Chapter 4: It's getting hot in here

Arriving ten minutes late, Alya and Nino walked into the restaurant hand in hand. Both of them looked starry-eyed at each other, grasping the others hand with certainty. However, as soon as they entered, they found a starry-eyed Adrien sitting next to Marinette.

As Marinette turned to greet Alya and Nino, they were struck by her appearance. She had a pretty flush to her cheeks and bright smile like she had just been laughing, and her eyes shone because of the glitter which had been strategically applied to her eyelids.

'Wow, Marinette, you look amazing!' Nino said encouragingly, causing a slight blush to arise on Marinette's cheeks.

'Thanks, Nino,' she mumbled in return.

'He's right, you look so pretty!' Alya said quietly while hugging Marinette in greeting.

Meanwhile, all Adrien could do was stare. He was already developing feelings for Marinette, but seeing her tonight? Wow. She was beautiful. He had just never been able to see it before. Startingly, he realised it wasn't her appearance that made her so attractive all of a sudden, it was her confidence. It almost reminded him of, well, Ladybug. This realisation stunned him. He had never thought of Marinette and Ladybug sharing similar qualities before. But as he thought about it, he realised they shared the same kindness and fierce loyalty to others, as well as a courageous flare that allowed them both to stand up for those around them. It was just that, Adrien had never seen this confidence from Marinette directed at him, and dang, it was powerful.

'Dude… what pizza do you want?' Nino asked Adrien, clicking his fingers in Adrien's face to get his attention.

'Uh… yeah…,' Adrien stumbled, scanning the menu quickly. He was acutely aware of Marinette's eyes on him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at Adrien's distraction.

Once their pizzas had arrived, the fun started.

Nino and Alya were chatting amiably, while Adrien fawned over Marinette. Taking a bite of his pizza, Adrien ended up smearing some sauce on his cheek. Upon noticing the mishap, Marinette delicately pointed to his mouth, indicating he should wipe it off. Feeling sheepish all of sudden, Adrien took a napkin and wiped hastily beside his lips. He grinned at Marinette, thinking he had ridded himself of the stain. With a slight giggle, Marinette grasped her own napkin and reached up to slowly wipe away the mark. She shifted closer to him on their seat, placing her other hand on his shoulder. His eyes met hers as she reached up, and he smiled softly, indicating for her to go ahead. Very delicately, and intimately, Marinette swiped at his cheek, brushing his lips with the napkin. The pair stared at each other, enraptured by the moment.

Marinette was the first to pull away. Partly because she couldn't breathe. Her breath caught in her throat, he hands went clammy, and her eyes were wide. Adrien hadn't made her feel like this in a long time. Adrien sensed the heat rising in Marinette, and surprisingly in his own body as well. His heart felt like it was swelling up, ready to burst open, and his mind felt fuzzy with emotion. He REALLY cared for Marinette, and that made it harder, because he REALLY didn't want to mess things up with her.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Adrien was flirting with Marinette, and funnily enough, she was flirting back. The pair started joking around with each other, starting to feel comfortable with this new feelings, and new familiarity that came with them. Once it was time to leave, Alya and Nino deliberately left in a different direction so as to let the two 'friends' walk home together.

'I had a really great time tonight,' Marinette exhaled happily, gazing out at the city around her.

'Yeah?' Adrien asked, hand moving to scratch the back of his neck nervously.

'Of course, Adrien,' Marinette reassured him, deliberately shifting so as to bump shoulders with him gently. A bolt of electricity went through Adrien's body at their touch.

'So did I,' he said, gazing at her lovingly. Marinette practically melted at how sweet he was, but was then brought back to solidarity when she remembered someone else who made her feel this way, someone who had a very different approach to wooing her. Pushing the thought aside, Marinette boldly looped her arm through his, trying to convince herself to focus on the boy she currently had in her reach.

Now it was Adrien's turn to melt. Having her hold onto him like this just felt… right. She fit perfectly against him, and her presence was comforting. He felt at home next to her. Almost like he did with Ladybug. With a jump, Adrien realised that was the second time that night that he had likened Marinette to the superheroine. One time was just coincidence, but twice? He pushed the thought aside. It's only natural to think about his first love when he is with the next possible candidate, right?

Marinette felt a slight tension pass through Adrien.

'Are you ok?' she asked, concern lining her voice.

'Me? Oh yeah, to-totally!' he stammered, gripping onto her arm.

'What're you thinking about?' Marinette asked innocently.

'Um..,' Adrien considered his options for an answer. He didn't want to lie to Marinette, but then, wasn't he always going to have to lie to her? I mean, say they started dating, that doesn't mean he could tell her he is Cat Noir, does it?

'Honestly?' Adrien asked, willing the question to go away.

'Always,' Marinette said seriously.

'I was actually thinking about… my first crush,' Adrien said, wanting to be as honest as possible. Marinette stiffened beside him.

'Oh,' she said quietly, unsure how to respond.

'Not like that!' Adrien tried to recover the conversation, 'I mean, you never really forget about your first crush someone like that right? And I mean eventually you meet other people and you realise that they are similar to your first crush and that maybe that's because you're attracted to a certain quality but it totally doesn't mean that you still love them and… oh on I'm making this worse, aren't I?'

'I get that,' Marinette said in response, more to herself than to Adrien.

'You do?' Adrien asked hopefully.

'Yeah… but I think at some point you have to move on and just take what you've been given, maybe what's been in front of you the whole time,' Marinette said passionately.

'Yeah… yeah that is a great way to think about it,' Adrien said in response, in awe of her understanding.

'Would you…,' Adrien started, then cleared his throat, 'would you, I don't know, maybe, want to go back to that pizza place with me sometime? Or somewhere else I suppose, I mean it doesn't have to be there, but…' Marinette froze beside him, halting their walk home. Staring up at him in awe, she realised he had trailed off and stopped talking.

'Yes!' she blurted out, practically shouting.

'Great,' Adrien grinned mischievously at her, letting his Cat Noir side come out. By now they were facing each other on the dimly lit pathway on the quiet Paris streets, amazed at how quickly things had changed between them. This was going to be a wild ride.