Adrien and Ashely ate their breakfast quietly. The boy kept on stealing glances towards her. She sighed, pushing away her empty plate.
"Adrien, you're going to be late," Nathalie spoke up, breaking the silence in the air.
"Oh, r-right!" Adrien stammered a reply.
He swallowed his food and stood up. He turned to look at Ashley. The girl gave out a small smile to reassure him that she is fine. Smiling, he nodded to her. He patted her head. Then, he went ahead. Ashley stood up and went to her room. As she took the stairs, she bumped into her uncle. He raised his brows towards her. She blinked in confusion.
"Your father called me," he started.
"Really? What did he say?" Ashley asked, worried.
"He said that you wanted to stay until Adrien's birthday," he replied.
"Did he told you…to persuade me into leaving?" Ashley asked.
The uncle shook his head. "No. I told him that I will put you to good use," he explained what he wanted her to do.
Due to the fact that she is a model in her country, Gabriel decided to ask her to model some of his newest designs. Ashley's eyes sparkled at the thought of modeling her uncle's designs.
"If you're up for it, come to the studio with Adrien once his bodyguard picks him up from school," he said, walking away.
Ashley was so happy. She could not wait to tell her cousin about it.
"Dude, you should try and ask your dad for another party this year," Nino insisted.
"And risk doing the same mistake twice? You know what happened last year, right?" Adrien replied, shrugging, "Besides, it's still too early anyway."
Nino widened his eyes in disbelief. "Too early! We only have a few days before your birthday!" he exclaimed.
Adrien's chauffeur arrived. Ashley came out to greet her cousin as always. However, that day, Chloe stopped her before she could even hug him. Ashely puffed her cheeks, angry at the blonde girl. She turned to Adrien who apologetically shrugged to her. Ashley crossed her arms, listening to what Chloe was saying.
"Adrikins," she started, wrapping her arms around Adrien's neck, "Would you like me to be your model?"
"Model?" Ashely turned to Nino.
"Yeah, we have a new assignment where we have to design an outfit for Adrien's new partner," Nino explained.
"New partner?" Ashley muttered, surprised.
"No thanks, Chloe," Adrien said, breaking away from her embrace and turning to his cousin, "Father told me that you'll be modeling alongside me while you're here."
Ashley blinked and nodded. "Yes. News flies by so fast here…" she sighed, flashing a smile.
"Then…" Adrien's words were interrupted.
"Ashley, there you are!" Alya called out for the orange haired.
The girl turned to her. Alya and Marinette walked up to Ashley. She waved happily. Adrien gave out a grin to Chloe before proceeding to stand beside his cousin. Nino chuckled when Chloe stormed off angrily yet again. Alya looked at the two boys back and forth. She placed her hands on Ashley's shoulders, forcing her to follow them.
"Walk with us, will you?" Alya said, winking to Nino and Adrien.
"I heard you're A-Adrien's new partner for modeling," Marinette muttered.
"Yeah, it was the only way to convince my father to let me stay here a little longer," Ashley explained.
"Then, can we take your measurement for our assignment?" the blue haired asked, blinking in excitement.
Smiling, the young model nodded. "Sure, anything for my friends. I'll meet you guys at Marinette's?"
"Sure, that'll be great!" Alya said, closing her distance with the girl and whispering, "Bring your cousin with you…"
The orange haired chuckled, nodding to Alya's request. She bid them goodbye, walking back to Adrien who was standing by their ride. She got in after him.
"This assignment of yours, is it a group assignment?" Ashley asked.
"A pair work. I'm working with Nino, of course," Adrien replied, scratching the back of his neck.
"Okay. Do you need my measurement too?" she asked, glancing up towards him.
He gave out a sheepish grin, nodding to her question. She giggled to herself as she thought of an idea to get Adrien to come with her to Marinette's. They arrived at the manor. Nathalie handed Adrien his schedule for the coming weekend. Ashley skidded to his bedroom. She waited for him on his chair, playing with his computer.
"You're not going to find anything there," Plagg interrupted her.
Ashley chuckled, spinning around. "So…let's go to Marinette's this evening."
"Why?" Adrien asked, confused.
"Because she needs my measurement too and since you're a guy, I'm not letting you going about my body to get my measurement," she replied, giggling in the process.
Adrien raised a brow towards his cousin. He asked, "Where are you getting at with this?"
She shrugged and hummed, "Nowhere… Just trying to help my dear cousin out."
The boy was still in doubt, but he gave in because it was his cousin's request. Ashley was delighted. She quickly sent a text to Alya to inform the news. Then, she ran out of the room, going straight to hers to change.
"Don't forget we still have to go to the studio today!" Adrien called back.
"Okay, okay!" Ashley replied.
Marinette started taking Ashley's measurement while Alya jotted it down. Adrien was munching on a cookie as they did. The blue haired girl was having a hard time focusing because her crush was in her room. It was the second time he stepped into her room. He glanced around for mere seconds, interested in the interior design. It was simple but very homey unlike his which was remarked by Nino as 'being bigger than the stadium.' He caught sight of a poster of him on her wall.
"All done!" Marinette announced, smiling to her model, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Can you make a copy of your measurement for Adrien?" Ashley replied.
"Sure, I'll do it!" Alya butted in before Marinette could reply.
Adrien stood up, his gaze locked on the poster. He walked up to it. Ashley watched as her cousin stared at his own picture. She pulled Marinette and pointed towards the poster.
"Aww, man! I thought I'd hidden all of them!" she complained in a whisper.
"Hey, this is me from a few months ago," he spoke.
"Y-Yeah! I-It was a…a…" Marinette blurted, looking away from him.
Ashley thought of an idea. "It was a gift from me," she said, flashing a smile to the panicked Marinette.
"Really? I didn't know you were a fan of me, Marinette," Adrien smiled.
Marinette's heart skipped a beat when she saw that smile. Just as his phone rang, Alya handed him his cousin's measurement. The phone call was from Nathalie, reminding him where he and Ashley should be at the time. Adrien told her that they were about done.
"Thank you for everything, Marinette," Ashley said.
"I should be thanking you…" she sighed.
The orange haired tapped her shoulder with a grin. "I'm sure he'll understand someday~" she hummed.
They both went downstairs and exited the building from the bakery's entrance. Adrien's bodyguard was already waiting for them. They got into the car and he drove them to the studio without seconds to spare.
"You're late," the photographer said, anger in his tone.
"Sorry, we had a little trouble," Adrien said, shooting a glare towards his cousin.
Ashley grinned apologetically. "It was my fault. I just had to stop by and grab a croissant?" she said and shrugged.
The photographer shook his head. He pointed them towards the room where their outfits were put. Adrien and Ashley went into their respective changing room. Ashley sat down as a makeup artist started playing with her face. Her first job was to pose with Adrien wearing a matching set of clothing. It was to promote clothes made specifically for couples.
"Great…Marinette and Ladybug will surely kill me…" Ashley grunted, looking at herself in the mirror.
A knock on the door was heard. The door was opened to reveal Adrien in his outfit: a gray varsity with "hers" written on it with capital letters. Ashley's red varsity had "his" written on it. Her hair was tied into a ponytail with her ribbon. She had light makeup on, just like Adrien. The only difference was that she had pink lipstick on.
"Gray and red? Not a really good combination," Adrien shrugged.
"Of course, you'd prefer red and black," Ashley teased.
Adrien blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. They went back to the studio. The photo shoot went on for a few minutes. Then, they had to change into more matching outfits. It was tiring but Ashley would do anything to stay with her cousin longer. Once they were done, she was exhausted.
"Let's go grab something to drink," Adrien said.
"Sure. Let me clean my face first," Ashley replied.
"Hey, keep it that way. You look cute with it," Plagg remarked, smirking, "At least you look nothing like Adrien."
"Plagg," his chosen groaned.
Ashley giggled. "Fine, I'll keep it on. Let's go," she muttered.
They started walking to a vending machine. Ashley poked Plagg's cheek as her cousin got them their drinks. He got one for Plagg too.
"You're really getting used to her poking your face," Adrien said to his kwami.
Plagg shrugged. "I'd rather take this than hearing you scold me every day," he commented.
Adrien frowned angrily. Ashley stopped him from getting angry. They started laughing instead