Chapter three- Croissant Chase
Marinette arrived at school Tuesday morning and found Alya arguing with Chloé.
"You're just jealous of her," Alya snapped.
Chloé rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease! Marinette loser is jealous of me!"
"Actually, Chloé," Marinette chimed in. "I'm not."
Chloé whipped around angrily to face Marinette. "What do you think you're doing with my Adrikins!?"
"A report," Marinette stated, matter of factly.
"There's no way my Adrikins would ever have feelings for a loser like you. We're practically a couple, so back off! Got it?"
"I don't care what you think, Chloé," Marinette said calmly and pulled Alya to class.
Marinette was just about to walk through the bakery door after school when Adrien's car pulled up. She decided to wait for him to get out of the car before going inside. He stepped out of the car just as the wind blew, ruffling his hair, and Marinette couldn't look away.
"Hey, Marinette, hi," Adrien greeted his project partner as he got out of the car.
Marinette smiled and waved. "Hey, Adrien!"
"Thanks for the ride," Adrien said to the driver before closing the door.
The pair entered the bakery and saw Marinette's parents behind the counter.
Marinette's dad, Tom, grinned wide. "Hey, kids!"
"Hey, you two," Sabine, Marinette's mom, greeted them with a knowing smile.
Marinette gave her parents a smile. "Hi, Mom, Papá."
"Hi again, Mr. Dubain, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng," Adrien greeted.
"We'll be working on our report up in my room," Marinette stated.
"Before you go," Tom began, putting an arm around his wife.
"We made you a snack," Sabine finished her husband's sentence and handed Marinette a plate of croissants.
Marinette and Adrien thanked the couple for the snack and headed upstairs. Once in Marinette's bedroom, she set the plate on her desk and sat down, while Adrien pulled an extra chair up and sat beside her. They decided to write an outline before typing the report to make it as organized as they could. They worked diligently, talking about ideas for the report while eating the croissants.
"Since we have to put our perspectives in this," Adrien started. "How do you relate to the play, Marinette?"
"Well," Marinette paused, organizing her thoughts. "To me, it says that love is worth fighting for, and that's how I feel too." Marinette then looked at Adrien, blushed, started playing with a loose strand of hair and asked, "What about you?"
Adrien smiled fondly at Marinette. "I think if it's true love, it's definitely worth fighting for."
Marinette's mouth fell open slightly as her blush deepend. It made her happy to know that they had the same view about love. But why was he looking at her like that? Not that she was complaining, but that look on his face was way more than friendly. She knew that because she looked at him that same exact way when he wasn't looking.
What was going on here? Could Adrien actually have feelings for her? That glimmer of hope she had just grew stronger and stronger with the more time they spent together. But, the fear of rejection still loomed over her like a dark cloud. She wasn't ready to confess yet. She needed more time. She wanted the moment to be perfect.
Marinette cleared her throat. "We should definitely end the paper with that."
Adrien frowned but nodded, and they got back to work.
After completing the first page, Marinette noticed that there was only one croissant left. Then, she looked at Adrien and saw that he was hungrily gazing at the pastry. An idea struck her, and she got a mischievous grin on her face. She watched the green eyed boy reach for the delicious treat, but just before he could grab it, she snatched it up.
As soon as Marinette had a hold of the croissant, she bolted to the other side of the room. She watched Adrien's face go from shock to a wicked grin as he stared at her. A chase ensued. The teenagers were running around the room, laughing the entire time. Eventually, Adrien caught up with Marinette and yanked the croissant out of her hand before she even knew what was happening. Still laughing, Adrien broke the croissant and gave Marinette half. They smiled at each other and tapped their treats together in a toast before devouring them.
After the croissant run, Marinette and Adrien did the second page and decided to finish the report tomorrow. Marinette walked Adrien out, and they just stood across from each other silently.
How should they say goodbye? She kissed him on the cheek yesterday, but would it be okay to do that again? She kissed Adrien's cheek before she could overthink it.
Adrien grinned with pink cheeks. "My house tomorrow?"
Marinette just nodded with a smile, not trusting herself to speak.
They said goodbye, and Adrien left. Marinette called Alya that night and told her everything.