Monday morning came bright and early, and despite his late-night Adrien was in a fantastic mood. He loved school on a normal day, having spent so many years being homeschooled, but today he was especially looking forward to seeing a certain blue-eyed classmate. Of course, he'd have to be careful not to give too much away, but that didn't mean he couldn't go out of his way a little…they were good friends already after all.
As expected, Nino was waiting at the top of the steps when Adrien's limo pulled up to the front of the school. Alya was with Nino too, Adrien watched as she laughed at something he said before playfully shoving him and giving him a small peck on the cheek before walking on to class, leaving Nino to dutifully wait for his best friend. Adrien thought back on his best friend's relationship, he and Alya had been together for ages, and they really were perfect for each other. He couldn't help but wonder what it might be like to have a relationship like that with someone, he was incredibly happy for his friend of course, but also a little jealous.
Snapping out of his reverie, Adrien bounded up the stairs and greeted his best friend, "Good morning, Nino"
"Morning, dude"
Nino and Adrien made their way to the classroom and settled in their usual seats. The first thing Adrien noticed was that Marinette hadn't yet arrived. Just as he was starting to worry their late-night visit would make her tardy for class or get her into trouble somehow, she came rushing in. She was carrying a croissant in her mouth, while she tied her hair up into a messy bun rather than her usual twin tails. He didn't take his eyes off of her as she made her way to her seat directly behind him. Once she'd finally settled in her seat and removed the pastry from her mouth, she smiled warmly and said "Good morning, Adrien."
His brain stopped. For a split second he actually forgot how to talk, it was only when Nino nudged him in the side that he was finally able to respond while desperately trying not to blush, "Umm...g-good morning, Marinette."
"Are you alright?" she asked, genuine concern on her face.
Adrien tried to regain his composure and replied, "Yes, yes, of course, just a bit out of it this morning. I didn't sleep well is all," he was touched by her concern and determined to set her mind at ease, and ignoring the pointed look from Nino as he turned around and faced forward while their teacher walked in the room.
As Ms. Bustier took attendance, Nino nudged him a whispered, "Dude…what was that all about?"
"What?" Adrien replied, feigning ignorance. It's not like he could tell his best friend that he'd realized he was head-over-heels for Marinette. Nino was bound to question his sudden affection for the girl and its not like he could let him in on the whole I-found-out-the-love-of-my-life's-secret-identity-and-it's-Marinette-and-by-the-way-I'm-living-a-double-life-too-because-we're-both-superheros thing.
"Dude." Nino raised his eyebrows at him.
"What?" he replied again, a little more forcefully.
"Do I really have to say?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really?"
"Really."
"So…Marinette, huh?" Adrien was blushing bright red by this point, unable to come up with a response, praying the girls sitting behind them weren't able to overhear this train wreck of a conversation, only to be taken even more by surprise when he heard Nino mutter, "About time."
Before he could even process what Nino had said and come up with a reasonable response Ms. Bustier called out to them, "Nino, Adrien…is there something you'd like to share with the class?"
"No, Miss" they replied in unison.
"Then please pay attention."
"Yes, Miss"
As Adrien turned his attention to their teacher, he had a worrying feeling that it was going to be a lot harder than he thought to "act naturally".
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, things have been kind of crazy in my personal life. I appreciate all of the follows/favorites/reviews SO much! Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before the New Year, but if not then shortly after. Hope you all enjoy! Friendly reminder, I do not own any of these characters. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year's to all you lovely people!