After their moment, Adrien helped Marinette to her feet and together decided to head inside to get out of the cold air and chat. Her room was nice and homely, the perfect vibe that matched with Marinette. Adrien felt his arms shiver and wrapped his arms around his chest. How long had he been outside? Marinette must have been feeling as cold as he was because Adrien watched as she yanked the comforter off her bed and sat down beside him on the chase, making sure to wrap it around them both. The room settled into an awkward silence. Why was this so awkward!? They had literally just shared a kiss on the balcony, so they should be able to handle sitting side by side. Marinette cleared her throat as she turned toward him and then laid her head on his shoulder, pulling the blanket tighter over herself. Okay, maybe she was comfortable with him. It wasn't like he was uncomfortable with her, he just didn't want to screw his chances with her.
"Are you okay that it was me behind the mask?" She asked her voice soft. With her having made the first move in this moment, Adrien relaxed and laid his cheek against the top of her head as he formulated his reply.
"I mean yeah. That's why I rushed over as soon as I saw the video. It turns out that the girl I have a crush on is also one of my best friends. Who I may or may not have been developing a crush on as well." His hand brushed across her back before grabbing onto her waist as he spoke. With a light tug, he pulled her closer, causing her to shift against him. The silence fell again briefly, before Adrien spoke up again. "Are you okay with me also being Chat Noir?" She took a moment to respond, his anxiety very slowly starting to build the longer it took for her to state her reply. He sat up to look at her. She must have noticed that he was getting anxious because she raised her head to look at him too. For a moment, their eyes met, but Marinette broke their gaze and laid her head back down on his shoulder. That was a good sign, right? Naturally, Adrien rested his cheek on the top of her head again as she let out a thoughtful sigh.
"It'll take some getting used to. That's for sure, but yeah. I'm totally okay with this." Mari said finally as she snuggled up against him. Adrien felt a huge wave of relief pass over him. He had a chance. At least he thought he did anyway.
"If I asked you to be my girlfriend, would you?" The words slipped through his mouth without a thought. Yet, somehow he didn't freak out about it, he remained oddly calm. Confidence maybe? They had kissed already, so was it really too absurd to ask that question? Marinette remained silent, but Adrien was willing to wait for the answer. She didn't need to answer it right away, besides he was satisfied with how things were right now. The room was comfortingly quiet, excluding their breathing. It was so peaceful, that Adrien was sure he would end up falling asleep and before he knew it, he realized that Marinette had already fallen asleep. If he didn't leave soon, the sun would come up before he got home, and his father would be furious. Since Mari was asleep and he knew he would see her later at school, Adrien picked her up in his arms and carried her over to her bed. After making sure to tuck her in, Adrien transformed and made the trek home. By morning, he had hardly gotten a wink of shut eye, but nonetheless rolled out of bed with an anticipation to see Marinette at school. When his bodyguard finally pulled up in front of the school, Adrien made a mad dash inside in search of his princess. It took him a minute, but he at least located Alya and Nino.
"Hey guys!" Adrien called out as he jogged over to them.
"Hey dude." Nino replied delightfully surprised.
"Is Marinette here yet?" Adrien questioned, adjusting the strap on his bag.
"I don't know. She's usually late." Nino responded with a curious look on his face as he took Alya's hand.
"Why? What do you need?" Alya chimed in.
"We just have something to discuss. It's important." He wasn't sure if that was the answer he should have given, but he had to be weary of Alya's reporting, and he was pretty sure Marinette wouldn't want this to get out to their friends. At least not yet. When the bell rang, the three students made their way to the classroom. Everyone was accounted for, except Marinette.
"Has anyone seen Marinette?" Miss. Bustier asked. Adrien piped up.
"I saw her last night, but I haven't seen her yet this morning. I was hoping to talk to her." Was that too much information? The class basically became very immature when their brains registered Adrien's first sentence.
"Ooo...Adrien, is there something you're not telling us?" Of course, it was Alya that started the accusations.
"No. Get your head out of the gutter Alya." Adrien really didn't want to deal with this right now. Sometimes people just have the dirtiest minds.
"Quiet down now class. I'm sure Marinette will be her shortly." Thankfully, Miss. Bustier put an end to the conversation there. Adrien set his hand back down on his desk, his mind still worrying about Mari. Another minute or two went by, though for Adrien it felt like an eternity, before Marinette finally appeared in the doorway. Adrien immediately perked up at the sight of her. However, Adrien knew better than to jump out of his seat and make a loud noise. If he did, Marinette was sure to get into trouble for being late. Unfortunately, some of their classmates didn't care.
"Marinette!? Is it true that you spent last night with Adrien!?" To everyone's surprise it was Rose that had blurted. Marinette shot Adrien a stern look and all he could do was groan and drop his head onto his desk. The class then started to laugh, and the boy knew that they were all starting to get suspicious.
"Nothing happened!" To Adrien's surprise, he and Marinette had spoken in unison. Sadly, that just made everything worse. Every time Adrien or Marinette tried to defend themselves, the class only became more suspicious. There was going to be no end to this one. After another reminder from Miss. Bustier to settle down, Marinette took her seat beside Alya.
"Alya I could've used your help there." Adrien heard Marinette grumble to her best friend. He was invested in this convo now.
"I'll help you, if you give me all the deetz later." Alya was sly.
"Nothing happened!" Marinette squeaked just loud enough for the class to hear.
"Marinette, please. I don't know what happened between you and Adrien, but please keep it down." Miss. Bustier was starting to get a bit upset now that the class was consistently off track. Adrien couldn't take this anymore. Composing himself, Adrien pushed through the rest of class. As the bell rang, the rest of the class began to file out. Of course, not without sneaking smirks and awkward glances toward him and Marinette.
"I'll catch up with you later." Alya said to Marinette as she slung her bag over her arm before taking Nino's hand and exiting the room with him. Then it was only Adrien and Marinette left in the room.
"Adrien? Marinette? May I ask what is going on? It seems that you two have been quite distracted this morning." Miss. Bustier caught the pair of guard as they cleaned up their belongings. Adrien looked up in surprise. The teacher was calling him out? Adrien just turned his head to Marinette, who in turn gave him a similar expression to his own.
"I promise nothing happened. Marinette was having some issues yesterday after the akuma fight and I took her home. I stayed late when her parents invited me to have dinner." Thank goodness, for that alibi. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Miss. Bustier just gave them an understanding nod before dismissing them. Adrien waited for Marinette and together they walked out the door. Luckily, no one was around, giving the two of them some space to talk.
"When did you leave last night?" Mari asked suddenly as they strolled through the halls. It caught Adrien off guard, but nonetheless he was glad they were talking.
"Probably around 3 or 4 in the morning. You fell asleep on my arm at about 2:30. Let's just say it was difficult for me to leave."
"Why am I cute?"
"Well, now that you mention it." Adrien smiled to himself, it was so much more freeing to pull out his Chat Noir personality around her. On top of that he was so much more comfortable around her. He knew that his flirtatious antics had made an impact when she body slammed into his arm. They both just laughed as they reached the stairs descending in perfect harmony. There was still a few minutes left before class, so together they went to the locker room to exchange their books for the next class. Adrien waited beside Mari as she dug through her books, unsure where to take the conversation next. "So, uh, you never answered my question last night." Why did he bring that up!? This wasn't going to end well was it!? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Adrien thought as he smacked his wrist into his forehead every time he thought the word. When he saw Mari begin to turn toward him, he straightened up and leaned on the locker with one arm, trying to seem cool and confident. Though he was sure she could see right through the façade. Hopefully, he could salvage this.