Until Next Time, My Lady

Are You Ready To Go?

Twelve cups of coffee and six hours later, Adrien still felt as though he was on cloud nine. He may have had no sleep or any sort of motivation to work today, but at least he'd finally found his lady. The heroine was none other than his best friend, and he couldn't be more ecstatic. His eyes kept darting to his phone, anxiously waiting for Marinette's name to pop up on its screen.

She'd promised to text him when she was done for the day. They were planning on going over to her place after work to talk. Hundreds of questions started to swirl around his mind. How were they going to make this work? Did she even want to try? What would his father think? Would she be comfortable dating him, even though she worked for Gabriel? Did she really love him as much as she loved his alter ego?

He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts, but the nervousness was starting to settle into his stomach. What if she ran away again? What if he wasn't what she'd expected? What if he couldn't give her what she was looking for?

A shiver ran down his spine as he felt someone blow gently on his ear from behind. He carefully turned around in his chair, coming face to face with Marinette. Her eyes were glittering with mischief as she held her bag securely to her side.

Adrien slowly took off his headset, setting it to the side. "I thought you were going to text me?"

"Well, I figured I'd save the both of us some time if I just came down here to get you instead." She smiled, nervously tucking a piece of loose hair behind her ear. "Plus, I kind of wanted to see you."

In response, Adrien reached out and grabbed her free hand. Quickly, he kissed the back of her hand gently; a smirk fell over his lips as he heard a gasp leave her.

"What? Cat got your tongue, princess?"

"No, I'm just never going to get used to you doing that again." She whispered softly, blush rushing to her cheeks. "Are you ready to go, kitty?"

Her shyness shocked him. Where was his fearless lady hiding? "Of course, I am," he smiled. "But are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She squeaked as he pulled her down onto his lap.

"Because I think you're nervous about me being Chat Noir." He nuzzled his nose into her neck, breathing in her scent. "Where's my dauntless lady hiding?"

"Behind a flustered Marinette." She sighed, leaning back against him.

"Why is that, my lady?" He softly pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck.

"Because everything is just now starting to set in." Her fingers entwined with his, making his heart jump. "I missed you, Chaton."

"I missed you too, Bugaboo," he whispered. "How would you feel about going to get a few bottles of wine on the way back to your place?"

"Are you saying that the wine I have in my wine cabinet isn't good enough for you?" She teased.

"No, I just figured you'd like a bottle or two of Chateau Margaux?" He shrugged.

"Chaton!!" She exclaimed, jumping off his lap, and whirling around to face him. "You are not spending that much on a bottle of wine!"

"You probably just made everyone without headsets on jump five feet into the air, bug!" He chuckled as he stood up, pulling her into an embrace.

"I don't care," Marinette grumbled. "I'm not letting you spend that much money."

"But I'd like something nice to help us celebrate, Mari," he murmured.

"A bottle of my plum wine will be fine!" She insisted, pulling away from him. "I won't let you pay 1,100€ for four glasses of wine."

"Fine," he caved. "Can I at least buy us a nice dinner?"