Sorry this took so long. I wasn't sure how I wanted to end this chapter or what I wanted to put in it. I knew I wanted a specific event to happen, but in the end, I changed the event's outcome because I wanted to develop the characters. I hope you like it!

Waiting In The Wings

Breath in. Breath out. You got this, girl. Alya massages her shoulders and Marinette wiggles her fingers in preparation. She's back at Max's house for the grand finals of the tournament and she's more than ready for what comes at her. In front of her, on the screen, Adrien smirks, twirling his controller like a baton cockily.

Plonk!

"Ow…"

Oh well. At least he tries. Marinette sighs at Adrien's sheepish expression and behind her, Alya giggles like she's watching some teenage romance movie. Marinette gives her a little glare, silently warning her to behave but Alya just winks at Marinette in response, and Marinette sighs again, as if to say "people these days…".

"T-minus 8 minutes guys! Make your last preparations!" Nino calls out excitedly. "This is going to be epic!"

"Yeah, an epic montage of Adrien losing horribly to my girl over here," Alya says proudly, grinning. Her English certainly wasn't the best, but hey, sass was a universal language.

"Oh, hold up right there!" Adrien held up his hands. "I plan on either winning or going down after I've taken you with me twice. After all, I haven't forgotten the bet we made." He smirked at the camera and if Marinette didn't know him that well, she would've probably blushed madly and sunk onto the floor. Alya moved so she could look at Marinette, an eyebrow raised.

"What's this bet all about?" Lila asked, slowly slinking over to the screen, a sly expression on her face.

"Nothing important," Marinette said.

"Something very important," Adrien argued, smiling devilishly. Marinette puffed her cheeks in mock annoyance, though it was clear that she was joking. Alya's eyes darted back and forth between the two, leaning closer to Marinette. Alya began to stroke her (own) chin, nodding her head up and down until Marinette wacked her arm. Alya yelped and Marinette turned away smugly, looking back at the screen before sticking out her tongue at the people on the other side. Her gaze leveled with Adrien's and they grinned at each other as the countdown began, the sounds of the people around them still there, but not quite. You and me. To the end.

To the end.

"If you think about it, one day we'll be so old that our romantic walks will be the ones to the fridge. Our kids will probably so tired of us we'll die old and alone. Forever alone. But on the bright side, we'll be able to play bingo with the angry Italian grandmas and the weird British tea grandmas."

"Adrien..."

"I wonder what we would look like when we get old. Will my face get all wrinkly? I bet kissing as seniors is like getting a massage from a dry worm. That's why we should start now and enjoy it while we're young and not senile. I could help you practice," he offered, smiling as charmingly as he possibly could.

"Adrien!" Marinette's face burned as Alya squealed and Nino tried to muffle his giggles. Plagg had turned away from the conversation in disgust and Lila was laughing with her face flat on the couch.

"What?" Adrien asked innocently, even though his own face was starting to turn red. "I mean it!"

"We know you do, darling, and that's the problem," Lila said between her giggles. She stalked over to where Adrien was sitting and 'danced' around him, twirling like she was some kind of a ballerina. This made Adrien give her an annoyed look, which she grinned at before ruffling his hair proudly like she was his mother. "Ah, how little Adrien is growing up. Next thing you know you'll be doing a lot more than just kissing."

"Mon dieu, please, stop," Marinette begged, covering her eyes with her hands. Lila sighed and batted her lashes before plopping herself back on the couch she had sat on before and picked at her fingernails.

"If you say so...but seriously, you guys would make beautiful babies."

"No more."

"Okay, okay." Lila wiggled her eyebrows at the camera and grinned at Alya. A silent agreement was made between the two. They needed to get these two together somehow and get them married A.S.A.P. Marinette took a breath in and twirled her thumbs together. Now that she thought of it, she had never kissed anyone before. Mon dieu, what if she was a bad kisser? What if she had constant onion breath and ended up grossing Adrien out or something? WHAT IF SHE ACCIDENTALLY DOES SOMETHING WRONG AND ENDS UP KISSING HIM ON THE JAW LIKE THAT GUY DID TO ALICIA FROM 'THE CLIQUE'?! WHAT IF HE LEAVES HER BECAUSE SHE'S A TERRIBLE KISSER?

Marinette could practically picture the conversation in her head right now.

"Ah, Marinette, you're such a bad kisser. Your horrific lips repel me such. I must leave you!"

"Adrien nooooooo!"

Or if this were the medieval times...

"How can za prinzess be zear like a fooleesh fool when zit zappozed to be ze gud kissa? We are zoune!"

"But Chattt! You are the only one for me!"

"I am ze only one to be a fooleesh fool enough to conzida loving zoo."

"NOOOOOOOOOONNNNN!"

Okay, now that was over exaggerating it a bit. But hey, it could happen. Yeah sure, it was super unlikely but still. It's possible. Snapping back into reality, Marinette accessed the situation. The current score was 2-1 in favor of Marinette. She was ahead, but if she wanted to win, she needed to win now. Well, not that she minded losing the next game, but the odds that were at stake were pretty high. Marinette hated breaking promises and she wasn't sure if it was worth taking the risk for. What she was sure of, was that there was a 101% chance that she would get a kiss from him eventually. Hopefully he would kiss her instead of her kissing him because when it came down to her having to make the move, Marinette was like a fish out of water; literally. She would be lucky if she wasn't flopping around and dying when they actually met.

"Time to roll, guys!" Nino's voice rang out. "We're live in 5...4...3...2...1...Annnd Welcome back to the Ultimate Mecha Strike III Tournament Grand Finals!" Nino reintroduced everything and blah blah, but Marinette wasn't paying much attention to him. There was a lot of pressure on her shoulders right now, and she was sure she was better than he was, but Adrien was playing recklessly today. They had played many time before, but his playing style today was a lot different than the one yesterday and the one he had before. This was more desperate and analytic than ever, and Marinette was taken aback at the execution of his attacks. They were on point and lethal, she admitted. He must really want to win that bet. Marinette frowned. Should she let him win the bet and then take him down? Or should she just smush him like she usually did whenever they had scrims against each other?

Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? The fourth game that they played was probably the most fun even though they were to some degree, actually trying. That was probably why they were having fun, actually. Because they were actually trying.

"Stop being so goooooood, Marinette."

"Excuse me? Stop being so baaaaaad, Adrien!" Marinette laughed when she heard the offended sound Adrien made. Her fingers flew as they clicked the buttons repeatedly. No, she wasn't spamming, she was hitting Adrien's bot with combos, and damn she was good. Marinette smirked cockily and tilted her head to the side. This was too easy. Her eyes scanned the screen and she considered her options. End him with the basic combo that was super easy to pull off, or try the new one she was working on and hadn't mastered yet? Oh well, why not be flashy? He's going to lose anyways. She had chosen. Quickly, Marinette moved towards the edge of the screen and began to rapidly charge up the Ultimate combo. She made her bot jump and was going in for the finishing move but she never got a chance to pull it off. By leaping down at the CN-13 while still charging up the combo, Marinette had carelessly made herself vulnerable to any attacks Adrien could throw out in that second. Any less experienced player would've lost right there to Marinette but Adrien wasn't less experienced than Marinette. He knew her well, and he was fast, so when the LB-03 leapt down at him to finish him off, he threw out his ultimate attack Cataclysm directly towards her, effectively defeating her before she could defeat him. Marinette's jaw dropped and she silently cursed herself for her bad decision. While Nino and Lila cheered, Alya stared at Marinette. Silent messages were exchanged between the two, Alya's expression questioning and Marinette's wary.

What's going on? You're not playing like yourself today.

I got too cocky. Guess I was trying too hard to impress.

You sure that's the whole reason why?

I...I don't know.

Marinette looked away, her gaze turing towards the screen. Adrien was spinning himself around on his chair, a ridiculous smile on his face. He looked so happy it made her happy too. He was laughing while Volpina and Plagg exchanged friendly banter. She was so conflicted right now. Part of her wanted to just shut him down so she could claim the prize, but the other half felt so damn guilty as she watched him. Adrien looked happier than he was yesterday. He looked like he just got a standing ovation after the end of his first school play or something. But he has no family to congratulate him...no parent waiting in the wings to tell him they're proud of him. Marinette clenched the controller in her hands tighter, and looked down at the floor.

"Hey," she heard Adrien say. Marinette lifted her head back up to look at him, who was visibly concerned. She raising an eyebrow in an attempt to challenge him. "No playing round this time?" He asked her.

"No playing round this time," Marinette agreed, forcing a smile onto her face. "You're going down, Agreste."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, My Lady. You can still back out, you know."

"Like hell I will," Marinette shot back. Adrien grinned at her for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

"If you say so..." he sung back. "You underestimate me. I want that kiss. And that really, really, shiny limited edition staff/baton proplica. But mostly that kiss."

"You underestimate me. I really, really want that very, very nice special limited edition yo-yo proplica. And the cash prize. And the chocolates. And the watch."

"I know you do. I would surrender all the treasure in the world for you my lady. I just want that kiss." She heard a bunch of 'awws' come from her friends and Marinette did her best to plaster an annoyed expression on her face. Now was not the time to be fooling around but she really didn't want him to be upset because she was upset over her poor judgement. Marinette readjusted her posture while the game loaded back into bot selection. This time she was going to win. This time she was going to actually crush him and get that prize. The choices of bots was pretty standard; Adrien on CN-13 and Marinette on LB-03. As they went into the game Marinette found herself growing increasing worried about what she planned to do.

I'm going to win. I always win against Adrien. It's never mattered before. Why should this time be any different? Why do I care so much?

Marinette snuck a glance at Adrien as the match begun. She was already in the lead but when she looked at him, something changed. The determination that was on his face earlier was gone, and what was left was...acceptance. The match had barely begun and he had already given up. He'd accepted the fact that he was going to lose, that he wasn't going to get that kiss. He was going to let her win. Marinette looked back up at the screen and tried to get herself to just go all in and finish the fight but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to do that. Her fingers moved automatically, stalling the match. All she could think of right now was the image of a boy, all alone in his room for nearly everyday of his life. She had selfishly complained about her own parents to him before, and now it made her feel guilty. It's not like this was some kind of a life-and-death situation; they weren't fighting some kind of Akuma and they could lose their miraculous at any moment. But to Marinette, it mattered just as much, so when he moved his bot over and attacked her with his ultimate attack, Cataclysm, she only pretended to try to counter-attack. In the end, it was a simple decision, and Marinette let her conscience take over.

She let him win.

The shocked expression on his face and the excited cheering and squeals from the others filled her heart with joy. She turned back to look at Alya, not a single trace of regret on her face, only happiness, and Alya smiled back proudly. Alya somehow always understood Marinette. As Marinette stood up and stretched her arms and legs before glancing back at the screen, she knew that she had made the right decision. Adrien smirked at her, and Marinette looked away while holding her hands up. Hopefully he was convinced. Marinette didn't like lying to him, but it was worth it.

"My kiss," he mouthed at her while Nino, Plagg and Lila celebrated around him, with Nino still casting the aftermath (he was yelling rubbish excitedly in English).

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." she mouthed back, rolling her eyes. Marinette put her hands on her hips and looked away pointedly. Marinette hadn't won anything today, but just him being happy was enough of a reward for her.

That night Adrien and his friends celebrated but there was something nagging him, something in the back of his mind that kept urging him to pay attention to it. By the time he went to bed he still wasn't very sure of what it was, but when he woke up that morning, he knew exactly what it was. It was a sadness, a guilt, one that he had known far too well in the earlier years of his life. It was what made him go to his computer as soon as he was conscious and send determined messages to someone who lived half-way across the world. She hadn't said anything to him, no, but Adrien knew perfectly well what she had done for him. And all he wanted now was to see her smile like she did yesterday, hear the laughter that had imprinted itself into his mind. He really did.

A few weeks later~

"Okay, so where does your Aunt Clara live again?" Marinette held the umbrella a bit higher as she stared at the intersection in front of her. The sky was an ashen grey today, and rain poured heavily, pattering as it hit the ground. It was a gloomy day, but the city of Paris was more than alive, cars whizzing down the roads and pedestrians walking down the streets. Her fuzzy black gloves, long red coat and black scarf (all handmade by herself, duh) kept her warm in a not-so-warm day and despite the fact that the city was alive around her, Marinette was pretty much dead from exhaustion. She had so many tests this week, so much homework, that new design she was struggling to finish... She hadn't even gotten the chance to call Adrien this week or the week earlier due to how busy she was. Starting that new project was definitely a mistake and even though it was a personal thing, Marinette set many deadlines to keep herself on track. The little amount of time that she did manage to spare for Adrien so she could text him was the best part of her day. He could always make her smile, and at this point, that was more than enough. Marinette had been so tempted to call him, but tried her best to restrain herself knowing fully well that she;d never get anything done and with her grades already dropping, Marinette really needed to focus. But why she gave up precious time to do Alya a favor? She would never know.

"62 Claremonte Avenue" Alya chirped back happily.

"Remind me," Marinette began. "Why did I agree to this?"

"Girl, you sound like you're going to your death or something. Trust me, you have to do it." Marinette sighed.

"Why me? Why couldn't you go yourself? You know I'm busy."

"Because A, you're already nearly there, and B, because you're my best friend, Mari."

"Ugggghhh, okay, fine, but just this time. You owe me one. Promise?"

"Oh, I promise."

"Pff." Sighing again, Marinette stuffed her phone into her coat pocket and walked towards 62 Claremonte Avenue. She arrived a few minutes later in front of a small flower shop, filled with beautiful blooming flowers of all kinds. Marinette's eyes lit up at the beautiful variety of flowers and how they were arranged so beautifully and delicately. She walked in slowly, admiring how the colors complimented each other and how the petals fell forward gracefully. If only I had my sketchbook with me. She reached out to touch a Tiger's Lily, lowering her umbrella before gently caressing the edge of a petal.

"Hello! Are you Mademoiselle Marinette?" Marinette's hand instantly recoiled and she turned to face a woman, presumably Alya's Aunt Clara, as she walked towards her. Clara Césaire was a beautiful middle aged, averagely tall, chubby woman who had warm brown skin and lovely caramel colored eyes. Her smile was sweet and her eyes glittered. Ms. Césaire was positively one of the loveliest people Marinette had ever had the pleasure of meeting. Alya looked a lot like her, she noted. Their family has wonderful genes.

"Ah, yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you Ms. Césaire!" Marinette put on a smile and extended her hand out. They shook hands and Marinette looked around the interior of the shop. "You're shop is beautiful, Madame!"

"Ah, thank you! Clara will be fine, dear." They smiled at each other and Marinette's day brightened up considerably.

"Eh, I'm here to pick up a delivery?" Marinette kicked her foot back awkwardly. Luckily Alya's aunt understood what she was talking about and nodded before heading to the back to go grab something.

"One minute!"

Sure enough, Clara reemerged a minute later, holding a beautiful bouquet of fresh roses. Marinette's took a breath in and blinked at how beautiful they were as Clara handed the bouquet to Marinette. There were a dozen of them, with small white flowers mixed in-between to accent the roses. The roses themselves were a rich red, and some of the petals had raindrops on them, shining like crystals as they caught the light. The red color perfectly contrasted the deep green of the leaves, with the white flowers making the image even more beautiful. She definitely should've brought her sketchbook. Marinette's wide blue eyes met Clara's as she looked up at her.

"Who are they for?" Marinette found herself asking breathlessly. Clara looked confused for a moment, then pursed her lips in what might've been understanding.

"Ah, she didn't tell you..."

"Huh?"

"They're for you."

"They are?" Marinette was taken aback, holding the bouquet out in front of her, looking at it for a sec, then looking at Clara, then back to the roses, then back at Clara.

"Of course! Alya asked for them, saying something about it being from some American boyfriend. Oh yeah, apparentely he left a note on the tag Alya handed to me." Immediately Marinette's hands fumbled around in search for the tag, until her fingers grasped a square piece of card on the side of the bouquet. She flipped it open eagerly and her eyes quickly skimmed the words on the little card, smiling hopelessly.

From your Chat

To my Princess

Just thought you needed to know

I love you

Marinette was pretty sure she squealed at least 10 times before she refocused back into reality and tried to regain her composure. Clara laughed and just smiled knowingly. Wait...would she have to pay for this? Marinette blinked.

"Uh, oh yeah, how much are these?" Marinette asked Clara.

"No worries, dear. They're paid for." Clara responded, moving a nearby pile of flowers onto a different worktable.

"They are?" Marinette said for the second time that day.

"They are! Alya paid for them and muttered something about your rich boyfriend owing her a million dollars." Okay, that was definitely something Alya would say.

"Alright then...uh, if you don't mind, I'm kind of in a hurry and..."

"Ah, no problem! Have a nice day!"

"Ah, thank you Ms. Cés- ah, Clara! Have a wonderful day!" Marinette quickly walked out of the shop, lifting her umbrella up and headed back towards home. She was going to call Alya as soon as she got home and give her a very strict interrogation. Marinette clutched the bouquet closer to her heart. Many questions, yes, but not just for Alya. For him too.

You know that thing she said earlier? About giving Alya a strict interrogation as soon as she got home? Well, screw that. You know that thing about her calling Alya as soon as she got home? Well, screw that too. Marinette was standing in front of her desk, gaping at the package that was on it. It was addressed to Marinette Dupain-Cheng at 12 Gotlib St. Paris, France. From someone with a zip code of 10001 and an address of 6532 Astruc. Drive, New York, NY. Oh my god. Marinette grabbed an X-Acto knife as soon as she could and began to stab the package in an attempt to get it open. After calming herself down she tried to peacefully open the package. After a long 2 minutes of struggling she finally managed to get the package open, her fingers grasping the first thing she felt. It was a piece of paper. A very nice piece of paper, but a piece of paper. Then Marinette noticed the writing that was scrawled onto the paper. The handwriting on the paper was elegant but also messy. Like if the writer couldn't write down his thoughts fast enough, like if his ideas were slipping away from him. Gently, Marinette turned the piece of paper over and her heart throbbed in her chest. She wasn't ready for this. It was all going so fast. But still, she wanted more. So she began to read.

Dear Marinette,

Hey. It's Adrien. I hope you liked the flowers I sent you. ^_^ I got Alya to order them for me so I could send them to you. I wish I could be there to give them to you in person, but I can't. I know they're really unoriginal and stuff but I think red would look wonderful on you and it's a really beautiful colour in general, so I got you roses. Also, because Google said it was probably the most romantic flower I could send you. I mean, I could've gone for the gardenias, but roses just seem more romantic. Well, uh, I'm not too sure how to write a letter and Google search isn't helping very much right now, so I'll just...write...words. :/ Great, now I've messed up on this sheet of paper. And this is a very expensive sheet of paper. And now I'm wasting room. Blah, anyways, I just wanted to let you know that it means a lot to me that you care about me. I know what you did- you don't have to say it out loud, but I know, and I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank you for trying to make me happy. You don't have to give up your goals to make me happy. It makes me happy when you're happy and I wish I could see you smile everyday. I had this whole speech planned for you that day, but when I heard you laugh at me doing something stupid, it was like every thought I ever had abandoned me. I know I was being dumb, but I just wanted to hear you laugh again. Alya told me that you had a lot of school work and stuff coming up and you were getting stressed over it. I hope that you're going to be okay and I know that you'll do great. I just hope you know it too. I also hope you know how much I love you. You're always there for me, so just know that no matter what, I'll always be there for you. 3

Love, your cat in a skintight suit black suit made from boyfriend material :3,

Adrien

Marinette covered her hand on her mouth. He really was an awkward idiot. Marinette found herself blinking back tears and had to sit herself down on the ground. She swallowed and leaned back so that she was fully lying on the ground and began to read the letter over and over again, running a finger on the page. Her finger traced the words he wrote, the mistakes he made, the little doodles he sketched, and just for a while, she let herself cry. It wasn't something that Marinette would usually cry over but right now, she didn't care. He knew, and he loved her even more for that. That stupidly lovable idiot. Wiping away her tears, Marinette went back to the package he had sent her and looked at the contents. Inside, there was the yo-yo proplica from the tournament, the chocolates, the 250 Euro cash prize...along with the watch and the...the game that Marinette had seen in Adrien's room the other day. The limited edition Gen 72 of TKYL. Oh my god. He remembered. She was trying hard not to break down again now. Goddammit, Adrien. Marinette sighed in content before jumping and dancing around her room, twirling happily. Earlier, Marinette might have said that this was one of her worser days but now, now this was one of the best days of her life. She just wished he was here to spend it with her.

I was actually going to make this chapter 2 parts and release the second half later, but I decided against that because I thought the ending wrapped up this section of the story nicely. Each chapter adds another element to their relationship, and this one really focused on Marinette making good decisions and Adrien going that extra step to make her happy. I was writing the outline for another chapter late at night because I was seriously stuck on writing this chapter (probably the one I struggled with the most so far) and when I was trying to fall asleep I just came up with this great idea, and that's how the idea of this chapter came to be :D

P.S The event I changed was who won the tournament. I was going to make Marinette win against Adrien because she's obviously better than him. I actually can't remember how Mari won, but she did (lol).

Next time: Tokyo Night Scandal

The story of how Plagg got married to Nino, how Marinette ended up being a patron of heaven, how Volpina ended up bleaching her hair and how Adrien became a waifu.