Aquarelle
Read on AO3
Words: 1,448
Language: English
Summary: Adrien is trying to figure out his feelings for Marinette.
I wanted it to be a short drabble at first. Now I think it might become a multi chapter fic. But I can’t promise anything. We’ll wait and see.
Adrien was sitting on the stairs of his school, scrolling absentmindedly through his phone, waiting for Kagami to arrive. They were having a fencing class today.
He looked up at the sound of the engine and caught his breath in awe. His jaw dropped, and he felt heat spreading across his face and up to his ears.
Kagami just arrived with Marinette, riding Marinette’s mini scooter.
Marinette was just taking her helmet off. Her shiny hair was free from her pigtails and was now flowing down to her shoulders like an inky black waterfall, gleaming and shimmering in the sunlight.
She shook her head slightly to brush her hair off her face. That was such a fascinating and breathtaking sight. All Adrien could do was stare. He didn't know what was suddenly wrong with his vision. It was as if he was seeing her through a pink haze curtain.
She spotted him staring at her, and a cute pink blush covered her cheeks. She smiled shyly, waved goodbye, and set off.
She was already gone, yet Adrien was still standing there at the top of the stairs, smiling sheepishly, waving and waving.
Suddenly what had just happened sank in, and his smile faded away, as if someone had turned it off.
"Why did Marinette leave so soon?" he asked, disappointed.
Seriously, why wouldn't she have stayed? Everything became so dull once she was gone. It was like the sun wasn't shining anymore without Marinette around.
"She doesn’t do fencing with us," Kagami answered shortly.
Yes, that was true. How could he forget?
His head hung down, Adrien walked unwillingly to the locker room.
He was about to change for the fencing class, when an object captured his attention.
There was a folder full of Kagami's drawings left on the bench. What was it that she had in it? She had been reluctant to share her artwork with him since the last time they had been alone in the art classroom. Adrien decided he'd risk taking a look.
The very first drawing in the folder was like a punch in the gut.
It was a watercolour portraying La Place de Vosges. There was a girl sitting in the middle of the picture, peering from within the rectangle of the paper sheet right into his soul.
The girl who has been constantly occupying his waking thoughts for weeks now.
These sky-blue eyes were looking at him so attentively and so softly. These pink lips were curled into a barely noticeable smile, as if she was smiling more at her own thoughts than at something from the outer world. Adrien wondered what was going through her mind at the moment when Kagami was drawing her.
A faint pink blush on her cheeks gave such a vivid impression of real Marinette that it made him want to pass his fingertips over this particular part of the picture, as if he believed she'd feel his gentle touch (he wished she would).
Adrien couldn't take his eyes off the picture. He totally lost track of time. He forgot that he should get dressed for the fencing class. Marinette and her hypnotising blue eyes were all that remained.
"Do you like it?" Kagami's calm voice sounded right beside his ear.
Adrien flinched and looked at her as a thief, caught in the act.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"My watercolour. Do you like it?"
Of course, he liked it. How could he not? Or maybe the word "liked" was not quite accurate? He was hypnotised by it, but he knew he’d make no sense if he said it out loud.
"So beautiful," he whispered.
He trailed off, as if he accidentally revealed his deepest thoughts, the thoughts he wasn’t even aware that he's been having until this moment.
Kagami gave him a strange look, as if she had pierced him with X-rays. Then she suddenly took his phone and shoved it right under his nose.
"Call Marinette," she said firmly.
Adrien blinked in surprise.
"Why?"
"Because you have feelings for Marinette, that’s clear as day."
Adrien flushed.
"No, no, she's just ... a friend."
His voice faded gradually, so that the last word came out barely audible, as if he didn’t believe his own words.
Kagami still stood there, watching him intently with the phone in her hand. Adrien shrugged under her glare. He couldn’t hide anything from this girl.
"You’re looking at her the way I’d like you to look at me. Call her!" Kagami persisted.
"No, you’re wrong," Adrien replied uncertainly, feeling his strength leave him. Why would she bother so much? He didn’t know exactly what he was feeling. Then how could Kagami know for sure?
Kagami considered him silently for a moment.
"The worst kind of blind person is the one that refuses to look at themself in a mirror," she finally said, still holding out the phone. "If your feelings were as clear as you say, you wouldn’t hesitate so much."
"What would I tell her, after all?" Adrien said miserably.
"You will ask her on a date."
A what? A date? Like a real date, when both of them are holding hands and eating Andr��'s ice cream together, and then maybe... kissing?
This last part of his supposed date with Marinette made him flush anew. As much as he’d be glad to see her again, he wasn’t sure he was ready for an actual date.
He hesitantly took the phone from Kagami’s hand, still looking uncertain.
Keep it together, Adrien. You can do it.
All that followed was like a dream. Adrien had set up a rendezvous (not a date!) with Marinette in front of the Musée Grévin.
He didn’t recall exactly what they said to each other. He was so nervous that his mouth went completely dry. He could only vaguely remember that he had said something about his feelings toward her not being the same anymore.
He was aware that those are not the words you usually say to a girl when you ask her out, but it wasn’t like he had asked her out yet, right? He only hoped that he didn’t say too much and didn’t make Marinette uncomfortable.
He hung up the phone with a tender sigh. He already looked forward to meeting her.
He couldn't understand why Kagami was so frustrated that he chose Musée Grévin of all places. For him, it was an obvious choice if he wanted to figure out what his feelings for Marinette were. It wasn't a particularly romantic place (though Kagami had wanted it to be a romantic date), but it was ideal for sorting out his feelings.
He remembered so clearly the last time they had gone there together. The memories of that day at Musée Grévin started flooding his mind.
-x-x-x-
Marinette not wanting to be left alone with him. Marinette being extremely nervous around him. Marinette gushing about what she thought was a wax statue of Adrien. And then…
That kiss.
Marinette actually kissed him.
Of course, that was an ever so brief touch of their lips. But it was enough to set his whole being on fire. He didn’t know until that moment that he would feel that way about someone other than Ladybug.
In no way did he see this coming. The simple touch. She had touched him many times before, but this touch was totally different. It was like a jolt of electricity.
Funny how that simple touch made him lose his sleep over it. The memory of the momentary touch of Marinette’s lips kept making him blush furiously in the dead of night.
His heart was pounding so wildly, as if it wanted out of his chest. His mind was so messy that there was no hope of it ever being calm again. There was only one thing he knew for sure: he'd never be able to see Marinette in the same light again.
This whole new facet of Marinette he'd gotten a glimpse of was about to drive him insane. The only time he had felt something similar was that memorable day when he met Ladybug and got swept off his feet.
Did he… start falling in love with Marinette?
No, that was not true. This couldn’t be true. No way. Besides, he simply had no right to be in love with Marinette. She was completely out of touch. Didn’t she make it clear that she liked him only as a friend and a human being? She wouldn’t have lied to him, would she? He had no other choice but to take her at her word.
No matter how much it hurt, he had to suppress those newborn feelings, whatever they were.
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