[Look at that, chapter 2 is finally done! Also thank you all for being so patient with me! Next chapter should be out soon but it may take a bit longer on account of school/end of term stuff. Again thank you and hope you enjoy!]
Chapter 2
Adrien woke to the rays of bright sunshine filtering through his window. He blinked open his weary eyes and looked around his room. In some vague corner he could see a clock, but his still half-asleep eyes couldn't make out an exact time. Was it 5:00? Or did it say 9:00? Maybe it was like 6:87 and he just couldn't see. Wait… 6:87 wasn't a time….was it?
Rather than try to figure out the time, Adrien decided to just go back to sleep. Nathalie would wake him up for school later. He'd been having a really good dream. One where he was riding on Ladybug's shoulders like a little kid. Maybe he had been a little kid again, it sure seemed like it. But as he tried to enter back into the child-like dream of his, Adrien found himself slowly waking up. He tried to ignore it and enter his dream once again, but it was to no avail.
He then decided to shift gears. Thinking back to last night, the boy began to brainstorm what to get Mari for her birthday. He had been up thinking about it for a while last night, but he had never come to a conclusion.
He opened his eyes for a second and surveyed his room. And not a second later, his eyes landed on a blue scarf placed neatly on his desk. The boy couldn't help but smile to himself. The scarf had been a gift from his father, one he cherished dearly. Maybe he could find out who manufactured it and get a matching one for Mari. In pink of course. But, no. He couldn't do that. It had to be something more than what he could buy. Mari was worth more than a credit card.
Closing his eyes once more, Adrien wondered what he could do for that amazing girl. He would make it. That was final. But what to make?. What could he make? Man this was gonna be harder than he thought.
Adrien desperately wanted to brainstorm more ideas, but his internal clock was telling him it was time to get up. Though that might have just been Plagg..
The kwami was repeatedly flying into the back of the model's head, yelling something about school and being late and-BANG.
Adrien was suddenly jolted back to reality. He had sat straight up, flinging the covers to the side and watched in terror as Nathalie came storming into the room.
"Adrien! I woke you up precisely 32 minutes ago, why aren't you ready?! School starts in exactly 9.5 minutes!"
"I'm so sorry Nat I'll be out in five!" Nathalie simply huffed and turned to storm out of the room, but before she could get a chance to, something caught her eye. Something pink. And Adrien never wore pink.
"Adrien, what's that you've got in your hand?"
The model looked down at his hand, not entirely surprised to find the invitation still there. "Oh, this?"
The secretary nodded softly.
"It's just an invitation…" And as he spoke the model pulled the letter closer. Deep down he knew what Natalie would ask, what she had to ask, but he didn't want her to.
"For what?"
"M-my friend's birthday party."
"Which friend?"
"Marinette Dupain Cheng."
Natalie murmured something to herself then walked over to the boy and held out a hand. "I'm sorry Adrien, but I'll need to take that from you. Your father must approve it first."
Adrien's eyes went wide. He knew she would have to do this, but still, his father wouldn't approve. If it was something he truly wanted to do, well, there was no way his father would let him have fun…
Natalie continued holding out her hand with a stone hard face, but inside she was screaming. It was part of her job to make up the model's schedule, but she had been pretty lax lately and Gabriel had certainly let her know that she was being soft. She knew there was no way the businessman would approve of what he thought was a 'silly, pointless birthday party', but she would do her best to convince him anyway.
It took a few seconds, but eventually the teenager sighed and gave in. He set the open letter in her palm and looked away, his face sullen and full of remorse. It broke the secretary's heart, but she took the letter anyway and placed it neatly in her jacket pocket. She abruptly turned to leave but Adrien's voice stopped her, if only for a second.
"Could I have the letter back when you're done? Even if he says no, I'd like to keep it…"
Natalie turned her head ever so slightly to look at the boy. "Of course Adrien." It's the least I can do…
Adrien was racing through the empty halls, making his way to the waiting classroom. Just thinking about how Marinette would be right behind him made him blush, even if she had been there all year. He just couldn't stop thinking about the girl. Well, it was either that or the party. But thinking about the party always brought his thoughts back to her.
He still couldn't decide what to get for her. A tiny little scarf just didn't seem right. And what about the cake? He was supposed to make a cake for her, but how? He had only ever learned how to make chocolate cake. He really needed to look into that…
Too soon the model found himself in front of the classroom door. Through the small window, he could see their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Bustier, speaking to the class from the front of the room. The rest of the class was seated and most of them were paying attention to the teacher, and not the door. Slowly, very slowly, he opened the door, crouching down as he slipped in. No one really noticed, except Nino, who looked delighted that his best friend had finally showed up.
Adrien slid into his seat like a snake and he heard a soft giggle from behind him that made his heart soar. Mrs. Bustier kept talking, but she looked Adrien's way and scribbled something down on her clipboard. At the same time Nino nudged the model's shoulder, giving him a questioning look.
"Yo, bro why so late?"
"Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I had a lot of homework." The dj raised his eyebrows in confusion, but seeing as he got no further explanation, he turned his attention back to the class.
As soon as Nino turned away, Adrien let his thoughts wander once more. Marinette's birthday was a week away. He needed to figure out a present now or else he would procrastinate and probably never get it done. Even if there was no way for him to make it to the party, Adrien was determined to get her a present one way or another. His scarf idea kept popping up in his head, but it just didn't' feel quite right. It needed something more… Something…. Puns. There needed to be puns involved, he was sure about that. But how would he even-oh. Ohhh.
Adrian's mind suddenly went to work. His idea blossomed into reality, the gears in his head suddenly realizing how he could incorporate this project with another he had been working on. It was so clear, so wonderful. All he need was one good pun. One pun, maybe more, and a question...
"Pppchhaahahaha!" Adrien clamped his mouth shut. He hadn't meant to laugh out loud like that, but it was too late now. His hand flew to his face to calm the giggles escaping his mouth, but it only muffled his quiet laughter. The whole class was looking his way now and Adrien felt his face go beat red. He let his head rest face down on the desk and it wasn't long before Mrs. Bustier began teaching again. His laughs were silent now and he could feel Nino's concerned gaze on the back of his head. Possibly Marinette's too.
He couldn't help but let a small sigh escape his lips as well. It wasn't his fault he was so punny…
"Pppsssst, Adrien what's up with you today? You seem kinda out of it…"
Adrien turned his head to face his friend with a large grin on his face. His wonderful present idea has put him in a pretty punny mood. "What are mew talking about Nino? I'm feline great."
Nino reeled back at the sudden blast of puns. He looked slightly horrified at the awful play on words. "Bro, what's gotten into you? Puns aren't your thing, right?"
"Nino, puns have always been meow thing."
"Dude stop."
"Nevfurrr…"
And yet again Adrien had to quell his laughter at the sight of Nino's contorted face. Somehow, the dj looked even more betrayed and appalled than he had at the first set of puns. The model quickly turned his head to face the desk once more and laughed quietly into his arms. It felt so natural, twisting words to make puns. But Nino was right, Adrien didn't make puns. Cat Noir did… He might need to take it easy for a while.
The boy then lifted his head slightly to start paying attention to the class. Now that he had Mari's present figured out in his head, he might as well get something out of the school day. Even if it was boring Physics, or Math, or-wait what class was he even in?
Adrien jumped as the loud school bell broke him out of his daze. He was still in his first class of the day, but it felt like he'd already been through a whole school day. A very boring one at that. After attempting to pay attention to Mrs. Bustier, the model had given up and had been brainstorming ideas for Marinette's birthday cake. He had settled on one of two options: a regular chocolate cake with pink frosting, or...something new… His second option was very vague, but that was because he wanted to find out Marinette's favorite flavor of cake. If it wasn't chocolate, he might try it out. Hopefully making different cakes wasn't much harder than chocolate cake…
"Hey Aaadrikiiiins!" No. Please, not her. "What was all that giggling about earlier? Oh, let me guess, you were thinking about me, weren't you?"
"Hey Chloe, and umm, not quite…"
"Ohohhohho, who am I kidding, why wouldn't I be on your mind?"
Ugggghhh. Adrien was pretty sick of Chloe by now. Both of their current conversation, and just in general. He needed some way out of this; talking with Chloe too much would just ruin his good mood. Aha! Off to the side he saw a blueish-black haired girl making a slow exit from the room in order to make it to her next class. He briskly stepped her way and reached for her wrist, a small grin spreading across his face.
"Actually, I was thinking about Marinette."
"M-m-marinette?! Why her?"
"Uhhh, well I was thinking about how fun our fencing practices are-"
"WHAT?! SINCE WHEN DID YOU TWO FENCE TOGETHER?!"
"I've been teaching Mari for a few weeks now." Okay now's your chance, just take it! "Umm...uhhh, sorry Chloe. I would love to talk, but I think both Mari and I need to make it to our next class, don't we sweetie?" Adrien turned his head victoriously to find a very shocked Marinette. Her face was priceless, much like Nino's from earlier, except hers was much cuter. Of to the side he noticed Alya with her mouth wide open and her eyes aglow with mischief. That probably wasn't good, but at the moment Adrien was more worried about Chloe.
He noticed a soft nod from the paralyzed girl at his arm and smiled brightly as he looked back to his 'friend'. "Well looks like we gotta go, see ya Chloe."
The model quickly turned his head and picked up his bag as he walked toward the door to avoid Chloe's imminent retort. The girl started saying something, but he and Mari were already out the door before she could say a single word. The designer still seemed to be in shock from the whole ordeal so Adrien made sure to hold her hand tightly; he hoped it was reassuring and not disrespectful. But little did he know that it was neither.
Marinette didn't really know what it was, but having Adrien's hand in hers made her absolutely speechless. It felt as if she had just gone back in time, back to the time when she couldn't even speak to Adrien without freaking out. It was just so surreal...He was holding her hand! Adrien, her most bestest friend was holding her hand. They probably looked like a couple! AHhhhhhhhhh…. The girl couldn't help but scream internally at their situation. Even if she'd been comfortable around him for a few weeks, physical contact with his hand in front of the entire class made her reset.
The two walked hand in hand to their next class, and Marinette hardly even realized when the boy reached for her hand as they walked to their following class once second period was over. He was even holding her hand while they walked to the bakery after school! The girl was squealing so much inside, she didn't know how she could make it through work without fainting.
But make it through she did. Somehow, the designer was able to function like a proper human being until Adrien left for home after work. It wasn't until the girl had made it to her bedroom after dinner that she was able to freak out about her whole day.
"Tikki tikKI TIKKI!"
The aforementioned kwami spiraled out of a nearby corner, whizzing through the air to reach her miraculous holder. "What is it Mari? Is it an akuma?!"
The designer giggled at that. "No no no. It's Adrien!" The girl couldn't help but continue to laugh to herself as she climbed up the ladder to her bed, slumping into the mess of pillows and blankets.
"Marinette, I thought you had you and Adrien figured out already…"
"Me too! But then, he held my hand! My hand Tikki! And not just for a minute or two, he was holding it like all day! He just reached for my hand when we walked to classes, and he was smiling too! It was so cute Tikki! I'm just so happy!"
The kwami zipped over to the designer and landed softly on a pillow by the girl's head. "Hehe! Well then, it's a good thing no one gets akumized for being too happy."
"Ha, I'd be in lots of trouble then. Ummmm... Tikki, can I ask you something?"
The wide eyed kwami smiled in response and gently nodded her head.
"D-do you think Adrien likes me. Like really really likes me. Not just as a friend, but like, umm, you know...a lo-love-like type thing…"
Tikki stared at the girl in disbelief, but also in understanding. This was just your typical Marinette. That didn't mean it wasn't funny though.
"HehehehAHAHAHAHH! MARINETTE! What do you think? Of courSE HE LIKES YOU!"
Plagg was bored. Very bored and very tired. Just like he always was… It didn't help that Adrien had only left the kwami with a measly, single slice of cheese. And it wasn't even camembert! What an outrage!
But at the moment, the prospect of having camembert brought directly to the kwami was extremely slim. Adrien was somewhat...distracted to say the least. What he was up to, Plagg had no idea. The kwami had been sitting contently in his knocked-down trash can, quietly nibbling at his tiny cheese rations. He watched the model zip in and out of the room. Sometimes he came back with cookbooks, other times, sewing manuals. He held large bags of flour atop his shoulders, at the same time carrying layers of expensive fabric draped across his arms. This time the kid came back carrying what seemed to be a box full of cake decorating equipment.
"Hey Adrie-" Nope. There he goes, What's next? A microwave? An oven? Ha, even Adrien wouldn't go dragging an oven into his bedroo...oh. Nevermind, apparently Adrien was doing just that. Adrien Agreste, shoving a full sized oven into his room…but why? Well, if this wasn't going to catch the kwami's attention, then nothing would.
Plagg gently set down the last of his cheddar cheese morsels (blech) and flew swiftly to the struggling boy.
"Hey kid, what's with the oven? You join the Girl Scouts or something?"
Sadly, the boy was so consumed in his work that he was only able to spout out a few words. "Cake. Mari. One week. Present, now."
"Wait wait wait, are you talking about Ladybug? Man I knew you liked her, but this is really pushing it…"
"No Plagg you don't understand-wait was that a pun?"
"No, no, I get it! It's just, uggghh. Humans are just too needlessly complicated, get her flowers or something I mean seriously-"
"But that's not enough! Marinette's already done so much for me. It feels like I just can't do enough to repay her…"
"Really? Adrien, man...you went and worked in a bakery for her. And for free! Come on kid-"
"Plarrhghghghgrhfhjkdfghs no. She just, well, Mari deservers more than just a few flowers. She's the most amazing person i've ever met, and this needs to be perfect. She does so much for everyone else, so I might as well try to do something amazing for her."
Plagg sat, or rather hovered, in silence for a few seconds, Clearly, the boy wasn't going to let it go. He totally loved this girl, and he was going to do everything he could to make her happy. It was actually pretty admirable. Pretty sweet of the kid really. Then Plagg noticed some writing on a desk to the side, making the whole ordeal a lot less cute and a lot more funny.
"I thought you said you were doing something nice for her…"
"W-what? Of course I am."
"Then why does that paper titled 'Present Ideas' say '...return to Bugaboo'-"
And then Plagg found himself on the floor, with a very angry and brightly blushing Adrien in his face.
"Woah there kiddo, she's gonna love it. You know how much she just loves your puns- oOMPH."
