A/N: This is just me cross posting from my AO3.

Chapter 1

The first time Marinette notices something is Catastrophically Wrong is when Adrien Agreste, apropos to nothing, confesses his love for her.

Class is just about to begin, the professor is not in yet but nearly everyone is in class, chattering and greeting each other. Marinette has her head against the desk, still blinking away last night's exhausting patrol. She debates having a talk with Chat Noir about rearranging shifts; homework is getting brutal and she is already half-dead from balancing school, bakery work, a social life, and saving Paris from evildoers.

She can see Chloe about to get up and make some sort of snide comment about her clothes or her hair or something, as per usual. Marinette's shoulders are already hunched as she braces herself for today's mockery. Seriously, does the girl have nothing better to do with her life? Alya is at her elbow, ready to defend her friend with a glare and a snappy remark but unexpectedly, Adrien beats her to it.

He was sitting quietly in front of her, stylus and tablet out, ready for the day but before Chloe can open her mouth, Adrien stands up on the bench and faces Marinette with one of the most intense stares she has ever seen on his face. Marinette startles, sitting up ramrod straight in her seat, and looks at him with wide eyes as her face slowly heats under the attention. There's something different about the look in his eyes, she notices but she can't put her finger on it. It might be because her brain is currently melting into mush.

His uncharacteristic move captures the attention of the entire class who watch them in speculation. Even Chloe can't seem to muster a retort when the school idol is acting so abnormally.

"Umm… hi?" she tries when Adrien just carries on with staring at her like he has all the time in the world. It's starting to unnerve her and she wonders if something is wrong with her. Does she have something on her face? Maybe crumbs from her breakfast? She is surreptitiously trying to wipe her cheeks when Adrien finally speaks.

"I love you, Marinette," he says softly with a heart-stopping smile forming on his face. Marinette stops breathing. For a second, she thinks he's playing a practical joke on her but the look on his face is so sincere and besotted that all she can do is think, Oh.

Then her brain shuts down, tries to reboot itself, fails, and then tries again.

The entire classroom erupts into utter pandemonium, screaming and shouting and "I knew it!" being exchanged. Before she can splutter out an answer, Adrien is leaning in, his hands braced on her desk, and pressing a kiss to her stunned lips.

Her entire head becomes a field of white as she feels Adrien's lips move gently over her own, coaxing her own to move along with him. In the background she can hear shrieking and catcalling, but they seem so far away when she closes her eyes, and begins to kiss back. Adrien's right hand comes up to cradle her cheek and tilt her head to the side a little for a better angle. It is sweet and chaste and everything she has ever wished her first kiss to be.

It is also unfortunately, the moment that the professor walks in. Madame Bustier does a full pause, foot poised in the air as she takes in the state of her classroom and the two people in the front.

"Mr. Agreste!" Madame Bustier shouts, highly scandalized. Her handful of books drops to the floor with a dull thud. Papers fly everywhere, adding to the chaos. "Unhand Ms. Dupain-Cheng this instant!"

Adrien parts from her reluctantly, slowly as if he can't be bothered to listen to the professor. When they're only a centimeter apart, he swiftly dives in again and steals another small peck from her lips before letting her go. This close, she can see the flecks of gold in his green eyes and oh wow, were they always there or did the sun just catch them at the right angle?

She is so dazed from the kiss that she doesn't notice the professor talking to her until Alya jabs her ribs with a pointed elbow to get her attention.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng, are you alright?" Madame Bustier asks over the ruckus, shocking Marinette out of her stupor. "Do I need to send Mr. Agreste to the principal's office?"

"I-I'm o-okay!" Marinette blurts out loud, red suffusing her cheeks as the rest of the class laughs at her. "Honestly, I-I'm fine. He did nothing wrong."

"Gee, I sure hope not," Adrien says with a cheeky grin. Marinette blinks owlishly at him. She doesn't know if she wants to kiss him again or punch him in the face right now. The two extremes should probably worry her.

"This is outrageous!" Chloe screeches, shrill voice cutting through the chatter as she throws her hands up in the air. "That little witch is seducing poor Adrien! I demand justice! Send her to the principal's office! No, expel her from school right this second!"

Immediately the whole class explodes again, protesting and trying to defend Marinette in turns. Alya makes herself the loudest of all, shooting up and throwing such a dirty glare at the blonde girl that Marinette has to physically pull her friend back into her seat before she throws something a little more drastic her way. Which is why her hands are full when Adrien turns to Chloe instead and joins in the tirade.

"Back off, Chloe!" Adrien snaps angrily, a poisonous look on his face daring her to say anything more. The entire class stops, quiet as a pin. "Marinette is not a witch and she didn't do anything wrong! I have had enough of you picking on Marinette! Seriously, what is your problem?"

Chloe gapes at him. She's not the only one.

Marinette does a double take as does everyone in the room including the professor. She has never seen Adrien look or act like that ever. He's always been the gentle, considerate one who was able to tolerate Chloe at her worst when no one else could. For one brief moment she thinks an akuma has taken over Adrien's body but then he turns and looks at her with such apologetic emerald eyes that the thought leaves her mind entirely.

"That is enough!" Madame Bustier barks, slamming her hands on top of her lectern. "Everyone sit down! Mr. Agreste, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, and Ms. Bourgeois, to the principal's office now."

Chloe tries to wail about the indignity of this but Madame Bustier shuts her down with a sharp look and a raised finger toward the door. When her tears don't work, she runs toward Adrien and attempts to snag his arm to garner his sympathy, but he shakes her off and pins her with a nasty scowl.

Chloe flinches and doesn't try again, holding her head up high in disdain as she walks out the door.

"Come on, Marinette," Adrien turns around, holding out his hand for her. She stares at it in confusion, absently wondering what he wants when he chuckles and slips his hand into her own grasping it tight.

She's in a dream right now. That is what's happening to her. She can't think of any other explanation. There is no way Adrien Agreste would be holding her hand and pulling her out the door like they're two crazy kids in love. Except when she pinches herself, it hurts, and Adrien is still staring at her like she's his entire world. She thinks she can live happily with just that look.

"I'm sorry about this," Marinette whispers as they walk to the principal's office hand in hand. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"It wasn't your fault," Adrien whispers back with a small smile. "It was all mine. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you. I'm sorry about getting you sent to the principal's office but I am definitely not sorry about kissing you. It was totally worth it."

He audaciously winks at her and laughs in delight when she blushes bright red.

The boy wants to kill her. Of course he does.

None of them are suspended or punished, thank goodness. With convincing on both Adrien's and Chloe's parts, they are let off with only a stern warning. Chloe had originally rallied for Marinette to be suspended at the very least but Adrien had quickly responded with the fact that he was the one who started the commotion and if Marinette was to be suspended then he should be too. After that, Chloe had been cornered and if the stunned look on her face was anything to go by, she knew it too. The last thing Chloe wanted was to upset her crush by getting him suspended from the school and she reluctantly backed down.

Marinette counts this as a win and goes through the rest of the day on autopilot. There are no more outbursts during class time but any moment Adrien catches her eye, he smiles fondly at her which makes her quickly turn her attention back to the professor with single minded focus. It still does nothing to stop the racing thoughts running rampant in her brain. Marinette feels like she will pass out at any moment just from the amount of blood rushing to her face any time she thinks too hard about it.

She is almost thankful that the day is over and she can catch a break at home. Maybe stuff her head under a pillow and roll around in her bed while she screams in happiness. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

Alya and Marinette have study hall as the last period of the day, the only class she does not share with Adrien, leaving Alya with plenty of time to send her knowing looks over her textbook and pester her for a play-by-play of what went down in the principal's office.

"I still can't believe Chloe would toss you under the bus like that!" Alya snarls indignantly, shoving her books into her backpack with a touch more force than necessary as the bell rings.

"It's Chloe, what can you expect?" Marinette sighs, slipping her pens into her case, "The girl has it in for me. There's nothing I can really do about it."

"Still, it was pretty satisfying watching Adrien tear her a new one," her friend smirks and walks ahead of Marinette out the door. "I think everyone in class has been waiting for that to happen, as weird as it was."

"It was kind of strange," her tone pensive. It was more than strange if Marinette had been thinking straight during the whole debacle but she passes it off as nothing. Everyone had their tolerance level. Evidently, Adrien had reached his.

They're walking outside when Alya elbows her in the side and surreptitiously points to her left.

"Don't look now but your lover boy is headed our way," Alya whispers slyly in her ear. The look in her friend's eyes is Pure Plan Mode. Marinette does not like Pure Plan Mode. Pure Plan Mode tends to land her in embarrassing and awkward situations.

"Marinette!" Adrien shouts to get her attention. She turns around, watching him racing down the steps toward her. "Hey, Marinette!" He stops right in front of her, breathless and glowing brightly with happiness. "Where are you going?"

"O-Oh!" she stammers shyly, looking to her friend for help. If there was ever a time for that power of friendship psychic bond to kick in… "Umm, I-I was going to walk home with Alya."

"Go," Luckily Alya seems to get the hint, pushing her closer to Adrien and jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. "I'll walk home with Nino instead. You two love birds enjoy yourselves!"

She runs in the other direction to catch up with their classmate, leaving Marinette and Adrien alone. Her eyes slide back to him unsurely as her fingers grip tightly around her handbag. She doesn't know what to say or if she can even say anything without stuttering like a fool but luckily he starts first.

"Do you want to hang out for a little while before you head back?" Adrien asks, rubbing the back of his neck while shooting her a hopeful look.

She can hardly believe her ears.

"Y-Yes!" she blurts out loud before faltering as soon as she remembers what day it is, "But uhh, I actually can't today. I have to help out at my parent's bakery since it's Friday." She has never regretted anything more than this moment in her entire life. "I'm really sorry… Maybe some other time?"

"Oh," he wilts visibly then perks right back up. "Then can I come and help? I've never tried baking before but I can be an extra set of hands if you need someone to help carry and lift stuff?"

Marinette blinks at him. There is no way a teenage boy would willingly spend an afternoon working when there are clearly better things to do after school. Adrien is obviously a masochist or (and this is the scary part) truly ass over tea kettle in love with her.

"Are you sure?" Marinette asks, hesitantly. "It's pretty boring and tiring work. You don't have to help out if you don't want to. We can always hang out some other time."

He shrugs noncommittedly and smiles, "How can it be boring if I'm with you?"

Sweet baby cheesecakes, Marinette thinks with a growing sense of dread, he needed to be stopped before her heart burst out of her chest. Paris' number one superheroine, done in by the Agreste charm where villains and evildoers had failed. Alya would have a field day on the Ladyblog.

"Alright then," she agrees tentatively, "If I'm not keeping you from anything."

"You're not," he assures her wholeheartedly, looking far too overjoyed at a potential afternoon of being put to work, "And even if you were, nothing is more important than you."

She buries her face in her hands, "You have to stop."

"Stop what?" Adrien asks, amused like he doesn't know exactly what he's doing to her. In the past few hours they've been interacting, Marinette is learning a lot about her crush. Like how he enjoys teasing her and figuring out how many times he can embarrass her before she passes out. On purpose. Super fun on her end.

He gently pries her hands off her face, holding them in his as he presses a small kiss to her knuckles.

"Stop it with the cheesy pickup lines," she clarifies, the tips of her ears burning. "And the sweet gestures."

She tries to pull her hands away but Adrien tightens his grip.

"They're not cheesy if they're completely true," he sings way too exuberantly, pulling her toward the direction of her house. "Now, come on. Pastries wait for no one!"

Marinette is not sure her heart can last through the night at this rate.

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