(( LUCKY 13! ))

Adrien tried not to physically move as he mentally shook himself from his straying thoughts. Though it was completely against his nature, he instead kept completely still, slightly entranced and not a little awestruck at Marinette's movements in working the wadded, wet paper towel across his face. (How did she manage to make everything seem softer?) It reminded him of the times she had lovingly doted on him after any number of Akuma battles of the more violent varieties: simple but calculated actions operated with a smile. It was something she tended to apply to everything in her life. Everything, that is, except maybe a simple walk down the hallway.

There were considerable differences between those times and now, however. For one, there was a serious lack of flirting, especially on his part. That was, admittedly, the biggest difference. Flirting aside, the banter they had always fallen so effortlessly into before was gone between them. No easy chatter, no miscellaneous ramblings filled the empty air time. The silence, however, though quite…tense, was not necessarily uncomfortable. They had too much history between them to make anything truly awkward; at least, not in a "we'll never get past this" way.

(There had been a few times as Chat that he made have said something that went from flirting to possibly suggestive, unintentionally, before they had settled on liking each other. Those were awkward silences.)

The red blur that was Tikki zoomed around their heads chasing a snickering Plagg while Marinette performed her task unperturbed. Adrien continued to watch Marinette's face, thinking of how she really was always there for him, even when it was her that had caused the mess in the first place (…sort of). He could have pointed out a long time ago that he was perfectly able to do this on his own, but…with everything going on lately, he was going to take whatever positive attention he could get from this wonderful girl.

A pink blush tinged her cheeks as Marinette flicked her eyes to his own, and Adrien realized he's been staring pretty relentlessly at her. He also realized he was still unable to look away.

"You had a crush on me! Admit it!" she had accused just a half hour before.

The blond boy in front of her had been thinking about it ever since.

Adrien thought back again to that rainy day in her – Marinette's – room. She had opened her window. She had let him in. He had gone to her because, somehow, he knew she wouldn't ever turn him away.

Crush on her? Nah.

He had been in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

A sudden warmth sunk into his cheeks, and Adrien fought not to run his hands across them to hide his newfound embarrassment. When Marinette reached over him to pull the now wet comb through his golden locks, she stopped abruptly. Confusion marked her features, evidentially confused at the sudden blush on his face. In reply, Adrien could only consciously purse his lips. His cheeks, neck, and ears, however, traitors that they were, were suddenly on fire.

Because holey cheese, Batman. He was a filthy hypocrite.

He didn't want to look. He didn't want her to see his fear, his admittance to his weakness. But he still couldn't pull his eyes away from hers. After another stressed moment – even the Kwamis had quieted down at the sudden heat tangible in the air – Marinette's expression, to Adrien's surprise (couldn't she always see right through him!?) softened.

"Adrien…" she started. "I –"

They both jumped (the Kwami's yelped) at the sudden sound of the warning bell.

"Oh, shoot!" they said together. Having already had detention administered to them already, they really, really couldn't take the chance at another one. Not if they wanted the consequences to compound exponentially. Marinette was already gathering up all her things, but before Adrien could even register what to do next, a hand reached over and dunked his head under the faucet, scrubbing his scalp with real fervor. He sputtered and struggled against her grip, but couldn't shake her strong hands off of him (because he was surprised…that's all). As fast as it had started, though, the pressure on his head was suddenly gone.

Adrien pulled his head out from under the water like a drowning man, jumping to his feet and staggering backward. Not unlike a cat, he started to shake his head vigorously, but froze when he heard squeals.

Several of them.

As in, from multiple girls.

His head was still bowed as he looked behind him, eyes peeking under his arm in the direction of the door nervously. At the sight before him, he stood model-straight and waved sheepishly before hurriedly making his way to the door.

"H-Hey, ladies!" he said brightly, passing through the gaggle of giggling girls as quickly as possible.

As soon as he was free from his most recent bought of utter mortification, he caught sight of a bluenette running out of the locker room. To his chagrin, she shot him a cheeky grin before fleeing out the door to the hall on the other side.

How can one girl be so completely hot and yet so mean at the same time!?

Adrien shook his head again while setting into a jog to his locker, ignoring the loud laughter now coming from the bathroom he had just vacated. A buzz sounded from his pocket, jarring his thoughts a little more into the real world. He didn't break his stride as he dug into his jeans for his phone, flipping it in his hand and unlocking the screen to check his messages.

Nathalie – Reminder: Chinese and Piano after school today.

Ah, crap. Now was not a great time to remember that he hadn't notified Nathalie about detention yet. Not that any time would be a great time to let his father know he got detention, but…

Me – Thank you, Nathalie. But I can't make it today. I have detention after school.

There wasn't an immediate response. This concerned Adrien in every way. There could only be two reasons for this. One: she was telling his father. Two: she was covering for him. Unfortunately, while Nathalie could be well counted on to cover for him in a number of ways, he wasn't sure if either of them – he or Nathalie – could keep the fact that Adrien had received his first detention from his father. For this reason, the question of whether they should didn't even cross his mind.

Adrien put in his combination before pulling open his locker. There was only about a minute – maybe – left before the class bell rang. Students were hurrying around him, the usual laughter and giggling filling the air from reenergized teenagers after a much-needed lunch period.

Just as Adrien had switched out his books and closed his locker, he felt another buzz…and a small wave of panic to go with it. He leaned against the locker, deciding to take whatever message he had received grounded to something solid instead of en route to class, though he would probably be late because of it.

He nearly choked on his own spit when he saw who the message was from.

Father – Mlle. Dupain-Cheng seems to be following my instructions with a vigor I find extremely refreshing. Invite her for dinner this evening. I wish to speak with your girlfriend, especially since our last attempt at spending time together ended so poorly.

Adrien stared blankly at his phone. A minute passed. The bell rang. Water was still dripping on his shoulders. The locker room emptied. He was left in silence. Still he stood there, confused beyond anything he had felt in his life. And, really, that was saying something, since he had had a magical being pop into his room through a ring to grant him mystical cat-themed superpowers.

It was only when Plagg poked his head out and read the message that Adrien even remembered where he was.

"What…what?"

"I have no idea," replied Plagg. "Well, I probably have more of a clue than you have, but still."

Adrien scowled at Plagg before deciding to respond to his father. He would have to think of his reply carefully, taking into account Marinette's feelings on attending dinner at his house, with his father, and the fact that she had detention as well.

Me – Yes, Father.

That'll do.

But…really…Marinette probably wouldn't want to agree to this. Kind of. Especially with, as his father pointed out, how well the last attempt at a get-to-know-you went. He felt his cheeks warm again at this memory. How could he possibly get Marinette to come without her making any excuses to back out?

Adrien paused suddenly in his trek toward the classroom, standing alone in the middle of the common area between the stairs to his class and the front of the school. He blinked once. Then twice. Then smiled wickedly. A moment later and he was out the door. The next text that came in he dutifully ignored.

Nino – where r u dude?

(( Mmmkay. So this was going to be about 3x longer than it ended up being, but…this seemed like a good place to cut off. (3 The good news about this is…I have it written out already! This is what happens when there's a national holiday and I actually kinda GET A DAY OFF.

Thank you, again, for all your wonderful feedback! I know the last chapter was a little different, but it was needed. Yeah, this story is all good and lighthearted and whatnot (crazy? Crackish at times? Fun? Silly?), but we needed to see Adrien with real feelings, you know?

Thank you for leaving reviews! I love them. I read them. I treasure them. I scrapbook them.

Wait, no…ignore that last sentence.

Seriously, though…thank you all. I just… I can't express what it means to a writer (artist of ANY kind) to receive feedback. It's validation. So, really, when I say thank you, I MEAN IT. n.n

Tumblr: callmeakumatized ("blog" is not spoiler-free – be warned) ))