It came with ease, as if it was natural for everyone around them and for them as well.

Felix and Marinette spent all their free time together. They did their homework together, walked together in the park, sometimes had dinner together – sometimes with her family, sometimes with his.

Their classmates would ask Felix in surprise "Where's Marinette?" on the rare occasions when the girl wasn't around him. The service workers never doubted that they were dating, and Felix got very tired of correcting them.

One day, they were sitting in a cafe, waiting for the waiter to bring an elaborate dessert for Marinette. Felix chose a chocolate cake with cream, which he didn't have to wait and Marinette insisted that he start eating without her.

"Looks very appetizing," The girl said when there were only a couple of small pieces left on his plate.

"Wanna try?" Felix chuckled.

"Weeeell, I don't knooooow, if you don't miiiiind..." Marinette drawled playfully. "Of course I want it! Can't you see that the local chef has decided to leave me to die of hunger?!"

Felix smiled and carefully took one piece between two fingers and brought it to her mouth. Marinette carefully took the piece with her lips, but when Felix was about to remove his hand, something unexpected happened.

"Hey! The cream is the best part!" She exclaimed, and before Felix could see the last of the cream on his fingers, Marinette caught his hand and pulled it to her mouth.

Felix caught his breath and a wave of hot trembling swept down through his body. He watched in equal measure of delight and horror as Marinette cupped his index finger with her lips and sucked lightly between her tongue and gum, licking off the cream.

At that moment, their eyes met.

Probably Felix's dumbfounded face told Marinette that she was doing something wrong, because the girl froze with wide eyes. She looked down at his finger in her mouth, then back at Felix's face, abruptly let go of his hand and jumped up from the table.

"I uhh... need to go home!" She said, looking at him frightened. "Momming help... uhh... helping mom... see-you-tomorrow-buy!" She said in a tongue twister and flew out of the cafe like a bullet.

Felix sat in shock for a while, staring after her, slowly coming to his senses and trying to cope with his feelings.

A waiter approached him.

"Your girlfriend won't have the dessert she ordered, will she?" He asked softly.

"She's not my... she uh... had to leave urgently." Felix sighed. "Wrap it up to go."

The waiter nodded in understanding and left.

*

A few days passed and everything went back to normal.

Felix had slightly stopped worrying that Marinette would completely run away from him because of that incident in the cafe. Of course, he wanted to discuss everything like an adult, but Marinette pretended so hard that nothing happened and avoided this topic, each time diligently switching the conversation to something else, that Felix decided not to put pressure on her and give her time to process it within herself.

Time.

The time spent with her in recent weeks was the happiest for Felix, and the most painful. The more painful, the more everyone considered him Marinette's boyfriend.

Everyone, except for Marinette herself.

*

One day they were walking in the park and saw a horse that a young flyman led by the reins around to ride the children.

"When I was a child, my mother and I went out of town to ride horses every weekend." Felix remembered aloud, looking dreamily at the beautiful animal.

"Really?" Marinette perked up. "I have never sat on horseback in my life!"

Felix raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"This is an unacceptable mistake that we will correct right away." He said firmly and waved to the guy with a horse, calling him to come.

Marinette grabbed Felix's arm, trying to stop him.

"Feli! What are you doing?!" She protested.

"Calling that boy, obviously." He chuckled.

"But I can't do that! I'm scared!" The girl didn't give up.

"You're a superhero, Marinette." Felix said skeptically. "You've defeated the Parisian supervillain. Don't tell me this beautiful animal scares you more than Shadow Moth."

"What if it dumps me?!" Marinette scowled, wrapping her free arm around herself defensively.

"Okay." Felix sighed. "If I lead the horse myself and make sure you don't fall, will you ride it then?"

Marinette looked at him, still slightly scared, as if searching for something in his eyes. Then her face softened and she relaxed her hand on his.

"I will." She confirmed.

"Then wait here." Felix said and went to meet the guy.

"May I myself lead the horse for this young lady?" Felix asked the flyman, who smiled at him kindly.

"We don't allow that usually..." The boy replied, losing his smile.

"What about double the price?" Felix asked with a bored expression.

"Well, I don't know..." The guy drawled uncertainty.

Felix took out a bundle of banknotes from his wallet and placed it in the boy's hand.

"There's enough here to keep your horse busy for the rest of the day." He said and confidently took the reins from the hands of the confused boy.

"You are a serious man." The guy said. "Your girlfriend is lucky!"

"She's not my..." Felix started and stopped, not quite sure which of the two he was going to convince – the young man or himself...

He led the horse to Marinette and helped her onto the animal.

At first, the girl was still a little afraid and looked at Felix with a save-me expression, but gradually she was drawn in and relaxed, and then she even tried to start the horse galloping.

"Easy, dear!" Felix held the horse. "We're not at the range."

For some time they walked around the park in the same composition, then Marinette shyly turned to her guide.

"Feli, don't get me wrong, I like it so much..." The girl said. "But I think I've started losing... a lower grip on the horse." She confessed, blushing slightly.

"It happens out of habit," Felix chuckled. "The fact is that the muscles that..." He trailed off as he saw the poor girl, who had just confessed that her butt was going numb, began to blush even more. "Right." The boy said. "Better let me help you get down."

Felix reached up and grabbed her by the waist, supporting her as Marinette awkwardly dismounted from the horse. She slipped abruptly and the boy wrapped his arms tightly around her to prevent her from falling. So Marinette ended up in the ring of his arms, pressed tightly against his chest.

She raised her face to Felix, still breathing heavily in fright, and froze, so close were their flushed faces from one another.

Felix felt his whole body ache, and as if cramped from the desire to kiss her right now, and stop this absurd misunderstanding that everyone around them had long considered them a couple, and his lips had never touched hers...

But fear suddenly flashed across Marinette's face, and Felix's hands let go of her by themselves.

Maybe he was reading her signals wrong? Maybe Marinette will never change her mind about him and Felix is really dear to her only as a friend?..

"I'd better go..." Marinette said in a slightly shaky voice. "I'm a little reeling from..." She looked around and her eyes flashed with relief, as if a drowning person saw a lifebuoy. "From this horse!"

*

There was an evening event at school with a buffet and dancing, and of course in some mysterious way, Felix and Marinette came to it together.

"There is something mesmerizing about it." Marinette said as she watched the couples slowly twirl on the dance floor in a slow dance as Felix and her chatted at the buffet table. "Some kind of inexplicable dance magic, like the music takes you to another world." She added dreamily.

"I don't know." Felix shrugged. "I do not dance."

Marinette looked at him as if he had just said that he had never seen the Eiffel Tower.

"Come on Feli!" She playfully nudged him with her elbow. "You can't be that bad."

"I didn't say I can't dance." Felix smirked. "I simply said I don't." He clarified.

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him slyly, devilish sparks flared in them.

"Why don't we break that rule of yours?" She suggested.

"Absolutely not." Felix protested, unable to keep himself from smiling back at her though.

"Absolutely yes! Absolutely yes!" Marinette jumped up and down next to him, lightly pulling his sleeve like a little child that was trying to convince a parent to buy a forbidden toy. "Please, Feli, for me!" She begged, depicting innocence and obedience on her face.

Felix rolled his eyes dramatically, but he already gave up internally, – there was no way he could actually say 'no' to this girl, – whatever she would ask.

He closed his eyes for a moment in agreement and slightly nodded, and Marinette almost squealed, drugging him to the dance floor. One slow melody just changed to another and they took a free place among the moving couples.

Felix took one of Marinette's hands in his and carefully placed the other on her waist, but Marinette looked at him skeptically.

"It's not like we just met." She smirked, tilting her head on the side.

Then she freed her hand from his and put both arms around his neck.

Felix's breath caught a little at her closeness, and he was glad that Marinette couldn't see his face anymore as she turned her head to the side and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly and wrapped his arms around her back.

Marinette snuggled closer to him, settling into his arms and Felix's eyes closed instinctively as he breathed in the fresh scent of her hair.

Waves of hot trembling ran through his body, and he felt as if even his head was slightly spinning from a strong influx of feelings for this fragile, but incredible creature that he held in his arms, and which, for all her seeming vulnerability, had such a power over him.

They were slowly spinning to the music without talking, and Felix thought about how to make this moment endless. How to let Marinette know that he wanted more from their relationship without scaring her away or losing her.

As if sensing his thoughts, Marinette pulled away slightly and looked up into his face.

It seemed that time had frozen, and Felix no longer distinguished either the hall around, or the swirling couples, or the sounds of music, because her eyes looked deep into his soul, making it impossible to think clearly, or maybe think at all.

As if mesmerized by this moment just as he was, Marinette rose on her toes and reached for his face, closing her eyes, and Felix's body responded instinctively as he leaned in to meet her.

Their lips touched, intertwined in a soft touch, clasping each other, as if nothing more natural in the world existed than this gentle contact. Felix no longer controlled his body, but only felt his hands press her closer to his chest, in which endless peals of sweet bliss exploded all at the same time.

He couldn't tell exactly how long that moment lasted, but when Marinette pulled away from Felix slightly and sat down on her full foot, her eyes seemed to be cloudy for a while. Then they slowly cleared, as if she was coming to her senses. And in the next moment, horror was reflected on her face.

Felix mirrored her expression, only now realizing their kiss and inwardly scolding himself for his intemperance.

"I... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry!" Marinette said in a frightened voice and took a step back, then she turned around and ran out of the hall.

Felix stood for another minute, taken aback, looking after her, then he finally woke from his stupor and ran to look for her.

He found Marinette in the semi-darkness of the schoolyard, sitting on a bench, pulling her legs up to her. The girl pulled her stretchy dress over her knees and dropped her head on them, sitting silently, clasping her knees in her arms.

Felix walked over and sat down next to her without saying anything.

Marinette tensed her shoulders as she realized his presence, and Felix felt like she knew it was him without even looking.

"I didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry." She repeated quietly, without raising her head.

"What didn't you mean to do, Marinette?" Felix asked cautiously.

"Destroy our relationship." She admitted, and finally raised her head, looking into his eyes. "I'm so afraid of losing you," She confessed. "I am horrified at the mere thought that I will ruin everything..."

Felix gently took her hand and Marinette turned her body slightly towards him, lowering her feet on the ground.

"And how can you ruin everything by making me happy?" He asked softly, looking tenderly into her eyes.

"I... wasn't sure you liked me in that way." Marinette said quietly as if she was sharing a secret. "I was afraid to spoil our friendship."

"I think I was there from our first meeting." Felix confessed.

"Really?" Marinette's eyes widened and she looked at him in surprise with her cheeks beautifully flushed.

"Well," Felix smiled, feeling his joyful heartbeat rising at the sight of this beautiful girl looking at him like that. "It's hard to resist such a clear shot." He smirked. "You literally knocked me off my feet."

"I'm... uhh... sorry?" Marinette blinked at him a few times.

"I'm not." Felix said. "I guess somehow I was smitten by you that first day and just was waiting for you to be ready to spend your life in my arms."

"You...did?" Marinette was looking at him with fascinated eyes.

"We only live once," Felix said, pulling her closer. "But if we do it right, once is enough."

He leaned down to kiss her forehead and felt her arms wrap around his torso as Marinette pressed her body against his. Felix sighed, enjoying this endless moment of intimacy with the girl he loved.

"And for me the 'right' is with you." He said.