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Marinette was four when she received her first confession. It was by a small, but a sweet boy with blonde hair, green eyes and a toothy crooked grin. He was shorter than her and handed her a pink flower and mumbled a quick 'i like you' quick and nervous in his speech and she could have sworn she'd seen tears in his eyes. He hadn't told her his name, saying 'it's a secret', but as she talked to him she felt like his 'i like you' could be replaced with her own. That day she learned that pink was her favourite colour.
Marinette was six when her crush was being mocked by the other kids in their kindergarten for something regarding his father, Marinette didn't really care, all she knew was that she had to get involved, she had to protect him, she had to stop them. And she did, in fact, stop them, though it may have looked much more heroic in her mind than a six-year-old yelling at other six-year-olds to 'bug off'. When he ran into her arms, hugging her body tight and saying thank you over and over again, she'd learned that she liked the feeling of protecting him.
Marinette was seven when she learned that kindergarten was coming to an end and a new thing called school was about to begin. A little sad to leave her crush, she walked into her primary school with her parents holding both of her hands when she saw a familiar mop of blonde hair walking next to a longer version of it and she all but ran towards it. And when their class teacher called their names she'd learned that his name was Adrien and that he'd kept his surname from her because of his father’s famous background.
Marinette was ten when her friendship group expanded from just her and Adrien to her, Adrien, Nino and Alya and she realised that even though she felt safe and happy with Adrien, somehow the empty space in her heart that she didn't know was there was finally full and complete. Adrien had needed somebody to talk to aside from her, preferably not Chloe or a girl and Nino fulfilled that role perfectly. And she hadn't known how much she needed to talk about Adrien to someone who, well, wasn't him. For the first time, she had a female best friend and she learned that the feelings she had for Adrien might have crossed the line of a friend.
Marinette was twelve when she had her first kiss. There were no sparks flying, no nervous butterflies in her stomach, no fast heartbeat, only a harsh push from Adrien. She thought it was time to let him know her feelings, she'd been holding back for months and they've known each other since they were four-year-olds. Stammering on her words, she realised she could never get the words right so she leaned in to explain it with a simple childish kiss and when Adrien didn't lean back to escape she concluded he was fond of her as well. That was proven wrong seconds later when Adrien pushed her away and ran off with tears in his eyes. She learned that day that things weren't always as easy as they seem.
After that event, Adrien stopped talking to her for months on end. She tried to apologise multiple times but to no avail. She cried many times, sad about the friendship she ruined because she couldn't hold her own feelings back. If she could, she would turn back time and fix everything, she could live with being in an unrequited crush with Adrien as long as he was close to her as long as she could feel his presence somewhere near him, as long as she still had him by her side.
Marinette was thirteen when Adrien's mom died and she wanted to go and console him, to talk to him, but even with her parents going with her, the Agreste mansion was closed for all guests and after the funeral, Adrien never returned to school again. Nino said something about Adrien making a confession to his father and it possibly being the reason for him not returning, but he wasn't certain in that either. Adrien's phone number stopped working and there was no way to get to him, and his three best friends grieved over it together. She didn't know what one could possibly learn from such an experience, but she knew she badly missed Adrien and never wanted to fall in love again.
Marinette was sixteen when Adrien returned to school again. She didn't believe the rumours that said he was returning to school, Chloe had been saying he would return for three years now and what could possibly change then? But it did change, he did come back, but a stupid misunderstanding got in the way and at first, she didn't even realise it was him. There was a piece of gum on the bench she and Alya usually sat on and a blonde and a very tall guy was touching it and knowing he had walked in with Chloe Marinette was pissed off. Very pissed off. When he attempted to explain the situation, his voice deep and unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time, she'd given him the cold shoulder and placed a tissue over the gum. Her mind was absent for the rest of the class, only participating when Alya nudged her with her elbow. That day, when the final bell rung she was standing in front of the school door, taking cover from the rain. The blonde boy popped up behind her shoulder and she turned her head with a childish 'humph'. However, that blonde boy knew exactly what he was doing.
"Mari," his deep voice said and her heart shattered. She'd told Alya and Nino not to call her that, she'd told her parents and close relatives not to call her that because it hurt. The nickname was so overwhelmingly Adrien that she wanted to break down right then and there, because the cursed reality she'd been avoiding for three years, the boy she only thought about when she dreamed dreams that she promised herself to forget and never did was standing in front of her.
He was taller than her, his hair was fairly less messy, his voice had nothing to do with the Adrien she once knew, his teeth were perfectly aligned but it was definitely him, it was definitely Adrien standing in front of her. She didn't know if it was because of the green eyes which stared at her with so much emotion or because of the way her heart sped up again after years of not doing that same thing.
She didn't realise she was reaching out to him before the tips of her fingers were on his cheek and she was whispering: "Adrien?"
"Yeah?" he said with a grin and her emotions took over and she jumped onto him spreading her arms in the air and he jumped the umbrella he was holding over the two of them as the force of her jump made them spin in a warm hug. When they stopped spinning they looked at each other, smiling as the rain fell on their head and she wasn't sure if the drops on his face were tears or raindrops but she knew she was definitely crying.
"Where have you been?"
"Home, father wanted to protect me from mom's death."
"Oh, are you okay?" she asked with furrowed brows.
His grip on her tightened and he said: "I am now."
They talked for a while, Adrien tried to explain the gum situation, but as soon as she knew it was him she knew there was no reason to be angry. He gave her his umbrella that evening, saying she should keep it and after a long while, Marinette allowed herself to dream freely. She learned that sometimes the pain of waiting for things to happen is worth it when it all comes true.
Marinette was seventeen when they finally addressed the conversation they'd been holding back for months. They had gotten closer over the period of his return to school, but they kept dancing around the topic, both too scared to step into it, Marinette because of her fear of rejection and Adrien because of her reaction of what he had to say. One fateful afternoon, they were sitting in front of a bedroom, he was sprawled on top of her chaise and she was sewing something on top of her desk. They were eating cookies and giggling, but she could tell his mood was off. That was proven to be true when he started the conversation.
"How come you never asked me why I never came back?" he said, lying with his head turned upwards, and she turned around with her chair and looked at him.
"It's obviously a painful topic and I didn't want to intrude," she said leaving out the 'I was scared that you'll disappear again'. It was the scariest thing in the world, the idea of not seeing him again and all she wanted to do was to avoid it at all costs.
"You're the sweetest," he said still not making eye contact with her, "Did Nino say anything?"
"Oh," she said and recalled the conversations she had with Nino almost four years prior. "He said something about you making a confession and it making your dad angry or something? He didn't know what it was though."
"That's because I never told him," he continued still looking at the ceiling as his breaths were growing deeper and his heartbeat quickened. "Father didn't lock me in because of that, actually, but I thought it was because of it for years."
He sat in the chaise, leaning on his knees with his elbows and staring at the floor. She sat beside him, silent to support his confession without interruptions, not wanting to hurry him in any way. She was patient, and if she had to sit there as long ass the three years she waited for him she wouldn't have minded it at all.
"It took me a long while to realise that he didn't hate me because of it and that he turned cold because mom died, but I still do blame myself for it a little even though I know I rationally shouldn't," for the first time in that conversation he turned to look at her and his eyes were red and tear-stained, filled with fear and other emotions she couldn't understand.
"Please don't hate me for this," he tried to whisper quietly and tears ran down his cheeks, but she heard him and soon both of her hand were on the side of his cheeks and wiping his tears away as she spoke: "Adrien, there's nothing and no one in this world that could make me possibly hate you, ok?"
He nodded furiously in her hands and his tears stopped rolling and he took a deep breath before saying: "I'm asexual."
Her heartbeat stopped for a second and her hands were off his skin as she processed his words. After stopping for a second, his eyes trembled in fear and she smiled. Adrien was confused, but his confusion grew stronger when she said: "Idiot."
He wanted to ask why and what but she continued: "How could I possibly hate you for something you can't control? How could I possibly love you any less?"
With that, his shoulders relaxed and he finally smiled. He let out a breath and let his head rest on her shoulder. He sighed happily for a couple of moments and if he hadn't had more to tell he would have fallen asleep right then and there.
"I love you too," he sat up and looked into her eyes, "back then I didn't want to hurt you, but I did and I am so sorry. I didn't want to let you walk in something that could and would hurt you and I , God knows I love you but-" he was rambling and Marinette stopped him.
"How can you apologise for something you can't control?"
And Adrien began to break down, he cried on her shoulder, he cried in her arms and when he stopped it was only because he fell asleep because her arms gave her a sense of something he hadn't felt ever since his mother died. Home.
While he was sleeping in her lap Marinette learned that the thing she's missed the most was having Adrien in her arms.
Marinette was eighteen when she had her second kiss, essentially replacing the broken one from years ago. Adrien had been calling her his girlfriend for months now and they held hands and they cuddled but they never took it any further than that. He'd taught her than being intimate meant so much more than physical intimacy and she loved every aspect of their relationship. She never wanted to make him uncomfortable so she pushed her physical desires aside, caring more for him than herself. Adrien did however notice and that was brought to Marinette's attention when he asked:
"Can I kiss you?"
They were laying in her bed after an afternoon nap and she caressed his cheek in a comforting motion as she answered: "You don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, Adrien."
"What about you? Aren't you uncomfortable being with me when you could have somebody fulfil your every desire unlike me."
"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't want to touch any other man on this Earth beside you. My feeling matter to me more than my body and you also matter to me more than my body, okay? So don't force yourself to do anything you don't want to."
"I do want to, but I don't want to do it and find out I never want to do it again and hurt you in the process."
"If that were to happen we would still be together right?"
A nod.
"Then I don't mind."
"But-" Marinette cut his voice off by grabbing his hand gently and placing it against her chest. It was in no way sexual or erotic, it was a moment where she let him feel her heartbeat, where she let him know that her emotions run deeper than attractions and that the only passion she had for him was love.
He leaned in and they shared a kiss so special, Marinette would never forget it. It was both of their firsts and she let him take the lead so he would fell 100% comfortable and only when he began to move did she join in as well. They kissed in a way that an old married couple does, familiar and caring, deep and loving, sincere and intense.
After the kiss ended Adrien promised he did in fact like it, and Marinette made sure to check so many times that he kissed her again with her hand along his chest, knowing that his heart was beating in the same way as hers was. That day, she knew,
Adrien was the man she wanted to marry.
Marinette was twenty-seven when she called her best friend to let her know the second most important news in her life (after Adrien's proposal). Adrien and she have been married for four years at the time, because years ago they had a conversation about wanting to have kids as soon as they tie the knot and they both wanted to accomplish their dreams successfully before that (not that Marinette's dream didn't include marrying Adrien, of course). She was laying in her husband's lap as she looked at her friend across the screen along with her own husband Nino, both of them holding a twin in their arms.
"We're finally able to adopt Ethan!" they said into the phone to their two best friends.
Ethan was a two-year-old boy whom they took into care with the intention to adopt 10 months ago. For a while, the adoption centre made a problem of two famous people adopting a child, but finally, they approved the decision and Adrien and Marinette were ecstatic.
"We're so happy for you guys!"
Nino and Alya bantered with them excitedly before they went off to care for their twins, Hope and Joy, and Adrien heard a noise come from the hallway. A couple of seconds later, Ethan was in front of them rubbing at his eyes sleepily.
"Didn't we tell you to go to bed sweetheart?" Adrien said as he took his soon-to-be son in his lap.
"But daddy," Ethan whined and Adrien's eyes widened. It was the first time either of them was called like a parent and tears were about to fall from his eyes.
"We have a surprise for you tomorrow, y' know," Marinette cooed.
"I was eaves dwoppin'," the small boy grinned at her and she furrowed her eyebrows at him feigning anger.
"That's not very nice," she said.
"Will you going to adopt me," he said looking at the ground.
"Yes!" they both answered with smiles as they held him.
A child from an adoption centre knows exactly what adoption was, and how many unfortunate children get denied their rights of having parents because of the system so he was ugging them with all the power his small hands could hold.
"So you have to get to bed early so we can become your mom and dad tomorrow, okay?"
He nodded and ran off with Marinette to get o bed. When she was tucking him in he said: "When othwer kids got new mommys and daddys they get new names."
"Do you want to change your name sweetheart?"
He nodded with a grin and she happily agreed with him. She pretended to think, putting her fingers on her chin as she said: "How about Louis?"
He looked happy with the choice and she kissed him goodnight and said: "Goodnight Louis."
"Goodnight mommy."
When she lied in Adrien's arms again she told him about the conversation she had with Louis and they wondered if life could get any better than it was.