Caught In A Storm

Chapter XI

On the other side of the kingdom, a young women and a young man kept getting closer and closer to one another. Baking and joking around wove their once lonely souls together, and made them smile more and more each day, after getting to know the other a little better with the time passing by.

Adrien had become a master of croissants, much to Marinette's surprise. She now let him take care of it by himself, he had been doing them on his own for more than a week now. She would still use his help for other recepies. Adrien didn't mind in the slightest.

Marinette let out a loud yawn as she entered the cold bakery at three in the morning. She had slipped on a air of thick wool socks, but they didn't do much against her freezing feet. She went down the stairs slowly, not pushing herself too much after her nearly sleepless night. Step by step she finally reached the ground floor and turned right to get to the surely more warm room of the entire house. Her sleepy brain and still half-closed eyes didn't register anything abnormal as she first entered the kitchen and atelier.

Wait... why are the lights already on?

She whipped around as she heard theold wooden floor creek between someone elses' feet, meaning someone was approaching. She was greeted with the sight of Adrien, still looking somewhat sleepy himself and unkempt hair, blond strands sticking in every direction.

"Good morning!" He greeted with an adoring smile.

Marinette felt herself flush as her brain was still completely not functional at the hour of the day. Adrien stared softly at her rosy cheeks, feeling his warm as well. Without controlling himself he lifted his hand and softly graced her cheek, tracing her flushed cheek with his thumb, making her flush even more. He handed her the cup pf coffee he had prepared for her he still held in his other hand. She took it gratefully, hoping to hide her blush behind it. Adrien kept smiling down at her, while both sipped at their warm coffee (something Adrien had also asked about, curious at how was this beverage being made).

After a few quiet minutes, Marinette took the cup to the sink and made her way to put some wood in the oven, so it would heat up again. Adrien has already taken out the main ingredients they would need for them to bake the baguettes. They baked more things now, since the people didn't want to stay home anymore, so they braced the cold, the storm had stopped and slowly the masses of snow were slowly melting. But the two young adultes decided they could still take their time with all the baking.

They were completely in sync. Marinette only had to hold her hand out, for him to pass what she needed that she couldn't reach. As she held her hand out for him to pass her the baking powder. She felt his hand take hers and she whipped her hand to watch him bring her hand to his mouth, leaving a small kiss on her flour-covered hand. She inhaled sharply, her hand tingling where his lips kissed her a fraction of seconds before. Her lips quickly quirked up into a small smile and a blush crept on her cheeks once again.

He is way too good at making me blush.

He was still holding onto her hand, brushing his thumb above her knuckles. She freed her hand, pushing with her index finger on his nose playfully, leaving a white, powdery print on the tip of his nose. He squint-eyed his nose, making her giggle at his ridiculous and surprised face. He watched her mocking him slightly with an own quirk of his lips.

"So now you're making fun of me?" He said as she couldn't stop her laughing.

"No! I'm not making fun of you, you just looked so cute!" She leaned against the kitchen's platform. His eyes brightened as a huge smile broke out of his face.

"So I'm 'so cute'? Well I have to say nobody had made me such a compliment before." A smirk broke out of his face. Marinette's laugh halted immediately.

Did I really said that?

She blushed heavily as she waved her hands in front of herself.

"No! Nonono! I never said that!" Adrien's smirk grew.

"Oh! Sorry, I must have misheard you, even if it seemed pretty clear to me." He quipped back smugly.

He leaned in, his nose nearly touching hers. Her blush could only intensify under his strong gaze. She could only see his emerald eyes shining with mischief and ... pure happiness. Her heart wanted to burst out of her ribcage as she stared into his loving eyes. On his side, Adrien was forgetting everything around him and could only focus on the bright blue eyes facing him. He started leaning in slowly, careful of her reaction. Her eyes drifted down towards his lips, but she didn't back away. Both leaned in further, until their lips brushed.

Out of nowhere, the front door opened, making a huge noise by crashing into the wall. Adrien and Marinette jumped apart, before rushing to the front shop, where Nino was trying to close the door with difficulty with the wind rushing inside. Adrien rushed to help him. After having successfully closed the door, Nino took off his snow-drenched scarfs and coats. Marinette had gone back into the kitchen to hide, now having to face the fact that she just had kissed him. She just kissed Adrien. Adrien kissed her. Her heart squeezed and she felt like she hadn't any space to breathe correctly. She leaned against the counter, grateful to hear Nino distracting Adrien. She had no idea what she was going to say to him...

Oh my! What I am going to say?

She started to panic internally, her fingertips digging into the wooden counter. She was so focused, she didn't even hear the two young men go upstairs.

Eat  chocolate!