She adjusted her light blue dress and sent a smile Adrien's way; there was something catching about seeing her step out of whatever normally held her and on to the floor for this.
Chloe had after the last chance of acting in class finally stepped out of her shell in that regard and had chosen to participate this time.
Her blue eyes flickered over to him and for a second, Adrien could pretend that they were kids again, just goofing off and laughing.
Chloe moved with the ease of someone long used to having to be this graceful and followed her lines relatively easily until she stumbled over a few of them, half smiling though Adrien knew that it was just for him to see; suddenly, they both felt like kids again.
He stepped closer and tossed in a quick quip, "To bee or not to bee..." It dragged off as he thought back to old dress up days and while dress up wasn't his favorite thing in the world, the joy of the fun they had afterward always made up for that.
Adrien was the dashing black cat which now that he thought back on some quite fitting while Chloe, she was the bee queen.
She rolled her eyes at him, but a sparkle danced within her eyes as she approached him, half joking despite the fact that the whole class was still looking on at them, slightly amazed, "O Romeo, O Romeo." Her breath was a gust of one, and suddenly it hit home that they weren't both still kids. They were growing up; they are teenagers now with their own problems and confusing emotions thrown in to just toss and turn them about for a while.
Chloe moved closer, looping her arms around him, and the movement was so surprisingly gentle that he let her, knowing that a part of her needed this as the world shifted and changed yet again; he wondered if there really should be a reason as to why he wanted to press closer and kiss her now, remind her of their promises to always stay by each other's sides, of their hopes of being a family some day, and on particularly hard days how she used to tell him that she wanted to be like his dad and mom, and that the only difference was that she'd be with him, because he calmed a certain part of her.
He didn't kiss her, but he did hold her and gently run his fingers through blond hair, letting her relax into his arms further before she pulled away, and they actually practiced the lines that they were supposed to.
Still Chloe lit up under the lead's role as if this was a part of who she was supposed to be, a small and soft smile stayed on her face, and when she'd complain about Marinette later, he found that it was half hearted on Chloe's part.
He wanted to pull her close and never let her leave the warm cocoon of the space between his arms.
Adrien wondered if she'd let him gingerly ease the heartache within her, because he knew that she still felt it like he still felt his own.
He couldn't quite wait for the day when they performed the play, and if somehow someone out there wrote a kiss scene into it, he knew that he wouldn't mind.
Chloe was the sun and the stars when she was happy, when she wasn't trying to play a role in her family life, in her social status, that didn't quite fit her, always collapsed around her, and made her feel weak, encouraged her to lash out.
She was his first friend and had been his only friend up until he met Nino and Plagg, but while there was a certain quality of best friend status reserved for Nino, when Chloe was herself, Adrien felt almost at home as familiar as he was with who she is.
Chloe played her role with a superb amount of acting which may have surprised a few people, but Adrien knew that she'd be good at handling so: memorized lines were sort of their thing or at least something that they'd had to do with their social statuses more often than either was comfortable with.
She pressed closer after opening night finally closed, and Adrien let her kiss him.
It felt like a gentle breath of relief; she was still herself, no forced role pulling her down in that moment.
He could feel it in the gentle way her tongue poked through, licking his lips, and gingerly caressing his tongue; he let her take control though it wasn't a forced hold at all.
Chloe's hands entangled in his nape, and he fell easily into that kiss that seemed to regularly grow and push; she, in this moment, was completely herself and genuinely in love with him.
No thoughts of other women flooded his mind with her here in his arms, gingerly taking his heart for a stroll.
Adrien ignored the weird looks from his classmates as they pulled apart, his hands still on her waist.
Chloe smiled like the sun and finally they pulled apart fully; she gingerly kissed his cheek before walking out of the room. Her usual fabricated saunter to look superior gone.
He still half felt like a kid around her again, completely unsure of himself and where he stood, but Adrien found that it really wasn't an uncomfortable feeling in the slightest.