Seven Seconds

Foot in Mouth

Awkward. That would be putting it mildly.

Having to face Adrien that day would be more than awkward, but it was unavoidable. They went to the same school. They were in the same class. They sat one in front of the other. Plus, Marinette's best friend was dating Adrien's best friend.

There was no escape. They would have to see each other and talk to each other all the time.

So they would have to get over the awkwardness. Even though it would be awkward.

Really awkward.

And to make things even worse, Marinette felt a little guilty. Not only did she reject Adrien's kiss, but then hours later she ended up kissing someone else. Adrien didn't know that, of course. But the thought still made Marinette's stomach twist up.

And here it was. Time for the awkwardness to commence.

Adrien walked up to her as she sat in her place waiting for class to begin. "Hi Marinette," he said, putting his hand to the back of his neck.

"Hi Adrien," she responded.

Awkward.

"I want to apologize for yesterday..." Adrien started.

Marinette closed her eyes. "I think you've made enough apologies over these last few weeks to get us through the next ten years. You don't need to apologize anymore. Let's just move on." After a second she opened her eyes to see his reaction.

He nodded. "Okay."

She nodded back, waiting for more.

But there wasn't any more. Adrien only turned around and took his seat.

Marinette blinked at the back of his head. That was... easy. And not as awkward as she was expecting.

I guess things between them were fine.

That was... awesome?

Well, not awesome. But it was... good?

Yeah. Good. That was the correct word for it. It was good that things were fine. And it was fine that things were good.

Good.

As Marinette kept thinking, the word 'good' started sounding strange.

Guh... uud. Good. Why did that sound so weird in her head? And it was definitely a positive word, right?

Good. As in great. As in perfect. Purrfect.

Marinette almost laughed out loud. Chat Noir's personality was starting to rub off on her, and she didn't completely hate it.

Chat Noir. Her Chaton. He would be visiting her later, and she couldn't wait.

So yeah. Good. Everything was good.

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

Things were more than good. Adrien totally backed off, and it truly felt like how things were before he ever discovered the video.

It was refreshing to have the real him back. And Marinette felt more relaxed around him than she had been in a long time. Actually now that she thought about it, she was more relaxed around him than she had ever been.

So it was shaping up to be a great day. When school was done, she went home and quickly completed her schoolwork. Then she had a nice dinner with her parents.

Just a normal day for a normal girl.

That is, until she returned to her room.

"Ugh, he's been knocking for ten minutes," Barkk complained to Marinette as soon as she returned.