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Kiss The Girl

Summary:

Adrien Agreste has an absolutely devastating crush on one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a devoted best friend who ships it almost as hard as Adrien himself, and a birthday just around the corner. To honor the occasion (and to Adrien’s abject horror), Nino has decided to recruit all the boys in their class for some convoluted plan for the school carnival, meant to result in Adrien getting the first kiss he’s dreamed of for months. Unfortunately, the only thing that Adrien has managed to take away from their meeting is that someone else is ALSO interested in Marinette. Now he’s frantic to keep this unknown party from making a move, terrified to make his own, and oh my god how many boys does she EVEN KNOW

He’d better keep an eye on things and stick close to her. It’s cool. He’ll be FINE.

Notes:

Oh my GOD everything is unbelievable and we’re on roughly the twentieth historical event of this YEAR, who needs some fluff?

This story I actually started a year (or two?) ago, and then life lifed for a while 🤪 I’m excited to have finally picked it back up again, here’s hoping I can finish it before my next term starts in the fall and I’m back in school/work/parent mode full-time again, haha!

Anyway please enjoy the children being lovable idiots

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Yes, you want her—look at her, you know you do

Chapter Text

If you were to ask Adrien Agreste what the best thing was about his best friend Nino Lahiffe, the answer would be immediate; Nino would do anything, anything for the people he loved. He was one of the most loyal, caring people that Adrien had ever met, and Nino had his friends’ backs in a way that Adrien had never experienced until they had met three years ago. 

 

Unfortunately, ever since Nino had discovered Adrien’s debilitating crush on one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the best thing about Nino had also become the worst thing. Especially as Adrien’s birthday loomed at the end of the current week. Nino had become a man possessed, driven by a single goal; to help his best friend get a birthday kiss from Marinette. 

 

This was how Adrien had found himself ambushed by every boy in his class during lunch period, dragged to an empty classroom and sitting in mute horror as Nino laid out the what appeared to be the most convoluted plan ever conceived. He was unable to absorb a word, though, encompassed as he was by a thick layer of humiliation. “Nino,” he begged, but nobody seemed to hear. 

 

“Alright!!” His friend’s golden eyes were bright and excited beneath the brim of his baseball cap as he ignored his friend’s plaintive whimpering. “Everyone clear on what we’re doing?”

 

Adrien groaned into his hands as he heard murmurs of assent from every side. “Guys, please—“

 

“Awesome! Make sure you get your stuff ready tonight! We’ll meet here again after the school carnival tomorrow afternoon.” Nino clapped his hands together brusquely and at this dismissal the room emptied, leaving the two  boys alone with Adrien’s keening whine that slowly filled the room. Nino laughed and clapped him firmly on the shoulder. “Dude, calm down. This is gonna work, I promise.”

 

“Nino. Why.” His voice was muffled by his palms as he covered his face until his cheeks stopped burning. “Is all this really necessary? Can’t I just wait until I’m ready and—“

 

“Remind me,” Nino cut him off cheerfully as he began to carefully sort and file away his notes and visual aids. “How long have you had a crush on her?” He allowed Adrien a moment to grumble unintelligibly into his fingers before moving on, undeterred. “Ya-huh. And how much longer do you think, if you had to guess, the girl of your dreams will be available? I mean god knows every boy in our class had or has a crush on Marinette at some point. And not just our class, actually, and not just the guys, either—“ But he paused as Adrien’s head snapped up, a look of strained incredulity splashed across his features. 

 

“I—“ Adrien swallowed audibly, searching Nino’s face for any trace of deception as he desperately tried to squash the jealousy that suddenly swelled within him. “You-you think…s-someone else likes her? W-who? Who else?”

 

His best friend simply shot him a pitying look as he zipped his backpack with the air of someone who’d just won an argument and sauntered out of the room. 

 

“Nino, hey,” Adrien called, leaping to his feet and stretching out a hand as though he could still Nino’s feet via telekinesis. Miraculously, his friend paused in the doorway, arching one eyebrow as he glanced over his shoulder. “Please, you know how oblivious I am about these things. Who else likes Mari? Are they—does she—?” His hands flailed uselessly in front of his body as he tried desperately to figure out what he was even trying to ask.

 

The stare that Nino leveled at him from over the rims of his spectacles made the tips of Adrien’s ears burn. “Man, you are oblivious if you really don’t know.” He sighed and pursed his lips, hiking his backpack a little higher on his shoulder as gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. “It’s not really my place to name names, but I can tell you that I know for sure about three people with major crushes right now, and I have my suspicions about a couple more. She hasn’t said anything to me, but Alya says Mari’s shown interest in one or two of them. And,” he added as he finally pushed through the classroom door, “I can also tell you that if you don’t make your move soon, one of the others will. In fact I guarantee it. I’m pretty sure not everyone joined this project with altruistic intentions.” And with a cheeky wave, Nino was gone, leaving Adrien rooted to the floor, an unfamiliar roiling sensation like a thousand angry snakes filling his abdomen at this new information.  

 

All this time that he’d been trying to work up the courage to talk to Marinette, it had somehow never occurred to him that someone else might be doing the same thing…or that he might run out of time. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as his mind raced furiously, trying to compile the name of every boy he’d ever seen her talk to. 

 

Once the number had climbed above the twenties he gave up, feeling sick. He was an idiot. Of course there were other people interested in his princess. The side of her he’d gotten to know as Chat Noir was the Marinette that everyone else had known for years. She was unwaveringly kind, achingly beautiful, but also funny and talented and sarcastic and incredibly smart, and so brave he worried it would get her into trouble one day. It was impossible not to fall in love with her. 

 

It only seemed to be around Adrien that she shrank into herself, blushing and stammering and devoid of any self-confidence. True, it was adorable, but it also made it terrifying to ask her out. He had managed to build a real friendship with her over the years, even if she was still a little nervous around him, and he couldn’t bear the thought of scaring her off and losing her friendship. He needed her in his life, one way or another. 

 

Nino’s plan be damned. He’d have to stick close to her at the carnival tomorrow, Adrien decided, especially if there was a chance that some of the other boys were after her too. That was the best way to size up the competition, and maybe get a sense of what his own chances were. Nodding determinedly, he shouldered his own school bag and headed for his next class, trying desperately to ignore the way his innards continued to writhe.

 

———————————-

 

The morning of the school carnival brought with it the first real heat of summer, which was normally something in which Adrien relished. His miraculous had bestowed upon him a few feline characteristics that lingered outside his transformation, one of which was a real penchant for finding a warm spot and flopping bonelessly into it until movement became absolutely necessary. 

 

Today, however, he was pretty sure it was going to kill him. 

 

Marinette was wearing shorts. 

 

Not only that, she was wearing his colors. His Chat Noir colors. She had shown up to school in a black halter top fastened around her neck with green ribbons and matching green shorts with a black paw print stamped on one of the back pockets. Her hair was swept up into a high ponytail to keep it from clinging to her neck, she wore black kitten heels that made her long legs look even longer, and Adrien had choked on air the moment she’d sauntered into the classroom that morning, arm in arm with Alya. 

 

He hadn’t heard a word the teacher had said the entire day. It was all he could do not to turn in his seat and openly gawk at her. Every time he’d had to talk to her he’d flubbed his words or fumbled whatever he was holding, and by the time the end-of-day bell rang he was pretty sure his face would never return to its original color. Marinette seemed to take pity on him, at least, seeming more concerned than amused by his antics. 

 

She probably thinks I’m having some sort of nervous breakdown, Adrien thought bitterly to himself as he raced to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face, frantically attempting to ground himself and cool the burning in his cheeks. Not that she’d be wrong. He’d barely slept last night for stewing over Nino’s warning, his mind chasing itself in circles as he tried to figure out who else was interested in his Mari. 

 

NO, he chastised himself firmly, glowering at his damp reflection in the filthy mirror. Not your Mari. She’s not yours yet, Agreste! But no matter how many times he told himself that, he couldn’t deny that the sick, hot, squirming sensation in his gut was jealousy, more powerful and intense than he had ever felt before. 

 

Adrien met his own eyes in the mirror, trying not to wince at how haggard he looked. “Kid,” Plagg muttered from his shirt pocket, “You’re overthinking this. The carnival started like twenty minutes ago, why don’t you—“ 

 

The kwami was cut off by a gasp as his chosen looked at his watch, and trailed off into a pained groan as Adrien bolted from the boy’s room, slamming into the doorframe in his haste. Twenty minutes!! Who knew what could have happened while he was trying to collect himself?! Find her find her find her, his mind shrieked on repeat as he bolted for the doors. 

 

Despite the racket of music, chatter, games and the screams of those who’d braved the scarier rides, somehow the sound of the school doors flying open managed to echo throughout the school grounds. The resounding crash lingered for several seconds, the air positively vibrating with the noise. All eyes flew to him and Adrien felt the blush he’d been trying stave off explode across his face once more, heat spreading all the way down to his chest as he stood frozen with his arms outstretched to either side as though he were about to take flight. 

 

“Ahhhh….” His mouth twisted into an attempt at a toothy grin which felt more like a grimace of pain. “…l-let’s party?”

 

A chorus of nervous chuckles broke out, slowly warming into a wave of genuine laughter and applause, and Adrien sighed in relief as the spectators appeared to lose interest in him.  He took a moment to lean heavily against the door frame, willing his heart rate to slow, but instead the organ in question leapt into his throat as a hand landed on his shoulder and a yelp escaped him before he could stop himself. 

 

There was an answering squeak and he whirled to find Marinette standing behind him, her ocean eyes wide as she jerked her hand away as though he’d shocked her, waving her other hand frantically. “Adrien I-I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to scare you, I just, you seemed a little off and I thought maybe wrong—I mean that something was wrong, and maybe you were going to miss the carnival and were—but you’re here, aren’t you? Do, are you going to the carnival? With us? Or do you have—gah, I’m sorry, I’m not making any sense, should I just go? “

 

“YES!” Adrien practically screamed, then as her expression fell his flailing brain caught up with the rest of what she’d said and he had to refrain from facepalming hard enough to leave a mark. “I, sorry Mari, I meant yes I’m going to the carnival! W-With you! If that’s okay, I—“ He sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck, tossing her a sheepish grin as he attempted to collect himself. “No, please don’t go. I was hoping to be able to enjoy it with you.” 

 

Her cheeks pinkened prettily, no doubt matching his own, and her lips curved into a shy smile. “Oh-okay. Ah, well good, then I’m glad I found you. Alya and Nino are in line for the Ferris wheel if you want to join them! I have a few check-ins to do before I’m free, but I can catch up with you guys after?”

 

Adrien returned her smile, gazing at her fondly as he thought about how hard she had worked over the last month to help organize the carnival. More than once she’d fallen dead asleep on his shoulder during his nighttime visits to her balcony, too exhausted to keep her eyes open for another second. He’d come to selfishly enjoy those accidental naps, reasoning to himself that it would be cruel to wake her up while indulging his desire to loop an arm securely around her (so she wouldn’t slip off the smooth material of his suit, of course) and bury his nose in her hair. Marinette smelled like peaches and cinnamon and baked goods and home and he wanted to hold her like that every day for the rest of his life, and—

 

—shit. She was looking at him expectantly, a small crease forming between her brows. She had definitely asked him a question that he had completely ignored in favor of floating in the pink fog of happy daydreams. Adrien shook himself sternly and chuckled in embarrassment. “Ah…I’m sorry, Mari, I zoned out for a second there. What was that?”

 

Her face softened into a smile again, eyes crinkling at the corners, and it was all he could do not to lunge across the space between them and kiss her. “Don’t worry about it, I do that all the time. I just asked if you know where you’re heading or if you need directions?”

 

“O-oh! I—“ A sudden flash of inspiration caused Adrien to brighten and clap his hands together. “Actually! Do you think I could just tag along with you?”

 

Marinette’s smile slowly shifted to confusion. “W-with me? Why wouldn’t—“

 

“Well I mean,” he blurted, slightly panicked at how put off she looked at the suggestion, “I’ve never been to a carnival before and I don’t even know what there usually is to even do at one and I thought that maybe if, if I followed you, since you practically planned the whole affair and know everything about it I’d have some idea what was going on, and Nino wouldn’t spend the whole time teasing me about how sheltered I am, and you know what never mind it was a stupid idea, is that big round one the Ferris wheel? I’ll just—“ Adrien turned, face flaming, but froze when he felt her hand on his shoulder again and realized she had stepped closer to him. He could feel the heat of her body inches from his and his skin prickled as though trying to reach out to her. 

 

God, he wanted to touch her without his gloves. 

 

Adrien,” she giggled, and his heart flipped at the sound as he turned cautiously to look at her. Her cheeks were flushed again but she looked more flattered than embarrassed, and her eyes twinkled as she laughed. “Hang on. I didn’t say it was a bad idea. I-I just thought it might be a little boring for you, following me around, but you’re welcome to join me if you want. I’ll be as quick as I can and then we can go have fun. Sound good?”

 

He nodded eagerly and Marinette grinned at him, looking (for the first time he could remember) comfortable around his civilian self. She spun on her heel and started towards the crowd, beckoning over her shoulder as she chirped “Alright, let’s get moving! The sooner we finish, the sooner we’re free to play.” 

 

And he was helpless to do anything but follow, a dopey grin spreading over his face as he hurried to catch up. 

Notes:

This is a foolproof plan