[[ Um..."Naked and Afraid" is a TV show. Just FYI. ]]

Day 7 Prompt:

"Trust your heart" is one of the dumbest pieces of advice to take. How do I know that? Because once upon a time, I tried it.

Adrien was desperately trying not to feel too awkward standing in Marinette's family's bathroom. Upon delivering Marinette to them, her parents had taken one look (one whiff, perhaps), gave him directions for how to work the shower, and steered him in the direction of the washroom. It took him about 2.8 seconds to realize that he had never used someone else's shower before. Hotels? Sure. But another person's? Someone he knew? Yeah, no. And now, standing there and feeling like he should be covered despite the fact that he really needed a shower, he knew why.

"Naked and Afraid", flashed before his eyes as he stared at the shower knobs…and paused.

And if, upon experimenting with the unfamiliar knobs (yes, he had had directions, hush), Adrien accidentally squealed when the cold water came out in a surge over his exposed skin. Well…he hoped that the Dupain-Chengs were too busy taking care of Marinette to hear him.

Hurrying in the (comparatively) tiny shower as fast as he could (while still making sure to get the smell of river water out), Adrien wasted no time, and five minutes later found a slightly disheveled blond on a pink sofa in a pink living room sitting awkwardly stiff and (im)patiently still to make sure Marinette's impromptu river dunking hadn't affected her too much.

Because if he gave her hypothermia because he literally froze at the first touch of contact that he was practically begging for, he would never forgive himself.

(And probably buy a one-way ticket to the first flight he could catch to Canada. They seemed nice.)

Adrien tried not to sigh too loudly as a recurring thought bounced around in his head once again. Trust in your heart. Puh. What a load of crap. That had to be the dumbest pieces of advice to take. Adrien knew, too. He'd tried it too many times with ridiculously awful outcomes to make the words worth anything more than a scoff to him now.

Trust in your heart, he had told himself when he pursued Marinette. And after all this time playing around in each other's shadows, he had only managed to sink like a lost remote in between the two couch cushions named "Romantic Limbo" and "Social Interaction Constipation".

Trust in your heart, his own stupid heart had whispered to his subconscious when he made the stupid choice to try and stupidly pursue Ladybug. That at least hadn't ended fruitlessly: he knew without a question exactly where he stood with her. And because of it, he had mentally berated his heart for tricking his brain into believing that ill-conceived exploit would end anywhere near the realm of a good consequence.

Trust in your heart, he willingly played over and over in his mind this entire, confusing, whirlwind of a day. Every time he looked in Marinette or Ladybug's direction, the conflicting emotions threatened to bash his skull to pieces, cause his heart to bleed out, or tie his stomach up in knots. So he tried to put an end to everything, tried to move passed the whole Does she?/Doesn't she? question rattling around in his brain and flirt and possibly make a move on the two awesome (cough – crazy – cough) girls who he had learned this morning were the same person, and let her know where she stood with him. And by way of being rewarded for his actions, he ended up dropping himself and the flipperty flippin' love of his life into a possible-death-for-normal-people drop ending in a rapid river of death. All because his body had a complete shutdown when she touched him.

In his defense, Marinette, while on the one hand exuded confidence, was also, in the time Adrien had known her, markedly reserved in her…affections toward him. "Shy" could be a good adjective, maybe "timid", really, to the point that said "affections" were nearly chimerical, barely existing in the small smiles, guarded laughter, and fluttering lashes that she seemed to always reserve just for him. Ça, alors, he liked it…a lot. But her persistence to keep whatever this was between them on some sort of slow-moving "I kinda sorta like-like you" train made it at once thrilling to be around her but also quite – quite – predictable. Ladybug, on the other hand, was like a wildfire burning in the brush – uncontained, unbridled, and entirely burn worthy (you all thought he was going to say "hot", didn't you?) Savage looks and purposeful bloodying of her partner were norms, and he loved every second of the intense games they played with each other. Adrien – Chat – always supposed that she was more apt to land a punch in his kisser (even in her civilian form, as this morning's revelry had shown) than actually kiss him. And for some reason, this had made her fabulously enticing to him.

So…yeah. While Adrien had been actually flirting instead of teasing, desperately working his way up to that point, he had only been mentally prepared enough to hope said object of his affections would reciprocate the preluded kiss; but, Ladybug as she was, Marinette completely took the wind out of his sails – and out of his lungs – by initiating the lip-to-lip contact herself.

Not that he was complaining, really, but…nearly fainting and falling back into the river, effectively drenching himself and his (his?) girl(not friend – yet?) in what could be considered a life-or-death situations was not the smoothest move.

The door at the top of the stairs suddenly opened, breaking Adrien away from his downward spiral of humiliation and frustration. In his haste to turn around and fueled into action by the surprise of the door, Adrien bolted out of his seat like a man on fire. He just wanted to see Marinette, wanted to see that she was okay, wanted to make sure, if he was needed, that he could be there for her or her family to offer his services. What he managed to do instead was trip on his own foot when he tried to turn around and fall into his own mess of flailing limbs and strangled cries before backing skillfully into the TV.

The TV proceeded to fall over with a cataclysmic crash.

There was silence hanging in the room, and Adrien couldn't look up, couldn't face anyone that had seen that mess (the voices that were busily talking had all gone quiet…they must have been privy to this little display of gracefulness). Without anywhere else to turn, Adrien continued to stare at the TV, a giant gaping crack in the center of the screen. He draped an arm around his chest as if he was going to cross his arms over themselves, but instead used the other hand to cover his mouth in horror as a tiny plume of smoke burst out of the crack.

No one moved in the wake of the television's demise.

Until Adrien, unable to handle the dread anymore, pointed down the television as he looked up for the first time at the three – yes, all three – people standing at the top of the stairs.

"I'll pay for that," he said with a sigh, resigned to accept whatever punishment they were ready to dish out to him and hoping to hedge some of it with his shallow promise.

At once, three distinct, unrestrained roars of laughter burst into the previously quiet room. Adrien could only grin sheepishly and scratch at the nape of his neck as his cheeks warmed beneath the penetrating mirth. When he looked up again, passed the two older Dupain-Chengs, his eyes met the one he most longed to see. And while there was amusement playing the depths of His Lady's eyes, he also saw the hint of something else there, something eking out in the tiny crow's feet of her eyes and the scrunch of her nose. Something more than Marinette or Ladybug had ever given him before. A look, he knew, that wasn't necessarily different or new in terms of expression, but in possession.

That look, he knew then, was something meant just for him.

qpqpqpqpqp

Marinette and Adrien were finally doing exactly what Adrien had come over that morning to do in the first place: cover up his "bug bite".

Well…that's what it started as.

It took about a dozen or so cookies and a few cups of hot chocolate to get to this point, Marinette doing a full makeover over Adrien's face. The two teens were sitting cross-legged (Marinette had changed into some sweats) with their knees touching, enjoying the warm night air in the fairy lights on Marinette's balcony. Marinette had Adrien's golden hair pulled back by a pink headband, his eyelids now sporting a flashy shade of green and some impressive "cat eye" wings (Adrien had readily agreed to that). Marinette giggled again at the sight of Adrien trying to hold still, hand shaking with repressed mirth as she held the mascara wand precariously over his closed eyelids.

"Mar," Adrien continued in his chuckling, teasing voice, "don't laugh, you're going to smear everything, and then we'll have to start over." He pawed blindly in front of him, making Marinette giggle again in return and batting his hands away. She continued in titters, coming back to her position slowly to make sure she was still enough to keep from accidentally streaking black lines across the blond's flawless cheeks (like he needed makeup to help with those perfect contours).

"Maybe that's my plan all along," Marinette replied in a playfully low voice. Adrien opened one eye a slit, only to see Marinette leaning closer than he thought she was and waggling her eyebrows. He burst out in a bark of laughter, head thrown back far enough that he had to put a hand behind him to keep himself from falling over. The next few minutes were playful and fun as ever, pushing against each other and laughing, finally ending when Marinette threatened to purposefully mark him up with mascara if he didn't hold still.

Although she reeeeaally wanted to kiss those perfectly done up lips and eyes…part of Marinette just wanted to see this fun little project through to its completion. Besides…she never had so much time to admire Adrien this close up.

She could smell that smell from this proximity, and it was absolutely euphoric.

Adrien pouted at having to sit still again. He slouched forward with his hands just casually brushing against Marinette's knees. The protruding lip and slouching shoulders might be a bit, well, dramatic, but he was particularly put out that he couldn't watch Marinette's cute little tongue stick out of her cute little mouth while she concentrated on applying more of his makeup. He had seen it earlier, and had instantly fallen in love with her all over again over a simple, albeit adorable, gesture. Adrien sighed, relaxing his body a bit more (and getting a huff of fake annoyance from Marinette at his movement), and, in lieu of being able to look at his Princess, let his mind wonder over her, tapping absently against Marinette's knees to keep his hands busy.

There were, admittedly, other ways he could keep his hands busy, but…

Adrien's now fisted fingers pulled back from his previously lovely position into a distance that was a little safer, although he really, really didn't want to. In a momentary panic, Adrien decided the best course of action would be to start talking…even if it was just to keep his mind (and his hands) from wondering any farther.

"So, Marinette…"

She hummed absently in response, concentrating hard enough to miss the little smile that escaped him.

"Any particular reason you wore that dress today?"

Marinette snorted at this. Adrien laughed a little in reply and tried really hard not to blink when the tickling pressure switched to his other set of lashes.

"Sorry, chaton," Marinette breathed out in a heavy sigh, thinking back on the day and shaking her head in embarrassment. "I've already told too many confessions today."

This time, Adrien hummed in reply. He bit his lip and felt a slight satisfaction in noticing how Marinette seemed to pause in her ministrations.

Marinette did not stop just to look at his teeth poking out over his lip. She did not.

"Okay, I guess it's my turn, then, yeah?" Adrien said suddenly, and Marinette trying not to pause again and incriminate herself further in her fascination of Adrien's mouth. Instead, she gulped. Loudly.

Adrien smirked, fluttering his lashes as he opened his eyes.

(He looked…fabulous. Marinette, as she would later admit, was a little jealous of this.)

Outwardly, Marinette seemed to be calmly putting the lid on her mascara tube. On the inside, her brain was exploding.

What…what is he going to say!?

"S-Sure, kitten," she replied.

Great, and we're back to the stuttering, she thought, feeling the telltale signs of a flushed face warming her cheeks.

Adrien wasn't faring much better. He briefly wondered why on earth he had said that, why had he said that!? Not that he didn't have anything to say, but…well…

He looked down at her lips again when she looked away. She had stopped pursing them so tightly, and now they hung out in their full, adorable, completely kissable shape. The sight was enough to steel Adrien's nerves. He now knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"So, I already like Marinette quite a lot, if you didn't know," he started, blinking his eyes some more, trying to get used to the heavier feel of his lashes. "And maybe you didn't know, because, well, we never really talked about anything like that. So I really like Marinette, and then there I was, just kinda…mildly attracted to Ladybug."

Marinette's eyebrows flicked upward for a quick second at this surprising information, a small smile tugging on her lips.

Adrien cleared his throat, looking down at their laps before reaching forward and taking one of Marinette's hands in both of his. His fingers slowly traced over all the delicate curves of her wrist, her palm, her own fingers. He placed a kiss there, slowly, before continuing on.

Marinette knew he could feel her quaking slightly. She could feel it, could feel herself trembling under his touch. The mascara tube dropped from her other hand and she didn't even notice.

"I, uh, I tried to annoy Ladybug," Adrien continued with a small laugh, "tried to…aggressively flirt with her to rile her up." His eyes rose under his sparkly lids to meet her own. "I like that I can do that with LB. I like that I can get such a rise out of her."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but felt her cheeks burn anew at the intensity of his stare. He grinned before kissing her hand again. Marinette thought she might pass out if he did any more of that.

"You'd blush, just like that." His voice lowered as the tension – and their heartbeats – continued to rise. "And then you'd pummel me. Or, well, you'd try to."

Marinette went to smack him on the leg, but somehow her hand got stuck there, causing her to lean forward just a bit…just a bit closer.

Adrien didn't seem to mind…

Adrien, for his part, definitely did not mind. Sweet cheesy kittens, he did not mind any of that action at all.

"I thought," he continued in a whisper, taking a hand away from her own hand to trail slowly up the arm now resting on his leg. "I thought all this time that I was afraid of girls, of, well, of getting involved, thinking that they were either too much trouble," – Marinette shivered when he started on his second track up her arm – "or absolutely terrifying. Terrifying, like dear, sweet Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette fluttered her half-lidded eyes, a held breath coming out in a warm burst.

Terrifying? HER?

…Sweet!? HER!?

"Yes, you, Marinette."

Oh, had she said that out loud?

She sucked in her lips to keep from saying anything else.

And oh, how Adrien definitely didn't want her to do that, not when he was determined to take the initiative this time.

(At least they were on solid ground and, at least if he lost all control of his faculties this time, he wouldn't put himself or anyone else in mortal danger. Probably. Hopefully.)

"President of our class," he said softly, pulling both her hands to his mouth this time and never looking away from her. "Popular with everyone." A kiss on the back of her hand. "Best problem-solver and most insane engineer I've ever seen." A kiss on the back of the other hand. He flipped over her hands like he had done before and Marinette briefly wondered how someone could make such a gentlemanly (flirty) behavior so incredibly incapacitating. The warm breath on her palms sent a new wave of shiver-induced goosebumps racing over her arms.

"And…you're completely fearless." A kiss on her palms. Marinette twitched in her position, inhaling sharply. Her entire body seemed to be buzzing, growing agitated with anticipation. He was going to do this, wasn't he?

Oh please, please say he's going to do this…!

"Marinette…" Adrien whispered, fingers pausing only a moment before reaching up to ghost over the line of her jaw. The pace of his movements was languorously slow…but he didn't – and really did – want to push his luck, or his boundaries, with this girl. When Marinette closed her eyes at his touch, Adrien almost melted. She wanted this…right? "Do you remember the Copycat Akuma?"

"Yes," Marinette replied immediately, breathlessly. She'd say whatever she had to for him to keep talking. She leaned into his touch and was satisfied when his breath hitched.

"I…I did that."

"What?" she said, eyes opening in slight surprise.

"When you didn't show up, when you missed that ceremony thing, Theo Barbot, the sculptor, he was talking about how awesome he thought you were. I…didn't like that. Like, at all. Someone else wanting you. So I…I might have…told him we were together."

If Marinette was surprised by this information, she didn't show it. Instead, her eyes were bright with something Adrien couldn't name. Their weight shifted – their world shifted – when she leaned closer.

"Adrien…I have one more confession."

Adrien hummed, pulling her closer and nuzzling the side of her cheek.

Like a cat, she thought, smiling.

"Theo told me what you said…" This time, Marinette reached up to put her hands on his shoulders, moving back to be able to twirl her fingers in the hair on the back of his neck. "And I…told him that you were right."

It was now or never…and Adrien wasn't going to miss this opportunity again.

Hands now on either side of her face, Adrien pulled her forward into his touch, and at the first taste, had the familiar feeling of being submerged in something bigger than him.

This time, though, he let himself drown in her.

As one small kiss turned into something a little more, both teens relaxed into each other, smiles on their faces, but unwilling to stop trying to maintain that feeling of someone's lips on their own. Someone who loved them. Someone who made their lives just that much better simply by being a part of it.

Someone who gave themselves completely to the other person, basking in their faults, laughing through the trials, and, overall, taking all the bad parts and covering them in something sweet.

Their lives had, in one day, become like a donut: deceptively tough on the outside, immensely fluffy on the inside…and delectably sugarcoated.

Fin!

[[ That's all, folks! Happy…Valentine's…Day…! Heh. n.n;;;

Seriously, tho…thanks. Thanks for reading and being a part of this! It was fun! Even if it took a MONTH longer than expected. But really. Your AWESOME COMMENTS AND ALL THAT JAZZ WERE SOOOOO FUN TO READ!

I love you! Yes, YOU. Y-YOU – YOU! YOU STOP MOVING WHEN I'M TRYING TO POINT TO YOU. ]]

(( Ça, alors ! =My goodness!, good grief! (wiki – French popular expressions) ))

(Thanks for sticking around with all this craziness. ;) xoxo - Maki)

[[ P.S. WHO'S READY FOR SOME MORE "MY GIRLFRIEND'S BOYFRIEND"!?

'CAUSE I AM. X) ]]

[[ When did y'all realize I have a thing for enemies/lovers stuff? 'Cause like…I just realized it like, last week.

I may have a problem.

OH WELL. :3 ]]