Work Text:
So This Is Love
I sigh as I scan the all too familiar faces around me and smile courteously at everyone I meet eyes with. The crowd of people in the room are all moving around as
they mingle with others, but as the event hasn’t officially started no one is dancing. This was supposed to be something that was working in my favor. However, the fashionable but less-than-practical outfits everyone has on are making it difficult for me to make my way towards the band. I already know if I am going to be able to make it through this event with my sanity intact I need to be as close to the music as possible. I’m hoping it can drown out the dull conversations happening around me and I’ll be free from having to participate in them for once.
Observing the expressions of those around me as I walk causes a feeling of disgust to well up within me. Fake smiles are present on almost everyone’s faces as they make polite conversation or offer insincere flattery. No one here actually cares even one bit about the person they are talking to. They wouldn’t even be bothered to converse with anyone if it wasn’t beneficial to them. I have witnessed this type of party scene countless times and engaged in it countless more, but it never fails to dishearten me. I would much rather be at a quaint little café or bakery. Where I could have more meaningful conversations over delicious pastries with people who actually value what I have to say instead of just pretending to. My thoughts pause as I collide with someone who abruptly turns around and crashes right into me.
It's a woman. A woman in a burnt red ball gown with long auburn hair and beautiful olive green eyes. She stumbles and grabs onto my arm in an attempt to steady herself. Once she regains her stability I take a step back and watch as her hand drops back to her side feeling much more at ease once the physical contact has ended.
“I apologize, I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings. I do hope you’re alright.” I smile politely at her.
“Oh yes, I’m fine. And I’m the one who should be sorry about that. It was my fault. I should have been paying more attention.” She apologizes with a sincere expression on her face. I smile a bit more genuinely at her as I attempt to take my leave.
“Well I’m glad you’re alright, I hope you enjoy your evening.” I turn away from her and begin walking toward the band once again before she suddenly grips my hand and stops me.
“Wait! I… um… you’re Adrien Agreste, right?” Her voice is timid and as I face her once again I can see her eyes are full of shyness. My expression drops at her question and my eyes narrow faintly. Seems like that accidental mishap wasn’t really an accident. I should have known. It’s extremely unusual for a clumsy person to be in this crowd full of elegant models whose job is quite literally to be the definition of grace and beauty. I slip my hand out from her grasp and instinctively smile politely at her.
“Yes, I’m Adrien. And who might you be?”
My body is rejecting this entire situation. My stomach is in knots, my heart has dropped, I can barely think as I feel a buzzing in my head, but as if on autopilot I begin to make small talk with this woman whose name I don’t even care to know. I know she responded with her name, what was it? How can I get out of here? Go away. Stop touching me. What does she even want? Go away. Get off of me. I want to leave. What did she just say? What did she just hand me?
Oh.
I feel utterly disgusted. I smile.
She starts to walk away but looks back at me over her shoulder with a flirtatious look in her eyes that makes me want to curl up into a ball and die. I smile.
I feel hollow as I change destinations and head in the direction of the bar. I smile politely at everyone I pass.
I make it to the bar, order my drink, and slowly begin to sip it as I scan the room once again hoping with everything I have that no one talks to me again for the rest of the evening. I don’t think I could stomach another conversation like that one.
I gaze out at the hundreds of people chatting, smiling, and laughing lightly. I feel sick. I smile at each and every one of them.
I lock eyes with a pair of stunning blue irises. She’s laughing brightly and smiles genuinely at me. The sincere joy radiating off of her in droves. I tear up.
A tear drips down my face as her brilliant blue eyes widen in shock and concern. More tears come out as I begin to laugh. I can see her make her way towards me. Her gorgeous red and black dress sways as she hurries over. I stand up, not even bothering to wipe my tears away and meet her halfway.
“Are you o…” She begins to speak but stops when the lights begin to dim.
A spotlight is shone at the top of the staircase as an emcee officially starts the event. A waltz starts to play as other guests begin to move to the dance floor and dance with their respective partners. That timely distraction gives me some time to compose myself and I wipe my eyes dry and take a deep breath.
I glance at the blue-haired girl with ocean-blue eyes and grab her hand. Her jaw drops as I bring it up to my lips and gently kiss her hand while looking into her eyes. I grin mischievously as I notice her expression.
“How very nice to meet you m’lady” I greet her with an exaggerated posh tone and bow.
I feel a bit stupid after doing that. I also feel like I’m doing something wrong. Saying something besides what I have conditioned myself to say is slightly terrifying, but at the same time, thrilling. Her adorable giggle makes me looking foolish, worth it.
“My, what a gentleman you are”
She tries to imitate my overly posh tone, but for some reason, it comes out all-pitched and I can't help but laugh. Loudly and with genuine emotion for the first time in a truly long time. She joins in and we both double over, laughing, as other people give us disdainful looks while they dance. We slowly recover from our laughing fit and just smile at each other. Gazing deeply into her blue eyes I move to hold out my hand.
“Would you care to dance with me, m'lady?” She smiles dazzlingly.
“I would love to” She places her hand on mine. I smile happily.
“Adrien.” It falls. She looks concerned. I drop her hand.
“Father.” I turn to look at him, my face expressionless as I try my best to ignore my racing heart. He’s my father, he loves me. I try to convince myself that. I do my best to persuade myself into believing my fears are irrational as he stares me down. The look in his eyes is not helping his case. I fight back a flinch when he begins to speak again.
“I have someone I would like you to meet. Let's go.” I went to try to let him know I was currently busy talking to… wait. I don’t even know her name yet! Oh my god. I can’t believe I didn’t ask her for her name, or even introduce myself! I’m an idiot. I open my mouth to say something, anything, but my words fail me as I feel his cold stare on my skin. I freeze and on reflex agree.
“Yes, father.” Internally yelling at myself for being a coward I turn back to look at
the woman who made me laugh for the first time in months. My heart breaks when I can see the hurt in her eyes.
“Don’t think you don’t still owe me a dance” I hurriedly whisper to her before following after my father, having no idea if she even heard me.
----
Gazing at his back as I watch him walk away I feel a bit conflicted. Adrien. His name is Adrien. I fight back a grin. He didn’t even say goodbye. My smile starts to droop. He claimed I still owed him a dance, but I’m not sure if he was just being polite or if he really meant it. He doesn’t even know my name after all.
I make my way back towards Alya and sigh as I glance back in the direction he left. Shaking my head to disrupt my thoughts about him I look forward again, lest I accidentally trip and make a fool of myself at the very first formal event I have been invited to, and catch sight of Alya. She’s in her gorgeous orange mermaid dress and is facing away from me. I take the opportunity to tap her on her right shoulder and stand on her left side. Giggling while watching her get all turned around by my little prank. Once she realized what happened she glared at me playfully.
“Oh wow! I see little Miss Cinderella has come back to the ball all by herself!” Alya drawls sarcastically as she rolls her eyes.
“No, but seriously. Where the hell did you run off to? How could you just leave me like that?!”
I smile sheepishly at her and nervously laugh, “Would you believe me if I said I saw a gentleman in distress?” She quirks an eyebrow up.
“Oh? So you’re a knight in shining chiffon, are you?” I groan at her ridiculing comments, but she of course is not phased.
“Well, where is this so-called ‘gentleman in distress’?” Alya questions as she looks around scanning the crowd for any signs of him.
I bite my lip and awkwardly scratch my face, “He… ran off?”
“Did he at least leave his shoe behind so we could find him?” I stifle a laugh with a groan.
“Ugh c’mon Alya, another Cinderella reference?”
She smirks, “We’re at a ball Marinette, there’s not a lot of fairytale options.”
“Yeah, alright that’s fair.”
“So what did he look like?” Alya murmurs a bit distractedly as she stares out into the crowd.
“Um.. well he had beautiful blonde hair that reminded me of sunshine, irresistible green eyes that anyone could get lost in, and he had on a sleek black sui-
“Suit with a vibrant green tie and pocket square?” Alya finishes for me still keeping her eyes trained somewhere in the distance.
“Y…yeah. How did you know?”
She points to where she has been staring for the last couple of minutes, “Because he’s right over there. And he definitely looks like he is in distress.”
I swivel around to look at where she’s pointing and catch sight of Adrien in a heated discussion with the man I assume is his father and another woman in a burgundy dress. I furrow my eyebrows in concern and feel a strong urge to go help him. I turn to Alya and open my mouth to speak. She raises her hand up to stop me.
“I know girl, go rescue your gentleman. I’ll be fine on my own.” Alya reassures me with a smile. I return the smile and yell out thanks before dashing off to save Adrien. I quickly reach the conspicuous trio. I don't even stop as I simply grab onto Adrien’s arm, and pull him through the crowd and towards the exit. I can hear the shocked shouts of the two we left behind, but I pay them no mind as we make it through the large double doors and out into the cold night air.
I keep running until we make it to the park across from my old home. It was truly miraculous I didn’t fall and break an ankle as I ran with heels on. I glance over at Adrien and witness his adorable happily shocked face for the first time. I giggle at his expression and that causes a smile to break out onto his face.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” he says as he shakes his head at me.
I grin at him, “Nope, I’m actually Marinette. That was a good guess though.” He laughs brightly at my lame joke and I follow suit.
There we are under the moonlight, the night quiet except for our cheerful laughter. My laughter starts to die down as I notice him quietly staring at me. Feeling a bit shy under his gaze I avert my eyes and question him.
“What?” I murmur softly as I glance up at him again.
While slightly smirking, Adrien points at my parent's bakery, “I was just thinking that we should break into that bakery over there.”
Sputtering out a strangled laugh I ask “Are you joking?”
He throws his head back and laughs. “Of course, I’m joking, Marinette!” My heart thuds faster in my chest as I hear my name easily tumble out of his mouth.
“I was just thinking about how great it would be to just sit and have a genuine conversation with someone while at a bakery eating delicious pastries.”
My heart breaks at his response. How long has it been since he’s had a real conversation with someone for him to be thinking like that? Maybe it’s due to the alcohol Alya made me drink to loosen up at the party or the exhilaration of this entire experience, but regardless I quickly make a decision as I stare at the bakery I grew up in.
----
“Okay, let’s break into that bakery!” I hear from Marinette who has a strange determined glint in her eye.
My eyes widen as I take in her words, “Whoa, whoa, wait! I was just kidding Marinette! We can’t do that!” my words come out rushed as I run after the blue-haired girl who was already rushing towards the bakery. She stops in her tracks and turns back to face me.
“I know. But I really want you to experience that. You deserve it, Adrien.”
Her captivating eyes stare right into mine with the greatest sincerity I have ever seen in my life. My legs feel weak as her kind words sink in. When was the last time someone cared about what I wanted? My eyes soften and I take a step closer to her.
“I truly appreciate that Marinette. More than you’ll ever know” I murmur softly.
“But we can’t break into a bakery!” I exclaim with a light-hearted laugh.
Unfortunately, my words seem to have the opposite effect on her. She flashes a cute grin at me, spins around on her heels, and runs off to the bakery doors. I race after her and approach the bakery’s entrance. Now that we’re closer I can finally read the name of the bakery Marinette is currently trying to break into. I cast my gaze on the sign above the doors and can barely make out “Tom & Sabine’s Boulangerie” with the limited moonlight. Nonetheless, I make it a point to remember that name so I can come and visit it again when it’s daytime and actually open. My eyes flit back down to the girl, still in a gorgeous red and black ball gown, fiddling with the lock. Maybe I can even bring Marinette with me and we can get to know each other better.
A dopey smile makes an appearance on my face at the thought. My thoughts come to a halt as Marinette quietly exclaims in victory.
She opens the door as I stare at her in absolute shock. To be completely honest I didn’t think she’d actually manage to pick the lock. I figured she would try for a bit and then I could convince her to come back with me at another time, when it was, well open.
“Did you seriously just pick the lock?” I ask in astonishment.
Marinette smiles impishly at me, before shaking her head. “No, I have a key” She states before letting out the most adorable laugh ever. I can’t help but smile as I watch her laugh.
“So you had a key the whole time and tried to trick me into thinking we were breaking in?”
“Yep!” She says with a huge grin.
“Oh, you’re sneaky!” I narrow my eyes at her, but my smile gives away my actual feelings.
“So are you coming in or are you going to stay out there in the cold?” She asks as she holds the door open for me.
I walk through the doorway and am greeted by the tantalizing scent of bread. I curiously look around as I wait for Marinette to lock the door again.
“So why do you have a key for this place?” I ask as I stare at the empty displays disappointedly, wondering if I won’t get to eat any pastries tonight. She was taking off her shoes as she walked and nearly fell over which concerned me, but her response was cheery regardless.
“Oh, right! I haven’t told you yet. My parents own this bakery!” I look at her in amazement. Could this girl get any more incredible? It’s like she's who I’ve been waiting for all along.
I put my ridiculous thoughts away as I follow her through a door that leads into a commercial kitchen. Even at night with the lights off and the pastries missing the entire place feels full of warmth. It makes me feel a bit out of my element and I’m not sure what to do with myself. I stand awkwardly by the doorway as I watch Marinette rush around gathering items. For what, I'm not entirely sure. Yet as she beckoned me over, I didn’t even hesitate.
----
I smiled as Adrien walked up to me and then turned to face all the items I gathered on the counter. It wasn’t a lot, just eggs, milk, unsalted butter, flour, sea salt, white sugar, vanilla extract, and Swedish pearl sugar. As he curiously eyes everything I start to speak.
“Let's make some chouquettes!”
“Huh?!”
“I know you really wanted to eat some delicious pastries, but since the bakery is closed there is none right now. Soooo I thought we should just make some!” I explain my plan excitedly. I feel incredibly giddy at the moment.
He laughs in what appears to be disbelief and utter joy.
“You really are …” The rest of that sentence is lost as he mutters it too softly for me to hear. I furrow my eyebrows as I am tempted to ask him about it but decide against it. I’m not sure I want to know. What if it’s bad? What if he thinks I’m crazy for suggesting baking at 12:30am? What if he never wants to speak to me again? What if he was the love of my life and now I’ll never know because I messed everything up like I always do, and he hates me? Now I’m going to end up alone for the rest of my life and I’m going to have to get 10 cats, no wait 10 hamsters just so I don’t feel so lonely? Oh my god, I’m going to end up an old crazy hamster lady!
“Marinette! Marinette!” I’m forced out of my thoughts as Adrien shakes me and yells my name with a concerned look on his face.
“Huh? Wha?”
“Are you okay Marinette?” His expression of worry has my face flushing. I can’t believe I zoned out so hard while I was with someone.
“Ah, um I’m okay. I was just um... Eh.. erm... I.. I don’t know” I laugh nervously.
I let out a sigh as I turn away from him and break out of his grasp.
“I just thought you might be trying to find the quickest way out of here after hearing my crazy idea of making chouquettes so late at night just so you could eat pastries. I mean obviously, the easier and more normal thing to do would just be to wait until tomorrow to eat pastries. So I can totally understand why you would think I’m crazy and want to get out of here.” I was spiraling, I knew it but I couldn’t stop myself. My anxiety was getting the better of me. I couldn’t stop not even as Adrien stood there stunned as I kept rambling on and on.
“I'm always such a disaster! I am so sorry Adrien! You can go, I know what a mess I am. I’m sure this isn't what you imagined when we met tonight. I don’t know what I was even thinking, of course, you don’t want to do this! I’m such a…”
“Whoa, whoa, Marinette. Calm down! That wasn’t what I meant at all.” His green eyes, filled with a softness that made my heart do flips, were staring into my frazzled blue ones.
“I just meant that I thought you really were” He pauses to take a deep breath. “Special. I don’t think anyone has ever been that considerate of me in my entire life.”
I could feel my frayed nerves begin to calm down as I took in his words. I save the second sentence he said in my head to talk about later, as I don’t right now is the appropriate time to pry about that.
“Oh.” I begin to laugh, softly at first until I'm clutching my stomach and bent over from the laughter. He joins in with me, even though I’m sure he doesn’t know why I’m laughing, and we laugh until tears form in our eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to witness that. But if you’re going to be seeing me more often then you should expect a lot more of that.” My eyes widened as I registered what I just insinuated.
“I.. ah..uhm… not that… uhm you will be ..uhm … you know going to be seeing me more often... But.. uhm if you… if you are... yeah that ..um… happens sometimes” I splutter out. I chuckle nervously as a mischievous little smirk slips onto his gorgeous face, gosh why is he so attractive. His pretty green eyes, soft-looking blonde hair, and that smug smirk that looks perfect on him. Ugh, focus Marinette!
“So you want to see each other more often, do you?” He wiggles his eyebrows. I scoff and then laugh at his ridiculous antics.
“Maybe, maybe not” He gasps and clutches his heart.
“Ah! How you wound me, m'lady! My heart is in pieces, shattered by your callous words.” I break out into laughter that devolves into an unflattering snort. The only good thing is that it manages to make him laugh. I roll my eyes as he keeps going long after I’ve stopped.
“If you could stop laughing, we could actually make the chouquettes before the sun comes up,” I say unimpressed as he continues to laugh. Adrien wipes tears off his face as he stands up straight and steadies himself only to take one look at me and burst out laughing again. I can’t help but start laughing with him.
“Oh… my… god… please… stop laugh…ing….I can’t… take …it … anymore!” We finally calm down and I make sure not to look at him anymore. I don’t want to set either of us off again.
“Okay, whew, let’s get started, shall we?”
“We shall, m’lady.” I hold back a laugh, I swear everything this man does makes me want to burst into laughter. I give Adrien my blandest look and he immediately stands up straighter.
He jokingly puts his hands up as he says “Okay, okay, no more jokes. So what’s first?”
“First we start by pouring the milk, sugar, salt, and butter in a saucepan.” Adrien nods his head as I grab the saucepan and place it on the stove over medium heat.
“Do you want to help me pour the ingredients in?” At the question, Adrien’s eyes began to gleam with excitement.
“Of course!” He quickly pours the pre-measured ingredients into the saucepan and begins to stir. My lips quirk at his unabashed enthusiasm.
“You having fun there?” I ask jokingly as I measure out the flour.
“Yeah, I am. This is the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.” My hands were still at his words.
“Adrien, I know we just met and you don’t owe me any type of response, but is everything okay?” His back stiffens at my question but nonetheless, he turns around and flashes me a sad smile.
“No, it’s not. And I'm just now realizing how bad it really was.” I knew that was the only response I was going to get so I just went over to his side to check on the mixture.
“That’s perfect! This is a great first step.” I didn’t look at him as I spoke and poorly disguised my encouragement with praise over his baking skills.
“Now let’s add the flour.” I take the saucepan off the heat before going to get the flour. I add all the flour into the saucepan and begin to vigorously mix it together. Once all the flour is incorporated and it becomes dough I bring the saucepan back to the stove and continue to mix the dough. I mix until the dough stops sticking to the sides of the saucepan. Then I transfer the dough into a metal bowl to allow it to cool for a bit.
I turn my attention back to Adrien only to catch him staring at me as if I had just hung the stars in the sky. I freeze at the look in his eyes, it sends a rush of excitement through me, but also brings along its own sets of worries and anxieties. I looked away after a minute because I couldn’t handle his gaze anymore.
“I’m sorry I didn’t let you help with that part. It was just easier for me to make the dough, but you can totally help with the rest.” I murmur as I reach around him to grab the eggs and whisk.
“You were amazing Marinette! You just made the dough in a saucepan! That was so cool to watch. I didn't mind only watching at all.” I relax a little after hearing his response.
“Well thank you, but don’t think you’ll be getting out of doing all of the work,” I say teasingly as I narrow my eyes and point the whisk accusingly at him. He chuckles and steps closer to me until the whisk is touching his chest.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, m’lady.”
I roll my eyes at him, “You're such a flirt.”
Adrien smirks proudly, “I have to be. It’s the only way to keep my status as the coolest cat in town.”
I look at him with the most disbelieving face I can muster, “Please, you're more like a cute little kitty than a ‘cool cat’.”
He gasps dramatically as he clutches his chest and stumbles backward, “Marinette! How could you say that? I’m heartbroken!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just get to mixing these eggs, little kitty. I’ll go check on the dough.” I say as I thrust the bowl with the eggs into his arms and hand him the whisk.
He grumbles something along the lines of “I’m not a cute kitty, I’m a cool cat”
under his breath as he obediently does the task I assigned to him. While holding back a grin I check on the dough. After deeming it cool enough I turn back to Adrien only to tilt my head in confusion.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask genuinely confused.
My words clearly startle him, and his face contorts comically and he nearly drops the bowl as he jumps.
“I’m… I’m just mixing the eggs, you know, like you’re supposed to.”
“Ummm no, that’s not how you whisk eggs”
“What are you talking about! This is totally how you mix the eggs!” Adrien exclaims awkwardly.
“Adrien, have you ever baked before? Or at least watched a baking show?”
He stares silently at me for a second before slumping and sighing resignedly, “No… I have no idea how to mix eggs.”
“No, yeah, I got that. You holding the bowl at eye level and gently stirring the whisk as little pieces of eggshell floated in there clued me in.”
He groaned and placed the bowl down on the counter. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to let you down, so I just pretended I knew what I was doing.”
I chuckle softly at his expression, “It’s okay Adrien. I’m sure a lot of people don’t know how to whisk eggs.”
“Really?” Adrien asks disbelievingly.
“No, probably not.” I admitted, “But it’s okay if you don’t. Not knowing how to do something is perfectly fine.” I say with the utmost sincerity. His eyes meet mine with a slight vulnerability he likely doesn’t even realize exists.
“Now all you have to do is learn.” I smile softly at him.
“Okay now let me show you how to crack open an egg the right way, and then we’ll whisk the eggs,” I say with renewed enthusiasm, as I fetch four new eggs and Adrien tosses out the botched ones. After demonstrating with the first two eggs I let Adrien try to crack the other two.
Smiling widely, “That was perfect Adrien!”
“My hands are covered in egg yolk, and a lot of it smeared on the counter. How on earth can that be considered perfect?” He asks me glumly.
“Did you try your best?”
“Well, yeah”
“And that’s why it was perfect.”
“That was so corny!” He laughs.
“Made you laugh, didn’t it?” I say with a small smirk.
“Look Adrien, not everything has to look perfect for it to be perfect, sometimes just trying your best is perfect.”
His eyebrows scrunch up in doubt, “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works Marinette.”
“Hmph! Are you the expert in baking or am I the expert?”
“You are…”
“Okay then, since I’m the expert whatever I say is absolute fact, got it?” Narrowing my eyes playfully at him I wave the whisk around wildly to show off my authority.
Barely holding back a grin he rolls his eyes and salutes, “Yes m’lady!”
Snorting I turn back to the bowl of eggs and hand it to him, “Good kitty, now here, let’s try this again, shall we?”
Nervously, Adrien takes the bowl from me and begins to beat the eggs while keeping it in his arms. After the eggs reach the right consistency I let him know he can stop.
“And that’s it! See it wasn’t that hard, was it?” I say cheerily.
Ignoring my question, Adrien asks “Can I wash this goop off my hands now?” Eyeing his face of disgust I stifle a snicker as I lightly nod.
“Can you wash the whisk too, while you’re at the sink please?” I ask as I grab the pre-measured vanilla extract and add it to the dough. After that is mixed in, I call Adrien over.
“You’re going to do this next part; did you wash the whisk?”
“Of course!”
While smiling I direct Adrien to slowly add the eggs while mixing the dough. Once the dough has a glossy sheen I tell him to stop.
“The dough looks perfect!” Adrien looks at me proudly as I praise the dough.
Next, I set out two trays and laid parchment paper down on them. Then I fill two piping bags with the dough and I show Adrien how to pipe small balls of choux pastry dough. He catches on quickly and begins piping by himself. We work together in a comfortable silence for a while. When all the dough in my piping bag is gone I reach for the Swedish pearl sugar and pour some all over the choux pastry dough balls. Then I hand the container to Adrien and let him pour out his own pearl sugar. While he does that I lightly press down the pearl sugar onto the dough to make sure it sticks before glancing back over at Adrien. He looks so cute while concentrating on pressing down the pearl sugar.
“And with that, they’re ready to put in the oven!” I exclaim as Adrien finishes up. He swivels around to face me and beams.
“I can’t believe it, I’ve actually baked something.” I place the two trays into the oven and set a twenty-five-minute timer.
“Well, technically, it hasn’t baked yet.” I giggle as he immediately pouts clearly annoyed, “You just can’t let me bask in this joy? You have to put technicalities on it.”
“Yep!” He glares at me for a second before spotting something and grinning evilly.
For some reason, I get a bad premonition from that look.
----
While smirking wildly I grab the flour bag off the counter and take a handful out and throw it right at her. Her shocked gasp and scream made me second-guess my decision for a minute until I heard her next words.
“Oh, it is so on!” I let out the breath I was holding as my eyes twinkle and I grin at her.
“I’d like to see you try!” Marinette glowers at me before lunging to snatch the flour bag from my hands. We wrestle for the flour bag for a few minutes. Plumes of flour come out during our tussle. Soon the both of us are completely covered in flour and we’re both coughing.
“Oh my god.” I cough loudly as the flour starts to settle. “I… did not… think that through.”
While coughing harshly Marinette asks sarcastically, “You think?” She starts to dust her dress off and I can’t help but stare at her. Even while in a ball gown covered with flour she still looks insanely gorgeous. Her midnight blue hair flows past her shoulders, and even under the patches of white it still looks soft to the touch. Her long dark eyelashes are striking against her fair skin. I can’t stop staring. Marinette glances up at me and seems to misunderstand my gawking.
Rolling her eyes, “Yeah I know I look like a mess right now, but whose fault is that?” I don’t correct her and simply smile at her.
“You know, I’m pretty sure you still owe me a dance,” I say as I hold out my hand towards her. Marinette, taken aback by my sudden proposal, stares into my eyes bemused.
“We’re coated in flour, in my parent’s kitchen, I don’t have shoes on, and there’s no music and you’re telling me you want to dance?” She asks incredulously. I smile softly.
“Yep,” I say, copying her response from earlier.
“Okay the rest aside, we can't dance with no music Adrien!” Marinette exclaims exasperated.
“Alright, fine let’s put some music on then. Way to ruin the moment Marientte” I grumble as I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through to find a song for us to dance to. She giggles and waits patiently for me to find a song. I stumble across a waltz version of the song ‘So This Is Love’ from Cinderella and immediately click on it. The playful music begins to sound out in the otherwise quiet room. I hold out my hand to her for the third time that night.
“May I have this dance?” Her only response is gingerly placing her hand in mine. I pull her into me and smile gently. I lead us in our dance and we dance all around the room. We sway and move as we listen to the music. I relish the warmth I feel with her hand in mine. Slowly our fingers intertwine. All too soon the song comes to an end. We stop dancing but don’t move away from each other. I stare deeply into her bluebell eyes, they’re shining like the night sky. I can’t help but be drawn into them. I can feel my face moving closer and closer to hers. I want to be closer to her. I can see the same feeling in her eyes. She tilts her head up towards me as I inch closer. Just as I’m ready to close the distance between us the oven timer beeps loudly. We abruptly jump apart, startled by the sound.
Once we realized what the sound was we both looked at each other and began laughing. Soon we’re just left standing there smiling at each other. Until the timer beeps again. Marinette reacts quickly when she hears the timer beep for the second time. She quickly grabs the oven mitts and rushes to the oven. She pulls open the oven door and takes out the tray. After placing the chouquettes on a cooling rack she turns around to face me again.
“We almost let your first baked goods burn,” Marinette remarks humorously.
“That would have been a cat-astrophic,” I say as seriously as possible.
“You did not just make a terrible cat pun after… all that!” Marinette groans.
I smirk unashamed, “A cool cat has to do what a cool cat has to do.”
“Oh god… what did I get myself into?” Marinette mutters as she shakes her head.
“A lifetime of cool puns and cool cats,” I say as I jokingly wiggle my eyebrows. She
just sighs before going to check on the chouquettes.
“Great! They’re cool enough to eat now!” Marinette says joyously as she meets my gaze.
“Ready to eat chouquettes and talk until the sun comes up?” She asks with the warmest smile. I let out a little happy sigh as I take in the sight of everything I’ve ever wanted smiling at me. My eyes glisten as I smile fondly at her.
“Yeah, I really am.”