"Are you attracted to my father?"
The question came from nowhere. Never in a million years did Marinette ever think she would hear something like that from her husband's lips.
Her hands paused as she tried to fix the wrinkles in his collared shirt, but the question had completely taken her off guard.
"What?" She asked, her blue eyes blinking as she glanced up at him with a look of confusion. Her hands rested on the firm planes of his chest, and had it not been for the fact that his question was incredulously impertinent, she would have been completely flushed by his muscle tone.
Adrien shrugged sheepishly, shifting in his jeans as Marinette's awkward gaze nearly bore right through his skin.
"It's just, the last time we met him just before we officially signed our marriage license you seemed really blushy and shy around him."
Marinette widened her eyes, the blush on her cheeks deepening as she vividly recalled Adrien narrowing his eyes at her that afternoon. She didn't think much of it at the time because she had every intention of divorcing him and leaving him entirely at that moment.
Marinette had no idea that he had suspicions, though.
She wondered if this was the norm for him, but it certainly was strange and definitely embarrassing more than anything else.
"Adrien, what the fuck?" Marinette snorted, lightly pulling away to slap his chest. "What kind of question is that? Of course I'm not attracted to your father. I'm just awkward at meeting new people." She murmured, moving away from him so she could grab her purse from the edge of their bed.
Tikki mewed, purring softly as she jumped on to the bed and began to knead at the blankets mercilessly.
"Was that a weird question?" Adrien asked, sliding his hands into his pockets casually. He rocked back and forth on his heels, a cheeky grin tugging at his lips as Marinette nearly exploded under his playful scrutiny.
"Y-Yeah!" Marinette immediately retorted, sliding her purse strap onto her shoulder. She reached down, fixing her white off the shoulder blouse.
"That's like me asking if you would fuck Alya." Marinette muttered, fixing her jeans nonchalantly.
"Yeah, I would..."
Marinette froze, her eyes widening at the sound of his voice uttering that confession. Her cheeks grew warm, and though Marinette had never experienced this sort of sensation at this level before, it was still undeniable at that point.
She usually never got this jealous, but she tried her hardest not to let something like this show.
"What?" Marinette mused, turning her head to look at him. If looks could kill a person, Adrien would surely be dead.
Adrien immediately shook his head.
"I mean no, I would never do that." He replied, reaching up to run his hand through his hair.
"Adrien, don't be a butthole." Marinette frowned, her cheeks growing red as Adrien approached her, he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer.
"I'm sorry. I'm only joking with you," he murmured, planting a soft kiss to her forehead. "You know I only have eyes for you. Even if yours are green with jealousy."
Marinette sighed into his chest, her heart squeezing as he teased her again. She tried to calm herself down before leaving anywhere. She didn't want her flustering to be so evident.
"We should keep talks like this to a minimum on nights we go to my parents' house." Marinette breathed, slowly pulling away from him. The young woman reached up to lightly touch her cheeks. "If I show up like this, they're gonna ask me so many questions..."
"I think you look cute when you blush." Adrien murmured, slowly reaching over to curl his fingers beneath her chin so that he could guide her face into his trajectory.
Marinette shivered, her eyes closing as Adrien brushed his thumb over her freckled flushed cheek.
"You're making it worse..." Marinette whispered, her heart picking up speed the moment she could feel his lips brush against hers. "I'm going to show up at my parents' house with a tomato head."
Adrien chuckled softly against her lips. He leaned closer, keeping his arms around her as their bodies pressed flush against one another.
"That's okay. It's a bit of a drive from here to your parents' house. We have time to cool you down before we make an appearance." He replied, his lips remaining layered on top of hers.
Marinette slowly placed her hands on his chest, her breath clashing with his as she was tempted to roll onto the tips of her toes and kiss him, but she refused to lose to him.
"Y-You don't know that. I have a tendency to think about things when I have time to. There's no way I can be calm by then." Marinette retorted, a small grin tugging on her lips.
She kept her eyes closed, a small gasp emitted from her lips as the tip of Adrien's nose ran across the tip of her nose.
He slowly began to dip his fingertips into the curve of her spine. His other hand dropped to her hips, keeping her hips against his.
Her breath quivered. She knew she was slowly losing. Her hands carefully knotted into the shirt he wore and before she could react, his lips had pressed against hers.
His lips were warm and incredibly soft. Marinette had kissed him a few times before, and she knew this wouldn't be their last kiss, but each kiss always felt like the first.
And it was always surreal.
Marinette immediately kissed back, her lips moving against his in a sweet and passionate kiss.
Adrien's lips captured hers each time her lips drew back and Marinette breathed in his breath. His arms resumed their place completely around her waist.
His mouth opened against hers, deepening the kiss soon after.
Marinette gripped even tighter on to his shirt. Her mouth soon followed suit as she allowed him to deepen the kiss.
Her hands trembled against him, and she could vividly feel his tongue swipe the inside of her lip.
Her heart syncopated against his heartbeat as her breasts pushed against his chest. Her hands slowly slipped up to the back of his neck so that she could run her fingers through his thick locks.
Adrien furrowed his brow, his lips holding against hers for a few more seconds before he pulled away with a satisfied hum.
"Mmm...we should get going. We don't want to be late," Adrien whispered, drawing her petite body away from his. "It's the first time I'm getting to properly spend time with your parents. I want to make a good first impression."
Marinette exhaled, still dizzy from the kiss as she stumbled away from him. She bit her lip, still tasting him in her mouth as he laced his hands into hers.
"Y-Yeah. I suppose you're right," She breathed, her face feeling impossibly hot. "We should get going before they start calling, asking if we're okay..."
"Marinette!" Sabine exclaimed, nearly tripping on her feet as she exited the bakery's front doors. "I've missed you so much!"
Marinette grinned, the sight of home making her feel warm once more. It was understandable that Marinette had to move out; her schooling and the nighttime job was providing a lot of inconsistencies at home.
Granted, Marinette felt that if she didn't have those commitments to abide by, she probably wouldn't have ever left that early. But then again, she had never expected her parents to receive a mandatory marriage contract in their mailbox either.
"Mom!" Marinette whined, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman with a pained smile. "I missed you too. I know I was here a couple of months ago to help out with the bakery, but lately, it feels like I haven't seen you in ages."
Adrien stood behind them, thanking his driver before he closed the door. The blonde slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stepped aside to watch his driver pull away from the curb and leave his visage. Adrien sighed, suddenly feeling nervous at the thought of properly spending time with Marinette and her family.
It went without saying that Adrien didn't grow up around a normal functioning family. He was raised by his father's assistant. There was no parental guidance inside of his home nor did he grow into an adult knowing what that felt like.
Adrien knew what it was like to be kind. He knew what it was like to be patient and understanding.
But he didn't know how to fit in, and that was what kept him from taking a leap of faith.
What if he stood out too much? What if he said or did something weird? What if his timidness made him seem rude?
He didn't want her parents to hate him.
His green eyes moved up, watching as Tom stepped into the entrance of the bakery. He smiled at the both of them, meticulously removing the apron from his hips.
Adrien barely had time to get a look at Sabine when Marinette had reached for his arm.
"Adrien! Don't just stand there! Come say hi!" Marinette exclaimed with a bright smile, lightly tugging her husband closer to her mother.
"I'm so glad we finally get to know you. It feels like every time we had a moment to talk to our son-in-law, something always got in the way. The last time we had an actual conversation was when we witnessed you both sign the marriage license. I couldn't even get a word in edgewise at the wedding." Sabine chortled, opening her arms and lightly wrapping them around Adrien who seemed completely bewildered.
"Uh-Uh yeah.." Adrien chuckled awkwardly, slowly wrapping his arms around his new mother-in-law. "The wedding was pretty much timed. My father can be incredibly fastidious sometimes..."
"Nevertheless, I'm glad you were able to come tonight." Sabine murmured as she pulled away.
"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, her eyes widening the moment she saw her father standing in the doorway.
Tom's eyes widened, immediately dropping the apron he was folding nicely the moment Marinette lunged at him.
Her father grunted as he caught his daughter, he held her tightly and swayed her side to side like she was still his little girl.
And that she still was.
Adrien slipped his hands back into his pockets, his chest feeling warm as he witnessed the relationship Marinette had with her parents. It was indeed beautiful, but Adrien couldn't help but be curious and envious at the same time.
He wanted to know what it was like to have a healthy and loving relationship with his mother and his father. Adrien pressed his lips together and he glanced down.
Kagami was his only guidance in the outside world. In fact, she was the only one he was allowed to hang out with.
Adrien wondered if he craved outside guidance so bad, that he was willing to date the first person that made him feel like he belonged, even if in the end it all appeared to be a lie.
"Alright! Let's head inside! I made fresh Baozi as a part of tonight's dinner and I don't want them to get cold. I thought we could try something a little traditional since your father wants us to make our own fresh sweet bread for dessert." Sabine explained, lightly reaching for Adrien so she could guide him inside.
Marinette hopped on her feet, bending down to pick up her father's apron as she allowed her mother to move in front of her. The young woman tucked the apron beneath her shoulder and she grabbed onto Adrien's arm so she could walk beside him.
"I'll have to take you to the mid-autumn moon festival so you can try the mooncakes. They are absolutely my favorite." Marinette whispered as she closed up the door behind her and resumed to walk with him to the stairs that led to her parents' apartment. "They're almost as good as my mother's mango hot tea!"
Adrien pressed his lips together, his blush deepening as he couldn't hear the words 'mango hot tea' without thinking about the night he rutted Marinette in his sleep and released on her.
The blonde nervously ran his hand through his hair, clearing his throat as they climbed a flight of steps.
"O-Oh, really?" He breathed. "I mean you may have mentioned them before, but I don't think I've actually had the chance to properly try mooncakes."
Adrien glanced around nervously. He recalled coming to the bakery one time late at night with Marinette to try the strawberry tarts that Kagami wouldn't let him have, but he never knew there was such a large extension to it before.
Adrien could almost smell the yummy food's aroma that permeated throughout the hallway, and they weren't even on the proper floor yet.
He decided to let himself worry about being awkward, and being triggered by mango tea later, so that he could allow himself to be hungry. Adrien surely felt his stomach growl at the pleasant aroma of food that just grew stronger and stronger.
He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had a warm meal with a warm family.
Adrien blushed, glancing down at his plate as Marinette piled it on with veggies and pork dumplings.
Sabine reached over to pour the drinks, being meticulous not to spill anything over.
Adrien curiously ran his finger onto the inside of his cup, desperate for the tea on the inside to have the same sticky texture as the residue he had left on Marinette's skin a few months before.
But it wasn't quite as right.
He sighed, feeling completely deflated as he knew somewhere in the back of his mind was that he'd have to tell Marinette the truth, and that was what made him feel like Kagami the most.
His green eyes moved down towards the plate, and he leaned a little closer to Marinette with a grimace.
"H-Hey, I think that's about enough. You don't have to pile my plate to high heaven, you know." He teased, lightly jabbing his elbow into her arm.
Marinette shrugged, placing the serving dish down and then jabbing his fork back into his plate with pursed lips.
"What? Just making sure you sleep nice and stuffed tonight." She whispered. "You barely eat at home and I know that being a model means you have to watch your figure. I just want to make sure you at least have one filling meal - you look too skinny lately."
"I don't have the fast metabolism that you do, Marinette," Adrien replied, his voice dropping low to a whisper. "Otherwise I'd be in the bathroom all night."
Marinette giggled softly as she reached for her glass of tea. A small blush dusted across her cheeks and she leaned into him with a cheeky grin.
"That's okay, as long as I know that I fed you. That's all the matters to me. You know how I get when my favorite people don't eat."
Adrien bit his lip, fighting the urge to reach his arms around, and pull her closer to him. He glanced away, inhaling and exhaling as he wanted very badly to appear contained and kept in front of her parents. They were officially his in-laws. If he were to be a part of their family, he wanted them to love him.
Especially because he didn't have a family who loved him back at his home.
Sabine glanced between the two of them, her eyes moving down to her plate as she began to pick at her vegetables. A small smile pulled at her lips as she brought her fork to her lips.
"So, I see you guys are getting along." Sabine commented, lightly jabbing her elbow at Tom who tried not to spill his drink.
Marinette shrugged, reaching up to rub her cheeks as she could only feel them flaming.
"U-Uh yeah!" Marinette breathed, grabbing her drink rather quickly. "I mean we are in this contract together. It only makes sense that we at least try to get along."
Tom chortled, sticking his fork into his steamed dumpling. The steam nearly clouded his eyes and he very quickly blew onto the sticky dumpling before popping it into his mouth.
Adrien rolled his shoulders, suddenly feeling awkward as he tried to focus solely on eating. He was hungry the moment he smelled the food, but the moment he sat in front of his in-laws and thought about how the leftover residue from the tea did not feel like the residue he had left on Marinette the night before his appetite was completely wiped out.
"Does this mean we'll be seeing grandchildren soon?" Tom mused, perking a brow with a small laugh. "I mean, your mother and I aren't getting any younger."
Adrien widened his eyes, his heart racing within his chest. He jumped as Marinette snorted her tea, she placed the glass down and began to cough into her shirt.
A deep blush crossed both their faces and Adrien wasn't even sure what to say. He reached over, placing his hand on her back and lightly rubbing it in an attempt to soothe her somehow.
"Papa!" Marinette hissed, her eyes watering from nearly choking to death. "We aren't talking about anything like that right now," Marinette explained, her voice quivering as she tried to catch her breath. "We've literally married for a contract. We didn't really think about having a family. It all just sort of happened." Marinette cleared her throat, looking at Adrien who glanced down.
It was true, they were a thing. But despite being married, Marinette couldn't help but feel that they were still just dating.
"That's right," Sabine interjected. "The marriage was a contract. We're still glad we've got to meet a nice young man like Adrien." She began to pierce her veggies with her fork. "It hadn't occurred to me that you've might have had a life before having to conform to the contract." She murmured, her eyes moving towards Adrien who glanced up at her awkwardly.
"Y-Yeah, but it wasn't much to rave about," Adrien deadpanned. "I worked for my father by modeling for his clothes. He doesn't make appearances out in the public a lot, so he makes me do them for him. I think the wedding was the first time I've seen him out for a while."
"That woman who was at the engagement party," Sabine pressed. "I recalled she had left the ballroom visibly upset. Was that your girlfriend?"
Marinette grew stiff into her seat, knowing full well she had meant Kagami. She sighed, her chest growing tight as she hadn't known her mother had seen Kagami that night. It felt like it was so long ago. Even Marinette couldn't really remember everything that had happened.
"Mama!" Marinette hissed, her cheeks growing impossibly red. She couldn't believe how nosy her parents were. They never changed, and they often did this to her while she was a teen.
Adrien kindly placed his hand on her back, simply to calm her down as he didn't want to seem like he was hiding something.
"O-Oh. She… she was," Adrien gulped, feeling as if he was suddenly thrust under scrutiny once more. "But we aren't dating anymore." He replied truthfully.
There was an awkward silence between them, and Adrien inwardly screamed at himself, cursing fate for making it this awkward. He really wanted to have fun with her family, but there were so many inconsistencies in his life, it almost seemed impossible not to draw attention to him.
"You know, he does other things that are worth talking about." Marinette pitched, popping a dumpling into her mouth. She reached for her drink and moved it to her lips.
"Like… hobbies - you don't have to dig into his private life yet. I know he's my husband, but we still have some time to get to know each other's families."
She cleared her throat as she took a sip, her lips pressing together as she placed her glass down on to the counter.
Marinette felt her heart squeeze in her chest as she felt awkward to say such a thing, especially because she and Adrien were already intimate and after only a few months.
She began to pick at her veggies, her foot moving over to lightly tap his.
"You're right," Tom replied, offering them both a warm smile. "So what do you do outside of modeling? Do you enjoy it?"
Adrien chewed on to his food slowly with a subtle blush before he swallowed and cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I guess it can be fun. I get to meet a lot of cool people and travel a lot. I don't mind it so much. I get to help my dad out a lot, so that's also good." Adrien replied, placing one of his hands into his lap underneath the table.
"He also knows how to play the piano! He's really talented at it as well." Marinette chimed in, sliding her hand into his from underneath the table as she recalled the times he'd even play her a few songs. Even songs she dreamed of being played at her wedding.
"Oh?" Tom asked, looking over towards Adrien who wanted to sink more so into his seat.
Despite being one of Paris' top fashion models and being displayed on almost every screen and magazine possible, Adrien was actually quite timid and didn't like being in the public eye.
"Yeah. I took piano lessons as a kid." Adrien conceded, his hand tightened around Marinette's for reassurance. "I also learned Mandarin. I was homeschooled and my father made me take extra hobbies to keep me busy."
Sabine widened her eyes, her brows perking with perplexity before she reached for her drink.
"So do you do sports? I'm sure models this popular in the fashion industry have to do something to keep them as fit as you are."
Adrien began to pick at his food before he pursed his lips in contemplation.
"I used to do fencing in high school, but I put the sword down when I graduated. I made a couple of friends during that time, and I may have even taken a jab at it even after I retired," Adrien explained, chuckling at his own pun. "But I've decided to do a routine workout and eat clean."
Adrien blushed, glancing over at Marinette who ogled him with wide blue eyes.
"Although, it's hard to eat clean when I've got bugaboo here stuffing me with her delicious sweets and meals," Adrien then glanced back at Marinette's parents who both watched the two with bubbly eyes. "She must have learned her talents from both of you. I had sweet tarts from the bakery a couple of months ago, and this dinner is delicious. It's been a long time since I've had a warm dinner with a nice family."
"Oh?" Sabine asked, a wide grin on her face as she quite liked that her family was complimented. She was proud of Marinette. Most parents would brag about how well they brought up their children, and despite Marinette having some trouble in middle school, and perhaps a bit of high school, their daughter had grown up independent, rational and with a good sense of judgment.
"So what does your mother do? Does she fashion design as well?" Tom asked, cutting his veggies into pieces on his plate. "I'm sure she'd like those jewels your father was pining after when he presented the contract to marry our Marinette. We never got a chance to meet her at the wedding."
Marinette widened her eyes, her hand squeezing tightly around Adrien's. Her heart squeezed inside of her chest as she could vividly feel Adrien stiffen beside her.
"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, her face twisting with frustration.
Tom widened his eyes, glancing between the two with utter confusion.
He parted his lip, ready to retract his statement for whatever reason but paused the moment Adrien cleared his throat.
"It's fine, Marinette," Adrien reassured, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand.
Despite remaining a little stiff, Adrien tried to relax. But it never came to be and it was always this way when it came to explaining the situation about his mother.
"My mother disappeared when I was a teenager," Adrien explained, grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth. "But you were right. She did enjoy the designs of the jewels. She would often read me stories about them, but I never knew they existed. I thought they were just… folktales or something. My father wanted them because they meant to much to my mother. He would often design his own jewels to mock them and my mother absolutely adored them." Adrien glanced down onto his half-empty plate. "But they weren't the same I suppose. After she disappeared my father became bent on those jewels. If they did exist, he wanted them. He had portraits made of my mother, he broods a lot in his work-study." Adrien chortled at his dark joke. He sighed, eventually shrugging, bringing his eyes back up towards her parents once more.
Sabine watched Adrien with a grimace, the smaller woman leaning into Tom who held her with a matching expression.
"My father likes to keep his private life hidden," Adrien continued. "We have hired private investigators to try and find her, but we hope we come up with something someday. It goes without saying that we really miss her." He paused, glancing over towards his drink. Adrien twisted the glass between his fingertips with a deep exhale.
Marinette frowned, reaching over to cup his hand in both of her hands. She lightly squeezed it, the young woman yearning to move closer to him so that she could hug him, but she didn't want to make an awkward scene in front of her parents.
"But my mom was just… a really great mom. So I guess you can say her job was just being a great and loving parent while my dad did all the fashion designing." Adrien concluded, drawing a dry smile on to his lips before he grabbed his drink and quickly finished it.
"I-I'm sorry. We really didn't know anything that had happened to your mother, and if Marinette told us anything about it, it could have slipped our minds." Sabine murmured, her arm wrapping around her husband's forearm. "But I'm glad you've become part of our family."
Tom smiled, reaching over to touch his wife's hand that rested against his forearm.
"We can't say we know how it feels, but we can't imagine how horrible it must feel to you. So, while you're here I'll teach you how to make some bread, we can play some games if you think you can beat me and we'll provide you everything you missed since your mother disappeared..."
Marinette leaned into Adrien, closing her eyes as she brushed her digit against the back of his hand.
She sighed softly, her hand lightly squeezing his.
Her parents were just so nosy...
Adrien stood by himself in Marinette's old room.
He remembered being here once before. She had a balcony up above where he had once caught her crying.
It was a cute pink little room, and Adrien often wondered what Marinette was like during her childhood.
He was kinda glad that the rest of the night wasn't a bust. Despite him having to awkwardly open up to her parents about the disappearance of his mother and his father's fixation on her, the night drew to a close rather pleasantly.
Adrien learned how to make bread - well, attempted to - and he played a few games with her parents. The bread Marinette made was very fluffy and sweet, whereas Adrien's bread turned out hard on the outside and gooey on the inside.
He chuckled, recalling at how he simply picked at Marinette's bread instead.
Adrien glanced out the window, a grimace on his face as the sky flashed with thunder. A deep rumbling emanated throughout the room, and Adrien wondered if Tikki was asleep at home.
He had planned to call his driver to come to pick them both up, but as the rain picked up, and as the wind blew even harder, Adrien worried that it wouldn't be safe either for him, his wife, or his driver to be out in weather like this.
It was growing late, and the storm had no plans of stopping so he and Marinette, as well as her parents, concluded it would be best for them to spend the night.
Marinette climbed into the room through her trap door. Her skin glistened in the warm glow of her lamp as she was still wet from the shower she had grabbed before meeting Adrien up in her room. Marinette gripped onto her towel tightly as she gently closed the door behind her.
"I grabbed our clothes from the wash, and I put them into the dryer. They should be good for us to put back on tomorrow morning before we leave." Marinette breathed, glancing up at him with a subtle blush.
Adrien blinked, a nervous smile on his lips as they were finally alone.
"O-Oh! Uhm… thanks for the pyjamas!" Adrien breathed, glancing down at himself. Sure, it was only a pair of boxers and a tank top, but he didn't think to pack anything before they left the house.
The improvision from Marinette was more than enough.
"I still can't believe you made these." Adrien tugged at his tank top, before glancing up at Marinette who had begun to undo her towel.
Adrien widened his eyes, a deep blush immediately brewed on to his cheeks before he turned away so he could let Marinette dry off and change without eyes on her.
He exhaled, trying not to picture what she was doing like a pervert. The last thing he wanted was to get a boner or have another wet dream just so he could have Marinette wake up covered in his fluids again.
"Yeah..." Marinette murmured as she dug through her drawers for something to wear. She snapped her panties at her hips and then she put on her old pink pyjama sweats and spotted spaghetti strap top.
"I actually made them for Felix; I heard that gifting underwear was a sexy thing to do. But I bailed out last minute because I had a feeling that Felix wasn't into that kinda stuff." Marinette admitted bashfully.
She grabbed a brush from her dresser and she began to pass it through her dark hair.
"If I had known then what I knew now, I wouldn't have even bothered. I didn't realise that he was already attaining his instant gratification from someone else. He always made me feel embarrassed for trying to provide that gratification, but I foolishly assumed that he just didn't like me, or wasn't a sexual person." Marinette sighed, glancing at herself in the mirror with a grimace.
Adrien turned back to look at her, his heart sinking into his stomach at the sadness that soaked her voice. He sighed, wondering what it would have been like if he had met her first.
Even if they didn't end up romantic, he'd want to at least be her friend, he wanted her to love herself and realise her worth. Felix didn't deserve someone like her, and if Adrien had the power to make her understand that, he would. But like with the damage Kagami did to him, the effect was the same for Marinette.
It was irreversible.
"I think the boxers look better on me anyway," Adrien interjected, glancing down at himself with a teasing lilt of the voice. "I'm a lot more in shape. I don't think my ass has looked this good in anything my father designed."
Marinette snorted, shaking her head as she placed her hairbrush back down against the dresser with a warm smile.
She pressed her lips together, her breath quivering as she could feel a herd of butterflies releasing into the pit of her stomach.
The young woman slowly turned so that she could look at Adrien who offered her a warm smile by the window. Despite the rumbling and flashing from the storm that emanated from around the both of them, they managed to find each other in a dark place.
He was magnetic, that much she knew. But she never knew she could be attracted to one entity as much as she was.
"Y-You're… absolutely nothing like Felix said you were." Marinette sputtered nervously. "I thought that because you grew up wealthy and popular… that you'd be-"
"Stuck up? Rude? Pompous? Self-centered? Pretentious?" Adrien retorted, cutting through her sentence with a raised brow. His green eyes lowered to the ground, as he reflected back to all the times that Felix purposely isolated himself during the family gatherings. Even while they were kids Felix didn't seem to like Adrien much.
"I'm glad I didn't come off that way. I can't say I blame you for thinking that when it came to my upbringing, but as the saying goes; you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."
Marinette nodded, glancing down as she felt guilt tug at her heart. She wasn't sure if she would have judged Adrien just by his upbringing, but she did have some preconceived notions about him because of who she dated in the past.
And she regretted it. She should have known that he was nothing like that because he had been nothing but kind and empathetic since the moment they met.
"I'm glad I took the time out to notice you," Marinette whispered, slowly moving away from her dresser. "You're everything that Felix said you weren't..."
Adrien offered her a weak smile, slowly reaching up to run his hand through his hair which was still damp from the shower he had earlier.
"I'm glad you did too..."
He kept his green eyes on her, his heart pounding inside of his chest as Marinette simply nodded and she walked by him. She climbed up the ladder leading to her small twin-sized bed. Her blush only deepened as she climbed into the bed, as she realised that no matter how many ways she switched the pillows around, she couldn't make room so that Adrien could have enough legroom.
He was a tall man, and he had a lot of lean muscle definition, he needed as much room as he could.
Marinette sat in the center of her bed, her heart squeezing inside of her chest painfully as Adrien climbed up the bed ladder.
"A-Adrien," Marinette breathed, as he scooted himself onto the bed beside her. "The bed is too small. I'm worried you're gonna wake up with a stiff neck tomorrow morning."
Adrien shook his head, a cheeky grin on his lips as he wrapped his arms around her, plopping the both of them down against the smaller bed.
"That's okay." Adrien yawned, holding Marinette incredibly taut against his body. "I get to sleep close to you tonight. I think a stiff neck is worth it."
Marinette gasped, widening her eyes as her head was about ready to explode off of her shoulders. She shivered, wondering how her night ended with this. She didn't mind being close to him, but this close?
Her breath quivered as she could feel every dip and curve of his body. She couldn't believe she was pressed this close to him. Marinette was sure he could feel everything beneath her clothing.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her heart beating quicker than she could catch up with. Sweat began to bead at the back of her neck as she was completely submerged into his warmth.
It was incredibly surreal.
The young woman bit her lip, as Adrien's strong arms only tightened around her waist.
She tried to sleep, but she knew it was impossible at this rate.
"You smell good..." Adrien whispered, leaning closer to her so that his lips could brush over the soft skin of her neck.
And just like that, Adrien found himself drawn into her once more.
He inhaled the smell of her vanilla body wash, and he relished in how smooth and soft her skin was.
She was like a mouth-watering piece of candy that Adrien couldn't stop craving.
He coveted Marinette like a beast, and it was those instances that made him feel like he didn't deserve her. It forced him to remember the wet dreams he had. It was almost as if he had to make sure he had her permission to have these desires of her.
But then again, he simply couldn't help himself.
His arms kept her against him, and Adrien exhaled, his tongue snaking out from between his lips.
His tongue lightly pressed against her skin, dragging from the mid-center, all the way up to the back of her ear.
Marinette gasped at the sensation, her face growing impossibly red. She reached up, cupping a hand over her lips as she didn't want her parents to hear anything down below.
Adrien breathed against her skin, his lips latching onto the base of her neck where he sucked on the spot violently. His teeth lightly scraped against the sensitive area, leaving a dark red hickey on her pale skin.
Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, her heart racing as Adrien gently brushed his fingers beneath her pyjama shirt. She shivered the moment he traced the small outline of her navel and that's when she felt the wet sensation of his tongue dragging across her neck once more.
Marinette exhaled, unable to contain her pleasure anymore. Though she could outright say it as much as she wanted to, it felt good.
It felt so good.
Marinette liked the things he did to her.
There was a small wave of an electric pulse that pushed down her spine, and Marinette could vividly feel it in her legs.
She couldn't hold it in anymore.
"A-Adrien-" Marinette breathed, her voice completely shaken and vulnerable. Her legs were visibly trembling against Adrien's thighs, and the sound of her voice went straight into his groin.
As if on cue, he had begun to internally scold himself. As per usual, Adrien loosened his grip on her and began to pull away.
A small grimace etched on to Marinette's features as her heart sank once more. No matter how many times she had asked him to touch her, he always pulled away.
Despite that there wasn't much room for anyone else to move around, Adrien was able to put enough space between them to make her feel absolutely horrible.
"Wait," Marinette whimpered, her hand reaching for his before he could put any more space between them. "W-Why do you keep pulling away from me?" Marinette asked, her voice breaking into a whisper. "Is it me? Am I doing something wrong? Is there someone else?"
Adrien frowned, his eyes lowering as he recalled to the last time he held her and woke up with a wet substance between them. He even recalled the night he palmed himself because he coveted her that badly.
"There's nobody else, Marinette," Adrien explained, sitting up swiftly. "I want you...and that's the worst part. I...I want to feel you, touch you, love you..." a deep blush covered his cheeks. "I know it's your first time, and I don't want to mess that up by coming on too strong."
Marinette twisted her body so that she could face him. She sat up, her hair falling onto her shoulders as she reached up to touch his shoulder.
"You aren't coming on too strong," Marinette whispered. "When I ask you to touch me, I want you to touch me. I'll tell you if you're going too far. I promise you haven't gotten that far yet."
Adrien glanced down at his lap, the lines under his eyes deepening.
"Do you think I'm like Kagami? Always thinking about sex or always wanting it? Do you think I'm too rough with you? Perhaps all I care about is my instant gratification..." Adrien murmured, lowering his head in the dark.
Marinette wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling her face into his shoulder with a soft breath.
"No, I don't think you're any of those things. We are both experiencing feelings we've never had before. I think it's okay for us to indulge them. I know sometimes it feels like I'm a different person when it comes to being intimate with you. But I promise that it goes both ways. I want you just as bad as you want me. It makes me worry that something is wrong when I ask you to touch me, and you pull away just as I thought we were both going to explore each other." Marinette whispered, bringing her fingertips up to brush against his shoulder affectionately.
"Adrien..." she continued, her voice fading into the loud whistle of the wind against the walls around them from the outside. "I promise that it's okay. Please believe me."
Adrien clenched his fists, his chest growing tight as he wanted to believe that, but the thoughts in his head wouldn't let him. There were some things he did that he felt horrible about. They were abhorrent and unforgivable.
How could he brush that under the rug?
He had no right to.
"Marinette, I didn't spill mango tea on you that night." Adrien confessed, closing his eyes and sighing.
Marinette furrowed her brow in confusion, the young woman lightly drew back so she could glance up at him. At first, she didn't know what she was talking about, but then she recalled the one morning she woke up completely saturated in a sticky substance.
"What do you mean?" Marinette inquired, cocking her head to the side.
Adrien paused, cursing himself for having to do this. He was already angry with himself for doing something like this in the first place.
"I know this was before we've established to each other that we had feelings for one another..." his voice trailed off as the thunder rumbled around them. "But I had a dream about you. It was a provocative dream, and I didn't realise that I was actually holding you in bed..." his voice trailed off, his heart aching in his chest while his face grew aflame.
"I don't know why I dreamt something like that, I swear I wasn't thinking of you in any way of the sort when I went to bed, but...I ended up going overboard without really meaning to." Adrien breathed, opening his eyes and glancing over to Marinette who stared into space, trying to piece together what he meant.
She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't quite get it. The thought of it in itself almost seemed too surreal.
"So… what are you saying?" Marinette asked, moving her gaze back to Adrien who almost looked like he was about ready to pass out.
"I...I..." Adrien gulped, his fists clenching even tighter as he knew he couldn't avoid it especially after going this far. "I ejaculated in my sleep..."
Marinette froze, her blood growing cold as she blinked. Her eyes lowered down onto the bedsheets as she could very visibly see herself rubbing her digits into the sticky residue and almost bring it to her lips before he stopped her with a scowl.
She gasped, immediately reaching up to cup her hands over her mouth. Her face grew impossibly red, and she immediately scrambled away from him.
"Y-You came on me?!" Marinette exclaimed, her voice nearly drowning out from the thunder that erupted between the both of them. Marinette was incredibly bewildered, she didn't really care if her parents heard her screaming from down below.
Adrien clenched his jaw, guilt tugging his heart into his stomach. If he wasn't disgusted by himself before, her certainly was now. He glanced up, his eyes blinking as he could see the entrance to Marinette's balcony right above them. He needed a way to escape, he couldn't have her look at him any longer.
"I know, I fucked up." Adrien breathed. "I didn't mean to, and I'm so sorry..." he muttered, refusing to look at her horrified expression.
Marinette flinched as Adrien leaped up towards her ceiling, opening the trap door to the balcony above them. She could briefly feel the droplets of cold rain and the mist of the wind blow against her skin as Adrien leaped on to the balcony and shut the door beneath him, finally leaving Marinette alone on the bed.
She exhaled, her hand trembling as she wasn't sure how she felt about the situation. This was long before they both had gotten married, or before they both admitted to feeling this type of way.
But then again, Marinette didn't have room to talk. She had strange dreams about him as well. She remembered she had barely known him for a few weeks and she was having dreams about him ravaging her. She even cried to Alya about it. At the time she had felt so guilty about it because he had a girlfriend at the time.
So what was the problem this time?
All this time he had wanted her in the same ways she had wanted him. She had been crying to herself for months about how much she craved him and even to this day, she still did.
She still loved him. She still wanted him. She still wanted him to feel her, touch her, love her.
He was such a tantalizing and sweet misery that only fueled an addiction that Marinette was not ashamed to have.
She shivered, immediately standing up and pressing her hand into the trap door above her. Marinette shielded her eyes as she pushed it open, shivering as the cold rain began to spray against her skin.
She poked her head out into the rain, her blue eyes glancing around to find Adrien.
Adrien sat on to the lawn chair right by the door. He held his head in his hands as he remained covered beneath the pink umbrella that Marinette had set up there many years ago when she was a teen.
Marinette blushed as she stubbornly climbed out into the rain, not caring for a moment if she ended up soaked.
"You know, it's not safe to sit out under umbrellas during a thunderstorm!" Marinette called out to him, her voice nearly drowned out from the wind and rain that engulfed the both of them.
Adrien briefly looked up at her, a grimace on his face as he simply shrugged off the notion and placed his face back into his hands once more.
At this rate, Adrien wouldn't have minded being completely fried to death by lightning. He at least deserved that much.
Marinette remained quiet, breathing softly as the rain simply packed on to her clothes.
"You know, it never made sense for you to like me." Marinette continued, her blue eyes lowering to the wet pavement beneath her feet.
"Is it the freckles? Is it my dark hair? Is it because I look like your first love? Is that why you felt like you needed to have me at that time?" Marinette asked, her chest heaving as she moved her eyes to look back up at him.
Adrien could hear her scream out to him, even though the loud pitter-patter of the rain that had pounded against the umbrella above him.
He furrowed his brow, lightly lifting his face so that he could look at her.
He stood up from his seat, his heart racing as he simply couldn't believe what he had just heard from her.
"You think I like you because you have freckles and dark hair?" Adrien asked, his eyes continuing to search for hers through the haze of the rain. "You think I like you because you believe there's a resemblance between you and Kagami?"
Marinette pressed her lips together, the young woman tightened her fists as she curled her toes into the wet pavement beneath her. She remained silent, her eyes trained on him as he turned to completely face her.
"Marinette, no matter how much you think that there's a resemblance because of the dark hair and freckles, there's an astronomical difference between you and Kagami." Adrien replied, his voice hitching higher so that he could be heard through the rain.
The sky was dark, save for the flashes of lightning around them, and there was a warm glow from the Notre Dame cathedral right across from them.
Marinette had started to glisten in the rain, her pale skin growing cold and she gasped as Adrien carelessly stepped out into the rain.
The two of them remained a safe distance between each other, neither of them bothering to move another inch.
It was guaranteed to be breaching the early hours in the morning, and at that point, it didn't matter how loud they were.
Marinette's parents were safely inside, sleeping the night away.
"Marinette, you don't make me feel like I want to change. You make me want to be a better version of myself. I've never met someone so electric in my entire life." Adrien called out to her, squinting as the rain began to soak his hair. "In the short amount of time we got to know each other, I never met someone who was able to capture me the way you did. You're always putting others in front of yourself. You're sweet, you're lucky, you're beautiful inside and out."
Marinette blinked, her heart squeezing in her chest as tears began to pool at the edges of her eyes. She remained silent, listening to the words he told her, allowing them to settle into her brain.
"You don't just give me a reason to live, you give me support to keep going. You've shown me things in myself that I never knew was there… and for the first time, I realised that I was good enough." Adrien continued.
Marinette pressed her lips together, her heart aching as she didn't want to cry in front of him, but like the rain, her tears had already begun to stream down her face.
If he saw that in her, then why couldn't he believe that he was nothing like Kagami either?
"With Kagami, I wanted to be right behind her… to be there when she fell because I wanted to catch her..." Adrien breathed, his voice lowering even as the thunder flashed from around them. He glanced down at the ground, his brow furrowing as he thought.
"With you... I don't want to stand behind you, but instead… I want to be in the light that you look at." Adrien spoke, bringing his eyes to look at her once more.
Marinette trembled, her jaw clenching as she couldn't stop herself from crying out. She immediately ran over to him, slamming her body into his so that she could hold him.
It didn't matter that they were both soaked from the rain, and it didn't matter about the things they thought about one another in the past.
What mattered was that they were together now, they felt for each other and they cared.
Marinette loved him, and wouldn't want him to change for anything in the world.
Adrien immediately reciprocated. He swathed his arms around her, drawing her close to his body. He held her tightly, and he buried her face into her neck.
The pair held each other, not wanting to let go despite the rain picking up.
Marinette trembled beneath him, worried that if she had let go, he would somehow escape her again.
Adrien drew back, his hand sliding onto the back of her neck. Marinette blushed, closing her eyes as she felt his warm wet lips press against hers.
She leaned into him, her fingers immediately locked into his hair as she took the initiative to kiss him fiercely.
Adrien was more than happy to comply. His lips pushed back against hers feverishly, and for a brief moment, Adrien wondered if it would have been a good idea to remove them both out of the rain first.
