Marinette: i think im gonna dieeeee

Adrien stared down at his phone, having a difficult time processing the message.

Marinette was texting him? Marinette never texted him, unless she was asking about an assignment or something. And it was so informal too, she generally used perfect grammar when texting; capitals, punctuation, the works. And why was she going to die?

Hurriedly, Adrien picked up his phone, turning his desk chair away from the computer monitor as he typed out a text.

A: What's going on?

Adrien frowned while he waited for an answer, his heart thudding a little uncomfortably in his chest. This reaction to Marinette, while going on a month old, was no less strong or confusing.

M: just this design thing, its killing me. ive been working for 48 hours straight.

Huffing out a laugh, Adrien relaxed. So she was being dramatic, okay. He could handle that.

(He probably could have handled a real emergency too, but this was much less stressful. And she wasn't in danger this time, which was always a plus.)

The term "design thing" rang some bells, and Adrien leaned over in his chair, racking his brain for what she was alluding to.

"Oh! Right." Adrien slapped his forehead, responding once more. "From the restaurant."

M: maybe? i dont remember talking it about it then...

A: I definitely remember you bringing it up!

Adrien had had a hard time forgetting about that interaction with Marinette, everything that had happened that day glued to his mind. Learning that Marienette actually liked him (as Adrien and Chat) and considered him a friend was mind blowing, as where...other revelations that happened.

M: ive been so out of it i must have forgotten to lmao

He considered the last week or so, thinking back on Marinette's behaviour. She had been a little more absent minded than usual, and often late to class, toting around coffee and deep bags under her eyes. Was it the competition that caused her to be so tired?

A: You have seem a little zoned out lately.

"What are you doing?" Plagg had finally noticed what was going on, floating over to read the texts. "Oooh, texting your girlfriend?"

"We've talked about this before, Marinette is just a friend." Adrien insisted, though he couldn't help be feel it was a little weaker than the last time he'd said so.

"Riiiight." Plagg snickered, settling on Adrien's shoulder. "Well, better say something fast Lover Boy, looks like you offended her."

"What?" Adrien glanced back down to see Marinette's text.

M: um excuse me, r u calling me spacey?

"Crap, crap, crap." Adrien panicked, chastising himself for having been too blunt. It must have come across as rude over text.

He was quick to respond, apologizing profusely for seeming impolite.

M: im teasing ya goob, its okay :P

Adrien paused, blinking down at his phone. "Goob?"

M: do u prefer goober?

He laughed out loud, shaking his head a bit.

A: Nope, goob is fine :'D

M: thats what i thought, goob is a perfectly acceptable nickname

A: I don't know, seems a little...condescending?

M: *gasp* r u suggesting that my term of endearment is an insult? how dare

Adrien chuckled again, spinning around in his chair. Plagg was thrown off, grumbling to himself as he flew towards the bed and burrowed into the pillows. Adrien didn't pay him any mind, too focused on his conversation.

This sassy, teasing side of Marinette was so fun to talk to, and bantering back and forth felt as natural as breathing. He really needed to start texting her more often, it seemed whatever barriers they had when interacting in person completely dropped over phone. She was able to poke fun at him, and he in turn felt safe being a little goofier than he generally let himself act. Before he knew it, hours had passed and Adrien's cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing.

M: wait i just remembered i found something that made me think of us

Stopping mid text, Adrien found himself confused and a bit ...hopeful. What exactly did Marinette mean by 'us'?

A:...'us'?

M: yeah one sec

Her response was unfortunately vague, and Adrien was left waiting for whatever the "something" she'd found was.

A beat later, a link popped up in the chat, and Adrien followed it to a blog. There was a comic of a bunny and a bear there, the rabbit having prepared a "healthy dinner" for them both, only to reveal the real meal was some pizza when the bear said it had a terrible day. It was cute, style-wise and the little story it told, and it looked like the blog had a lot more. Adrien smiled as he went back into the text.

A: That's cute! Which one am I?

M: i think im the rabbit cause ~pigtails~

Adrien snorted, and agreed.

A: Obviously

M: and youre the bear cause...youre taller? and you work so hard. i just feel like thats something we'd do, y'know?

Once again, Adrien found himself at a loss. Firstly, the fact that she cared about the work he put into modeling and school and all the other stuff he was signed up for (but didn't necessarily wanted to do) was a bit shocking. She had mentioned thinking that him being able to keep up with everything was amazing back at the restaurant, right? And that was without her knowing about the whole, 'hero of Paris aspect'.

But the line, "something we'd do", was what stuck out the most to Adrien. Was she implying that they'd be in a situation some day where he'd be coming home to her having made them food? Like friends or like...partners?

Adrien couldn't help but wish it was the later, which made the guilty feeling he got whenever he thought about Marinette in that capacity rise up in his chest. She was his friend and had made it fairly clear that's all she saw him as. Besides, he had Ladybug, even if she didn't really seem to take his advances as Chat very seriously. He wasn't supposed be thinking about someone else and yet-

A: Yeah... maybe one day.

Glancing up at the clock, Adrien was amazed to find how much time had gone by. It was nearly one in the morning.

A: Sorry Marinette, but I have a photo shoot in the early in the morning so I need to head to bed. But it was nice talking with you!

M: Photo shoot?

A: Yeah, my dad's summer line is coming out soon and he wants the pictures ready for the press release. Hope your design turns out alright, though I'm sure it will cause it's yours :) good night!

(Adrien felt a little jittery adding in that last smiley face, but Marinette's response didn't seem clue him into much of anything.)

M: night...

Stretching out of his chair, his legs now half asleep, Adrien stumbled to the bathroom to get ready. He flopped into bed a bit later, knowing he was probably going to get a lecture from Nathalie for looking so tired (and his father, if he was unlucky, which considering his title...). But it was worth it, because he got to talk with a friend.

With that in mind, Adrien fell asleep with a smile.

Despite the tedious photoshoot early the next morning, Adrien still made to school a little ahead of time with a wide smile. He had read some more of those comics while sitting at the makeup station, they were able to keep him entertained while people bustled around his head with brushes and product. A couple of the more regular crew members teased him for grinning at his phone all morning, and luckily neither Nathalie nor his father caught sight of him being distracted. He had a few comics already planned to show Marinette, some that he thought she'd enjoy.

All in all, it was shaping up to be a good morning.

That was, until he couldn't find Marinette anywhere around the school. It wasn't unusual for her to be late, but he had expected to find her hanging out with Alya. When he arrived in the classroom, Alya was in her seat looking at her phone, but Marinette was nowhere in sight.

"Uh, Alya?" He called, making his way across to her desk.

"Hm?" She glanced up from her phone, looking a little out of it. "Oh, hey Adrien. What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you knew where Marinette was? I have something to show her."

Alya visibly paused, blinking and lowering her phone onto the desk in front of her. "...I haven't seen her yet this morning."

"Oh." Adrien tried not to let too much of the disappointment into his voice. "Okay."

It was silent between them as Adrien took his seat, dropping his bag (and Plagg) on the floor next to him. He traced the grain in the wood of the desk for a bit, feeling perturbed that his morning wasn't going quite as planned. He'd just wanted to show Marinette some more of those comics, but he probably wouldn't have enough time before class started.

"Oh my god Adrien, stop looking so put out." Alya said suddenly, laughing as she stood. "I'll go find her for you, okay?"

Adrien's head whipped up, fast enough that his neck smarted a little, and he gave a grimace of a smile to Alya. "Really?"

"Yes really, ya nerd," Alya waved a hand and left the classroom, muttering under her breath, "they're hopeless."

Practically vibrating in his seat, Adrien started flipping through some of the comics on his phone. He barely greeted Nino when he arrived, reaching one hand out for a fist bump and keeping his eyes on his screen. If Nino was put off by his distraction, he didn't say anything, used to Adrien being preoccupied on days of shoots.

(For once, it wasn't the photo shoot that was his mind.)

He was so engrossed in his phone that he didn't even realize Alya had returned until he heard the door squeaking shut, glancing up only to pause, because there was Marinette, looking a little red and straight at him. Adrien beamed and scrambled out of his seat, approaching her with a big smile.

"Alya found you!"

"Y-yeah!" Marinette exclaimed, looking even redder. "She said you had something t-to show me?"

With a hurried nod, Adrien pulled up his phone and started flipping back through the blog. "Yeah! I found some more comics by that artist! They're really cute, and there's some good animal puns."

"Animal puns, huh?" Marinette's nose did the most adorable little scrunchy thing as she focused on the comic Adrien presented her, her brow relaxing as she read. "Okay, that one's pretty funny."

"Which one?"

Adrien wasn't really thinking, he just wanted to be closer and see what she was looking at. Nino had told him a couple of times that he tended to get clingy when he wasn't paying attention (as an affectionate jib and not a criticism, because Nino really didn't care), but that was far from his mind as he practically curled around Marinette.

Marinette pointed out a T-Rex comic and Adrien laughed before flipping down some, "I like this one. I got a puppet! It's just so silly."

"U-um yea-ah. Uh, Adrien?"

"Yes?"

Marinette's voice sounded strangely strained and when he looked down at her, he discovered why. He was wrapped around her side, their noses almost brushing. Her face was still red, but her eyes were as bright as ever, blinking up at him in embarrassment. Adrien felt his own face go hot at their proximity and immediately pulled back slightly.

"O-oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to get into your space like that." He resisted the urge to scratch at his neck, neither of his hands were really available.

"No, it's not that!" Marinette flapped her arms. "It's just..."

She seemed to deliberate, trying to think of what to say. Adrien was patient, he was used to letting her sort out her thoughts before speaking. He knew that she had a hard time talking to him still, and whenever she did manage to figure out her next sentence, it was always worth the wait to get a look in her head.

Adrien blinked at his own thoughts. God, I'm hopeless.

"Um, I'm just glad that we could text, uh, talk? But, uh, yeah." She paused, thinking. "Oh and that I shared the comic with you. Yeah."

His grin was unprecedented when she finished, beaming down at his friend. "Me too! I really like talking to you, Marinette."

Once again, he found his arms moving without his permission as he reached out and gave her a side squeeze-thing. (Did it count as a hug? The only people he had been hugged by recently were Chloe and Marinette, though the later were significantly more enjoyable.)

Apparently it was a surprise to her, because she stiffened and squeaked in shock. Adrien let go as soon as she seemed uncomfortable, knowing he'd likely pushed the barriers of Marinette's tolerance for Adrien Interactions.

(He kept having to remind himself that they were friends, and she did like him, she just was...intimidated, maybe?)

"UH! Okay! I'm going to sit down now! For class!" Marinette slapped his arm, and holy crap did that girl have some strength hidden in her because the place she hit stung. "Good talk!"

Feeling a little bit like an employee being dismissed by an awkward boss (or maybe like himself after trying to wade through a conversation with his father...) Adrien chuckled and nodded.. "Yeah, good talk."

Marinette went to her seat and Adrien followed close behind, settling down in his bench. He waved off the odd look Nino was giving him, mouthing a 'later' as Mme Bustier walked in.

Part of the way through the lesson, Adrien glanced at his phone. Shoot, there was a comic in particular he'd wanted to share, and he'd forgot to while he had Marinette right there. He copied the link into the texting app, adding a little message as he his his phone in his lap.

A: It's us!

Adrien peeked up at Marinette, having heard her phone vibrate and waited for her reaction. Her face went through a myriad of expressions as he watched, before she peeked up at him and giggled. He grinned with a wink and turned back around.

Alya was muttering something again as he looked down at his phone, staring at Marinette's name in his contacts. It was a little bland on its own...

He pulled up the emoticon keyboard, thumbing through until he'd found the sparkle emoji. Adding that, another symbol caught his eye. Adrien clicked it with a grin and saved.

Next to Marinette's name were sparkles and a little pink umbrella.

AN:

Nino: so wat hppnd

Adrien: Marinette texted me! (=^*ω*^=)

Nino: *found out from alya what really happened* that's gr8 man...

I've found that I tend to use a lot of parenthesis when writing from Adrien's perspective, it's just kinda how I see his brain working? Let me know what you think about that, if it's annoying or if it make sense!

And that's all folks! I'm glad y'all seemed to have liked this little two-shot, it was super relaxing to write.