Nathaniel + Marinette Valentines

Feburary 1st

I ran my fingers through my wet hair and looked in the mirror. I was tired; my shower did not wake me up. I got no sleep last night thanks to my major headache from walking around looking for a job yesterday. Even though I was exhausted, I couldn't miss school, I had tests to take today.

I sighed and pulled a heavy military jacket on and wrapped a cream colored scarf around my neck. I put on a matching cream colored beanie and some black gloves to prevent the cold from making me even more sick. There was still some snow left behind from Christmas (which I had spent with Mari) and my sneakers crunched underneath me from the snow.

I waited outside for Marinette to come down so we could walk to school together. It was at times like these where I wish I was 17 and ready to drive so I could make sure Mari was comfortable on her way to school. I hugged myself to keep warm. As a gust of frozen air flew by, Mari opened the bakery door and stepped outside. Any sleepiness or headaches I had instantly went away. She was wearing a beautiful black leather skirt with stockings and a red overcoat. She had white gloves with a matching scarf and beanie. She wore black suede boots that ended right above her knee. I gawked at her, she's so beautiful.

Mari noticed me staring and she tucked a loose strand of hair the wind had blown back into place. "Uh-um, does it really look weird? I thought I might've been overdoing it..." She asked sheepishly.

"No no no! Not at all! I-I, I think you look beautiful." I stammered. So beautiful I want to give you a kiss and show the world how beautiful my girlfriend is. My face flushed at my thoughts.

Mari must've read my mind though, she gave me a kiss on the cheek (close enough to my mind anyways) and slid her hand into mine. "Th-thanks Nath! We should get going then." She said to me with a smile.

She's too cute. I gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Sure thing my Flower."

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At school, I immediately stripped off my hat, gloves, and scarf. It was always warm at school thanks to the heaters, I worked up a sweat just sitting there if I had all my outdoor gear on inside. As I was putting them in my bag, I heard a familiar cackling that made my stomach churn.

"Hey Nathaniel, why don't you ask those birds living in your hair to pay for some rent! Maybe that way you won't mind if they make your hair into their nest!" Chloé began laughing and Sabrina laughed along.

I rolled my eyes. I had had enough with that girl. She caused way too much drama for everyone. Besides, I'm not ready to forgive her for what she did to me and Mari a few months back. I chose to ignore her, which Chloé was apparently not happy about.

She marched up to me and slammed her hand down on my desk. "Excuse ME! I'm talking to you here and you just ignored me! How could you?!" She asked angrily.

I was startled by her sudden appearance. "I-I um... maybe I just don't like- you?" I immediately regretted having those words leave my lips.

"WHAT?! That's impossible, don't joke around like that. Everybody adores me, Ladybug said so herself!" Chloé said proudly as she flipped her hair. As a response to what Chloé had said, I saw Marinette cringe in her seat.

I was confused at that point. "I-I'm sorry." I did what I do best and apologized, even though I wouldn't really mind if her hair caught fire from using hair spray near a barbecue.

"Whatever, that's not why I acknowledged your existence anyways." She snarked as she handed me a pink glittery envelope with a red heart wax seal on it. "I was going to give you this and let you know I'm holding a Valentine's Day dance at my daddy's hotel in the private party ballroom and I want- I mean- you have to come. You can't say 'no'. Dress nicely, if you have anything that resembles formal attire." She flashed me an evil smile and sashayed back to her seat. I breathed a sigh of relief at her retreat.

I looked at the envelope resting in my hands in disbelief. Was I really personally asked out to Chloé's Valentine's Day dance? After she forcefully kissed me, she wants me to party with her? This must've been some alternate dimension, because there's no way she'd want me there or held any feelings for me. Right?

I could feel her blue-silvery icy eyes glaring at me, so I shoved the envelope in my bag and awkwardly folded my hands on my desk. I saw Marinette headed my way and any anxiety I felt had melted away.

She ran her hands through my hair. "She's totally exaggerating, your hair looks fine, it's just slightly messy." Mari giggled.

"I had no time to brush it plus I was wearing a beanie! I don't carry hair products in my bag you know." I defended myself.

"Don't worry I got you," Mari said as she continued fixing my hair. "But I'm curious, what was all that about?" I knew what she was referring to.

"I honestly don't know." I shrugged my shoulders.

"You-you're not really thinking of going... right?" She asked me nervously.

I grabbed her hand from my hair and gave it a kiss. "There's no way I'd go, my Flower. I only want to spend my time with you." I assured her.

I forgot we were at school when all the kids began "oooooh"-ing and swooning over us. My face burned red and so did Mari. She rushed back to her seat and plopped herself down. Alya laughed and softly rubbed Mari's back.

I covered my tomato face with my bangs and hand. I'm still not used to this attention, but I don't hate it. Our class supported me and Mari and often make comments about "how cute we are", but I'm not doing anything scripted, I'm just doing my best to show my Flower how much I love her.

As I felt my face cooling down, Ms. Bustier came in and began taking attendance. I felt that icy gaze on me still, and my headache began making its comeback. I sighed for what seemed like the 7th time that day.

I pulled out my sketchbook and began drawing. I felt much better as my pencil glided across the paper. Drawing Mari was my favorite pastime. Her hair is beautiful and her smile is gorgeous. Her eyes sparkle like the ocean reflecting the sunshine.

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After school ended, I kissed Mari goodbye as I pulled my gloves on. I prepared myself for the bitter cold weather as I went job hunting.

I walked to the cafe first, but they weren't hiring. Next I went to the Deli I go to a lot and filled out an application. As I was filling out an application at a nearby boutique when I saw a customer yelling at an employee about how the dress should be on sale because it was from last season. The employee argued that it was from the latest season because of the floral appliqué trend that it had on the shoulders. I can't handle people yelling at me, so I threw out the application and walked out with my head down.

I sighed as I pulled my hat down over my ice cold ears. I passed by a window and saw my reflection. My nose and cheeks were red, there were snow flakes dusting my red hair and eyelashes. I realized the chocolate shoppe I was looking at was also hiring. I excitedly went inside and filled out an application. There was only one thing I was a little worried about. The section labeled List any baking skills below:

That would be challenging to fill in, I'm only good at cooking, I haven't really tried baking before. I just wrote "experienced in the kitchen". Maybe that was general enough to apply for both. Baking can't be that hard, besides we were mostly working with chocolate here.

Before I got frostbite, I decided to head back home and wrap myself in blankets. I can't wait to- my thoughts were cut off by someone bumping into me from behind.

"Ahh!" She yelled as I heard a thud.

The voice sounded sickeningly familiar. The contact had made my hat fall off, so I picked it up and turned around to see who it was to apologize, but no one was there. What the- maybe I'm going insane? But I felt someone bump into me, how do you imagine that? I shook it off and continued walking home.