Ways to be Wicked - Descendants 2 AU

Chapter 7

 If Auradon Prep was anything, it was sprawling and excessively extravagant, as Marinette had come to accept over the past few months. Not only did it have acres of land, greenery and large medieval-like buildings, it also came with its own botanical gardens, complete with an island gazebo that was situated among the lily pads and koi fish at the center of the water. This was one of Adrien's favorite places on the grounds, as Marinette knew, which is where she set up her hastily thrown together feast of all his favorite foods.

It was almost reminiscent of their first date spent out on the Enchanted Lake, only this time with a cloth covered table and chairs instead of a blanket, and two completely different people instead of who they were then. They hadn't been out to the Enchanted Lake in months... Marinette pushed aside her memory, burying them forcefully down to keep from mourning the past while she sat across from Adrien at the table. She had gotten good at hiding her feelings, she thought depressingly. Hiding seemed to be all she was doing these days.

She busied herself with snatching one of the small egg bites from the cake tray she had magicked up before Adrien had arrived. She held it out to her boyfriend who was all smiles.

"Would you like a hot hors d'oeuvre?" She asked, holding it out to Adrien as he nodded excitedly.

"Yes please," the young king leaned forward, taking the small treat from Marinette's fingers with a single bite. He smiled as he chewed, his eyes aglow with happiness as he appraised all the dishes spread out on the table before them. "This is the best thing I've ever had."

Marinette smiled, twisting her fingers in her lap. "So you like it?" She said in a quiet tone, inwardly chastising herself for sounding so weak. Since when did she crave such validation?

"I more than like it," Adrien added, getting up to purposefully reach in her space to grab a cookie from the tray just to Marinette's right. He popped it into his mouth with a grin, inches away from Marinette, "I double like it."

Marinette laughed, trying to feel like the praise was something she was worthy of as she clasped her shaking hands on the table before her. This was getting to be too much.

"Is this beef ragout?" Adrien asked as he took an experimental bite from a casserole dish.

"Yeah," Marinette answered, chewing her lip before asking him outright, "Did I surprise you?"

"Oh, yeah, you surprised me," Adrien assured, unaware of how the panic that swirled within the girl sat across from him seemed to ebb just a bit. "This is every single dish Mrs. Potts made for my parents. All it's missing is the dancing candlesticks. What'd this take you? Three days?"

Marinette let out a breathy laugh, waving her hand nonchalantly through the air as she tried to find an answer that wasn't just an outright lie. Her usual quick thinking had been failing her lately, stress clouding her usual cleverness and leaving her with an obscure answer. "You know, don't even ask me."

They both laughed, but it was a hollow sound, one that reverberated through Marinette like an empty gong. How could she tell him how much all of this was tearing her apart when he had the gaul to look at her from across the table like she had hung the stars in the sky? He rested his arms on the table, looking at her with those soft eyes and charming smirk that so often make her heart skip a beat and made her knees weak. What he said though was like a bucket of cold water on her face.

"Well, it means a lot," he told her in a quiet tone, like he was afraid someone was listening in. It was perfectly possible after all, they couldn't seem to get a moment alone without at least one person listening in from a bush or two. "That you stopped and did all this for me. Especially with all the craziness you've been put through."