Hey guys! I know it's been awhile. I haven't been writing as much for any of my stories. I had a bunch of plans, but life got in the way. haha. Anyways, I'll be updating regularly (once or twice a week) starting in September - assuming that something else doesn't pop up. But that's the plan!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter! :) I'm still amazed by all the support this story has gotten. Thanks so much!


Chapter Seven: Breakfast

Marinette knew that something was up the second her sight laid upon a silver domed platter that was placed atop the marbled kitchen counter. The scent of fried dough and sweet berries tickled her senses as she sniffed the air. It reminded her of waking up to her father's freshly baked goods, only this time; she knew that she wasn't going to be welcomed by her father's warm embrace.

She stood there for a moment, contemplating if she should check it out or leave it alone. For all she knew, Adrien was setting her up something. She clutched her chest as a familiar ache returned. Once again, Nathanael's words struck her mind – you two definitely make a cute couple. What did that mean? Did he see the two and thought that they would look good together? Or, was he told that her and Adrien was a couple and was complimenting their newly formed 'relationship'? It had to be the latter of the two, and even if it wasn't, well, the thought was already out there, dissipating any chances Marinette could have to win Nathanael's heart.

Marinette took a few steps towards the counter and wrapped her fingers around the cold, embossed handle of the domed lid. She removed the lid and set it aside, the sweet scents overwhelming her senses. She glanced down, finding a folded piece of eggshell colored cardstock sitting on top of a stack of perfectly rounded waffles. Beside that were three small ramekins – two filled with jams and the other filled with melted chocolate.

Marinette's mouth parted, and she licked her lips as hunger overtook her senses. She gulped and shook her head while lifting the folded piece of cardstock. It didn't have her name on it, but she knew it was for her. Muddled through all the sweet scents, she could faintly smell a familiar cologne – a cologne she absolutely despised.

Marinette reluctantly opened up the card.

Good morning milady. How was your sleep? I slept well in case you're wondering. I hope you enjoyed last night's soiree. Whether you did or not, I sadly have to inform you with a couple… disappointments.

Marinette rolled her eyes at that last sentence before perusing the rest of the letter.

For starters, you need to work on walking gracefully in heels. Your posture could also use some work. I've set you up with some private lessons with Anthony to help you improve in these areas. Secondly, your acting isn't very convincing. You're supposed to be my girlfriend. Act like it or something terrible will happen. I figure Nathanael's comment is enough for you to focus. I bet you're wondering if I had anything to do with that.

I wish I could have discussed this with you over breakfast, but I have a few things to take care of. I hope you enjoy your meal.

Sincerely, Adrien.

P.S: Tonight will be our first date. I'll come by your suite at 7PM.

Marinette retched at the thought of having to go on a date with the narcissist. She thought that she would have a few days to settle in before ensuing with all of his plans. She tossed the card to the side, not caring that it slid off the table. She then turned to her plate of waffles. It was beautifully arranged on the platter in front of her, and her stomach was begging for her to consume it. She clutched the hem of her shirt and pushed the dish away, placing the lid back on top of it. There was absolutely no way that she was going to eat something that Adrien could have possibly poisoned. She was just going to have to starve to death, or better yet, take advantage of his wealth.

Marinette smirked and walked over to the closet where her coat was being kept. She thought about changing into something more appropriate for such a luxurious place, but decided against it as she took a glance at herself in front of the body-sized mirror. If Adrien wanted her to be seen as his girlfriend, then being her true self was going to be apart of that package, and frankly, Marinette couldn't imagine herself going downstairs to the breakfast buffet in something elegant at 8AM in the morning. She wouldn't do that anywhere else, so there was no reason for her to do it here.

Marinette took a closer look at her reflection in the mirror. She raised an eyebrow, an idea forming in her mind. She then removed her hair ties, and tousled her hair. There was no rule in that stupid folder saying that she had to look good. She smiled wickedly before proudly stepping out into the hall, making sure that her key card was in her jacket pocket.

Marinette pulled the knob towards her, ensuring that it was properly closed. She smiled to herself, wondering how the guests were going to react to how she was dressed. They had to throw her out for acting like such a commoner. At that point, it would be bye-bye New York, and hello Camp Champ Herbeux.

Marinette comfortably fitted her jacket around her body, and then turned around upon hearing another click of a door. Her face turned red upon seeing the very familiar, luscious, red locks.

Nathanael stepped out of his suite, with a phone to his ear. He seemed to be talking about fabrics or books or colors. Marinette couldn't hear it through the panic rising from within her, causing the relentless beat of her heart to ring through her ears.

I can't let Nathanael see me like this. I just can't!

Marinette's hands trembled as she reached for the keycard in her pocket. She fumbled with the thin piece of plastic, trying to reach for the door, but ended up dropping the card.

"Shoot," Marinette whispered while quickly bending down to pick up the card. Maybe she still had time, and Nathanael wouldn't notice her.

"Marinette?"

Marinette closed her eyes and picked up the card, gripping onto it tightly. At the very least, she wanted to fix her hair. She couldn't though – not with him watching her.

Marinette took a deep breath and slowly stood up before mustering the courage to open her eyes and look at Nathanael.

"Hey…" she said, shyly. "Morning good! I mean, good morning!"

Nathanael chuckled. "Just woke up?" He eyed her attire.

"Yeah… I was just going to pick up some breakfast from the buffet." She smiled awkwardly. "I didn't really feel like changing into anything nice…"

"What you're wearing is perfectly fine." He flashed her with his adorable smile. "It's just your hair…" He took a step closer, inspecting her tangled locks. "Maybe you should try putting it into a bun. It's simple and it looks good on you."

Marinette could feel her cheeks flaming. "I about just to was." This time she was too befuddled to even correct her sentence.

Nathanael simply laughed again before lifting his wrist to check the time on his watch. He must have been used to Marinette's form of dyslexia and chose to ignore it most of the time. "I'm on my way down to grab some breakfast with Lila. Why don't you come?"

"With Lila?" she asked. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to even talk or see Lila until this trip was over. Lila was so kind and even trusted her with a secret the second they met. The only thing that Marinette did was lie – which was bound to surface at one point. After that, Lila was forced to see her walk away at a party with her arm linked around Adrien's. The girl had to hate her by now… maybe enough to throw her out of the resort.

"Marinette? Do you want to come?"

Marinette shook her head, wondering how long she was lost in her own thoughts. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

Marinette followed Nathanael down the hall and into the elevator. While descending their way down to the lobby, Nathanael began to share his excitement with Marinette over his internship. He thought it was wonderful that they were neighbors. They would be able to help each other out with any complications on the job. The whole thing just made Marinette feel even more bizarre. She didn't have an internship, and Nathanael was probably going to find her less attractive once he found out that she was lying.

After a few minutes of maneuvering around the lobby and taking many turns, the two arrived at a terrace, finding Lila sitting at a table, alone sipping on a hot drink. She was looking down at a magazine, probably keeping tabs on the latest trends.

Marinette suddenly felt like her plan of making herself look repulsive was a bad idea. Lila was wearing a simple white tee, a pair of capris, and large framed sunglasses, and still managed to look like a million bucks. Marinette on the other hand, felt like a hobo who was lurking from across the streets and Nathanael was the nice man who insisted on buying her a hot meal.

Marinette slouched and slowed down to hide behind Nathanael. She glanced up at him as he called out to the brunette, a wide smile on his face. It made Marinette wonder about Nathanael's relationship with Lila. Lila had to know Adrien to some extent to have undying feelings towards him, and Adrien and Nathanael were best friends. At school, Nathanael never seemed to take an interest in anybody. It made Marinette wonder. Did he possibly have a crush on Lila, but couldn't pursue it because he knew of her crush on Adrien? Marinette's head spun. She didn't realize that being welcomed into Adrien's world was also a welcome to Nathanael's.

"I hope you don't mind. She was on her way down here anyways."

"No. It's fine. We met the day before."

It took a few seconds for Marinette to realize that she was standing right in front of the gorgeous brunette. She had her head up and had a faint smile on her face. Something about it felt different than the day before, but Marinette couldn't put a finger on it. Hopefully it was just the sunglasses.

Marinette's gut began to churn anyways – a never-ending feeling since Adrien recorded her in the bathroom. She wasn't sure if she was up to eating breakfast anymore. She should have just eaten those waffles. She would be better off eating poison rather than taking part of any social situations she couldn't handle. Alya was always the one to help her get through those, but she wasn't here, and she wasn't allowed to know about it.

Marinette quickly pulled her cushioned seat from under the table and sat across Lila with Nathanael sitting adjacent to both of them.

"How was your night Marinette? Did you enjoy the party?" Lila asked.

"Uhm…" Marinette began to fidget with her coat from under the table. "It was really fancy. I'm not used to that kind of thing." A waiter then stopped at their table and placed two tall glasses of ice water on top of the two coasters that were placed in front of her and Nathanael.

"How was your night?" Marinette continued, wanting to steer the subject away from herself. "How were both of your nights? What did you do? How do you two know each other?" Marinette wanted to mentally slap a piece of duck tape on her mouth.

Marinette couldn't read Lila's expressions through those dark shades. Nathanael on the other hand, beamed and chuckled. "Marinette's kind of awkward in social settings. I suppose you can say that it's one of her quirky charms."

Marinette let out a faint chuckle. His comment didn't make her feel so good.

"I see." Lila half-heartedly laughed along with Nathanael. "If you're wondering, Nathanael and I are childhood friends. Our parents were friends in high school. We used to play together all the time until he finally introduced me to Adrien, and then it was the three of us," she said. "For the last while, we've been seeing each other in the summer since my father's business takes place here."

Marinette nodded. She felt tense. Lila and Nathanael were either like siblings, or the couple that was meant to be.

"You may think that Lila is a goddess like most girls, but she's actually a dork. She farts a lot in her sleep." Nathanael teased causing Lila to smack his shoulder.

"Shut up."

"Oh right, I'm sorry. You have an image to maintain now."

Marinette smiled, trying to look amused by their friendship. It hurt though. She always wanted to be close to Nathanael, but she always ended up making a fool of herself. It was kind of strange. She's never seen how Nathanael acted around those who were close to him. Sure she saw him at school with Adrien, but it's not like she was close enough to hear the two of them conversing. She only knew him as the sweet guy who excelled at everything. It was kind of weird seeing him tease someone.

"Where is Adrien anyways?" Lila asked. "I thought you invited him to breakfast."

"I did, but he's busy planning a romantic evening." He coughed and then eyed Marinette.

"Romantic evening?"

"Yeah, you know, since Marinette's like his first official girlfriend. I guess he wants their first official date to be perfect."

Marinette felt her heart stop. She could not believe that Nathanael just dropped that kind of information.

"Girlfriend…?" Lila slowly turned her head to look at Marinette.

Marinette looked away, barely noticing the cloth that was being scrunched up into Lila's grip.

"Oh, I – uhm…" Marinette stopped, not knowing what to say.

"Do you remember that girl that Adrien would always talk about? Well, surprise! - It's Marinette. I didn't know for the longest time either. Some friend, right?"

"Yeah…" Lila said quietly.

Nathanael continued to provide his thoughts on the situation. "He hid who it was so well." He turned his head to look at Marinette. "The two of you rarely talk. I always thought that you hated him. You seriously need to tell me how he won your heart. It just doesn't add up."

"Oh, uhm …" Marinette began to vigorously tap her fingers against the edge of her seat. All she wanted was breakfast –a meal that wasn't provided to her by Adrien, but she ended up with this instead – another conversation where she had to lie. She had no choice. Nathanael was intently staring at her with his gorgeous turquoise colored eyes, and Lila was probably glaring at her through her shades.

Marinette closed her eyes for a second, trying to come up with a story to satiate their curiosity. She had to make Adrien look like a complete idiot somehow.

She opened her eyes and opened her mouth.

"That's a story for another time."

Marinette raised a brow. Those words didn't come from her mouth. She shifted her weight, and turned to her left to find Adrien standing between her and Nathanael. He placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"So, you finally decided to join us?" Nathanael asked, gesturing for him to take the seat across from him.

Adrien smiled and moved his hand from Marinette's shoulder. "I can't. I'm doing a few things for my dad. I just came by to grab something to eat. I was up early helping him and hadn't had the time yet."

"Shouldn't I be doing that?" Nathanael asked. "I am an intern. In fact, Marinette and I are both interns. We should be doing it."

"You're not at that level yet."

Nathanael scowled.

Adrien then turned his attention to the quiet brunette. "What's up with you? You're usually … loud."

"She's just angry that you interrupted story time. Marinette was going to tell us about all your secrets, like your secret rendezvous."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Adrien winked.

Marinette fought so hard to not roll her eyes at his obnoxious comment. She then glanced up at Lila as Nathanael continued to bombard Adrien about their relationship. She was being awfully quiet. It was making her unbearably uncomfortable.

"The secrets will have to wait for another time," said Adrien. "I need to borrow my girl."

Marinette smacked her lips together as a way to prevent herself from protesting.

"Your girl, huh?" Nathanael said. "You never even said that to your number one fan, Chloe." He looked completely amused by the whole thing. He then looked over to Marinette. She was too befuddled by the whole thing to even blush as he met her eyes. "You're going to have a lot of enemies when we return for senior year."

Marinette faintly smiled. She already had a feeling that she had an 'enemy' – the one sitting across from her.

Adrien squeezed Marinette's shoulder again as a way to get her to stand up from her seat. She didn't want to, but she certainly didn't want to face Nathanael and all his questions, especially with Lila there. As she stood up, Adrien grabbed her hand and led her down a plight of stairs and back into the resort. They stopped in a hall where servers were zooming by, bringing out supplies and platters of food to the terrace.

"It's a good thing that I came at a good time."

Marinette stayed quiet. She was kind of glad that he did, but at the same time she missed the opportunity to create a love story that would make him end up looking like a fool.

"You were going to say something that I had to deal with, again."

"Again?" Marinette questioned. "It's not my fault that you're not prepared. You're the blackmailer, you should have everything organized and ready."

"Not so loud," Adrien hissed as a worker walked by with a platter of cheese. He backed Marinette against the wall to make room for the server, and placed a finger on her lips.

Marinette swatted his hand away like a pesky fly as the server made a turn. She then lightly pushed him; the strong scent of his cologne a sign that he was standing too close.

"We're going to have to discuss our backstory during dinner," he said.

Marinette rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Fine," she said, disinterested. "Now what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Can I not see my girl before going back to my father?"

"I am not your girl!" She protested. "Especially when we're alone like this."

Adrien sighed and then reached into the pocket of his jeans. "Here," he said, pulling out what seemed to be a laminated card with a clip at the top and a few words written on the center.

"What is this?" Marinette grabbed it to inspect it. The logo for the Agreste fashion industry was on the center with the word intern printed below it in bold black letters. Just below that was her full name.

"What is this?" she asked again, turning it over to reveal a small time table.

"You're an intern now."

"What?" She looked up at him before trying to return the card. "I wanted to earn this on my own. I can't have this." She tried to force the thing back into his hand.

Adrien smiled and took it from her. He then reached out and clipped the tag to her jacket. "It's not my fault that you told people about being an intern. I can't have people questioning our relationship."

Marinette grimaced.

"Don't worry, milady." He winked before brushing his index finger against her chin. "You're going to have to prove yourself a hundred times more than any other intern. It was hell trying to convince my father to get you this spot."

Marinette shivered by the unpleasant touch. Did he not know what personal space was? Even if she was supposed to be his pretend girlfriend, there had to be boundaries.

Adrien looked down to his watch and sighed before looking back at Marinette. "I must go," he said. "My father will kill me if I'm another minute late." He slid his hands into his pockets then walked pass the bluenette. "You better eat something before ten. Since you're here I assume my waffles weren't good enough for you." He sighed.

Marinette turned around, ignoring the fact that he actually sounded sad about her not eating his waffles. "What's at ten?"

"Your first class with Anthony. You know the one where he transforms you from a gorilla to an actual woman."

"What?!" He had the nerve to say that without turning back to look at her.

Adrien just laughed and continued down the hall. "I'll see you tonight, milady!"

"Stop giving me nicknames!"


That concludes the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

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