Caged

There was a pause, only broken by the beats of Adrien's heart. He could swear the organ moved to his head, for how loud it sounded. In that split second, Nino bit his lip, hard. The blond started bracing himself for what he was sure was to be another thunderous laugh from one of the beings he trusted the most in the world.

But instead...

"FREAKING FINALLY!" Nino blurted out, clapping his friend's back.

"Wait, what?"

"Man, I thought you'd stay in denial forever," he exhaled, now grabbing on to Adrien's shoulder and continuing their trek towards the Agreste Mansion.

"So, you're not making fun of me?"

"Dude, no way," Nino reassured him. "Now I get to be your wingman!"

"My what?!" Adrien jolted.

"Have you thought about how you're gonna confess?"

"Nino!" the blond screeched, stopping their walk to the place he wasn't ready to arrive to. "Slow down, man. You're literally the first person I tell, so, please, down the pressure."

"Oh, right," Nino snickered. "Sorry, dude. It's just that I've had Alya pushing me to help for way too long already, and now I actually can. And you two would make a great couple. I'd love to see you two together."

Adrien's cheeks quickly started heating up.

"You really think so?"

"You two idiots are made for each other."

"Gee, thanks," Adrien deadpanned.

"You have no idea how long Marinette's been crushing on you, dude!" Nino exclaimed. "Seriously. For the longest time, I think you were the only one to not notice her feelings."

Adrien cringed. "I have an idea," he muttered.

"Oh, right. Chat Noir outed you," Nino chuckled.

The grimace on the blond's face deepened. Definitely not his finest moment, now made worse with the realization of why he did it in the first place.

"Sure," he said through gritted teeth. "Anyway," Adrien grabbed Nino and pulled him behind a pillar of a building. "I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm gonna lose it any second. You realize I almost confessed to her back there?"

"Woah, I thought you hung back just to be alone with her, not to freaking confess."

"I wasn't planning to," Adrien said. "We were talking, and it just...For one second there, it just felt right. Ya know?"

"Look at mah boy, all grown up." Nino wiped a fake tear from his eye. "But since you're telling me now that you like her, I'm guessing you didn't get to."

"Nooo," Adrien whined, covering his face. "Alya called on us before I could, and I didn't wanna rush it. I wanna do it right." He paused. "Which is why I told her we'd talk at lunchtime tomorrow."

Nino let out an excited gasp.

"Way to go, my man." He slapped his buddy's bicep. "That's what I'm talking abou—"

"No, you don't understand," Adrien said, grabbing his friend by his shoulders and staring with crazed eyes. "What was I thinking?! I wanna tell her so badly, but I wasn't thinking 'bout what I'm gonna tell her. I just invited her, just like that! What if she doesn't believe me? What if I say the wrong thing? Or worse: what if she says she loves me and wants to be with me? I've never been in a relationship! It's easy to flirt when deep down you know it's going nowhere, but when you know it's gonna happen, it's so freaking scary, and what if we do get—"