Stuck In A Bakery (With You), Chapter 26


The air in Marinette's room was suddenly thick with anticipation. Two young teenagers eyed each other nervously, mindful of where they were, who might come up and check on them, and a host of other complicating factors... and trying to tell themselves that they actually did care about any of that.


Marinette broke the tension first. "Are you all right, Adrien?" she asked, with mild concern. "You look like it, but I want to be sure. In a way, your romance with Kagami just ended... but as she said, all you have to do is say 'yes' to turn that back on, so it didn't end unless you want it to."

"True," Adrien conceded. "An awful lot of this situation seems like it's all up to me to decide."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Marinette. "Would it have been better if we'd just told you how it was going to be from now on?"

"That's not what I mean," said Adrien. "Of course I'm glad that I get input into this! But I'm also kind of caught in a trap right now. You want me to be happy, Kagami to be happy, and none of us to feel hurt. That's precisely what I want for you and Kagami, and what Kagami wants for us, right?"

"Right..." Marinette agreed, following along.

"But someone will have to make a decision sooner or later, one that at least one of us could be hurt by even if they're denying it now. And right now, the two of you are saying 'We can go either way, or with both, or with neither. You decide' to me," shrugged Adrien. "I totally get it! You're not just throwing it onto me, you want me to have what I... who it is that I want the most, and that's very sweet of both of you. But that's very complicated from my side, too."

"Oh," mused Marinette. "You're right about that, the more that I think about it... I'm sorry, Adrien."

"It's okay," Adrien smiled, reaching over and taking her hand in his. "All three of us will figure this out as best we can. I'm just... well, let's just say that a week ago, that just now was a conversation that I never would've expected."

"Then again," he added, gazing softly at Marinette, "so much about you has been unexpected."


"You're going to make me blush," cooed Marinette. "Though I'm starting to expect that."

"I can't help it, Marinette," he breathed. "You find new ways to amaze me all the time."

"I'll do my best to keep that up," Marinette smiled. "So keep expecting that."

"And all of a sudden... there are lots of new possibilities, aren't there?" Adrien asked. "I wasn't sure what to expect from Kagami tonight. I was afraid that this would break her heart! But she was reasonable and thoughtful in ways that she... she probably shouldn't have been. I'm kind of humbled. And a little ashamed, too."

"Adrien..." said Marinette, putting her other hand on top of Adrien's hand that was holding hers. "I can't speak for Kagami, but she did quite a good job of expressing herself just now. She loves you, too. I'm not going to tell you to go to her. I'm not going to tell you not to."

"What I want..." Adrien said, very quietly, "is to know what you want most. I know you, Marinette. I know how giving you are, how willing you are to sacrifice for the benefit of others. You do that all the time... my 'everyday Ladybug.'"

"I mean that!" he insisted, watching her smile and look away at that. "I meant it that day and I mean it even more now."

"As I recall... the first time you called me that, it earned you a kiss on the cheek," replied Marinette, her face flushed as she returned her eyes to his. "And as close as I could come to a confession that day."

"Well..." Adrien grinned, "I'm calling you that again now. What do you want that to mean this time, Marinette?"


To his delight, Adrien watched Marinette squirm in her chair. Her hands went back to her lap, she had a silly grin she couldn't suppress... she was biting her bottom lip again! And that look in her eyes...

Marinette loves me. He'd heard that from her own lips... he'd seen the longing in her eyes ever since... he'd finally grasped it. It was a part of his life now; it wasn't just guessing and hoping on his part any more. But when he'd wrapped his arms around her and held her on the balcony, when they'd shared near-kiss encounters since then... there was something still very pure about it. Something innocent.

But this... this was something a little different. It's not that Adrien was suddenly an expert on young women; far from it, actually, as recent events had proven to him in no uncertain terms. But he'd seen a light in Kagami's eyes once certain boundaries had been crossed... a different kind of longing. Something natural, and on a different kind of level.

Was he dreaming this? Sure, he'd flirted with Marinette... and she'd flirted back... and even that had taken him a little time to process that it was happening. That the girl who couldn't seem to get comfortable with him for so long was suddenly very comfortable... and hinting at more.

And then there were those tuck-ins... where he'd felt like his whole body was on fire under Marinette's gentle care and goodnight kiss... and the look on her face the night that he'd returned the favor.

But there wasn't any doubt left in his mind, watching her now... and the feeling was indescribable.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng wanted him.


"I... um... well..."

Watching her stammer, struggling for the right words to say... it was nearly an unpleasant reminder of how nervous he'd made her for so long, without understanding why. But with their new understanding, and with the reality of the situation...

...and with the acute knowledge that the two of them were alone in her room right now, they would likely hear footsteps on the stairs in time to react, and that many levels of affection that they'd held back from were now startlingly possible...

...all Adrien knew that on one level, it was positively delightful! And on another... the boy was sweating.


"Adrien... I don't want us to just... dive onto each other now," said Marinette, her brain adding says the horrible filthy lying liar who lies and is lying to you right now when she says that.

Adrien dared to attempt an Are you sure about that? eyebrow raise, but it dissolved back into nervousness on his part, and what he hoped wasn't a goofy expression on his face.

"There is... a part of me... that would not have any problem with that," she added, very slowly and deliberately. "Which I find it hard to believe... that I am saying... out loud... right now."

"It's harder than telling me that you love me?" marveled Adrien. "Because that took an awful lot of willpower on your part."

"Not harder. Just... different," she gulped. "This would be another very big step, like that was. Don't you agree?"

"It would. But, kind of like how we talked upstairs about how there are different kinds of love," smiled Adrien, "maybe there are different kinds of kisses. Like, if I greet you in public, and I do this..."

He leaned across and did the la bise air kiss next to Marinette's cheek. "None of our friends would even blink, probably. They know that that's just friendly. You even did that with Chloe once, at her party," he noted.

"Ewww," grumbled Marinette, good-naturedly. "Don't remind me of that."

"Or there's the cheek kiss that a beautiful girl gave me once when I said that she was my everyday Ladybug," he continued. "It was pretty similar to la bise..."

He leaned in closely once more, then whispered, "But you made contact. Very sweet and wonderful contact."

Marinette felt soft lips touch her cheek, and couldn't move a millimeter.

"A lot like that," whispered Adrien.

"I hope it felt that good for you that day," Marinette breathed.

Adrien leaned back in his chair once more, giving her a little space. "Or there was that kiss on my forehead the other night, when you tucked me into bed. That was a friendly kiss... but it felt like something else, too. Not an invitation, exactly... more like a wish."

"It was..." murmured Marinette. "I'll admit that now."

"I nearly passed out. You felt that, right?" said Adrien. "I'll admit that for sure. And when I tucked you in after our talk..."

"I can't even describe that," she replied, a little volume returning to her voice. "Okay... you're making sense so far."

"So..." Adrien ventured. "Going from that to... well... making out... that would be a very big step. And I really am all knotted up inside over this whole thing, Marinette. I don't know what I want to do about you, about Kagami, about... balancing the two of you... finding the right path. And if what I had with Kagami meant anything... and it truly did, I know it did... I don't want to just... jump into that again lightly. Not until I'm sure."


Marinette's smile came back. "You know what? I'm glad that you think so. Honest. I don't... want to rush things, either," she said. "And I understand completely if you're a mess inside right now! I kind of am, too. Maybe I looked fairly calm when we talked with Kagami... but I was holding my breath through half of that."

"And..." she continued after a slight pause, "I need to say that our first kiss... our first real kiss... our first no-doubt-about-it kiss... Adrien, I've pictured that in my head a thousand times, a thousand different places, a thousand different ways. But every one of them had something in common; that we both knew it and we meant it. And when we... if we get there..."

Adrien saw intense vulnerability in Marinette's eyes. "...that's what I want, Adrien. I want a first real kiss that makes my knees buckle. That makes your hair stand on end. That tells me that we're there. And that kind of kiss... we can save that for when we get there."

"You didn't say if that time," noted Adrien.

"Let me have this, Adrien," she laughed, but with her eyes starting to get a little watery. "I'm closer to that now than I've ever been before. I'm just going to tuck that little dream away in my purse for now and keep it warm and dry."

"Well... there is one other kind of kiss you ought to know about," Adrien replied, leaning closer. "The kind that a boy and girl who care for each other very, very much might share. A simple kiss that says, 'You are so special to me. You aren't someone who's trying to win my heart... you're someone who's won it. And maybe we're not there quite yet... but we've passed another boundary, and we're not going back without a fight."

"Oh," gasped Marinette. "I see."

Adrien leaned in closer. "If... and only if... you'd be interested in seeing what that's like," he whispered.

He watched, not moving any further, as Marinette bit her bottom lip once more...


A softness engulfed Adrien's world.

A sweet, gentle sensation took over every nerve in his body, every synapse in his brain at once. His eyes flew open out of shock... then closed slowly, seeing that Marinette's were closed as well, feeling that it was right to do so.

Light as a feather... sweet as a songbird's call... pure as new-fallen snow.


Marinette leaned backwards, very slowly, and each of them opened their eyes.

They stared at each other for several seconds, with no words seeming appropriate to add...

...and then Marinette lunged into Adrien's arms, hugging him extra-tight, and starting to cry softly.

"I've got you," murmured Adrien. "I'm not letting go."

"I'm okay," she sniffled. "They're I've-waited-a-year-for-that tears. I promise."

He held on, and she held on, and they rode out the wave together.

It was still just one kiss...

...and it wasn't that kiss...

...but in that moment, it was enough.