A/N: I know, I know... another Miraculous fic when I have so many unfinished, but this one is special. Because my good friend asked for it ^-^

Loosely based on Beth O'Leary's "The Flatshare". AU, aged-up, no miraculous.

Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous.

1.

It all began when Nino proposed to Alya. Marinette couldn't have been happier for her best friends. Alya and Nino were the cutest couple she knew. It was Marinette who had brought them together. She'd known Nino since primary school, so when she and Alya became roommates in university, it was only a matter of introducing them.

"It means you have to move out," Alya clarified, as Marinette was trying to understand what their engagement meant.

"But you're welcome to stay here as long as it takes you to find a new place," added Nino, giving his fiancée a pointed look. He wasn't about to throw one of his oldest friends out on the streets.

"But not too long." Alya looked at Marinette like someone who knew her tendency to put everything off until the last moment too well. The bluenette felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

"I'll get on it right away," she said, trying to sound energetic and happy for her friends.

"I knew you'd say that!" Alya grinned and reached into her bag to pull out her laptop. "I'll help you. That's what best friends are for, right?"

"Right." Marinette smiled awkwardly.

"We still love you, Marinette," Alya wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders. Marinette slumped against it, feeling defeated. "You understand, right?"

"Yeah, I get it." The bluenette smiled sadly. She hugged Alya back. "I just never imagined it would happen so soon."

Alya wouldn't have used the word "soon" to describe the recent developments, but she didn't have the heart to tell Marinette that. Nino plopped down next to Alya who balanced the laptop on her knees. She was already pulling up websites of real estate agent's and Facebook groups to see if anyone they knew had a place available.

"We're all in this together," the couple assured Marinette. "It will be alright."


Two weeks later, things were not alright. Marinette gulped, trying to look at things in a positive way in the seventh apartment they had visited this week. Now that Nino and Alya were planning to get married, looking for a new place for Marinette to live had become a priority for all three of them. Marinette had cleared her schedule for a week and Alya had done the same, insisting that Marinette would probably take the first available apartment that was offered to her without considering the important details like security and comfort.

"I like the colors?" Marinette offered with a desperate grin. She could work around the fluffy, moldy mattress. A good scrubbing would probably save something of the bathroom tiles. The reek of smoke… she could try airing out the apartment? The girl was grasping at straws.

Alya stared at the one-room apartment, aghast at its condition.

"No!" She shook her head. "You can't live here."

Marinette was suddenly aware how out of place she must have looked in the room. She shivered at the thought of the filth dirtying her new white sneakers. Her pink jeans and white T-shirt were too bright in this dump. Marinette couldn't bring herself to describe it in any other way.

"Alya's right," Nino agreed worriedly, peeking into the toilet. "There must be somewhere else within budget. This is even worse than the one we viewed last night."

If it wasn't her real life that they were discussing, Marinette would have laughed. She looked around to see where the real estate agent had gone only to find him smoking on the balcony. It looked so unstable that Marinette almost expected it to give way and cause the grumpy man to fall to his untimely death.

Alya groaned. "I'm not looking around another one of these hellholes. There must be another option."

"Surely we can fit her in our apartment, can't we?" Nino suggested for the hundredth time. Alya glared at him.

"Would you stop that?" she snapped. "It's not a long-term solution. Besides, our apartment doesn't have enough space for three." She looked at Marinette with annoyance and affection mixed in. "Why couldn't you be shorter? We could put you under the dining table if you were."

"Sorry," Marinette shrugged, trying to look apologetic. "But it's either this place or a flatshare…"

"You mean the bedshare," Nino corrected, remembering the advertisement she was talking about. Alya buried her face in her hands, unable to deal with the situation.

"Well, you clearly cannot live here…" The journalist was convinced of that, so she held out a hand for Marinette's phone. "Show me that ad again." Marinette pulled it up on her phone and passed it to Alya.

Double bedroom in one-bed flat in city center. Rent 300per month plus bills. Available immediately, for six months minimum.

Flat (and room/bed) is to share with twenty-seven-year-old IT support manager who works nights and is away weekends. Only ever in the flat 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday. All yours the rest of the time! Perfect for someone with 9 to 5 job.

To view, contact N. Sancoeur – details below.

"If this was just sharing a flat, I would say go for it, Marinette," Alya bit her lip. "But sharing a bed… sharing a bed is odd. Not to even mention it's way too cheap for the area. 300 euros for city center? In Paris?"

"And what if this N. Sancoeur is a man?" Nino asked, concerned.

Marinette took a deep breath. She had prepared for this. "It doesn't matter," she finally said calmly. "It's not like we'd be in the bed at the same time. Or the flat, for that matter."

"Well, it's either this," Marinette gestured to the filthy apartment. Alya cringed. "Or the flatshare."

"Promise me at least that you'll meet that Sancoeur before you take the flatshare. Check the guy out first. See if you get along."

"Well, obviously," Marinette relaxed a little bit. She had been worried that Alya and Nino would outright refuse this possibility of sharing a bed with a stranger, even if they never actually slept in it together. "If we don't get on, I won't take it."

Alya looked from her best friend to her fiancé and then back to Marinette, scrutinizing them both before finally relenting with a sigh. "Fine. Do what you need to do. It's definitely better than living in this kind of squalor."

She stomped out of the flat, unable to deal with the state it was in for much longer. She glared at the real estate agent who had seemed to forgotten that they were there, as she passed the door leading to the balcony. Nino followed her, shooting an apologetic look at Marinette who knocked on the balcony door to get the agent's attention. The man put out his cigarette and walked over.

"So, ya interested?"