Oh, I've been waiting for this prompt! I have a very clear idea about what I want to do and I'm so happy I can finally put that on paper! Also, yes, another late update because today was very busy. Sorry about that, but today's one-shot is finally here! Vote and comment if you've enjoyed!                                                                                                                                         -Colorado

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"Alright, the movie is loaded, the popcorn is buttered, and the root beer floats are prepared." Adrien reported, carrying a tray full of snacks back to his couch.

"Thanks, Adrien! This looks great." Marinette said, licking her lips.

"Thank my private chef, she was the one who prepared all of the snacks." He settled down next to her.

"We have pastries too?" Marinette grinned. "She's spoiling us."

"I may have bribed her." He said sheepishly.

"Ah, that explains it."

"She's also currently preparing the pizzas."

"Wow, you really didn't hold back, huh?"

"Mari, we're finally doing our long awaited Disney Renaissance binge session. Of course I'm going to go all out."

It was ironic, really. Marinette had tried for over a year to ask Adrien out to the movies and had failed every, single, time. Now, a year and a half later, here she was, sitting on his couch as the opening credits to The Little Mermaid played.

The only difference was the actual movie.

She was still head over heels for the boy, yet he remained oblivious. She was still failing miserably at becoming anything more than friends.

Although, at least this time they were that. Last time they were on the edge of acquaintances and friends before Marinette made an attempt to get over him. Now, however? They were able to connect and talk without Alya or Nino or someone balancing them out.

"I'm really excited." Adrien said as the opening scene began to play.

"Me, too."

"I've actually never done something like this before." He said nervously.

"You've never binged a movie series before?" Marinette asked, flabbergasted.

"Well yeah, I spent a lot of my pre-teen years watching anime, but I didn't get to see it with a friend."

Fourteen year-old would've sulked in her bedroom crying about her being "just-a-friend", 16-year-old Marinette only smiled. Adrien's friends meant a lot to him and if that was the role she was meant to play, then okay.

Even if she wished for something more.

"Well, now you are. What movie are you looking forward to the most?" Marinette asked.

"While I love all Disney, I think I'm really looking forward to Hercules."

"I can see why. The songs are all amazing, plus Meg is just so sassy."

"I know right? How could someone not love her? What about you?" Adrien turned towards her.

"I've always had a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast. Something about it just makes my heart sing."

"Belle slowly falling in love with Beast, seeing a side to him he keeps hidden away for his own protection." Adrien sighed. "I definitely see the appeal."

"Although, I have to appreciate The Little Mermaid, too. Under the Sea will forever be one of the best Disney songs, in my opinion."

"Agreed." Adrien said, munching on some popcorn. "Although, it's a bit concerning that Eric falls for her without her even talking to him."

"Shhh, it's Disney true love." Marinette said.

"Ah yes, all rationale is thrown out for the sake of love in these movies."

"That's what made them so magical in the first place. It showed kids all across the country that love can be found anywhere."

"I guess so, but these Disney princes really set high standards for us. A movie is not going to cut it for a first date."

"I'm pretty sure that's just your hopeless romantic side, Adrien."

"Probably." He shrugged. "But can you blame me? I can't help but want something like Disney princesses and their princes."

"Yeah." Marinette sighed, remembering all the times she had dreamt up something extra-romantic for her and Adrien.

"They make being in love seem so easy." Adrien sipped a bit of his drink.

Marinette shot him a worried glance. Even with being as close as they were, Adrien was tight-lipped about his love life. She knew she had been in love with a girl, but then began to date Kagami, but that was it.

"Sometimes it is, but sometimes it can be incredibly hard." Marinette said, thinking about her failed relationship with Luka. She liked him, she really did, but it didn't work out. Then of course, there was Adrien.

"I'm still grateful though, even if they hurt, my experiences have helped me a lot, you know?"

"Mmm hmm."

The two were quiet for a while, mainly focusing on their snacks and the movie. It had been a long time since Marinette had seen some of the classic Disney movies. She had been incredibly busy with her guardianship first of all, and watching movies was about the last thing on her mind.

"Ariel, listen to me, the human world, it's a mess." Adrien began to say in an accent as the song began to play.

"Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there." Marinette joined in. 

"The seaweed is always greener," Adrien began to sing.

"In somebody else's lake," Marinette continued.

"You dream about going up there," Adrien turned towards her and sang.

"But that is a big mistake." They chorused.

"Just look at the world around you," Acting almost on an impulse, Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and pulled her up.

"Right here on the ocean floor," They both grinned as they began to dance in front of his couch.

"Such wonderful things surround you," Adrien sang.

"What more is you lookin' for?" Marinette chimed in, her voice in perfect harmony with the song.

"Under the sea,

Under the sea,

Darling it's better,

Down where it's wetter,

Take it from me." At the chorus, the two burst into song, not caring about how they sounded. They were too preoccupied with having fun.

And maybe Adrien's proximity to her had something to do with it, too. Marinette couldn't help but become breathless as Adrien spun and dipped her as the song continued. She hadn't expected that from him, but she wasn't sure why.

As the bridge began, Adrien only held her tighter as they danced around the front of his room, making sure they didn't knock over the snack tray.

The both of them were giggling, smiling, teenagers acting more like kids than anything. But neither of them cared, they were wrapped up in each other's company. They didn't notice the blushes or the grins or even their nearing proximity.

"Each little clam here,

Knows how to jam here," As the song wrapped up, Adrien decided to spin her out one last time.

"Each little slug here,

Cutting a rug here," Marinette laughed as Adrien pulled her back in.

"Each little snail here,

Knows how to wait here," Winking at her, Adrien dipped her even lower than before, drawing a squeak from the girl.

"That's why it's hotter," He grinned and pulled her back up.

"Under the water." He gave her a smirk before spinning her out of his grasp.

"Ya we in luck here

Down in the muck here," Adrien caught her hand, stabilizing her.

"Under the sea!" He pulled her back to him.

The song finished and two teenagers stood there, out of breath and inches apart. 

Marinette gulped, realizing just how close the two of them had gotten with their activities. She could've even kissed him if she wanted. But Adrien grinned as his eyes shined and Marinette lost any nerve. He obviously wasn't as affected as she was. Which made sense because he didn't see her that way.

Shaking her head and giving him a nervous smile, they sat back down on the couch.

"Whew, I am out of breath." Adrien said, taking another drink of his float.

"Yeah, me too. Who knew dancing could work up so much of a sweat?"

"Not me, that's for sure."

"You're a pretty good dancer." Marinette said shyly.

"Really? Thank you." Adrien scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah, no prob."

"Your singing voice is really pretty." He said quietly. Marinette's eyes widened as she locked eye contact with him. "Why don't you use it more often?" He asked gently.

"Ah, well, I guess, I've never had the opportunity to?" It came out as a question more than anything.

"Maybe we should make movie karaoke nights a thing then." Adrien said nonchalantly.

"How?"

"If we can't hang out, we can always call and watch a movie on a Meet or something."

"W-when?"

"How about every Saturday?" Adrien offered. "It's a weekend night, so staying up won't have as many consequences." 

At Marinette's wide-eyed expression, Adrien panicked.

"Only if you want to of course! I didn't mean to assume anything, I swear!"

Marinette chuckled.

"Sure thing, Adrien. We can start doing weekly karaoke movie nights. It'll help us get through the Renaissance movies faster, plus it'll be a lot of fun."

"You think so? Good, I'm glad." Adrien said, giving Marinette a large smile which she returned.

The two settled down and began to snack and exchange comments as the movie went on. The two of them laughed as Sebastian outran the chef and as Ariel began to discover the human world.

"I always loved this montage. Something about it just seems so... happy, to me, you know?" Marinette scooted over to Adrien.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I think this is when Eric truly starts to fall for Ariel. I mean, just look at his face."

Marinette hummed, and turned her attention back to the movie, knowing full well what the next ten minutes entailed.

A grin came over her face as Sebastian rolled his eyes at Skuttle for getting in the way of Ariel and Eric's romantic boat ride and began to take over himself. She couldn't help it. Disney magic was truly at one of it's peaks here. As the song began, Marinette felt a sense of anticipation begin, even though she knew how it ended.

"Do you, uh, wanna dance, again?" Adrien asked quietly as Sebastian started to sing.

"Who, me?" Marinette pointed, unsure if she heard him correctly.

"No, the ghost sitting behind you." He deadpanned before breaking into a grin. "Yes, you! Come on, it'll be fun."

"But there's something about her," Marinette watched rather than felt Adrien pull her up.

And you don't know why" He pulled her in close, just like he had years before at Chloe's party.

And just like then, Marinette closed her eyes and leaned into him. Enjoying the light smell of his cologne, something perfectly Adrien. She could feel his breath on her head as he leaned in closer. Their proximity only made Marinette's heartbeat speed up even more and she desperately hoped that Adrien couldn't feel it. If he did, she would lock herself in her room and never come out. Ever.

Still, she found herself getting lost in the music as they swayed back and forth. The monologue from Eric did very little to break the mood. Marinette was far too wrapped up in Adrien for character dialogue to come in between it

In fact, Marinette thought that she could stay that way forever, rocking back and forth in Adrien's arms. It felt peaceful and warm, all things she had expected from dancing with her crush. What wasn't expected however, was the sense of rightfulness she felt as Adrien exhaled. It felt like Marinette should've done this much, much, sooner. But that didn't make sense, did it? They had danced before. Yet, none of the times felt like this. 

Whatever it was that made her feel this way, it was magical. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, but it was nestled there pleasantly in her chest. It was more emotional than a simple crush, but more calm than her earlier obsession days. What was the name of this strange thing?

This thing that wrapped itself around Marinette's heart. Whether it was holding it captive or comforting it, she wasn't sure. Only time would tell if this was something good or something bad.

The song picked up and Marinette found herself truly lost within the Disney magic. Between the boy holding her in his arms, the low lighting, and the romantic song playing in the background, it felt like something straight out of one of her old fantasies. The only thing missing was a love confession.

Wait a second,

"Oh, don't you wanna kiss the girl," The music quieted down as Marinette's eyes snapped open.

"You've gotta kiss the girl," She looked up at Adrien, her mouth slightly open as her mind reeled. She was surprised to see him looking down at her, with such affection in his eyes, it made any and all rational sense fly out the window.

Maybe that was why she did what she did.

"Go on and kiss the girl," Maybe it was because they were caught up in the moment, maybe it was because Marinette was a hopeless optimistic romantic, maybe she was just being optimistic, but she could've sworn that in the moment, she saw Adrien lean in. 

"Adrien," she whispered, her heart pounding. "There's something that I need to tell you."

His eyes widened a bit as he took in their position, and let go of her frantically.

"I-I'm so, so, so, sorry, Marinette!" He clasped his hands together.

"Adrien, it's," she gulped. "Fine."

But it wasn't fine, not at all. Because how could she expect herself to go on having these moments with him and pretending like everything was normal? It wasn't fair to herself to put her through that pain, and it wasn't fair to him to lie about it.

If there was one down-side to being this close with Adrien Agreste, it was that she couldn't hide things from him.

Especially not something as big as this.

"Now, can you please sit down? There's something that I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah, sure." Adrien's facial expression was a mixture of bewilderment, concern, and nervousness.

"Okay, so, it's taken m-me a long time to d-do this so," she couldn't bear to look him in the eyes any longer, and instead directed her attention to the floor. "P-please don't laugh?"

"I would never."

"A-alright, here goes." Marinette took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and then without any plans or lucky socks, told him the three words she'd been trying to tell him since day one. "I love you!" She blurted out.

"Marinette," Adrien seemed only to be more confused than before, "you've told me that before? Why would... oh."

"Y-yeah." Thank the Lord he understood which love she meant, although maybe her reaction gave her away a little bit.

"Is that why you were so nervous around me?"

She nodded, her eyes still clamped shut.

"But what about Luka?"

"He was great, but it didn't work out and I never really got over you?" She said nervously.

"Oh." He breathed.

"S-so yeah, just wanted to tell you."

Not meeting his eyes, Marinette sat on the opposite end of the couch from him and tried her hardest to focus on the movie and not the sense of impending doom in her stomach. She had told him, at least there was that. The hardest part was over, now she would get rejected, get some closure, and could move on. Or maybe, he would confess to feeling the same way and they would begin to date and fall even deeper in love.

The two finished the movie in silence, but instead of it being comfortable, it was tense and awkward. Full of unanswered questions that Marinette didn't know if she wanted to hear. It weighed on them like a blanket and Marinette couldn't even get into the climax of the movie because of it.

She really hoped she didn't just ruin her experience with The Little Mermaid. 

The end credits rolled and the two of them sat there, both contemplating life decisions albeit for very different reasons.

"Look, Marinette," Adrien began to say.

"If you're going to reject me, please just get it over with." She begged.

"What?" Adrien sounded... shocked?

Marinette risked a peek to see that his cheeks were red and his green eyes were full of so many emotions that she didn't want to put a name too.

"No, I," he sighed. "I just need to be honest with you, so please don't say anything until I finish, okay?"

"Okay."

"So, as you know, I was homeschooled for most of my life. Because of this, I'm not good with emotions, both my own and those of other people. I think the fact I never realized you like me proves that." He took a deep breath and Marinette felt her heart speed up.

'Here it comes.'

"But, it was never the thought of you liking me that was unpleasant. I thought that there was no way that someone like you could ever like someone like me. I didn't want to get my hopes up, only for them to be crushed. So, whenever the topic came up, it was easier to shut it down right away and tell myself that you were just a friend."

Okay, this doesn't exactly sound like a rejection... but it didn't sound like a confession either.

"But, now that isn't the case anymore, and it feels like my world has been turned up-side down." Before Marinette could fall too deep into despair, Adrien caught her eye and gave her a smile. "Yet, it feels like everything has changed in the best way possible."

Her eyes widened and her breath hitched in her throat, did that mean what she thought it did?

"And I'm pretty sure that if you were just a friend to me, I wouldn't be feeling that way. So, I guess my question is: would you like to go on a date with me? Just so we could try this out and see where it leads.You're an amazing girl Marinette, and I could easily see myself with you, so," he grabbed her hand, oblivious to the cardiac arrest he was putting her through "I want to try this. I want to try us. What do you say?" He looked up at her with eyes so full of wonder, so full of hope, there was really only one answer to his question.

"Y-yeah, of course." She nodded, her face breaking into a grin.

"Really?" Adrien brightened.

"Yeah! I'd be crazy if I said no."

"Oh, thank you, Marinette!" He leaned forward and hugged her. "I can't wait for this to start."

Marinette laughed, relief filling every inch of her body that had been filled with dread.

"You aren't the one who's been fantasizing about this for a year and a half." She said.

"Touche, sapphire, touche." Adrien leaned back, resting his forehead on hers. "So, which would you rather do? We could watch the next movie, which is Rescuers: Down Under or we could plan our first date."

Giddiness filled her as Adrien spoke. They were actually going on a date! She hadn't gotten rejected, and they were going on a date!

"Both." She smiled. "Both is good."

Adrien gasped.

"Did you just meme? You, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are a woman after my own heart."

"Exactly." She winked. "You better be prepared, Agreste, because I've got my eye on the prize. There's the most valuable heart out there and I'm going to steal it." She smirked.

"I think," Adrien said in a softer voice, "that's going to be very easy."

"W-well, then!" Marinette exclaimed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I better load up the next movie!"

"Alright, I'll go and check on those pizzas the chef was making. Be right back."

To her joy and surprise, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Y-yeah! You soon see!" She sputtered. Adrien shook his head and chuckled before exiting the room.

Marinette fell back on the couch in disbelief, a dopey smile coming over her lips. Adrien Agreste was going to check on their pizzas before planning their first date! They were going to go on dates! Real ones!

And Marinette couldn't wait for it to begin. 

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I am a sucker for fanfics in which Marinette confesses to Adrien and even though he's unsure, he is honest about his feelings and gives it a go. It's one of my favorite things to read and I wanted to try my hand at writing one! This was a ton of fun, and of course I had to put in Disney. What better way to set the mood than one of Disney's most romantic songs? I hope you guys liked it! Vote and comment if you've enjoyed!                                                                                                           -Colorado