Chapter 7

Bright sunlight was shining through Adrien's windows, washing the bed in it's golden glow. It was a beautiful Christmas eve morning.

Adrien was the first to wake up, blinking his eyes open to a face full of midnight blue strawberry scented hair. They were in the same position as yesterday morning, wrapped in each other's arms. He just smiled to himself, remembering every single moment from last night, the night they finally decided to take a risk. It felt amazing and was entirely worth it. He really did mean it when he said he never wanted to go back to being only friends, there was just something so special, so electric, between them that he never wanted to stop experiencing.

He felt Marinette stir on his chest, her chin coming to rest on his chest as she slowly opened her sleep filled eyes.

"Morning," he whispered, his smile even brighter due to the low morning sun reflecting on his skin.

"Morning," she replied, continuing to look up at Adrien's face, studying it intently.

They lay there in a comfortable silence for a bit, both of them enjoying the new views, before Adrien leant his head down to kiss her gently. He broke away too quickly, leaving Marinette with her eyes closed and lips puckered, wanting more. He chuckled at her face, immediately reading her mind, joyous to know that their usual ability to know and understand each other extended to this unexplored part of their relationship. He slowly rolled them over so that his knee was in between her legs. Their lips met again in sleepy kisses, both of them happy to just do this, making the most of waking up next to each other in their own blissful bubble.

Suddenly the door of Adrien's room opened, making both Adrien and Marinette panic. Their eyes met and a wave of understanding went between them. Marinette burrowed herself under the covers as Adrien covered her with them, trying to make himself seem nonchalant.

"Adrien, I have details on the ball for you. You and Marinette are expected at 17:30 on the red carpet and you shall be wearing…oh," Natalie dropped a grey suit with blue shirt on the floor in shock as she looked up, taking in the scene. Adrien and Marinette may have thought to hide her, but their clothes were still scattered all over the floor around the bed, in a very incriminating fashion. "Oops sorry. I should have knocked. Where's Marinette?"

"She's in the bathroom, just about to have a shower before breakfast," Adrien answered.

"Ok, if you say so," Natalie replied, smirking a little as she looked at Adrien's ruffled hair and relaxed demeanour. "Anyway, your father wants you to wear this tonight."

"Natalie, that suit is hideous. Plus somehow I think that Marinette and I should be matching, and that does not match her dress. Well what I've seen of it anyways."

"I thought that too. Which is why he's given this baby blue dress for her." She held out a short poofy dress with a bow on the back, something that Marinette would never wear.

"Absolutely not. She worked hard on her dress all day yesterday. Plus she'd hate that. I don't even think she would have worn that to our prom, which I know because her prom dress was 100 times more beautiful than that, just like I'm sure her dress for tonight will be."

"I don't know what to say Adrien. They are Gabriel and it would be good exposure for your fathers brand."

"Maybe, but I think he has enough exposure."

"Yeah… I'm going to leave you. Make a decision and do not let me know, I need plausible deniability."

Adrien laughed and watched as Natalie gingerly laid the outfits on the sofa and left the room, only to come back into the room a second later.

"Also, I'm not an idiot. You are very lucky it was me who came here rather than your father. You look like you had a great night."

"Nat, my father would never come in here!"

She laughed and just nodded in agreement, raising her eyebrows as she looked pointedly at the clothes, making Adrien blush as she walked out of the room.

Marinette popped her head out of the duvet, looking so cute that Adrien just had to laugh, moving to roll closer to her, but she pushed him away by the nose, making him laugh harder.

"We need to get up. And I want to see what you fought so gallantly for me not to wear," Marinette said, swinging herself out from under the covers, sitting on the edge of the bed. Adrien scooted up to her, resting his chin on her shoulder. She turned her head and kissed him softly, feeling his hand snake round her bare torso. She placed her hand on top of his, breaking the kiss and standing up, threading her fingers through his as his eyes landed on her. He was taken aback by her beauty, her silhouette backlit by the sun. "I'm going to go for a shower. I need the time to do my hair and make up, but only after breakfast, which I fully plan to gorge myself on after the night we had."

Adrien groaned and flopped back on the pillows. "Why did you have to take my mind back to last night while standing in front of me looking so breathtakingly beautiful."

Marinette raised her eyebrows, a suggestive glint in her eyes. "Who said I was showering by myself?"

Adrien's head shot up, studying her face to make sure he understood what she was saying. She let go of his hand and walked toward the bathroom, swaying her hips a little as she walked. She turned around as she reached the door.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

He didn't reply, just leapt out of the bed and ran after her.

—-

"How about this?" Adrien asked, holding out a plain white shirt under a black dinner jacket. It was now one o'clock in the afternoon and both Marinette and Adrien were getting ready to get ready by picking out clothes for Adrien. They had spent the morning together talking and chilling out as well as doing other stuff.

"Nope. Too boring. The white shirt is fine, but do you have another dinner jacket? And maybe the black tailored trousers. They were nice." Marinette replied, going back to scrolling through pinterest hairstyles, her legs splayed in front of her on the sofa.

"The trousers that you tailored back when I couldn't find anything to wear to that postgrad applicants dinner?"

"Yup, those ones exactly."

"My father is going to hate this. It will be great!"

Marinette laughed, internally agreeing with him. She then watched as an idea crossed his face, his features immediately brightening as he flipped through the rail of jackets in one of his many closets. He let out a whoop, turning around to show Marinette a black velvet jacket with still satin lapels.

"You still have that!" she exclaimed, standing up to examine the item, checking the seams and running her hands down the sleeves, folding up the cuff and running her fingers over her neatly embroidered name.

"Of course I do. You made it for my first one of these things and then I was stopped from wearing it because my father forced me to wear one of his designs. So I've never actually worn it."

"Well it's perfect. And it will absolutely match my dress. We'll be the best dressed couple there."

"Couple?" Adrien asked, teasing Marinette a little.

"Well, you know, a fake couple. For your father. And the press…" she started rambling again, but was stopped by Adrien's lips pressing gently against her own.

"You're good at that, you know," she whispered against his lips.

"Good at what exactly?"

"Bringing me back from the brink of panic. You've always been the only one who can do that, but now you're even better at it."

"What can I say? I know you and where your mind goes when you panic."

"Well I know you too. And I know how that rose pink dress shirt hiding in the back will make your eyes pop."

"Interesting choice but ok. I'm so glad I can wear this now, with you."

Mari smiled and reached her head up again, kissing him softly before moving away. Adrien moved closer to her, not wanting to stop just yet. "We can't right now. We need to start getting dressed now."

"Yeah you're right. No matter how much I don't want you to be." He made a sad puppy dog face at Marinette, only succeeding in making her laugh.

"Adrien, that hasn't worked on me for the past 10 years, it won't work now!"

He just laughed and turned back toward his closet, picking out his trousers and a shirt before laying them out on his bed.

They spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for the ball. Marinette found a hairstyle that would suit the dress, twisting her hair so that it was in a deceptively complicated updo. She then did her make up in neutral tones, bringing in a blushed shimmer to her eyelids. Her whole look made her look like an ethereal beauty.

Adrien had less to do, deciding to ruffle his hair with a little gel to give it an easy tousled look. He then put on the rose pink shirt to wear under the black dinner jacket, an outfit that suited him perfectly, yet one his father would never have designed for himself. Marinette was right, the pink perfectly set off his eyes and brought out the pink in his skin. He walked out of his bathroom to pick up his jacket from his bed to find Marinette sitting next to it, folded over to tie the ribbon of her tall black stilettos around her calf.

Her dress was stunning. It had a fitted bodice that was extenuated by the close fit of the rest of the dress, keeping the original shape of his mother's dress but with an added slit that went up to her mid thigh, showing off the gladiator style tie of her shoe. It fitted like a shift dress on her body, with a slight flare out on the skirt. She had changed the original neckline, cutting off one of the sleeves and making the neckline cross from left shoulder to under her right arm, edging the neckline and the one long sleeve with black binding as well as a row of neatly spaced black sequins.

She looked up at him as he came out of the bathroom, flashing him a wonderful smile before standing up and giving him a twirl. The pink fabric shimmered as she moved, the interwoven shiny thread catching the light. He then noticed that she hadn't fully done up her zip, so he came towards her, placing his hands gently on her waist from behind.

"Can you please pull up the zip," she said, her skin tingling where his fingers were lightly touching her. He nodded and held the zip, leaning down as he pulled it up, kissing each inch of her bare skin before covering it up with the dress. She shivered as he gently kissed along her shoulder up to her neck, her head tilting back. Then he moved away, grabbing his jacket and shrugging it on, leaving Marinette standing with her mouth open, ready for the kiss he never gave her. He laughed at her expression, shrugging his shoulders as she turned away, picking up her little black clutch and fishing out a pigmented nude pink lip gloss.

He then grabbed her wrist, spinning her into him till their fronts were flush. He felt her gasp and rested her hands on his chest, leaning her head upwards as met her in the middle, kissing her passionately until both their knees were weak.

"You look beautiful," he said once he pulled away, not wanting to ruin her makeup or her hair having witnessed her all afternoon. "But I think you look even more beautiful with nothing on."

Marinette gasped and punched Adrien on the shoulder. "What the hell, that line was awful. But thank you I guess."

"It wasn't awful!" Adrien laughed, letting go of Marinette to let her finish getting ready. He watched as she leant towards her mirror to carefully apply her lip gloss. "It was completely true, but I'm still getting used to being able to kiss you and hold you. I wish I could have said it to you sooner. Because I…"

He was then interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Natalie telling them that the car was here. Adrien called out to wait a minute, but Natalie just stuck her head in and said that they had to leave now. He groaned and shot a pained look at Marinette, but then conceded and grabbed the suitcases that were by the door, all packed and ready to spend Marinette's birthday at her parents.

—-

"Adrien!" "Marinette!" "Smile for the cameras!" The press were screaming at them as they stood in front of the Gabriel logo backdrop on the red carpet. Adrien had his right arm around Marinette's waist, her right leg positioned slightly in front of Adrien, her body tilted toward him as her arm rested on his shoulder.

"You're doing great," Adrien whispered into her ear. "Anyone would have thought that you'd done this before."

"You're gonna laugh at me, but I spent an hour this afternoon googling red carpet poses and how to look confident. On the inside, I'm a nervous wreck."

"I'm not going to laugh. I'm honestly in awe of you. Only you would prepare for a red carpet like that. And it worked because you look insanely hot."

This time Marinette laughed, burying her head in Adrien's shoulder for a second. They then were ushered along to the next stopping point, taking up a similar position and listening out to the crowd.

"Kiss her!" "Adrienette forever!"

They both chuckled at that one, hearing their ship name out loud was an odd experience. Adrien tugged her closer, whispering into her ear, "I think we should listen to them."

"Are you sure? It's different now that it's real between us." Marinette asked him, leaning into him a bit and straightening out his silky lapels. Adrien looped his hand around her waist, resting it gently on the small of her back. He moved his head closer to Marinette's until there was only a breath of space between them.

"It was always real between us," he whispered before closing the gap between them. Marinette's eyes widened and then melted into Adrien's lips, smiling against him. She broke away after a minute, looking over to the crowd of cheering people, laughing at the wolf whistling. Adrien let go of Marinette's waist, taking her hand and leading them to the entrance of the ballroom. Before they entered the room, Adrien stopped and held out his arm for Marinette to take, which she took with a massive smile on her face. He then walked them into the expansive ballroom, chuckling at Marinette's gasp when she saw the room.

"This is amazing Adrien! The decorations, the outfits!" she exclaimed, her hands tightening around his arm.

"I'm so glad you're here," he said to her. "You see the best in everything and immediately make me enjoy things so much more. This event is usually when my father trotts me out to mingle with the higher ups of the industry. I hate it, but you'll love it."

And he was right. As soon as they descended the stairs, they were met by a server offering them champagne and then Adrien went round introducing Marinette to everybody. She had many spirited discussions with some very influential people, many of whom complimented the calibre of work on hers and Adrien's outfits, taking note for the future. After a while, Marinette could tell Adrien was getting antsy, so she excused them from the conversations, taking the glass out of Adrien's hands, and lead him towards the dance floor. He smiled when he realised what was happening, letting her lead him right to the middle before wrapping his arms around her waist at the same time as she rested her hands on the back of his neck. They slow danced together to the twinkling music, both of them swaying in time as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Thank you for coming tonight. It's been so much fun having you here. It's the first time I've enjoyed mingling. Although I don't think I've done my father any favors, I've been talking about you all night!" Adrien said.

"It was no problem. And thank you for introducing me to all those people, it was a great headstart in forming connections for myself after graduation."

"You are going to be amazing after graduation, I can promise you that."

"You will as well. You'll be Professor Adrien Agreste PhD in no time!"

He smiled down at her, something in his eyes that she couldn't quite read, but it was gone before she could grasp it, his face going serious.

"About what I was trying to say earlier on…" he started.

"May I cut in?" Gabriel Agreste asked, interrupting Adrien. He let out a quiet groan that only Marinette could hear then glared at his father before stepping to one side. He kissed Marinette softly on her cheek, whispering an apology into her ear and promising to go grab her another drink, one she'd need after dancing with his father. She shot him a grateful look and then politely smiled at Gabriel, placing her hands on his stocky shoulder as he gingerly placed his own hands on her hips.

"You both look very comfortable with each other," Gabriel said in his normal monotone.

"Of course we are. We've known each other for 10 years," she replied, a little coldly.

"Ahh of course. How could I forget? You strong armed me into letting him go waste time getting a physics degree. He would have been much better off continuing with his modelling career and following in my footsteps to run the business. He could have got a business degree on the side."

Marinette tamped down her fury, spotting Adrien watching them from the corner, her anger calming down when he smiled at her.

"Your son is very smart Mr Agreste. I'm sure he will succeed in anything he does," she answered, trying to be diplomatic. He just nodded and continued to move Marinette around the dancefloor, keeping up with the faster paced song.

"I would like to talk to you in private," he suddenly said, his tone staying perfectly even. Marinette just looked at him dumbfounded, eventually nodding. Gabriel let go of her and strode of the dance floor, signalling for her to follow him. Her eyes searched for Adrien, catching sight of him standing at the edge with two drinks in his hands. He nodded towards his father and she just shrugged and held up a finger, telling him to wait a minute, then followed Gabriel out of the ballroom.