ADRIEN

I don't need to fight for her...

I don't need to sacrifice a lot to bring her back to my arms.

She has made her decision and she chose me.

"Is this really happening?" I whisper, caressing her cheeks and she leans on my right hand. A soft smile displaying on her face.

"Yes...Adrien."

"I-Is this real?" I move back and clasp my mouth, trying to steady my breathing. "B-but I've been mean to you...I've made you cry, I've made you pay a big amount, I-I said mean things to you! I purposely ignored you!" I start to move away from her but she doesn't hesitate to pull my hands and bring me close to her again.

"I know that you have done those things but amidst all the negativity, you took me out on dates, gave me a job, offered to walk me home, you even took the courage to kiss me even if we still had that awkward tension between us. How could I not fall for a man who would always find time for me?" she brings my left hand upon her cheek and I take my chance to cup her cheek and caress it. "And," she continues, "I know that you have every right to get mad at me. I left you, twice..." She started to intake uneven breaths as she struggled to stop herself from crying.

"Marinette..."

"And I'm sorry for leaving you in times when you needed me...It was so insensitive of me."

I gently place my lips on her cheek and she closes her eyes, savoring the feeling.

"I'm sorry for also-"

"I like you, Adrien." Marinette interrupts me and at that moment, time stops. Our surroundings vanish and it's just Marinette and I. I don't move out of shock. She said it...the words that I have been waiting to hear for such a long time. The words that I have been to worried to utter. Those three words just came out from her mouth...

This is the best feeling that I have felt in 4 years.

"I like you so much, Adrien..." Marinette whispers and she looks up at the sky to blink away her tears. "I-I've been trying to stop myself from having those feelings. But I couldn't handle the thought of not being with you again." she wipes away the tears from her eyes but it was of no use since more tears started to fall.

My lip trembles as I almost let out a sob. I bite it instead and close my eyes, feeling my own tears fall on my cheeks.

"I like you, my Adrien." She continues, whispering softly to me. "Just like as before-"

I couldn't hold it anymore, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and embrace her tight against me. I rest my chin on top of her head and allow my tears to freely flow. Marinette doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around my waist, clenching my suit with her hands as she sobs.

"I've missed you so much, my lady..." I whisper as I hold her closer to me.

I miss how tight you would hold my hand. I miss your sweet utterances everyday. I miss your hugs and kisses.

And, goodness.

I miss your croissants just the same as I miss waking up beside you every morning.

"I'm never leaving you again, my Adrien, my kitty..." She utters, looking up at me through her glossy eyes.

I chuckle in content as she uses her term of endearment for me.

"God, it's been a long time since I've heard that..."

"Well, get used to it again." she snuggles her head on my chest and I close my eyes to make sure that I will remember this moment.

How close she is to me right now and how much I love it.

"Marinette, look at me..." I whisper and Marinette raises her head, she bats her eyelashes at me and I can't stop myself from kissing her lips.

I smile into our kiss and I don't hesitate to deepen it. I run my hands on her back and she pulls away, leaving us panting for more.

"You don't know how much I miss kissing you and holding you close to me."

"Then stay with me and you wouldn't miss a day..." she cheekily whispers at my ear.

I give out a husky laugh and let go of my hold on her. I walk to the railings and lean on it, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the garden in front of me. Marinette stands beside me and rests her hand on my right arm.

"Hey, you didn't say if you would stay with me..."

"But you have a different job already." I intercede.

"Then take me on a date tomorrow evening and we will see from there." She perks up.

"My lady," I utter in disbelief, "are you asking me out on a date?"

"Get used to it, Mister Agreste." She says while lightly slapping my arm.

"I have to get used to alot of things from now on." I mutter but the corners of my mouth twitch up, "But at least they are going to be all for you, my lady..." Flustered, she smiles at me and as she opens her mouth to speak, a voice from the door interrupts her.

"Marinette?"

Both of us turn our heads to the man standing in the entrance of the balcony. His red hair sticking to his somewhat sweaty forehead.

"Nath," Marinette says, surprised. "I thought that you were going to grab dessert..."

"I grabbed dessert 20 minutes ago and I was planning to take you here. Unfortunately, I found your seat empty so I looked everywhere for you." He stops to glare at me as he finishes his speech. "But it looks like someone did my job already. I am surprised to see you here..." He looks back at Marinette and regains his composure. He strides to where Marinette is standing and offers his arm to her. He sneakily glares at me and I don't hesitate to glare back at him. Why do you have to ruin the night, Nathanael?

"Now if you won't mind, I would like to be with my date for the rest of the evening." He arrogantly says, looking at me. "Marinette?" he, once again, presents his arm to her and I try to use all of my might to not roll my eyes at him out of his pettiness. Or to even punch him in the face.

Marinette hesitantly loops her arm around his. Nathanael smiles in content and looks at me once again.

"Oh, before I forget." he starts and points at his lips. "Mister Agreste, you have lipstick here." And with that last statement, he drags Marinette to the ballroom. Just before the door closes after them, Marinette turns to mouth the words, 'see you tomorrow', and gives me one last wink before leaving me alone in the balcony.

I wipe the lipstick off my lips and ruffle my hair, sighing in frustration. Damn you, Nathanael.

----------------

"She asked me out and now I don't know what to do!"

"Woah, woah hold up!" David holds out his arms, "She asked you out? The lady asked the guy??"

David decided to stay after class to know more about my relationship before. And of course, me being one of the most clueless people when it comes to dates, I took this moment to ask a master.

"Yes-"

"Kudos to you, sir!" He exclaims, "Damn, that girl is brave!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down, David. I wouldn't want other people to hear this commotio-"

"What commotion, sir?"

Our heads turn to the person standing by the door.

"Lea?" Surprised, David utters. "I thought that your dad will be fetching you."

Leaning on the door ledge, she rolls her eyes. "A promise he forgot to keep again." She strides in the classroom and sits at the desk beside David. "I hope you didn't mind me eavesdropping...I heard that you have good news."

"Well..." I start, feeling flustered. "It's not like a big kind of news-"

"Our teacher here scored a date." David interrupts and Lea gasps in delight.

"OMG, a date?!" Lea shouts out loud, "Where are you going? Who asked who out? Is she staying with you over the night?"

"Lea, don't you think that 'staying over the night' is too much?" David interjects. "I believe that they should go straight to doing the deed!"

"Okay that is enough!" I sternly say, "Both of you are not helping me right now! I'm freaking out right now! I don't know what to do!" I slump on my chair and run my hands through my hair. "And no! We are not doing the deed!"

"Dude-"

"Don't call me dude, David. I'm your teacher, not your bro." I interrupt and David just rolls his eyes at me.

"Fine, sir. But you have to listen to me!" David pleads, "You shouldn't feel stressed out right now! I mean, you got the girl already and she confessed her feelings to you! Why should you feel afraid?"

"I'm not afraid." I state out loud, "I just want this date to be the best one I have ever prepared for her. It's been four years ever since I had my last date."

"Well, since it's your first date in four years," Lea starts, "why not just walk around the park? Tonight is surely going to be somewhat chilly and it's the best place where the both of you can talk about the things you missed in the last 4 years!"

"Lea? The park?" David asks incredulously. "I took you out on a movie date last week! You said that that was your best date ever!"

Date?!

"Because it was my first date ever, David!" Lea exclaims as she tries to hide her red cheeks with her matte black hair.

"Awe, it was your first date ever?" David teases as he wraps his arm around Lea's waist. "Don't worry, I'm going to take you out on more dates." He pinches Lea on the cheek. Lea just slaps his hand away.

"As much as I enjoy seeing the two of you together, and as much as I am very surprised with the two of you being together; can we go back to the problem at hand? I still don't know where to take her and what to do with her!"

"Maybe," Lea says after removing David's hand from her waist. "You take her to a cute cafe and enjoy a light dinner there. Then you enjoy the chilly night at the park! You can walk around or photobomb people taking pictures there..."

That sounds like a great idea-

"Then Lea and I will be with you the entire time!" David adds.

"Wait! No!" I exclaim, waking up from my train of thought. "I don't want you with me during my date!"

"David! That's a great idea!" Lea gushes, completely ignoring my statement. "We can make sure if sir is giving his girl the best date ever!"

"Lea! Did you even listen to what I just said?! You are not supposed to interfere with my date! It's supposed to be only Marinette and I!"

"Oh, so her name is Marinette?" David says, teasingly raising an eyebrow at me. "Now we know the name!"

Dammit Adrien. You and your big mouth.

"I'm going to stalk her on social media!"

"Lea, no stalking! Especially during dates!" I reprimand her, "Can't you guys just tell me what to do and then leave? I promise that I'll tell you everything that happened during our next session, okay?"

"Fine." Lea sighs, "But I hope you realize, sir, that David and I are really happy for you."

"Thank you, Lea. And I am happy for the both of you, too." I reply and Lea starts to blush.

"Y-you shouldn't be h-happy about anything!" She stammers but David grabs her hand and intertwines it with his.

"Don't hurt me with those lies, Lea." He whispers only to her. Fortunate for me, I heard his words. Lea just hangs her head low as she blushes more furiously.

"Sorry, David..." She whispers back at him.

"So..." I say, trying to remove the awkward tension. Thankfully, their attention is now directed back at me and I clasp my hands together. "Eat a light dinner together and then enjoy the night at the park?"

"Yes!" Lea utters. "Go now, sir! You have to prepare!"

I scoff, "I still have time, Lea." I look at my watch and my eyes seem to almost bulge out from their sockets from just reading the time. "On second thought, I only have 30 minutes left, so I gotta go!"

------------------

"I'm sorry for being a minute late!" I say hurriedly, extending a bouquet of fresh chrysanthemums to Marinette.

Marinette giggles as she stretches her arms to grab the bouquet from me. She softly sniffs the flowers and places them on an empty chair beside her. "One minute is not a big deal, Adrien. It's still 6:01 PM."

I pull the chair back from the table in order for me to sit on it. "But I've made you wait..."

Marinette rests a hand on mine and gives it a light squeeze. "That doesn't matter to me." She hands me a copy of the cafe's menu before opening her own copy, "Now, I heard that this place serves the best cheesecake. Let's try it out, shall we?"

Marinette and I order what we want and in just a few minutes, our food is served. I notice Marinette close her eyes in pleasure as she takes a bite of her cheesecake. (AN: Mmmm...my favorite cake ❤️)

"Adrien! You should try their cake!" She cuts a piece with a knife and places it on her fork. "Here!"

Wait, what is she doing?

She brings the fork to my mouth and I have no choice but to open my mouth and bite off the piece of cake from her fork. I chew the cake slowly as my eyes dart from left to right from embarrassment.

This woman is so spontaneous. And that makes her more attractive.

Marinette leans on her hands and points at my slice of red velvet cake, "Is your cake good?" She asks.

"Yes..." I reply and now I realize that she is trying to make me feed her a piece of my cake. "Would you like some?"

She nods bashfully, I sneak a smile as I cut a piece of my cake and present it to her on my fork. "Here." I whisper as I bring the fork closer to her mouth. As she opens her mouth, I notice through the left corner of my eye two familiar looking colors of hair. One girl and one boy, both trying to get my attention...

Oh my God! Is that Lea? A-and David?? I told those kids to leave me alone!

I clumsily drop my fork on Marinette's plate and pieces of her cheesecake land around our table.

"Oh my God." I exclaim as I grab a tissue and start to clean our table. "I am so sorry, Marinette."

"Adrien." She says but all of my attention is towards cleaning the table. "Adrien!" She says again, grabbing my arm to stop me from continuing. "Look at me, you don't need to worry." I look at her and she smiles at me.

"Yeah," I shake my head and dismiss what I did with just a short chortle. "Yeah, what was I thinking?" I can't help to sneak a glance at Lea and David, and there they are, waving their hands at me and signaling me to continue talking to Marinette. I look back at Marinette and flash her one of my biggest smiles. "So, how's life?" I ask cheekily and I see David facepalms himself as Lea cringes at my question.

What was I supposed to say, okay? I don't work well under pressure!

Marinette just laughs at my question and I internally sigh in relief. "What kind of question was that, Adrien?"

"Honestly, I have no idea!" I shrug my shoulders and laugh with her.

"Oh gosh, I can't believe that we ate cake for dinner!"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?" I utter and I signal the waiter in front of the counter to bring the bill. "After this, do you want to walk with me around the park? It's not raining and it's also chilly outside. Perfect weather for a stroll?"

"That's a great idea, Adrien." She says and my cheeks start to flush.

The waiter comes to our table bringing nothing with him, not even our bill.

"Excuse me, sir." He says upon reaching our table, "But you've paid for your meal already."

"Wha-" I stop once I see David flashing me a thumbs up. "I mean, thank you for reminding me." I grab a random bill from my pocket and hand it to the waiter. "Thank you for your service tonight." The waiter leaves after giving a slight bow to us.

"Wow." Marinette sighs, "You are so prepared."

"What can I say?" I utter with newfound confidence in me. "I am full of surprises!" I stand up and help Marinette with her chair. "Should we continue this outside, my lady?"

Marinette grabs my hand and gives it a light squeeze. "We should!"

As the both of us walk out of the place, I catch a glimpse of Lea and David giving each other a high-five.

Lea was right all along. The cold weather is perfect for a night stroll around the park. Not too many people were present also.

Marinette and I walk side by side and now I just realize how beautiful Marinette looks tonight.

"You look beautiful tonight, my lady..." I whisper against her ear and she playfully pushes me away.

"It's the dress that's doing the trick!"

"No...I don't think so. You're also making the denim dress look pretty."

"I had to take a lot of effort to look good for tonight." She informs me and I give a light chuckle.

"You don't need any effort at all to look beautiful for me...you're flawless inside and out."

She gives me a light kiss on the cheek and leans her head on my arm as we walk. "You always know how to flatter me."

"It's not flattery, it's the truth..."

We continue walking around, pointing out the squirrels we see now and then and also talking about Marinette's new job as a babysitter.

Just as Marinette was looking at the stars and trying to find the different constellations, I see in the distance the two nuisances placing something on the pathway.

What the heck are Lea and David doing again?

Thank God that Marinette was still distracted with the stars. I took it as my chance to glare at them and try to ask what the heck they are trying to do with the use of my eyes and somewhat of my facial expressions.

David gets what I was trying to ask and he carries Lea while mouthing the words, 'Catch her'.

"What?" I mouth at them but they ignore me as they run back to hide by the bushes.

What does he mean by 'catch'?

Marinette and I near the spot where Lea and David placed something on.

"Adrien..." Marinette sighs, "you should look at the stars!"

"H-hehe, yes they really are beautiful!" I say but my attention was not on the stars. By now I clearly see what they placed on the pathway.

Moss.

Green and slimy moss right in front of Marinette's path. That's why David told me to catch! They want to make Marinette slip!

Marinette and I are just a meter away from the moss and I decide to call her attention.

"Hey Marinette."

She looks at me once she hears her name.

"Yes Adr-Woah!!" She loses her balance as her foot slips backwards because of the moss. I immediately place my arm around her back and catch her with ease. I carry her and she wraps her arms around my shoulders then hides her face by my neck.

"Woah, are you okay my lady?" I ask and she just nods slowly. I feel her shiver out of fear and I bring her closer to my body.

I am going to reprimand David and Lea for doing this.

"Do you want to stand now? Or do you want to stay in this position?"

"I can now stand," she whispers, "just not over the moss please."

I let her stand far away from the pile of moss and she fixes the end of her dress suddenly starting to giggle. "Gosh, that was a spur in the moment! Thank God, you're fast!"

That's my Marinette, handling a scary event with optimism...

"Anything I would do to save you." I say and she bats her eyelashes at me.

"I gotta get used to being your lady again..."

"Yes, you have to get used to it from now on." I utter, quoting what she said last night. "Now, let's continue our stroll carefully?"

"Yes please." She says before wrapping her arm around mine.

We enjoyed out time together at the park that we never noticed when Marinette wanted to go home already, it was half past ten in the evening.

"I'm sorry that we have to end our date early." She apologizes once we stopped in front of the closed bakery. She grabs the key from her bag and opens the door. "I have to do some errands tomorrow early morning..."

I grab her hand and bend down a little to give it a light kiss. "I'll call you then?"

"I'll be waiting..."

"Goodnight then, my la-"

"Oh, Adrien!" She suddenly interrupts me, "Before I forget, I have something very important to tell you."

"Well then, what is it?"

"Kindly tell your two students that they don't need moss or anything slippery to make me fall for you..." She whispers and I know that by now, I am blushing hard. "Because I already have..." She finishes and kisses me on the cheek before rushing inside the bakery.

I touch the spot where she kissed me and I can't help to grin.

"I've fallen hard for you too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope this makes up for my 2 month hiatus on this book 😞😞 I am once again sorry huhu

And I have published a new book, Aden. I will be posting the first chapter soon :)

I also updated my book, CHOOSE, after a lot months on hiatus. I hope you will also check it out ;)

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P.S I couldn't wait until Friday 😂😂