Lost Kitten

Chapter 22: One Condition

"You don't think she's working for your father and Nathalie, do you?" Marinette asked as soon as the door was fully closed.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking. She is just the type of person that he would team up with. We will have to keep an eye on her, she will most likely let him akumatize her at a moment's notice if they are working together."

"What was she talking to you about before I walked in?" Marinette asked curiously.

"She asked about my father, and when I said he was in Toulouse, she started heavily flirting with me."

Marinette sighed, she was exasperated. They shouldn't have to deal with this.

"Shall we continue where we were?" Adrien held his hand out for Marinette, who eagerly put her much smaller hand onto his own. He lifted her delicate hand and kissed it lightly as he bowed.

"We sh-" Marinette was cut off by another small ding. 

Adrien groaned as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Security system again." He grumbled, walking back to the large front door. He opened to see his friends at the large iron gates. Adrien let them in eagerly, clicking a button on his phone to reopen the gate.

"Bon après-midi à tous! What brings you lot here?" Adrien said as Chloé, Max, Alya, and Nino walked up to the front door. Alya and Nino were standing next to each other holding hands, Chloé stood next to them while Max seemed to drift off awkwardly to the side.

“We actually aren’t sure. Chloé gathered us, but wouldn’t tell us why until we were all together." Max stated.

"Right," Chloé said, "this is short notice, but my father is hosting a ball tomorrow, and I was wondering if the five of you would like to go. It'll be boring if I'm all by myself, so I thought maybe all of you would like to go with me."

Alta answered first, "I would Chloé, but I don't have a dress that would be considered proper ball attire."

"I can rectify that." Marinette said eagerly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I have a piece that I was going to give to you for your birthday next month, but I think this is the perfect occasion. I've got something for myself as well, but I'll only go on one condition." Chloé looked at Marinette quizzically. "You have to ask Sabrina if she'll go as your date."

Chloé looked like she was in shock. 

"How do you-"

"I kept an eye on you, remember? It wasn't too hard to see how you looked at her when you thought no one could see you. You love her, don't you?" 

Chloé scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Y-yeah, I do. There's no way that she likes me though. I was so terrible to her when we were younger. I don't deserve to have someone like her date me."

"You never know until you try. I don't want you wondering what if. I don't want you to leave having never even tried. I want you to feel fulfilled." Marinette walked up and cupped her hands around Chloé's.

"Alright. I'll do it. Let me step out and call her." She released her hands from Marinette's and stepped out the door, closing it behind her.

"Thank you." Adrien said, walking up from behind and grabbing Marinette's hand in his own.

"For what?"

"For doing that for her. I should've done it years ago. I remember when she met Sabrina. She was so excited. She came to me and told me all about her. She's been in love with Sabrina ever since they first met. It's hard to break her out of her shell. Chloé isn't one to open up to people very easily. She admires you though, Marinette, she looks up to you as a role model."

"She does?"

"Chloé wouldn't have done that for just anyone."

The group waited silently for Chloé to come back in.

The door opened to a grinning Chloé.

"Did she say yes?" Marinette asked quickly.

Chloé didn't even respond, she just nodded vigorously, and Marinetteran up to embrace her.

"I'm so happy for you Chloé, you deserve it!"

"Thank you, Marinette." 

Marinette stepped back and looked at Chloé, she had tears streaming down her face at a remarkable rate.

"Why are you crying, aren't you happy?"

"I am," she said between hiccups, "that's why I'm crying. I've wanted to ask her out for so long, and you finally got me to do it."

For a moment everything seemed perfect. The group knew it couldn't last, but they relished in it. These moments were precious, none of them knew if they'd be able to make it to the next day, so why not make it all count. Being together was a gift, but there would always be one thing at the back of their minds. One way or another, they were nearing the end.