Adrien was happy.
He was on the set of what would normally have been a mundane series of instructions and wardrobe changes and lighting tests… but Marinette was making it so much better. He could not help but gaze towards the quiet laughter coming from behind a clothing rail where she was chatting with the head stylist for the shoot, Michelle, and he desperately wanted to continue hearing that sound.
Not only had Marinette's presence been a welcomed addition for him, but the teen had offered to help one of the wardrobe assistants who was looking for a specific shirt; she had brought with her, a big bag of pastries that her parents had sent, winning over the construction crew; the ravenette had been enthusiastically hanging onto every word that Michelle said; and the teen had even managed to impress the woman with what she chose to wear. The head stylist became very excited when Adrien supplied that Marinette made and designed outfits for Jagged Stone, causing the teen to blush bashfully when admitting that she also made the jacket she was wearing.
Marinette even arrived on time!
When Adrien awoke the night before on the ravenette's chaise to rolling credits on the screen, with her head resting on his chest, he knew that having Marinette as the person who discovered his identity was the best possible scenario. Sure, if it had been Nino, they could have enjoyed way more 'bro' time, but he doubted they would fall asleep next to each other the way he and Marinette did. Her saying that it was normal for friends to have physical contact made sense, but part of him just knew that he and Nino did not have that type of friendship. Having Marinette as his best girl friend felt right, and Adrien was happy that he had her to confide in.
Their blossoming friendship was already improving his life in under a week, and it just seemed to be getting better: even Nathalie seemed in a good mood that morning.
"Adrien! Focus!"
Not even the sharp and impatient bark of the dark haired director could sully his mood. Adrien had never worked with the man known as Mathis before, but his razor sharp tone and no nonsense attitude was infamous.
Snapping back into the motions of what the director had instructed to capture 'endless possibilities', Adrien found himself picturing running alongside Ladybug high above the streets of Paris; only for another hero to suddenly take shape in her place. He decided to roll with his new inspiration as the irritable director was finally singing his praises when Adrien mimed manipulating the air and space around him. The blonde could not wait to get out of the harness he was wearing for the next part of the shoot, and once that was over and done with, there would be one more wardrobe change and the accompanying image campaign would be finished.
As the camera he was staring into intently, circled around him in order for him to powerfully spin in mid air, Adrien caught sight of a flash of orange and his heart sank. The saccharine laughter, that seemed to vibrate around the room instantly after, did nothing to comfort him either.
"Cut! That was perfect Adrien!" The director praised, "but who in their right mind would laugh so terribly loud in the middle of a shoot?!" He scolded loudly while casting his gaze around the room. As Adrien was being lowered to set his feet on the floor and have his wires removed, the blonde's stomach knotted when Marinette poked her head out apologetically from behind the clothing rail.
"I-I did-"
Adrien could not get off the platform quick enough, but his worries were put to rest when the director picked up his megaphone and spoke kindly in his raven haired friend's direction. "Not you lovely, you have been a pleasure to have on set, and in no way does your laugh sound as fake as that monstrosity that just pierced my eardrums." Mathis craned his neck to glare around the room, "come on, this is a closed set and you were all-what are you doing here?"
When Adrien reached a relieved Marinette and eye rolling Michelle, he turned to see Lila looking like a deer caught in headlights. The Italian had been called out in a room full of important people in the most direct way, and it was clear that had not been the welcome she was expecting.
As sincerely as Lila could present herself, she stepped forward hesitantly and curled inwardly, to portray how apologetic she was apparently feeling. "I-I am in the next shoot-"
The director kept the voice amplifier in front of his mouth as he cut her off. "So why are you in here now?"
Adrien had never seen Lila look so much like a fish out of water. "I'm friends with Adrien, I was only-"
"You do not have clearance to be here on this shoot, and thankfully I got the take finished before you inconsiderately barked out that noise which would have definitely been picked up if we were recording. Who let you in here?" The now visibly angry man stood up from his chair and walked straight towards her; the blonde model was surprised to think that the fear on her face was completely legitimate. Once the man cast his glare on a sheepish looking security guard, Mathis went back to addressing the brunette. "Do you have any idea how much even a second of ruined film costs the company to reshoot? Do you have any thought for the professionals working on this campaign? Time. Is. Money."
Lila gaped like a fish and Adrien felt it was necessary to step in front of Marinette as he was sure the ravenette was going to come under some sort of fire from the Italian.
"Leave now," the dark haired man commanded and pointed to the exit, "I do not want to see you again."
"B-but I'm in the next-"
"I refuse to work with someone who is so inconsiderate of the masterpieces I create," Mathis turned his back on her, "you will not be needed. Security!"
Olive eyes widened with panic before flickering to glare at Adrien. Marinette shuffled uncomfortably when Lila's eyes narrowed and he hated the way her nose scrunched up in disgust. With her hand suddenly flung in their direction, the brunette's pointed finger landed on one of them, but Adrien could not tell who she was going to attempt to blame.
"She told me to come!" Lila pleaded her case just as the security guard in tight black clothing reached her side, "I'm only here because I was invited!"
The amused director stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms. The way he assessed Marinette with a raised brow before turning back to face Lila was unnerving to say the least, but Adrien was ready to defend his friend if need be.
"You're Lila Rossi, correct?"
Lila nodded and Adrien suppressed a growl as it appeared her act was actually going to work.
"I've heard about you and your sickly sweet facade that could put a diabetic into ketoacidosis. You're known for it, people talk," he gestured outwardly with his hand. "Not the higher ups, not the ones you try to schmooze, but the ones that bring you coffee, the ones you degrade when you think no one is listening… they are the eyes and ears of the company, and if you were actually as nice as you pretend to be, then you wouldn't need to worry." Mathis glanced back at Adrien before bringing up his megaphone once again to enforce his words. "So tell me girl, first you claim you are here because you are friends with Mr Agreste, and then you state it is because his plus one invited you."
Lila's lips contorted into an almost snarl but she did not interrupt.
"Which lie is it that you expect me to believe? Because I have it on good authority that Mr Agreste did not want you here to accompany him today." He smirked and gestured his head to where Adrien was standing defensively and acting like a human shield for Marinette, "and I don't think I need to explain who he requested the presence of."
An Akumatised Lila may have been difficult for the heroes to handle if they had not seen what item became infected. Unfortunately Marinette had been Adrien's cover, leaving herself with hardly any breathing room when he came back to where he left her. It was close but the ravenette managed.
She was extremely grateful for the amount of curtains and screens that were in the immediate vicinity.
During their very brief battle, Chat was so focused on shutting down Exposer, that barely any damage had been inflicted on the building: Ladybug was impressed. The hero even rushed off quickly and almost forgot to participate in their ritual fist bump of celebration; she would have been peeved if the heroine did not know he was rushing back to check on her.
Ladybug literally transformed back just in time for Adrien to emerge from behind the curtain where he had ducked out and re-entered using a fire escape, the same one she had used moments prior. Luckily there was so much chaos on the set that no one noticed them sneak off or reappear as if they had not vanished into thin air.
Marinette knew it was only a matter of time before she had to come clean to her partner: the chance of him finding out on his own was too great, and she wanted to be able to explain why she had kept the truth from him.
"Thanks for covering for me."
Marinette took a sharp inhale before replying, "n-no problem. Everyone was so panicked that I didn't have to really do anything."
"Still," the blonde smiled warmly as Lila was escorted out of the premises, "it was good to know you had my back."
Guilt flooded Marinette: she did have his back, just not in the way he thought, 'I have to tell him soon.'
Michelle approached them looking a little flustered carrying the model's last wardrobe change in her arms, "we only have this last part to do then you're free to go."
"Thank you," Adrien smiled, and Marinette noticed the woman's eyes glancing between the two of them causing the ravenette to look away.
The older woman hooked her arm through Marinette's, "let's go and have a chat, just you and me."
"Girl! What the heck is going on with you and Adrien?"
Marinette and Adrien left the shoot after Lila's unceremonious dismissal from participating that day and following Akumatisation. Nathalie granted the blonde permission to escort his friend out after checking her ever-present tablet on the grounds that he did not dawdle. Marinette panicked slightly on how the assistant would perceive her after Lila blamed her earlier, but Nathalie did not seem fazed by the Italian's claims in the slightest.
While Adrien was finishing up, Marinette was informed by Michelle that Mathis had been dying to meet the Italian after his niece had been subjected to one of her cruel and unnecessary rants about incompetence. That explained why he was already clued up on her antics. The older woman was impressed by Marinette's enthusiasm during the shoot, and went on to invite her to come and see the workings of her office and encouraged her to do so every Saturday for a few hours: Marinette was ecstatic! Exchanging contact details before they parted, the ravenette was barely managing to keep her need to jump for joy to herself and immediately grabbed Adrien into a bone crushing hug once they left the set and showered him with a multitude of 'thank yous' as she did.
The blonde's tanned arms reciprocated the embrace with equal enthusiasm, but what started out as a joyous and celebratory motion, soon became less bone crushing and more tender: the teens only breaking apart when Marinette's phone began to vibrate violently in her pocket.
Answering the call to her best friend, Marinette needed to turn down the volume quickly as she was sure Alya was going to immediately ask about Adrien.
The ravenette was correct.
"Hi Alya!" She attempted to seem chipper and in no way dreading the way the call was going to pan out. "What's up?" Adrien was leading them out of the building as Alya's excited voice sounded in Marinette's ear.
"Don't 'what's up' me! You didn't call me last night! And when I landed on your balcony there was a blonde head poking up from your chaise! Seriously girl! How the hell did that happen?"
Marinette giggled nervously, and she could feel her cheeks warming as Adrien glanced down with a curious expression. Putting her hand over the receiver, she quietly whispered, "can you give me a sec' please?"
Adrien nodded understandingly, and walked a few paces to the next door they were going to head through. Marinette turned her attention back to Alya who was demanding to know who she was talking to.
"I've just left the set Als," she told her quietly, not wanting her voice to echo too much in the pristine and minimalist white hallway. "I can't really talk-"
"You're still there? Lila's only just got off the phone with me saying you got her thrown out," Alya sighed, "I didn't believe her, and I pointed out that Adrien asked you to go in her place-"
"She had already been told before she started that whole thing yesterday." Marinette's blunt tone caused a beat to pass where Alya remained silent. "Adrien told me, that's why he came to see me yesterday while we were studying."
Alya huffed, "girl, why didn't you say anything? I would've had your back!" Marinette was speechless, the ravenette felt guilty for not giving her friend the benefit of the doubt. "Mind you," the teen chuckled, "if he hadn't come, we wouldn't have got to see you turn into a tomato! What was that about?"
Marinette blushed and glanced to where Adrien was standing, scrolling on his mobile, "it was… spur of the moment."
"I actually believe that," the teen breathed out fondly, "still, it's nice to see you guys finally getting closer… and I uh, wanted to apologise."
The secret heroine's brow furrowed, "why? What have you got to be sorry about?"
A sad hum reached Marinette's ears, "when we rearranged the seating in class, I'm sorry you were pushed to the back. I didn't think about how that would make you feel and after Adrien-"
"Adrien? What did he do?"
Her blue eyes glanced over to see the blonde's scrolling had stopped but he was still staring at his phone. Adrien's body seemed to be tense though, and Marinette was sure he was curious to know what Alya was about to tell her.
the red tinge that appeared on his cheeks was a dead give away that the blonde heard his name being mentioned.
"Mari, he kinda gave Nino a piece of his mind about how none of us considered you guys when we rearranged the class to accommodate Lila and her… needs… I'm aware she's full of it. Marinette, please never doubt me and our friendship. I'm just trying to keep the peace in school."
"But yesterday-"
"None of us invited her, she just turned up. I've not explained my thoughts on Lila to the others as I can't explain what I really know, but they seem to be wising up to her drama. Especially since we now know Juleka is Jagged's daughter and he had no idea who Lila is."
"Oh…"
There was an obvious smile in her best friend's voice which made Marinette feel even worse. "I love you Mari, you're my best friend and I've got your back in whichever way you need me. Okay?"
Marinette felt her chest swell with warmth, "how could I ever doubt you? I love you too, Als… call you later?"
"You better!" Alya laughed, "I want deets girl, and not the cliff notes version! Alya out!"
"Of course," Marinette smiled fondly as she turned back to face Adrien, "speak later," and ended the call.
Adrien's Adam's apple bobbed as he continued to stare towards his phone, "wh-what did Alya tell you?"
Marinette pursed her lips and rolled her eyes aloofly, taking slow steps towards the blonde. "Not much, just how Lila has blamed me for being thrown out, how she's got my back and how you told Nino that it wasn't fair when they moved the class around."
"To be honest, in my defense," he hesitated while his cheeks tinged with a fresh blush, "I said that it wasn't fair on either of us, and that you shouldn't have been expected to move at all an-"
"Adrien," Marinette smiled sweetly up at him, finding her own confidence soaring with his babbling. Before she could chicken out, the ravenette pushed up on her tiptoes and placed a quick peck to his cheek. "Thank you."
So Lila came, saw, and most definitely did not conquer… something tells me she has a cunning plan up her sleeves though. And of course Alya would have Marinette's back, she's a good egg.
Thoughts?
Thank you for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting! Much appreciated you lovely people =^.^=
Take it easy!
Lady Rhi X
