"You guys ditch me to hold hands?" My head bobbed under his weight as Adrien was too tall to balance it with me. I shot him a glare of annoyance, just as Alya and Mirielle along with other girls I recognized from sticking notes into my locker, passed by. Mireille glued her eyes to her destination right in front of her, determined to not look hurt or annoyed by us but Alya simply bored her eyes into mine without emotion.
"I'll hold your hand too," Adrien offered with a smirk. I snorted when Nino actually debated whether to take Adrien's extended gesture. Finally waving off Nino we made our way to our next class. Nino's weight finally lifted from our shoulders as we crammed our way to our art class. In the midst of walking through the door Adrien lightly brushed the tips of his fingers onto my lower back. Heat rippled throughout my spine giving me a nice shiver.
My eyes scanned the small room, relieved to see Mirielle had changed her seat that Adrien happily bounced in while waiting for me to say my daily greets to Madame Bovary. In that moment everything felt like pure bliss, between Adrien who happily beamed at me and the smell of acrylic paints and clay. Taking long strides I sat down in a huff, bumping my knee with Adrien jokingly. The class was full of stifled giggles, knee squeezes and footsies, all that gave Mirielle the dirtiest looks and other classmates a raised eyebrow at our behavior. We shrugged it off, totally invested in our new bound friendship and jokes that we'd look fondly on as inside ones. The bell ringing gave us a rude awakening from our bliss, but when Adrien was itching to hold my hand on our way out the door, Madame Bovary called my name. Deja-vu hit me as I groaned inwardly but I felt bad for showing resistance towards a teacher who thought the world of me and actually supported my hobbies and abilities. Adrien leaned into my ear, whispering he'll wait for me. I curled my toes at the heat of his breath, no doubt I had a lovely watered down shade of pink of my face. Tightening my navy cardigan, I nearly skipped to the young scholar's desk.
"Marinette, hello, how are you feeling?" Madame Bovary cuffed my shoulder and gave a supporting squeeze. This wasn't abnormal, for my teachers or even principal for that matter, to call me out just to double check if, oh you know, see how my life was being ruined. Between the cops that followed my every move, the countless of rumors, and hanging out with the Adrien Agreste, this pool lil' honor student stood no chance from nosey teachers.
"Much better." Giving her a smile that read 'thank you so much for caring about your students, really, I give you brownie points for your love as an educator' but silently meant 'I have a cute blonde boy with green eyes waiting for me but here I am talking to you, truly appreciated but I'm sure you get it.' "Thank you for everything, by the way!" Tapping out my jitters with my left white vans.
"Um, if you know anything, I'm here for you Mari?"
"Oh yes, thank you so much. Really, it means a lot." Oh god this isn't the part where she tells me to stop hanging out with Adrien, a bad influence, or a way for her to claim credit for my recovery from this… Whatever I'm going through right now.
"I know it's been brutal, but it'll get better." Her brown eyes shrunk as she squinted, hiding an emotion I couldn't quite make out. It was then I made out her dark bags under her eyes, the wrinkles that were coming apparent in her once youthful skin. Then I took in the rest of her appearance that looked like she aged a decade in a month. Her unruly brown wavy hair looked flat and bleak, half of it held back with a butterfly clip. She wore shades of brown as if she had grown her clothing from the dirt in her backyard making her pale ivory skin look even more dull. "Don't hesitate to come to me, for anything. I know how you must be feeling." Despite my awkward self, I wrapped her in a one handed hug that she quickly turned into a squeezing embrace. It made me remember the time she single handedly sought me out to join her art and sewing classes and clubs Freshman year. How she always took the time to get to know me, even visited my parent's bakery many times to draw us some of the paintings of our restaurant we have on our walls.
Though it was heartwarming, something tugged on my conscious when I walked away from our embrace and to the hallway. But I settled on that she was truly scared and felt genuine of my discomfort and ordeals at school. Hopping into Adrien's car, I wasn't in the mood to describe one of those awkward teacher and student encounters, so I was quick to change the conversation on why the hell Mirielle and Alya were suddenly buddy-buddy.
"I understand why they hate me but they hated each other so much more. Think they're planning some kind of hit against me?"
The corners of his mouth tugged but it didn't meet his eyes. "Alya wouldn't do that to you, and stop thinking someone's after you."
I toyed with my black hair, pouting a bit. "But someone is."
Adrien stopped his tapping to Kansas on the wheel. "No, they're after LadyBug."
"Do we have to do this 'double identity' revealing again?" I whisked my hand to tuck a lock behind my ear suddenly remembering a not so fond memory. "Actually, could we? I think we could do better than the first time."
"Sounds like a plan."Adrien snorted, after looking both ways at a stop sign he looked at me with a sideways grin. "Look, nothing's going to happen to my LoveBug when I'm around, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. So… Nothing's happened to you?..." I knew it must've been the fifth time I asked but I couldn't risk him getting in trouble for me. "You'd tell me if you got anything from Hawk Moth, right?"
Releasing his tension with a sigh, he parked his car in my house's parking lot. He unbuckled his seat belt to twist himself to look at me. I mirrored his pose, one side of my body against his leather seat. "No, I don't think he knows who I am… Of course I'd tell you. You'd tell me your worries and if anything else happened, right?" His thumb drew circles on the curve of my cheek, his cold fingers sending chills down my spine. Grabbing our bags, we headed inside my house, a part of me relieved at his warm gesture but some rock sat heavily in my chest, dwelling with uncertain anxiety.
…
"Your parents out again?" Casually tossing my bag and Marinette's that I carried onto the couch, I made my way to her kitchen to get something to drink, stripping out of my outer garments. Her house gave me such familiarity, I doubt her parents would object if I oneday made this my main home instead of second, it practically was already. Marinette was locking the door behind us and tugging open the curtains for in the first time in weeks, a blue sky stretched endlessly. I poured myself a glass of orange juice, eagerly sipping it's sweet and acid tastes, ignoring how it chilled my bones. I turned to face her as she made her way to me in the kitchen.
"Yeah, they're trying to get more time off from work so they're working overtime." When she kept walking towards me, obviously stepping over personal space to be closer by my side, not that I mind, did her hands clasp around the cold glass of OJ. She took a lengthy sip of my drink, and when I saw she was going to drain it all with a mischievous look, did I fight to get my glass back. She held her finger up towards me and twisted away from my grip trying not to choke from laughing.
"You!" I laughed against her neck as I pulled her hips back to me. When she finished draining the contents, releasing a loud sigh of pride, I slipped my freezing fingers up her black camisole, warming my hands with her blushing body heat. She almost dropped the glass as I lightly tickled her belly, brushing my fingers on her goosebumps. "I'm hurt."
"Poor baby," she cooed. I nuzzled my nose to the nook of her neck to inhale her sweet bread scents, lightly putting my lips on her skin. Her hands found mine on her stomach, coating hers over them in a loving squeeze. I heard her gasp and smiled at her blushing. "...You know, you never asked me to be your girlfriend…" She pursed her lips in a pouting way, determined not to laugh or shy away from embarrassment. I simply squeezed her tighter into my form, my lower back uncomfortable stabbed from the counter.
"Oh?" I lightly bit at her protruding collarbone, I gave a silent reminder to myself to tell her to eat more, but right now my thoughts were of her spreading warmth and her tilted chin. I made my way her neck, leaving a trail of small hickeys.
"Marinette," I slipped my hand from hers and pressed it to her hip, pulling her closer to mine. Trying to ignore how her whole being pressed against my thighs, I kissed the soft space behind her ear.
I was addicted to her. The sparks that ignited each time I felt her heat against mine, pulling me into an entwining embrace I felt cold without. She was my sun. Turning her around to face me, my lips found the soft line of her jaw, my fingers itching their way up the hem of her shirt, and then lightly tracing the curves of her body until my hands cupped her flaming face. She hooked her fingers through two of my belt loops, determined to bring me down from where ever I was floating away to. Her eyelids were heavy, tracing my lips with her eyes in greed while biting her lip that.. Just was so damn cute. A soft groan escaped from my throat as I smothered her forehead and cheeks with a dozen kisses. I could almost see sparks as I squeezed my eyes in concentration, not to lose myself in her. The distance between us increased as I reluctantly pulled away from my own personal oasis until I was eye leveled with the girl of my dreams.
"Will you.." I took deep breathes, my thumb brushing strays of her hair away. The way she was pouting, the way she could start throwing a tantrum because I left her waiting with each excruciating pause made me want to torture her longer. A lopsided grin appeared on my face as I drew each line of her face into my memory but I stopped seeing that I'm more of a hands-on learner. Marinette's nails dug into my fingers as she covered my hands with her, pleading the words we've both longed for so long. But I didn't mind waiting a bit longer. I kissed her tiny nose, her soft cheekbones, the other corner of her mouth, pulling away each time between interaction to tease her more.
"Be my…" I was going to pause longer, take my time brushing my mouth on her's and savoring this moment I only expierenced in dreams. To my surprised Marinette rolled her eyes and cuffed a handful of my shirt, forcibly bringing my mouth to hers, our teeth almost colliding with each other.
….
Oh for god's sake. Between his lingering kisses and heat, I was so tired of waiting for these moments I've dreamed for since the first time I've met him. I cuffed his shirt, walking backwards as I tried to walk out the impact of his weight against me until I slammed my back into the smooth and cold fridge behind us. "Yes you damn cat," I mumbled through numb lips. He stiffened at the sudden force, almost pulling away as he felt my impact, ungraceful I might add, on the door but relaxed more until he could no longer wait. His hands found the back of my thighs, sliding me up the door as I hooked my legs and arms around him. I could barely feel my lips now, I could only feel a heat and feeling that I wanted to have my whole life, something I dreamed about and now came to reality. No longer was I rudely and disappointingly awaken from my dreams of longing of Adrien, because he was right here in the flesh and blood. Attacking me with the same love and affection I had reserved for him forever and a day ago. His mouth sloppily found mine time and time again, he had to pull away to catch his breath as he seemed to always forget to take. My thoughts were oddly clear despite the pounding of blood that filled my ears. Shouldn't he be good at this? I'm sure this isn't his first time... First time. I could feel my whole body tense, and it wasn't from his hand that were under my shirt or the one that was feeling up my thigh. Lowered back to the ground and from clinging to Adrien like some sloth, he must've felt my tension as well.
He took two steps away from me, and then a giant step back to me like he could trust himself to be closer to me without lingering hands. I saw how fast his heart was beating, how elevated his stance and blood levels were like we just finished chasing some athletic akuma in oppose to some elderly or stationary one. Clenching and unclenching his hands, he finally stopped his eyes that stripped me up and down and to my face that felt like it was bled out dry. "S,Sorry, sorry, I know-I was. Totally not cool, and I, was just too excited, and I dreamed-And it's no excuse but.." He dramatically brought his hands to his chest, supposively representing his wanting for me. Embarrassed, he dropped them and gently reached for me like I was some scared cat, while I think he was the only scared cat here. "I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
I shook my head, suddenly colder air infiltrated my bubble of body heat and sent shivers down my spine. "No, you can.." I bit my lip before I could say something else embarrassing as his face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"But?" Adrien's hands brushed my elbows lightly when I didn't continue.
I felt the blood returned to my face, fully knowing I looked like a tomato as I try to approach the subject that drew me away from Adrien Agreste's hypnotizing makeout session. Okay Marinette, you just have to ask your boyfriend of exactly five minutes if he slept with the girl who ruined your life on the night of the party that lead to you lose your best friend and basically started your descending journey into hell. Easy. Groaning, I exhaled in defeat. Mireille's words that Adrien was waiting for her up in her room played in my head like a broken record, bouncing off the walls of my anxiety and self consciousness. Adrien is, or hopefully was, a player but he's not that stupid… Never mind. He couldn't… Okay he was drunk… Damn me and my picture perfect relationship goals. Realizing that time didn't just stop for me as I had my epiphanies and self loathing session, I glanced to see the awkward Adrien who just wanted to know what he did wrong.
Summoning enough dignity as I could, I met Adrien's eyes and decided on a more mundane excuse. But what could be more mundane than asking your boyfriend of, oh now it's ten minutes, about his past relationships? "I'm hungry." Adrien shot an amused eyebrow up. Shit shit shit shit, that's not even a real excuse, what the hell. Marinette, why couldn't you just say 'oh this is happening too quickly,' or even the good ol' blocking 'my parent's will be home any second?' Fuck me and my gluttony.
"I see. Are you thirsty too?" He sent me a wink and kissed my cheek. I simply rolled my eyes and tried not to give him the satisfaction of me finding something he said amusing. I suck at that though, so I just swatted his arm as he lead me into my living room. Sitting down, I curled into his side, trying to think of anything but Mirielle and how she's not only infecting my social and love life, but my mentality. Why me? Adrien's soothing squeeze of his hand that wrapped around my waist brought me back from the… Uh.. Dark places of my mind. "What're you thinking about?"
I forget that he can see right through everything. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Nothing. I think I'm turning 'emo.'"
"You? Emo?" He snorted, "Just don't start getting piercings everywhere, wearing leather, tight jeans and black more…" His puzzled face lit up in anticipation, as if a brilliant image rushed up into his head. "Actually, I'd like to see this new phase of yours."
Tipping my chin up to him, I gave a fake offended look. "It's not a phase, Adrien, it's a lifestyle."
"You make me cringe, oh my god." Giving me a fake shudder, he reached into his back pocket for, what I presume, his phone.
"Good, it's about time you're on the receiving end." I nodded defiantly.
Finding a perfect space to rest on Adrien is hard, especially when everywhere on him is perfect. But given my position, I settled for his chest as I loved how his heart would serenade me into tranquility, that I could hear him talking through his ribcage like lyrics. While he was busy fumbling in, based on his orders of my favorite supreme and his meat lover one, a pizzeria phone number I gingerly put my knees over his lap. He pulled me closer to him and covered our entangled legs with his navy fleece blanket in return to my snuggling requests. Nuzzling his neck, I looked at him under my mascara coated eyelashes. "Thank you."
Adrien gave himself a nice double chin, trying to back away far enough to meet my eyes, I wondered if he could make double chin look drop dead gorgeous, how a quadruple one would look like. God, my thoughts are so discombobulated. "For?"
"Being here. Being you.. Being with me." I felt him chuckle deeply through his chest, sending me a rush of nostalgia I don't think I'd ever forget.
"There's nowhere I'd rather be than right by your side… And recently, I wouldn't trade who I was for anything… Not if it meant leaving you." I nodded against the cloth of his shirt, reminded of his insecurities I'm all too familiar with. Then, realizing that nostalgic feeling could just be the remnants of our broken selves mending together, as they seem to fit as perfectly together as his place by me. "I love my Lovebug." He squeezed me with all his might into himself, receiving a nice squeak from me.
"And I love my ScaredyChat."
…..
LAME I KNOW. As you can see, like Marinette, I was also discombobulated while writing this. I managed to get some time in to finish this short chapter. Thanks for baring with me, mistakes and all! And god, yes I know this chapter must be cringe worthy so I threw in some kisses and drama, ok? Thank you xoxo. Oh and the whole emo thing was based off a convo I had with a friend. C'mon, we all would love some dark Marinette and Adrien. Prob why I wrote this tbh. Until next time!