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"I can't believe we both got them to agree to come tonight!"
Nino laughed at Alya, as she jumped up and down on their way back home. The red-head had been plotting for years to get their best friends together but for some reason, it never went according to plan.
"I'm surprised Adrien agreed," Nino commented, hands in his pockets, "He's usually totally focussed on his work."
"Hey, maybe the pressure got to him too, and he wanted to relax," Alya suggested while Nino shrugged. It didn't seem like a likely explanation but he knew better than to oppose his girlfriend.
"Okay, so you get Adrien to the club while I'll get Marinette," Alya schemed, "and then we'll leave them. Hopefully, they'll start talking and get together!"
Nino laughed.
"What?" asked Alya, placing her hands on her hips, frowning.
"Look, I'm not sure that's how people get together," Nino began before Alya shushed him.
"Well, it worked for us, remember?"
Nino recalled that day in the zoo, where Ladybug put him and Alya together, in the same cage, during an akuma attack. They had started talking and their relationship had stemmed from there.
He raised his hands up in surrender as Alya smirked in victory.
"Come on, let's go and get them, it's getting late!"
Marinette slumped on her chaise. Her fabrics were strewn across her desk and pieces of paper were strung all across her walls, each with a unique design made originally by the designer herself. As she began to close her eyes, the bell ringed.
"Marinette, Alya is here!" Sabine called.
Groaning, because she was too tired to even go out tonight, Marinette went down the stairs and saw her best friend standing in the living room, looking ready to party.
"Look at you, you're not even ready yet!" She screamed, ushering her upstairs again. Before Marinette could protest, Alya had shoved some clothes in her face and pushed her inside the bathroom. Muffling an unheard protest, she looked at the clothes that her friend picked out for her.
"Oh no, nuh uh, I am not wearing this!" Marinette screamed, banging her hands on the door, her weariness melting away to anger. Alya had picked out a skimpy outfit for her that was too revealing in all the wrong places. It was clearly something she had bought for Marinette, despite knowing she would never wear it.
"Alya Cesaire, you let me out right now! I have designed way better outfits than this!"
Sighing, she opened the door. Marinette stormed out, and picked something she found satisfactory, before slamming the door again. When she emerged, Alya couldn't help but gasp.
"Wow girl, you look great!" she exclaimed.
Marinette blushed. She had let her hair fall down, touching her shoulders, and had chosen to wear a baby-blue summer dress that went just above her knees. The dress brought out the colour in her eyes.
"Thank you, Alya," replied Marinette, doing a little curtsey which made the journalist laugh. "I'll have you know, I wasn't kidding when I said I designed better outfits than your, your, I don't even know what you call that thing!" Marinette exclaimed, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Wait, you designed this?!" Alya squealed again, before grabbing Marinette's hands and jumping up and down with her. "You have got to make me a cute number like this as well, girl!"
"Fine, as long as you promise never to shop for me again," Marinette warned, wagging her finger.
"Deal!"
They jumped a little more, just like old times, before Alya decided they should leave, because it was getting late. Grabbing her little pouch-bag with Tikki inside, Marinette kissed her parents and promised to come home by ten. Both girls went out onto the streets of Paris, excited to spend some time relaxing, instead of studying their heads off.
It was then Alya realised that she hadn't told Marinette that Adrien was coming as well. Oh well, Marinette would love the surprise right?
Alya led the way, and they walked over to a small club. It was designed for students only, and Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at the sign. She wasn't sure where Alya was taking her; last time, Alya had taken her somewhere that Marinette would not want to go again, ever.
They were both greeted with neon lights, and people dancing. Alya gave a small 'whoop!' before diving right into the dancing crowd.
"Glad you wanted me to join you tonight," Marinette mumbled, as she walked over to the bar and asked for a drink. She walked over to an empty table and sat down, feeling slightly awkward, with no-one to talk to.
"Marinette?" a voice called. Marinette looked up and her heart almost stopped beating.
"A-Adrien?" she stuttered, before cursing mentally. She wasn't in high-school anymore! She was a college student, who did not easily get embarrassed. But she couldn't help but swoon at her high-school crush.
He looked taller, and his skin looked as if it was emitting a warm glow. His hair was the same, golden blonde but he had grown it out a little. Tonight, he had worn a simple shirt and jeans, with a blazer casually on top, looking effortless yet stunning.
Marinette didn't like to admit that she still was falling hard for the model, but this time, anyone would be able to tell. A blush was already creeping up to her cheeks and her palms were starting to bead with sweat. But the part of her that wasn't gazing at Adrien reminded her that she hadn't seen him in a while. It was nice to see him again.
Adrien was experiencing similar thoughts to Marinette. She looked beautiful in her blue dress, and he was pretty sure that he had never seen this design anywhere, before. Her eyes were sparkling and he had never seen her hair down before. It suited her, he thought.
He told himself to focus. He was in love with Ladybug, and he would only love her. But he couldn't help but admit that Marinette did make him catch his breath slightly. Right now though, he had to be able to pull it together, and be able to talk properly to his old classmate.
"Hey, can I sit with you? I can't find Nino anywhere, and I don't know anybody else here." He scratched his head nervously, Marinette noted, just like he used to.
"Um, sure," Marinette offered, as he took a seat. Mentally preparing herself, she decided to start a conversation. The teenager Marinette would have stuttered and tripped over her words like a dork, but college Marinette was determined not to do the same. She was ready to talk to Adrien, just like she would with any other student.
"So, Nino's with you? Alya came here with me, but she ditched me as soon as she saw everyone was dancing." It was the truth, and a good start, she felt.
"Funny you should say that, because that's exactly what Nino did to me," Adrien said with a hint of a smile. "I swear, if he was going to leave me anyway, why did he bring me here in the first place?"
"I know, right? I mean, I have coursework to finish. Plus, I just signed up for a competition, and I should really be getting on with that."
"So it's not just me that's feeling the stress, then?" Adrien asked knowingly.
"Nope, unless you don't count those two over there," Marinette said with slight annoyance, looking at Alya and Nino dancing their hearts out. Adrien followed her gaze and started laughing at the sight of them.
Well, they did look a little ridiculous, Marinette thought, as Alya was whooping while Nino was doing a weird dance move that looked like a mix between the funky chicken and the robot. Marinette rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile slightly at her two friends having fun.
"I'm not really the one for parties but those two need to learn how to dance," Adrien commented, before looking at Marinette with a smug smile. "Shall we show them how it's done?"
Perhaps before, Marinette would have started sweating like crazy, and go berserk. However, she was feeling confident tonight; she probably wouldn't see Adrien anytime soon anyway, and why couldn't she go and have a little fun?
"Alright," she smiled, and Adrien raised her eyebrows at her boldness. It was a surprising change for him, since he remembered Marinette to be a shy girl, but he liked it. He felt his Chat side of him come out slightly, but he figured he could enjoy himself, at least a bit.
He held out one hand, which Marinette took, and led her onto the dance floor. She let go once they reached Alya and Nino, however but Adrien tried not to let that bother him. The DJ and the journalist seemed oblivious to them, but Adrien smirked internally. They would see him soon, Adrien figured.
A dance track came on and Adrien felt his Chat Noir come alive. He let the music guide him, and started dancing.
Marinette started swaying to the music too, as she let the confident Ladybug inside of her, come out. She noticed Adrien glance at her but she closed her eyes and let her feet guide her.
"Girl, I had no idea that you could dance!" Alya exclaimed beside her. "What other secrets have you been hiding from me?"
Marinette tried not to let that sentence bother her too much. "Anyone can dance, Alya," she said playfully.
Adrien chuckled. "Everyone can dance, but it depends how well," he said, a little sarcastically. "I mean, Nino, what were you doing?"
The DJ looked offended. "Hey, my dance moves are awesome!"
"Awesomely catastrophic," Adrien muttered with a grin, as Marinette elbowed him. "Ow!" He exclaimed, as Marinette folded her arms, looking stern.
"I heard that," she said, low enough so Alya and Nino wouldn't hear.
"Well, it was true," Adrien said, a little indignant. At that, Marinette cracked a little smile, and Adrien couldn't help but notice that she looked beautiful when she smiled.
"Come on, let's dance!" the blue-black haired girl announced, before grabbing his arm and leading him further into the dancing crowd. He laughed as he was pulled across, and started joining in with the crowd. After a while, it was Alya who actually forced them to sit down, and remind them that it was time to go.
"Sorry, I guess I lost track of time," Marinette said sheepishly. She opened her phone and saw that it was almost ten. "My parents will probably tell me off for being late."
"Mari, will you be alright getting home by yourself? I have to go with Nino, his parents said they would drop me home."
"It's alright, I'll walk you home," Adrien offered. His friends sharply looked at him, surprise etched on their faces.
"I mean, if it's alright with you Marinette?" he asked, a little nervously.
"That would be really sweet of you, Adrien," she said, with a smile spreading across her face. He let out a small, nervous breath before standing up.
"See you guys later!" he called, as Alya and Nino waved goodbye.
Both he and Marinette started walking out into the cold night, heading towards the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien noticed Marinette shiver slightly. He looked down at his blazer. Without a second thought, he took it off and placed it on the designer's shoulders. She looked at him sharply, clearly startled.
"Oh, um, you looked like you were cold," Adrien answered, a little shakily. He wasn't sure if he had done the right thing, and whether she would appreciate his actions or not. Just as he thought that Marinette would return his blazer back to him, she smiled softly at him.
"Thank you," she whispered, and he nodded. He was pretty sure that his cheeks were burning.
They soon approached the bakery. Marinette turned to look at him, her cerulean eyes sparkling.
"Thank you for walking me home, Adrien," she began, hoping her blush wasn't that obvious, "and here, you can have your blazer back." As she started to take it off, Adrien stopped her.
"No, you can keep it, I mean, I have loads back home, you know, from modelling…" he trailed off. He knew he was rambling but he couldn't help it. Marinette looked really cute in that blazer.
"Oh, thanks," she said, a little surprised. As a chilly breeze whipped past them, Marinette hugged the blazer tighter around her, glad that she could keep it. Great. Now she had two things that Adrien owned, she thought.
"It was nice seeing you again, Marinette," Adrien started, putting his hands in his pockets. "We should meet up again sometime, you know, to just hang out."
"I'd like that," Marinette replied, trying to hide her excitement. Was Adrien finally asking her out?
"I should probably give you my number then," Adrien suggested, pulling his phone out. He put his head down low, trying to cover the smile on his face. "I can type it in for you," he offered.
Marinette just mutely handed over her phone, unable to believe her luck. Adrien finished typing his number into her phone, and passed it back to her.
"See you later," he smiled, as he started walking back.
"Bye," Marinette said softly, as Adrien turned back to look at her. They shared a small smile, before going their separate ways.
Later that night, Alya and Nino pounded fists. They had watched their best friends' entire exchange from the building around the corner, almost bursting from excitement. Sure, Alya had lied to Marinette, but that was part of the plan. And it worked! She knew Marinette would forgive her, eventually.
Although Marinette and Adrien would never admit it out loud, they were glad their best friends had made them go out that night.
It was the beginning of something new.
Hope you liked that chapter! Please review, and let me know what you think!
Also, I will not be able to update for two weeks, as I will be on holiday, and probably will not have internet connection. But I promise I'll have chapters ready when I return!
Thanks for reading!