Having finally escaped Felix and Adrien with the few remaining scraps of her pride, Marinette hurried back to the small section where her employer had set up. There really wasn't a whole heap for her to do. They were there as a show of good faith more than anything.

Her boss -Nicole- was trying to secure a contract with Agreste Fashion. They were only really there to offer an extra pair of hands if needed, to ensure everything ran as smoothly as possible. Finding the area empty, the intern decided she would go see if she could help with the wardrobe.

That's where the most unexpected things occurred; seams tore, buttons fell off, clothes had to be pressed. All were tiny, little details, yet it was generally the little things which could make or break a shoot.

As such, wardrobe was always one of the busiest places on the set. With at least some level of stress from the seamstresses and various other employees. The scene Marinette walked into though, was pure mayhem. People rushing around, yelling over the top of each other.

Curious, Marinette approached a young man who looked like a fellow intern. "Hey, what's going on? What happened?"

With only a quick glance up from what he was doing, the dark haired man answered shortly. "The other model didn't show up. So everyone is going crazy, trying to find the replacement Adrien asked for. Apparently some intern he used to go to school with."

The noise that escaped Mari's lips could hardly be classed as human. Surely it was just a coincidence, there was someone else he went to school with here.

Wishful thinking, Marinette knew the odds were slim that they were talking about someone else. Or maybe it was a joke? Adrien wasn't above playing the occasional prank, and knew from experience that they were generally terrible.

Did he really still have the time to pull stunts like that though? Especially at a shoot. The young woman doubted it, but still held out hope.

It didn't take long for that hope to come crashing down around her, once she saw the aforementioned model -and her partner in crime- saunter towards her. The grin on his face was one that he wore regularly as Chat Noir. Right before he was about to do something that Marinette considered questionable.

The woman began shaking her head at him, as he approached. There was no way! He was crazy, he even said to Felix she was known for babbling. If she couldn't even talk, how was she supposed to model?

He was being ridiculous, and cruel. A stray thought popped into her head, was this his way of getting back at her? Did he know? Had he figured out who she really was? Her throat seemed to tighten with each breath, considering the possibilities.

By the time the blonde hero reached her she was about ready to pass out. So focused on panicking she hadn't even seen Felix, who followed behind his cousin.

"Hey Mari, fancy seeing you here." Adrien flashed her a devilish grin, -that less than a week ago, would have had her weak at the knees. Now however it had her on edge, sure he was still painfully attractive. The issue was that his good looks now had Marinette feeling shame more than anything else.

The raven haired woman put her hands up in a defensive manner. "No! Nope! Not doing it, not happening. Not in a million years." She backed away from the duo slowly. Careful not to trip over anything this time.

Her decline didn't deter Adrien any, he continued his approach suave as ever. "Please Mari, it's an emergency. Felix won't be able to launch his line if you don't. You will get paid of course, and I can -maybe, put in a good word about you in the fashion circles?"

The model's words gave her pause, Marinette knew how important it was for a line to launch on time. Plus the idea of being paid was attractive, internships weren't known for their ludicrous salaries -that was if you even got paid at all. The biggest pull however, was the good word from an Agreste. In the fashion industry, that was invaluable.

Adrien continued to talk as she mulled the idea over. "You look like you would wear the clothes no problem. You're the perfect fit. And plus, like Sofia said, no one will be looking at you anyway.

Not while I'm in the photo."

The last sentence was a stab to the young woman's ego. Hell, she knew she was no model, but she at least considered herself cute enough. Her features were delicate and well proportioned, her eyes a unique shade of blue and framed by thick lashes.

Even though she was still smaller than average, petite even, Marinette thought she kept herself in good shape. Her figure had filled out since high school and she had her fair share of curves, with well toned muscles she was proud of.

Her expression must have given away her train of thought. Felix stepped forward, shooting his cousin a dangerous look and took over the talking. "Not to say that you're not attractive enough of course. Adrien means that when a big name is in a photo they tend to steal the focus." He shrugged casually.

"Unfortunately it's just the way it works in modeling." The budding designer was clearly trying to do damage control.

Marinette kept her eyes downcast, chewing on her lower lip. Was the possibility of embarrassment worth it?"

Felix spoke up again, his voice starting to sound desperate as the morning dragged on. "Adrien mentioned you were a fashion intern, yes?"

She didn't speak, nodding her head in answer.

"Do this shoot for me and not only will I pay you well for it, I'll take you on as an intern myself. What are you getting paid now?"

Caught off guard, Marinette answered on reflex "16,000"

The look of disgust on the young designer's face had Marinette thinking she had said something wrong. He continued before she could dwell on his reaction too much.

"That's ridiculous! How do they expect you to live on that?" Beside him Adrien smirked at his cousin's reaction.

We're these two serious? We're they really that out of touch? From what Mari had heard, from her friends in the industry it was pretty standard. "Ahh I still live at home, so it's fine."

Adrien bumped his shoulder against the other man in a playful way. "Not everyone gets to work for their famous uncle, remember."

The designer pursed his lips and nodded curtly. "Marinette, please do this shoot for me and I will take you on as my intern, with a much more liveable wage. And the opportunity to interact with some of the biggest names in fashion."

Head swimming from the possibilities, Marinette found herself nodding once more, in a trance-like state. Everything else happened in a blur. Adrien gave her a toothy grin and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her along. Meanwhile, Felix let out an audible sigh of relief.

Next thing she knew, Marinette was dressed in some of the most expensive clothing she had ever worn. She had to give props to Felix, his designs were exceptional. The tights were a deep red, with a black, palm sized stag head on the upper left side -the symbol for the De Vanily brand. They fit beautifully, hugging her body close, with a high waist band.

Her top was a matching red, the same symbol printed on the left breast. It was somewhere between a sports bra and a crop top. The thick, supportive shoulder straps were a nice change to the purely decorative, spaghetti like strings that were the "in thing" at the moment. They did nothing in the way of support, especially for women who had a decent bust, or did anything high impact.

It was refreshing to see something that was practical and still fashionable, when it came to gym clothing. Thankfully, unlike Adrien, Marinette had the luxury of wearing a jumper. A white zip up hoodie, with the odd addition of having zip pockets on the forearms, which she had been instructed to wear undone.

Marinette hadn't minded too much, the clothes complimented her figure well. Not to mention, having the jumper unzipped ment it showed off the curved definition of her stomach muscles. Not a six pack or anything, but there was still definition there. And after Adrien's comment about no one noticing her, it felt a little bit like a victory.

And notice her or not, Marinette was still blown away by the remarkable job the hair and makeup artists had managed to do in such a short amount of time. They had gone with a minimal look, she was supposed to be out for a run after all.

Her face had been quickly wiped clean of her existing makeup and replaced with a light blush and natural eyeshadow and lips. The most outlandish of the makeup, a set of fake lashes they put on her, they certainly weren't the most comfortable things but they made her look absolutely captivating. They drew attention to her already intense eyes, Mari considered investing in a set for herself.

Her hair had been redone as well, still in a high pony but they had teased it to give it more "oomph" as the stylist put it.

She did have to give Adrien some credit, modeling was actually harder than it looked. The photographer kept telling her to "look more natural" -whatever the hell that meant. Adrien breezed through, nailing every posture and expression the photographer threw at him.

So much so that you wouldn't have even known he was wearing shorts and a singlet in four degrees weather. It was impressive, though Marinette supposed, he had been doing it his whole life.

By now the sun was making its way through the sky, chasing away some of the morning's icy chill. After going through what felt like a million different poses Sofia, the photographer called for a break. Marinette let out a sigh, grateful to get a moment to breathe.

Unfortunately it wasn't much of a break, more of a wardrobe and set change. Marinette and Adrien had their hair and makeup touched up, then Adrien was instructed to remove his top. The raven haired woman tried her best to avert her eyes, she didn't need to be getting anymore flustered than she already was.

That notion went out the window however, when Sofia asked Marinette to remove her jacket. The photographer then began manipulating the two into position. A rather intimate position, with Marinette leaning her back against the brick wall that surrounded the park.

Adrien was moved so that his arm was resting above Marinette's head on the wall. His body angled so that he was looking down on her, while still standing in front of her. More or less pinning her to the wall, and she had to stand there and look up at him, with a contented smile.

It was torture to be so close to him, something she had dreamed about in the past. Now it made her skin prickle with guilt and shame for the way she had obsessed over him, hardly even treating him like a person. But she did her best to do as instructed, hoping to get it over with as soon as possible.

Three hours later and the session was finally wrapping up. It was such a different experience to be on the other side of the shoot. Quite frankly, Marinette preferred to be behind the scenes.

While everyone began packing up around her, Felix and Adrien made their way to where she stood. Somewhat awkwardly, unsure on what she should be doing now. Coffee in hand, Felix looked slightly more at ease than he had earlier as he passed Marinette, a drink he had evidently gotten for her.

"Thank you again for today Marinette, I really owe you one. You did a fantastic job for someone who has never modeled before." Marinette hadn't noticed before, but now that things had settled somewhat it was more evident.

The way that Felix spoke was… odd, he was too formal, almost like it was rehearsed. Adrien paid no mind to it, which made her wonder if that was the way he always was.

"Yeah Mari, good job! It was fun shooting with a friend." Adrien beamed at her, in a way he never had before. But his words made her heart constrict, she could hardly call herself that.

For just a moment she saw Adrien give Felix a sideways glance, before he continued talking. "So Marinette, since you're now part of the official De Vanily launch party why don't you grab breakfast with us?"

The exhausted woman was set on declining the invitation, not wanting to spend any more time around Adrien than needed. Yet before she had the chance, Felix spoke. "Please Marinette, I insist. Besides, we will need to discuss your contract and payment for the shoot."

It felt rude to decline an offer from her new boss so, trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm she nodded. "Okay, I just need to go home and change first. My other clothes are covered in coffee…" Marinette trailed off, remembering her humiliation from earlier.

"Just wear what you're in, that's what I'm doing." Adrien shrugged casually, wearing a jumper from the new line. The sun was high in the sky now, but the day was still uncomfortably cold.

The woman shook her head vehemently. "No, I couldn't do that! They haven't even been launched yet."

Felix waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, it may even drum up some extra publicity. Consider them yours."

Marinette wanted to argue that she couldn't accept them, but something about the way Felix spoke left little room for discussion. So she once more found herself nodding in agreement.

"Great, it's settled then! I'll pick the cafe, did you want to follow in your car Mari?" Marinette couldn't help but notice Adrien was surprisingly chipper. Especially considering the mood he had been in last night when he ran off on her as Chat Noir.

It had her wondering what had happened between then and now to cause such a change in mood. Despite Ladybug being her alter ego, for Marinette, what happened as Ladybug and what she felt as Ladybug bled over into her civilian life. Often making it messy.

"Ah, I actually got the Metro here. I don't have a car at the moment. I can meet you there though." Mari had no problem with riding the Metro, it was the go to for most people her age. In fact, no one in her friend circle had their own car yet. To her it wasn't a big deal.

Felix shook his head with a frown. "Don't be ridiculous. You can ride with us."

Fantastic, somehow the young woman had failed to see the giant, human sized complication that came with an internship with Felix. His cousin and her former obsession -Adrien. She had a feeling she may have bitten off more than she could chew