Chapter 4

Thank you.

The lights danced across the dark sky, each color slowly fading into another. The river was soft, wending its way between the banks of the stone walls that held the it. A small cruise guided its way through the Sine with tiny waves splashing against the bottom of the boat. Marinette rested her arms on the rail, smiling happily at Adrien who was telling her about his mother.

"She's really sweet, but she'd kill me if I did anything against her", he laughed nervously.

"I feel that would be any parent, but my parents seem like they don't really have a mean bone in their body. Might be because I never really did anything bad. Still, they would yell at me if I was late to class", Marinette smiled and looked up to the night sky. "What's your father like?" She asked.

Adrien stiffened, desperately trying to hide how uncomfortable he was. He made himself smile somewhat even if it looked like every smile he modeled. It took a toll on him, soon turning away from Marinette.

"If at all, I'd rather not talk about my father right now." Adrien's voice went quiet. Marinette's face filled with worry, but she didn't want to pry more.

"Of course. I can understand if you don't. The night sky sure is beautiful isn't it?" She asked trying eagerly to change the topic. Adrien's smiled formed back into a relaxing one. He spun around back at Marinette, smirking. His hand moved through his flowy blonde hair.

"Oh m'lady, this night sky isn't as pretty as your eyes." He smiled cutely. Marinette's cheeks suddenly went kiss pink like a spring rose, the blooming colour so loveable against her freckled skin.

"You're only just saying that, Adrien. But, I do appreciate the compliment." She smiled uneasy with her hands tucked behind her. Her palms sweating while she twiddled her thumbs. From what she knew now, Adrien would try to get a compliment about her whenever he had the chance to tell her. Of course it was nice, but she was too nervous to say anything back.

His stare didn't maneuver away from her tinted red face. Adrien's hands moved before he even realized. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her up close against his chest. His hand gently glided through her hair, as he looked at her in a way he had never looked at a girl before. Marinette's eyes grew wide once she comprehended where and what exactly was going on right in that moment. Her blush seared through her cheeks and for a minute she thought her face was on fire. Adrien's eyes started to close as his face moved closer inch by inch, instantly stopping only noticing what his body was doing. He pulled away, eyes still in shock with his cheeks tomato red.

"Sorry!" He quickly stated. Marinette's own private thoughts made her blush, a boy looking her this way made her blush. She jerked away from him, not so much in a bad way, but more of a shocked way.

"No no, it's okay." Her glanced down at her hand, slightly close to Adrien's. Her mind was hesitant, yet her heart screamed for her to grab it. Her thoughts drowned in her head, over piling like stacks of books. Her hand jolted, grabbing Adrien's in a matter of seconds. He abruptly looked down and looked straight at Marinette, who was already looking at him.

Her mouth opened, "This… This is okay." She murmured. The words gently cascaded across her tongue as if directly speaking to his heart.

The sounds around them became muffled, almost as if they weren't there. Adrien had to hold his tongue, gritting his teeth. Anything that forced him to hold back the river of compliments. He grinned and unfixed himself so he was closer to her. As he leaned forward his pulse raced, but he paused as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Marinette's mouth opened slightly, her words held onto the back of her throat.

Adrien pulled back, eyes fixated on Marinette. His lips parted just enough to have words flow out. A smile formed on his lips bit by bit.

"Thank you."

"So, Saturday for our next day? I always love to spend time with you, M'lady." Adrien goofily said. The boat ride ended 15 minutes before, they were on the dock saying their goodbyes for the night. Adrien couldn't remove his eyes from Marinette's ocean blue ones.

"Yeah of course! But uhh, I have to get back to my dorm." Marinette broke the silence. Adrien snapped out of his gaze as if she'd dumped cold water on him. He wobbled his head and nervously grinned.

"Okay! I can walk you home if you'd like, I just don't trust people at night." Adrien said sternly. Marinette didn't know what to say. She walked at night all the time and she was perfectly fine. Her head turned away from his puppy eyes.

"Umm I was actually going to have my roommate take me back. But I appreciate the offer. Have a goodnight, Chaton." She swayed and walked away from a surprised Adrien. His mouth agape with his eyes watching her leave.

"Wow."

It's been 3 weeks since Marinette has moved into her dorm and met Adrien, who is now her somewhat boyfriend. For the last 3 weeks, Adrien and Marinette have gone out on dates, but haven't started dated.

It was 4 pm, Adrien sat at his table going over books and notes that he wanted to organize. Hours before, he'd gotten a call that he got the official job as a teacher at University of France. Even though his body was filled with excitement, his head was down. He knew he wouldn't get to see Marinette as much as he wanted to. Marinette had told him that she starting college next week. Her mood was so bright and cheerful as she explained how happy she was to attend college. Marinette never told him which college she was attending, sadly. He had told her he wouldn't be able to see her till after he starts his new job.

Adrien was nervous to start his teaching career. All he has ever known is how to stand in front of a camera and pose. He learned things here and there. Once Adrien was 15, he asked his father to teach him more about fashion to understand it more. His father took it as a, 'Teach me all you know', and ended up showing him more then he asked for. Adrien was sure grateful for it. Because his father is famous, he never needed college, at least for fashion anyway. Only somethings can be good when his father is famous designer.

The stacked books and paper were in the order Adrien wanted them in. He sighed loudly, closing his eyes and leaning back into his chair. For what seemed like forever, Adrien was enjoying the silence in his home. The stress seemed too pour away from hi in those couple of moments. Everything was peaceful, until there was a booming crash and papers were heard rusling. Adrien sighed louder, he opened his eyes, only to find his troublesome feline, Plagg.

"Ah you dumb cat! I just finished organizing that!" He shouted, as it echoed in the room.

Plagg looked at Adrien, dead eyed and shoved one of the books off the table. Adrien shrieked and grabbed it before it hit the floor. Sitting back up he found Plagg laying on his papers. He rolled his eyes before picking up the feline and placing him on the floor. The cat meowed noisily and scurried away. Now here Adrien was again, re-organizing his notes.

A large huff came from Marinette's lungs as she plumed heavily on her bed. Her eyes weighting, slowly closing shut. Sleep pulling her steadily along the darkness of her room. It was calm and quiet, very much to her liking. Before she fell into a deep slumber, her bedroom door slammed open.

"Marinette! You have to hear this!" Alya beamed as she stepped through the door. Marinette sighed, rolled her eyes, and groaned as she turned her head into the pillow. Willingly, she sat up to face Alya in the dark room.

"What you possibly need at," she paused to look at her alarm clock, "9pm?" She finished after giving Alya a very exhausted look. Alya gluped, but still smiled happily.

"I met a guy!" She shouted excited. Marinette sat there wondering why Alya would just her this now, but who cared, it was Alya afterall. Instead of questioning, she leaped out of bed and grabbed both of Alya's hands. Alya started jumping for joy. Marinette jumping seconds after her.

"Who is it?" Marinette asked her. Smiling widely, Alya put her finger over her own mouth and started to whisper into her best friends ear.

"Okay, so do you remember that guy from the other day at my work? When you and Adrien came in that morning?" She questioned Marinette. Marinette stood there for a moment, reminiscing in the past few days.

"The guy with the red hat? That stood at the counter just to continue talking to you?" Marinette turned her head in confusion.

"Yes him! I ended up getting his number and I finally texted him this morning. We have a date coming up this Sunday!" She exclaimed. Marinette rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You do know we start classes Monday, right?" Marinette looked at Alya with her full attention. Alya tilted her head back in frustration, and groaned heavily. Marinette could only giggle at her best friend. For the last month, Marinette and Alya had gotten really close. They had learned so much about one another that they never had any actual problems. For Marinette, it was easy for her to make friends, but she never actually had a best friend. Marinette liked the change. It was nice for her.

Monday. Marinette had been excited, but dreading the day. Her pink purse hanging at her side with her phone and wallet placed inside. Her books and folders held tightly in between her enclosed arms. Marinette had walked into the building minutes before, looking for her 2 classes that she had. Her first one was marketing. She needed to know how to handle her money if she truly wanted to continue with fashion. Marketing was closer to the exit door, away from her next class, fashion design.

Heading to the door, she opened it and found multiple people already in seats. The seats were lined back, each row higher than the one in front of it. Marinette bit her lip, feeling a frog in her throat. She quickly walked up to the top of the class and sat in a seat on the top row away from the students down below. She placed her books atop of the table and went on her phone. Pulling up Alya's conversation, she pulled up the keyboard and started typing.

Hey, do you want to stop and get lunch later after my classes finish up?

Her finger lightly pressed against the screen, clicking send. Marinette shut off her phone into sleep and placing it back in her purse. She sat with her hand in her hands, leaning on the table with her elbows digging into the desk. Minutes seemed to pass heavily and longingly. The hushed sounds of others seemed to float away in the back of her mind, blurring into muffled whispers. Her eyes started to droop almost locking shut, that was before someone sat next to her. She bounced in surprise and slowly turned to her right. He wore a plain red cap at the top of his head with black-rimmed glasses, kind of like a pair of goggles. A pair of dark gray, blue, and orange headphones that were wrapped around his neck. A short-sleeved blue shirt with an eye design on the front. He placed his books down in front of him, sitting gently on the seat. His phone out in his hand, typing away at the screen. Why does he look so familiar? Marinette turned her gaze back to the rest of the room to find that she had zoned out for longer than she thought. The class was filled with many other people almost where every seat had been taken.

"Excuse me," She said to the man next to her, but keeping her eyes forward, "What time is it?" Marinette finished. The man just looked at her in question. Realizing someone had been speaking to him, he turned his attention to her.

"It's uhh 10, why?" He replied to her. Marinette nodded, thanking him for telling her. The man kept looking at her before he knew it, his arm had reached out and poked her arm.

"Umm yes?" she rotated her body towards him. Raising her left eyebrow, she gave him a sort of glare before he spoke.

"Well, if we are going in the same class, Miss. We mind as well get to know one another. I'm Nino." He finished smiling, while his hand floated in front of her. Marinette felt awkward. Did it really matter if she knew this guy or not? Her hand extended out from being folded underneath her other arm and gently shook his hand.

"I'm Marinette. Why did you decide to take this class?" Marinette tried to see why some guy like him would want to take a class like marketing. But, before he could answer her, the professor walked in and silenced the class. Maybe next time.

Marinette's hair swayed while she walked to her next class. She hadn't expected marketing to be so difficult as the class went on quickly. It was hard for her to remember things and take down notes. At the end of the class, she managed to get notes off of Nino. She'd have to thank him later next time she saw him. As Marinette came up the door, she opened it and found that the room only had a few desk. Assuming that one person got on table, she took the table on the far left in the front. There only had to be about 25 tables. When she sat down, she looked and realized there were already other people. She shook her head, she had to become more aware if she wanted to do good.

Pulling out her sketchbook, Marinette started doodling down the next design she wanted to make. It was a long baby pink dress, It had 5 layers, each one shorter than the one before, it had her signature flower patterned on it, with a pink bow tied around the waist, and thick straps. Her heart raced, excitedly to start working on it as soon as she could. Marinette didn't know where she'd be able to wear such a dress. Should she just make it like a summer dress? She shook her head and sighed like a slight spring breeze, soft and gentle, almost lost in the great room. Closing the small book, securing any sketches she didn't want others to see. As if on cue, her phone buzzed lightly in her purse. Pulling how her phone, it had showed a text from Alya. She'd agreed to go with Marinette to lunch. Offering a new place that she'd seen down the road from their dorm. Marinette's fingers glided across the screen, replying back to her best friend.

Before she could send the text, the door closed loudly in the room. Steps were heard and books slammed on the desk in the front of the room.

"Alright class, let's get star-" The person was cut off. Marinette looked up and her eyes grew, her mouth parted slightly. She felt like she had been choking, there was no way this was happening. She looked to the man who was in front of her. From the flowing blonde hair to his green eyes.

"Adrien?"