Mari/Chat 3
A/N Here is the third part of my Mari/Chat, thank you all for reading and sending me feedback and ideas. Just for an in advanced apologies with me being back at school, these might be held back but I will do my best, thank you for your patience, it really means a lot xx
It was a lovely, warm sunrise that dawned upon the bakery and Marinette as usual, sleeping in. Tikki, on the other hand, was just rising from her slumber.
"Mari?" The spotted kwami called out, albeit tiredly, for her charge to wake as well. "Marinette?"
The sleeping blue haired teen was in too deep into dream-land as she was still mentally trying to process what happened last night in her room.
"Marinette!"
Finally, the kwami's voice registered into Mari's head.
"Huh? Oh, hey Tikki," Marinette yawned, her eyes closing, as she rubbed her eyes. "Wh-What time is it?"
The young superheroine rolled too far over in her blankets and ended up rolling onto the floor of her room with an audible thud. After sighing, and shaking her tiny head amusedly at her girl, Tikki then told Marinette what time it was…
Which, unfortunately, was way past when she was supposed to have gotten up in the first place.
"WHAT?! That's how long I slept in?! Ohmygod, ohmygod, I'm so dead!" Mari freaked out, as she dashed around her room to get ready and gather her things for the day. She felt her phone going off, right as she finished getting dressed and had everything ready, only to pick it up and see that it was Alya who was calling.
"H-Hey Alya? What's up?" Marinette greeted, slightly out of breath from running around.
"Girl, you need to get down here – right now!" Alya responded, her tone eerily similar to how a determined mother would sound.
"Wh-Wha… Why?" Mari yawned out, her body still tired though her mind was alert.
"You seriously forgot? We have a test today, so get your butt down before you miss it!" Alya demanded before hanging up without another word.
'Crap! I forgot about the test! How, how, HOW could I forget about the test?!' Marinette thought to herself, as she felt herself pale, and she was freaking out.
"Marinette, calm down! Just take a deep breath, remember what you studied hard for since last week, be sure that you've grabbed what you need for this test and then head over with your head held high. You'll be fine, Marinette, trust me." Tikki insisted with a cute squeak in her voice.
Marinette did as Tikki told her to do, offering a small thankful smile, before her kwami flew into her purse.
Mari had made it to school just on time, her head hung as she could still feel some sleep in her eyes and had quickly went to wipe it away, and had just made it into the hallway leading to her classroom when she suddenly she felt this strange presence.
Like, as if someone was looking at her, strange.
For a moment, all she could think in her head was that Chloé was looking at her from afar, but she found herself proven wrong when the sleepy teenager raised her head slowly to where she felt the presence coming from and noticed that the person responsible for the strange feeling was none other than her crush – Adrien Agreste – who appeared in front of her; wearing orange vans, blue jeans, a black top with 3-coloured stripes on the front & a white over-shirt with an upturned collar and sleeves rolled up above his elbows.
'Crap, it's Adrien! Oh no, ohmygod, what do I do?! What do I say?!' Marinette inwardly panicked.
"He-Hey Marinette…" He stuttered with a wave of his hand in greeting.
"Sa-Sault, Adrien!" She greeted back, also stuttering, a little too enthusiastically. Fortunately for her, Adrien didn't notice the over-eager tone.
Alya then jumped in, as she saw Mari finally walked in the hallway, and looked at them both as if they both had two heads as she noticed that the two were just looking at each other.
"Alright…You mind telling me what's going on?" Alya asked her best friend, only to be met with silence as she was too distracted by the boy in front of her. Rolling her eyes as the love-struck Marinette, Alya took this opportunity to pull her away for interrogation. "Girl, what is with you?" Alya spoke up, in a concerned matter.
'Oh dear, how do I get out of this one? Maybe I could try play it off like nothing happened…' The now self-conscious teen thought, feeling her cheeks warm up as she kept thinking about what happened last night despite trying not to. 'Mon Dieu, last night… I-I just faced Adrien! Wa-Wait, but how did I…. NO! MARINETTE, HE IS NOT CHAT NOIR!"
"Marinette!" Alya yelled, her expression agitated as well as worried for her best friend, a anxious tone in her voice. "Dude, what is up with you?! You feeling okay?"
"I'm sorry, Alya… Just… Honestly, I don't feel all that well this morning, is all…" Mari lied, as she was embarrassed at her trail of thought from before and didn't want to let Alya know what she was thinking because – surely – she'd never hear the end of it. "I just came for the test and then I'm going back home to rest." Mari responded, acting as if she were indeed feeling unwell by lowering her head just enough for her bangs to cover her eyes.
"Oh… Okay, I get it now… Just hang in there until you get home later, alright? Oh! Before I forget, here's the heads up for this test; we're doing the test in groups and the teacher put us two together along with Nino & Adrien." Alya responded as she lifted up her friends head with the best reassuring smile she could muster up.
"Wa-Wait, what? Oh god, oh god, I'm no-not ready for this!" Marinette freaked out once more, this time she felt butterflies whirring around in her stomach at the thought of being within such a close proximity as Adrien for so long. Granted, she sat behind him but for this test...
Unbeknownst to the girls, Adrien was looking over at Mari this whole time; wearing a look of lust in his eyes as he observed her.
To him, the way she freaked out was adorable.
'How have I never seen Marinette like this before? She is adorable…' He thought to himself, briefly, before his thought once more turned to what happened last night…
Her deep, sky-blue eyes sparkling in the moon light; their bodies pressed up against each other; her leg tauntingly wrapped around his hip, her lips soft and beautiful…
"Yo, Adrien, cat got your tongue?" Nino interrupted his friend's train of thought – luckily for Adrien, as he'd have had to go excuse himself to the bathrooms for a while had his imagination kept going…
"Hu-Huh? Oh, hey Nino, what's up?" Adrien stuttered, both thankful and slightly irritated for being interrupted. A light chuckle escaped from Nino.
"Ha-ha, dude, you looked like you were in another world or something. Come back down to Earth, man." Nino grinned.
"Ah, so-sorry, Nino… I was just so busy studying until late last night that I'm a little out of it at the moment…" Adrien fibbed, mentally flinching for lying to his best friend.
He hated lying, and he didn't like liars either, but there was no way in hell that he was going to be honest with Nino about what thought had him up in daze-ville. He'd never live it down and he was actually pretty sure that Nino would either castrate him for such filthy thoughts towards his 'innocent' friend or he would try sit Adrien down and semi-jokingly try to give him 'the birds and the bees' talk with a congrats attached to it for whatever reason.
Once they were in their assigned seats, Nino, Alya, Adrien and Marinette quickly discussed who would sit where. It'd ended up with Nino & Alya making the decision themselves as they went and sat on one side together and across from them on the other side were Adrien & Marinette.
Mari had noticed that Adrien was blushing, for what seemed to be an unknown reason, and that it was quite unusual for him to be acting like this. Worry raced through her abruptly for him but then she saw that his expression wasn't upset, and that his body was relaxed, so she then figured out that he wasn't upset in any way… He probably just remembered something embarrassing for whatever reason. Marinette then shrugged it off right as two tests were placed on her & Adrien's table.
Adrien, however, had realized – around the same time Mari did – just how flushed his face was and so he quickly tucked his head into his arm that was placed on the table until Mari handed him his test.
After the test was done, with the entire class had leaving immediately as they didn't want to have to stay in school when they didn't need to – Alya and Nino included, Marinette and Adrien found themselves suddenly the last ones left in the classroom.
As the pig-tailed teen leaned over, to place her books in her bag, she could've sworn that she heard Adrien mutter under his breath…
"I-I love you…"
"Huh? What was that?" Marinette asked, whirling back to look at Adrien with wide eyes. 'Did… Did I just hear what I think I heard?... No, it couldn't have been… Surely, I'm imagining things…'
"Oh! Uh, no, it's-uh, it's no-nothing! I-I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow!" Adrien yelped, in panic as he'd not meant to say that out aloud, and he stood up quickly and started walking to the classroom door.
Marinette, not believing that his nervous response was 'nothing' and almost trembling with nerves herself but determined to reassure herself that there really is nothing wrong with him, rapidly grabbed her things and slung them over her shoulder and caught up to the blond teen.
"Adrien, wait!" Marinette called, a bit too loudly though neither of them seemed to take much notice.
Adrien had frozen mid-step at the sound of his name rolling from her lips, kind of like a knee-jerk reaction, and hesitated to turn around to face the beauty behind him. When he finally did turn around, to meet Marinette's stunning blue eyes, he sighed under his breath in content and felt his stomach do pleasant flips.
"Are you okay, Adrien? You don't seem to be yourself today?" Mari asked, her slightly shaking voice having a concerned tone.
"Ye-Yeah, I'm fine! Nothing wrong, here!" He lied, replying too quickly, and Mari caught onto it.
"Adrien," She began, her tone letting him know that she wasn't convinced. "I can tell that something is bothering you, so please don't lie to me."
Adrien had the decency to flinch and gave her an apologetic look. The midnight-haired girl pursed her lips at him before an idea struck her. She then gave Adrien an almost-desperate smile.
"Listen, I've got an idea… Why don't you come over to my place for a while and we can talk? I don't have to pry into whatever is going on, provided you really don't wanna talk about it, so maybe we could get your mind off of it for a while instead? Would you like to…?" Marinette suggested, only semi-shyly, and put a hand on his shoulder gently in an attempt to persuade him.
Fortunately, for her, it worked.
A smile appeared upon his lightly tanned face at the thoughtful offer.
"Yeah, th-that sounds great, Mari… I'll let my driver know." The blonde boy replied, in a semi-hushed voice, as he then reached to his pocket to grab his phone. Within a moment, he'd messaged the Gorilla to let him know that Adrien would be going to his friend's place for a bit.
When they'd entered the Dupain-Cheng household, having gone through the side staircase to get inside, Mari had waited until her parents had distracted Adrien to greet him before she turned and whispered to Tikki – whom had flown out of the teen's purse and up to her shoulder, being careful that no one saw her.
"Tikki, I need you to do me a favourr; could you please take care of the posters of Adrien around my room, please? Put them in the false drawer."
Tikki nodded, accepting her charge's request, and stealthily flew up through the ceiling into Marinette's room.
Mari waited a good 5 minutes before prying Adrien away from her nosy, and obviously supporting, parents. The two then walked up the stairs leading to Mari's room and entered – Marinette pausing so quickly for a heartbeat to make sure she couldn't hear Tikki but not long enough for Adrien to notice – with Marinette being a little loud in opening the trap door to her room and then being just as loud when she closed it after them.
Adrien examined the room, trying to pretend that he hadn't been there the night before, albeit all he could see in his mind was the memory of their make out session once his eyes drifted to her bed. His checks, briefly, flushed red.
Marinette then excused herself, after doing a quick scan of her room with her own eyes to be sure Tikki had gotten all the pictures this time and was satisfied when she saw that there wasn't a single Adrien picture in sight, and commented that she needed to add something to her garment that she'd been working on.
Adrien saw then saw that the garment she'd been talking about was, in fact, the red and white formal cocktail dress that he'd seen last night as Chat Noir. But Marinette didn't know about his super alter ego, so he couldn't afford to let on that he'd seen it before.
"Uh, tha-that's a lovely dress, Marinette! S-So, tell me, ho-how long did it take you to make that?" He asked, with a half-false interested tone in his voice. He was interested in the dress, but the reason why he'd asked was to cover up his own tracks. Marinette turned to give him a startled but shy smile.
"Oh, uh… It-It was inspired by Ladybug… Silly, I know, but it's been a fun little project to work on… I-I started about two days ago and I'd just fi-finished the… The structure of it, I guess, last night… In fact, I was going to adjust it, too, but…" Marinette stuttered, pausing and going scarlet for a brief moment. Adrien caught it and, almost ashamedly, his ego swelled a bit for being the cause of her blush. He then saw her shake her head, as if to rid herself of a thought, before turning to him with a sheepish smile that showed her pearly white teeth. "I-I suddenly felt exhausted and so I went to bed instead…" Marinette lied, rubbing the back of her neck with a delicate hand for a moment as she looked back to the garment.
Adrien was floored, as he now properly gazed at the stunning dress that hung off the mannequin,at the fact that Marinette had just about finished this incredibly detailed dress; looking properly at it now, he could see all the attention and features of it that he knew even his father would be impressed at, what with Mari being so young and inexperienced compared to him but to also be so particular and focused with her works – even her signature on her works are beautifully intricate and precise!
And, though he knew she was partly lying about not being able to finish it because she was 'tired' because he was well aware that it had really been Chat's fault – even though she didn't exactly know that he knew nor as to how he'd known, but that was a discussion for another time, he found himself briefly unable to look away from the breathtaking garment…
"So, if I can ask, what has been bothering you lately, Adrien?" Mari asked, her tone indicating that she was listening intently even though she turned and began pinning sequins onto the bust of the bodice.
'Oh, god, where do I start?' Adrien thought to himself, as he took a deep breath in, and decided he'd begin with reassurance first. "Well, umm, I would like to ask that you be open-minded and not… Please, don't judge me, okay?" He requested, finally tearing his gaze away from Mari's work and onto her with a pleading expression on his face.
"Of course! I could never judge anyone." She responded back, as she turned to face him for a brief moment.
"We-Well, I guess it all started a couple of days ago…" The blonde could feel his heat beating a million miles an hour, as he began his semi-confession.
"Take your time, I'm all ears." Mari reassured him, turning back to continue with her work.
"Okay, so, a couple of days – ugh, actually, it was technically a couple of nights ago, so… A-Alright, I couple of nights ago," Adrien began, amending his words, before taking another breath and continuing. "I-I was on the bridge of Notre Dame when I saw Chat Noir jumping from roof-to-roof, looking like he was off to help Ladybug," He tried to make it like he was there in third person watching over, as he didn't want her to have any suspicions, before he went with this story.
"Wa-Wait, you were on the bridge of Notre Dame… Does that mean you saw me wi-with Nathanaël?" She stuttered, almost in horror, at his response. Her nimble fingers freezing for a moment at the new information.
"Uh, yeah, well, uhh…." Before he could finish he sentence, his driver – or the Gorilla as he liked to refer to the hulking man by – was buzzing up Adrien's phone. The model then sighed heavily in slight annoyance at the interruption. "Sorry, Mari, I gotta go. If the Gorilla is calling me, there's a high chance it has something to do with my dad…" His face lost a bit of colour and he looked saddened to have to be leaving so soon.
'Maybe I could visit her tonight, again, but as Chat Noir and tell my story that way?' Adrien tried to mentally cheer himself a bit. Marinette paused with her dress and turned back to Adrien with a sad smile of her own.
"Well, bye for now, Prin–I mean, Marinette. I'll… I'll see you tomorrow, at school." Adrien waved as she waved back.
"Bye, Adrien! I hope everything turns out well, though I'm always here to talk if you need to!" The noirnette called after the model, as he made his way out of her room and down the stairs.
Night fall finally came around and Adrien was shaking with nerves as he slouched over the edge of his bed.
"Adrien, why are getting so worked up again? I mean, come on, you even got to kiss her the last time you saw her as Chat Noir! Everything is fine, actually more than fine, so what's going on now?! What more could possibly worry you?!" Plagg snipped at him, both annoyed and concerned at his charge's emotional state.
"Yeah… Everything is fine as Chat Noir, but not as Adrien. Wha-What if she doesn't accept this side of me?" He responded with a shaky voice. "I can't get into anything with her until I know that she can… She can accept Adrien as part of the Chat Noir package… How could I, if she doesn't? I wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes, anymore…" Adrien then laid out his concerns.
"Wa-Wait, you mean… Are you… Adrien, are you absolutely sure you want her to know? This could very well endanger her safety, you know this… You have to think about revealing yourself very seriously. Is she even trust-worthy? How do we know she won't tell her blogger friend and then have your cover blown? Hawkmoth would have a field day knowing who Chat Noir really is… You have to be absolutely positive that you can trust Marinette. I will follow your decision, but you gotta promise me that you unwaveringly trust in your own choice." Plagg lectured, serious, before he snuggled back up with his Camembert.
'Whoa, for once, Plagg is actually so concerned about my decision that he actually got serious instead of just half-heartedly snapping back at me…' Adrien thought, stunned at his Kwami's concern over the matter.
"Well, I guess… Ma-Maybe, albeit I wasn't really thinking of confessing that to her… But I guess it'd make sense for me to do it with the concerns I have… But I wasn't originally going to… I… I-I don't know, Plagg, it's a big step… You're right about this being something I need to consider seriously, but I wasn't… Just… I'll see how things go tonight before I make a proper decision." Adrien, although stuttering a bit, was resolute as he then stood up and went to stand before his window.
"Plagg, claws out!"
When he was near Marinette's house, a couple of roofs away, he could just see her figure.
Marinette was standing on her balcony looking like she was talking to someone, by the way she was gesturing nearly everything as she seemed to be talking softly, but he just chalked it up to her rambling on about something to herself.
Getting closer, he once again saw her in the beautiful moonlight and had to catch his breath, again.
Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle when the moonlight hit them and, from what he could see, she was wearing her pyjamas; with shorts that looked so adorable on her and a baggy shirt that made his heart flatter with the way it hung off of her shoulders and was draped over her waist.
"Chat? Is that you?" Mari asked, pausing her apparent monologue, as she spotted him.
His eyes widened and body froze in momentary alarm before he shook his head lightly and tried to gather his thoughts once more. 'Come on Chat… Who's the cat? You're the cat. Who's the cat? You're the cat.' he thought to himself, trying to boost his confidence up, as he finally got his body to move again.
He jumped over to her balcony and with a cocky smile plastered on his face and greeted her with a warm tone in his voice.
"Good evening, my Purrincess," He whispered, with a soft warm kiss on her back of her hand, and he could see that she blushed for a quick moment.
"Chat, uhh, wha-what are you doing back here?" His princess responded, slightly breathless.
"Your knight in shining amour has returned for another gorgeous evening with his beautiful girl." Chat gave a deep bow, in both respect and flirtation.
Marinette suddenly couldn't take her eyes off of his lips; part of her being surprised that she wanted to his sweet, passionate and tender lips upon hers to once again taste and feel meld with hers… And then she abruptly found that she couldn't hold back, this time.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the teasing ending… Mostly.
It's taken me a while to get these stories refined and uploaded, so please be patient. After all; good things come to those who wait.
And, once again, thank you so much for the support. Until next chapter, my faithful followers!