True Love?

Chapter 2

Adrien walks towards the Pont des Arts bridge looking at his tablet. His clue was super simple.

"Find your partner at a place where the cold can cause hearts to melt." He reads out loud. "I wonder who my partner will be, Plagg."

"Maybe Chloe?" Adrien's kwami jokes.

"Not funny, Plagg," Adrien replies. "Although, that is possible. Chloe is in my class. If I did have her as a partner though, I would be the one doing all of the work." Adrien walks through the streets of Paris dodging crazed fans left and right. He runs into an ally way to avoid a crowd exiting from a subway station. Breathing a sigh of relief Adrien continues his journey to Andre's stand. He spots Andre's cart and grins. Finally, he is at his destination. He looks over all the people on the bridge to see if he could spot anyone familiar. So far, he can't tell. Getting closer, he sees dark blue ponytails. He sighs in relief. Marinette wants to be a fashion designer and is very smart. Adrien smiles and walks towards her. He notices how focused she looks. As he gets closer, she looks up startled. He smiles at her and waves. "Hey there, partner," he tells her.

"H-h-hey Adrien. Wh-what are you d-doing here?" Marinette askes flustered, standing up to greet him.

"I'm here to find my partner for Mrs. Bustier's class assignment," Adrien explains. I take it you are here for the same reason?"

"Y-yeah, I am," Marinette replies, gaining confidence.

"Awesome! So just to double-check, what is your clue?" Adrien asks.

"It is 'Find your partner at the place where the cold can cause hearts to melt.' I figured that meant Andre's ice cream stand because he is known to bring lovers together with his ice cream," Marinette tells him.

"That is the same clue that I got. So, I guess that means we are partners for this assignment," Adrien says happily. He looks at Marinette closer and notices how nervous she is. Her arms are folded over her sketch pad across her chest. Adrien sits on the bench she was on earlier and pulls her to sit too. "Hey, I know you are worried, but you shouldn't be. Your designs are amazing! My dad did handpick the hat you made for another class project as the winner. From the few sketches I have seen, I don't think there is anything that you can't design and be amazing." Marinette blushes at Adrien's compliments. She looks into his eyes to gauge if he is telling the truth. Realizing that he does have so much confidence in her she lowers her sketch pad onto her lap and begins to look through it again.

"I was looking through here to see if I already had anything useful but so far, I haven't found anything for Halloween. We will have to come up with something new to use," Marinette tells him.

"That's okay Marinette," Adrien says. "I'm sure we will do just fine. With both of our experiences with fashion and runways, we can't lose!" Adrien is really excited about this project now. He would probably never admit it, but he had started to develop a crush on Marinette. Even though he was supposed to be in love with Ladybug, he couldn't help but develop feelings for Marinette too. She is so kind, clever and smart. She always stood up for others and treated everyone as her equal. It is just so endearing to Adrien. He is totally psyched to spend time with her even if it was just to work on the project.

"Do you want to come over to my house to start working on some designs?" Marinette askes giggling at Adrien's excitement.

"Sure. That would be great!" Adrien replies. His phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes it out and looks at the message. 'Photoshoot in the park for a new ad campaign. We are on our way to pick you up so be ready in 5. – Natalie' Adrien sighs after reading the message. He looks at Marinette. "I have to go to a photoshoot right now, but I can meet you at your house in about an hour to work on the assignment."

"Okay," Marinette says with a slight sadness in her voice. Before Adrien can ask why Marinette seemed so sad, a car pulled up and Natalie stepped out and called for Adrien. He sighs again.

"See you in an hour, Mari," Adrien tells her. He waves as he steps into the car. Natalie shuts the door and as the car drives away, Adrien watches as Marinette waves back then says something into her purse then strikes a confident-looking pose. Well, that is strange, Adrien thinks. I'll have to ask her about that when I see her again.