***This chapter might get on your nerves a bit. . .sorry :)
Chapter 13
-Marinette
Even by lunchtime, Marinette didn't know what to think. After Adrien had declared his love for her, he'd asked her if she wanted to go out with him tomorrow evening. She'd said yes, but now she wasn't totally sure. Just last night she'd wanted to know how Adrien really felt of her and now she had her answer. She sat picking her food, her brain spinning. She had no idea what to do. Alya noticed her silence, elbowing her in the side. "Well what is it? Are you going to tell us?" Marinette just shrugged. Alya tried again. "How is your project with Adrien going?" Marinette answered distractedly, "Good, we're pretty much done." Alya sighed dramatically, "Ugh. Seriously girl. You've got to figure this whole romance thing out. But you've got to let me know when you do!"
Marinette walked home after school, lost in thought. As she cut through the park, she saw Luka sitting on a park bench, listening to a song on his headphones. Maybe she could clear something up now. She walked over toward the blue haired boy and stood in front of him. He pulled out his headphones and looked at her. "What is it Marinette?" His eyes were so trained on her, she nearly forgot what she wanted to say. "Luka, I just wanted to tell you that I loved your song. It's truly a work of art. But who is she?" Her heart wasn't prepared for what came next because Luka just said, "She's you, Marinette."
"What?" She asked, not believing what he'd just said. His face was serious, he wasn't hiding anything from her. "It's you." he said again, telling her with his eyes. "Oh my." Marinette whispered, realizing just how much of a pickle she really was in. She couldn't think of anything to say, except, "I've gotta go," and with that she rushed away towards home, immediately feeling a new wave of panic rush over her. As soon as she entered the bakery, she stampeded up the stairs to her room and flopped onto her bed. "I can't do this! I just can't do this!" She cried into her pillow. Tiki zoomed out of Marinette's purse, sighing. She was just as frustrated as her holder. "Marinette, this is a hard choice, but I know you can do it!" Tiki zipped to Marinette's dresser where she'd left Marinette's crumpled paper of notes.
"Okay Marinette let's work through this, right now!" She insisted, shuffling through Marinette's papers. "Now, what were the things your parents said?" Marinette slowly sat up as she answered, "Papa said he knew when he didn't want to be with anyone else, and that he was happier when he was with her." Tiki noted that before prompting Marinette again, "Okay, what about your mother?" Marinette thought back furiously to what her mother had said, "She said she knew when she would hold his hand and she'd feel safe, but it would just feel right." Tiki nodded eagerly, "Exactly. So now let's think through this, which of these feelings does Luka give you?" Marinette thought for a moment, "Being with Luka makes me happy, and he knows how to put me at peace. But I don't know if it feels exactly, perfectly right. But it still feels good. And he was sweet enough to write me a beautiful song."
Tiki made a few marks on the paper before looking up at Marinette again, "What about Adrien?" Marinette took a breath. "I'm happy when I'm with Adrien too. And I feel safe and right with him too. Being with him makes me feel at peace. He's stood up for me, helped me get my life back." Tiki made a few notes again before looking straight at Marinette as she asked, "Now what about Chat Noir?" Marinette was silent for a moment as she looked at Tiki's imploring eyes, "When Chat came here and took me to that spot by the river, I didn't want to be anywhere else. I felt so safe and peaceful with him, and I knew that was where I was supposed to be because I was happy." Tiki didn't even look at the paper as she listened to Marinette speak, she only smiled gently, "So who do you think it should be?"
-Adrien-
Adrien walked out to the car where the Gorilla was waiting after fencing. Now it was time to go home, shower, and practice his part of the presentation with Marinette tomorrow before Chinese lessons. But tonight, he would have dinner with his father, the first time in a while, but he knew it was probably only because he wanted to hear how things went with Marinette today. He went up to his room, dropping off his stuff as he walked into the bathroom. He showered, and as he came out Plagg was zooming around the room with a piece of cheese, humming to himself. For a minute he didn't notice that Adrien had emerged, so Adrien was treated to nearly a full performance of one of Plagg's Camembert songs complete with a dance number. He stood there, waiting smugly for Plagg to notice his presence. When the little kwami did, his black cheeks flushed and he flew off in annoyance to his cheese cupboard to binge alone. Adrien laughed to himself as he opened his school bag, pulling out notecards for his and Marinette's presentation. He stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes, practicing what he was supposed to say.
After about ten minutes, his Chinese tutor came in and began Adrien's lesson. Immediately after Chinese, Natalie walked into the room to collect him for dinner. Adrien blinked a little, it was scarcely after five, so he guessed that his father was simply very eager to hear about Adrien's experience. But as Adrien stepped into the dining room, he found not only his father but Natalie and Gorilla were seating themselves at the table as well. Adrien shook off his shock as dinner was set out. As Adrien had anticipated, Father asked no questions until the appetizer had been swept away. Adrien still wasn't used to Natalie and Gorilla eating with them, but he half-hoped it would become a more regular occurrence. Once the main dish had been out for a few minutes, Adrien finally heard his Father speak. "So, Adrien. How did it go?"
"Excellent, Father. I told her how I felt and she agreed to go on a date with me tomorrow evening." He said simply. He dared to look up at his father and saw that he was actually smiling. "May I meet her before you two go? Will you bring her here before your adventure?" He asked, and Adrien didn't want to ruin his father's rare good mood, "Yes, Father. I think she'd love to talk to you again." He tried to ignore his father's look of puzzlement as he said 'again', and he was no doubt trying to think of which of Adrien's friends he had met that were memorable. "Oh, is this the young lady with the talent for designing?" He asked, and Adrien couldn't help but answer yes. Mr. Agreste smiled for the second time that evening, "A wonderful choice, my son." But after those words, Mr. Agreste seemed to run out of things to say and the rest of the meal was eaten in silence.
-Marinette-
Maybe he would visit tonight so she could tell him the news. Marinette really wanted to tell him, even if his reaction wasn't what she would expect it to be. She wrapped herself in a blanket and sat out on her chair on her balcony, looking out at the night landscape. She worked on a little homework, practicing her part for tomorrow a little bit, but she couldn't help but look up every so often, hoping she would spot the superhero. He was probably busy. Neither she nor Chat had patrol tonight, so he wouldn't have a real reason to be out and about this time of night. Tiki waited outside with her, snacking on cookies and giving Marinette speaking tips. But when it was almost midnight, Tiki told Marinette that it was time to go inside. Chat wasn't coming tonight.
**Who is Marinette's choice? Make your requests or guesses, but I'll take final word. Thanks for all the reviews and patience. Hopefully there will be more tomorrow!