You, my readers, are spoiled :) And it's because I love you all. Keep commenting, it fuels me like you have no idea (it's partly the reason why I'm not working on Both of you currently, I'm unmotivated for it, sadly). You can expect the next 3 or 4 chapters to come out in the next week or so.

On Saturday, Adrien was up at dawn with barely three hours of sleep in his system. He was feeling restless at the idea that in a few hours, Marinette would be in his home. He spent the morning feverishly straightening his apartment up, double and triple checking everything. The place was far from being messy to begin with, but he just couldn't stand still for two minutes in a row. Shoving unceremoniously an upset Plagg down the leather couch so he could vacuum the inexistent cat hair out of it, he watched without surprise his furry roommate escape to find another spot to sleep in and sulk in peace away from prying eyes. Knowing the feline's habits, Adrien would probably find him sound asleep in the dryer in a few hours. He resumed his useless early spring cleaning before suddenly realizing he was awfully sweating from head to toes from running around in his apartment all morning. Quickly stripping down Adrien hopped in the shower, not even bothering to wait for the water to warm up to put himself under the water.

That's when the thought hit him like a truck.

He had never managed to get Marinette's number.

Therefore, she didn't have his either, nor did she have his address.

Panic washing over him, he washed his body so fast he almost got dizzy from the speed at which he was moving and jumped out of the shower just as quick as he had jumped in. The blond got dressed as fast as he could, almost tripping over his bed in the process and checked the time on his phone. It was almost eleven by then. Grabbing his keys he darted down the stairs of his building and into his car. Ten minutes later, he was pulling in front of Marinette's building. Without pausing to catch his breath, Adrien raced out of his car faster than if it had been on fire and climbed the stairs skipping as many steps as he could without breaking his neck. He knocked furiously on her door, which opened almost instantly, revealing a startled yet fully clothed Marinette, obviously ready to go out. The stunned young woman took a quick look at him, paused for a second, and dissolved into hysteric laughter.

That's only then, seeing her laughing so hard she had to clutch her ribs, that Adrien finally took a second to analyze what he must've looked like. Sporting an awfully creased shirt, damp hair desperately sticking in every direction on his head, different colored shoes in each foot, completely out of breath, he offered her quite a show without a single doubt. Torn between his utter embarrassment and a sudden urge to join her laughing, he blushed furiously before setting on the latter. A light chuckle escaped his lips, before turning into full blown laughter. Marinette finally regained enough composure to utter intelligibly:
"What the hell happened to you?"
Heaving, Adrien had to focus on breathing before he could answer her:
"Remembered you didn't have my address or any mean of contacting me. Jumped straight from my shower into my car to come and get you."
The blackette smiled at him, still struggling to keep another fit of laughter at bay:
"Actually I was about to text Nino to have your contact info, but since you're here already I guess it won't be necessary after all."
Smiling sheepishly, Adrien mumbled:
"Can we stop making fun of me and head back, please? I'd like to change into something more presentable if you don't mind."
Her laugh was holy music in his ears. His misadventure was suddenly very worth it. The blackette locked her door behind her and placed a
little slip of paper in his hand.
"Here. I wanted to give it to you yesterday but it slipped my mind, sorry."
Seeing the digits scribbled in a neat, round handwriting, he looked up at her smiling widely before tucking it safely in his pocket.
"Thanks, I'll text you later so you'll have mine. For now, I was promised a chance to get my long overdue revenge."
"Dream on, Agreste." she answered as she playfully nudged his arm.

While they were getting back to his car, Adrien eyed appreciatively the beautiful woman walking beside him, taking in how pretty she looked that day. If himself looked like a pitiful mess, she, on the other hand, was simply gorgeous. She had gathered her beautiful dark hair in a sleek ponytail resting on the crown of her head and was sporting the faintest touch of makeup. Clad in washed skinny jeans and a dark gray Jagged Stone concert t-shirt hugging her curves just right, this was definitely the most relaxed look he had ever seen on her. And boy did she wear it well. She truly was breathtaking, and he felt anxiety rise in his stomach yet again. He was nothing but a hopeless dork, did he really stood a chance to ever call her his?

The car ride was mostly silent, Adrien still fussing over the disaster that was the day so far and Marinette looking out the window pensively. Once they reached his apartment, though, his friend smiled at him warmly:
"So this is your place?"
Nervosity returning full fledge, Adrien nodded shyly:
"Yeah, I'm not fully settled yet, but I-"
"It's nice, Marinette cut him, I like it."
Feeling himself blush, he stumbled over his words:
"You-you do?"
Nodding heartily, the young woman removed her sneakers and ventured inside the apartment. Seeing her in his home made Adrien's heart squeeze weirdly in his chest. He observed her as she caressed absentmindedly the black leather of his couch, before making her way to the bookcase filled to the brim. She eyed curiously his Blu-ray and video games collection before heading to the kitchen.
"Oh my god your kitchen is a cook's dream came true", she gushed loudly as she spotted the high-end appliances and all the working surface the kitchen offered. Adrien smiled:
"That's too bad I'm lame at it then."
"I could teach you someday. It's not that hard, it's all about following instructions."
Now grinning from ear to ear, the blond softly breathed:
"I'd like that very much."

Noticing the silver feeding bowls laying on the floor near the oven, Marinette inquired with shining eyes:
"Oh, I didn't know you had a pet?"
Shrugging, he smiled:
"Yeah, an old cat I took in while I was in Toulouse. Less lonely that way, you know? But he's not adjusting very well to the move, so he's probably hiding somewhere and likely won't come out at all."
"Give him time, cats are creatures of habits."
Noticing the obvious fondness in her voice, he couldn't help himself but ask:
"Do you own any pet? I don't recall seeing any at your place."
Laughing, Marinette answered softly:
"She was probably sleeping someplace weird. I got the kitten a couple weeks ago, and she has yet to sleep in the bed I bought her."
"Yeah, they tend to do that a lot." he answered, trying to repress the feelings her laugh was awakening in him.

As if she sensed his sudden uneasiness, the young woman suddenly spun around, pulling out her phone from her jeans pocket and waving it at him:
"You know what? You go and change, I'll order the pizza and then you'll get to try and beat me at Ultimate Mecha Strike."
Adrien emerged from his bedroom ten minutes later with neatly combed hair, a clean t-shirt and dark jeans, Marinette deposited her phone on the table and announced proudly:
"Well, pizza's on its way. Time to show me those skills you've been bragging about Mr. Agreste."

After two hours of suffering defeat after defeat to her amazing technique, it became obvious that even though he was good, Adrien was no match against her. The young man watched rather amused as Marinette jumped up from the couch in a small victory dance yet another time, bouncing up and down excitedly before treating herself to another slice of pizza. Dropping back on the couch beside him, she smiled at him broadly, nudging him slightly:
"You're not even trying!"
Adrien chuckled gently:
"I guess I'm kind of distracted today, honestly."
Startled, the young lady sat straight back up, obviously concerned:
"How's so? Did something happen? Do you wanna talk about it?"
This was it. That was the perfect moment he had been waiting for all day.
"I guess I'm not that used to have a beautiful woman sitting on my couch."
She blushed profusely, playfully nudging him on the arm:
"Where does that even come from?"

Leaning in slightly toward her, Adrien lost himself in the cerulean eyes he loved so much. Nervosity got the best of him and the young man stuttered:
"I-I like you a lot, Mari."
Shock spread on her pretty face before she uttered in answer:
"You… you're a really good friend to me too, Adrien."
He shook his head, a sad smile dancing on his lips.
"That's… that's not what I meant."
Time seemed to stand still for a second, and Adrien found himself staring at her lips yet again. He briefly wondered if they were as soft as they looked like as he brought a shaking hand to cup her cheek, his thumb absentmindedly stroking it tenderly.
"Mari…"
"Yes?" she answered in a breath, her eyes still locked with his.
"I really want to kiss you right now. May I?"

With that, with a mere sentence, the spell was broken.

Adrien watched, helpless, as her eyes widened in horror and she clasped a hand over her mouth. Fumbling to get up from the couch, she refused to look straight at him and gathered her belongings clumsily:
"I… I can't do this Adrien. I can't be with anyone right now… Maybe not ever… I'm sorry…"
"But-"
Marinette grabbed her purse and turned her back on him swiftly, but not before he had time to notice the unshed tears pooling in her bluebell eyes.

As she opened the door of his apartment, she added softly:
"I'm not fleeing, okay? I just really need some time alone right now. I promise you I'll be at the office Monday morning if you'll still have me as a partner. I'm really sorry."
The next second she was gone, the door closing softly behind her, leaving Adrien too stunned to even react for a few minutes. He felt like his heart had just been shredded to pieces and then thrown in a tornado. Barely conscious of his own movements, he pulled out his phone and sent a short SMS to his lady, hoping she could help him figure out where exactly he went wrong. What he have possibly done to scare his sweet Marinette away.

In his dazed state, he barely registered an unfamiliar chime pierce the heavy silence of his lonely apartment. Looking up from his own screen, the blond spotted a phone he recognized to be Marinette's laying forgotten on the kitchen table. The blackette must've left it behind in her haste to get away from him as fast as she could. His thoughts still a foggy and painful blur, Adrien walked over and picked up the little electronic device, the screen instantly lighting up as he pressed the home button out of habit.

And froze.

His breath hitched in his throat and his heart stilled in his chest as the young man stared bewildered at the words dancing on the little screen:
NEW SMS FROM CHAT NOIR
I think I messed up real bad princess.

All aboard the feelings rollercoaster!