Chapter 31

~Adrien's POV~

I can't believe Nino was saying those things to me, especially while Marinette was nearby and could've heard what was being said. Ever since we watched the date scenes together, Nino hasn't let me forget the way I had leaned a little closer to me, nor do I think he will let me forget.

Today he was also including the fact that he swears that Marinette had leaned a little closer to me too, but I quickly dismissed it. There's no way Marinette would have been leaning closer, and even if she did it definitely wasn't for the same reason Nino claimed that I leaned closer to her. I'm not wanting to put her in the position of some unscripted kiss, even if I kind of do want one.

My cheeks burned at the last thought and I let out a heavy sigh. I was really glad no one was paying attention to me at the moment, since Nino was getting the playback of the four scenes we just filmed ready while everyone else waited to watch, and Marinette was talking with the other girls: Alya, Alix, Sabrina, and Rose.

The girls were quite giggly, but I had no idea why. I didn't really care too much either about what they found so amusing, except I was curious to know what was making Marinette smile like that.

Stop it, Adrien. Stop looking at her and stop thinking about her.

Thankfully, it was only another minute longer before Nino announced that the scenes were ready to be viewed. I inwardly sighed with relief, knowing that I'd be taken out of this battle of my thoughts however temporary it might be.

I was glad that, even though Nino found a place to watch the scenes next to me, the girls were sitting in a cluster in front of us. It was nice that none of them knew how hard of a time I was having while I tried to avoid paying Marinette too much attention. I had no idea one of my best friends could have so much of an effect on me.

The first of the four recently recorded scenes started by showing the University of Veterinary Medicine that was written on the university before the camera panned down to show Rose and Marinette walking away from the building.

"That test was so hard." Rose said with a groan.

"Oh, I'm sure you did fine." Marinette responded encouragingly.

"At least it was the last one." Rose let out a sigh before she grinned happily at Marinette and said her next line with a sing-song voice. "'Cause Christmas break is finally here!"

Marinette let out a small chuckle at Rose's excitement, but when she looked away from her, her smile faded, and she stopped in her tracks. The camera switched from showing her expression to show that she saw me sitting on the edge of a small stone wall near hedges on the university campus.

I saw myself sit up straighter and smile when I caught her gaze. "Hi." She said, sounding confused.

"Hi." I returned with a small wave then stood up and started to walk in her direction. "How did the test go?"

"I-I think I did pretty well." Marinette answered with a small nod, glancing at Rose who had stopped next to her and was giving her a look that demanded an explanation, then looked at me again.

"Great." I said, still smiling at her. "Can I take you out for coffee to celebrate?"

Rose had been looking at me in surprise, then looked at Marinette. "That's Green Eyes?" She asked with a lowered voice, as if offended she hadn't been told earlier.

"Okay, shh…" Marinette told her in a demanding tone.

"Hi." I said, greeting Rose, who quickly looked at me with grin.

"Hi." She replied as the two girls smiled at me. I smiled at her before my attention went back to Marinette.

"You know what, dinner was enough." She told me, causing Rose's offended look to come back as she faced her.

"You went out to dinner with him?!" She asked, and though her tone was quieter again, I remember that I had heard it plainly while we were being filmed. Marinette gave her another look, but Rose cut her off as she smiled happily. "Let him take you for coffee."

Both girls turned toward me again, Marinette with a strained smile and Rose with an excited grin. "Yeah." The latter said, nodding frantically.

"Yeah," I agreed. "And besides… you still have my coat, and um… you know, I kind of need that back."

Rose looked at Marinette and nodded slowly. "Mhmm." She hummed, putting an arm on Marinette's and pushing her towards me. "Go!"

Marinette gave me another small, shy smile, and as I turned to walk with her, Marinette looked over her shoulder when Rose called after us. "Have fun!"

Rose was shown again, waving at Marinette then muttered, "cute" under her breath. I let out a small breath of amusement when I saw the expression she gave Marinette of 'don't you screw this up'.

The scene changed to show Marinette and I walking down the street together, after we went out for coffee, which we actually did for fun in between filming scenes.

"I love that coffee shop." Marinette told me with a smile. "I've never been there before."

"Yeah," I agreed with a smile. "Well, firemen and policemen always know where the best coffee is."

Marinette's smile instantly faded though when we got to the door of 'Marilee's' house. "Oh no…" She muttered and it caused my smile to completely vanish when she rushed to the open door.

"What is it?" I asked, looking at her with concern.

Marinette turned to look at me at the door with a panicked expression. "She found Queenie." She told me, then disappeared inside. I stood, a little confused, before I eventually followed her in.

Marinette rushed into the house, and that fireman's jacket was visible, laying across the arm of a chair near the door. She slowed her steps until she stopped, staring in shock. The camera angle changed to show Sabrina, playing Mrs. Winnamucker, Marilee's landlord, turn from where she stood at a kitchen counter.

"I knew you were hiding something." Sabrina said in an annoyed, yet satisfied tone as she walked towards me. "A plumber came in to check on the sink, and guess what he found?"

She held up a white paper to show Marinette that had 'NOTICE OF EVICTION' written at the top, with a red stamp lower on the page that read 'OFFICIAL'. Marinette took the paper quickly while Sabrina gave her a smile.

"Where is she?" Marinette asked.

"I put her in the back." Sabrina answered, then turned as Marinette moved around her and walked further into the hotel room.

"Queenie, Sweetie?" Marinette called, then let out relieved sighs as Sabrina let out an exasperated one and shook her head disapprovingly, and picked up the cat. "Hey, Sweetie, are you okay? Were you scared?"

"This is a clear violation of Angel Arm's bylaws." Sabrina said to Marinette, who froze in her steps when she started to speak again, cradling Queenie against her chest. "It's a class two infraction which clearly spells out—"

"I assume you gave this tenant a forty-eight-hour notice before a service person entered the residence?" I said, cutting Sabrina off as I walked through the door.

"W-Well, I-I'm not sure if—" Sabrina started, turning towards me.

"How about fire codes?" I added, interrupting her again as I held up my wallet that had a badge in it with a fireman's ID, not real of course, but convincing for the film. "Are you up to date on the four hundred fifty-six fire codes pertaining to apartment buildings? And the mandatory bylaws stipulated in the state's statutes?"

"W-Well, I-I—"

"I'll be back next week to make sure that you're in compliance with each and every state and city fire code." I told her, cutting her off for the last time. "I hope I won't have to write you a seven seventy-seven. Shut down your apartment building."

After Sabrina stood for a second, looking confused and panicked, she hurried out of the room, leaving me to noticed again, that small, shy, and admiring smile Marinette was giving me that made my heartbeat increase both while we were filming, and now as I watched it again.

The scene changed again to show Marinette and I walking out to that blue truck, each carrying armfuls of 'Marilee's' personal items. "Thank you so much." She told me. "I can't thank you enough."

"It's not a problem." I said, and we were quiet for a moment as we reached the bed of the truck and started to load the bags and loose items into it. I put down what I had been holding first on the sidewalk next to the truck, then took what Marinette was holding and put it into the back as she muttered another "thank you".

"I'm sorry that I couldn't keep her from evicting you." I told her, and she shook her head with a quick, "no" as a response, though I continued while still loading the truck as she held Queenie. "But I'll make her life as miserable as I can for a while."

"Well, I guess I can stay at my sister's house." Marinette said, looking at all of the things in the back of the truck. "I don't know how Queenie will survive her dogs though."

I was quiet for a moment as I looked like I was thinking of a solution, then spoke. "I have an idea."

"Oh, yeah?" Marinette asked with interest before the scene changed again to show the truck parked outside the entrance to Marinette's home. Although I didn't drive it anywhere, I got out of the driver's seat and Marinette climbed out of the passenger side.

"Wow…" She breathed as she looked at the exterior. "This house is amazing."

"It will be once I get it painted." I said, then smiled at her as she still looked at the house in awe, then turned to walk to the front door. "Come on."

"Oh wow…" She said again in awe when we walked into the house. I closed the door behind her after I held it open. "This house is great."

She gasped and smiled as she stood in the doorway, around the room. "I love the chrome molding, and the hardwood floors…" She trailed off then turned to see the rest of the entryway. "The staircase is beautiful…"

"Thank you." I said, giving her a smile. "I built it."

Marinette gave me a look of surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah." I said with a nod.

"Wow."

"Come on, I'll give you the two-cent tour." I said, turning and walking down the hall. "There's an apartment upstairs with a separate entrance. It's not much, but you're welcome to it until you can find a place."

"Oh…" Marinette said as she followed me further down the hall and I showed her to the kitchen. I stopped at the doorway, letting her enter first, and she smiled with a quiet "thank you" then looked around for a second before turning to me. "But, I-I couldn't do that. I couldn't impose."

"No, please, I insist." I told her. "I'm the reason you got fired."

Marinette gave me a small smile before she held up Queenie in her arms. "Do you allow cats?"

"Allow them?" I asked, hiding an amused smile. "We require them. You can't stay here unless you have at least one cat."

Marinette gave me a small amused smile, though it disappeared when she continued. "I'm going to pay rent." She said, but I shook my head.

"That's not necessary." I said, then leaned down to pick up Ambrose who had walked to me. "But you could help out around the house if you want. Maybe you can take care of Ambrose while I'm at work."

"I think he likes her." I added, then looked up from the cats to meet her eyes and returned her smile.

"Yeah, Queenie's usually so shy, but I think she likes him too." She said, then we spent a few seconds just looking and smiling at each other, which I hadn't realized at the time when we were filming.

"Yeah, I guess this could work." Marinette continued, breaking our eye-contact. "Us living together. Well, not living together, you know… sleeping together. Not sleeping together, but you know, under the-the same roof. Y-You know what I mean."

As she spoke, my smile from a few seconds ago had faded, only to return again with amusement. "Yeah, I do." I said then let out a breath of laughter.

"I'm going to stay out of your way." Marinette told me, obviously still embarrassed by what she said earlier. "You won't even know that I'm here. I should have a new job and somewhere to live by the end of the week."

"No hurry." I said, giving her a small smile. "We should get your stuff though; I have to go to work soon. Just make yourself at home."

Marinette smiled shyly at me and muttered a very quiet, "okay" as I turned to walk away, then followed me as if we were going to go get the things unloaded out of the truck.

The camera showed blackness and no more sound came except from the girls sitting in front of Nino and I. They seemed to finally let out all their giggles and whispers they had been holding back as the scenes played for us. Although I had no idea what they were saying, the brief idea that they may have been talking about me crossed my mind when I saw Marinette turn to look at me over her shoulder.

Despite her cheeks being a slight red color, she gave me that same small, shy smile she gave me while we were filming. Instantly, I felt my cheeks heating up as I returned the smile. I knew it was probably something entirely different, but part of me really hoped that I was what was causing her cheeks to appear as if she were blushing.

It felt as if my cheeks heated up more from the thought, and I was the first of the two of us to look away when my eyes went down to my lap. I knew this crush I was developing on Marinette was only growing, and it definitely didn't help that she looked at me like that, on top of being the kindest girl I know.

I knew that she and I had been friends since we first met, after I cleared up that chewing gum incident, but I also knew it was okay to have this crush on her. It was hard not to after all, especially when she's such an amazing girl. Maybe I'd get lucky enough to get her to return my feelings, and though I didn't think I would ever get that lucky, a boy could sure dream.