Chapter Twelve: Crazy Little Thing Called Love

AN: So… I am back. I tried to make this one really long; key word - tried. I am trying again with puns hehe, so we will see.

Thank you to all who reviewed, faved, and followed! Also thank you to those of you who told me that Marinette and Adrien are like 14-15-16 range French school system wise. Like 10th graders in the U.S. I actually can't believe how many of you liked the last chapter! You are all actually amazing! I love seeing notifications in the middle of school that say someone has followed me or reviewed or something!

As I mentioned last chapter, I had an akuma idea about a band, but I don't know if I should still do it because there was the episode that just came out about Jagged Stone… Send me your thoughts.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Miraculous Ladybug, sadly. Otherwise, everything would be CANON *wink wink*

Anyways, enjoy!


The pair thundered down the stairs. All of a sudden Marinette's foot stumbled on a step and she started to fly forward. Adrien's hand snagged quickly to Marinette's waist. He pulled her in towards him, keeping his hand in place. His warm breath blew on Marinette's face, catching on her hair, making it cascade down her shoulders. "That was almost a cat-astrophe," Adrien joked.

Marinette's fingers were clenched tightly, pulling at Adrien's shirt. Her heart was still beating swiftly, still reacting to her alarm; it didn't help that she was in such close-quarters. Adrien's chest huffed against Marinette in his laughter.

Marinette slowly released her claw-like grip on him. Where she had clutched at him were profound wrinkles in his normally pristine shirt. "Looks like you just can't let me go," Adrien snickered some more as he eyed the wrinkles that marred his shirt.

Marinette frowned and tried to rub away the wrinkles with her expert fingers. Adrien raised his eyebrows at her, as she was essentially feeling his biceps and pecs up. "Now petting too?" Marinette blushed at the thought of it and Adrien could only laugh harder.

"I-I was not petting you!" she denied furiously. "I was trying to fix the wrinkles in your shirt!" Marinette was gesturing wildly with her arms, flailing about.

Adrien winked at her, "Sure, you were," he drawled.

The pair continued on their descent down the stairs, Adrien's arm still hanging onto Marinette's waist, Marinette's blush evident. As the two turned past the banister into the bakery, they froze.

Sabine looked at the pair, not smiling, but her eyes crinkled at the corners, as if she was hiding her smile. Tom had his arms crossed in disapproval, and Sabine took a side glance at him, and covered her smiling mouth with her hand.

"So," Tom drawled, "What were you two doing up there exactly, and when did you get here Adrien?"

Tom's big figure, usually bright and cheery, now serious and stern, intimidated Adrien. At least a little. His eyes squinted, scanning Adrien's face as he visibly gulped. Adrien pulled Marinette a little closer, hand tightening around her waist.

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, but Adrien cut her off with a tight little squeeze; there was no way that he was going to make her talk for him, explaining everything to her parents. Adrien realized that he couldn't tell the truth and looked Marinette in the eyes, asking for her consent. She nodded at him, and Adrien started to explain.

"Last night Marinette invited me over to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III and we fell asleep playing when it got late." Adrien looked Sabine and Tom in the eyes, trying to show them that he was telling the truth, even though he was sweating uncomfortably under his shirt.

"That is all that happened, we woke up this morning, and now we're here," Adrien explained further. He didn't want to provide too many details to make it fake, but couldn't help but reveal a little more. "I eventually rolled off my chair and landed on the floor, quite uncomfortably sleeping on the floor," he looked at Marinette ruefully, "while Marinette woke up, covered me in my spot on the floor with a blanket, and slept soundly on the bed."

Tom and Sabine looked at each other, mulling over the story. Tom was biting at the inside of his cheek, as if chewing the story out.

Sabine and Tom both nodded slowly, believing the likelihood of the story after thinking it over more.

"Alright," Tom said slowly, grudgingly. "Then what was all that racket up there just now?"

A lone customer came in, looking around Boulangerie Patisserie curiously.

Sabine smiled and went over to the counter, greeting the newcomer. As the two spoke in an exuberant chatter, Tom took this time to look skeptically at Adrien. Tom liked Adrien, but ever since he had started dating his daughter, he couldn't be too careful. Tom also wasn't as hard on Adrien as it seemed he was; Tom was just good naturedly ribbing him. He knew that Adrien was a good kid that wouldn't do anything to hurt his little girl.

As Tom was staring at Adrien, thinking his little inner monologue, Adrien couldn't help but sweat in nervousness. He felt uncomfortably warm, like it was summer, and he had a blanket wrapped around him.

Tom's eyes shifted down to where Adrien was holding Marinette and he smiled. Sabine and Tom had talked about Adrien together after the first time that Adrien had come over to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III. They both knew that he was the one for their little girl. In a way, she had already found her "zing" as some people called it. The two of them had gazed off at the two as they had climbed the stairs, with Marinette's blushing face at their look of intrigue.

Tom and Sabine had clung to each other, gushing about how their baby girl was already in love. Even if Marinette hadn't known it at the time, it was blatantly obvious to those around Marinette and Adrien, that Adrien had held a flame for Marinette, his shyness around her giving himself away.

Adrien smiled back anxiously, not quite sure how Tom felt about him. Adrien really loved the way that Marinette's family was so close. He longed for the love and happiness that he had never known from his father, at least since the disappearance of his mother.

Once the customer was helped, Sabine came back over and Tom automatically slid his hand around her waist, pulling her close, almost a mirror image of Marinette and Adrien.

"Well?" Sabine asked, "What was all that racket?"

Both parents raised their eyebrows, awaiting the explanation.

Marinette started, but Adrien cut her off, his own story forming in his mind. "Well, as I was on the floor, quite uncomfortably," he glanced sideways at Marinette. "And Marinette dumped a cold, freezing cold glass of water on my face."

Tom and Sabine started laughing and then slowly broke off, waiting to hear more story.

As if Adrien knew that he had them hooked, he began again. "And when I'm spluttering and gasping for air, she goes in and started to tickle me! Unrelenting!" he continued rapidly.

Tom, Sabine, and Marinette were all laughing at Adrien's supposed misfortune. Sabine wiped under her eye, as she had been laughing hard enough for her eyes to water.

Tom chuckled a little more, hand on his stomach. "Alright kiddos, you're excused. Quite an interesting way to start off the day, huh Adrien?" after he said this, he could picture it in his mind, and laughed some more.

"We're going off to a coffee shop around the corner; we will be back later!" Marinette waved as her and Adrien walked to the door.

"Love you sweetie!" Sabine called.

"Love you too! Bye Dad!" Marinette answered, slightly shoving Adrien out the door to avoid further embarrassment.

"We will play Ultimate Mecha Strike III later!" Tom called. "Where I will beat you all with my awesomeness!" he bragged, pointing a finger into the air, laughing as the pair left the shop.

The door closed, the bell chiming, and then it chimed again. Marinette had opened the door, peeking her head through, "You will never beat me! Mwhahahaha!" she giggled, and then closed the door again.

Tom sighed, "Our baby girl is growing up."

Sabine sighed too, and laid her head down on Tom's shoulder, "Yeah, she really is."


As the pair walked down the street, Marinette noticed that Adrien kept rubbing his hands down his pants, almost in a nervous tick sort of way.

She looked straight ahead and then looked back down at his hand, holding her breath. Marinette tentatively reached out her hand and touched her middle finger to his palm, as if asking for permission.

Not wasting anymore time, Adrien grabbed onto her hand, interlocking fingers. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He had kept thinking about how easy it would be to reach out and grab her hands. Had he been Chat, he would've already been all over her, but as Adrien, he really didn't know what their boundaries were.

Instantly as she took his hand, the tension and awkwardness that was between them was gone, as if it wasn't ever there to begin with.

"You can come up with quite the stories!" Marinette teased him.

Adrien raised his eyebrows at her, "Well, that does come as an advantage to being Chat. Making up stories to where I have been off to. Among other things," he smirked and winked at her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I do get to see you in your tight, red outfit."

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Yup, same old kitty cat, making jokes, even this early in the morning."

The two laughed and sooner than they knew it, they had arrived at the coffee shop. Adrien quickened his pace and politely grabbed the door handle. "My princess," he smiled and did a little cheesy bow.

Marinette giggled at his tactics, blushing a bit. He had always been chivalrous, Marinette thought, noticing his ever proper manner. Even with his friends, Marinette had never noticed Adrien being a dork about it before; it was endearing.

The little bell chimed on the top of door frame, and Marinette walked in, Adrien close behind, his hand on her back, holding her close.

The two were guided over to a booth in the front corner of the cafe, near the window showing the name of the shop.

Marinette sat down, and Adrien followed suit.

After a couple of silent minutes of viewing the menu, a waitress came over. She smiled at the cute couple, "What would you two love birds like to have?"

Marinette blushed at her statement, and Adrien caught on to why she was red right away. "I will have a smoothie and a blueberry muffin please." He gestured to Marinette, now that she had cooled down. "I-I will have a hot chocolate, and, let's see," she paused, "And a coffee cake!" she decided firmly, emphasising it with a sharp little nod.

The waitress scribbled away on her paper and smiled at them, "Gotcha! I'll be back with your order soon." And with that she went off to help another table.

Adrien rested his head on his hand and stared. Marinette started to blush under his intense gaze. "Are you sure that you aren't the model?" Adrien questioned.

Marinette's eyes widened and seemed to blush even more. Marinette stumbled around her words, trying, and failing, to form complete sentences. Marinette flailed her arms around wildly, not noticing Adrien's hand slip from under his chin where he was originally resting his head on. He grabbed her hand, calming her down, but at the same time, making her even more flustered.

"I-I" Marinette continued to stumble around and the waitress cut her off with her arrival.

"Alright, a blueberry muffin for the lady," she paused while she slid the plate along the table. "And a coffee cake for the gentleman."

She turned around and called over her shoulder, "You're drinks will be here in a minute, they're still being made right now." And with that she walked off to work some more.

The pair laughed a little, and slid the other's food across the table. Marinette looked at the sugary coating on top of the coffee cake and took a bite. She moaned, it was delicious. Sugar had come off on her lips when she took a bite. Adrien leaned over and kissed her lips, licking the sugar off.

He hummed, "Delicious." Marinette was blushing. "The cake was good too," Adrien said as he smirked at her, Marinette continuing her competition with the color of a tomato.

Once Marinette had gotten over the admittedly adorable endeavor, the two dined comfortably.

As they had taken a couple of bites, the waitress brought their drinks over, smiling and gushing at the cuteness of their relationship. She had seen the cute little kiss, and said as much, affecting Marinette, making her turn a dark red hue.

The waitress stared at the two and sighed. Marinette and Adrien both looked at each other and then her and smiled. The waitress caught on, realizing that she was still standing there. "Oh! I will, uh, leave you two to it then! Enjoy your meal!"

Marinette blew on her hot chocolate, spooning out the marshmallows and eating them first. Adrien gawked at her. "You eat the marshmallows first?" he asked incredulously. "You are supposed to let them melt into the drink to make it sweeter!"

Marinette ignored his statement in favor of taking another mouthful of marshmallow. When she was finished, she eyed Adrien in all seriousness and said, "Not a chance!" She continued on. "Marshmallows are way better when you eat them all gooey and warm," she stuck one in his face on impulse.

Grudgingly, Adrien ate the marshmallow, even licking the spoon. Marinette pulled the spoon away from his face. He grumbled, "You don't have to feed me you know, I am fully capable."

Marinette smirked, though still red in the face. "Sure," she said, ignoring his statement completely, "but how was it?"

Adrien frowned, she really was right, it was deliciously gooey. He mumbled out something incoherent.

"What was that?" Marinette asked, smirking and putting a hand to her ear, playing this out.

Adrien looked past Marinette's shoulder, not willing to look her in the eyes. "I said that it was fine."

"Uh huh? Just… fine? Not delicious how the sweetness melted over your tongue?" she teased him some more.

"Okay fine! It was delicious! Amazing even!" Adrien crossed his arms and huffed.

Marinette smirked, not letting it drop that easily. "I guess you could say it was purr-fectly mew-aculous!"

Adrien didn't like being wrong, but couldn't help but smile at his Princess's puns.

"Finally getting into puns now, are we? Pretty a-mew-sing aren't they?"

Marinette gestured with her fingers to indicate a 'little bit', and answered, "I always liked your puns, even if I didn't act like it."

Adrien's mouth dropped open in surprise, "What?! You actually liked them? But you left me hanging every time! You barely ever laughed at them!"

Marinette giggled at his astonishment, smiling brightly. "I never laughed because I knew if I started to, you wouldn't ever stop telling them, and then I would never stop laughing!"

She laughed some more at the absurdity of it all, "I knew we would have trouble fighting akumas when I was too busy laughing at my partner and his cute jokes!" she explained further.

Adrien's mouth opened and closed like a fish, "You-" he cut himself off shaking his head and started again. "You thought my jokes were cute?"

Marinette looked down at her hands where she was picking at her nails. "Well, the jokes were cute, but so was the person telling them," she revealed with her face yet again bright red.

Adrien was astonished, he didn't think that his Lady had even noticed him, she always just seemed so focused on their job instead of goofing around.

Marinette blushed redder as the silence dragged on without Adrien replying.

She awkwardly drank some more hot chocolate and Adrien ran a hand through his hair, trying to comprehend that the entire time the two were together, in every form, Marinette had found him cute and quirky. The same way that he did with his Princess and his Lady.

"Wow," he said lamely.

"Wow," Marinette mirrored him.

"Somehow I knew you couldn't resist my puns of steel!" Adrien puffed out his chest with pride.

Marinette giggled at his joke thinking about how much she had fallen for Adrien, and all of him. All his little quirks and insecurities.

The two finished off their meals and got ready to leave. Marinette grabbed her purse and slid out of the booth. Adrien met her at the end of the seat with his hand held out to help her up. Marinette colored a little, not used to such attention.

Much to Marinette's dismay, Adrien payed the bill, and gave Marinette a wink saying, "It is the first date you know." Marinette blushed some more, feeling like she had been blushing from the moment she woke up. She thought about it some more, she had been blushing all morning! From the second she woke up in her scantily short shorts, to right that very second when Adrien was paying the bill.

When they turned the corner to a more secluded street, Adrien turned and stopped, taking Marinette's face into his hands, holding her close.

Adrien looked her square in the face and Marinette took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect. Adrien grabbed onto her hand, holding it close to his chest, making Marinette turn red, yet again, she had thought as a side note. Marinette couldn't help but think of how cute the gesture was.

"Marinette, I think that I'm in love with you," Adrien held his breath, awaiting her reply.


AN: Hey! Guess what? 2,852 words! Yayy! I hope you liked it! I wasn't that sure on how to write it, but I think it was okay… In the future, do you want me to make a whole chapter in a certain POV (point of view)? And I know that I'm asking again, but would a band akuma still be okay to do?

I hope you liked this whole date thing (I enjoyed writing it), and thought it was semi-cute. Even if they seem mildly (read: a lot) out of character.

Thank you all! And until next time my fur-st class readers!

P.S. Would anyone be interested in BETAing? (It might be a while until I can get on again)