Sixty Beats Per Minute

Chapter 3

Marinette's ever swirling thoughts were interrupted when Alya nudged her with her elbow, causing her attention to shift from Adrien to her best friend.

Alya pointed near the front of the room, "Let's go stand by Nino over there"

Marinette nodded and followed Alya through the crowd, squeezing through a number of people until they reached Nino.

"Hey dudes," Nino greeted.

Alya returned the greeting, but Marinette's attention had been super glued to the pianist. Her heart pounded roughly against her chest while a small heat crept its way onto her cheeks as she watched him.

Nino looked at Marinette and pointed onstage, "That's Adrien by the way. You can meet him after his performance"

Marinette ignored him. She knew this was Adrien. Alya had already told her before they arrived. She already knew him, but she had no idea he was the friend they were talking about, much less the performer they would be watching tonight.

The moment she saw him, she began to get a strange yet comforting feeling in her chest and a ticklish feeling in her stomach. Marinette placed her hands over her pounding heart and a small smile formed on her lips as she watched the performance in awe.

Onstage, Adrien had stopped playing, and the audience exploded into applause. He smiled, not looking up from the instrument. That was only his warmup. Wait until they hear the actual pieces he prepared for tonight.

Adrien froze when he felt his heart beating roughly against his ribcage. His hands tensed up as they hovered just above the keys. Why is he suddenly getting this... Indescribable feeling? And why now of all times? He was in the middle of a performance for crying out loud! As a matter of fact, he hasn't even started!

Adrien tried his best to ignore this sudden feeling. He retracted his hands and formed a tight fist for a few seconds before stretching his fingers outwards for the same amount of time. Relaxing his fingers back onto the keys, he took a breath and began playing his first piece.

Though his fingers were relaxed now, he still felt the unusual feeling in his chest. It was a feeling he has never felt before. But he couldn't think about it right now, he had to finish up his performance. For now, he had to try his best to ignore it and keep going.

It wasn't a bad feeling. It wasn't a bad one at all. In fact, it was oddly comforting. Adrien couldn't help but smile as he continued on with the piece. Why did he smile all of a sudden? He wasn't sure. He just felt it was right.

~•~

When Adrien was done with his performance, the blond pianist stood up, faced the audience, and bowed. The crowd cheered and clapped as he straightened and shot them a smile. He scanned the room, and his eyes landed on Alya and Nino. But those two weren't what caught his attention.

Right there, standing next to them, was the bluenette from the grocery store. Their paths had crossed yet again, but he wasn't complaining. Her sapphire eyes stared back at him, applauding him with a smile spread out on her lips. That strange feeling that he felt onstage came back the moment his eyes landed on her. Only this time, it was much stronger than before. Too compelling to ignore.

At this point, all the noisy cheering from the audience had been completely drowned out. It was all nothing but background music now. It was like he had been submerged underwater and couldn't hear anything. All of his attention was focused on that girl. He couldn't stop staring at her. And it wasn't one of those awkward staring moments where you accidentally lock eyes with a stranger. Rather, it felt rather comfortable. It felt natural.

Adrien and Marinette both grew calm and relaxed as their eyes locked onto one another. No nerves, no tenseness, nothing but relaxation. It was as if they were floating. Like they could stand there all day looking at each other. Like they were frozen in time together. Adrien's smile only grew wider the longer his verdant eyes locked onto her.

But their moment was cut-off when a hand landed on Adrien's shoulder. He instantly snapped back to reality and looked at the man who brought him back. It was then that he realized the applause had died down; two minutes ago apparently. The room had fallen into dead silence now, and all eyes were still on him. Heat rose to Adrien's cheeks from embarrassment. He hoped his cheeks weren't a noticeable shade of red.

The man who interrupted his thoughts cleared his throat.

"Thank you for that amazing performance, Monsieur Agreste"

Adrien cracked a smile and shook hands with the man. The musician walked offstage, and the crowd continued on with their day as hundreds of drowned out conversations slowly came back to life like before, crescendoing little by little.

Adrien made his way to his friends, and Nino immediately held his hand up for a high five, which Adrien returned.

"You did amazing!" Alya exclaimed and pulled him in for a quick hug.

Marinette watched nervously in the back, not knowing what to say to him. All she could do for now was keep smiling.

Adrien's attention went from Alya and Nino to Marinette. Noticing how he was now looking at her, the bluenette shot her eyes down in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact. Why was she suddenly so nervous when not too long ago, they were comfortably staring at each other? Was it because she realized how attractive he is?

Upon seeing her, Adrien squeezed past Alya and Nino to get to her. The couple behind him stayed silent as he stopped directly in front of the bluenette.

"Hello," Adrien greeted.

Marinette slowly looked up from the floor until she was met face-to-face with those shining viridescent orbs of his.

"H-hi," she greeted nervously.

"I'm Adrien," Adrien said, "I believe we've met before. What's your name?"

"Marinette," the bluenette replied.

Adrien gave her a soft smile as he leaned down to her height. Marinette nervously glanced over his shoulder at Alya, who gave her a nod. Marinette's eyes returned to Adrien, and she stood up on her tippy toes to reach his face. The two of them briefly exchanged a pair of kisses on both of their cheeks.

"Nice to meet you, Marinette," Adrien said.

"N-nice to meet you... Too," Marinette tried her best to smile.

"Sorry, I think I need to go," Marinette said quickly, "I'll... I'll see you around then"

Alya blinked, "Marinette, wait一"

Before Alya could finish, Marinette turned around and disappeared into the crowd.