Marinette liked him?
Adrien sat in the backseat of his limo as he headed home for lunch, trying to wrap his mind around it.
He supposed, looking back, it maybe should have been obvious. She did seem to freeze up a lot around him. But Adrien had always assumed that she was just ridiculously shy. Only now did it occur to him that he had never seen her freeze up around anyone else.
Marinette liked him. Not Chat Noir—him.
The thought set off another round of fizzling bubbles in his middle, the kind that made him feel like he was suddenly enveloped in a warm, buoyant cloud. As much as he should have realized all along, the realization still left Adrien feeling incredulous.
And though he felt ridiculous for having asked her why, her answer had left him permanently on cloud nine.
True, she was no Ladybug—
No, he told himself firmly. That's completely unfair. You shouldn't compare them.
Besides, Ladybug had made it very clear that she wasn't interested in him. And as much as even thinking about it sent a pang of pure misery through his chest, Adrien respected her feelings. Continuing to dwell on her wasn't going to change anything. He had already made up his mind to let her go and just keep their relationship as teammates.
Plus, a date with Marinette sounded nice. If nothing else, he was looking forward to getting to know his classmate a little better. And if, at the end of the day, they just didn't click, then so be it. But just one date had to be worth a shot, right?
"You did what!?" Alya squealed, mouth hanging open.
"I know!" Marinette squealed back, spinning giddily in her computer chair. Her heart hadn't stopped hammering all day.
"Marinette, that's amazing!" Alya told her, a big grin slowly taking over her face. "What on Earth possessed you to confess to him, finally?"
"I … just… felt like it was time, I guess," Marinette replied weakly. What was she supposed to say? Oh, well, Chat Noir convinced me to. No big deal. No, it was better to just keep that to herself. "We're going to the movies tomorrow night!"
"Do you have an outfit picked out yet?" Alya asked, unable to stop grinning. Marinette knew the feeling.
"Not yet," she replied, glancing at her closet in despair.
In all honesty, Marinette's heart was beating so fast from not only excitement, but also trepidation. Adrien had said yes. But what if she messed this up? What if he went on a date with her and decided she wasn't his type? What if she did something stupid—because, if she was being honest, she always did something stupid—and he finally realized what a complete dolt she was?
No, she scolded herself firmly. Stop it. Whatever would happen, she could at least give it her best. And that started with her clothes. Glancing toward Alya, she asked, "Do you think … you could help me pick something out?"
Marinette had never seen Alya grin so big.
It was drizzling as Adrien stood outside of the theater, though the damp evening didn't slow down the busy Paris streets. Adrien pulled his jacket a little tighter, scanning the crowds for Marinette.
He had spent the day wondering what to expect. Marinette had turned bright red at the sight of him in class earlier, though they hadn't had time to talk at all. Now that he thought about it, Adrien wasn't really sure what all Marinette was interested in. He knew that she was an amazing artist and was interested in fashion, but beyond that he barely knew anything about her.
"Hey!"
Surprised, Adrien turned around to find Marinette at his side, hiding under under a pink umbrella with her cheeks tinged a light pink.
"Oh, hey!" he replied, smiling at her. She had dressed up a bit, wearing a knit purple top and cute knee-length black skirt. "You look nice," he added, holding the door to the theater open.
"Oh!" she squeaked, face flushing a deep red at an alarming rate. Then, in a small voice, she added, "Thanks. You look nice too."
They strode over to the cashier's line, which was surprisingly long given that it was a Tuesday evening.
"Were you able to finish that math homework from today?" Adrien asked.
"Yeah," Marinette mumbled, glancing toward the ground. "It was a nightmare though."
"Yeah," Adrien added with a chuckle. "I didn't understand half of it."
Marinette made a muffled noise of agreement, though she didn't didn't meet his eyes.
Adrien waited for a moment, but Marinette didn't add anything more. "I found the science lesson a little more interesting, though," he continued, growing a bit uncertain when Marinette didn't respond. "What about you?"
"Y-yeah," Marinette told him, gaze still firmly locked on the ground.
A new silence stretched, and Adrien found himself floundering, trying to think of a way to say something else without it sounding awkward. Should he talk about the weather? Then again, that was small talk. He was really good at small talk, given all the important types of guests his father entertained at home, but that wasn't the type of thing to talk about on a date. There had to be something they could talk about, right? Like with Nino. What did he normally talk with Nino about? For some reason, Adrien found it hard to believe that Marinette would be interested in hearing about his video game.
What about Ladybug? The two of them never seemed to struggle to hold a conversation. With Ladybug, the conversations always happened naturally, even if they did tend to get cut short. Maybe—
Wait, no. He had to stop thinking about her. Ladybug probably hadn't even given him a second thought since the last attack. She probably had other things to occupy her thoughts, while in the meantime he could barely go five minutes without thinking of her. Besides, this was a date with Marinette—she deserved his undivided attention.
Before he could think of something else to say, the people at the register moved. Slightly relieved at the out from the awkward silence, Adrien walked up to the cashier. "Two tickets for the 5:15 show, please," he told the woman.
"W-wait! I'll pay for myself," Marinette said quickly, finally meeting Adrien's gaze. For a moment his breath froze as he looked in her brilliant blue eyes, mouth working wordlessly. Then, forcing the words out of his mouth, he smiled. "Don't worry about it—my treat today," he told her. Marinette's flush returned in full force, and she quickly dropped her gaze to the floor again.
Adrien handed his money to the cashier, mind still racing. Somehow, he had never noticed just how blue Marinette's eyes were. She looked just like—
No. He wasn't going to go there. Enough about Ladybug.
… Then again, Marinette did have black hair…
Adrien firmly stomped the possibility out of his mind, accepting the movie tickets from the cashier with a smile. He wasn't going to do this to himself. Not now. He had been through this a million times already—there were a lot of people with blue eyes and black hair in Paris. The first few months he had worked with Ladybug, he had stopped short every time he saw a girl with black hair. There was no way for him to know for sure—and allowing himself to consider that Marinette might be Ladybug would be ridiculous. It was probably just because he couldn't force himself to stop thinking about Ladybug. Which he needed to do. Now.
He took a deep breath as he turned to Marinette. "Should we go find a seat?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she replied, still nervously not meeting his eyes.
Adrien smiled uncertainly, then started toward Theater Three. As flattering as it was that Marinette liked him, if he was being honest with himself he had to admit that the nervous silences were a bit nerve wracking. Maybe the movie would be a little easier—at least then he wouldn't have to worry about what to say.
They silently made their way into the theater, and he paused to glance at her. "Any seating preferences?" he asked her, shooting her what he hoped was a disarming smile.
"Maybe the middle?" she asked, glancing at him uncertainly, head still ducked.
Unable to help himself, Adrien chuckled. "Is that a request, or a question?" he asked her lightly.
Her blush deepened—seriously, how did she keep doing that?—but Adrien caught a small smile flash across Marinette's face. "Um, request," she told him, voice a fraction firmer than before.
"Sure," Adrien told her, smile growing. They made their way to one of the middle rows and grabbed some decent seats. The official previews hadn't started yet, but Adrien was glad that they had gotten there a bit early—already the theater was starting to fill up.
He tried to think of something else to talk about, but found himself coming up short. Marinette sat quietly beside him, though he resisted glancing her way—wouldn't that just be weird if he didn't have something to say?
Dummy, just say something, he told himself. Taking a quick breath, he turned to her. "So, what do you think of Alya's blog?"
Wait, no, not that, he yelled at himself. That would just lead to—
"Well, Ladybug and Chat Noir are really cool," Marinette said with a hesitant shrug. Then, seeming to struggle to find the right words, she added, "But I watch it more for Alya's sake than my own."
"Oh," Adrien said, feeling oddly deflated. He couldn't even explain why. It shouldn't matter, if Marinette cared about Chat Noir or not. It had nothing to do with him personally. Except, well, it kind of did, didn't it? He probably shouldn't have even been surprised—hadn't Marinette said that Chat Noir seemed, what, "insincere"?
Marinette looked ready to say something else, but the lights suddenly dimmed and the movie previews began, cutting her off. Unsure whether he should be relieved or not, Adrien sat back and turned his attention to the action movie on the screen in front of him.
Throughout the previews, he stole a few glances at Marinette. She kept her attention firmly on the screen, shoulders tense. Maybe, if he were better at this, he could come up with a way to put her at ease. It was almost painful to watch, now that he knew why she was being so shy. But Adrien seriously didn't know what he could say to her to make things less awkward.
The previews finally came to a close, a title screen coming into view. Adrien frowned as he saw the title: "A Father's Bond." That wasn't the movie they had come to see, was it? Adrien was pretty sure he had bought tickets for the latest Disney release.
"Is this one of those short films?" Marinette asked him, taking Adrien completely by surprise.
"Yeah, I guess so," he told her. He shot her another glance, but her gaze was still solidly locked on the screen.
Adrien turned back to the film, which was now showing a young boy and his father outside playing catch. He shifted uncomfortably, watching as the two characters laughed. The son missed a catch, and the father came over to show him how best to catch a ball, hugging his son close.
Adrien tried to watch it—he really did—but after a moment, he turned away, stomach clenching. He hated shows like this. They made it seem so simple, as if all dads were naturally born with some ability to bond with their children. As if there weren't kids in the world sitting around and wondering why their fathers were too busy for them. He didn't need to be reminded of all the ways his father fell short.
"Hey," Marinette whispered suddenly, taking Adrien off guard yet again.
"Yeah?" he asked, carefully avoiding looking at the screen, where the father was now tucking his son into bed.
"I … I mean, I need … can you come with me?" Marinette fumbled nervously, pointing toward the stairs.
"Sure," Adrien told her, confused but more than happy to accompany her. They apologized as they scooted past the few people in their row, then quickly slipped out of the darkened theater.
"What's up?" Adrien asked Marinette.
"Oh!" Marinette said, glancing around nervously. "I just… I … forgot I wanted to get a gumball for later!"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him over towards the candy machines, laughing nervously.
"Oh, sure," Adrien said, frowning a bit as Marinette grabbed her coin purse from her bag. Confused, he asked, "You needed to do this now?"
Marinette visibly deflated, the forced grin sliding from her face. Her expressiveness might have been cute if Adrien weren't so worried about her. "Oh. Yeah, sorry. You just looked a little… I mean, yeah, I probably should have waited."
Wait, had she been worried about him? Adrien felt his breath catch as the realization hit him. That was surprisingly … sweet.
"No, no," he reassured her quickly, shooting her a small smile. "Now's perfect."
"Okay," Marinette replied, a little of the tension leaving her shoulders. "Cool, just a second then." She returned his smile hesitantly, and suddenly Adrien was overcome by gratefulness for her, awkwardness and all. He was a little surprised she had caught on, in all honesty. Normally he tried to keep his frustrations with his father on the down low—Nino was the only one he really talked to about it. But still, he was glad to be standing in the quiet lobby and not trying to block out the sappy short film.
Adrien glanced back over a Marinette, who was craddling a handful of gumballs while fishing for yet another coin in her purse.
"Uh, Marinette?" he asked her. "You've got, like, five gumballs already."
"Just a secondddd…" Marinette replied slowly. Her face was twisted in concentration as she slid the coin into the slot, as if accomplishing some monumental task, and Adrien had to hid a small grin behind his hand as he watched. Marinette twisted the crank, eyes glue firmly to machine as a gumball clanked behind the metal door. She carefully opened the door and a green gumball rolled rolled into her palm.
"Yes!" she replied, triumphantly pumping her fist into the air. Then, suddenly appearing to remember where she was, she blushed furiously, turning to Adrien. "Here," she said, holding the gumball out to him. "Green's your favorite color, right?"
"Yeah," he told her, shooting her a confused look as he accepted the gift. He didn't remember ever telling anyone he liked green. "How did you know?"
"Oh, well, you know," Marinette squeaked, looking downright mortified. "Anyway, uh, got my gumballs! We should probably go back now."
She quickly turned on her heel, although her bright red ears were impossible to miss. Adrien watched her go for a moment, too taken off guard to do anything. There was a warmth spreading through his chest, and it was making his lungs and stomach feel fluttery.
Finally he forced himself to follow after Marinette, head still reeling. So she was a little shy. Or, well, okay—really shy. But somehow, here was someone who paid enough attention to realize that his favorite color was green, and made up silly, lame excuses to get him out of uncomfortable situations. And for the first time, Adrien felt himself relaxing a bit. As they walked back into the theater, he tucked the gumball into his coat pocket for safekeeping.
They scooted back into their seats, and Adrien realized that had managed to miss the first couple minutes of the movie. Honestly, he couldn't care less. He glanced at Marinette, who gave him a small smile and a shrug before looking up at the movie.
A/N: Sorry to cut this chapter off here. And, even more importantly, sorry for the HUGE wait on this chapter! I had a HUGE deadline at work and didn't have the time to get around to this. Hopefully the next chapter should be up sometime later this week and you guys won't have to wait so long. But, for sure, the next chapter will be a continuation of their date ^^
I found it really interesting that so many people were surprised by Adrien's answer! I feel like, if Adrien hadn't heard Ladybug's honest answer beforehand, then he probably wouldn't have taken Marinette up on a date. Honestly, he probably doesn't know what to expect. And, more than anything, he's probably wrapped up more in the IDEA that someone else likes him, rather than the fact that it's Marinette specifically. I dunno, do other people do this? Like, once you find out that someone is interested in you (or if you start to suspect they are), suddenly you start thinking more about "What WOULD it be like to date them?" It can be flattering to find out, especially if you have self esteem issues and figured that no one liked you. Or maybe this is just me… haha
I kind of struggled with this chapter. Oddly enough, it's REALLY hard to write bashful Marinette without being in her head. So hopefully it's decent and you guys enjoy it. There were parts where I felt like banging my head against a wall, just because I had such a hard time making the awkwardness sound natural (if that makes sense xD)
As I was writing the beginning of the date, Owl City's Fuzzy Blue Lights came on, and I decided to make it raining outside. I personally LOVE when it rains, and somehow it seemed to fit. But, once Marinette dragged Adrien out of the movie theater, I switched to Keith Urban's Somebody Like You (one of the very few country songs that I adore), because I love the fluttery, gentle, just-falling-in-love feel of that song and felt like it fit Adrien's mood perfectly.
Most importantly, THANK YOU GUYS. So much! Seriously, every day I get notifications of more people who have read, followed, or commented on this story, and it's just mind boggling. You guys are simply amazing, and I can't thank you enough for the support! I should be getting around to replying to any comments I've missed in the next day or so. I hope this fic continues to live up to your expectations. I would love to hear if it does (or if it doesn't ^^) so I can keep trying to make it the best I can. As always, feel free to come squeal about LadyNoir-or anything else-on Tumblr! (Konekat)