SLOWLY FALLING FOR YOU (α∂яιєηєттє)

Chap. 11

I turned over to Father and he gave me a thumbs up, signalling that the photoshoot was over. I groaned and stretched, tired of the poses I had to make during the shoot. I could immediately notice Chloe walking up to me, acting as if we were all best friends again, but she wasn't who I was looking at. No. Behind Chloe, a few feet away, was Marinette herself, watching me with a look I couldn't quite understand. I guess she was trying to ask me if I had received her gift.

I'd had time to eat at least 4 cookies, but I'd rushed through it. I was glad Father came home later than usual, giving me just enough time to wipe my mouth and look as clean as ever. I had then hid the rest of the cookies inside my large closet, warning Felix that he couldn't take anymore until I came back. I knew exactly how many were left so I would know whether he took any.

Quickly realizing that Marinette had turned around to leave, I brushed past Chloe and rushed towards her. I could imagine Chloe's shocked look, confused as to what I'd done, and then she'd see that it was because of Marinette, and get mad over it. I still hadn't gotten the chance to ask her what had really happened between her and Lila, because Lila really seemed to hate her guts, and she hated mine just because I was friends with Chloe.

"Hey Marinette, wait!" I grabbed her arm just in time and she turned around with a sigh, having an annoyed look on her face, though I could tell that she wasn't actually annoyed. She was probably glad that I'd stopped her. "Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Why did you come here?" I looked around the surrounding. It was the park, okay? It wasn't really anywhere new, and most of the time whenever I was doing a photoshoot in public, people would stop and watch. I had actually not expected Marinette to do that, but maybe it made sense, because she had sent me a pack of chocolate chip cookies just moments ago.

"I can't suddenly come to the park anymore? Why, do you own it?" I knew she meant it as a joke, but it still kinda upset me that she'd say that. She must have seen how my face looked like though and immediately got the hint, because she bent her head in an apologizing manner. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

I smiled a little, knowing that even though she was all mad at me, she was still trying her hardest to be nice. I shrugged it off though, because I wanted to get to the point and ask her about the cookies. "So, can I ask why you sent them? The cookies, I mean. You think I needed them or something?" I didn't mean to come off as rude, and I hoped I didn't.

"Someone from school told me that it was rumoured you didn't get to eat enough sweets and desserts. I guess I felt bad," Marinette shrugged, "and now I can see why. I was being told you were doing a photoshoot here so I just wanted to come and watch for a few minutes and then leave." She turned away while saying that, showing me that she had clearly stayed longer than just a few minutes. "Sorry if it offended you in anyway. I didn't mean to believe the rumors, I just thought. . ."

"It's okay," I muttered. "Besides, I actually kinda liked it. . . Though my cousin is probably finishing the rest right now even when I told him not to go near them." I looked down at the ground, before looking up again. "Thanks for worrying about me. Nowadays, I get people who believe that just because I'm rich, I have the perfect life and get what ever I want. But it's totally not like that. I guess besides Chloe, you're the only who's actually cared whether I was okay or not. I really appreciate that."

"Rich people have feelings too. Even I know that, and I'm trying to get the rest of my friends to understand that," Marinette shrugged again, looking at me with a look that showed she really meant what she was saying. I nodded again, agreeing with her words, then I did something that I never expected myself to do.

I leaned in and kissed her cheek.

My mind must have thought that was okay, but after I did, I felt a wave of embarrassment rush over me. I gulped, quickly apologized, and as soon as I could, I rushed away from her, not even waiting to hear what she had to say about it. I was too embarrassed to look back and see if she was still standing there, staring at me run. I had wanted to be friends with her again, but now I'd just completely ruined that chance. She now probably saw me as a weird freaky guy, which was definitely not what I wanted.