Half Way

An Overdue Confession and an Echo

Today was the day. The day that Marinette would finally confess her feelings to Adrien. She had been in love with him for an entire year now and she couldn't wait any longer.

"I can do this... I can do this..." she repeated to herself as she walked to school.

"I'm so proud of you Marinette," her kwami Tikki said from her purse.

"Don't be proud of me yet, I still have to go through with it. Hopefully I don't chicken out again."

"I have faith in you. I know you can do it!" Tikki exclaimed.

"Thanks Tikki," Marinette said as she closed her purse and climbed up the front steps of the building.

The new school year had started just a few weeks ago. Marinette and Adrien were in the same class again. And he sat right in front of her, giving her the opportunity to stare at his beautiful blonde hair for a large part of the day.

But it wasn't his good looks that originally captured her attention. She fell in love with his generous heart.

Once inside the courtyard of the school Marinette continued repeating her mantra in her head. She almost reached her best friend Alya when a voice behind her caused her to jump.

"Hey Marinette."

She spun around and there he was. Adrien Agreste.

An unintelligible squealing noise escaped from her lips.

His face twisted up in confusion. "Are... you okay? he asked hesitantly.

"Ha! Me? Course of I'm fine," Marinette sputtered out. "How are thew? I mean, how are things or how are you?"

Adrien blinked at her. "I'm fine." He paused for a second. "Well I'll see you in class," he said, walking away.

"Class yes!" she called out after him.

When he was gone she covered her face with her hands. She peeked out to look down at her purse. "This is going to be a nightmare," she mumbled to Tikki.

************************************

Marinette knew that her heart would always belong to Adrien the way things were going. Holding on to the hope that the two of them would eventually be together was keeping her stuck.

She had tried to forget about him all summer long. And she did that by hanging out with Luka Couffaine. He was such a great guy, sweet and funny, and patient and understanding. But no matter how wonderful he was, she couldn't stop thinking about Adrien.

Especially after she found out that Adrien and Kagami weren't dating. It sure seemed like the two were heading for a relationship. But then all of a sudden it was over. Marinette had no idea what happened, and neither did anyone else. The only people that knew were Adrien and Kagami.

But Marinette finally reached the point where she couldn't keep hoping. She needed to know if a romantic relationship was a real possibility. Either Adrien wanted to date her, or he didn't. She couldn't put her life on hold anymore.

Before she knew it the final bell rang, signaling the end of their last class. This was it. Marinette was going to confess to Adrien no matter how awkward it would be. No matter how much she stuttered. This was it. Today was the day.

Slight panic set in as she approached Adrien, who was gathering up his things.

"Adrien?" She mentally gave herself a high-five. After all, an entire word came out correctly. She could do this.

He turned towards her with that megawatt smile of his. "Yes Marinette?"

Maybe not.

"Uh... uh..." she started.