#twice as long . today i gave him a ticket and hugged him goodbye tight enough to almost break his neck.

[faaun]

the reflection of the sun on the windows of the train is casting light in rivers + woods + streams + fields . anyway photons are made of angels .

[avengerscompound]

Snapshots - Four

Snapshots: A Bucky Barnes Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x  F!Reader

Word Count:  2269

Rating:  E

Square filled: @buckybarnesbingo, Y4 Reunion

Warnings:  Smut (M|F rushed virginity loss, vaginal sex)

Synopsis:  Before Bucky Barnes became the Winter Soldier he had a life and plans for the future.  A lot of them involving you.

Bucky returns home after his training.  With his deployment a day away he just wants to have some fun but nothing seems to go his way.

Four

You were running late.  You’d been on Summer Vacation for a few weeks now and the internship you’d gotten with Stark Industries had brought you home to Brooklyn for the Stark Expo.  Last night work had kept you late which had led to you sleeping in today.  Trying to rush to get ready had not helped at all and just meant you had to reapply your makeup three times before you actually made it out of the door.

You almost slammed directly into Bucky Barnes as he was coming into your building.  It took you a moment to realize it was even him.  You hadn’t seen him in two years and had no idea he was back from his training.  He was in full uniform and looking just as handsome and cocky as ever.  Maybe more so.  The uniform fit perfectly.

“Bucky?”  You asked still slightly bewildered.

“Hi, doll.”  He said, that same beautiful Bucky Barnes smile he always had spread over his face.

“Bucky!”  You squeaked when it finally kicked into place and you slammed into him, wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face in his chest.

His arms closed around you and he leaned his cheek on you.  He’d been writing to you.  Not regularly by any means.  But every month or two you’d get a letter delivered to you at college telling you how things were going in the Army.  How he’d made Sergeant.   Asking about how you were.  Or about your studies.  Often he’d ask about Steve.

“I didn’t know you were getting in.  How long will you be here?”  You asked.

“Just today.  I ship out tomorrow.”  He said.  You squeaked again and held him even tighter, blinking back the tears that were threatening to break.

“No.”  You said.  “But that’s not enough time.” 

“I know it’s not.”  He said.  “But that’s the way it goes.  I was hoping I might be able to take you out tonight.  Maybe we could double with Steve?”

You groaned and pulled away from him.  “I can’t.  I have work.”

“Can’t you call in sick?”  Bucky whined, tugging on your skirt.

You winced.  You wanted to.  You really, really wanted to.  It had been so long and getting to hang out with him and Steve like you used to, would be so good.  Plus there was the whole, complicated feelings thing you wanted to work out and he was shipping out.  You wanted to go with him.

But this internship was one of the most prestigious ones around.  They never gave them to women.  You were extremely lucky to have it and you couldn’t risk it.

“I can’t.  It’s not a paper run.  It’s with Stark.”

“You got it?”  He asked, his eyes lighting up.  “Really?”

You smiled at him feeling a little warm inside.  He was proud of you.  You hadn’t expected that.  “Yeah.  I’ve been working for them for about a month.”

He pulled you into a tight hug and you melted into him.  “Maybe I can see you when you’re done?”

You looked up at him.  “Oh.  Yes.”  You pulled back and dug around in your bag, pulling out a handful of tickets.  “These are to the Stark Expo.  Bring people.”

“Thanks, doll,”  He said and tucked them in his jacket.

“I gotta go, I’m already late.  I don’t finish until it closes.  Find me after.”  You said.

“Will do,”  He said as you dashed down the steps.  As you turned and made your way up the street he called after you.  “Do you know where Steve is?  I went to his place and he was out.”

“Try the cinema.  He likes to catch the newsreels.”  You yelled back without breaking your stride.

The Expo hadn’t wound up until late and you’d ended up being walked home by a few of the men who were working as interns too.  You’d stayed up for a while waiting for Bucky, but as the night became the next morning you gave up waiting.

As you dozed on your couch, your heart felt heavy.  Of course, Bucky didn't owe you anything.  You had always made it extremely clear that you and he were not an item.  He had probably gone on the double date with Steve that he'd wanted to and he'd gotten lucky or he was getting lucky now.  Of course, he would.  He was shipping out tomorrow.  He should have fun.

You just wished you'd gotten to say goodbye.

You weren't sure if you were asleep already or if you were just almost asleep when there was a tapping on glass that snapped you awake.  You jumped up and rushed to the window, letting in Bucky who was peering in from the fire escape.

“Boy, am I glad you weren't in bed yet.”  He whispered as he climbed inside.

“What are you doing here?  I thought you must have decided not to come.”

Bucky went to answer, but you shushed him and hurried him to your room, closing the door behind you.  “Dad sleeps pretty soundly but you still better keep it down.”  You whispered.

Bucky took off his hat and put it on your desk and started to take off his jacket.  “Sorry, I'm so late.”  He said quietly.  “Steve and I took a couple of gals to the Expo.  Man, you work there?  I couldn't believe my eyes.  That flying car!  I bet everyone will be in flying cars after the war is done.”

“So you came here when you were done with your date?  Thanks, Buck.  Way to make a girl feel special.”

“Oh hey, now.  It's not like that,” he said.   He shrugged off the jacket and hung it on the back of your chair before approaching you and running his hands down your arms.

“Oh yeah? What is it like?”

Some of the light seemed to go out of his eyes and he sat down on the edge of your bed like the wind has been knocked out of him.  He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

“I wanted to have some fun you know?  One last night out with my best friend.  I asked these girls.  Connie and Bonnie.  Only Connie wouldn't even look twice at Steve.  I tried to get him to have fun, but the colder Connie was the more shut off Steve became.  Then he decided he was gonna just ditch us and try and enlist again.”  His voice broke at the end and you sat beside him and wrapped your arm around his shoulders.  He leaned against you, letting your take his full weight.  “I just wanted to have some fun.  To dance a bit and be with my best friend.  And the little punk couldn’t even go one day without committing a felony.”

“Well, it’s Steve.  You know what he’s like.”  You said rubbing his back.

“I just wanted one night.”  He said nuzzling at your neck.  “What if I don’t come back?  What if the last time I see Steve it’s him telling me that trying to sign up for the army is more important than me?”

“Why didn’t you just find him after?  He’s done this so many times.  He’s normally around sulking after.”  You said.  “Or me?  I was waiting for you.”

“I tried to find him.  I don’t know where he went.  Maybe they caught him and he’s in jail.  Fuck.  What if the last time I saw Steve was before he got put in prison?”  His arm had draped over your stomach and his hand opened and closed on your hip.  “I went dancing with Connie and Bonnie.  I just wanted one good night to look back on.  I’m sorry I didn’t find you.”

You shook your head. “It’s fine.  What happened with Connie and Bonnie?”

“We danced.  I walked them home.”

“Oh yeah, right.”  You scoffed.

“I did.  You want to know the truth, doll?  I pretty much only ever walk them home.”  He said.

“Oh, you liar.”  You teased, pushing him a little.

“It’s true,”  Bucky said with a hollow laugh.  He flopped back on your bed and pulled his hair.  “Oh, I mean, I’ve felt a few girls up, but I don’t wanna ruin anyone’s reputation.  I’ve seen too many girls sent upstate to live with their aunts.”

You lay down next to him and faced him.  “You know everyone thinks you did, right?  Any girl who went out with you knew exactly what you were doing to their reputation.”

“Yeah, I know.  And ain’t that a peach?   Everyone thinks I screwed my way through half of Brooklyn and now I’m gonna go get myself killed as a virgin.”

“You’re not going to die, Bucky.”

“Yeah, think positive, doll,”  He said.

“Bucky,”  You said, reaching over and caressing your cheek.

“I was so excited about today.  It was going so well.  I just feel like this is all some kind of sign.”  He said.

There was something about the pain in his voice that made you so badly want to make this okay.  You didn’t know how to do it though.  So you leaned in and kissed him.  His hand went to your hair and he deepened the kiss.  A small hum escaped your lips and you started to tug his tie off.

He pulled back and looked at you.  “You don’t have to do this.”  He said. “I don’t want to get you, of all people, in any trouble.”

You shook your head and kissed his neck, your fingers moving a little more frantically this time.  “We can be careful.   Besides, you said you were gonna marry me.  This just means you have to come back and make an honest woman out of me.”

He chuckled softly and his hands ran up under your nightdress and skimmed over your ass.  You frantically unbuttoned his shirt and started working on his belt.

Something about your frenzied need to show him that everything would be okay in this broken and ridiculous way rubbed off on him.  He rolled over and pulled your nightdress off before resuming kissing you hungrily.  He groaned and began to grind down against you, his cock hardening and straining at the thick fabric of his pants.

Your whole body trembled like a small electric current was running through it.  You freed his cock and pushed his pants down.  He groaned as he rubbed his erection against the thin fabric of your panties.

“You sure you want this?”  He whispered as he rutted his hips against you.

“Yes.  Yes, Bucky.  Let’s be each other’s firsts.”

He pulled your panties down and lined his cock up with your entrance.  He buried his face in the side of your neck, breathing heavily.  “And last, doll.”  He whispered and thrust into you.

You winced and made a pained noise as he’s body tore into yours, a sharp pain bursting in your cunt.  He pulled back and looked down at you.  “Did I hurt you?”

You furrowed your brow.  “Just give me a second.”

He slowed and began to kiss you deeply, his hands running over your body.  As you adjusted and the pain began to subside you rolled your hips up and he began to thrust.  It was fast and erratic.  Neither of you really knowing what you were doing, while you both tried to keep quiet.  Your bedsprings creaked and in the back of your head, you worried your dad would hear you.  Mostly, you just wanted Bucky to feel something good on his last day.  To have something to take with him that meant something.

Has his breath became shallow he pulled out and came on your stomach in hot ribbons before collapsing down beside you.  You grabbed some tissues and wiped your stomach clean before curling up in his arms.

“Was it okay?  Did it hurt?”  He whispered.

“I’m okay.  It was fine, Buck.”  You replied.

He started to cry against your neck and you held him close rubbing his back.  “I’m so scared.”

“I know.  But now you have to come back, don’t you?”

He nodded.  “You’re gonna be my wife.  You’ll wait for me?”

You kissed his brow and then his lips.  “Yeah, Buck.  I’ll wait for you.  I’m gonna be a famous scientist and you’re gonna be my toy boy.”

He chuckled through his tears and wiped his eyes.  “Can you try and find Steve tomorrow. He’s gonna be angry about not being able to go.”

You nodded.  “Yeah.  I’ll track him down.”

The two of you dozed in each other's arms for a few hours before he snuck out while it was still dark.   Before he left the two of you stood by the window, him cupping your jaw and looking down at you.  “I love you.  I always meant it when I said I wanted to marry you.”

You nodded.  “I know, Buck.  I love you too.  Come back and we’ll have that life.”

He leaned in and kissed you deeply.  Everything her felt poured out of that kiss.  His fear, his love, the melancholy that you’d only reached this stage together when he had to leave again.  When he let you go he climbed out through the window and you watched him jog off down the street.

You never did track Steve Rogers down the next day, though you did see the rather changed version of him on new reels.  Bucky Barnes wrote you from the frontlines, but the last time you ever saw him, was when his shadow disappeared up your street in the small hours of the morning.

~ END ~ 

[requiemofamemory]

Caught in the Middle

Los Angeles, the city of flowers and sunshine, capital of “entertainment”, these are surely nicknames worth of movies, Oscar-winning ones more precisely. Despise the flamboyant sleepless aura that L.A inspires, at its’s core, the city has a busy underworld and if you’re lucky enough one can make twice the money and fame than my more licit ways, but only the smartest chose to never get involved in the first place.

1753 E Olympic Blvd, 2:14 AM

The name of the “club” was Alexandria, the perfect mix of social classes interacting for the sake of quality entertainment, heavily guarded and located on the underground of a stripper club, the only access to it is a steel soundproof trapdoor and the password. The ventilation system was the best in the market, commissioned and meticulously designed, yet to the ones with a more refined sense of smell, Alexandria’s scent was a blend of alcohol, cheap cologne, blood and sweat masked by refrigeration from the huge air conditioners and cleaning chemicals making it...bearable to stay for 2 hours or so. Andrea arrived 1 hour earlier, as requested by "boss", Ramon Cortes (owner and administrator of Alexandria), she wore a tight white dress, gladiator high heels, simple makeup, and a hand purse. The doormen didn't even bother to request the password, simply nodding and opening the trapdoor for her, one them even offered her his hand so she'd walk down the stairs safely, Andrea replied with a charming smirk. -"Evenin' boys." The doormen smirked and complied with a nod. As she walked the stairs, Andrea could see how crowded it was today, as it usually was on Fridays. Alexandria was 200 meters long, and 70 meters wide with two levels, a regular club would have a lesser space but, regardless of looking like a regular VIP club, Alexandria was far from ordinary. With a stage, the lower floor for the dancers and upper open level for the more “privileged” clients, several private big rooms for various purposes. The lights were dim with red and blue nuances and flashes here and there, it was enough to hide the client’s faces (if you’re not too close to them), but visible enough for the staff to see the source of any ruckus or anyone trying something “funny”. 

The blonde entered the left red door corridor, the main access to the owner's office and consequently the safest space in the whole club. Hugo, “captain” of Alexandria’s security, Ramon’s driver and private bodyguard, was at the door watching the movement. 

“Hey, Hugo. How're the kids.” Andrea asks as Hugo opens the door. 

“All fine, ma’am. Thanks for the tickets for the game by the way.” 

Andrea gave the  6′2″ man a smile as she walks inside the office - “Nah, you guys deserve it.”

Once the door closed, Andrea was faced by one of her favorite visages. Ramon with lots of dollar bills, a glass of whiskey and packs of various drugs on top of his desk. “Andy wendy! Love of my life!” The man in red suit replied as he opened his arms, walking his way to Andrea and hugging her, soon after grabbing her face and giving the lady two “besitos” on her cheeks and one on her lips. 

By the stench of whiskey, cigarettes and old pizza in his breath, Andrea was starting to connect the dots, giving a suspicious close smile. “You asked me to come early. What’s up?” She replied, sitting on a fancy chair on the other side of the table. 

“Well...you have a big one today, I don’t need to remind you of that, right? The other girl is kinda feisty, not the regular skinny ones...and from Boston.” Ramon, on the other hand, sits on the side of his table, hands resting upon its surface.

Andrea nodded with her head, crossing her arms. “Uhum.” There was something off about Ramon and she gave him the “motherly” stare for him to spit it out.

“Aaaaand...” He replied, now clenching his hands together, the man’s facial expression started to change from jolly to secretly desperate. “I might need your extra services on something.” 

“What did you do?” Andrea started, Ramon immediately replied with- “Hey, in my defense I was doing my duty, okay? Providing security for the masses. And by masses I mean my share of the town...things just got a bit out of hand.”  Andrea looked at her “boss” up and down, bending her head slightly to the right. “You need a bodyguard? Isn’t Hugo doing that already? He’d be offended if he finds out you’re replacing him.”

“I talked to him. The man has a wife and children, I need someone 24/7. Actually, he’s glad it’s going to be you.” 

“I didn’t even accept it!” 

Ramon replies with puppy eyes - “He said you would.” Andrea pondered for a few seconds, then let out a sigh. - “Yes, sure. What gang and what’s in for me?”

“I’ll raise your salary to 18.000, I’ll give you all the weapons you need and a new bike, anyone you want. Oh, and don’t worry about it, its just one guy.” 

“Bullshit.” Andrea replied with a higher tone, rising up from her seat. “Four times my salary, full armory for one guy? No gang? Who’s after you? Rambo?”

“Hey mami, take it easy! You’re not alone in this. Got my best team to take care of the rest, you’re not getting killed or anything. I just need a top-trained, highly trusted bodyguard to stay with me all times and thought of you! I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun together.” Ramon replied, side-hugging the woman with a big smile. “So? What do you say?” Andrea never saw Ramon this nervous, he was trying so hard to hide it , maybe it to make her feel more secure and accept the deal, maybe to make him look strong and confident in the eyes of others during a life-threatening situation. In the end, she couldn’t deny his offer, needless to say Ramon was far more relaxed, relieved even, he kissed her goodbye and let the woman do one last “show;” before taking the role of his private bodyguard. Again.

.-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.- .-.-

 The only person who refers to Andrea’s caged catfights is Ramon, maybe he likes to distort the idea of violence by just an act of entertainment. But the truth is, people love violence, they didn’t pay 80 bucks to see to hot girls pretending to be fighting just to turn them on, no one in Alexandria is satisfied until they see either one of the chicks down and bloody. And that’s why Andrea was their favorite.

Andrea Muller had all the proper skills to knock the new girl’s teeth in 10 minutes, but she knew that wouldn’t please her fans, so she makes it last, building up till the other girl is exhausted to finally pin her down and finish her with a sequence of punches. By the end, Andrea’s knuckles were red and bruised, her nose was broken, no one knew which blood was whose her adversary was completely knocked out, but the crowd was cheering, so it was indeed a good day.

As usual, Andrea walked to the changing room accompanied by George, a very sweet unlicensed doctor, who skillfully replaced her nose and made sure she didn’t break anything else. Andrea always apologized for every time she cursed him when he cleaned and sewed her wounds or when he relocated her members. After, being properly treated Andrea took off her clothes with difficulty, although it was just a sports bra and a lycra shorts. Bringing her painkillers with her to the shower and turning it on, at first the water was cold, then she gradually made it warmer. Andrea cupped one of her hands, placed the pills on her mouth and swallowed it with the water.

“Hmmm.” She closed her eyes, feeling her muscles and joints screaming for relief. When she opened her eyes she could see the blood and water going down the drain.

( @vizlla​)

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Heely beloved, we are gathered here today

(A NEW CHAPTER APPEARS!! Anyway here’s that silly overly fluffy rarepair fic based off this silly thing and totally counts for week 2 of Atypical April) (did anyone want ace Adrien? Ace-drien? Well you’re getting ace Adrien. And also ace Alix. EVERYONE IS ACE SHUSH)

(AO3) (chapter 1) (there are only gonna be 3 in total don’t worry)

 Chapter Two

The fifth skate date was not too different from the fourth one. They spent some of the time chatting, some of the time skating, and rather a lot of the time, well... It wasn’t that there had been a lack of physical contact before, since Adrien had kept stumbling over and Alix had to keep picking him up, but this felt different somehow. She was actually, consciously holding his hand sometimes, even though she didn’t need to. He found it comforting – he never got much physical reassurance from anyone these days, especially not from the type of person who could absolutely fearlessly beat someone up and rarely showed affection like this. The fact that she clearly thought him worth spending time with… it made his heart swell.

He still couldn’t quite figure out whether or not he had just convinced himself to like her, only because it made the prospect of marriage easier, or if he actually liked her. After all, he had never been interested in her as anything other than a friend back when they were at school. But that time he had been head over heels for Ladybug, and never really thought about anyone else.

Things were different now – and he did feel the same way about her as he had with Ladybug back then. This hadn’t happened with Chloé when he had considered marrying her, so perhaps there was actually something in it…

Halfway through the sixth skate date, it suddenly began to rain.

“I don’t think that’s going to clear up any time soon,” Adrien said, glancing up at the sky and seeing it covered in dark grey clouds.

“I guess this skate date is over early then…”

“Wait, don’t go home in the rain!” He took her arm in his to stop her skating off. “Why don’t you come inside for some time?”

Her face lit up. “Wait, really? Am I allowed?”

“I’m not sure, but my father’s not home right now anyway so he won’t know. You can stay until the rain stops if you want.”

“Thanks!”

He took her into the house, quickly popping into the office to ask Nathalie to get some towels to dry them off, since they were drenched and dripping rainwater everywhere. Once they were no longer completely soaked, the two of them went into Adrien’s room to wait out what seemed to have become a thunderstorm.

“We could play video games,” Adrien said, putting away his skates and helmet, “or we could just talk, or there’s plenty of other things in here for us to…”

He turned around to see her staring up at the rock climbing wall in a stunned, awed silence.

“…Or you could climb the wall, if you want.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Without even saying a word, she scrambled up the wall so fast she was at the top in under a minute, where she half turned around and had a look down at the view.

“Dude. I want to marry your rock climbing wall.”

Adrien couldn’t help but burst into laughter – that was so close and yet so far from what he wanted.

“Seriously! You have an entire actual rock climbing wall inside your actual bedroom, that’s the coolest thing ever…”

“I don’t have much time to use it though,” he said. “But you’re always welcome to have a go on it whenever you want.”

“Really? Adrien, you’re the best!”

He blushed and looked at the ground, not even sure what to say to that.

In any case, the storm did not seem to be passing and was just getting heavier. After a few more turns climbing the wall, Alix suggested just going out and skating in the rain anyway, saying that it would be fun. Adrien knew perfectly well that he probably wouldn’t be allowed to if he asked about it… so he decided it would be better just not to ask in the first place.

They went back outside together and spent far too long splashing through the puddles in the courtyard like responsible adults, getting gross rainwater everywhere, laughing all the while. Adrien was sure he hadn’t done something so fun and reckless since back at school at least. He could just feel the stress of his modelling job and his father’s expectations lifting off his shoulders the longer he spent messing around and having fun. It was so freeing! Like being a kid again.

Eventually evening started to fall and he began to feel tired. Without caring how wet the ground was, he sat down to rest. “That was so much fun… it’s getting kind of cold now, though…”

He sneezed into his sleeve – whoops, hopefully he wasn’t ill. His father wouldn’t be too happy about that.

“It’s okay, I’m not cold, I’ll warm you up.”

Before he had time to react, she had snuggled up to him with her arms wrapped around him. He sat perfectly still, hardly even daring to breathe. He definitely was not cold anymore all of a sudden.

They sat huddled like penguins for what seemed like hours, though couldn’t possibly have been anywhere near that long, until finally the rain began to let up.

“It’s probably well past the normal time you go home at,” Adrien said.

“I know, but I don’t wanna let go,” Alix mumbled, clinging on tighter. “You’re comfy.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, trust me. I don’t even like hugs. You seem to be the exception.”

Adrien felt like his insides were turning into gooey mush. He buried his face in her hair, trying to hide how much he was blushing. “That’s r-really sweet of you…”

“That’s another exception. Usually if someone calls me sweet, I will punch them. But you’re allowed to do it, okay? You’re adorable.”

“Me? Adorable?” He giggled into her hair, his voice sounding muffled.

“Yeah, you! You’re totally adorable!”

“You’re m-making me blush…”

“Good. Listen, not only are you adorable, I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Or if anyone says or does anything bad to you ever, I will fight them. Okay?”

That was so sweet, he could feel tears pricking at his eyes. “P-please don’t fight anyone…”

“I’m gonna fight everyone,” she whispered in his ear, sending sudden shivers down his spine. “Everyone except you, because like I said… you’re adorable.”

That was it – he wanted to just marry her on the spot. He might even have asked to right there and then, if Nathalie hadn’t opened the mansion front door at that exact moment, causing them to spring apart rather suddenly.

“Adrien, you’ve been out there for far too long, you’ll get ill! I let you have your fun and I won’t tell your father, but it’s time to have dinner now…”

He reluctantly got to his feet. “Alright, I’ll come inside, thank you Nathalie…”

“I’ll go get a towel to dry you off again.”

Nathalie went back in and shut the door. Adrien couldn’t help but wonder if she was leaving him plenty of time alone with Alix on purpose because she had figured out what he was up to… he wouldn’t put it past her.

“I should probably go home now,” Alix said. “But remember what I told you. You’re adorable, and I’m gonna fight everyone.”

He started giggling again, shivering from the cold now that he wasn’t sharing her body heat. Or perhaps that wasn’t the cold he was shivering from…

She gave him a goodbye hug, so tight that he was sure he heard his joints crack a little. He hugged her tightly in return, lifting her slightly off the ground. It took them a while to let go, and once she had gone it took him a while to stop smiling like an idiot.

He turned to see Nathalie there again, watching from the doorstep with a rare smile on her face. Yep, she knew alright.

At some point before the next skate date, Adrien had been down to visit Marinette and Alya in their flat. He was proud to see that they had adopted a little black cat who they named “Adrien”, though it did get a little confusing when both Adriens were around at the same time. Plagg constantly insisted that the cat should have been named after him instead, but Tikki reminded him that she didn’t have any actual ladybugs named after her, nor Trixx with foxes, so he shouldn’t take it too personally.

On the way back home, allowed to walk freely down the streets as a normal citizen for once without his bodyguard hulking over him, he spotted Alix. It was strange seeing her someplace other than the courtyard in front of his house, almost like he’d forgotten she actually had a life outside of their frequent meetups despite her always telling him about it.

“Oh, hey Adrien!” She waved at him from the distance and then…

Was she gliding?

Just zooming across the ground towards him, without even needing to take a step?

“W-what… how…”

“They’re just Heelys,” she chuckled as she came to a stop in front of him. “Shoes with a hidden wheel on the underside so you can skate wherever you want.”

Bending down, she took off one of them and showed him. Sure enough, there was a little wheel right there, unable to be seen from the normal angle.

“Are they hard to use?” Adrien asked her.

“Nah, they’re super easy to get the hang of. I should get you a pair too!”

“Then I could trick people as well. I thought you were flying or something, like some kind of… ethereal… angel…”

“Angel? I’m literally dressed all in black!”

“Well, I can’t tell if you looked more like an angel or a demon. But definitely some sort of ethereal being.”

“Awesome. So yeah, should I get you Heelys, then?”

He quickly shook his head. “I can buy them myself, it’s alright, you don’t have to–”

“Nope, I’m buying them for you. In fact, I’ll just tell you right now that Heelys are going to be your birthday present. So don’t buy any before then.”

“Alright then. I’ll look forward to it! And what should I get you for your birthday?”

“It doesn’t matter because you’ll never be able to outdo the hologram pocket watch. But concert tickets to see Jagged Stone would be nice.”

He knew perfectly well he would be able to get hold of those easily. “How many tickets? Is it just for you, or…”

“Two. One for you, one for me. Obviously.”

He tried to reply, but… did she just do what he thought she did? Invited him for a birthday concert date? Just the two of them? Their skate dates were one thing, but actually going elsewhere to places together, especially things like concerts, and especially on special occasions like birthdays… it just seemed kind of… romantic.

“I… yeah… I’ll… I’ll get the t-tickets…”

“And I’ll get the Heelys. Anyway I’m late for work – I’ll see you soon!” She grinned and gently punched his arm, then skated off on her Heelys.

Angel, demon… whatever she was, she was amazing.

The seventh skate date was fun, as usual. She had asked if he wanted to go and visit the museum with her afterwards, and he had wanted more than anything to accept, but unluckily his schedule was completely full that day so he had to decline. It just seemed so unfair that even as an adult, it felt like he didn’t have much control over his life. He was always at the mercy of his strict schedule, and by extension, his strict father.

Or so it seemed.

“Adrien, your schedule for this afternoon has been cancelled,” Gabriel said as soon as Adrien came inside. “You are free to do as you please for the rest of the day.”

Adrien looked up at his father, standing up there at the top of the steps, unable to believe his ears.

“Father, thank you so much! But why…?”

“Nathalie has informed me that your friend would like to show you an exhibit at the museum, and I feel that it would be an informative experience for you. You may go if you want.”

“I certainly will – thank you!”

No point wasting any time. He dropped all his skating kit on the floor and ran back out of the door, through the courtyard and onto the street where he managed to catch up with Alix.

“Adrien? Everything okay?”

He leaned over to catch his breath. “Father… cancelled schedule… I can go to the museum with you after all…”

“Nice! Why did he do that though? I thought you said he’s always really strict!”

Adrien shrugged and didn’t say anything, though he had an inkling. Since Nathalie had clearly been spying on them enough to know Alix had asked Adrien to the museum, she and Gabriel were probably setting those two up on purpose. Well, Adrien was not complaining. This was great!

Their museum date did not last too long, as the museum was closing fairly soon and since Alix was already notorious for sneakily staying behind after hours, security was keeping a very close eye on her to make sure she definitely left before the doors shut. It was fun while it lasted, though, wandering around with their arms linked up, getting to look around at everything that she had told him about during their skate dates.

“We need to hang out like this more often,” she told him at the end, once security had finally kicked them out to lock the doors. “I don’t just mean skate dates. I mean… actual… well…”

Actual dates. If only he had the time for more of those.

“I’ll try,” he promised. “If my father lets me off more, I definitely will. Speaking of my father, I should probably get home for dinner now…”

“I’ll see you soon then. Thanks for coming along.”

They shared their usual goodbye hug – which Adrien noticed had progressively been getting slightly longer each time. By now it was somewhere in the vicinity of 3 minutes, perhaps a little longer. At this rate they would practically be living in each other’s arms by Christmas…

It was quite a nice thought.

The eighth skate date was interrupted by a skype call from Kim, who insisted that Alix and Adrien should race each other while he watched through the screen with a bucket of popcorn. Alix won fairly easily, being the better skater by far, but Kim told Adrien to keep trying until he had finally beaten her. It took at least an hour, and both of them were exhausted by the time Kim finally disconnected, laughing and boasting that he could have done much better.

Adrien sat down against the courtyard wall, chugging as much water from his water bottle as he could manage without choking.

“Ignore Kim, it’s easy for him to show off when he’s just chilling at home not doing anything,” Alix said, sitting down beside Adrien and putting a comforting arm around him. “You did well.”

“Thanks.” He put the water bottle down and rested his head on her shoulder. “Though since I did manage to win at least one race against you, do I get a prize?”

“Sure, what do you want?”

“Hmm… how about a picnic tomorrow?”

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “Jeez, you’re so nice, it’s the best thing ever. Back when Kim challenged me to stuff all the time, the loser always had to do some stupid forfeit and the winner would get money or chocolate or something. But you just ask for a picnic? Dang, I should have hung out with you more often back at school.”

“Well at least you’re making up for it now, right?”

“Yeah. I’m glad I am.”

They rested together, leaning on each other, for long enough that they didn’t get back to skating that day at all. Adrien realized that he had never before had someone he was so comfortable with when it came to physical contact – even he and Ladybug tended to leave it be at fist bumps and the occasional hug, especially in the past few years. Yet now, here sitting in the sun with Alix, he could stay like this forever and never feel like moving…

It had happened so gradually he hadn’t even noticed until now just how close they had become. It hadn’t even taken very long. Evidently their years of knowing each other at school had somehow given them a head start. And the only other people who he was this close with knew his big secret, the fact that he was one of the iconic Parisian superheroes often saving the city…

Was it time to tell Alix this too?

The picnic date in the park the next day did not go on for very long before an akuma attack occurred. Though attacks were less frequent these days, they still did happen, and apparently had really annoying timing. Adrien managed to get away on some excuse and transform into Chat Noir, joining Ladybug in the fight against the villain, who seemed to be attacking mostly with books.

“Use your Cataclysm to distract him!” Ladybug said. “Then I’ll go get the bookmark – I bet that’s where the akuma is.”

“Fine…”

“Chat, you alright? You seem…”

“Grumpy,” he muttered, crossing his arms. “Yes, I’m grumpy.”

“Is everything okay?”

“This akuma just had to turn up right now, didn’t it? Not when I was in the middle of some boring photo shoot or something, but when I was on a date?”

Ladybug turned to him, her mouth hanging open in surprise. “Oh my gosh, you were on a date? With who?”

“Well it’s not really a date, just a kind of hangout, I don’t really–”

“I bet it was Alix! It was, wasn’t it?”

He wondered if he was blushing under the mask. “How did you know?”

“You keep talking about her, it’s not hard to figure out. Anyway don’t worry too much about this attack, I can handle it. You’d better get back to Alix before she figures out your identity. I made that mistake with Alya, remember? Just use your Cataclysm and get out of here, I’ll sort out the rest by myself.”

“Thanks, Ladybug.”

Leaping into action, he distracted the villain with his destructive powers. As soon as he saw Ladybug sneakily taking the bookmark, he ran straight back to the park to find Alix.

“Oh good, you’re safe!” he called, seeing her peeking out from behind a nearby building in an alleyway.

“Chat Noir?” She stepped out of the alleyway. “Hey, have you seen Adrien? He was around here somewhere, we were on a picnic date and I have no idea where he went…”

So she was calling it a date too? He ignored the warning bleeps his ring was giving him and scooped her up into his arms. “It’s not that safe here, the Bibliovile might see you. Let’s get you out of here.”

“Your ring, it’s making that noise, you’re gonna detransform–”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He took her through the alleyway until they were quite a way off from the villain, unable to hear him rampaging anymore. His ring bleeped urgently again, but he still ignored it.

“Seriously, you’re gonna detransform, you should probably hide or something,” Alix said. “Sounds like you’ve only got like a minute left.”

It was jarring how differently she was treating him now that he was Chat Noir. Her voice lacked its normal warmth and had reverted to the monotone she reserved for strangers. Despite the fact that he was still carrying her in his arms, she was barely even holding onto him, like it didn’t matter to her one way or another. It felt so unusual, so unreal, and not in a good way.

“Really, don’t worry about it,” he said to her. “Just wait. You’ll see.”

“What? Are you showing me your civilian identity or something? It’s okay, honestly, I don’t really care.”

“You will.”

“Um, okay…”

It almost physically hurt to see the indifferent, slightly unimpressed expression on her face, directed at him. He was so used to her smiling, being nice to him… Experiencing how she treated strangers was quite unnerving.

His ring gave a final few bleeps, then its magic gave way and he detransformed back into Adrien.

For several seconds she just stared at him in shock.

“Surprise, it’s me,” he said feebly, wondering what her reaction would be.

“It’s… you…”

“Yep.”

She stared for a few more seconds, completely silent. Then her expression suddenly changed to one of sheer delight.

“So you’re telling me – it was YOU this whole time! You’re – you – this whole entire time, you’ve been a superhero – an actual SUPERHERO–”

Bursting into amazed laughter, she threw her arms around him and hugged him so tightly he saw stars.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner!” he said.

“Don’t worry,” she mumbled into the side of his neck, still hugging him. “This is the coolest surprise ever. I can’t believe it… you’re the actual Chat Noir… and there I was thinking you couldn’t possibly get any cooler…”

Feeling a little giddy with relief, he leaned against the wall, still holding her in his arms. She was just so light. Even without the extra strength his Miraculous gave him when he was transformed he could pick her up easily.

“I thought it was time I should tell you,” he said. “Since we’re…”

Friends? Best friends? It seemed too limited at this point.

“…so close,” she suggested, lifting her head away from his neck and resting her forehead against his.

“Y-yeah, close…”

They really were close, quite literally, so close he could feel her breath. For the first time he wondered what would happen if he just tilted his head a bit and kissed her. The thought made his heart flutter like it was filled with purified akumas.

He leaned forwards a little, but his nose accidentally bumped against hers. Embarrassed, he leaned back and turned away.

“That was the most cat-like thing ever,” she said, starting to laugh again.

“What do you mean…?”

“Nose boops. That’s a cat thing, isn’t it?”

“I think so.”

“So you really are a cat, and more than just as a superhero!”

He started laughing too, especially when she then pulled his face towards hers and booped his nose again. And again. And again…

The ninth skate date did not even involve any skating, since it was so hot outside that neither of them wanted to do anything. They lazed about in the sun, barefoot, their skating equipment lying untouched next to them.

“So this is your Miraculous,” Alix said, leaning against his arm and fiddling with his fingers. “I remember you having this ring back in school too.”

“You really remember that?”

“Yeah, I just thought you must be a fan of Chat Noir, though. It didn’t even occur to me that it’s actually you.”

“When people asked me about it I just used to say this ring was a special present from my family. I, uh, got the idea from your watch actually.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the watch in question, covered in protective bubble wrap.

“You haven’t seen this thing up close, have you?” she asked, carefully unwrapping it. “I mean, you have, but… not since I got akumatized… anyway, you can have a look now.” She thrust the watch into his hands.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “It’s yours… a family heirloom, and…”

“It’s okay, I trust you. Go ahead.”

He pressed the button on the lid, which sprung open to reveal a little blue hologram inside – a lady dressed in historical clothing, holding up a clock that displayed the time.

“Whoa… it’s beautiful…”

“I know, right?”

He closed the lid again and gave it back to her. “Thank you for showing me, but I should give it back quickly in case I break it… considering I have the powers of destruction…”

“You’re no more likely to break it than anyone else,” she chuckled. “But I haven’t really showed it properly to anyone else before so I don’t really know.”

“Wait, really? You haven’t showed it to anyone else at all?”

“Nope, just you. I’ve never really liked anyone so much before.” She rested her head on his arm again. “I always felt kinda like a third wheel with Kim and Max, and I never really knew anyone else very well… except you now… so, um, you’re kind of special to me.”

He gently ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re special to me too…”

“And if you keep playing with my hair like that then I’m gonna fall asleep. Which is a good thing actually, please keep going.”

He did keep going, for so long he felt like he might fall asleep too. Had he ever felt this peaceful before? Relaxing out here in the sun with someone important to him, not even needing to speak, just each other’s company being enough?

The tenth skate date was still too hot for skating, though they did try for a while. They ended up chatting about Adrien’s double life as a superhero, something that he enjoyed being able to discuss now.

“…and I don’t know where Plagg is, he always goes and hangs out with the other kwamis all the time, or just eats cheese and sleeps, but I’ll definitely introduce him at some point.”

“How do you even keep him hidden?”

“I don’t even know! I’m surprised more people haven’t figured out that I’m Chat Noir yet, to be honest.”

“It’s because you act different. When you’re Adrien you’re all sweet and polite and reserved, and when you’re Chat Noir you’re all adventurous and dorky and flirty.”

“Which do you prefer?”

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, but he needn’t have worried.

“Both are great. I mean, you’re the same person, right? These days you always act like a mix of the two with me anyway.”

“You’ve known me as Adrien for most of my life though, so what about if I started being extra Chat Noir?” He twirled around rather theatrically and gave a bow.

“I can’t even lie, now that I know it’s you, that’s just… adorable…”

“You’ve cat to be kitten me!”

“That one was absolutely pawful…”

“Well I think it was punderful…”

She laughed. “I can handle puns as long as you don’t start calling me ‘princess’ or ‘my lady’ or that cheesy stuff I’ve seen on the Ladyblog.”

“What should I call you then?”

“How about ‘the coolest person ever’?”

“Alright then, ‘the coolest person ever’, Chat Noir is at your service.” He knelt down and kissed her hand before he could think too hard about what he was doing.

But wait… there was some kind of fragrance…

“What hand cream do you use?” he asked, holding her hand back up to his face. Yes, the fragrance was definitely coming from there.

“Hand cream? I don’t bother with that stuff…”

“But your hand smells so nice! Is it perfume?”

“I haven’t worn perfume in like 10 years.”

“It’s like lavender… and something else, I can’t tell…”

“Oh, that! It’s just the handwash we’ve got at home. It does smell good, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

She held her other hand out to him too. “You can, um, keep inhaling it if you want. I guess.”

Was it just a trick of the light, or was she actually blushing a little? In any case, he took both her hands in his and breathed in deeply, feeling his lungs fill with lavender.

Perhaps he should have stopped then. This was starting to feel so romantic and if he kept going then it would be too obvious, wouldn’t it? But more than anything he was just aching to put another little kiss on her fingers, and holding them close like this was so sweet he felt like he was going to melt…

It was a suspiciously long time indeed before he let go of her hands and stood up again. She hadn’t said anything. There seemed to be something left unspoken in the air between them.

And glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, too overwhelmed right not to do anything more than that… she was definitely blushing.

At some point before the next skate date they took a night off to go for a game of bowling together, followed by a movie at the cinema. Afterwards they trudged back towards the Agreste mansion, the dark streets somewhat lit up by the moonlight.

“I love movies like that,” Alix said, holding his hand and swinging it a little as they walked. “Ones without annoying romantic subplots.”

“To tell the truth I love romantic movies,” Adrien said, grinning. “I know they’re cheesy, but…”

“Of course you love them, you’re adorable! I’m just weird, don’t worry. Romance isn’t my thing. And it always reminds me of… well… you know, marriage and stuff.”

Adrien felt a nervous twinge. “Yeah… stressful stuff…”

“Exactly. My dad said I have to marry someone soon. He’s such a stickler for tradition. And if I don’t get married soon, he’ll cut off my inheritance and take the watch back…”

“What? That’s awful!”

“I know!”

“And I thought I was under pressure to get married…”

“You too, huh?”

Adrien nodded, squeezing her hand a little tighter for reassurance. “My father keeps insisting I marry someone from a wealthy, respectable family so that it’s good publicity for his company. Chloé and Lila are out of the question, and, well…”

He trailed off, realizing he might have given away a little too much.

“That must be so annoying,” Alix said. “I guess at least my dad doesn’t care too much who I marry as long as I’m happy with them… which is… nigh-impossible, if I’m honest…”

“Really? Why?”

“Like I said, romance isn’t my thing,” she muttered, looking at the ground. “And that seems to matter to other people so much. Like, I know I care about people! Maybe I don’t get crushes or dream about making out or settling down with someone, but I can still love people. But I don’t know if anyone would ever agree to spend their life with me if I wasn’t in love with them the way I’m supposed to be.”

He stopped and turned to face her directly, taking her other hand in his too. “Alix, I promise you could definitely find someone who would agree to that! You’re so awesome, anyone would be lucky to have someone like you!”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling a little. “I do hate the idea of having to get married just for the sake of it, but if I was close enough friends with someone and cared about them enough then I probably wouldn’t mind so much. I’d get to hang out with them more that way, right? I wouldn’t even mind doing all the cheesy, stereotypical romantic stuff if that made them happy. Well… with exceptions. Which is what no one would agree to.”

“I’m sure there are lots of people who would be fine with all of that!”

“Exceptions, Adrien, the kind that no one will be okay with. Mainly, no kids. Or at least I’m not having them, nor ever doing anything that might accidentally lead to some. If my future mystery spouse really wants kids they can go get some from the orphanage and go pay to have their fun elsewhere. I’m sorry, it just all sounds too gross to me and I’m not comprising. I’ll gladly look after a kid or two as long as I don’t have to help make them.”

“Wait… you feel that way too?” Adrien said, relief flooding through him. “I thought I was the only one!”

“You too? Oh thank god!” She jumped forwards and enveloped him in a hug, which he gladly returned.

“You’ll find someone,” he said. “You won’t have to give your watch back or settle for less. You’ll definitely find someone, I promise.”

“Yeah, you’re right… and you’ll find someone too…”

Should he say what was on his mind? He hardly dared to, and yet…

“I think I have found someone,” he said quietly. “But I’m not sure.”

She reached up onto tiptoes and breathed into his ear, “I think I’ve found someone too.”

So close, he could smell the lavender handwash, feel her hair tickling the side of his face, his hand just resting over the bare strip of skin on her waist where her t-shirt had lifted up…

He could tell. He could just tell. They were both thinking the exact same thing. The question of a marriage between them hung over their heads, unaddressed.

It must be so obvious to her that he had asked her to teach him how to skate just to get to know someone else from a rich family. And it was obvious to him that she was being overly nice because she wanted to show him she cared, even if it wasn’t exactly the passionate kind of love that was expected from relationships.

The most obvious thing, though, was that it was now apparent that they had both wanted to marry each other from the beginning.

He might even have said something about it, if he hadn’t got an annoyingly ill-timed phone call from Nino at that exact moment, putting an end to the pensive moment.

The eleventh skate date was filled with more conversation about superheroes. Adrien always loved talking about this side of himself, considering that he had gone years without having anyone to discuss it with. The topic soon turned to Ladybug.

“I do know her secret identity,” Adrien said, “but I really can’t tell you. I mean, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you knowing, since you know I’m Chat Noir, but…”

“It’s okay, if she wants to do it she’ll tell me herself,” Alix replied.

“And for the record, I know everyone in Paris thinks Ladybug and I are a couple but we’re actually not. I swear. We were into each other for a while in our teenage years but things worked out differently and she ended up with someone else.”

“Oh yeah, I remember at school everyone could tell you had a crush on Ladybug.”

Adrien couldn’t help blushing. “Was I that obvious?”

“Yep. I’m super bad at noticing this stuff and even I can easily tell when you have a crush on someone.”

He quickly looked away when he saw that she was smirking at him. She knew, didn’t she? She knew perfectly well he liked her! He wasn’t even sure whether he wanted her to bring it up, or whether that would be too terrifying a conversation to deal with right now.

“So anyway,” she said, “should we get back to skating now?”

Adrien nodded, feeling both relieved and a little disappointed at the subject change. He knew he should probably actually do something, like tell her how he felt, or otherwise nothing would ever happen! But he had never really been any good at that before, and it was so nerve-wracking…

At the end of the skate date they shared their usual goodbye hug, now somewhere around 5 minutes. It was completely ridiculous, he knew it, but it just felt wrong to let go too soon. These overly long hugs just felt so special to him now.

Just before finally letting go, Alix hopped up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“See you later!” she laughed, finger-gunning at him and rushing off quickly.

Adrien simply stood there for several minutes, wondering how she could have made something like that seem so natural. They were both so physically affectionate with each other these days that a kiss on the cheek was not really a big leap, but all the same…

It began raining again during the twelfth skate date. Rather than going inside, Adrien grabbed the old umbrella that Marinette had finally returned to him, and he and Alix sat underneath it together outside on the steps.

“Adrien, I have a confession to make,” she told him. “Years ago, when I was akumatized, I killed you in one timeline. You probably don’t remember it. I don’t remember it that clearly either, but I know that you were trying to protect Ladybug and I… I know it’s not my fault, but I guess I should say sorry anyway…”

“It’s okay, Ladybug’s already told me about it. It’s Hawk Moth’s fault, not yours.”

“I know, it just… still haunts me sometimes…”

The look in her eyes was so unusually vulnerable, like her normal fighting spirit had all drained away. He hadn’t realized it had affected her that much – he had always thought someone like her wouldn’t really be too bothered about what her rather impressive villain self had done. He wished he could help somehow. But how? He couldn’t change the past.

“You can always talk to me about it,” he said finally, putting an arm around her. “I’m here for you.”

She looked almost at a loss for words. “Adrien… I swear… you are the sweetest cinnamon roll in this universe…”

“You’re awesome too, you know.”

“Yeah but seriously… I would do anything for you, okay? Anything.”

The way she was gazing at him in earnest, more emotion in her voice than he had ever heard before… He didn’t even need to think. He just pulled her a little closer and planted a kiss on her nose.

“I would do anything for you too.”

The skies were clear and sunny again for the thirteenth skate date. Once more the two of them sat on the steps, not even bothering to pretend that they were skating.

“My father will be away on the weekend,” Adrien said, “but he said that after our next skate date, um, you’re allowed to stay for the night if you like. Because you love the rock climbing wall and deserve to spend more time on it.”

“Really? Awesome! I will so be doing that.”

Adrien wasn’t even sure how his father had agreed to what was essentially a sleepover, especially since Adrien wasn’t a kid anymore, but he suspected Nathalie may have had something to do with it. Glancing at the windows he tried to see if she was spying on them, but he couldn’t spot her anywhere. In that case she was probably using the security cameras to keep an eye on them.

“I haven’t had a sleepover in so long,” Alix continued. “I’ll be sensible, I swear. It’ll be nothing like… uh, that one time with Kim.”

“The one where you set fire to a tree?”

“That was his fault, okay?”

“Of course it was,” Adrien said, laughing. “He’s so reckless.”

“Yeah, even more than me. But then again, you probably can’t tell. I think I’m just somehow more sensible around you. You’ve been a good influence on me.”

“Oh, thanks!”

She gave his hair a quick ruffle. “Anyway, a sleepover will be fun. Do I need to bring anything? Hey, do you want me to bring some of that lavender handwash you love so you can use it yourself? Or… is it better like this…?”

She was holding her hand up in front of his nose.

“It’s, um… I don’t mind…” He could smell the lavender, but it wasn’t the lavender that was making his heart beat fast.

“Then I won’t bring it. You seem perfectly happy getting your lavender fix from me, so… go ahead… if you want…”

Gently taking her hand in his own, he savoured the familiar lavender scent that would always remind him of her. Just something about it seemed to make his brain fire at twice the normal speed, like he just wanted to sit here breathing in the faint fumes of lavender handwash forever, if only because it meant her hand was so close to him, so dizzyingly close…

Was she going to say something? She hadn’t yet, and he didn’t even dare look at her expression. He closed his eyes and pressed her fingers to his lips.

This was not platonic at all, oh boy, it was very unmistakeably not platonic. Most of their interactions usually fell somewhere along the line between platonic and romantic, but this was not ambiguous whatsoever. He knew if he kept going it would become so clear that she would bring it up, of course she would, and that was so daunting and yet he wanted it so much…

His courage ran out. He dropped her hand and half turned aside, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck awkwardly. “I… um… I was just…”

The next thing he knew, she had grabbed his shirt and pulled him down so he was lying on his back over her lap, staring up at her.

“You were just being adorable, that’s what.”

The sun was in his eyes so much that he could barely see a thing. It didn’t matter though – he could feel her holding his hands up to her face, just like he had been doing, faintly brushing her lips over his knuckles almost like borderline kisses.

She didn’t even have an excuse! Adrien’s handwash was nothing special, and anyway he was sure his palms had been sweaty enough that any trace of fragrance would have been long gone. No, she was doing this simply because she wanted to. Because she cared about him enough.

For what felt like hours he lay there, wondering if there was even any point saying anything. Things were pretty clear even without outright saying it. And things became even clearer when she finally put his hand down and leaned right over him, blocking out the sun enough that he could properly see her face.

Was she about to kiss him? It certainly seemed like it.

The door of the mansion opened suddenly. Adrien sat up at lightspeed to see his bodyguard standing at the door, looking surprised as if he hadn’t expected to see them there. The Gorilla quickly shuffled around them and headed towards the garage, evidently in need of the car.

The moment was ruined now anyway.

“I think I have to go now,” Alix said, clicking open her pocket watch to check the time. “But, uh, I guess I’ll see you on the weekend for that sleepover?”

Adrien nodded, unable to speak right now. They shared their overly long hug, though it seemed strangely superficial compared with the kind of intimacy they had just had going on, and then she left.

The fourteenth skate date also did not involve any skating, since they just skipped straight to the sleepover. Alix spent most of the evening going up and down the rock climbing wall, quicker and quicker every time, adamant on constantly beating her record. She had already beaten Adrien’s by far. After that they had dinner, then built a pillow fort like the responsible adults they were, and even had a bit of a pillow fight.

By the time they were actually ready for bed, they were both exhausted. Adrien had decided to let her have the bed and he could sleep on the floor or the sofa for once. His room was huge, there was plenty of space.

“Goodnight Adrien,” she said, lying on the bed in her pyjamas.

“Yeah, goodnight…”

He wandered over and picked up her hand, lifting it to his face and expecting to breathe the familiar lavender scent… but of course it wasn’t there this time. She was in his house. The scent was of his own boring handwash. Somehow, though, it didn’t deter him at all. They both knew the lavender handwash was just a pathetic excuse.

Suddenly she pulled him down into a hug, right there lying on the bed.

“You can stay here if you want,” she murmured, right into his ear. “I hate sharing beds usually, but occasionally it’s okay. Especially if it’s you.”

“Thanks, that’s really sweet,” he replied, shuffling into a slightly more comfortable position before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

He closed his eyes, ready to go to sleep in a hug for the first time… then opened them again when he felt her giving him a kiss on his own cheek in return.

It wasn’t even a quick one. It was slow, deliberate… and reminded him that this time, there was no Gorilla or Nathalie to suddenly ruin the moment by accident, no one here to interrupt what could be a relationship upgrade. But it could only be a relationship upgrade if he tried to make it one.

It was hard to see in the dark as his eyes weren’t yet accustomed to it. He put a kiss on where he guessed her nose was, and got one in return. Then her forehead, and got two in return…

He was so sleepy he wasn’t even sure what he was doing. Was this even real? Was it just a dream, and he was already asleep? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he was getting his face plastered with little kisses, and he liked it.

His eyes gradually got used to the dark enough for him to see better. He looked down at her and suddenly realized he hadn’t kissed her properly yet, on the lips, and he wondered if he even dared do it. But unless his eyes were tricking him, it seemed like she was looking at his lips too, as if she also was thinking about it…

It was late. He was too tired to think properly. Brushing a few strands of hair away from her face, he pressed his lips onto hers and kissed her softly.

He hadn’t expected it to last longer than a few seconds, but to his surprise she pulled him down even closer, clinging onto him so tightly he could barely move, curling her legs around him, her fingers intertwining with locks of his hair…

When he woke up in the morning he saw that she was already awake, laying there playing a game on her phone. Memories of last night returned to him – did he actually kiss her? Was that a dream? In any case, he felt somewhat embarrassed now that it was daylight.

“Good morning,” he mumbled, “hope you slept well… um… about last night, I just… I was tired and I guess I might have… well, it might have been a dream, but–”

She didn’t even let him finish, she just grabbed his face and kissed him again. “Good morning to you too babe. And nope, it wasn’t a dream.”

It wasn’t a dream… did that mean…

“Are we… together now?” he asked.

“Sure. Let’s be real, we’ve been ‘together’ for weeks already. But I guess you get to be officially my boyfriend now.”

He couldn’t even say anything – he just smiled into his hands, knowing he was blushing hard, and knowing that it didn’t even matter anymore if she noticed that or not.