True Love Kiss

8 - The project

At first Marinette wanted to vanish into thin air. When she'd seen Adrien at the door, her heart sank. And then it started to beat again. And not in a crazy way as usual, it was quite normal beating. It was as if her "Marinette-like" clumsiness had been replaced by "Ladybug-like" calmness. She glanced instinctively at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. It was five to ten. She noticed Adrien saw her glance at the clock. She suppressed a giggle and winked to him.

She tried to distract him from the mess in the kitchen, but she was in a lost position. And she knew it. This couldn't be explained anyway. Mom plunged her even more, telling Adrien that this mess was done by Marinette. And when mom added the text "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach", Marinette thought for a moment that there was no place on the Earth where she could hide. With a ruined reputation. She tried to play down the message – quite obvious – and turn it all into a joke. Hence the rolling the eyes and silent "Sorry about that."

But Adrien blushed despite this. So, he had to feel embarrassed. It was comforting for Marinette that she didn't feel the warmth on her cheeks, that would mean she didn't blush this time. Which didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed. But at least she pretended not to be.

"Leave it, darling." Mom took the sweeper from Marinette. "You have a lot of work ahead. I'll take care of the kitchen."

"But mom..." Marinette protested.

"Take your plates and get to work. Time is a priceless value. It's better to have it saved for having fun in the evening."

Hearing this, Marinette blushed at the thought of what her mother might have meant. Did she suggest a date? Fortunately, Adrien didn't catch the hint. Or maybe he assumed that Marinette might have other plans for the evening. After all, he'd said something like that yesterday. Wait, how was it going? That he couldn't assume that she had no plans for Saturday. So, he accepted the thought that she had a life. All she had to do now was to confirm this status.

Why did she care so much about that he wouldn't get to know her feelings? Or rather, how did it happen that she didn't care anymore about his attention? Silly question. That was such an obvious reason. She let Cat Noir kiss her and look – these were the results!

She sighed heavily.

Adrien raised his head and looked at her with curiosity. And his hand unknowingly went to his neck. It was as if he remembered the last chemistry lesson when she sighed and blew to his neck.

Marinette took the tray with the waffles and drinks and headed upstairs to her room. Adrien followed her without a word. Sabine watched them in astonishment, and when the trapdoor closed behind them, she smiled under her breath, she shook her head and started cleaning the kitchen. She loved cooking with her daughter, but their great fun always ended in the same way – with a total mess. And yet she continued taking this risk, hoping that one day her daughter would finally control her clumsiness. After all, practice makes perfect...

***

"I apologise for my mom." Marinette sighed as soon as she put the tray down on the desk.

"You have nothing to apologise for." Adrien answered quickly.

"I don't know what came to her head." She ignored him. "She saw yesterday evening that you walked me home and I think... she made a theory. I'm sorry."

"You really don't have to be sorry!" He smiled at her. "I don't feel hurt. It was even... nice..." he added, blushing a little.

He looked away, embarrassed, which made Marinette uncomfortable. Suddenly the air between them thickened.