Chapter 24: First Kiss
Marinette watched as Adrien rounded the corner, leaving her life once again. She had wanted to take it slow, but everything about this evening had proven he most certainly did not — he was doing this for her. The kind, caring boy she’d grown up loving had once again pushed his own feelings aside and allowed her to take the lead.
But it was about time she took the lead herself, and going for what she wanted!
Her heart started a rhythmic command to get moving, to go find him and stop this stupid game once and for all.
She hastily seized the nearest pair of shoes, her father’s cherished boots, slipping her feet into them despite their vast size. Ignoring the discomfort, her heart pounded with urgency as she rushed out into the street, desperate to find Adrien. She couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving again. After New York and then London (twice), she was determined to make him stay this time. He belonged with his family, his friends, and most of all, with her—the love of his life.
Yet, doubts gnawed at her insides. What if their love wasn’t enough to anchor him here?
But she pushed those thoughts aside, clinging to hope as she sprinted down the familiar streets, her heart racing with both anticipation and fear. Catching up with him, she saw him turn to face her, a questioning smile on his perfect, kissable lips.
“Marinette?” he questioned. His eyes glistened and glowed underneath the moonlight. Or was it the lamppost? This was the exact spot he’d proposed to her a couple of weeks ago. A proposal that, regardless of its validity, she’d accepted.
She stared up at him, summoning the courage to speak. “I know they say if you love someone, you should let them go. Well, I did that once and, believe me, there’s no way I’m strong enough to do it again.”
His eyes flickered across her face. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I don’t want to take this slow. Not anymore.”
His mouth opened, before closing again, his eyes burning into hers.
They stood bathed in the soft glow of the light, accentuating every imperfection and detail as they locked eyes. His velvety, green gaze delved into her deep oceans of blue. Silence enveloped them, each absorbed in the weight of what this moment could signify for their relationship.
Amidst the quiet tension, she felt a surge of readiness and determination. She wanted this, despite the uncertainty. Her heart swelled with love for him, and in that intense gaze, she found the courage to embrace whatever changes lay ahead. She bit down on her bottom lip and his gaze moved to focus on her mouth.
“Do you love me?” she asked with all the confidence she didn’t know she possessed.
Her pulse quickened as she locked eyes with him again, feeling the searing heat radiating from his intense, emerald gaze.
They stood motionless, the weight of the unspoken answer heavy in the air. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest, each beat echoing in her ears. Goosebumps raced across her skin, every nerve alive with tingling anticipation, as their eyes remained fixed on each other, conveying a torrent of unspoken emotions.
“Do you love me?” Her voice trembled, as the raw emotion broke through. Why wasn’t he answering?
Her heart raced in anticipation of his answer, breath caught in her chest. With deliberate steps, he moved closer, closing the distance between them, his hand rising to tenderly cup her cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed instinctively, savouring the intimacy of his touch and surrendering to the tender caress.
She watched him wet his lips with a nervous flick, before leaning in to whisper the words she had been yearning for. “Yes…I love you!” The breath of his voice against her ear sent a shiver down her spine, his warm breath mingling with her own, creating an intimate moment filled with longing and desire.
Her throat tightened as she watched him retreat, his eyes searching hers with a silent invitation to reconsider. He had an uncanny ability to read her thoughts.
As her eyes met his, she was mesmerised by the intensity of his gaze. It had turned to molten heat, a fire that burned only for her. And in that moment, she felt like the most cherished person in the world – not some distant ideal of beauty, but Marinette Dupain-Cheng, baker’s daughter and retired superhero.
His eyes bore into hers with an insatiable hunger, as though she were the sole craving of his existence. It was a look that conveyed a depth of longing and desire that superseded any other want or need.
She no longer allowed her doubts to resurface. She didn’t stop to question it, to question him or to question herself.
Marinette allowed her instincts to guide her, her hands reaching out and grabbing him by the shirt, twisting the fabric in her grip as she closed the distance between them. Lifting her head, she watched him bite his lower lip, his eyes continuing to blaze in the same way her core was. He kept his eyes trained on her, darkened, his pupils dilating into the green of his irises in a way that made her gulp for breath.
The tension between them was like a tightly wound band on the brink of snapping, the impending release promising a cataclysmic explosion of emotion, reminiscent of a supernova.
“Hey,” he greeted, his voice deep and gravelly.
As if on cue, the tension that had been holding them apart released its grip, and Marinette felt herself drawn irresistibly closer to him. Their lips met in a long-awaited kiss that spoke volumes of unspoken desire and heartfelt connection. She could feel the weight of anticipation lift, replaced by the warmth of his touch and sweetness of their lips.
At that moment, he was everything.
The kiss started slow and controlled, slightly tentative, and Marinette could sense the underlying tension and desire building between them. She felt his possessive growl reverberate in the back of his throat, a primal sound that stirred something deep within her.
As the kiss intensified, she sensed his urgency, the fiery passion igniting between them, a mutual need for more, for deeper connection and exploration. In that moment, amidst the heat of their embrace, her thoughts raced with longing and anticipation, her heart pounding with the realisation that this was just the beginning of something electric and profound.
His hands slid up her arms, fingertips skating across her collarbones and along her throat before cupping around her face almost desperately.
She felt something ignite in her body, and her hands moved up to grab his hair. A match lit inside her, and she was teetering on the edge of an inferno.
She suddenly remembered a quote from a book, where the character asked another what drowning felt like. The response was…not everything feels like something else.
Like having your heart broken.
Like kissing Adrien Agreste.
She could never have felt anything as jubilant as this. It wasn’t a tentative first kiss like when they were 14, breaking spells and defeating Akumas. This was a full kiss where she finally knew what Adrien tasted like — a flavour she’d desired for over a decade.
Her thoughts flew further, imagining what he would sound like as his hands moved over her body, adding in her own whimpers for more as he touched her. Her fantasies could never fully capture the unadulterated bliss of this moment, the sounds of his pulse quickening, or his breath catching as he finally relaxed and relinquished control to her.
They couldn’t go back to their normal dynamic now. This kiss was more than she ever could have imagined and everywhere he touched it felt like an electrical storm cracking.
He was more than just looks and a name to her. He was her Kitty, her Adrien. And as she remained in Adrien’s arms, breathless and not nearly satisfied, she understood how a simple kiss could bring two grown people to their knees, her own legs barely keeping her standing.
“Nice boots,” he said before stroking his thumbs over her cheek bones and moving forward again, this kiss just as heated and intense as the last one.
She wanted to experience everything with him because she loved him and she was sure now that he loved her. She never had to do anything to make him see her, because this kiss told her he’d been watching for a long, long time.
If this was what drowning felt like, she would be happy to drown forever.
