Love Potion No. 2

Chapter 2. I will make you fall in love

Adrien woke up rested and invigorated, despite having slept for only four hours. He had a plan to bring into motion and he was determined to do it as soon as possible. The boy secured the vial with the love potion in his bag, wrapping it in a scarf for good measure before putting it inside a camembert box.

'You are not touching that,' he waved a warning finger in front of Plagg's face earning an indignant splutter. 'Don't you think I've forgotten about Chloé's bracelet.'

The kwami gasped and pouted at Adrien's snicker. 'This was totally uncalled for,' Plagg raised his chin and flew to hide on the other side of the bag, muttering something under his breath.

The boy shrugged and continued with his plan for the day. First stop - the Dupain-Cheng's bakery. He bowed respectfully to Madame Cheng, who greeted him when he entered. She invited him to look around, while she slipped through the backdoor.

Adrien was suddenly relieved he left the house after breakfast or he would probably dehydrate due to drooling. Breads, bread rolls and pastries, accompanied by a fresh coffee aroma filled the boy's nose and he froze, eyeing the merchandise, tastefully (no joke, he could almost feel the taste on his tongue) displayed on shelves and the countertop.

'Good morning, Adrien,' Monsieur Dupain called from the backdoor. He brought a fresh batch of bread rolls and the boy couldn't help but to inhale the delicious smell.

'Good morning, sir,' he replied, trying to regain control of his taste buds. His mouth was already watering.

'You're here to see Marinette?' the baker asked, curling his mustache.

'No!' the boy exclaimed, but instantly backpedaled as he realized it might have sounded offensive. His face started burning, as he flailed. 'I mean errrrr…. yes!? I-'

'Don't worry, son,' the man chuckled goodnaturedly. 'I think you know by now that she's not a morning person. I bet she's still asleep.'

Adrien released a nervous laugh. He knew Marinette was usually running late and appeared at school at the very last minute, but he felt it would be impolite for him to comment on that. Parents had teasing privileges, ones that he could only hope to earn one day. Though teasing Marinette would probably be quite funny. Woah, where had that thought come from?

'That's okay, sir,' the boy put on his model smile to mask his confusion. 'I'll see her at school.'

'Let's hope you will,' the baker sighed dramatically. 'If my princess wakes up on time.'

'Your p-princess?' Adrien choked on his own spit (which was still freshly delivered to his mouth courtesy of all those wonderful smells).

'Should have named her Aurora,' Monsieur Dupain winked, 'though she looks more like Snow White, don't you think?'

'Maybe keep her away from apples, just in case,' the boy shot back and then covered his mouth as his ears caught up with his tongue.

'Hahah!' Marinette's father clasped his hands, amused with his reply. 'Handsome and witty. Son, you better watch that mouth of yours.' He patted Adrien over the shoulder. 'Now, what can I get you?'

'Kid, I'm telling you for the last time, don't do this,' Plagg hissed from his strategic hideout behind Adrien's collar.

The boy licked his fingers, ignoring the kwami's plea. 'Want some apple pie, no love potion guaranteed?' He grinned.

'Cheese is less trouble,' the kwami muttered and zipped discreetly to his holder's bag.

Adrien returned to cutting the pie that he chose with Monsieur Dupain's help. He could feel the weight of the vial in his pocket. Soon he'd find out if the potion was as real as he thought and then… the road to his Lady's heart would open wide.

In the meantime he arranged the pieces of the treat on a plate. He wasn't stupid, he intended to spice up only those two bits intended for Chloé and Nathaniel. He made a round to offer some pie to the students, who were already in classroom, when the redhead appeared and dragged his feet to the last row.

Adrien followed him and engaged in a light chat about Nathaniel's favorite comic artists. He purposefully stayed at the back, knowing full well that Chloé would come to him anyway, and he needed to ensure they would be the first people they see after they ate the special pie.

Sure enough, soon Chloé strutted into the classroom and narrowed her eyes at the sight of joyous apple pie consumption.

'Ew, disgusting apple pie,' she drawled in her typical nasal complain. 'Why are you eating that,' she scrunched her nose and Alix made a face at her, generously sprinkling her bench with crumbles.

Chloé decided to ignore her, turning to the rest of the class. She spotted Adrien at the back and launched herself at him.

'Oh, Adrikins!' she shrilled. 'I had no idea it was your pie! Can I have a piece?' she fluttered her lashes bringing her lips to a pout, and effectively making herself look like a very dim fish.

'Sure, Chlo,' he gestured to the plate. 'Let me prepare one just for you,' he lowered his voice to what he hoped was an enticing murmur and the girl blinked in surprise. Adrien did what he could not to burst into laughter at the blinking fish.

She quickly shook it off. 'How nice of you!' she leaned and he had to peel her hands off his shoulders. 'What's the occasion?'

Adrien chuckled, amused with the vision of Chloé learning the real reason for the cake. He made a show of preparing napkins and portions of the pie.

'My birthday,' he said, earning a little whine from his childhood friend. The girl stiffened and paled in an instant.

'I'm joking, Chloé,' Adrien winked. 'It's still a few days until then.'

'Phew,' she sighed. 'Don't mess with me like that,' she chided. 'You know I have… um… you know about me and birthdays,' she ended in a whisper, and he instantly felt bad about his joke.

'Sorry,' he muttered and then turned to the other soon-to-be guinea pig, who sketched something furiously. 'Hey, Nathaniel, do you want a piece of apple pie?' he asked, tapping the boy's shoulder.

The redhead nodded in silence.

'Just give me second then,' Adrien replied. He took position by the last bench in a way that obscured the view and retrieved the vial from his pocket.

Just one drop. Don't screw this up. He thought applying the reddish substance on the two pieces he had prepared. Here we go. He took a deep breath.

'Wait, how about a contest?' he chirped with a wide grin, two napkins in his hands.

'A contest?' Nathaniel eyed him suspiciously.

'Lets see which one of you can eat their piece without leaving any crumbles!' Adrien offered jauntily.

Chloé knitted her brows. 'It's a ridiculous idea, Adrikins.'

'I have to agree with Chloé,' Nathaniel bobbed his head. 'Sounds stupid.'

'Ah, come on, guyyyys,' Adrien drawled. 'It will be fun.'

The girl sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. 'Fine,' she droned. 'If it makes you this happy.' She pulled out her hand demanding her piece.

'There you go, Chlo,' he passed her one of the napkins.

At that the three of them turned to the front of the blackboard, because of the commotion at the door.

Marinette just entered the room. Well, not as much as entered, rather stomped inside. She swept her gaze over the students and it was clear she was looking for him, because she started with narrowing her eyes at Adrien's empty seat. When she spotted him in the last row he had to fight the urge to shrink.

This was a very determined Marinette, an extremely focused Marinette. Staring at him with those damn blue eyes so intensely, that for a moment he forgot why he even was there.

And then she set off in his direction, never breaking eye contact. She was breathing heavily, keeping her clenched fists close to her sides. Adrien swallowed hard. It seemed like he was in trouble, though he had no idea what he had done. Was this about his morning visit to the bakery?

In hindsight he thought he should have paid more attention to his surroundings. And he would have if not for Marinette's hypnotizing gaze. He should have known better than to leave Chloé unattended. He noticed her outstretched foot a moment too late. With a nasty grin the blonde slid it quickly right to the path of their pigtailed classmate. There could only be one result.

It all happened fast but later Adrien could remember it as if Marinette's fall took forever, the scene replaying in slow motion in his mind.

The girl blinked as her feet connected with Chloé's ankle and she opened her mouth in surprise. She was in no position to catch herself, with her hands at her sides and her posture stiff, so Adrien instinctively moved to help her.

If only Chloé didn't extend her leg further, changing Marinette's trajectory.

If only he remembered he still had Nathaniel's piece in his hand.

With a nasty splash Marinette landed face first into Nathaniel's dessert, most of it ending up in her mouth.

Through the thumping of blood in his ears Adrien could barely hear Chloé cackling next to him. His attention was solely on the girl choking in front of him and trying to swallow the accidental mouthful.

'I am so so so sorry, Marinette-' he started, when she opened her eyes. He could see they were full of tears, but that determined gleam was still there.

She zeroed her gaze on him, gulped and then…

'IloveyouAdrien,' she blurted out and slapped her hands over her mouth.

He froze. The rest of the students gasped in unison. Chloé, who chose that moment to bite into her piece of pie, started choking and coughing.

Oh no, was the only thought left in Adrien's brain as he watched Marinette's eyes get bigger and bigger. In a blink, she turned and bolted out of the classroom. What have I done?

Author's Note: Thank you for all the appreciation this story got so far. I hope you like the second chapter? Reviews, favs and follows are always welcome, and they motivate me to write more.

Thank you so much Remasa for beta reading this chapter.

Check out my tumblr blog (perditaalottachocolate-blog . tumblr . com). Useful tags: "perdita writes" for my fics and "perdita draws" for my art. My askbox is open too!