Hidden ~ Miraculous Ladybug AU

Chapter 8

Marinette's POV

"Lovely everyone! I simply cannot wait to watch you all graduate and go off to college!" Mme Tappa smiled, tears forming in her eyes. Graduation practice just finished, and we were all off on our merry ways now.

I looked at my phone, it was 7:30 now. 30 more minutes until our date!! Alya has helped me plan everything earlier and now she and Alix were walking with me to my house to help me get ready.

We all ran up to my room and I zoomed into my bathroom with the dress Alya had picked out for me. It was a fancy yet casual red dress that flared out at my waist. It went down to my knees and had a black belt and trim. Of course, it had long sleeves as well that were off the shoulder.

Stepping out of the bathroom I did a twirl and Alya and Alix oohed and aahed.
"Wow! I knew you'd look stunning in that dress Mari!" Alya exclaimed. I rubbed my arm nervously,
"You think so?"

"Uh yeah! Marinette, you look great. Nathaniel won't know what hit him!" Alix agreed. I blushed and sat in my desk chair. I looked at the makeup I'd laid out earlier.

I pumped out some foundation onto my beauty blender and got to work. After, 25 minutes I was done. Alya and Alix didn't my hair as I was doing my makeup. They curled it carefully and pulled two strands from the front of my face and braided them back. I looked at myself in the mirror.

Despite my friends' encouragement, only negative thoughts could be produced in my mind.

You look so ugly.

This is probably a prank.

Why would anyone ask you out any way?

You look terrible.

I shook the thoughts out of my head. I had a light pink lipstick on and a light dusting of a golden eyeshadow over my lids. That one thought still lingered in the back of my mind,

This is probably a prank.

I took a deep breath and jumped up and down.
"Ok! I'm ready!" I tried to hype myself up.
"That's the spirit! Go get him girl!" Alya smiled and the three of us walked downstairs. He'd be here any second. Slipping on my black 1 inch heels, I snuck a look at the clock. 8:00. He'd be here any second.

Alya and Alix bode me farewell and good luck as they left the bakery, telling me to update them on what happened after. Once they left my thoughts had no mercy.

What is he stands me up?

This is probably Chloe's doing.

Or worse, he'll come then publicly humiliate by spilling a drink on me or someth-

My thoughts were cut off by a knock at the door.

Instantly I shot up and ran to the door. Taking another deep breath, I turned the knob and opened it to reveal Nathaniel.

He had a fancy dress shirt on and was holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. My face immediately flushed as did his.
"You look beautiful Marinette." He complimented.
"Th-Thank you. You l-look nice too." I stepped back, "Come inside for a second!"

He smiled and walked in, inhaling the smell of pastries. Nate turned back around to look at me and held out the flowers,
"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl." My face heated up even more.

I took them gratefully and walked over to the counter, filling up a vase with water.
"They're so beautiful. Thank you!" I smiled at him.
Wow! I didn't stutter!
He smiled warmly back. To my dismay my parents emerged from the back.

"You must be Nathaniel." My dad greeted, shaking his hand. The red headed boy looked up at him, intimidated, and smiled.
"Yes sir." I stuck the flowers into the water filled vase.

"So, how long have you liked our Marin-," My feet quickly rushed over to his side before my parents could embarrass me,
"Heh heh. Look at the time! We've gotta run, au revoir!" I yelled, grabbing Nathaniel's arm and dragging him out.

He chuckled as we made it out into the cool summer night.
"Sorry about them, they can be a little nosy sometimes." I laughed nervously, letting go of his arm.

"It's ok! To answer his question though, I've actually liked you for some time now." Nate smiled, making me blush harder.
"M-Me too." My eyes widened at what I said, "Not that I've liked me! I-I mean I-I've liked you t-too for a wh-while as well. I'm not like that!" I quickly said, holding up my hands.

He just laughed at my sudden outburst,
"It's ok Mari. I get it." I let out a sigh of relief.
"So, where a-are we going?" I asked, changing the topic.
"A very nice restaurant." He stuck out his elbow, "Shall we?" My face got lit on fire once more, but I nodded frantically and took his arm.

"Mmm. That was so good! Thank you so much Nate!" I exclaimed dreamily. I had already found myself being comfortable around the guy who'd just taken me out to dinner.
"I'm glad you liked it! Now, ice cream?" I squealed with delight,

"Yes!" He laughed as I "ran" ahead towards Andre's ice cream cart. It was amazing how well we connected, sharing our interests, like art.

"Hello! Another happy couple?" I beamed at the friendly man,
"Not quite. Can I have a strawberry and vanilla delight please?" He nodded and started to scoop the delicious dessert.

Somehow, being with Nathaniel, made those nasty comments leave the forefront of my mind. Nathaniel appeared next to me and ordered his ice cream as well.

Afterwards we sat together on a bench, admiring the stars and eating our ice creams. We sat in comfortable silence, but I had finally built up the courage to ask him a question that's been nagging me all night,

"Hey, Nate?" Without turning to look at me he hummed in response. "Why'd you ask me out? I mean, I'm nothing special. Chloe will kill you now that your hanging out with me." He looked at me confused for a moment,

"Marinette. You're the most beautiful girl in our school. I knew you before Felix and Bridgette left, and I miss that girl you were before." I looked down, "If you don't want to be her anymore that's ok. But, I don't care what Chloe will think. There's no way she's getting into our school anyway right?"

I laughed. Yeah, Chloe wasn't smart enough to get into AU.
"Thanks Nate." A smile spread across my face, spreading onto his.

"Oh, Marinette?" My eye brow raised as I looked over to see him pulling a poster out from underneath the bench. He unraveled it to reveal,
"Marinette, it would be really sweet if we went to prom." The words "sweet" and "prom" were made out of sprinkles. (Got this idea off google)

My hands flew up to my mouth. I nodded and smiled hugely. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be asked out on a date, much less be asked to Prom!