Chapter Three

"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss," -William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

A month had passed since the day Tikki tackled Adrien, and while the two hadn't been able to see one another every day, between their individual schedules and the proverbial thumb Adrien lived under, the two had at least sent one another hundred of texts daily, or spend hours on the phone. In that month the world had turned upside down. They both felt like they know the other one their entire life.

The Friday after they met was when they had their first "official" date, since the ice cream incident didn't count according to Adrien. He took Marinette to some nice, but casual Italian Cafe, where the two ate some of the best pasta they had ever had, though, in retrospect, the taste was probably exaggerated by the company that they were with. Good food seemed to taste better when they were in the company of each other.

The two of them then went on a walk around Paris, letting their dinner digest, before Adrien suggested finding a bakery to get some dessert. He supposedly knew the best one in Paris, and leading her there she ended up in front of her childhood home. "This bakery has the best macarons I've ever tasted," Adrien said. "They have this strawberry chocolate one that looks like a ladybug, and it tastes amazing."

Marinette couldn't keep the blush from coming over her face. "Yeah, I know. My parents actually own this bakery."

Adrien was surprised, to say the least. This girl was the daughter of the best baker in Paris? A part of him contemplated marrying her on the spot so he could have free access to the desserts inside. "That's amazing!"

"The ladybug macaron was actually made for me. My dad called me his lucky little ladybug growing up, so he made a macaron for me. He sold it for the first time on my sixteenth birthday to celebrate, and it hasn't left the store since. It's one of our most popular desserts."

His draw was threatening to fall off his face and hit the ground. What kind of miracle was it that he ran into her and was on a date with her. As much as he wanted the dessert he decided that it wasn't worth it. He didn't want to make Marinette uncomfortable by going in and meeting her parents on their first date. It would be incredibly awkward, to say the least. There were plenty of other bakeries in Paris. They could find dessert somewhere else.

Adrien took Marinette's hand and lead her away. "I can get macarons some other time. We don't have to go in and have your parents see you on a date." He could tell from the bashful smile on her face that he made the right call. A few minutes later they came across a cafe that advertised creme brûlée and they decided that would be just fine.

Since then they hadn't had another date, though they had seen one another, Marinette coming to the college when he had classes and surprising him with lunch, which always included a different macaron. Adrien would sneak out of the house more often and find his way to Marinette's apartment, where eh would greet Tikki with a couple of pats on the head. (He was a self proclaimed cat-person but would always be appreciative towards the dog who brought them together.) At her apartment they would play video games (where Marinette would, more often than not, beat him) or just watch a movie together until he got the phone call from someone saying that he had been caught sneaking out and needed to come home.

When he would return home he never told anyone that he was seeing Marinette, not that he didn't want to shout it from the rooftops or anything, but he was afraid admitting to his father that he was interested in a girl would get him into trouble. His father would probably think was a bad influence and would forbid him from seeing her again. Adrien refused to let that happen, so for now Marinette remained his beautiful little secret.

Today happened to be one of the days that he was going to visit his secret. He had bought a variety of snacks at a grocery store, going to the international aisle and buying a variety of junky snacks that would make his father cringe, like American chips and Japanese candy. Today the two of them planned on watching a movie. The two of them were making their way through the Studio Ghibli collection by watching them in order of release. They weren't very far, having only completed four movies, but at least they only had one movie left to go in the eighties, Kiki's Delivery Service.

He was excited to see her. Watching movies with Marinette was fun. She would intently watch the screen and let every emotion she was feeling show on her face. When she was excited she would lean forward and rest her elbows on her knees, giving the screen every bit of attention that she could. When she was sad she would attempt to smile and shyly take his hand in her own. When something funny came on her laugh would reverberate throughout the apartment, innocent and almost child-like. He had seen the movie they were watching before. It was one of his favorite's as a child. He wanted to see Marinette's reaction to the film. She had never seen a Studio Ghibli movie before he introduced her, but he could easily tell that she was captivated beyond belief.

He reached her building and made her way to her abode, knocking on the door when he arrived, to see her standing in the entry, looking akin to a goddess, with her hair in pigtails, stray baby hair's flying every which way. She wore a pair of casual pajama shorts and a long-sleeve t-shirt that swallowed her entire frame. Her face was slightly flush from the heat coming from the apartment, probably because she offered to cook them dinner. (He had tried to cook with her once but he didn't realize that metal couldn't go in the microwave so he was forever banned from the kitchen.) "Hey!" She greeted him breathlessly, attempting to look casual, but failing. He realized in that moment she rushed to the door to answer. She was looking forward to seeing him as much as he was looking forward to seeing her.

He walked in and let the aroma of spices overtake him. "What's cookin' good lookin'"

Marinette rolled her eyes but he didn't miss the smirk. She had enjoyed his joke, even if she refused to acknowledge that she did. It was a small victory for him. "I'm just making some spaghetti. It's almost ready. I just need to plate it. If you want you can get the movie all set up!"

"Sounds good!" He would do as he was told. He took the movie and placed in in the disc player, waiting for it to start up and get to the title screen. He had to go to the setting option, seeing as this particular copy of the movie defaulted to playing in English. He selected the option for French and pressed play, pausing it immediately and waiting for Marinette to join him.

She did so only moments later, setting down a plate of spaghetti and garlic bread. Homemade garlic bread. Everything smelled so good. He would have to step up his game. His junk food was nothing compared to this. He wanted to kiss her. He looked at Marinette, watching as she pushed a stray strand that escaped its elastic hold and wondered why he didn't. There was nothing holding him back.

"Hey Mari?"

She gave him her full attention. "Yes?"

"Thanks for dinner." He quickly gave her a quick peck on the lips and pressed play on the movie, watching her turn as red as the pasta sauce out of the corner of his eye. A perfect day and a perfect first kiss. He took his cellphone out of his pocket and placed it on do not disturb. He wasn't going to let anyone ruin this day with Marinette.

Adrien noticed that Marinette was stiff while she ate, and jumped every time his knee brushed hers. Had he overstepped her boundaries? He had never intended to make her feel uncomfortable. Perhaps he should apologize after the movie. When she finished eating, though, it was like nothing had changed. She took her hand in his when excited, buried her head in his shoulder when she was scared, and just let herself get swept away by the movie. When it was over she smiled and looked back at him. "What did you think?" He asked.

She looked up at him, bright, looking like a million angles, and pecked him on the lips. "I liked it," she said. Adrien was on cloud nine. This was the best day ever.

Thanks for the response guys! I'm really glad y'all enjoy this. Sorry it took a bit longer to get this out. I would have gotten it out yesterday but I was driving to the lake. My best friend and I have just spent the past three hours relaxing in our room at the lake house so I decided now was as good a time as any to get this written. I promised this would be updated frequently, didn't I?

Let me know what y'all think! This story is pretty fun to write so I hope it's as fun to read.