Marinette sat in a cafe with Alya. She picked at her salad with her fork.
"You did what last night?" Alya's fork fell to her plate with a loud sound.
Marinette blushed and didn't look her in the eyes.
"Girl, you just need to pick one of them." Alya sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"I can't. It's not that easy. They both have qualities I admire. They're both super sweet… both of them are so talented… not in that way. I see you." Marinette giggled and pointed at her smirking best friend. "I just can't decide who I like better."
"Look, why don't you date one at a time. Stop having them over together." Alya picked her fork up again.
Marinette worried her bottom lip. "Is it bad… if I kind of like watching them fight over me?" She shyly tapped her bottom lip.
"Woman, it's not fair for them." Alya shook her head. "You have to pick one."
Marinette groaned and took a bite of her food again.
"But… it sounds fun, to be honest." Alya smiled at her.
Marinette's eyes went wide. "Alya!"
"What? I wouldn't mind being between the two. Although… Nino is still my first choice. You know that." Alya smirked at her and ate some of her food. "It's weird. I can't picture Adrien doing that."
"That's because you don't know his other side." Marinette whispered under her breath with crossed arms.
"What did you say? You mumbled." Alya giggled at her.
"I said… well you never know someone until you know them on a personal level." Marinette spoke with a clenched teeth smile.
"Uh...huh. Right. Anyway, Nino is going to be DJing at this club tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to go." Alya poked at her food with her fork, aimlessly.
"I would love to. I could use the break from my clothing shop anyway." Marinette sighed.
"How is that going by the way?" Alya moved some of her food around her plate.
"It's going good. I'm getting several commissions a week on my online shop." Marinette smiled with closed eyes. "Plus, Gabriel Agreste has agreed to showcase some in his fashion show coming up."
"Wow! That's awesome, girl! Did Adrien help set that up?" Alya lowered her eyelids and peered through her lashes.
"No." Marinette giggled and shoved her friend's shoulder. "He discovered my shop and had his assistant contact me."
"That's crazy! I'm happy for you. That's what you've always wanted, isn't it?" Alya poked Marinette's upper arm.
Marinette nodded. "It was always my dream to work under Gabriel Agreste and... to own my own brand, of course."
Alya smiled warmly at her. "Sounds like you're headed in the right direction. Hey, speaking of Agreste…" She leaned on her elbows on the table.
"Yes?" Marinette cringed slightly.
"He's gonna be there tonight. At the club." Alya smirked darkly at her.
"What?!" Marinette jumped in her seat.
"Don't be shocked. Nino's his best friend. His father's more lenient now that we're in our late twenties. You know this." Alya laughed and leaned back in her chair.
"T-true." Marinette blushed and put a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.
"You had all that fun last night and THIS is what makes you blush?" Alya laughed harder at her best friend.
"I- I have no excuse." She slumped her shoulders with a heavy sigh.
"You got it bad for Adrien, still. Admit it. Why don't you just pick him?" Alya spoke with her hand.
"Because Luka is so…" Marinette couldn't come up with the words for him.
"Smooth, zen, a rock God, beautiful…" Alya started naming random adjectives.
"All of the above…" Marinette dreamily sighed.
"You realize that you used to do the same thing when I'd describe Adrien?" Alya pointed out unamused. "Date them. Tonight… pay extra close attention to Adrien. Alright? Do me that favor."
"I'll try." Marinette sighed and picked her fork back up to resume eating.
"You're gonna have the time of your life. Although, I don't know if it will beat the fun you had last night." Alya giggled and took a sip of her drink. "I'm still jealous that I wasn't invited to that."
"Alya!" Marinette hid behind her hand with rosy cheeks.
"What?" Alya shrugged with a smile. "We'll pick you up tonight. Nino agreed to be the designated driver."
Marinette nodded. "Will Adrien be in the car?"
"Of course. He wanted to drink too." Alya rolled her eyes. "You think he'd pass up a free ride?"
Marinette giggled and covered her mouth. "I'm excited."
"Now, you just need an outfit." Alya smiled at her.
"I have the perfect one laying around at home." Marinette smiled and thought about a red dress she had made a few months ago.
She had never had the chance to wear it. It wasn't the typical dress to wear out into public. Marinette worried her bottom lip at the thought of wearing it.
The bill came around to their table and Alya snatched it up, before Marinette could reach it.
"I'll pay. You just focus on tonight and handling Adrien and Luka. I have a feeling you're gonna break someone's heart." Alya slipped her card into the slot.
Marinette nodded. "I'm not excited about that. That's part of what makes it so hard… I don't want to hurt anyone."
"You're gonna have to do it." Alya sid her card back in her wallet when it came back to the table.
"I know…" Marinette sighed. She grabbed her purse as did Alya and they made their way out of the cafe.
"I'll see you tonight." Alya waved good-bye to her and got into her orange Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross SUV.
"See you tonight." Marinette walked to her pink Honda Civic.
Adrien posed with his hand in one pocket and his foot turned out. He peered through his blonde bangs with smoldering peridot eyes.
"That's right. Give me the look of desire. Like a woman is undressing before you." Vincent winded around him and took photos from all angles.
"Pfft. Easy." Adrien spoke under his breath and licked his lips and drug a thumb along his bottom lip, tugging down slightly at the edge of his puffy lip.
"Yes! Yes…" Vincent shouted triumphantly and snapped more photos.
"How many more of these do we have?" Adrien stood up straight when Vincent stopped taking photos to switch out the memory card.
"About three more outfits." Vincent spoke and slid a new card in. "Speaking of which. Wardrobe!" He called out and raised a hand.
A man came in and whisked a very exhausted Adrien away to change clothes. He was used to this by now, but it was still exhausting and annoying.
A stylist flew around him at a million miles a second and Adrien coopperated, as clothing slid off and onto his body.
He walked out to Vincent again. "I have plans tonight. So, let's hurry this up."
"Sounds good to me." Vincent held his camera up to his face.
Marinette ran around her bedroom, looking through her creations to find the red dress. She finally saw red satin peeking through a pile of discarded clothing.
"Found it!" She held it up in front of her in the full length mirror. "It's just as awkward as I remembered it."
"What is?" Tikki zipped out from her hiding spot.
Tikki looked the dress over. "Don't tell me you're wearing that out tonight."
"What's wrong with it?" Marinette turned to face her, clutching the little dress to her chest.
"Nothing, if you want all the attention in the club." Tikki giggled.
"Just one, Tikki." Marinette sighed dreamily.
"I think you already have his attention." Tikki giggled at her. "From the sounds last night."
"Tikki!" Marinette scolded her kwami.
"I mean… Chat Noir was enough when he used to stop by." Tikki rolled her eyes and took a bite of a pink macaroon.
"Us..ed to?" Marinette giggled with a dark smile.
Tikki rolled her eyes. "When he stops by. Oye. You need to pick one, Mari. Adrien is practically two people as it is."
Marinette groaned and fell onto her bed with the red dress in her lap. "It's just so hard to choose."
Tikki zipped up to her and rubbed her cheek against Marinette's. "You save the world on a regular basis… you'll decide eventually. Just… don't let that silly cat wait too long."
"I know." She groaned and laid down on her back with her arm over her eyes.
Her doorbell rang and she sat up quickly. "It's already time to go?"
Tikki flew over to her cat themed clock and nodded.
"Shit." Marinette quickly threw on the red dress, black heels, and smokey eyeshadow with winged liner. She quickly threw her hair up into a messy updo and stumbled to the front door.
She opened it to reveal Alya, Nino, and Adrien. Adrien's mouth fell open at the sight of her.
She peered past everyone and caught Adrien's blunt stare. His eyes scanned down her body and back up and he licked his lips.
Marinette smirked. I knew this was the right dress.
"Are you ready, Mari?" Alya smiled and Marinette scrambled to get her purse and keys.
She walked out the door with them and shut and locked her apartment. Alya and Nino walked in front of her and Adrien. His eyes scanned the open back of her dress. How it showed her perfectly toned shoulders and his gaze followed the line of her back and how it dipped down below the draped fabric right above her rounded ass.
He placed a hand on her lower back and leaned into her ear. "I don't know whether to take you without mercy or worship at your feet and do exactly what you tell me to." His voice came out deeper than his usual canter and it went straight to where her thighs met.
Marinette about tripped and fell, but he caught her with a chuckle, before she could face plant. She brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. "Behave, Chaton."
"It's gonna be hard when you're wearing such a beautiful dress." Adrien whispered into her ear, before he flicked her earlobe with the tip of his warm tongue. "All I wanna do is watch it slowly fall down your body and onto the floor at your feet."
Marinette shivered and made sure their friend's weren't paying attention. She bit her bottom lip and tried to focus on walking and not tripping on everything on the planet. His voice caressing her ear was too much. He was intoxicating and his warm citrus cologne wasn't helping. It was like a citrus fruit mixed with something dark and rich like cinnamon. Her thighs brushed against each other in the elevator. Adrien and her stood against the back wall, as it went down to the parking garage. He stood close to her side and slid his hand up her thigh and beneath her dress.
He leaned down to speak into her ear. "Are you wearing anything?"
Marinette swatted his hand away. "That's for me to know and for a certain someone… to find out later." She smirked at him and his mouth fell open before he did a short laugh with a dark smirk.
Alya looked over her shoulder with a knowing smile and Marinette gave her a horrified expression. She blushed and slapped her forehead with her palm. She could see Nino fidgeting in front of them.
"Tell me I didn't say that out loud for everyone to hear…" Marinette groaned with her hand covering her eyes.
Adrien shrugged. "You did say that a bit loud, Mari."
Marinette groaned and wanted the floor to open up and swallow her.