Chapter Text
Chapter 3: Love's a Walk in the Park
Marinette screeched and slipped backwards, her body hurtling towards the floor, but Adrien caught her. She blushed a deep crimson and quickly straightened up, turning to face Mme. Lesage, the school nurse, who looked incredibly unimpressed with the whole scene. Marinette's stomach flipped.
I almost kissed Adrien. And she saw it… OH NO, Adrien!
She glanced over her shoulder, mortified, and saw that Adrien was… blushing? He was almost as red as she was! What-
"Miss Cheng, did either of you need something?" Her thin lips were drawn into an even thinner grimace, and her eyebrow was slightly raised.
"N-No-" Marinette began to stutter, but Adrien interrupted her.
"She was acting really weird and I thought maybe she was sick, or had heat stroke or something. She was very red…"
As if on cue, Marinette blushed again. "Well, I-"
Madame Lesage rolled her eyes at Adrien and sighed.
"Mister Agreste," She began, brushing the wisps of hair that had fallen out of her auburn bun away from her face. She gave a slight smile. "While it was certainly kind and noble of you to escort Miss Dupain-Cheng, she does not appear to be ill in the physical sense. Nor is she displaying any visible signs of heat stroke, which is not surprising considering that it is only 68 degrees outside. If you wanted to spend some time alone with her, I'm sure you needed only to ask. It appears," she continued with a twinkle in her eye, "that she would certainly not be opposed."
Adrien stood there, his mouth open and his eyes wide. He made no sound. Marinette swore she could feel her soul leaving her body…
"Nevertheless," Mme. Lesage continued, "As both of you are missing school work at this moment I suggest that you get to class. Is that understood?" She raised a stern eyebrow.
"Y-yes," Marinette breathed.
"Understood, Madame," Adrien murmured. He blushed and wouldn't meet Marinette's eyes. She didn't know whether to cry or feel grateful.
The pair of them turned and began walking back down the hall. Behind them Marinette heard Mme. Lesage's door close once more. She felt it like a pang in her stomach.
Oh no, how am I ever going to face him again, I've messed up everything, absolutely everything and I'll never have another chance and Alya was wrong, he's going to hate me and I really will have to move out of Paris except I can't because I have to be Ladybug and Papa and Maman have the bakery and oh god I just have to get over this-
"M-Marinette?"
She glanced up in shock. This time it was Adrien who was stuttering. He quickly looked away, a slight blush tinging his cheeks.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Marinette whispered, not knowing what to say. Here comes the part where he tells me we can't be friends anymore…
"Um, I- I have a photo shoot after school but after that I'm free. Do you want to maybe… talk?" He was still avoiding her gaze, looking steadily ahead.
Marinette blinked in surprise. "Oh… yes! I mean… sure, okay, if you want to that is, because I- I uh, understand if-"
Adrien laughed and she stopped short. He finally turned to look at her.
"Mari, I'm not mad, if that's what you're thinking. You worry too much."
"I could say the same about you," she retorted, a bit of Ladybug's confidence coming through. "W-why do you worry so much that you're a bad friend?"
She glanced down and back up at him. He seemed a bit surprised and a little thoughtful.
"Tell you what," he said at last, "meet me in the park down the street from the bakery. Say around… 5:00?"
When Marinette didn't respond he waved a hand in front of her face. "Hellooo, anyone in there?" He smiled.
"Sure," Marinette exhaled. "Yeah I'll um, I'll bring some cookies or something."
Oh mon dieu, is this really happening?
"Great," he beamed. "Your mom makes the best cookies. I don't usually get to eat sweets. Model's diet, y'know?" He scratched the back of his neck bashfully. "Anyway, we should get to class. I'm sure math is over by now."
"Oh! Right! Yes! Class! Good idea," she stammered.
They walked the rest of the way in silence, quietly stealing glances at the other when they thought they weren't looking. Marinette felt anxious, but she couldn't help but smile. It hadn't been a total disaster.
"He did what?!" Alya exclaimed.
It was after school. The girls were sitting in Marinette's bedroom, Alya's math notes spread across the floor and Marinette's notebook was open to a blank page but neither of them were actually studying. In fervent detail, Marinette had recounted everything that had happened since Adrien dragged her away.
"He asked me to meet him!" Marinette exploded. "Alya, what does this mean?! I thought he would hate me, I didn't expect him to want to TALK about it! Oh my god, what do I say… He's going to ask me why I tried to kiss him!"
"You should be asking him why he tried to kiss back." Alya snorted.
"Alya! I- I don't think he was thinking about it, I think he was just frozen, he would have pushed me away the second I touched his lips," Marinette lamented ruefully. "Oh, I've really gotten myself into a mess."
Alya laughed and threw her pencil at Marinette's leg.
"Ow," she half-complained. "What was that for?"
"For being blind," Alya smirked. "Girl, just go for it! And you know you'll have back up if you need it. I'm not letting you do this by yourself. I'll hide and watch. If you need me, the code word is tiki."
"Tikki?" Marinette squeaked, and she felt her kwami stir anxiously inside her shirt pocket. "Why...uh… that… word?"
Her heart started pounding. Did Alya know?!
Alya shrugged. "I was watching High School Musical 2 last night. You know the Princess Tiki song? Anyway it's an odd enough word that I'll recognize it when you say it."
Marinette sighed, relieved. "True. Okay. I guess I can do this. You'll just have to be in ladyblogger stealth mode. Don't make it weird."
Thank goodness. My secret's still safe.
"Mari! Alya! Do you girls want some cookies?" Mrs. Cheng called from downstairs.
They jumped up instantly, the warm aroma of snickerdoodles meeting their noses.
"Coming, Maman!" Marinette yelled back.
They raced down the stairs, grinning. Alya reached the kitchen counter first, Marinette panting along behind her. Her friend turned to look at her with a teasing smile.
"Girl, you need to get in shape! Stop spending so much time indoors at your sewing machine and get outside more!"
She stuck out her tongue.
Internally, Marinette rolled her eyes.
Trust me, I'm a lot faster in the suit…
"How are you so fast?" She groaned instead, smiling and taking a big bite of cookie.
Mrs. Cheng smiled fondly at them both.
Alya giggled and put on a proud smirk. "Well I have to be fast to keep up with Ladybug and Chat Noir, don't I?"
Marinette grinned. "Yeah, you're pretty good at that."
She gave Alya a friendly poke.
"So girls, how is your school work coming?" Mrs. Cheng smiled.
"Oh, it's... coming…" said Marinette carefully.
Her mother gave her a knowing smile. "I see."
Marinette blushed. "Sorry Maman, we were talking about something important."
Adrien!
"Oh no, what time is it?" She asked hurriedly.
"4:50, cherie. Do you need to take some cookies with you to the park?"
Marinette gasped.
"How did you-"
Mrs. Cheng rolled her eyes and looked at Alya. "She thinks her lovestruck ranting is quiet."
Alya laughed out loud, coughing and nearly choking on her cookie. "She does," she gasped.
"Hey!" Marinette snapped. "I'm right here you know." She could feel her cheeks heating up again.
Mrs. Cheng smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "I'm only teasing, cherie. Now take some cookies to meet that boy of yours. He's entirely too skinny," she added as an afterthought, a slight frown on her face.
Soon the girls were racing down to the park. When they had nearly reached it, Alya went around the other way and found some bushes to hide in. She winked and pulled out a tiny set of binoculars from her book bag.
Marinette rolled her eyes and kept on running.
5:05.
There he was, sitting on one of the swings. His back was to her and he hadn't noticed her yet. His hair waved gently in the slight breeze, shining gold in the sunlight.
She felt butterflies take flight in her stomach. At that thought she smiled anxiously and prayed that Hawkmoth decided to take the afternoon off. The last thing she needed was an akuma attack in the middle of her date.
Wait. DATE? Why did I think date?! This isn't a date!
"Don't worry, Marinette. It'll be okay," said Tikki soothingly from her pocket. The little kwami floated out to give her a little kiss on the cheek.
"Tikki," Marinette whisper-groaned. "This is so awkward. First of all this is the exact place where Chat convinced me to talk to him in the first place. Secondly, Alya is going to be watching, and what if I say your name on accident? She'll think I need rescuing!"
"Marinette." Tikki shook her head with a smile. "Trust me. I have a good feeling about this. I think luck is on your side."
Marinette sighed. "Okay. Fine. Let's do this."
The little kwami zoomed back into her pocket and gave her a friendly pat from inside.
She walked closer.
Adrien gripped the chains of the swing anxiously. Why had he asked her to meet here? What if it felt too familiar to her?
His mind wandered back to that night in the park, where they had sat in these very same swings.
Her blue-black hair shimmered under the streetlight. Her lips were drawn into a sad frown, her eyes downcast. She sighed.
"I know, I know. I don't stand a chance. I'm not much to look at, really. There are thousands of other girls prettier than me that he could have his pick of. My crush is unrealistic."
Chat blinked in surprise. How could she not see how pretty she was? It wasn't like he had never thought about it, as Adrien… but in the end, the thought of Ladybug had always pulled his feet back to the ground.
But here she was, nearly heartbroken over him, believing that she wasn't beautiful. He couldn't stand it, consequences be damned.
"Hey, hey, hey," said Chat suddenly, coming out of his train of thought. He lifted her chin with a gentle finger and cupped her face with his palm, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Whoever said you weren't pretty?"
"You're an idiot," Plagg said smugly, his mouth full of cheese, as usual. "She's going to recognize you and then we're done for."
"Plagg, be quiet, she could be here any moment," Adrien whispered, annoyed. "Get back in my pocket."
"Fine, fine!" He sighed dramatically, and swallowed the rest of his cheese whole with a big bite. "But don't say I didn't warn you," he said with a sing-song voice as he zipped into the teen's pocket.
"A-Adrien?"
He turned, sighing inwardly. Plagg had hidden just in time. He put on a bright smile.
"Hello, Marinette."