She remembers it like that note that they probably should dig back up again and rehang on the wall. 'Do you want to be friends? I heard you singing, 'Count On Me,' earlier, and it's a really good song. Have you heard it in English, yet?' Just like that, her world changed completely with big, blocky letters and a stick figure drawing that he had to have worked hard on for her.

He was never the artist of the two of them or at least not in that way though she saw his art take life in sound and in video, in words that still stopped her short. They were young then though, and so it didn't matter that she didn't know what he'd become to her. Marinette had never been the dive head first into the unknown type of girl before, and so as a kid, she saw a friend, someone to hopefully, 'count on.'

"Hey, Mari." He smiled where he sat next to her, "Do you think the new girl's cute?" Being eleven years old meant a lot of new things and right now, it meant picking up the pieces of her temporarily shattered heart.

"No...?" She couldn't help her answer, half ridden on the jealousy stinging her even though it probably was completely uncalled for, and yet she had no idea that the 'new girl' would become one of her best friends or even bridesmaid at her wedding. She just wasn't there yet as right now, Nino had a crush, a girl that he liked more than her, and with everything, she kind of wanted to pull him back and far away from it.

Just, 'You Belong With Me,' which was a newer song lately made her heart ache and tumble, reminded her of Nino so completely even though there were differences and Alya wasn't Chloe which Marinette would have despised the feelings that Nino had more if she was. Nino wasn't trying to abandon her; he was just making new friends with a 'cute' girl.

'Boyfriend,' though would be her song that she aspired to. No jealousy, just understanding and patience. Marinette didn't much feel like patience right now. It clogged and irritated her, so she'd wait it out with fear and jealousy and sometimes unresolved anger.

Hopefully, Nino will help her pull through. He's always been her best friend, and even now, all that she wants to do is hang out with him, play old games, listen to music, and laugh over the funny things that he sent her way. He was way better at finding silly things than she'd ever been anyway. She was used to her dad's puns or the kinds of jokes that she didn't find funny, but it was what it was.

Nino's her best friend even if sometimes she was positive that he lit up her whole world with the steadiness of the moon's glow, because the sun was blinding to look at and the moon brought peace. Nino brought peace and cheer, and it never hurt to meet his eyes and wonder if she could actually melt into goo whenever his brown-gold eyes met her vivid blue. It felt like it sometimes, and that was why sometimes it was easier to listen to these songs, calm herself down and try to forget why gold always looked better with even a smidgen of brown in her eyes.

"So now you like the new kid?" Nino asked her, and Marinette shook her head.

"Not the same new kid. That would be gross, but have you seen Adrien? He's gorgeous and so, so sweet. Like, his green eyes remind me of how endless the world really is and his blond hair looks so gently kissed by the sun and..." Marinette rambled, temporarily forgetting how brown still caught her breath and stole her voice away sometimes. If Nino could spend time with Alya, having liked her before, then Marinette can have her own crush. Nino didn't change that.

Nevermind the fact that Alya and Nino had dated for like a day before discovering that they weren't 'made for each other' in their words, mostly Alya's actually, because Marinette had surprisingly become quite good friends with her.

Alya was no Nino anyway; she didn't make Marinette stare into brown and wonder if it was okay to never look away, she didn't remind her of music or old favorite memories, and she definitely didn't make her head feel all woozy if she stared too long. Alya didn't tend to stare anyway, sometimes she prodded though, not always by poking you, sometimes with words or a quick, calculating glance before she looked away.

Marinette had slowly gotten used to all that, and still wasn't completely sure why her childhood friend broke up with the girl that he'd had his first 'real' crush or at least the phrase that was starting to make more sense to her now. 'Kiddy crushes' were different anyway.

Nevermind the fact that Marinette listened to 'I'm So In Love With Two' now even though she was starting to think that she was much too old for that song anyway.

Adrien was a bust anyway. He made a good friend, but sometimes his jokes were absolutely awful, and Nino sent along any memes to her before Adrien could. He was her used to be crush, but it was weird that Nino's eyes still melted her heart and that she was positive that she'd started mixing dark blue with hints of brown in some of her designs, in particular the color of Nino's favorite shirt and the color of his skin. They just looked so pretty together.

Honestly, her old Adrien pictures were replaced with sketches upon sketches of brown and blue outfits or brown and red, because Nino's ballcap could catch her eye in even the largest, most filled to the brim crowds in existence and something about it sparked something within her.

"So you wanted a suit for the party?" Marinette asked as she glanced over at her best friend and sent a playful grin his way.

"Not a suit exactly." Nino looked awkward and unsure of himself, "Just something comfortable that would look good on me."

"Dark colors, nothing too light or the lights that Alya's planning will sabotage you." She muttered, "Do you want me to do a fitting for you, just to make sure that it fits right whatever it ends up being?"

"Uh, is that normal for things like this, Marinette?" Nino took a deep breath and gulped, "I kind of am not sure that I want to go through anything like that."

"It would let me run a few designs by you, see what looks best, and what you feel most comfortable with." Marinette admitted, "It's preferred."

"Do I have to change in here for it?" Nino asked, face turning bright red, highlighting his skin in a way that Marinette just wanted to stare into forever. Something about it made her heart buzz and her head spin, almost like his skin had its own gravitational force and was pulling her into it.

"No, you could use the bathroom to change or I could leave the room." Marinette admitted, her own face turning pink though now the thought of Nino changing into 'her' clothes in her room made her mind wander and her belly woozy too.

"O-Okay." She was absolutely positive that her expression was written all over her face and that it made Nino a little more awkward too. Darn it. She'd been wanting to impress her childhood friend with how much her designs had really improved lately and with how serious she could be and yet a few questions could unravel her so easily.

"A-Alright, so do you want me to design button ups or..?" She wanted to make sure that she was on the right path though red still haunted her regarding her childhood friend.

"Anything, just not too fancy, is fine." Nino smiled, and despite all of that, he had no idea that he'd opened up endless possibilities for her or that it would take a little while to narrow down to a few personal favorites.

Her eyes flickered over to him, and she caught sight of his ballcap again. Great, 'Seeing Red,' was probably her song right now, because every flash of red could very well remind her of her childhood friend's favorite hat, the one that drew attention to him like a moth to a flame.

Just, what wasn't to love about how striking it looked against him?

She blamed her designs being on her childhood friend and how lightheaded and yet proud that made her later. Seeing Nino in a black button up that she'd carefully designed to fit lightly around his neck, so that it didn't irritate him. One of the few reasons that suits weren't really his specialty apparently which he'd discovered from a wedding or two back that he'd had to go to to support some distant cousins.

The red on the button up swirled and practically came to life, and she couldn't help that her eyes wandered up it, past its maximum height, and to Nino's neck, wondering if she rested her hands there if it felt hot from his heartbeat or if she would be allowed to gently kiss it and know if his neck ever blushed.

It was awkward as she'd worried about and yet when they danced close like couples sort of do, and instinct sprouted up, she kissed the space between his neck and his cheek, just a light peck. She hadn't realized at first that fantasy met reality until Nino froze with her in his arms, and she came around to realize how close they were.

'You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This,' might as well have been playing on the radio for how hard her heart pounded and for all of her hopes. She just never expected Nino to pull her closer and for him to leave a small, shy kiss to her right cheek. Marinette wondered if it was still possible to breathe once your childhood friend that you kind of sort of like kisses your cheek when he's never done that before.

She decided that it really, really wasn't possible to breathe when that happens, but it is, it is, possible to smile all night from it.

"So, Nino Lahiffe, do I get the chance to have this dance?" Marinette couldn't help asking, a lot braver and bolder than when she was younger.

"You could have had it when you walked down the aisle, Marinette. You did well." Nino's bright eyed smile reminded her of just how long she'd worked on her dress and on his suit. She'd made a ruffly, wedding dress with a long bow tied at the back, remniscient of ladybug wings. She'd came to really admire their symbol and power of luck.

Marinette would call herself lucky for meeting someone like Nino and falling so hopelessly in love with him. He reminded her everyday somehow of how utterly perfect this was with all of its little imperfections.

Just walking down the aisle earlier and seeing Nino in his suit, designed so that the neck of it wouldn't irritate his neck, and showing just a hint of his neck, reminding her of that first dance and all that she'd always longed for. His suit was black and somehow that just made his skin so much prettier, light compared to the black suit, but yet still much darker than her own much paler skin. It was beautiful, and he wore a white undershirt that reminded her of how gorgeously dark and yet almost bright his eyes were. His black bowtie had stood out against his neck when he stood at the altar waiting for her, but now had mysteriously disappeared, probably in his pocket, to give him more breathing room.

He still looked absolutely gorgeous to her, and not 'too' fancy as he was never the sort for overly fancy events. Though he'd almost hired a DJ for their wedding when he realized that he couldn't very well DJ his own wedding and still stand and watch her arrive.

They'd compromised with a live band that right now played an absolutely perfect song for a man that preferred DJing over so much as stepping on the dance floor with the intention of dancing, a song that reminded her so much of their first dance together as a couple somehow. 'I Don't Dance,' filled the room as Marinette Lahiffe looked into her husband's eyes and fell again so much deeper for him.

Every day seemed to be a new chance for her to fall in love with him all over again, and she'd take it a hundred times over especially as she rested her hands not far from his neck and remembered that first, awkward, impossible kiss how close it was as her hand absentmindedly traced out the spot, bringing a blush to her husband's face as they both remembered that day.