A/N: Finally another update! I'm really sorry it took so long, but I swear I'm not giving up on this story! There is more to come!

And just to show an example for about how much more there's going to be in this fanfiction, the movie this story is based off of is just under an hour and a half long. After writing the scene in this chapter there are now just under twenty minutes left in the movie to write, and fourteen more scenes of the movie left.

Chapter 37

~Marinette's POV~

"What are you doing here, Alya?" I asked curiously as I stared at my best friend in surprise. "I thought you left."

Alya waved my words away then beckoned me to sit next to her on my chaise. "Everyone else left, but I stayed. I wanted to make sure that you saw this."

"What is it?" I asked, intrigued as I walked over to her and sat down next to her. She was tapping at the screen of her phone, then turned it landscape, and I knew that it was going to be a video.

"The last scene that we filmed of you and Adrien." She answered easily with a grin.

I sighed softly as I looked at her. "Alya, I don't need to watch it to know what happened."

"I would be showing you this again even if you hadn't gone off with Adrien." She said, her grin becoming a smirk as she raised an eyebrow at me. "What was that all about anyway?"

"All we did was talk." I said quickly, averting my eyes to avoid seeing the accusing look that I knew was on her face. "Nothing else."

"Woah." Alya said with a surprised tone, and I could tell she was also grinning at me. "I wasn't accusing you of doing anything more than talking, but now… Did he kiss you?"

I mentally cursed myself for giving away that we did a tiny bit more than talking, but I shook my head in response to her question though I still didn't look at her. "No, he didn't."

"So, what happened?" Alya asked, leaning towards me slightly to show that she was very intrigued. "You said you two talked. About what? I want all the details."

"Fine." I gave in and couldn't help but smile as I remembered how it felt being with Adrien in the kitchen. "We had our first argument. I think."

I paused dramatically and looked at Alya who looked even more surprised and shocked, but didn't say anything so I could continue the story.

"When we were sitting on the couch I noticed that he seemed upset or uncomfortable by something, so I tried asking him if there was something wrong." I continued, reliving the moment at I told it. "He refused to tell me, and even tried to convince me that he was fine, which was obviously not true.

"I was upset that he wouldn't at least tell me the truth, that there was something bothering him, because I know that we both value each other's friendship. So, I built up enough courage to confront him about lying to me. I knew that I shouldn't do it in front of everyone else, so I took him into the kitchen."

"To talk." Alya commented, nodding along with the story. "Okay, so did you yell at him?"

"No." I said quickly, but I didn't sound sure of myself. "I don't think I yelled at him, but I did surprise him. That's for sure."

I paused and giggled as I remembered the panicked expression he wore as I pointed and poked at him accusingly. "I told him that I knew he wasn't telling the truth, but I still made it clear I don't want to be lied to. He's never experienced me like that first hand before."

"And it probably won't be the last time since you two are growing closer." Alya added. "That's a good thing. It shows that you're maturing enough to know that relationships aren't all sunshine and rainbows."

"Alya, Adrien and I are not in a relationship." I told her quickly. "We're just friends and nothing more."

"I beg to differ." She said with a laugh, but shook her head to dismiss it. "Anyway, you were accusing him. Did he apologize?"

"Yeah." I said with a small nod. "After I told him that friends don't lie—"

"Did you watch that American show again?" Alya asked, cutting me off with an amused smile. "The one we watched together for the first time a year and a half ago?"

"Stranger Things is a good show." I argued, but dismissed it quickly. "Anyway, after I told him that, he just kind of… lost it."

"What do you mean?"

"He said that he was sorry, but…" I was hesitant to say everything that happened because it was a personal moment for him as well as me. I didn't want to give away the fact that he opened up to me like that because that was a very precious memory to me now.

"But…?" Alya prompted, and I realized I had trailed off.

"He apologized, but…" I trailed off again, searching for words. I couldn't tell her about him crying, even if it wasn't much, or the fact that he brought up his mom. "But he gave me a hug anyway to make up for our misunderstanding."

"He hugged you?!" Alya practically yelled, and I desperately hoped that Adrien would have left by know so he wouldn't know that I was telling Alya about what happened, or that she was so excited by a hug.

"Yes, Alya, he hugged me." I said, my tone quieting down slightly to hint at her to keep her voice low. Her wide grin made me blush and smile as well as I remembered it. "It was really nice."

"I bet it was." Alya sang with a grin. "Wow! He hugged you!"

"It was no big deal." I said dismissively, blushing more because Alya was making a huge deal out of nothing. "Friends hug. We hugged."

"Yeah, but you two haven't hugged before!" Alya said happily, grabbing my shoulder with the hand nearest to me and shook it. "This is huge!"

"No, it's not, Alya." I argued, waving my hands in front of me to dismiss her words. "He hugged me because he felt bad and because we are friends. It meant nothing."

"But it could mean—"

"No." I cut her off quickly, causing her to stare at me in surprise. "No, it means nothing. I don't want to think that it means something. I don't want to even consider the possibility that that hug meant something real; that he might just see me as more than a friend…"

I trailed off as I looked down, my hands holding onto my arms as I suddenly felt a huge wave of disappointment. "Because I know I'm not more than a friend to him." I continued in a small voice. "And I don't want to get my hopes up that there's any real hope for me to be more than just friends because I don't want to feel the pain of being friend-zoned again."

I paused again as I took in a shaky breath then let it out in a small sigh. "Adrien and I are growing closer." I acknowledged. "But that doesn't mean we'll ever be more than friends. So… I just can't get my hopes up."

"Marinette, I'm sorry." Alya told me and I smiled slightly when I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder that slowly moved down to gently rub my back soothingly. "I had no idea that you felt that way."

"It's okay." I said with a smile as I picked my head up to look at my best friend. "I know that I normally would be over the moon with excitement, but I've realized that the disappointment I feel after that excitement is crushed just isn't worth it anymore."

"But you still really like him, don't you?" Alya asked. "Those kinds of feelings don't just disappear."

"I know." I said and nodded slowly. "And I'm going to try to get over him over time. It will take a while, and I don't mind having a crush on him still. I'll just have to keep reminding myself that my feelings are completely temporary and will eventually be toward another instead."

"I'm sorry, Girl." Alya told me and I felt both of her arms around me in a warm hug. "I'm so sorry. You'll be able to last through the end of this romance movie, right?"

"Of course, I will." I said with a small grin. "It's a lot of fun being the lead with Adrien. We have a lot of fun together. I just have to remember that anything that happens is just for the movie, nothing else."

When Alya pulled away from the hug again and smile at me warmly, I couldn't help but ask: "This Christmas romance movie wasn't one of your evil plots to get Adrien and I together that ends up a disaster, was it?"

"No, no of course not." Alya said quickly, waving her arms to dismiss the idea. "I know it sounds like something I would do, but I swear this is not one of those evil plans that won't work out."

I eyed her skeptically before sighing softly. I swore it was one of those plans, but I chose not to push it anymore. I supposed that it wouldn't be too strange to think that all the other girls would want me to be the leading female while Adrien is the leading male, but I knew that Alya was the writer of the script.

"You're still having fun with Adrien and I acting like a developing couple, aren't you?" I asked, though it was more of an accusation.

"I sure am." Alya replied with a grin. "Even though you've said you don't want to keep pursuing something that you believe isn't ever going to happen, you and Adrien would still make a nice-looking couple."

I felt my cheeks heat up and I quickly looked away as I blushed rather deeply. I have always told myself that, and Alya had said it many times as well as the other girls in my class. Although I've finally come to accept that Adrien and I most likely won't become anything more than friends, I had to admit that Alya was not entirely wrong when she said we would look good together.

I shouldn't even tell myself that anymore!

"Anyway…" Alya said, holding out the second syllable and turning her attention back to her phone. "I'm going to have you watch this scene, then I will say what I have to say, and all I want you to do is think about it. Okay?"

I whined slightly, really not wanting to think about what Alya had to say because I had a strong feeling that it involved Adrien and me. Though I also knew I couldn't turn her down because she would guilt me into watching it. I knew she had to have some sort of good point, so I reluctantly agreed.

"Okay…" I agreed with an exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine. Just show it to me. I won't say a word."

"Great." Alya said happily as she started the video. "I knew I could get you to agree. Just watch this."

I heaved another soft sigh as I watched the short scene of Adrien and I together. We were sitting together, eating our dinner at the kitchen table in my house. I was the one in focus while he and I were across from each other, and I started my line while holding my fork and moving it as I emphasized that I had an idea.

"Hey," I started, but paused as I swallowed the little bit of food in my mouth. "Why don't we hit the stores tomorrow and we don't stop until we've found all of our Christmas presents?"

I ended it with a small smirk to myself for my brilliant idea as he looked up from his plate. "Sure." He responded.

I stood up from my seat as I picked up my empty glass and continued with the idea. "It will be way more fun if we do it together, and then we can get a Christmas tree."

I stopped talking when I turned to the sink, and the camera focused on Adrien's uneasy expression as he chewed his food. "Uh-huh." He responded, though his mind completely elsewhere. The two of us were quiet as he continued chewing, staring at nothing as he was lost in thought and as I filled the glass with tap water.

I turned and leaned against the counter next to the sink, glass of water in my hand and I looked at him for a couple seconds before I spoke again. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Adrien turned to look at me slowly with a surprised, almost panicked expression as he swallowed. "What?" He questioned and blinked at me a couple times.

"Look at those two." I said and nodded past him. He turned his head in the direction I was looking, and the two cats came onto the screen. They were laying next to each other on a shelf, and there was a sound of loud purring.

"They make it look easy." Adrien commented before the screen showed us once more and I spoke.

"My mother used to say that falling in love with the right person is easy." Which, was an actual saying my mom told me a lot.

I blurred on the screen as Adrien's face came into focus, still looking at the cats. "I've never felt that." He admitted.

"Well, me neither." I put in and I could be seen looking away from him in the background as his eyes immediately fell. There was a very small, slight nod noticeable as his expression looked very disappointed.

"But that doesn't mean it's not true." I added before I slowly stood upright again and walked out of the screen, but it was still focused on the confused and disappointed look on Adrien's face.

The screen turned to black to show the scene was over and Alya turned to me with a small, knowing smile. "Alright." She started. "Now you have seen what everyone else saw when you were filming with Adrien and when you and Adrien were away in the kitchen."

I turned my head from the phone to Alya and gave her a questioning look, staying true to my word not to say a word of protest and just think about what she had to say. I waited a few seconds as Alya was thinking of the exact wording she wanted to use.

"Did you notice how he reacted to you saying that you've never felt what your mom has told you?" She questioned first, then paused as I nodded slowly, silently asking her what her point was. Her smile turned to a small grin. "I didn't tell him to do that. It wasn't in the script."

"Sure," She continued quickly before I had the chance to make a retort. "You could just say he's just a good actor and improvised, but what if he heard you saying those words, not your character?"

My face instantly twisted in confusion and Alya quickly waved her hands telling me to wait and to let her clarify. "Just hear me out." She said first. "What if he heard those words as Marinette's words and not Marilee's? You and I, as well as all the girls in our class, know that it was so easy for you to fall in love with Adrien after you saw that he's nothing like Chloe—thank goodness—and that you assumed he would be the right person for you because of your mom's words, right?"

I blushed a bit but nodded slowly to confirm everything she said about me falling in love with Adrien to be true. "Good." Alya said as her grin faded slightly to tell me that this was a thought to take seriously. "But Adrien doesn't know that. So, what if Adrien, as we filmed the scene, wasn't just playing Zachary and was just as disappointed to hear that you, Marinette, haven't felt what it was like to fall in love with the right person, as his character was to hear that Marilee hadn't felt what it's like to fall in love with the right person?"

I couldn't hold my tongue from that long spill. I had to run it through my head a few times just to realize what she was saying. "Wow." I muttered before I looked at her curiously. "So, you think that Adrien's thinking that I've never fallen in love and is disappointed because of it?"

Alya nodded with a smug smile. "I think he very well could be." She said before she stood up. "And I want you to think about what that could mean if it was true."

Before I could even try to answer her, Alya left my room. I sat there on my chaise in silence as I thought, trying to wrap my head around everything she was saying. I could vaguely hear her saying a farewell to my parents thanks to the silence I was surrounded it.

What if it is true that Adrien thinks that I've never fallen in love before?

I could feel myself blushing before I even realized why I was. I suppose I subconsciously understood Alya's point before I could process it.

If Adrien had temporarily forgotten that the lines were just for the film, but still looked disappointed for the role of Zachary, wouldn't that mean that he was disappointed that I hadn't ever fallen in love? But why would it matter to him whether I had fallen in love with anyone or not?

Unless maybe he was hoping I had fallen in love already? If so, with who and why? Did he really consider himself such a good friend to me that he wanted to know if I had fallen in love yet? But why would he be disappointed if I hadn't? Shouldn't he just be happy to know whether or not I'd fallen for anyone?

What if he was disappointed for the same reason that Zachary was disappointed in the film? Alya had told me a while ago that Zachary would be disappointed at this point because it would suggest that he had been hoping Marilee might have fallen for him, but then decided not to write in that small detail and instead maybe hint at it in later scenes.

But that means that Adrien's hoping that I fall for him!

"No way." I told myself quickly and shook my head as I waved my arms in attempt to forget the thought. Adrien is just a good actor and thought that if he looked disappointed it was because he wanted to add a little something to the movie. It wouldn't have been the first time he improvised, and I was sure it wouldn't be the last.

I need to stop thinking about the possibility of Adrien thinking of me as something more than a friend because I would only disappoint myself further when I face reality. He and I are just friends, and even if it takes a while to move on, I will do it because I want our friendship to last as long as possible.