MiraculElse #16: A Little Promise I'd Made Myself

by DFC

(Timeframe: Post-Season 3 finales. Also New Year's Eve. Paste those two somewhat contradictory times together in your head by whatever means are necessary.)

The crowd of people all around Adrien Agreste was loud and raucous... or at least as loud as a group of young teenagers at one of their parents' houses felt like they could get away with.

"TWENTY MINUTES to New Year's!" someone shouted; it sounded like Kim to Adrien. He peered over in that direction as best he could, and caught a glimpse of Kim on the stairwell, a cup of punch in one hand and the other arm wrapped around Ondine, who was giggling.

Now, there's a couple, Adrien grinned. Ever since those two got together, we've needed a crowbar to pry them apart whenever we all go somewhere.

Idly, he scanned the room and noted how many of his classmates had also paired up in the time he'd known them. Nino and Alya, of course... whom, if he knew them as well as he thought he did, were probably in search of a dark corner or other private place for snuggle time. Mylène and Ivan, Nathaniel and Marc, Juleka and Rose... and judging by the closeness of many of the other people at the party whom he didn't know, the spirit seemed contagious. Even Sabrina was being chatted up by a tall, thin boy Adrien didn't recognize, somewhat oblivious to the stares that Chloé was giving her while trying to seize the boy's attention herself.

Chloé, you will never change, thought Adrien. You have so much in your life. But for you, it's rarely the having; it's almost always the getting.

He ducked down, trying to stay out of Chloé's line of sight. Midnight was approaching, and while Adrien didn't feel like making a big deal out of sharing a kiss at the moment the new year arrived, he knew that she would, and she was likely to make a big production number out of it.

Not my thing right now, he mused. I'm solo tonight... and I don't know quite where I stand with that.

To his right, he saw Max and a couple of other kids playing video games on the television. Max finished destroying his opponent and caught Adrien's eye, and beckoned him over to be the next challenger.

Adrien started to move, then saw someone else off to his left... and stopped in his tracks.

Max saw Adrien's hesitation, looked in the direction Adrien was staring... and when Adrien turned back his way, waved him off with a grin and his finger pointing in that direction.

With a laugh, Adrien waved back at Max, then started walking over to the far side of the room.

Deep breath.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng centered herself mentally, forcing herself to relax. Only a half-hour or so to go, and you can make a discreet exit...

It wasn't that she wasn't having a decent time at Rose's New Year's Eve party... more than she simply felt exhausted, mentally as well as physically. The events with Master Fu had stung her tremendously; he hadn't been a constant presence in her life, but he had been a steadying one, and his absence from Paris left a mentor-shaped hole in her existence. Becoming the new Guardian carried with it a huge set of new responsibilities, right at a time when she felt that she was already juggling five or six plates in the air. Her quest for Adrien's heart had ended... well, it hadn't exactly ended entirely, had it? But with Adrien seemingly growing cozier with Kagami by the day, it was on hold at best.

And her parents and friends were certainly good to her... but there were elements of all of the above that she couldn't talk about with them, and others that she simply didn't want to.

So, here she was, tucked into the corner of a couch at the Lavillants' house, watching her friends and lots of other people mingling, laughing, cuddling and partying... as she counted down the minutes to when she felt comfortable making an excuse and heading for home.

Juleka and Rose went hustling by... only for Rose to stop and double back to check on her. "Hey," she smiled. "Are you all right? Anything we can get you?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Marinette smiled back.

"Are you sure? You look kind of... well... not into it," noted Juleka. "Someone in particular you're missing?"

"Gee, I wonder who?" grinned Marinette, getting a giggle from all three of them. "I had thought about asking Luka to come with me tonight, but when I heard him say that he had another party to go to, I figured I wouldn't push it. He has other friends that he ought to spend time with."

"I'm pretty sure that he thought about asking you to that one," Juleka ventured. "But he said that he didn't want to pull you away from your close friends, and he'd call you tomorrow."

"Good."

Juleka stared at Marinette's smile, trying to divine whether that was a That would be nice "good" or a Please, please, please let that happen "good" or a Whatever "good." It seemed like the first one; happy, but noncommittal.

"Well... we're just making the rounds again, so... have a good time, okay?" Rose bubbled. "They're playing video games over there, karaoke's over that way, there's lots of food and punch... or if there's anything else we can do..."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Marinette assured her. "Go, I'll be here if you need me."

The pair moved on through the bustling party, leaving Marinette alone with her thoughts for the moment. That solitude, however, was only momentary.

"Is this seat taken?" said a voice from just behind her.

Adrien watched Marinette's head whirl around to face him. "Oh! Hello, Adrien. No, it isn't," she told him, to which he circled around the couch and sat down on the other side of it.

"Hey. I'm glad to see you tonight," Adrien began. "Can I get you anything? Some punch, maybe?"

"I've got some," Marinette replied, gesturing to the cup on the table next to her. "But thank you for asking."

"Ah. Good," said Adrien, a little awkwardly. "So..."

"...So," Marinette agreed.

They both smiled, but Adrien felt a strong need to fill the silence before it multiplied. "Having a good time tonight?" he asked her.

"I guess so," said Marinette. "I am, but, um... I don't always know what to do with myself at parties like this, you know? There are things to do, plenty of people to talk to, but I'm just not feeling extra-social lately. So I'm kind of sitting here and taking it all in."

"I completely get that," replied Adrien. "I'm more of a hide-in-a-corner than center-of-attention guy myself at parties like this."

Marinette shot him a quizzical look.

"I mean, I'm used to being in the middle of things. My father sees to that. That doesn't mean that I have to like it," Adrien explained. "I'd rather just spend time with one person and talk than bounce back and forth between dozens."

He gave her a grin carefully gauged to say And that's why I'm here now without words.

"No Kagami tonight?" asked Marinette, carefully.

"No, she has a family party tonight," Adrien answered her. "Her extended family does something every year, and she couldn't get away from it. She wanted to be here."

"I'm sure she did," said Marinette, reaching for her punch. "I would have liked to have seen her tonight."

"You're one of the people she'd mentioned," Adrien added. "Definitely."

Inside, Marinette struggled for the right words. There were things that she wanted to know, things that she didn't want to know but had to know, and things that she didn't want to get caught asking out loud.

"How are the two of you doing?" she phrased her question. "I'd talked with her a little bit the other day; she seemed really happy, but she said things were still kind of stop-and-go...?"

"Yeah," Adrien replied, a bit nervously. "She's great. I'm the holdup there, not her. We might have been exclusive already if I hadn't..."

"...Hadn't what?" asked Marinette, the words springing out of her.

"I still have a lot of doubts. Not about her; she's wonderful. About me," admitted Adrien. "If I'm ready for a serious relationship. If I even know how. If she's the right person for it."

His eyes widened while watching hers, and she wondered just how startled she was allowing herself to look. "...What?" he worried aloud.

"It's... it's nothing," stammered Marinette. "It's just that... well, I know just how interested she is in you. There can't be any doubt there."

"Oh, there isn't," Adrien assured her. "And we have had some... steps in that direction... that were promising. But I'm still figuring out whether or not it feels right before I dive into a commitment. Going start-and-stop would hurt more than not trying it at all, I'm sure."

"Yeah. Best to be cautious," Marinette agreed.

"And... um... Kagami isn't the only possibility in my mind. Maybe."

Adrien watched as Marinette's brain abruptly entered a reboot cycle. Five seconds passed... then ten...

"There's this girl that I know," Adrien ventured. "Someone very special to me. Someone whom I should have noticed a certain way a long time ago... I'm not sure if she's interested. She might've been, once, but I wasn't sure at the time. And even though she'd said... ah, I'm babbling. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Adrien," Marinette said, a little bit absently. "Maybe it'll work out."

"I kind of think that she might be with someone else now, anyway," said Adrien, staring at his drink cup.

"That seems to be happening a lot lately," replied Marinette, with something of a smile.

"So... is Luka here tonight?" asked Adrien, trying not to make the segue blatantly obvious.

"Hmm? Oh! No, he isn't," Marinette answered, pulling her head back into the game. "He's at another party tonight."

"Really?" exclaimed Adrien. "He didn't-"

"FIVE MINUTES!" shouted a voice, with a round of cheers from around the room in response.

"He, uh, he didn't want to be here with you tonight? On New Year's Eve?" Adrien finished his thought.

"Why would..."

Marinette caught herself.

"Oh... it's not a big deal. We're not... we're kind of... it's not a real..." stammered Marinette.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," said Adrien, looking concerned.

"It's fine! It really isn't a... big deal. He's sweet, he's interested, but I'm just not sure if I'm... mentally ready yet," she mumbled. "Kind of like what you said. There's someone else who's been in my thoughts... who's owned my thoughts more than he knows. But I don't know that there's anything there, and I know he has someone else."

"I'm sorry about that," Adrien told her, his curiosity rising. "If there's anything I can do..."

Interesting. So she's NOT with Luka yet.

She did tell me once that she'd had her heart broken, the night I came to her balcony as Chat Noir... Good lord, she's turning crimson! I must be embarrassing the heck out of her.

Change the subject, fast!

Marinette felt a rush of blood coming to her face and fought to suppress it, then wrestled the urge to turn away.

You're being ridiculous, she told herself. Now you know that even if he and Kagami aren't a thing quite yet, there's someone ELSE he's interested in. Haven't you spent long enough blushing and stammering around him?

And yet...

Marinette watched Adrien's face as he spoke, searching it for clues, and found herself catching her breath. I could almost swear that he's looking at me... THAT way tonight.

Like I'm a GIRL. Not just his friend.

Am I dreaming this?

"Uh..." Adrien stammered, his hand going behind his head by reflex.

Am I making HIM nervous? she wondered.

"Got any good New Year's resolutions?" he managed, finally.

"Oh," Marinette replied, "a couple! I need to work on a few things. I need to reorganize some things in my life, make them easier for me to manage. I need to be more... courageous, more ready to make decisions. And one thing I have learned over the past year is that I need to be more honest."

Adrien nearly spilled his drink. "You? More honest?" he sputtered, incredulously. "Marinette, you might be the most honest person I know. You hate liars."

Marinette stared down at her feet. "Usually," she mumbled. "But sometimes even I have weak spots. Things that I just can't say."

She looked up as Alya and Nino approached them, ready to join the conversation; Alya looked at Marinette, then at Adrien, then at Marinette again and stepped aside, whisking Nino just out of potential interruption range.

"Like what?" asked Adrien. His eyes seemed kind, as usual. "Look, Marinette... you've been a really good friend to me this year, and I want to make sure that I'm returning the favor. If you ever want to talk about things... or even, you know, just come and hang out... or we could get together somewhere else..."

"I would like that very much," Marinette half-smiled. "But where is that coming from, all of a sudden?"

"You're not someone that I like seeing in distress," Adrien said. "Not when, maybe, I can help."

She was at a loss for words.

"ONE MINUTE!" bellowed Kim, and the partygoers began counting it down aloud. "Find someone to kiss, pronto!"

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other, and both giggled nervously.

"I suppose that you'd better hide," Marinette suggested. "Otherwise you-know-who will be pouncing on you."

"Not if I've got someone picked out first," said Adrien, softly. He stood up and extended his hand to Marinette, who froze in place.

As if in a dream, she reached up and put her hand in his, allowing him to help her to a standing position next to him.

"Marinette..." he began.

"THIRTY SECONDS!"

"In the time I've known you, you've been an amazing blessing in my life," Adrien told her. "You've brought me more good fortune than anyone else I know. I can't think of anyone else to whom I'd trust this new year, to help me make it a good one."

"You're serious?" stammered Marinette.

"TEN... NINE... EIGHT..."

"I won't bite. I promise," Adrien smiled.

There was a high-pitched screech from across the room, presumably Chloé glimpsing what was about to happen, but both of them ignored it.

I told myself that I would be more honest.

"SEVEN... SIX... FIVE... FOUR..."

That I would find my courage.

"THREE... TWO..."

Let's see if I was lying to myself. Just this one time.

"ONE..."

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the room roared as one.

Adrien leaned down and in, took Marinette into his embrace, and...

It was as if he'd stepped on a high-voltage line.

Maybe it was that he was even more emotionally invested in this kiss than he suspected he was. That Marinette's frequent presence in his thoughts and dreams was more significant than he'd realized.

Maybe it was the rush of the moment, the excitement of being in this crowd at the party, the thrill of his first New Year's kiss. One of his first kisses ever with someone who seemed to mean it and want it. His first kiss ever with Marinette... something that he had to admit that he'd pictured in his brain more than once.

Maybe it was that the girl in his arms was absolutely magical.

That she was pouring every ounce of her heart and soul, every emotion she'd ever nurtured, every longing, every craving, every bit of need in her young body into one soft, searching, endless kiss that she might never find the courage to give him again. That he could feel just how deeply she was invested in this moment, this kiss, this expression. That he sensed her going up on her tiptoes, squeezing him just right, entrusting her soul to his care.

I'm falling... but you'll catch me, her kiss told him, without any doubt. I know you will.

But as "Auld Lang Syne" rang out from the television and the radio, the kiss grew and grew. It refused to stop. The more Marinette gave, the more he needed. The more he needed, the more passion he brought to his side of it. The more he responded, the more she felt it and redoubled her own intensity.

It rose and fell, one taking the lead, then the other, back and forth.

It blotted out everything else in the room.

In the city of Paris.

In their entire world.

Marinette opened her eyes.

Adrien's were still closed for another few seconds, a look of bliss and astonishment all over his face. He opened them, very slowly.

"Whoa...!" gasped Nino, a short distance away.

Marinette turned her head and saw a small army of her friends staring at her and Adrien, a mixture of delight and dropped jaws. She dropped down off her tiptoes and felt a familiar blush take over... but she didn't let go. Her arms slid from around Adrien and down his arms until each held the other's forearms lightly.

"I..." Marinette managed, trailing off.

"Wow," Adrien marveled, visibly overwhelmed. "I... don't know what to... wow."

He watched Marinette's eyes fill with tears, and she sank down against his chest, his arms wrapping around her instinctively.

"Marinette... what's wrong?" he asked her, urgently. "I'm so sorry if I-"

"Adrien..." she whispered. "I have wanted to do that for a very, very long time."

"I do NOT believe-" Chloé began, then yelped loudly as Ivan picked her up and gently carried her a safer distance away from what was happening.

"I told you that I didn't. That I was just a fan, I just loved fashion, I was p-playing around in the museum, I hadn't been falling for you for m-months," she whimpered. "I lied to you. I'm so, so sorry, Adrien, and now I waited too long and you're with Kagami and I just screwed EVERYTHING up..."

Alya and Nino watched Adrien, holding their breath, as he went through a year's worth of mental processing in a matter of seconds.

"...But I just had to do that, do it right, show you how much I meant it, just once. I had to. I had to. I'm sorry."

"Marinette?"

She felt a soft hand reach down to her face and, very gently, guide her so that she was looking up into Adrien's.

"I'm not."

"Wh-what?" Marinette managed.

"I'm not sorry that you kissed me," Adrien breathed. "I might be sorry that you waited so long to do it."

Marinette wiped her eyes with one hand. "You mean that?" she asked, hopefully.

"Let me ask you this. Was I kissing you back?" grinned Adrien.

"...Yes!" prompted Alya, when Marinette didn't immediately respond. "Just a little bit!"

"I think I should've taken notes," agreed Nino. "Can you show us that again?"

"What, in front of everybody?" blushed Marinette.

"Like the first one was?" countered Alya. "For, like, three whole minutes?"

"Now, I can't speak for Marinette... but I think that might've been a special New Year's kiss. One of those once-a-year special events," Adrien reasoned.

"You are kidding us, right?" Rose interjected, pulling Juleka over. "They finally kissed and we missed it?"

"And by my watch," continued Adrien with a grin, "the next stroke of midnight will be in about fifty-some minutes. In England, I think. So if Marinette is willing... maybe we can put on the next show then?"

"I... might be," Marinette giggled. "If I'm properly motivated."

"Oh, no, you don't! We're not waiting that long! Come on, everybody!" shouted Rose.

Marinette melted into Adrien's arms once more as the crowd started counting, "TEN, NINE, EIGHT..."

~fin~