16: Movie Night

I insisted that I was going to buy the food, but Kathy didn't want to hear it. She already ordered five boxes of pizzas for my friends and I to enjoy.

"Really, it's on me," She says as she grabs her keys, "I'm going to be out a little late to talk with some coworkers so don't wait up on me."

I nodded. She deserves a little break too. I wonder if Chandler is also going with her, or it could be a girl night out thing. But I'm not going to ask. If she wanted me to know, she would have said so.

"Okay, stay safe," I called out before she finally left.

I looked around my living room and I was pretty satisfied with what I had. I brought bean bags so that we could have enough seats to enjoy the movie together.

I had bowls out ready to be used for popcorn, and plenty of sodas, juice and water bottles are being chilled in my fridge.

I had some preselected movies that we could watch that had French Dubbed so that we could all enjoy, but I also texted them that they could bring in their own movies so that we could all vote which to watch.

I was ready for them.

So I just sat comfortably on the couch, my crutches to the side where I could easily access them, but still out of the way. I had my phone in my hand, playing Candy Crush as I waited for them.

Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang and I quickly grabbed my crutches and hopped towards the door.

I opened the door and I grinned as I saw all of them smiling at me.

"Hi, guys, come on in," I said as I hopped back as I fully opened the door.

We all exchanged pleasantries and just as I was closing the door there was a pizza guy with a large bag.

"Um, Jolene Baudelaire?" The young man asked.

"Yeah, that's me," I said.

"Let me get that for you," Nino offers as the pizza guy delivered all five pizza boxes to him.

"Thanks," I smiled at my friend as he took them to the kitchen. I then took out my wallet, but the pizza guy cleared his throat.

"That won't be necessary, everything's been paid for," he said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you then, and have a safe trip," I told him and he nodded as he tipped his cap and left.

I closed the door and I saw Adrien taking out the disposable plates that I forgot to get out and giving them towards our friends.

"Hey, what movies are we going to see?" Kim asks, "And before anyone suggests anything, I brought this!" Then he pulls out a copy of The Mask, French version.

"Nice, dude," Nino nods. "I totally vote for that."

There were more murmurs of agreement so that was definitely going to be played.

"Ohh! You have a copy of How To Train Your Dragon!" Alix grins as she holds up the DVD that was on the table. "Definitely a must see!"

So we already chose what we were going to see easily and soon, everyone helped themselves as we waited for the popcorn to be filled in the bowls, getting their respective slices of pizza, drinks and napkins.

"Jolene, may I use your toilet?" Rose asked.

I nodded as I pointed where it was and she immediately went towards it.

Max was the designated technician as he took over the remote and placed the movies. He even suggested a resting time between movies so that we could do our business or even stretch our muscles and talk briefly.

And so without further ado, we played How To Train Your Dragon first.

I sat at the edge of the sofa, with Adrien right next to me.

On the bean bag to my left, Nino was chilling with a bowl of popcorn in his lap.

Though one thing did not escape from me, Marinette sat on Adrien's other side. She was blushing like mad, but she was smiling like no tomorrow.

I felt terrible, but I quickly shook it off. I haven't encouraged her to go after Adrien anymore, instead I became quiet when it concerned doing anything with her obvious crush.

She doesn't know Adrien in the way that I do, but that doesn't give me much comfort in knowing what I'm going to do to her.

Ivan helped turn off the lights as we enjoyed the movie.

I smiled as I heard the wonderful introduction music, my fingers tapping at my thighs like I was playing it on the piano.

I love the soundtrack of this movie, definitely my top ten favorites.

Hearing the voice acting was a bit weird, but I got used to it.

Still will not replace the English version, but my friends are enjoying it in their native language, so it's fine.

When Forbidden Friendship started to play, I felt Adrien's arm go around my shoulders. Naturally, I scooted closer to him and leaned my head against his shoulder. We did this all the time, so of course it was natural for us to do this sort of affection.

When Romantic Flight played next, I felt his head lean against mine and his hand softly lowering so that it was wrapped around my waist.

I didn't mind, so I let him.

When the movie ended, Alya turned on the lights.

Adrien and I were in that position for a couple of more seconds before we both stood up. We looked at each other silently before I offered him a soft smile and he returned it.

"Man, I wish we had dragons and tame them!" Kim said loudly as he stretched his arms.

"That would be cool," I offered as I sat down again.

We made some more small talk as the rest did their business.

"So, have you thought of doing anything about your channel lately," Nathaniel asks.

"Well," I start, "I was thinking about making some tutorials on drawing certain cartoon characters, or even on using several digital art apps for those that are just starting to learn how to make digital art."

"That sounds like a good idea," Rose says with a smile, "What kind of characters would you do?"

"Those with a simple design, like Mickey Mouse and Piglet, those types of characters," I offered.

Rose gleamed and I smiled softly.

"You could even give some tutorials on animation," Mylène adds.

"Uhhhh," I scratch the back of my head, "I would, but that actually takes a lot more energy than what I have now. But," I added when I saw that she was looking a bit sad, "That's a good idea for a future video. I know watching some videos helped me and it would be nice to do the same for other aspiring artists. Especially since I'm more accessible."

I remember I took some classes a college was offering and I begged my parents to sign me up. It took a bit of money, but those classes helped me a lot. Especially when I wanted to have my art and videos to be seen to a wide range of audiences.

"Can I request that you teach us how to draw Spider-Man?" Nino asks excitedly.

"No, Majestia!" Alya says next.

I chuckled, "Sorry, Alya, but Nino asked first, but don't worry, Majestia will be next."

And that got me an idea. I could make a two part video, one showing off an easy sketch, which would be the face and neck. And the other more difficult part, which is the full body.

Those videos should be light work and not take too much time.

Also release some speedart with music either of songs I already done covers of or their originals.

So many possibilities.

Soon we settled down, some popcorn already in the bowls while others settled for more pizza.

We sat in the same positions and the movie started.

And it didn't take long for Adrien to wrap his arm around my waist and our heads leaning against each other.

I'm gonna say this again, Jim Carrey is awesome in English. Hearing the French version was fine, but nothing beats the original.

Same with the music. I lip-synced, 'Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You,' 'Hey, Pachuco!' and 'Cuban Pete'. I felt Adrien pulling me closer, his lips brushed softly against my temple.

To be honest, I was more into the movie than noticing how close Adrien had pulled me to him.

Okay, I did notice. And I was very happy. But I wasn't going to make a big deal over it because I don't want to scare him. Or let anyone know.

I know the girls know about Marinette's obvious crush on Adrien, and they support it all the way. Especially Alya.

I don't know what I'm going to do when they see that I have a crush on Adrien. Will they hate me? Or try to discourage me from crushing on Adrien? Or even make me feel guilty that I have a crush on him?

It's scary to think about because I love them as my friends and I would hate that my friendship with them would be over because of a crush.

So I stayed quiet and didn't make a big deal out of it.

But I enjoyed every second as Adrien hugged me and not someone else.

When the movie was over, everyone helped me clean up, which I really appreciated.

I tried to help, but everyone, and I mean everyone, told me that they got it.

Then Nino suggested something.

"Hey, can I sign your cast?"

Everyone else also commented that they would love to sign and I agreed.

My permanent markers were on my desk and Adrien quickly went to fetch them. He knows where they are and seconds later they all got sharpies of various colors.

Rose and Juleka helped push the coffee table closer while Ivan placed a pillow over it. Nathaniel helped me lift my leg on top of it while Adrien and Nino sat on either side of me to keep steady.

Once done, they all started signing autographs and little comments that made me smile.

Though, some of the more artistic of my friends (ahem, Nathaniel and Marinette) were making small drawings on them.

I actually had to remind Nathaniel that my leg cast is not a canvas. But his drawing of Toothless and Stitch made me so happy. It's so cute.

Marinette drew flowers, mainly marigolds and some sunflowers, but they were just as beautiful. Plus she drew a pretty dragonfly.

And soon one by one they said goodbye, I gave many cheek kisses before they left the door.

And soon it was just Adrien and me.

Plagg flew out of Adrien's blazer and floated between us.

"Hey, Jolene, do you have some cheese pizza?"

I nodded with a smile, "Go ahead, it's all yours."

He grins before flying towards the kitchen.

I slowly made my way back to the couch and Adrien sat right next to me.

"There's something I want to tell you," He says after a moment of silence as he grabs my hands.

I squeezed his hands and I gave him a soft smile, "I'm listening."

Then he lets go of one hand and cups my cheek and rubs his thumb soothingly across my cheekbone.

"You're one of my best friends," He says. "And I don't want to jeopardize our friendship."

Suddenly I felt like I wanted to cry. Does that mean he doesn't-

"But I can't hide my feelings anymore," He adds, interrupting my dark thoughts. "I thought I loved Ladybug with everything my heart had to offer, but then when I thought I lost you," He shudders as he then pulls me over his lap and hugs me tightly, "I love you, Jolene. And I don't ever want to lose you."

I returned his hug, just as tight as I could without hurting myself too much.

"Jolene?" He whispers.

"I love you too. I don't ever want to lose you either," I replied as I faced him, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

I don't think I will ever get over it if something were to happen to him. I already lost my family and I am getting better at dealing with their absence.

But Adrien?

I don't think I will have the strength to continue on. The strength to start again once more.

Adrien leans forward so that our foreheads are touching.

I smiled and Adrien's face came even closer at a slow pace. I could feel his love in his eyes and I wanted to invoke the same thing as our lips touched each other for the first time.

I closed my eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck while his arms wrapped around my waist.

This is the kiss I have imagined with my sister, even though she didn't care about any type of physical affections. But I told her anyway, telling her what I had wished.

My first kiss will be innocent, and so full love, but most importantly, to a person that I trusted and cared so deeply about.

When we parted away, I could feel the soft warmth surrounding us, a little thing called love. I remember feeling this all the time every time Mom and Dad were in the same room. I could feel their love from them. It was unmeasured and just being with them made me feel loved.

I was lucky to grow up surrounded with so much love.

"Gah, you guys are too sickeningly sweet," Plagg teases playfully as he comes between us.

We laughed and I gave Plagg a kiss on his cheek.

"We love you too," I told him, making the kwami blush a bright pink.

But my smile died down, now thinking more about our situation.

"Adrien?"

"What's wrong?" He asks as he grabs my hand.

"I think we need to keep this a secret," I say with a soft frown, "To everyone. Even Nino. For now."

He copies my frown, but I could see that he was thinking it through like me.

"Yeah, but we will tell them in the future, right?" He asks.

I smiled reassuringly, "Yeah. I don't think I would be safe from your fangirls. Chloé would be… insufferable."

"Fan girls?" He asks like it was the first time he heard of the word.

"You're cocky enough to boast about your good looks to Ladybug, but you are oblivious about Adrien Agreste making the girls go wild?" I teased with a small smirk.

"Hey," He laughs, "I know that, but I don't think they would do anything against you."

"You seriously have no idea what a fangirl would do when they feel crushed over their… crush," I deadpanned, but I shook it off. There is something more serious I want to talk about. "Do you still have feelings for Ladybug? You've been really into her for months-" But I was quickly shut up when Adrien stole a kiss from me.

When we parted he placed his hands on either side of my face so our eyes met, "I love you. Ladybug is only my friend and hero partner. I care for her, but now I care for you more than anyone."

I smiled softly as I grabbed his hands and leaned into his touch.

"So don't you ever doubt that, you hear me?"

"I hear you," I smiled. Then I blinked a bit confused, "Are we officially boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"On one condition," He states seriously as he squeezed my cheeks, just enough so that my lips were like a fish.

"What?" I manage to ask, my hands starting to sweat.

"I get to be the boyfriend!"

I laughed as I tried to pull away from him, but he only hugged me and kissed me every inch of my cheeks and forehead. I responded the same way.

Eventually he had to leave, but before that, he carried me back to my bed.

Adrien gave me one last kiss, whispering the sweet promise of seeing me tomorrow.

My ears picked up as he left my room, when he opened the door and locked it behind him.

I quickly texted him.

Good night. I love you.

Soon he replied and answered: Good night, my sweetheart.

That night my dreams were filled with love and hope. Something that Adrien brought to my life again.

Thank you, Adrien, for everything you have done has saved me.

AN: And it's finally DONE!!! Jolene and Adrien are officially a couple! I'm glad that it took this long before it was official and I purposely made sure that they were a couple just before Valentine's Day in their universe for a reason. ( that's the next chapter's plot *wink, wink*)

(Also sorry how short this chapter is.)

Millions of thank you's to Shadowing and starrat and YaoiLovinKitsune for the reviews. And also millions thanks to cardonna550, YaoiLovinKitsune, DragonsFairy24, Anutanuta, Arkhaggelos, and Sayer Rose for following/favorited this story. You guys really are amazing and I'm very grateful that you give your time to read this fanfic.