How she wanted the wearer to feel bold and confident, without having to reveal anything they didn't want to. The more she talked about it, the clearer Adrien could picture exactly what she was thinking. And, Adrien noticed, while Marinette was caught up in talking about the details of her vision, she didn't stutter or stumble over her words once. He made a mental note to thank Alya for that tip later.
They walked the entirety of the store, taking in everything they could find. Adrien would hold up a fabric, and nine times out of ten Marinette had some sort of criticism about it- it was too dark, it was too light, the texture was wrong. But when he got it right, Adrien could feel the excitement radiating out from Marinette. Sure, she had been happy plenty of times before when the group was hanging out, but this was different somehow. It was intoxicating to be around, and Adrien loved that he could be a part of making Marinette that happy. She deserved to be happy.
Two hours and quite a few dollars later, the two emerged from the store. Marinette might have gotten a little carried away and bought some supplies for a few other projects she had in mind, but she was ecstatic. She got the materials she needed, and Adrien had been a huge help to her in refining her ideas. Anything she had been stuck or not completely sold on, he had some sort of solution for. Marinette had no doubt that she was going to do well in this contest now, and she couldn't wait to get home and get started.
"After all that shopping, I'm pretty hungry. What do you think? There's a café a few doors down," Adrien asked, hoping that Marinette would agree. He wasn't ready for this day to be over yet, wasn't ready to leave her uplifting presence.
"Yeah, I could definitely go for some food right now," Marinette smiled.
Adrien marveled over how much more relaxed Marinette was now than when she had first raced up to him in the park. He was going to have to buy Alya a cake or something. While Adrien went to order their food, Marinette looked for a table. She was surprised it wasn't more crowded than it was for the time of day, but there were only three other occupied tables, which meant she had her choice from almost the entire place. She chose one slightly tucked into the side of the café. Marinette didn't like being the center of attention, and she knew Adrien liked to avoid it whenever he could. And this way, she could set her shopping bags on the floor and not worry about someone stepping on them or tripping over them.
While she was waiting, Marinette checked her phone to see four unread texts from Alya. But before she could open them to respond, Adrien was on his way back. She tucked her phone away, not wanting to be rude.
"It'll be out in five to ten minutes," Adrien informed her as he sat down.
"Awesome, I'm starving! I didn't realize how hungry I was until we got here, this place smells amazing!" Adrien nodded in agreement.
Things were going well, and the two managed to pass the next seven minutes with actual conversation and only the occasional pause. Once the food arrived, their conversations slowed down, but never fully stopped. Adrien discovered that Marinette was a sucker for puns, and he was using that to his advantage. Marinette had an amazing laugh, and Adrien was keeping a count of how many times he could get her to laugh while they ate. He was up to six now, including the time when Marinette literally had to spit out her water. It was disappointing once their food was gone, since there was no longer any reason for them to stay in the cozy café.
"Adrien, today was… today was really great, I had a lot of fun! And um… well if you wanted too, I would want you- I mean to! I would want to! Uh.. gooutwithyouagain?" Marinette was fairly sure she was going to spontaneously combust.
"Marinette, can I kiss you?" Adrien asked in response.
"I uh, oh wow, yes, definitely yes-" She was cut off by Adrien leaning in to kiss her gently. Marinette closed her eyes, trying not to think about the fact that this was better than she had ever imagined.
Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Marinette jumped back, startled. The lady at a table across the restaurant had knocked her glass off of the table and it had shattered all over the floor. Sheepishly, Marinette turned back to Adrien. "I uh… um, I'm sorry, sorry about that…"
Adrien was grinning from ear to ear. "No worries, we can always… do it again later if you want?" Marinette nodded furiously and Adrien laughed. "Alright, well it's going to be getting dark soon, so how about I walk you home?" He held out his hand.
"I would like that," Marinette smiled softly as she took his hand.
They turned and walked out of the café holding hands, meaning they didn't see the girl who had knocked the glass over fistpump the air, as the boy who was with her sat with his head in his hands.