Marinette looked over at the crowd that was dancing to an upbeat song as she sat all alone at a table. She sighed as she nibbled on some of her dad's sugar cookies since her parents catered deserts for most of the school's events. Alya was sitting with her, but Nino had dragged her off onto the dance floor a few songs ago. Marinette wasn't upset with them, though. In all honesty, she was hoping that they would just become a couple already. It was quite obvious to everyone, other than themselves, that they were absolutely crazy about one another.
Typically, Marinettte would be more than excited to attend a school dance. She even spent all week long designing and creating her own beautiful, unique dress. Her handmade dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and the length stopped just above her knees. The upper part was more form-fitting and included vibrant red sequence. The bottom part, however, was solid black and was slightly poofy. Marinette even made an effort to pull only her bangs back and then curled the remainder of her hair. She just felt...lonely. She felt more so now, being without her closest friend. Marinette simply lowered her head, sighed, and ate a bit more off of her cookie.
"H-hey, Marinette." A familiar voice spoke as the person sat in the empty char right beside her. Marinette looked up from the table and immediately recognized the bright red hair.
Marinette smiled warmly. "Hey, Nathanaël!" She couldn't help but still feel bad about how horribly Chloé had treated him in class awhile back. Not only did she embarrass him by revealing who he was crushing on, but she also humiliated him in from of the entire class...including his crush. "Are you having any fun?"
Nathanaël flipped back a loose strand of hair that fell over his face. "Eh, it could be better. What about you? I noticed that you were over here by yourself..."
"Well, Alya was sitting over here, but she's a bit busy at the moment." Marinette stretched out her arm to casually point towards her best friend and Nino dancing together. "And I agree, I've definitely been to better. But, at least the cookies are good!" The two giggled uncontrollably. After a short while, Marinette examined him and his outfit. "You look really nice, by the way."
His face became a bright shade of red very similar to the color of his hair. "A-and you look even better! Did you make your own dress? I-it looks beautiful on you."
"Actually, yes, I did! I worked on it all week long. Thank you." Marinette blushed with a grin. She was not used to receiving compliments on either her designs or herself. Well, other than from Chat Noir, but she never knew if he was being serious or not.
After what seemed like a long time of silence, the music changed to a slower-paced song. "Would you want to, um, dance with me?" Nathanaël reached his hand out for her. "I mean, if not, that's okay, too." He hesitated as to whether or not he should leave his hand remaining where it was.
"I'd love to." Marinette gladly accepted his hand and they walked out onto the dance floor together. She could see Alya from the corner of her eye giving her a confused, yet also pleasant expression.
Adrien, however, was not pleasantly surprised as he caught a glimpse of the two from across the room. He had been looking for Marinette all night and most definitely was not expecting to see her dancing with Nathanaël. Sure, he was in love with Ladybug, but he never knew if she would ever actually give him a real chance. Adrien really started to fall for Marinette, too, especially after he hung out with her to practice for the video game championship. She wasn't her usual clumsy, nervous self. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she actually seemed to be calm and collected.
Marinette rested her head against Nathanaël's chest. Of course, his face became instantly red...as did Adrien's, only with anger. "Adrikiiiiiins, dance with me!" Chloé rushed over to Adrien.
"Chloé, I'm not really in the mood to deal with you right now." Adrien nearly spat out the words, his eyes still focused on Marinette and Nathanaël.
Chloé's eyes went wide with shock. "What is going on with you? You could at least look at me, you know." She turned her head to face in the same direction as Adrien, trying her best to see what he was glaring at. She chuckled, "No. C'mon, you're joking, right? The klutz?" Chloé began laughing in disgust, but Adrien paid her no attention. Instead, he pushed past her. He wasn't about to lose Marinette to Nathanaël. Adrien was not going to give up that easily.
Just as the music shifted to another slower song, Adrien appeared right next to Marinette and Nathanaël. "Do you mind if I steal her away for a dance?" He squinted his eyes at Nathanaël with a strong sensation of intimidation. Something must have caused his protective instincts to kick in.
"I, uh..." Nathanaël choked, obviously slightly fearing Adrien. "No, not at all..." The red head left Adrien and Marinette alone, feeling defeated.
"What was all of that about?" Marinette looked at Adrien with widened eyes. Of course, she was flattered that two different boys has asked her to dance that night.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Adrien commented sarcastically with a smirk as he spun the girl out and around. He then pulled her back closely to him.
Marinette narrowed her eyes. She couldn't help but see that Adrien's current behavior resembled Chat Noir. "Something is different about you, Agreste. It works for you, though."
"Oh, really? That's just the beginning." He pulled her face close to his, their lips less than an inch apart.
"W-what's gotten into you?" Marinette blushed and could feel her knees weakening.
"I'm just protecting what's mine, princess."
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