The Five Signs That You're in Love

The One Sign That She Loves You, Too

Post-unmasking, Adrienette. So far, Adrien had been the only one to say "I love you". Not that Marinette didn't love him back, but every time she's tried to tell him that, her words betrayed her. She needed to change that.

x-x-x

Who ever said that distance makes the heart fonder was an idiot.

120,960. That's how many minutes had passed since Adrien had left for his summer modeling job in America.

4,320. That's how many minutes will have to pass before he comes home.

Summer had been even busier than Marinette had anticipated. Without Chat Noir around to help her protect Paris, days seemed to become longer, work seemed to take longer to complete, not to mention the inevitable increase of activity and orders for her family bakery. All of that while still maintaining a social life and a long distance relationship had left Marinette exhausted.

Marinette soon realized that her worries about Adrien had been for naught. He had made the effort to call or video chat her every day, despite the nine hour time difference. For that Marinette was incredibly grateful.

Of course this modeling gig had done wonders for Adrien's international career, and Marinette couldn't have been prouder. He was becoming incredibly successful and Marinette hoped to closely follow in his footsteps.

Whilst he was away, she had had a lot of time to think about their relationship. There was one thing that was bothering her. The fact that she had never told him she loved him. She knew she did. It became blatantly obvious while he was in America. But he deserved an in-person "I love you." And she was determined to tell him that as soon as he came home.

4,320 minutes.

Three days.

Three excruciatingly long days.

But she would survive. She had thus far.

She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she missed him more than she was letting on. She had spent an embarrassingly large amount of time thinking about her boyfriend. His messy hair; which never seemed to be tamed, even when he was transformed. His long fingers that used to stroke her cheeks until she smiled. His chest that she certainly had not secretly stared at when she was taking his measurements for a shirt she was making him. And his mouth, god, his mouth, the perfect curve of his upper lip, the bright hue of pink of his lower lip-

-And the side of his mouth, which was curving up at her…

Marinette shook her head to make sure she wasn't dreaming, never once taking her eyes off of him, just encase he might vanish if she looked away.

"Adrien?" Her voice was nothing above a whisper.

"Good Morning, Love."

She let out a shaky breath. She had just opened up shop, as Alya was running a bit late for her eight am shift, and standing right in front of her, across the counter, was Adrien Agreste. She let out a sound between a cry and a laugh and ran around the counter into his open arms.

"I missed you," He whispered into her hair; his arms around her waist, as she gripped the back of his hair.

"I missed you, too," she whispered back, because that was all she could manage. "I thought you didn't come back until the twenty-sixth," she said breathlessly. He places his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up towards his.

"My last shoot was canceled, so I got to come home to you." He chuckled. Her smile was brighter than the bright open sign that shone into the bakery as Alya opened the door and entered the small shop.

x-x-x

"So, you're internship starts on the seventh?" Adrien and Marinette were sat on a bench at the park. It was around mid-day now, and the pair had been sat here for the past four hours talking about all the things that had happened in the past three months.

"Adrien," she said abruptly, sitting up straight and turning her body to look directly at her boyfriend. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay…" his voice trailed off as he held the "A".

She took a deep breathe before stating, loud and proud for the entire park to hear (or maybe just the lady walking her dog passed their bench, but that was a minor detail,) "I love you."

She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for him to respond.

The next ten (which honestly felt like one hundred) seconds of silence were the longest seconds of her life. Adrien's mouth was a gape at the abrupt love confession from the bluenette across from him who wouldn't open her eyes.

"Mari, please look at me," he said, grasping her hand in his own. She opened her eyes, blinking slowly, but he didn't miss how her fingers twitched slightly when he squeezed her hand gently. Sure their lives were going to take a turn. And maybe things would never be the same again. His career was taking off and she was about to start working for one of the most famous fashion designers in France. Not to mention the fact that the two of them were constantly putting themselves in harm's way to save the city and citizens of Paris. But love was patient. And love was worth fighting for. Especially a love like theirs.

For the first time in his life, Adrien realized just how in love he really was.

"Marinette, When you touch me, I light on fire." He wanted to say, "My wrists blaze where your fingers meet my skin; you shine brighter than the sun. You're too beautiful for my eyes. It's hard to look at you. It's even harder to look away; my ears are turned to your voice. I could pick you out in a sea of thousands; the colour of your eyes is blue enough to drown in. Through a thousand lifetimes, across millions of stars, I'd find you, I'd never leave you. I love you." He opened his mouth in hopes of voicing these thoughts, but all that came out was a rush of air that he had trapped in his lungs after hearing her tell him she loved him for the first time. so he settled for the simplest reiteration of his declaration.

"I love you, too."

x-x-x

Oh boy. That's all folks. I hope you enjoyed this little story. I'm sorry it took me like seven months to finish.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please do review if you did. Or if you didn't.

I'm kind of sad to see this story go, but there is always more miraculous fanfiction ideas swarming my brain that I can't wait to share with you guys.

Until next time.

I do not own the characters or the Miraculous Ladybug franchise, however, the content of this page belongs to user if-x-you-x-knew.