unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter five

adrien's pov (around the same time mari and alya are on the phone together)
   "plagg, who do you think the boy from class is?" i ask, sitting on my couch with the tv as background noise. "the only boy available would be max, and he's not exactly her type, is he??" plagg swallows a slice of camembert before answering. where is that cheese even going? it's double his size??
   "adrien, max isn't the only boy left."
   "well, me, but i don't count. we're just friends."
   "adrien, you already know i'd rather do anything but talk about girls, but think about it. it's pretty obvious," plagg says, and i do think about it. she does seem to get pretty flustered around me, but thats just her personality, right?
   the vibration of my phone snaps me out of my thoughts. '20 items in trash to be deleted permanently tomorrow. would you like to recover them?' (a/n : DO PHONES EVEN DO THIS IDK IM MAKING IT DO THSI)
   shrugging, i click on the notification to see what items are to be deleted. some ladybug pictures, a bad photo of me, a few videos of my friends, a- wait. i've never seen those. could they be...
   "plagg! look at what i found," i beckon him over, and he flutters to my side.
   "are those the videos félix deleted when he stole your phone?" plagg asks.
    "only one way to find out," i say, clicking the recover and play button.
   a montage of encouraging videos pops up, and i tear up. from nino to rose, even chloe, they each made a special video for me, on the anniversary of my mother's disappearance. the final video starts, and i'm greeted with marinette's face in front of the camera. her expression was one i could only describe as soft, almost as if she were caressing my face through the phone.
   "look! its your girlfrienddd," plagg teases, and i shove some cheese into his mouth.
   "adrien, i love you. i'll always be there if you need me," she says, and i sit there, momentarily stunned.
   "she loves.. me?" i ask, and plagg grins.
   "i told you so! what other proof do you need??" he says, floating around my head before laying down on my pillow.
   a bunch of moments begin to make so much more sense. why she didn't want to be alone with me in the wax museum. why she always became so flustered around me. why there were so many pictures of me on her wall. why she couldn't sit next to me on the plane to new york. even why she looked so sad when she saw me and kagami together. more and more, hitting me like a bunch of bricks.
but the heaviest brick of all, and the most shocking, was the feeling in my stomach, like a ton of butterflies had been released all at once. it was almost like the feeling i got when i first saw ladybug in action, or the feeling i would get whenever she and i got closer than usual.
   my mouth involuntarily turned into a smile, and i had a realization: i like marinette.