Chapter Text
When Felix had decided to go out for the day, he had expected the usual: a leisurely walk to the bookstore for a new historical fiction, a stop by his favorite cafe for his usual black coffee and perhaps even a trip to the nearby botanical gardens to find a place to read the book and drink the coffee.
What he had not expected was for his hand to be grabbed and for him to be yanked into an alley, an arm pressed against his throat and furious blue eyes glaring into his.
“What did I tell you about following me, Adrien? I told you that if you tried it again, it would get ugly, but no, you couldn’t listen for just once in your life!” She paused, still glaring, but almost as if waiting for him to defend himself.
“Um, I believe you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Felix, not Adrien, though I have been told countless times how remarkably similar we look.” Much to his chagrin, he and his moronic cousin were the spitting image of each other, alike in every way until you got to their personalities, in which they diverged dramatically. It was interesting, though, usually girls were squealing messes when Adrien was the topic of the conversation, yet this small girl had only violence on her mind.
The girl looked closer at him, and he could see the gears turning in her head as her eyes widened and grip slackened.
“Oh my god. Oh my god,” she immediately let go of him, backing away, her hands rising to cover her mouth. “I can’t believe I just accosted a random person. I am so incredibly sorry!”
It was amusing to Felix how quickly her mood shifted from warrior-like anger to preteen-like panicking. He was surprised to find that he wasn’t angry at her, simply curious to know what Adrien had done to be at the receiving end of her wrath.
“If you tell me why you hate Adrien so much, I will forget this ever happened,” he bargained.
“You’re not at all mad that I threw you against a wall?” Her tone was a mixture of confusion, wariness and hope.
“Usually, I would be, yes, but it is so rare to happen across someone who dislikes Adrien as much as I do that I am willing to forget it if I get to hear the story.”
She thought it over for a moment, then shrugged. “What the hell? Maybe pouring out my woes to a stranger will make me feel better. Couldn’t hurt. I’m Marinette, by the way.”
“Felix, though I believe I introduced myself earlier.” He smirked.
Marinette cracked a smile as well, even as her cheeks pinked a bit at the mention of their one-sided fight. “Yeah. Hey, my story’s a pretty long one. Wanna get ice cream to eat while I tell you?”
“Sure.”
- - - - - -
“Soulmate ice cream,” Felix deadpanned, staring at the cart.
Marinette shrugged, which seemed to be her go-to move. “Believe it or don’t. Either way, Andre makes a good ice cream cone. I’m going to go find us a quiet place to sit. You go order us two cones, alright?” Before Felix could argue, she walked off.
Felix went up to the stand, his face set in a grimace as he ordered two cones. Andre had seen him with Marinette and had her cone ready but made Felix’s in no time flat, complete with a weird rhyme that Felix forgot as soon as Andre said it.
When he got back to the table and handed Marinette her cone, she groaned. “God, it even looks like him still.” She eyed his cone, then made to hand hers back to him. “Here, trade me.”
“What if I want to eat my own magical soulmate ice cream and not yours?”
“You don’t believe in this stuff. Now, gimme.” Marinette made a swipe to grab his cone, which he easily dodged.
“But maybe that would all change if I had just one magical ice cream cone. You could be depriving me of that magic forever. Is that what you want?” He couldn’t resist the smirk at the unimpressed look she was giving him.
After making another failed movement to get his cone, she sighed. “Please. I don’t want to eat something that reminds me of Adrien.”
Felix’s teasing died instantly at her expression. It was filled with so much pain and suffering, the kind that someone only got from the worst kinds of troubles. He wordlessly handed her his cone and took hers, feeling the pressure in his chest lighten as her shoulders slumped in relief.
“Now, tell me your story.”
Marinette made a face. “As you command, sire.”
And so she proceeded to tell him her tale, a long and winding one filled with deceit, betrayal and many things lost, starring a particular liar and his cousin. Many tears rolled down her face and her voice trembled through the course of the story, but she had kept going, outlining each thing that had been done (or not done, in Adrien’s case) by the people she had trusted.
At the end of it, she looked at him steadily, waiting to hear what he had to say. He was unaccustomed to being speechless, but the level of cruelty and downright malevolence of her peers in the defense of a liar was the worst kind of incredible.
“I am entirely ashamed to be related to that idiot,” Felix said, rubbing his temples. He was sure that this probably wasn’t the proper response to that tale, but it was honestly all he could think of to say.
“You’re related to Adrien?” She then facepalmed. “Of course you are. That makes total sense. You two look almost exactly alike.”
“Yes, so I have heard. Repeatedly.” His tone was sharp.
Marinette took the hint. “If it’s any consolation, I’m sorry you’re related to him too.”
This startled a laugh out of Felix, startling himself and from the looks of it, Marinette too.
“You know, you are truly unlike anyone I have ever met before. One minute you are trying to crush my windpipe and the next minute sympathizing with me even after telling me the tale of your own severe hardships.”
“There’s not much I can do to change my situation, but I can always, well, almost always, be nice to others. It costs nothing, you know.” She gave him a pointed look, though her teasing smile told him she was kidding.
“To be kind to those idiots, you must be nothing short of a saint. Especially my cousin.” Felix hadn’t known her for more than maybe two hours at this point, but something about her felt different.
“It’s not easy, but I have to believe that it’ll pay off some day. I mean, it already kind of has. It’s how I met you, isn’t it?” When Marinette turned that radiant smile on him, he felt a flutter in his chest and couldn’t help but smile back.
“I cannot say that our meeting was under ideal circumstances, but I am glad that we did.” He could feel the blush on his cheeks, but he took consolation in the fact that hers were pink as well.
“Me too.”
“In fact, I would like to keep getting to know you. I must get going now, but are you free this Friday, perhaps for a date?” He could hardly believe his boldness, but the smile that spread across her face made it all worth it.
“Yes, I believe I am.”
“Excellent.” They exchanged numbers. “I will see you then.”
“Bye.” She smiled shyly and waved.
Felix walked away, feeling happier than he could ever remember being. While he hated that Marinette had gone through all of that, some selfish part of him was glad about it if it meant that their paths had crossed. Then at least something good could potentially come of all that suffering. Felix would gladly be that silver lining if she’d let him.
After all, Felix was not his cousin. The mistakes Adrien made served as a blueprint, a template of exactly what not to do.
And Felix would do better. For her. He hadn’t known her for long, but if the butterflies in his stomach were any indication, that didn’t matter. He would take the time to get to know her and perhaps they would grow into something more.
He hoped they would.