There were many reasons going to the pool seemed like a very bad idea to Adrien. The biggest reason was the most glaringly obvious one: water. Ever since becoming Chat Noir, his tolerance to being in or around water became quite low. So the prospect of someone forcing him into a pool did not sound appealing.

However, he hated not being with people more than he hated water, so he obliged to going to the pool with the rest of his class.

Right away he learned maybe the pool wasn't so bad…

Marinette. He'd seen Marinette. Did she just keep getting cuter and cuter every day? Adrien was starting to think so. Marinette's bikini was pink and white polka-dotted with ruffles on the top and a high waist on the bottoms.

She really needed to stop getting cuter, she was approaching Ladybug-territory in Adrien's head and it was kind of scary.

Sadly, Marinette and Alya got in the pool, along with Nino and Kim and Max. Adrien scowled, plopping down under an umbrella and drawing his legs up to his chest. Stupid water, getting in the way of him being with his princess.

"Bro, you getting in or what?!" Nino called just before Alya splashed him with a big wave of water. Adrien cringed at the action and shook his head at Nino.

"I'm good right here!" he shouted back. Just to make it seem so, Adrien leaned back in the lounge chair and placed his hands behind his head, crossing his ankles to show the utmost in relaxation. Obviously.

An hour past without much incident. Adrien watched his friends play in the pool, scowling at the clear liquid for being in the way of him being with them. Kim hoisted Alya up on his shoulders, and Nino lifted up Marinette, which resulted in a war to knock the other down that ended up with Kim wiping Nino out and all four of them crashing into the water. Adrien jumped when the water nearly reached him. He retracted his legs and scrunched up tightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Nino.

So, leaving Marinette with Nathanaël, Nino snuck out of the pool swiftly. He crept behind Adrien, who had relaxed and let his legs stretch back out. Then, in one quick motion, Nino lifted Adrien off the lounge chair and ran him to the pool, dumping him in.

Adrien gasped and scrambled to find his footing, hissing into the water, which made it bubble comically. Once he finally stood, Adrien whipped around to hiss loudly at Nino, teeth bared and eyes blown wide.

That's one way to scare your best friend. Just freaking hiss in his face.

The whole pool sat frozen, not even blinking, just staring at Adrien. Then, Nino snorted, which evolved into a guffaw that overtook almost everyone around.

"A-Adrien!" Nino laughed, "B-bro, that was perfect!"

Adrien felt his face heat up. His eyes had softened and face deflated as he watched around for anyone that wasn't laughing. Two. There were only two people not laughing at him. Juleka and Marinette.

Marinette sat on the edge of the pool with a sympathetic face, her feet just barely spinning a whirlpool in the water around her ankles. Then, she surprised Adrien. She reached out her palm to him as an offer for him to sit with her.

He graciously took the offer, yanking himself through the awful water to be pulled up beside the girl.

"I'll get you a towel," Marinette said. She got to her feet and dashed off quickly, returning with a quite fluffy white towel which she dropped over the boy's head.

"Thanks, Marinette…" Adrien said sheepishly. Marinette just smiled, plopping back down beside him.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone hate water so much, though…" Marinette said, the smallest giggle slipping past her lips.

"It truly is the devil, I promise you," Adrien said with a snicker. He rubbed the towel fervently over his hair and face, tossing it in his lap to look at Marinette with wide eyes.

His hair poofed out and his bangs dangled in his eyes. Marinette blinked, unsure of what to make of the goofy face Adrien pulled. Then, she burst into laughter. "Silly!" she said through her laughter. Again, Marinette surprised Adrien. She reached a hand up and smoothed out his bangs, pushing them behind his ear. "It looks cuter all messy like this, though…" she mumbled, smiling at Adrien gently.

"U-um…" Adrien turned red, which pulled Marinette back to reality.

"I-I said that out loud, didn't I?" she said with an awkward laugh. "I-I didn't mean it! I mean, yeah you're cute, obviously, but I didn't mean, like, cute-cute, n-not that I don't think you're not cute! You're really, really cute! W-wait-!" Marinette stammered and blushed before shutting herself up, looking away as Adrien's grin started to grow.

"You think I'm cute?" Adrien asked, turning to fully face the girl.

Marinette looked up at him, nearly choking at the dorky grin on his face. And with his hair like that…no, no. He didn't resemble Chat Noir. Not in the slightest.

Instead of answering him, however, Marinette just gave an innocent smile. "Would you hate me if I said yes?" she asked in a small voice.

Adrien shook his head, leaning forward to kiss Marinette's cheek. "I think you're cute, too," he said, fully aware of just how red his face became. He didn't give Marinette a chance to respond, instead taking her hand and tugging her off toward a picnic table. "Let's just not be around the water for a little while, though."

"O-OK…" Marinette squeaked. So much had just happened, and she wasn't sure she knew exactly what to do. Had Adrien just called her cute? No, no, that couldn't be. Had he just pulled her away from everyone else, just to sit with her and her only? Even less likely.

But, if that was impossible, then how did she end up playing with his hair and listening to him try and sing the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack with his cheek pressed against the table. "I can do a great Stitch impression…" he mumbled through the table, turning his head to face Marinette.

"Is that so?" Marinette giggled, retracting her hand. Adrien whined and snatched her wrist, putting the fingers back in his soggy hair. "Then do something," she said, not acknowledging the boy's (completely adorable, oh my goodness, he's like a little kitten!) neediness.

Adrien lifted up his arm, pointing to Marinette, "Boochiboo," he mumbled, trying his best to sound like Stitch.

Marinette blinked, then felt herself blush brightly. Did he know that means My Love?

I'm in a Lilo and Stitch mood, don't question it just enjoy it.

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