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They were so caught up in themselves that, at first, they didn’t notice the bell.
“Oh, merde!” Marinette took a shaky step back, eyes wide. “We’re going to be late!” She ran her hands over her hair and clothes, smoothing them as best as she could, while Adrien fixed his shirt and collar.
He looked back up, only to see Marinette’s back as she sprinted to the library. “Hey, Mari, wait!” he cried, but she didn’t look back, nor did she stop. Adrien shrugged, sighed fondly, and shouldered his book bag before following her, albeit at a slower pace. A secret smiled curled on his lips.
He didn’t mind being tardy, if it meant that he got to press Marinette against a brick wall and kiss her senseless.
Marinette opened the library’s side door discreetly, and tiptoed her way back to her seat next to Alya at the table, near the back of the library. Along the way, she picked up a random book from a random shelf, and brandished it like a shield in hopes of not stirring her friend’s suspicions at her lengthy absence.
“Phew!” she exhaled dramatically, sliding into the chair. “This was such a difficult book to find!” She waved around the book for emphasis. “But after a while, I did find it. On a bookshelf. In the library. Where I’ve been this whole time.”
“Okay, I get it; you’re a dork.” Alya looked up from her phone, bored, and noticed what Marinette was holding. She grabbed the book from her friend’s hands. “The Farmer’s Guide to Growing Plantains? Girl, we’re in History class.”
Marinette fidgeted with her fingers under the table and let her hair fall over her face. “I know that,” she scoffed self-assuredly. “I just, just… I’m just curious about the different ingredients in the bakery’s banana bread, that’s all.”
“Plantains don’t go in banana bread.”
“I knew that,” she scoffed once more. However, once Alya’s attention returned to her phone, Marinette turned her head away, pretending to be interested in the veterinary books on the shelf next to her.
“Fuck,” she cursed under her breath. Nino, thankfully, saved her from Alya’s interrogation by sliding into the seat opposite hers.
“Yo, dudes,” he drawled. “Adrien just texted me that he’s back from his photoshoot.” Marinette fought against a smirk. She was quite well aware of that. “You guys want to get some dinner later?”
“Maybe. Can we go for pizza?” Alya asked.
“Always, bro. Always,” Nino gravely promised.
“Then you know my answer.” Alya turned to her friend. “Are you going to come, Mari?”
Marinette bit her lip. She was supposed to go on “patrol” with Chat later. And by “patrol” she meant aggressive kissing on rooftops and/or butt grabbing. Both hers and his. She tilted her head and looked apologetically at Nino. “I’m not su—“
“Hey, what’s that on your face?” blurted Nino.
“What? On my face?” Marionette’s hand darted to her cheek, feeling for anything out of place.
Alya turned her head sharply towards her friend. “It looks like…” Alya squinted at her through her glasses and leaned closer, then moved back in shock. “Lipstick! Marinette Dupain-Cheng, were you kissing someone?”
“Eh?” gasped Marinette. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, and it came away with a matte, red cream. She stared at her hand in shock. “N-no…?”
“Don’t lie to me! It’s all over your face!”
Nino snickered. “Nice one, Cheng! Gettin’ some action!” he crowed, raising his palm over the table for a high five. She was not able give one to him, because Alya had snatched her hand and studied it intensely.
“It is lipstick! Marinette, you little fox!”
Marinette’s cheeks went as red as the pigment staining her mouth (and neck, and cheeks, and chin), and she tried to tug her hand back from her intrepid friend’s grip while scrubbing at her mouth with her other hand. “Mon Dieu, you guys! Shut up!” she whisper-cried. “I don’t even wear lipstick! Where did this come from?”
“Hey guys.”
All three heads swivelled to look at the nonchalant model as he settled into the seat beside Nino. “What did I miss this morning?”
Alya dropped Marinette’s hand and all but launched herself across the table. She grabbed Adrien’s collar in both hands and brought his face close to hers. “Are you the one defiling my daughter?” she demanded.
His face pinked under her stare. “Well, I sure do hope so,” he mumbled. Alya threw him back onto his chair with a shriek, while Nino cheered (“My man!”) and Marinette banged her head on The Farmer’s Guide.
Somewhere, on the other side of the library, Alix was shouting, “Holy shit, guys, shut up this is a fucking library!”
From somewhere near her, Kim’s voice sounded out. “Agreste is putting the ‘D’ in ‘Dupain’!” he lauded, followed by a yelp of pain as Alix, presumably, smacked him upside the head. Laughter rippled throughout the previously silent library, and out of the corner of her eye, Marinette could see Rose peak shyly from behind the shelf to give her a thumbs up. Marinette wondered how long it would take to bludgeon everyone with The Farmer’s Guide.
Alya and Nino pretended to look chastened, though they still giggled mischievously. Marinette looked at her friends pleadingly. “Can you not?”
Adrien glanced between his friends, bemusement written on his face. “What’s happening right now?”
Alya shot him a glare, which was at odds with the Chesire Cat-like smirk on her lips. “Why don’t you ask her,” she said, gesturing towards the mortified girl next to her. Adrien finally noticed the state of her face and his complexion darkened into a bright red.
“O-oh,” he choked out. Marinette nodded briskly, feeling her face match his in colour.
“But,” interjected Alya, tapping her chin with a finger ponderously, “I know Marinette doesn’t wear lipstick, especially at school. So the real question is: how did it end up all over her face?”
“Dudeeeee,” Nino exclaimed, using his hands to mimic his mind exploding. Alya rolled her eyes at him.
Adrien gave a little cough. Three pairs of eyes turned to him as he sunk down into his chair. “I may have an idea,” he said, voice feeble.
“What?” his friends sounded in unison — Nino with delight; Alya with curiosity; and Marinette with dwindling patience.
Adrien saw the narrowing of Marinette’s blue eyes. “I tried to tell you,” he supplied, “but you ran off so quickly.” He took note of the scowl on her red-smeared lips and smiled meekly. “Besides, it’s too late now.”
“What,” she ground out. “Were. You. Going. To. Say?”
He smiled sheepishly. “The photoshoot earlier was for unisex lipsticks, and I forgot to take it off when we finished the shoot. I only noticed when I saw your face after… after…”
“We made out,” Marinette finished for him bluntly. (“You guys are animals,” whispered Alya in horrified awe. Nino nodded in agreement.) “And then I ran straight to class.” She dropped her head into her hands. “Why am I dating you again?”
“Dude,” Nino piped, “look at him: he’s beautiful.”
“Oh, right,” she sighed.
“Gee, thanks guys,” Adrien said sarcastically while he handed his girlfriend a makeup remover wipe from his bag, which she accepted gratefully and used to wipe at her jaw.
The matter settled, Nino held out his fist to the boy next to him, and Adrien begrudgingly bumped it. Elated at the reconfirmation of their bromance, Nino threw his arms around his friend and mussed up his hair, despite Adrien’s protestations.
The girls, however, paid them no mind — Marinette was focusing on cleaning her face and Alya was fiddling with her phone. The sound of a camera shutter jerked Marinette out of her furious rubbing of her cheek, and she twisted towards the source of the sound, only to see Alya lowering her phone.
“Wait.” She gaped at Alya. “Did you just take a photo of me?”
Alya angled the phone until Marinette could see what was on the screen.
“It’s okay,” Alya said, a grin stretching across her mouth. “At least red’s your colour.”