Alya smiled at her friend and handed her the last of her beer, possibly the last of the alcohol at the party. Judging from that and the fact that Nino was already out like a light, the party was probably going to end within the hour. With everyone laughing and chasing each other and the watermelon pieces, this would be the perfect time for someone to get something private done.
"Here you go," Alya said, "I think all you need is some confidence."
"What?" Marinette said, "Alya, I-I can't!"
"Sure you can!" Alya insisted, pushing the bottle into Marinette's hands, "You're an amazing person, Mari. There's no way that anyone in their right mind would ever turn you down. And if he does, so what? At least you'll finally have talked to him! At least you'll know and can stop torturing yourself about it. Come on girl, if not for you, do it for me."
"For you?"
"Yeah, I want to see you succeed, girl. And I know you can do it if you just gave yourself a chance. Come on. You can do it Marinette."
Marinette reluctantly took the bottle and tossed it back, swallowing the last of it's contents in one go. She spluttered a bit, coughed, then turned towards the surf and marched off to find Adrien. She didn't have to go far, as she quickly found him holding half a watermelon easily over the head of Alix as she tried to jump and get it from him. Marinette found herself smiling easily at the scene, it seemed rather simple to say what was on her mind and in her heart at a time like this. She just hoped that she didn't say something embarrassing in front of Adrien.
"Adrien!" Marinette said, getting his attention long enough for Alix to jump on him, getting just enough height to smack the melon from his hands so she could run behind him, pick it up, and sprint away cackling.
"What's up, Marinette?" Adrien asked, wiping his hands clean on his shorts, smiling at her just as easily as she was smiling a few moments ago.
"We... didn't finish talking earlier," Marinette explained, her fingers tangling together despite her effort to appear casual.
"Oh!" Adrien said, smacking his forehead, "I'm sorry, Nino must've distracted me. You had something else to say to me then, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Why was this so hard? Adrien was the nicest person ever! He was kind and understanding and would never laugh at Marinette, no matter how strange or silly she acted. Maybe that's why it was so difficult. It would've been better if he were the type of person to laugh something off like a joke, to kid around and mess with people, but Marinette didn't think that she would've liked him that much if that were the case. She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves, silently praying that nothing would mess this up, especially her. She also added in one final prayer asking that nobody was behind her as she was about to bare her heart, "Adrien," she said, forcing the words out of her mouth like she was pulling off a Band-Aid, "I... was wondering if you'd like to get coffee sometime?"
"Sure."
Was it really that easy? Marinette cracked open her eyes to see Adrien standing there nonchalantly, leaning back casually, his hair slightly mussed from running around in the ocean spray. It was like he didn't even register her question he answered so easily.
"R-really?" Marinette squeaked, feeling her face blushing a deep red.
"Yeah, I'll swing by your place tomorrow morning. Around, I don't know, 8? Does that work?"
"Uh... y-yeah!" Marinette said, nodding in agreement, "8 is, 8 sounds. I mean, yeah! Totally! 8!"
Adrien chuckled and shook his head, putting his hand on her shoulder briefly before jogging lightly back towards the group to say goodbye to Mylene and Ivan as they were leaving. Marinette couldn't move from the spot, her legs anchored to the sand from a mixture of shock and joy. She slowly reached up and brushed her fingers across her shoulder, then reached a little higher to her face. She pinched her cheek. Stiff from smiling, she could still feel a light sting, however, confirming she wasn't dreaming. She wanted to jump up and down and shout with joy! But she also felt like throwing up. She couldn't believe it, she had done it! She really did it!
"Well?" Alya asked after they had arrived back at their apartment, Alix trailing a little behind, "How did it go? Tell me!"
Marinette hadn't said anything for the last few minutes of the party and had been walking home on autopilot as she daydreamed about coffee with Adrien. She had barely registered that Alya had even been asking her questions and trying to get her attention the whole way home.
"Oh Alya, it was wonderful!" Marinette squealed, jumping into bed and hugging a ladybug pillow tight to her chest, "I did it! I did it! I did it!"
"You sure did, girl! Now tell me the details!" Alya insisted, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as Marinette rolled around, clutching the pillow tightly, "When's the wedding?" She teased, getting a pillow to the face in response.
"It's nothing like that!" Marinette said, clearly flustered as she sat up, "We're just getting coffee tomorrow, that's all," She said, very pleased with herself and brushing out her pigtails with her fingers, her mind slowly drifting towards tomorrow.
Alya snapped her fingers in front of Marinette's face, making her jump in surprise, "Uh-uh, girl! You aren't spacing on me right now! I need to know what's going on!"
"Well he's coming here at 8 to pick me up and-"
"8?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Marinette, even when you have work, you don't get up until almost 9. On days off, they turn into nights off."
Marinette scoffed and shook her head, "What? No way! I can get up early!" Alya quirked an eyebrow, giving Marinette a look, "I'll just set more alarms than usual," The look persisted, "And put my phone across the room so I have to get up," Still, Alya didn't let up, "I mean, we are getting coffee, so I'll be awake, at least, right?" Marinette was beginning to sweat, "Could you make sure I'm up?" She begged.
"Fine, but you might want to pick out your outfit now, or else you'll end up wearing pajamas to your first date," Alya teased with a wink. She stood up and walked out to her room, stretching her arms up above her head as she yawned, "Good night, Marinette. I'm proud of you, girl."
Marinette didn't respond, something Alya had said was still sitting in her head. She needed an outfit. It was going to be her first date with Adrien. She did not have a lot of time, or options seeing as she had been planning on doing laundry tomorrow. Panic begun to set in. She bolted to her closet and ripped open the door, pulling out all her clothes. A spare work uniform, her hula outfit, bathing suit, pajamas, and other assorted clothes that she would only wear around the house, not in public, definitely not on a date. Especially a first date. With Adrien!
Marinette was biting her lip and running her fingers through her hair that hung loose around her shoulders. She was stressing out again. She thought about borrowing something from her roommates, but Alix was much shorter than Marinette, and Alya was already in bed. She was running out of options, however. She couldn't wear that dress, it was just coffee.
But then it hit her. It was just coffee. She didn't need to look incredibly spectacular or anything, she just had to look like she wasn't a slob. She grabbed a black tank top, usually she would just wear it with sweats but desperate times and all that. She looked in the mirror and held it up, what could she do with it?
Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette spotted a pair of shorts, grabbing those and laying them on the bed amid the chaos of her upturned drawers, Marinette needed to think. It was not going to be enough. She just needed something that could pull it all together. If only Alya was here, she could calm Marinette down, she always knew how to get Marinette to think rationally when she started to freak out like this.
That's it, Marinette thought, Alya. She pulled off entourages like this often. But there was something else she had that Marinette didn't. A flannel shirt.
Marinette tip-toed out of her room and slowly made her way to Alya's room, pushing the door open to a soft creak. Alya was a light sleeper, but Marinette hoped that she was too partied out to wake up easily tonight. Glancing quickly around the room, Marinette wished that her night vision was better than it was. The room was dark enough that she could only see shapes like that of Alya, laying in bed, her body slowly rising and falling with her breath.
Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. Good, she's still asleep. Marinette walked into the room, looking in every direction to try and spot the pile of clothes Alya might have hidden in corners. She stepped lightly to avoid waking her friend and found herself relying more on touch than sight to try and locate things. Marinette slid open Alya's drawers but only found underwear, socks, shirts, and the like. No overshirts to be found there. Being especially careful of closing it too hard, Marinette shut the drawers and looked around again.
Her eyes fell on Alya's sleeping form again. No. She must have taken it off. She couldn't still be wearing it, could she? Marinette crept closer to the bed she had been avoiding all this time in fear of awaking Alya. Marinette quietly sucked in air through her nose, holding her breath as she carefully peered over the side of the bed, squinting to try and enhance her view of her surroundings. The moonlight provided just enough light to see that her arms were smooth skin, uncovered. She had removed her flannel.
Marinette almost released her breath in relief right on to Alya's face but was able to stop herself. There was one other place she had thought that the flannel might be stored, and since she was right next to it, Marinette kneeled down and ran her fingers beneath Alya's bed, ready to pull her hand back quickly in case there was a spider or something else moving down there.
Luckily, she found no spiders. Unluckily she found no overshirts either. Marinette sighed quietly and resigned herself to asking for one in the morning. She silently stood and made her way towards the door, particularly proud of her stealth skill, although despondent about her search overall.
As Marinette reached for the door, she stopped and stared. She couldn't believe it. Sitting there, on the back of the door on a hook was an odd shape. Brushing her fingers slowly across it's surface Marinette almost screamed. It was the flannel! It had been there all along, right at the entrance! The absolute last place she could have possibly looked! It had been watching her, mocking her throughout the whole search as Marinette had fumbled around in the dark, trying to stifle all sounds she made or heard! Unbelievable!
Marinette took the flannel and grumbled as she made her way back to her room, tossing the article of clothing with the rest of her outfit for tomorrow's coffee, now tired enough to sleep. She shut off the light and flopped on to her bedspread, sighing and shutting her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.
I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review if you want, it's what sustains me through these troubled times.
