"Hey, Marinette, look," Adrien said through the quiet. Marinette turned her attention from the window to see the boy holding their forks against his cheeks. "Whiskers," he whispered. Marinette tried to hold in her laughter, but when he crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out, it was too much to hold.
"You silly kitty!" she said through her laughter. Adrien got up and closed the distance between them, scraping the fork against Marinette's face as he purred. "Stop!" she squeaked and tried to push him away. Adrien laughed and plopped down in a seat, returning Marinette's fork to her plate.
"Having whiskers would be so helpful," he said. "Do you know how cool it would look?"
"They would have to be as long as your shoulder width, you know," Marinette giggled. Adrien nodded vigorously, his eyes wide.
"I could fit in small places and my balance would be even better!" Adrien explained. "Also it would be cute," he added, placing his hands on the side of his face to create them again. Marinette snickered and shook her head.
"You're such a goofball, this is why I love you..." she said, bringing her legs up in her seat as her words registered. Adrien raised an eyebrow, a smirk growing on his face as Marinette's face grew red. "Wait – that's not what I meant - !"
"What did you say?" Adrien asked, closing in more on Marinette's face. His smirk never left his face, especially since it seemed to make Marinette even redder. "Did you just say that you love me?"
"You want a brownie?" Marinette asked, pushing his face away and getting to her feet. She snatched up both of their plates and made her way to the kitchen, dumping the scraps and burying her face in the fridge. "Or maybe a cookie?"
"Marinette?" Adrien stood, a teasing tone predominate in his voice. Marinette could just hear the smirk. She switched to the sink and made quick work with busying herself with the dishes. Adrien snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his chin on her shoulder. He could feel how tense she was, and he was loving it if he was honest. "I love you, y'know..." he mumbled into her shoulder.
"Can you dry the dishes?" Marinette asked, tossing a towel over her shoulder. Said towel hit Adrien in the face and made him jump, which served make Marinette cringe. "I'm sorry!" she apologized frantically, spinning around with her hands covered in soap. She took his face with her wet hands, pulling them away when he jumped yet again. "Sorry!"
Adrien made a quick recovery, and with Marinette turned to face him it made his job a little easier. "It's alright, My Lady," he said smoothly, wrapping an arm around her waist. "But I might need a kiss to make it better?"
Marinette puffed her cheeks in irritation, stomping her foot and spinning around.
"Or maybe just you saying those three words again?" Adrien leaned over the counter as he tried to peek at Marinette's face, but she just grabbed a towel and spun away, stomping off to the sofa. He felt a bit deflated, but not discouraged, so it was off to the sofa for further prodding. "Please, Princess?" he asked in desperation.
Marinette huffed and dropped her face in her hands. She rubbed her cheeks roughly as she tried to get rid of the blush that seemed to refuse to leave. Why was he being so insistent about it? She'd let it slip one time, and now he wasn't going to rest until she said it again! Ugh, stupid cat!
"Why won't you say it again, Marinette?" Adrien asked a bit quieter. "Did you not mean it?"
Her heart dropped at his tone; that was not at all what she wanted him to think. She loved him, yes, but she didn't want to deal with it. "I meant it, I promise..." she whispered. Adrien shifted on the couch and scooped her up closer to himself, setting the girl on his lap and resting her head against his chest.
"Then why won't you say it again?" Adrien asked. "You know I love you..." He rubbed her arm and kissed the top of her head, which seemed to only distress her farther.
"I..." she paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase it, "I don't want us to change..." she settled on. Marinette looked up at Adrien, her eyes nearly overflowing with tears. "I don't want us to screw up something up and that mess up Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"It won't mess us up," Adrien insisted.
"How do you know?" Marinette asked.
He had to think about it. There was no way to know that they'd be fine if they were together. However, there also was no way to know that they'd be fine at the rate they were going. "I don't know, I just feel like we're both too stubborn to let anything hurt us and screw up our friendship..."
Marinette smiled softly.
"If you're willing to try it, I wouldn't mind being able to say that I'm dating you," Adrien said. "It would be an honor, actually."
She giggled and nodded, "OK..."
"But first, I need you to say it again," Adrien smirked.
Marinette rolled her eyes and muttered a 'fine' as she sat up and faced him. "Adrien Agreste," she took a deep breath, "I love you."
He squealed. Not that he would ever admit it. He squealed and pulled her into a hug, mumbling too many 'I love you, too's. "Does that mean I can kiss you?" he asked. Marinette pulled away from the hug, one eyebrow raised and a half smirk pulling her lips. "Is that a yes?"
"Yeah, you silly kitty," she giggled. Adrien quickly pressed their lips together. His hands kept hold of Marinette's face, since it felt like the second he would lose contact with her, this whole thing would disappear. Marinette laughed into the kiss, being the first to pull away as Adrien kept leaning.
"I love you," he said one more time, quickly pecking her lips again.
"I know," Marinette snickered, "I love you, too."
