As Marinette stood at the door, she couldn’t help but think that she’d been less nervous when showing Emma how a rotary cutter worked that morning. While she wouldn’t dare let Emma touch it, she did show Emma how to measure the pieces and then hold the ruler firmly in place. She thought of Emma’s completely mystified expression as she cut each piece and how after they had cut the entire yardage of fabric—Marinette was still blown away that Emma’s attention span lasted that long—Emma deemed the tool magical.
She took a breath, trying to remind herself that she wasn’t on a date. That there was no need to fix her hair. That the casual clothes she was wearing were fine. That she was spending the evening with a friend. It was okay. Nothing she couldn’t handle. Because it wasn’t a date. It. Was not. A date.
That didn’t stop her from fluffing her hair one last time just before she heard the door unlock. When it opened, Adrien greeted her with a grin.
“I brought food.” Awkwardly, Marinette held up the bag, covering her certainly flushed face from his line of sight.
Adrien chuckled, taking the bag from her and brushing her fingers in the process. She yanked her fingers behind her back as though his had burned her, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Thanks. Come in. I have the console set up in the living room.”
“And you have Ultimate Mecha Strike Three, correct?”
“I do,” he said exasperatedly, shutting the door behind him. “I promise. Though, if you really are as good as you said, you could beat me at Four.”
She snorted. “And if you’re as good as you said you were, you could beat me at Three.”
“We’ll just have to see.”
Adrien put the food down on the living room table. “Could you grab some drinks and napkins from the kitchen?”
Marinette nodded, turning to grab a couple glasses of water and a handful of napkins while Adrien set up the game. With the main menu theme playing in the background, Adrien began digging into the boxes she brought.
“You thought of everything,” Adrien commented, lining up the five take-out boxes on the table. He set the two sides on one side, the three main dishes on the other, then ripped the bag of egg rolls in half to form a makeshift plate to set in the middle.
“I just covered the basics and hoped I got what you liked,” she said, setting the glasses down on a couple coasters.
After taking a pair of chopsticks and snapping them apart, Adrien grabbed the box of broccoli beef. “My favorite,” he commented.
“Noted.”
A pause slipped between them as they made a dent into the food, the video game music rolling over and over and over in the background. Marinette ate slowly, her stomach churning with nervousness even though she’d lost track of how many times she’d told herself she didn’t have to be. Absently, she reached for her ring, tugging on its chain comfortingly. It was okay. This was okay. It was two friends hanging out. It wasn’t a date.
“You ready to start?” Adrien asked, stabbing his chopsticks into the chow mein and reaching for the controllers.
Marinette eyed the other box that Adrien practically hadn’t let out of his sight. It was half empty, and Marinette wanted at least a little.
YOU ARE READING
Second Chances
Random☆Despite being young, single, and successful, the only girl who has Adrien's attention is his daughter. That is, until the new nanny makes a spot for herself in both their lives in a way that no one, not even the nanny herself, was expecting AUTHOR:...
