No room to swing a Cat?

27 - The first love

Adrien was standing just behind Marinette, so she had to turned back and pushed him away to move. But he didn't even budge. Instead he began kissing her.

"Wait, wait... I think I was about to argue with you about something..." she whispered between kisses.

"Hurry up, because I'm already in a reconcile part..." Adrien joked and started kissing her neck.

"But... I can't focus..." she confessed and he chuckled.

"Purrfect..."

"Don't you think we should go on a date first?" she sighed, realising by the way that her legs wrapped around his waist somehow...

"No."

"No?!" she exclaimed outraged.

"Not on a date, Mari..." he specified. "I'm going to take you for a hundred, for a thousand, for a million dates. No. For n dates as n approaches infinity..."

"You're such a nerd, Agreste!" she laughed.

"Your nerd, Purrinces..."

"And you really want to wait for so long? For a million dates?"

"Wait for what?"

"For a continuation of what we're doing right now..." she giggled.

"I've waited enough..."

"Ouch, what an impatient Cat you are! Two weeks are long?"

"The whole life..." he corrected her, gazing at her with such a fire in his eyes, that she ran out of breath.

And then he kissed her again. They separated from the wall and Adrien – still kissing her – moved them back to the armchair. Marinette felt a bit dizzy, as if she was drunk.

"You're going to my head like a champagne..." she whispered. "And I think I'm addicting to your kisses."

Adrien laughed in reply.

"So am I, M'Lady..."

"Your lady, that's correct. And you're mine. My own Kitty..."

"It turns out that Alya's method really works..." Adrien murmured, continuing kissing Marinette's neck.

"What method?" she chuckled, and he looked up in surprise.

"Fighting fire with fire..." he reminded her.

"That's not quite accurate..." she said carefully.

"What do you mean?" he glanced at her intrigued.

"I've just realised that if I'd known your identity a few years ago, we wouldn't have needed all those support group meetings. No broken hearts... Just us. Happily ever after..."

"But you've just said that if we weren't..." he hesitated and after a moment he continued: "If we didn't learn from our experiences, we wouldn't be the people we're now."

"I've really said something that smart?"

"Even twice. First, to me on the rooftop, and then here, about yourself. And now I'm thinking that..."

"What?" she asked, when he suddenly stopped.

"If I didn't lose you then, I wouldn't appreciate how wonderful you are. How could I miss that?"

"Because I used to act like a total idiot when you were around. I couldn't even speak properly. Don't you remember?"

"I thought you were just shy... And that was cute..."

"You're saying that now, because you're blind now."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" he winked at her.

"No."

"I've never felt so comfortable before..." he whispered and nestled down, holding her closer. "I don't know how I'll manage to leave tonight."

"So don't..." she blurted out, and as soon as she noticed his surprised look, she understood how he could – and undoubtedly had interpreted her words.

"Really?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"That's not what I meant!" she muttered, blushing terribly. "I meant that no one is kicking you out yet."

"So I can't stay for the night?"

"Cat..." she rolled her eyes. "We haven't been on a date yet. Even one!"

"What about all those meetings so far?"

"Those were meetings of the support group."

"Maybe at the beginning. I started seeing them as dates from the third one I guess..."

"I haven't noticed flowers nor compliments. Nor tender gestures... Nor kisses... How on earth were they dates for you?"

"What can I say? Every time I wanted to do something like that, something happened. Like Alya's coming in, or you were sick, or you started talking about your ex-boyfriend... How was I supposed to kiss you in such circumstances?"

"Well, that's good you didn't kiss me when I was sick, because I'd have to take care of you now... And I'm not sure if I managed. Men die of a cold..."

"Stereotypes!" he laughed. "You're saying like you've never taken care of an ill man..."

"Because I haven't."

"Luka wasn't sick ever?"

Marinette felt a stomach cramp when she recalled her ex-boyfriend. His shadow was still there, in a corner... Adrien felt the change in her mood instantly and he winced when he realised he'd just ruined the evening.

"He was sick once or twice..." Marinette admitted after a while. "But... Uhm... I'd say that we weren't so close..."

"You didn't...?" Adrien began but stopped, embarrassed. He didn't want to ask about the most intimate things so directly.

"No! Of course we did..." she replied calmly, watching Adrien's reaction. She knew that this question was in the air, and Adrien should expect that the answer would be like that not the opposite. Same, Marinette presumed that his answer would be similar. So she preferred not to ask. "There are different types of closeness. I have to confess that when I was sick recently, I realised that you were the first person that I let see me in such a miserable state. You have no idea how... how intimate... it was..."

"Really?" he was surprised. "For me it was quite natural."

"You must have got used to that, right? I bet you took care of Kagami every time she was ill..." she muttered and Adrien smiled when he heard a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Kagami has never been sick. She couldn't. That would mean she's weak. And she couldn't be weak."

Marinette looked at him carefully. Suddenly she realised that not only Luka still stayed in a shadow. Kagami was present in Adrien's head as well...

"It's not gonna work..." she muttered.

"What's not gonna work?" he didn't understand.

"How would it work when we still remember our exes? You'll be haunted by Luka's words, and I will - by Kagami's. How do people manage to start a new relationship when they're dragging a baggage of their previous ones?" she asked hopeless.

Adrien looked at her, thoughtful. She was right. He was haunted by the awareness of all things Luka had done for Marinette to win her heart. But he didn't think that she could feel the same about Kagami, who had been someone special for him for years. Marinette had to be jealous of all his first times with Kagami, as he was jealous of all her first times. With another guy. With Luka. The man so perfect for her.

"You've said already that we're what we are now also thanks to them." he said finally. "I think we should leave the past and focus on us. On that what's now. And forever, Mari... Besides..."

"Besides what?" she spotted when he'd hesitated.

"You don't have to be jealous of Kagami." he discovered suddenly. "It's you who was my first love."

"And you were mine..." she laughed with relief and kissed him.