"Good morning!" Marinette greeted Adrien the next day. She was a bit confused finding him in the kitchenette.
"Morning, Mari!" he smiled in reply. "Did you sleep well?"
"Surprisingly well, considering the evening!" she laughed. "What are you doing here?"
"Breakfast?" he winked at her. "Please, don't tell me you're surprised I can cook..."
"Of course not..." she muttered, trying to hide confusion.
Adrien glanced at her, amused. Yet, he didn't comment her astonishment but said in an indifferent tone:
"I've heard that you served breakfast recently. I thought it would be nice to prepare one for you. Especially, when you've been through so much..."
Marinette smiled evasively, still wondering why he'd changed so suddenly. She didn't care about discovering he could cook, but about his talkative nature that didn't fit to the nowadays-Adrien. Rather to the old-time-Adrien. "Old-time" – that was a key to solve this puzzle. Adrien began to behave like his teenage version.
"So, what are you cooking?" she asked, sitting down at the countertop.
"Pancakes."
"Uhm, Adrien? They don't look like crepes..." she noticed, glancing at the pan on the oven.
"Because they're American pancakes, not ours."
"You're sure you want to serve something like that in France?" she joked.
"You'll change your mind when you taste it. When I was in New York I lost my head for them. I went directly to the chef in the hotel and begged him to teach me how to cook it."
"You've been in New York?" she asked in astonishment.
"Two years ago, I guess... After lycée my father sent me there because of his plans of conquering the fashion world in the States." Adrien admitted and winced unknowingly.
"But..." she murmured not understanding.
"When I came back I told my father that I quit. I left it all..." he explained staring at the pan. "Besides... Not only modelling..." he added under his breath and winced again.
At that moment Marinette realised that his grimace was quite similar to hers whenever someone mentioned Luka. And to Cat Noir's when he had been talking about his ex-girlfriend. Could it mean that Adrien was thinking about Kagami right now? Did it mean that he'd dumped her right after coming back from New York? Why?
"I suppose your father wasn't happy?"
"He was furious." Adrien admitted and turned over pancakes on the pan.
"Because you quit? Or because you came back with a new habit of eating American pancakes instead of our French crepes?" she joked, and he laughed.
"Yeah! It was all about pancakes!" he commented ironically.
Marinette burst out laughing and Adrien glanced at her sideways. He smiled warmly and instantly focused on cooking again. After a while he put a plate with pancakes in front of the girl.
"Do you want maple syrup?" he asked.
"Stop teasing my French soul..." she muttered, but he only chuckled in respond.
"Your French soul will be delighted." he assured her. "Or at least your French palate... Fine. Without topping they're delicious too."
"You're not too humble, aren't you?"
"I'm just certain about the quality of the meal. Try it and then tell me where I'm wrong." He looked at her provocatively, and she raised her eyebrow ironically.
"Fine. Challenge accepted..." she said finally. Hearing that Adrien crossed his arms on his chest and stared at her impatiently, observing her trying the pancakes.
Marinette did her best to chew the first morsel as long as she could – only to postpone the moment when she had to agree with him. In the end she couldn't stand his gaze anymore, so she muttered:
"They're delicious, indeed..."
"I told you so!" he smiled triumphantly then turned back to the oven to continue cooking.
"But not enough to betray our French ones." She added in a teasing tone. "It's obvious you haven't tried my crepes yet..."
"If I try, I'll believe." he joined her game.
"You'll beg for mercy..."
Adrien laughed.
"So it looks like tomorrow breakfast is on you." he said, glancing at her.
"Deal." she nodded and continued eating.
After a while Adrien put another plate with pancakes on the countertop, but she protested:
"Eat something, please. It's not fair that only me will be fat..."
He chuckled, then he leaned over the plate, basing on his elbows. He began eating still staring at the girl, but she was focused on her breakfast, so she didn't notice a warm smile on his face. Meanwhile Adrien shoved a stool closer and sat vis-à-vis Marinette.
For a longer while they were eating in a perfect silence, and probably only because of that they heard a muffled noise in Alya and Nino's bedroom. They both looked up and their eyes met for a moment.
"What was that?" Marinette asked breathless, surprised with the fact they were so close to each other.
"I bet Alya was watching us and Nino interrupted her." he replied amused that made his eyes sparkle. As if the old Adrien came back. The one she remembered from the school.
"She's getting more and more unbearable..." she muttered. "I think I should talk to her before my life turns into a nightmare..."
"Why?"
"She's so interested in my life... The more, she started spreading some rumours..."
Adrien looked at her sideways, then he asked in hoarse voice:
"Uhm... What was the case with Cat Noir?"
This time Marinette blushed terribly.
"Oh, it's silly thing..."
"Silly?" he spotted.
"Er... 'Silly' is a wrong word... But it really turned out a bit insane... And Alya jumped directly to conclusions. Hasty conclusions! Because... I don't know if you remember..." she hesitated. "Er... The first evening when Cat Noir brought me here, Alya was joking all the time that I should date him. And the rest..."
"Yeah, I remember..." Adrien muttered, but couldn't help smiling when he recalled the part about kittens.
"So... It turns out..." Marinette hesitated again and glanced at him unsure. Yet, what was wrong in telling him about that? She looked over her shoulder at the door to Alya's room, then she leaned closer to Adrien and whispered: "Cat Noir visits me sometimes here. Please, don't tell anyone, OK? Especially Alya!"
"I've thought she's your best friend and you don't have secrets between each other..." Adrien murmured, trying to calm down after that confession. It wasn't easy when he heard his heart beating in his ears.
"We don't. Usually..."
"So, why won't you tell her?" he asked trying to sound like he wasn't interested in it at all, while he was dying to know.
"She didn't tell me either about Nino before he confessed to her." She blurted out irritably.
Hearing that Adrien flushed instantly and dropped the fork he'd been holding. He was staring at her in shock, speechless. She realised immediately how he could interpret her words.
"Nothing of the kind!" she hissed.
"If you say so..." he whispered with a smile that he couldn't hide. Suddenly he felt so happy as he hadn't been since forever. Marinette's behaviour gave him a hint of hope that she felt something more than just liking to him. Or rather to Cat Noir...
"You too?" she winced. "I have fantastic friends, indeed..." she commented wryly.
Irritated, she stood up and murmuring "Thanks for breakfast!" she turned away to leave. Adrien grabbed her hand instinctively, almost falling down from his stool.
"I apologise, Mari..." he whispered. "You can always count on me whenever you need... uhm... support..." he added and smiled warmly with those green sparkles in his eyes.
Marinette looked at him carefully, not knowing how she should understand what he'd just said, nor his smile and hesitation. Something was hidden beneath them, but she didn't know the answer for this puzzle.
"Thanks, Adrien..." she nodded finally, giving him a sign she accepted his apologies. "For breakfast too... Tomorrow you'll try my crepes and you'll give up your silly American habits... Now, would you excuse me? I'll be late for my classes."
Saying that, she almost ran away to her bedroom. She didn't look back, so she couldn't see that Adrien observed her with a grin on his face until she disappeared in her room. As soon as she felt safe, she leaned against the door and sighed frustrated. She glanced nervously at the window, like she was expecting Cat Noir there – he loved catching her in the worst moments. But no. This time he didn't show up. She wasn't sure if she felt relief or disappointment...