Between Us

Table for Two

They settled to meet at 6.

Well, Adrien said he'd pick her up at 6. Apparently, it was a surprise.

As much as Marinette loved surprises, this one had her heart rapidly firing at her chest the entire time she was getting ready. When Adrien had texted her this morning asking to hang out tonight, she had asked what was the occasion. He said 'Just because'. She asked how she should dress. He said 'Whatever you feel most confident and comfortable in'.

Goddammit, Agreste. Give her some ease!

One bantering video chat with Alya and Zoe later, she settled for black skinny jeans and a flowy blouse. Since it was the evening, she assumed they would be eating somewhere, so she chose something that wouldn't show a bloated stomach. Not that someone like Adrien would care, but it definitely would help her stop being such a mess in front of him.

She was always such a hot mess around him, and not in a good way. Disaster always followed whenever Marinette tried to make some sort of impactful impression on Adrien. Her past impressions included falling, tripping, splashing drinks on people's clothes, or stumbling over her own words. Though she didn't stumble quite as much now, it still was annoying to deal with when it came to biting her in the ass.

So, with some convincing from her friends, she took a shot.

Or two.

Maybe another half. After one more.

"Where are you going looking so lovely?" her mom asked from the kitchen as Marinette made her way down the stairs.

"I'm going out with Adrien," she said, and when she got the ol' motherly smirk from Sabine, she quickly retracted. "No, no, no. Not like that. It's not a date, we're just going to hang out."

"Mhm, well you have fun. He's a sweet boy."

"I will, Mama," Marinette replied. She was about to kiss her on the cheek goodbye, but quickly stepped back, remembering her breath probably smelled like alcohol. Her mom would not have been so fond of her getting tipsy before heading into the city for the night.

Shoot! She should pop a mint in before seeing him.

As she headed down to the bakery level of her house to wait for him, she opened a small tin of mints, hoping it would hide any trace of alcohol. She would ask Tikki for help, but would that seem weird? She didn't know anymore. Her brain was already starting to feel a bit fuzzy.

It wasn't long before she saw a familiar silhouette walk towards the glass doors and knocked. It was hard to ignore the sudden smile on her face when she rushed to open the door.

When the door swung open, she saw Adrien Agreste standing there, one hand stuffed in his pocket and the other delicately holding a small, pink, fragile flower. With a sheepish smile, he handed it out to her.

"I saw this on my walk over. You like pink, right? Sorry, this is kind of silly now that I'm standing here handing it to you."

Marinette was quick to shake her head. "No! It's not silly at all," she said as she took the flower from his hand and tucked it behind her ear. She decided to wear her hair down tonight, but now she was worried her hair would get in the way of it. "It's adorable, really. The whole gesture."

"Ah, so I'm adorable, huh?"

"Don't get cocky on me now, Agreste." Were those the words that really just came out of her mouth right now?

"Too little, too late," he said. "Here, let me..." his voice trailed off as his hand reached up toward her cheek.

Marinette sucked in a breath, confused and utterly unprepared for what he was even doing. His face leaned in ever so slightly. Was he going to kiss her cheek? Wait. Was he going to kiss her? Was he going to whisper something in her ear? What the hell was he going to do to her?