Boys! Marinette fumed furiously. They are completely oblivious!
She hadn't been quite able to say the words to Chat Noir because of her own damn shyness that suddenly choked her when the time came but she had thought that Chat, who could tell when something was bothering her from barely a glance, would suddenly pick up that her ring had changed directions. To make sure that he would definitely notice she had waved her hand repeated under his nose.
And he didn't pick up on it at all!
She wondered if he would notice if she had it tattooed on her forehead.
Probably not.
She sighed heavily as she went to her locker. She should really not let her nerves get the better of her when she sees him tonight and just tell him because he had to know that she loved him, that she chose him, before he told her who he was. She didn't want him to have a single doubt that it was him that she wanted to be with.
She opened her locker to find a little brown paper bag wrapped tightly round itself and another white folded note with her name neatly typed on it. She smiled fondly at it before she picked up the note and opened it up.
"On the thirteenth day of Valentine," she murmured to herself, "my true love gave to me, thirteen days of his time."
She blinked bewilderedly and then picked up the brown parcel. She carefully untwisted it and shook out a small, little, leather notebook. She blinked again before she opened the cover up to reveal, in Chat's familiar handwriting, one note that read;
This is a voucher for one day watching movies.
Realisation sank in as she hastily turned the page over to read the second page;
This is a voucher for one day shopping.
Days of his time! He was giving her literally a whole day of his time to do a certain activity with her! Her knees buckled slightly as she turned over another page.
This is a voucher for one day at the Louvre.
This is a voucher for one day at Disneyland.
This is a voucher for one day spent in the park.
This is a voucher for one day to do nothing together at all.
The movie one popped up another two times, and so did the park one, there was a voucher promising to escort her to fashion shows, and one for a tourist day, and finally one for eating which she assumed he meant going out for both lunch and dinner.
He had planned thirteen dates to spend with her at any time of her choosing in the future.
If she hadn't realised that she was in love with him two days ago then this would have definitely have opened her eyes. In fact, she was pretty sure that she had just fallen in love with him all over again as her heart fluttered at the gesture.
She headed towards class in a much lighter and happier mood than she was when she entered the school. She skipped into the classroom to find that their teacher had not yet arrived and the girls (excluding Chloe who was busy admiring her reflection and Sabrina who was complimenting Chloe) gathered round Mylene's desk.
"Oh! Hi Marinette!" Mylene said a little startled but cheerfully. "Did you get another one of those Valentine presents?"
"Yep!" Marinette nodded. "Day thirteen is thirteen days of his time."
"Oh!" Rose and Mylene both sighed dreamily. "That's so romantic!" they cooed in unison.
"Awesome," Juleka agreed.
"Sappy," Alix wrinkled her nose, "I can't wait for all this romantic crap to be over so we can all carry on with our lives."
"You say that," Alya grinned, "but as soon as you find someone you like you'll be just as sappy as the rest of us."
"If I do then you should be a good friend and shoot me in the head!" Alix shuddered in disgust. "All this pink and red and love hearts is all unnatural. At least Mylene's Valentine's Day card is cool."
"Oh," Marinette blinked, "did Ivan send his Valentine early?"
"Oh no!" Mylene shook her head. "I have just finished my Valentine's Day card to give to Ivan. I was unable to find anything to suit his taste in the shops so I made my own." She lifted up a pitch black card that was folded neatly in half. The heart was bloody and the words sounded like something from one of Ivan's favourite songs. It wasn't Marinette's cup of tea but she could certainly see why Ivan would like it. "What do you think?"
"It's cool!" Marinette enthused. "Definitely something Ivan would like."
Mylene flushed, pleased with herself, "I'm glad," she murmured softly, "I want to get something that he would like."
"I wish I had someone to make a Valentine for!" Rose pouted. "It looks so much fun!"
"If you like you can make me one," Juleka suggested shyly, "and I'll make you one in return. Yo know," she mumbled as light blush appeared on her chalky cheeks, "as friends."
"Oh!" Rose said delighted. "That's a wonderful idea!"
"Meh," Alix shrugged, "I can live without making one or getting one."
"What about you, Alya?" Marinette asked. "Have you got Nino a Valentine yet?"
"I put in an order for a special digitalised one," Alya said smugly, "it'll arrive in his emails tomorrow and that way he isn't going to accidentally chuck it in the bin like he did with his Christmas card."
"Smart," Alix nodded, "and you Marinette? Have you got your secret admirer a card yet?"
"….OH MY GOD!" Marinette shrieked as she clutched her cheeks, horrified. The boys all jumped and Chloe let out her own shriek as Marinette startled her into ruining her lipstick. There was now a bright pink line across her cheek. "I forgot to buy a card! And I made him a present and everything as well!" she moaned. "How could I forget about the card?! Oh no! What am I going to do?! It's Valentine's Day tomorrow!"
"Chill, girl," Alya said as she patted Marinette's back comfortingly, "As you just said yourself, it's still only the thirteenth," she pointed out, "you can buy one after school."
And that was how Marinette ended up in the nearest card shop after school.
Unfortunately, as Mylene had found earlier, Marinette couldn't find anything that was right. She then dragged Alya to three more card shops before her best friend got so very fed up with Marinette being a perfectionist (that and she was called home to help out her sisters) and left Marinette too it.
Marinette visited another five shops, getting further and further away from home, as she continued to struggle to find what she wanted.
"I can't find anything good with a cat pun on it at all!" Marinette despaired. "They make so many cheesy pun-filled soft toys. Is it really that hard to make some cat pun cards?!"
"You could always make one like your friend Mylene," Tiki suggested quietly as she peered out cautiously from Marinette's handbag, "I think Chat would like that much more than a shop brought card."
"You're right!" Marinette brightened up. "I'll make him a card!"
And with that she happily sped off to find an arts and crafts shop with a plan already forming in her mind.
She was going to make the best, silly, Valentine's Day card Chat Noir had ever received.
MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB
When Chat Noir let himself into Marinette's room (she said he could when he had knocked) Marinette was hastily trying to hide something in her desk drawer. He smirked but didn't press, he had heard her freak out over the Valentine's Day card and he had hope that was she was hiding was for him.
"Good evening Princess!"
"Hi!" Marinette smiled. "How are you?"
"I'm purr-ty good," he grinned, "and you?"
"I'm good!" she squeaked. "Good, good, good."
"That's good," he teased. She flushed at that before she hurried to her chaise only to promptly trip over a bolt of cloth. He caught her immediately and helped her regain her footing. "I'm sorry!" he blurted out. "I didn't really think that one through."
"It's all right!" Marinette gasped. "I still love it just….I don't have any room!"
They settled down on the chaise and despite feeling a bit disheartened to see that his present was doing nothing but trip her up, he couldn't help but be pleased that she still liked it. "And did you like todays?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course!" Marinette beamed. "No one has ever given me thirteen days before. It's very unique."
"I know that it doesn't sound very much but time is a rare commodity with me," Chat explained sadly, Marinette opened her mouth to argue but Chat was on the ball to spill everything. He wanted her to understand. "As much as I would love to devote every waking second to you, I can't. My father won't let me. He likes to book my time up with work and classes. But I am determined to do these things with you. I am determined to spend time with you no matter what. Don't worry!" he added hastily as he remembered her previous freak outs "We can do all of these things as just friends. They don't have to be dates!"
He struggled to say anything else coherent as he felt Marinette's penetrating, beautiful, blue gaze on him. There was a solemn, serious, expression etched on her face as she gazed at him gravelly. "But what if I want them to be dates?" she whispered. "What if I want to date you?"
His heart skipped a beat at that and he felt hope swell up within him. "I…are you….are you sure?" he asked nervously as he tried to not get his hopes up. He already knew she liked him but she could say yes because she liked someone else. "What about the other guy? The one that you liked for ages."
"I tried telling you last night," Marinette blushed, "but I made my decision two days ago."
His heart stopped and his felt his breath catch in his throat as Marinette held up her right hand to reveal that her Claddagh ring was now pointing inwards. Her heart was no longer split into two. It was finally taken.
"You've changed the direction your ring is facing," he stated the obvious as he swallowed nervously, "you…did you choose me or him?"
"Do you really think," Marinette said a little crossly, "that I am so heartless that I would use your ring to declare that my heart was taken by some other man?!"
"No!" he yelped. "I-I-I just…don't want to get too hopeful," he admitted softly, "you might change your mind tomorrow."
"I'm not going to change my mind," Marinette said firmly. "I choose you!" she stressed sternly. "I want to be with you. I don't care who you are under the mask because I have fallen in love with you." His heart performed a series of wonderful acrobatics at this. "You have won, Kitty, you have successfully wooed me."
His face split into a wide, ecstatic, grin and before he could stop himself he grabbed Marinette's shoulders before he pulled her close. His hands gently glided along her shoulders, up her neck, before they cupped her cheeks and he leaned in close. Marinette sighed blissfully as her eyes fluttered to a close and she tilted her head invitingly.
Their lips met in the most wondrous and magical kiss he had ever experienced. (Though technically it was the only kiss he had ever experienced.) Their lips danced against one another's teasingly before he suddenly lurched forwards and pressed his more firmly against hers. She moaned, delightedly, and her arms entwined themselves round his neck as she pressed herself even closer. He smiled into their kiss before he nipped at her bottom lip lightly and, much to his everlasting happiness, she opened up and allowed him to explore her mouth much more thoroughly.
Unfortunately the need to breathe kicked in and they had to tear themselves away from the kiss.
He pressed his forehead against hers as he tried to desperately catch his breath. "I was right," he said breathlessly.
Marinette took in a loud, ragged, breath. "About what?" she asked
"Your kisses do taste sweeter than chocolate."
Marinette let out one of her adorable, delighted, squeaks before she suddenly threw herself forwards and slammed her lips against his. He moaned happily as he felt his eyes roll into the back of his head as the feel of her lips move against his, her fingers in his hair, and her tongue brushing against the seam of his lip. They kissed deeply and passionately, over and over again, until once more they needed to breathe.
In between breaths he planted kisses on her face, on her cheeks, on her forehead, and even on her nose as she giggled delightedly. "I love you," he murmured, "I love you, I love you, I love, I lo-"
She pulled him back in for another firm, sweet, and utterly chaste kiss on the lips. "I love you too," she mumbled.
His face hurt from all the grinning. He had honestly never been this happy before in his life and he decided to celebrate it with another kiss.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another, much longer, and lingering kiss that didn't quite end as they merely breathed against each other's lips as they held onto each other tightly. One of his hands now cupped the back of her head, his claws tangled into her hair, and he wished desperately that he wasn't transformed, that he could feel how soft her hair was against his skin.
He kissed her again, more firmly, as he savoured the sweet taste of her lips.
And there would have been more kissing, perhaps throughout the night, but Tiki was pretty firm on bedtimes and it turned out – as his Miraculous started beeping its first warning – that so was Plagg.
"Goodnight Chat," Marinette said softly, "I will see you tomorrow."
He swallowed nervously at the thought. He hoped desperately that she will be okay that he was Adrien Agreste, the boy that sat in front of her, the boy that she never seemed truly comfortable with, and the boy that she once stomped up to and shouted in his face because she thought he did something bad. There was a lot against him as Adrien as he did all of his wooing as Chat Noir.
"Yes," he licked is lips, "tomorrow."
She kissed him goodbye, a sweet, gentle, linger kiss that scorched his own. "I love you," she told him with such earnest honesty that his stomach did a little somersault.
"I love you too."
And with one last kiss, this one on her hand or otherwise he would have never left her room, he leaped back out onto the balcony and made his way home.
He whooped, loudly, the entire journey back.