It's Raining Sunshine

Day 8 - Hair Down

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. The last two were long-ish (for my limits on how long I'm making these; nothing over 3,000 words -barring author's notes- unless it absolutely calls for it), so this one will be a little shorter for today. :)

It's Raining Sunshine

Day 8: Hair Down

Whenever Marinette let her hair down, Adrien always found that it stole his breath away.

Marinette with her hair down was so simple, and yet, he loved every bit of it. He loved everything about her, but when she sighed and let her hair drop from the hairstyle she had carefully tied it up in, when she let the stress of life fade away and let herself relax...

He found the world aplenty with oxygen, but it never seemed to be there when his girlfriend let down her hair.

Adrien remembered the first time he had seen her hair down. The day Love Eater and Miracle Queen had appeared, just before the afternoon when everything went sideways, he had seen Marinette's hair down. He, Kagami, and Marinette had snuck away from their bodyguards and caretakers and took to the roof pool. They had leapt into the pool, the whole space filled high with plastic balls, and they had horsed around like the stress-free teenagers they wanted to be.

Kagami, as a joke, had pulled Marinette under the surface of the ball pit, and when Marinette had come back up, Adrien had finally seen her hair down for the first time.

Marinette had been surprised, her fingers going up to touch the dark strands free from the red hair ties, blue eyes bright with sudden realization.

Air had caught in his throat, and as bright sunlight spread over raven-black locks, he let his heart speak. The words, "You look beautiful with your hair down," left his mouth with as much sincerity as he could mean.

Marinette had blushed and dove into the ballpit for her hair ties. Adrien didn't know why she had always been so shy about having her hair down, but he counted his blessings.

After nearly being caught by his bodyguard, the three of them snuck away from the hotel for ice cream at Andre's stand. He remembered trying to get ice cream for the three of them, but Marinette had backed out at the last moment.

There had been a slight hurt to her voice, something that took years for him to realize, and her nimble fingers went to her hair, ties restricting back the soft locks.

That had been the first time, but thankfully not the only time.

Near the end of their high school years, there was an end-of-the-year dance. Adrien, after realizing that maybe Marinette caused his heart to beat a little faster than it usually did, asked her out to the dance. It had taken a lot of talking to Nathalie and his father, but after Nathalie put in a little extra convincing, his father had let him attend the dance.

When Adrien had gone to pick her up from her parents' bakery, he had seen her hair down for the second time.

He still remembered the talk he had been having with her father, the topic of Super Ultimate Mecha Strike fresh on their minds, when Marinette had stepped down from her room. Adrien had heard the click of her shoes and rose from his seat, eager to look at the wonderful girl he had asked to go to a dance with.

The red of her dress, complete with well-placed black accents that reminded him of his superhero friend, swished as she stepped down the stairs. Little bows and frills ran along the hem and the straps of the dress, and as gorgeous bluebell eyes looked out from rouge-red eyeshadow with little black spots dotting her eyelids, long black hair flowed over her shoulders and framed her face like a million-dollar portrait.

Tom still ribbed him about the minute after Adrien had seen her. The boy had been so starstruck and slack-jawed that Tom had to nudge the poor boy hard in the side after trying to wave a hand in front of his face. Adrien had been thankful; he couldn't guess how long he would have taken in the sight of Marinette in her dress, the colors so perfect on her and her face so beautiful Adrien was sure that his heart hadn't beat the entire time he had stared at her.

It hadn't ended there.

He had taken her to the dance, careful to make sure that everything was perfect as he could make it for the two of them, and they had grown closer as the night had gone by. After dancing had worn out its entertainment value, the two had secluded themselves away somewhere quiet. They continued to talk, laughing and joking with each other. Adrien had learned some of Marinette's dreams, and he had told her some of his. Future plans and deep wishes gave them a moment of intimacy, and finding out that Marinette always wanted a hamster with her future family made him feel a connection to her he hadn't ever thought he'd feel with someone.

And as the music had gone down, as the party began to fade away and people began to head home for the night, Adrien had asked and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. Her long silky hair had tangled in his fingers as he cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest.

After that, she was more willing to let her hair down, and once she officially became his girlfriend...

Adrien stared down at her sleeping face, black strands running over her cheek. One of his fingers swept back the hair behind her ear, and as she pushed her head more against his shoulder, black hair dripped down his side. She snuggled tight to him, curled up under the light blue blanket they had thrown onto the new couch not three hours before.

Early evening sun illuminated the living room apartment, twilight adding serenity to the space. Pictures littered the room, some of them hung up and others leaning against the wall, the latter waiting for their turn to have a sticky adhesive placed to the frame's sides so they could join their friends on the wall. Open and closed boxes were scattered around the space, a very obvious indication that their 'moving-in' process was still not yet done.

Marinette murmured a distressed sound.

Adrien ran a gentle thumb over the left side of her forehead, sweeping back more of the soft hair. "Hey," he whispered. "It's okay, Marinette. I'm right by your side, and I won't let anything hurt you."

The frown on her face drew back to its neutral form, a long sigh leaving the sleeping girl's mouth. Adrien felt her relax against him, and as he hooked his left arm around her, he smiled. His lips pressed a gentle kiss to her hairline, and as the scent of peppermint filled his nose, he hugged Marinette tight to him.

Once she had officially become his girlfriend, her untied hair was one of the most beautiful things he loved about her, and he never failed to be taken aback by the beauty held in the simple way her hair floated down her shoulders.

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Song Inspos: "Touch It" by Ariana Grande (the "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius" version) and "Doubt" by Twenty-One Pilots. Admittedly I didn't want to include any angst songs in this collection, but I got a strong craving to listen to "Doubt" halfway through writing this, so I went with my gut and wrote to it.

Not a big fan of how this turned out, but it's done so *shrug*. I've done monthly challenges before, so I know that I'm not going to be hyped about everything I write. Nonetheless, I had a good bit of fun writing this out!

Up next... well, I'm going to be changing it up a bit. I dislike that I won't be following the exact prompt, but I think it'll be better for my mental health overall, and since 'bettering my mental health, even slightly' is the goal for this collection, I think doing something different will be better for me. We'll see how it turns out...

Until then, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed the day's chapter! :D

XD