Chapter 3
ADRIEN AGRESTE IS FINALLY DATING LONGTIME FRIEND MARINETTE DUPAIN CHENG!
MIDNIGHT ROMANTIC DATE: HAS ADRIEN AGRESTE FOUND TRUE LOVE?
They were frozen, their eyes glued to Alya's phone screen as they read the headlines, each one more outlandish than the last.
Adrien peeled his eyes away first, his gaze landing on their two friends, both their faces adorned with shit eating grins.
"Sooo.." Nino said, a glint in his eye. "Do the two of you have anything to tell us?"
Marinette's head shot up, her voice meeting Adrien's as they both exclaimed "NO!"
"These photos have been taken out of context! I was comforting Adrien with that hug! Same with the hand on his arm! We're friends for cripes sake, I'm allowed to comfort him!" Marinette added.
Alya just raised her eyebrows at Marinette and pointed at one of the pictures. The picture of them making out in the doorway of the building, Marinette's hands in Adrien's hair, her foot brushed up against Adrien's calf while his hand held onto her leg just above her knee. Marinette blushed as she looked at it, recalling the feeling of Adrien's lips on hers as he spun them round into that very position.
"That…erm…" Marinette stammered, finally deciding to tell "That was completely for helping out a good friend. One of Adrien's stalker girlfriends was coming and we realised too late that we were by the door and could have just come inside, so we needed a plausible reason to be hiding without having to have a conversation with her as we let her in for the party. So I kissed him. And that was it. Just one best friend helping out another." This was said with all the conviction of someone lying to themselves, but it still cut through Adrien to hear her describe that moment as just helping him out. It sure did not feel that way to him at the time.
Adrien turned to look for his phone, wanting to read the articles properly, eventually finding it on one of the side tables in the living room. He quickly woke it up, then his stomach dropped.
"Oh shit," he said, causing his three friends to stop their conversion and look at him.
"What?" Marinette asked, concern filling her features.
"I've missed 5 calls from Natalie! My father is going to kill me!" he replied as he walked over, staring intently at the notifications filling his lock screen, covering the picture of him and Marinette making goofy faces at the camera in front of the screens at Piccadilly Circus. They had asked someone to take it last summer when they took a quick day trip to London, intending it to be a nice picture, but both of them had had the same idea and pulled a face just as the camera flashed. They both burst out laughing as soon as they saw it, making that moment arguably the best of the entire trip. Adrien loved seeing the way Marinette's eyes shone when she laughed, the apples of her cheeks going red when she had to calm herself down.
He was dragged out of his stupor when his phone rang in his hand, the name on the caller ID making him drop it on the counter.
Marinette noticed and leant over to see the name GABRIEL AGRESTE lit up on the screen. Her eyes widened as she looked up at her best friend, whose face had frozen in shock. Her hand then shot over and swiped the answer button, effectively bringing Adrien back as she put it on speaker and gestured for him to speak.
"Hello," Adrien said skeptically, edging closer to the phone.
"Adrien, desperate times call for desperate measures. Natalie said you weren't answering," Gabriel's clipped voice said through the speaker.
"Sorry father, I only just woke up. You know, only day off to rest before the final week of term." he grimaced as he told the lie, knowing full well that term finished on Friday, but he had decided to take the next week before Agreste fashion week appearances to catch up on work and take a break. Gabriel ignored the explanation and ploughed on what he wanted to say.
"Well, what is this I see on the news about you and your friend? I thought you told me that there was nothing between you and she was your 'best friend'. And now I see pictures of you and her splashed everywhere. That's not the Agreste way Adrien. When you started school, you promised that you wouldn't do anything that would reflect badly on the brand. These images are most certainly bad press."
Marinette felt a knife go through her gut at Gabriel's words, but she kept her face passive and carried on listening.
"I'm sorry father… it's just that… erm," Adrien struggled, trying to find an explanation that his father would believe.
"Hi Mr Agreste, Marinette here. I think I'd have to disagree with you. Respectively of course," Marinette interrupted, adrenaline running through her as she kept her tone strong. "That is not bad press from anywhere. There has been speculation about your son and I for years due to how close we are, just this time they caught us, which was entirely my fault. But have you read the comments? Nearly every comment is positive and supportive of our relationship. A lot of them actually say they have been shipping us since high school. I'd say the worse press would have been that article that reported Adrien having coffee with my roommate and our friend Alya, who has a boyfriend, as a date and all the comments were about Adrien cheating on me, which he was not."
There was silence on the other end of the line when Marinette finished talking. Adrien's face was also a picture, a mixture of shock, confusion and gratitude.
Marinette had seen Adrien struggling and immediately knew that he was struggling to find a reason other than the truth, which she now understood was the last thing that could be said to his father. So she jumped in, all but confirming a romantic relationship with his son.
"I expect to see you both at the Fashion week opening gala," Gabriel said after a beat. "And Adrien, pick up your phone next time Natalie rings." With that, he hung up the phone, leaving the four shocked friends staring at the black screen. Three pairs of eyes then shifted to Marinette, who groaned and flopped her head into her hands, her adrenaline wearing off, leaving behind the reality of what she just did.
Then the silence was broken by Alya and Nino bursting out with laughter, holding onto each other for support.
"This is gold," Alya said between laughs. "The two of you really need to open your eyes. You know what, Nino and I are going to let you two hash this out, we'll be in his room not listening to you." Alya then grabbed Nino's hand, pulling him away as he protested, his head flipping between Adrien and Marinette and his girlfriend. He eventually gave in, shutting the bedroom door behind him.
"Sooo…" Adrien started, breaking the ice. "I think my father thinks we're dating now."
"I think the whole world thinks we're dating. Including those two idiots who refuse to listen to the words coming out of my mouth."
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm really sorry Adrien. I shouldn't have said that. It's just that after yesterday I knew you didn't want to tell him the real reason, so I said the first thing that came to mind."
Adrien placed a hand on Marinette's arm, making her look up from her hands.
"It's ok. I should really be thanking you because I wouldn't have been able to come up with any explanation. It's just now he's expecting us to go to the Agreste fashion week ball, which I was already going to invite you too, together. As a couple. Maybe we should just stage a break up beforehand."
"We can't do that Adrien. That will actually be bad press and then you'll be forced to spend the rest of your life under his thumb. I promised you when we started university that I was going to get you through these three years drama free so then you can finally have your own life away from your father."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying we fake it. We spend the next week baiting the paparazzi, then go to the ball together. Then afterwards, you can come spend my birthday with me and my family, as planned, and we'll work something out, even if it means tricking the media and your father until the end of the school year. We won't be doing anything different, we'll just be letting them build on last night."
Adrien's jaw was skimming the floor as he sat down on a bar stool in shock, not responding as he absorbed what his best friend had just said. Marinette just stared at him, patiently waiting for an answer.
"You'd do that?" Adrien finally said. Marinette's face broke out into a gentle smile, her hand reaching out to grasp Adrien's.
"Of course I would. I'd do anything to make sure you're happy. Plus I don't want to lose you. The real you who will hide away behind the model Adrien mask if you had to live under his thumb for the rest of your life."
Adrien shook his head, wracking his brain to think of a better solution, but coming up empty.
"I can't let you do this Mari. What about your life? I don't want to be the reason you miss the person you're meant to end up with. If we do this, it could destroy your dating life because it will be all over the news."
Marinette just laughed at this, confusing Adrien as her grip on his hands tightened.
"Adrien, I haven't been on a date since that guy from my class, so this would not be destroying anything because I have no dating life. That can't be said for you though. The reason why we're in this situation is because of your crazy ex-girlfriend." she replied once she calmed down.
"She's not my ex-girlfriend!" Adrien exclaimed in mock offence. "And I don't have an active dating life either, for the exact reason that it gets splashed all over the internet and I then have to answer to my father. This situation is even bigger because well, it's you, and that last picture is the most incriminating one that, under normal circumstances, would mean a relationship."
Marinette's heartstrings pulled at his words, a mixture of a warm glowing feeling and an odd twist, forming in her chest.
"So I guess that settles it then. Neither of us have any sort of life that this would get in the way of, it won't change much for us in public, we just have to act a little cosier than normal in public and allow our pictures to be taken. And then we have to attend one of the biggest fashion events of the Christmas season together, as a couple, to fool your father into thinking that we are actually together to make sure he doesn't pull you out of university and force you to become the Gabriel poster boy for the rest of your life."
Adrien just nodded, still a little dumbstruck that this was actually happening.
"Ok," he said. "So we're doing this?"
Marinette nodded and stood up, dragging Adrien up as well before letting go of his hands, then holding out her right hand.
"Adrien Agreste, will you let me be your fake girlfriend to fool your father?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"I will Marinette Dupain Cheng," he replied, taking her hand and shaking it firmly, his face breaking out into a huge smile as he tugged her arm and pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair.
"It's no problem. Remember that promise we made when we were kids?" she said, pulling herself back just enough to look into his eyes.
"Of course I do. I could never forget that."
"Good, so you know it's you and me against the world. And I will do anything to keep that promise." She smiled softly, then buried her head back into his chest.
"IDIOTS!" came a muffled voice from the other room, causing Marinette and Adrien's heads to swivel towards it, bursting out laughing when they realised what they already thought was happening had been confirmed.