A Winter's Tale

Chapter 9- A ruined moment

Adrien laughed as Marinette yelled 'Boom, Marinette style!" toward her father, winning the game. The girl was a dream. She had handed a beating to her father in seconds. Adrien almost lost his confidence. Luckily, he had been secretly practicing for his next match with Marinette. It also helped that he still carried the lucky charm she had given him the first time. Adrien was determined. He would get a kiss from the princess tonight.

Tom turned around and playfully glared at Adrien. "Oh, we are laughing now? Well, come on, let's see you do better," he smirked, handing Adrien the remote control.

"Well, I certainly can't do worse," he joked, causing both Marinette and Sabine to burst out in laughter. But quickly after, Marinette came to her father's aid.

"Oh, is that so? Let's remember that for when you go to bed sad because you lost your precious bet," she smirked and added, "to a girl!"

Adrien returns the smirk, hiding his pounding heart. God, this girl did things to his body no one else could. Lord, help him. "Oh, is that so?" He mimicked her words. "I'll make sure to remind you of that when you try to hide that beautiful blushing face because it's time to give me my reward," he whispered, sending her a wink, and Marinette almost died.

Had Adrien Agreste, her all-time crush, just told her she was beautiful? Pinch her. She must be dreaming. Adrien laughed as Marinette hid her crimson-red face. Even though the room was dimmed-lit, the blonde could see her blushing. "How cute looks like we are starting early," he added, making the adults laugh.

While neither adult knew what reward Adrien was talking about, the boy was a decent young man, and Adrien had made his intentions with their daughter well known. Therefore, they could imagine.

"You are so confident there, blondie," Marinette called out, forgetting who the boy in front of her was and allowing her competitive nature takes over. "I'll tell you what. I will give you this first match as a warm-up. So you are not too embarrassed when I beat you," She added, giving him a smug smile. "But on the next one, I will crush your dreams, understood, handsome?" She asked, not realizing what she had just called him. Adrien's heart skipped a beat. Had Marinette just called him handsome? Was he dead and went to heaven? If so, no one better dare save him!

It was now Adrien's turn to blush, and Marinette laughed. Her laughter only made Adrien's heart pound faster. She was so beautiful. "Well, would you look at that? Looks like we're starting early," she mocked.

"Oh, it's on!"

The teenager focused on the game as the two adults cheered in the background. Tom was on Marinette's side while Sabine cheered for Adrien. The characters were evenly matched, and their skills were very similar. Adrien had gotten better. Way better, but the blonde had a plan. While he had learned a few tricks here and there, the model knew it would take more than that to beat Fancis Dupont's best player, so he devised a plan to get Marinette to lower her guard.

Pretending to struggle, Adrien stopped blocking Marinette's attack allowing her to take advantage and win the game. "Marinette Style!" She yelled, jumping up and down in her seat. Adrien laughed at her behavior. If only she knew that was his plan all along.

"You were saying blondie?" She asked as she did her little victory dance. "Okay, okay. Good thing you said the first one was practice," Adrien laughed. "Plus, I let you win!" He added as if he was bluffing.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that. As long as it helps you sleep at night, baby," Marinette bantered, again not measuring her words.

Adrien had heard them. He had taken in every letter of it. Baby? If only he could be. The blonde could imagine Marinette walking with him in the school halls, kissing him and calling him baby. Noticing he was in la-la land, Adrien quickly shook the thought out of his head to focus on this upcoming game. That was it. She had lowered her guard. It was now or never.