Marinette was stiff as a board. She couldn’t believe Adrien Agreste, teenage heartthrob, long time school crush was hugging her. Initially, her brain just could not comprehend the situation but after a few seconds her face warmed to a bright red and she could have sworn she would have floated up to the ceiling if it weren’t for his arms around her, keeping her anchored to the classroom floor. Her heart was thumping so hard against her rib cage and ear drums right now that she was positive he could feel it. She could die happily right now, which was the last thought she had because Adrien was actually hugging her.
Their embrace had been a full minute before the bell rang loudly in their ears, jolting them both. Both parties quickly detached, snapped out of the moment. The door opened up behind Adrien and students came pouring in for the next class. The pair looked at each other and both were equally red with blushing embarrassment. Adrien cleared his throat and raised his hand to scratch at the back of his head in an awkward fashion.
“We should probably go now..” He trailed off.
Marinette bobbed her head in agreement as she rushed out of the room after the blonde. The hallway was incredibly quiet. That was only natural, the bell had rung and class was in session which meant that these two were once again late. They both must have realized that because they each sighed heavily then looked at each other and laughed.
“We are late again.” He said with a half smile.
“Y-yeah.”
“Seems to be a never ending story with the two of us. I don’t think any of our teachers will be surprised. They’ve had years to get use to us, after all.” He laughed a bit and she giggled and nodded in agreement. He was so happy that he was talking to her, especially because no one else around to interrupt him. Though he worried how she was handling it in her head. Thinking about it now, he was stupid for hugging her the way he did. It just happened so fast, the urge to hold her, to feel her warmth. Despite how ridged he had felt her become, it made him think of letting her go but that thought last for a split second. Once he was pressed against her, he realized that he wanted to touch her even more. He didn’t care if it meant she was a tad bit uncomfortable. It was due to pure luck or shock that saved him from being pushed away immediately. He was happy to see that she didn’t seem to harbor any resentment from the hug.
‘I’m sure she just didn’t want to show fear in the situation. But then...that wouldn’t make sense. She made me a gift. People only give gifts to someone they like, right?’ He got a lot of fan mail because of his career, its because they liked him. Of course, he was never able to accept it. His father would never have allow it, seeing those wrapped gifts as potential threats. He never understood how a present could be a threat to his safety, it was just plain silly. His father was prone to overreacting since the passing of his mother and fan mail was such a small matter that Adrien had never bothered to argue. The point was that maybe, just maybe, Marinette liked him. He would have to consult Nino later.
“So what class do you have now?” He asked as he watched her bite her lovely pink petal lips and scrunched her face a bit, thinking for a moment.
‘Cute’
She really did look like a bunny with her nose wrinkled that was. The little bunny dug into her bag and pulled out her schedule sheet as Adrien came to stand beside her so he could have a look as well.
The little bunny stiffened at his closeness. He was about a foot taller than her and he was kind of hovering. It was the closeness that halted her. She was just a little shocked that he was so close that she could feel his sleeve brush her bare arm slightly and it left goosebumps in its wake. She shivered unexpectedly as a small change went through her body from that one action. It didn’t go unnoticed by Adrien, however and he frowned. She wasn’t looking at him, instead her eyes were on the paper in her hand that she was clutching a bit too tightly.
He was sad and a bit annoyed. She was doing so well just a few minutes before when he hugged her and she didn’t pull away, run away or hurt him like she’s doing to her class schedule at the moment. ‘Is she angry? Or is she even more afraid of me? Probably both.’ He couldn’t tell because he couldn’t see her big beautiful expressive eyes from his position so he put his hand over the one that was strangling the paper, the other on her cheek, which was baby soft and rubbed his thumb over it before guiding her face to his direction.
“Marinette? Are you ok? You’re shaking.” he asked as he continued to run his thumb over her cheek in an attempt to coax a reaction from her. She was indeed trembling. The bluenette looked like a deer caught in headlights. Oceanic blue eyes were wide and staring right into his grass colored orbs as if he were going to eat her.
‘Not a bad idea....’ Briefly alarmed at his own thought, he ignored it once again and stared back at her. All of a sudden, he saw her neck go red and her face slowly took on the same color. She was an angry color. ‘I guess I have my answer now…She’s definitely angry.’ he told himself as he frowned. Her expression never changed.
~Marinette~
Marinette had officially left the building, temporarily shorted out and unresponsive. She could see and hear everything that her classmate was saying but she just couldn’t respond. At first she just stopped to get her nerves under control when he came so close to her. She was shy for crying out loud! The hug alone still had her a bit frazzled and now he’s super close to her. She balled her fists and gave herself a quick mental reassuring pep talk. The moment she got her ready to open her mouth and respond was the moment she knew she doomed. Adrien was caressing her her cheek and and holding her hand! And that's when she completely short circuited.
Her entire body heated up in panic and she snatched her hand away from his, accidently dropping her paper and took four speedy steps backward. She could feel Adrian's eyes on her and it was only served to make her want to flee more. She was blushing madly with embarrassment and couldn’t pick her head up to face him so she stared at her shoes.
‘Oh gosh I am making a complete fool of myself! He must think I so weird right now.’ The poor bluenette looked up at the blonde and she looked like she wanted to say something. She opened her mouth to speak but once he took a step closer, Marinette turned on her heels quickly and fled the area. Leaving a very frustrated blonde behind, baffled.
~Time skip~
Marinette had ran fast and far. Clear to the other side of the building, not caring if she got in trouble. She was so upset and she berated herself during the entire run. Right now, she didn’t know what to do with herself so kept running until she heard her name being called.
“Marinette!”
She jolted to a stop and took in a deep breath of air as she hutched over with her hands on her knees. She put her hand on her chest, panting heavily as she tried to relax her over active lungs. She heard footsteps coming up towards her and a slight masculine chuckle. She looked up to see Nathaniel with his hand covering his mouth, most likely to hide the laughter but she could clearly see the amusement in his lovely seafoam eyes.
“Don’t slow down on account of me, speed demon. You may have broken the barrier between time and space if you kept going.” Marinette pouted at his lame joke and narrowed her eyes.
“Ha ha, Nathaniel.” She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
His cheeks warmed and he smiled at her despite the comment and bite to her tone. ‘She looks absolutely adorable when she’s angry. So cute and short.’ He thought to himself. He reached his hand out and she looked at him strangely, not sure what he was doing. Nathaniel rested his hand on her head and ruffled her hair.
“You’re so cute when you're mad.” He said, grinning widely at her. Marinette was annoyed. Well she wanted to be annoyed but that stupid happy grin on his face was making it hard to. She broke out in laughter and grabbed his hand, half trying to push it away.
“Stoooppp. You’re messing up my hair.” She giggled.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” He said back, instead of placing his hand at his side, he opted for helping her fix the mess he created. The redhead brought his other hand up to her head and worked it half way through her silky locks repeatedly until not a stand was out of place. He looked her over and smiled.
“There. Now you’re perfect.”
“Thanks, Nat.” She gazed up at him and returned his sweet smile.
“For what?” He asked
“For making me smile. I did something stupid earlier and I felt so mad at myself. You...made me feel better.” She said.
“You’re very welcome. Wait..did I just get a nickname?” He lifted a perfect red brow at her in question. Marinette shied away from the question by looking else where. Unfortunately, everywhere she looked, he moved his face into her line of sight, like a cat looking at a laser pen. He kept saying “Hmm?” with every head turn, It was so funny that she bursted in laughter.
“Yes, yes, you’ve got yourself a nickname.” She said in between laughing at him.
“Thank you for the nickname. I’ll consider it payment for making you laugh.” Nat gave a gentle smile. They both began to walk.
“So what are you doing running through the halls? Don’t you have class?”
“Crap…” Marinette squeaked and stopped walking. She opened her bag and dug through it, looking for her class schedule. ‘How could I forget?! Urgh, I am already late, I can’t cut class too. Jeez, you airhead Marinette.’ She thought as she grew more frantic looking for that paper.
“Oh where is it?” She huffed.
“What are you looking for?” He asked curiously.
“My schedule. I just had it when I was runni….crap!” She said a bit too loud.
“Nat, I have to go, ok? I lost my schedule. I’ll see you later. Text me?” She said as she fixed the damage she had caused to the contents inside her bag.
“You should go to the attendance office and have them print a new one for you, k? I would walk you there but I have to head to the guidance office to switch a class.” He was a bit sad, he did want to walk her but unfortunately the Attendance office was in the opposite direction of where he was headed and had spent more time than he should have just chatting with her.
“Thank you. I’m an idiot today. I was really going to go back to look for it. Your plan is easier. Bye Nat!” She was so happy that she didn’t have to head back to Adrien’s direction. She wasn’t ready to face him yet.
~Adrien~
Adrien was not happy when his bunny shot away from him. In fact, he was pissed. He didn’t know what he did to scare her away like that. She flew away like a bat out of hell. ‘Maybe she could read minds. I did think about eating her...’ He shook his head in disagreement. ‘Yeah, sure, like that would ever happen. Urgh but why the hell did she run?! I was being easy. I didn’t hug her again, all I did was stand next to her. Fuck! How am I supposed to get her to like me if she runs off like that?’ He was so mad right now, he wanted to find her and shake her. But that wouldn’t turn out good and he knew it. If he wants her to love him, he has to show a gentle side of him.
That's what cats did. They analyze their prey before they strike, quick and fast, leaving no option for escape. But he was an impatient soul, as cats generally are. They do as they damn well please and screw the consequences. ‘Urgh!’ he yelled mentally, running his hands through his hair in frustration. He was mad because he didn’t know what to do next.
“Hey, you ok, kid?” The little black Kwami whispered from inside his bag.
“Yeah..” Adrien said before pulling his lips into a straight line.
“So this Marinette girl, huh? What, Ladybug not enough for you any more?” Plagg teased.
Adrien shot Plagg a look of annoyance and rolled his eyes. He knew his Kwami was a cheeky little thing and he wasn’t in the mood for his games.
“That's enough Plagg or I’m limiting your cheese rations.”
“You wouldn’t.” The tiny black chat shot back.
“Try me.” Green eyes met each other and glared at one another for a moment before the little creature yielded.
“Fine. I’m going back to sleep. You can figure out your own girl problems.” he said as he popped his head back into the opening of the bag but not before sticking his tongue out at his wielder.
Adrien was thankful for the reprieve. He didn’t want Plagg teasing him about feelings that he wasn’t even sure of. He didn’t even fully know what to make of them… yet. All he knew was that he carried something for that shy bunny with the big blue eyes. He wanted her in a way that he wanted Ladybug bug just not to this degree. He needed her in a way that plagued his mind. It was such a foreign feeling. He shook away those thoughts. He had to focus. He replayed the images of him and Marinette, trying to find out what he did wrong but to no avail. He still had no clue.
‘Women are so complicated.’ He thought to himself as he began to walk to his second class only to hear a crunching sound. He had stepped on something. Looking down, he noted the crumbled piece of paper on the floor and went to kick it but stopped just as he was about to swing his foot. Adrien picked it up and straightened it out then began scanning the paper.
“This is…” ‘Marinette’s schedule.’
A wicked smirk played on his lips. He now knew exactly what he was going to do next.
“I think I’ll go have a chat with the Guidance Counselor.”