Until I Heard You Sing

Chapter 4

Adrien was more than a little amazed when Nathalie allowed him to stay at Marinette's for dinner. Now he would get to spend all afternoon with her, just them, and have a home cooked meal too. He was almost giddy with the excitement of it all.

Coming back down to Marinette, he settled himself back into the desk chair, leaning his head over the back of it and watching Marinette work. Marinette became conscience of him watching her and could feel the beginnings of a blush growing again. "You can play some games on my computer while I work, I mean if it's a bit boring for you."

"No I'm good, I'm happy just to talk and watch you." Ok, that sounded more than a little creepy. "I mean...ah...I don't really see much of the making side of stuff, you know. It's different seeing it through your eyes... that is through the designer's eyes, which is you and yeah." He reached up and scratched the back of his head nervously but relaxed when he saw a smile and soft pink blush spread across her face as she cut the fabric. It dawned on him that he'd seen Marinette with that soft pink blush quite a few times that day. He had to admit he kind of liked the fact that he seemed to have been the reason for it. After all he did think she was terribly cute when she blushed.

The afternoon flew by in a flurry of animated conversation and cuts of fabric. Marinette discovered that Adrien could talk under water when the discussion came to anime or video games, and she was so glad she could hold her own in the conversation. In fact his knowledge on both topics was downright geeky. They agreed that after the charity auction, they should get together for an Ultimate Machia Strike 5 faceoff during the spring break, even though Adrien knew he would get his butt kicked. He had to admit, he liked the idea of making plans to do things with Marinette, just the two of them. He also liked the idea of spending more time at the bakery, and not just for the treats that are constantly thrown his way by her parents. He really liked Tom and Sabine. Seeing them with Marinette showed him what real families were like. Over the years Adrien had been to the bakery many times with Alya and Nino and it always filled him with a sense of warmth. Although he lived in a big fancy house many people would envy, it didn't feel like a home, not since his mother disappeared. Maybe it was the physical warmth of the ovens that made him feel so good there, or the family dynamic and the way Tom and Sabine always made him feel so welcome, like he was part of the family. Maybe it was Marinette.

Adrien watched her as she lovingly tended to her creation. He noted how she would poke her tongue out when she was really concentrating. She really is cute when she does that. He flinched when she would prick herself with the pins, but she would just brush it off. She's tougher than she looks. He saw how much pride she took in her craftsmanship and how easily their conversation flowed. He wondered if it was the distraction of something else to do, or if whatever it was that had been making her nervous around him in the past had finally lifted. She was even teasing him and would really let herself laugh out loud. He was completely enchanted by the sound and would keep finding more ways to make her laugh, just so he could hear it. Something warm bloomed in his chest. Whatever this feeling was he had, Adrien was the happiest he had been in sometime and he wanted to hang onto that feeling for as long as he could.

It seemed like no time at all when Sabine called the teens down for dinner. It smelled amazing. Adrien sat next to Marinette as Sabine and Tom began dishing out dinner.

"Hope you like Chinese food Adrien." Tom asked, filling the boys plate to almost overflowing.

"Absolutely! Actually my father has had me learning Chinese for a few years now. He's been hoping to expand the Gabriel lines to Shanghai."

Sabine's face lit up in a way that made Marinette suspicious. "That's wonderful. Maybe you can teach Marinette a few phrases. I've tried, but not with much success." Marinette felt like she was going to die of embarrassment.