Set at Troublemaker. Story corrected by sdd-writes-things.
Adrien tried to ignore what Plagg was saying. So what if the show wasn't particularly interesting? It was shot in Marinette's house and that made it far more special than most of the shows. She had specifically asked him to see it and she never asked for anything, so she must have been very excited.
He was glad he was watching when the Jagged called her and she joined them, seemed very shy. She was so cute!
He chuckled when she took down the pot in Jagged. It was so typically of her. And he was relieved that the singer took it so well, choosing to have fun with it instead of screaming with her in national television. She would be devasted if that happened and Adrien didn't want that.
His interest was lost with the commercials, only backing when he heard Jagged's voice saying there was more photos of some boy than him. Adrien got curious, wondering whom it was that got Marinette so passionate about and why he never saw it there the times he went to her place.
He was not prepared to what he saw. He was in shock. He couldn't believe what the TV was showing. Marinette's room had many photographs of him. He imagined that every one of them was taken from magazines, even if he didn't remember some.
He wonders why there were there. He knew that could be a couple of reasons. Number one: she had a crush on him, like Jagged was saying, which was ridiculous. Marinette was different from those girls who daydreamed about him even if didn't actually knew anything about him, she wouldn't have fallen for just his pretty face, he was sure. Besides, she had never tried to be more than a friend for him. Number two: Marinette had photos of the designer Gabriel made. She was a fan of the fashion world, after all, and Adrien was the main model for his collections. It could be a coincide that he happened to be in those photos and Jagged got it all wrong. It was most likely. Number three: She couple be fan of photographer that took these, if they were from the same person, though it wouldn't explain why there was only photos of him.
He was still processing it all while he watched the show. There were no mistakes that it was him hanging in her walls, especially with the zoom the camera made. He saw as Marinette expulsed everyone, clearly unhappy that they went to her room to film.
When he realized that was happening an Akuma attack, he immediately run to there, as Chat Noir. His mind was focused only on one thing: Marinette was there. She couldn't get hurt. He couldn't let this happen
He tried to keep calm, playing cool, when he couldn't open the fucking door to save his friend. Inside he was screaming, feeling useless. He was very relived when he saw Ladybug, knowing that she would help him. She would save Marinette, as they always did.
He was right, of course. They did a great job defeating the akumatized Penny. He even felt calm enough to flirt with Ladybug after.
Only when he returned to home, he had time to think about what the poster meant. The reasons that he had thought before crossed his mind. He didn't know which one he believed more. None of them made much sense to him, but he couldn't think of nothing else.
Being a model, he got used to people using his image in plenty of places. Yet the idea of Marinette leaving a photo of him in her wall made he have a funny feeling. It felt so more personal than when an unknown fan did that. He realized, surprised, that a big part of him liked that she had something that would make her remember of him daily.
He just thought it was strange that the photos weren't there when he visited her. She should have hidden it. But why? Was she ashamed of it? He would never made fun of her for it or anything like it.
Frustrated, he was still thinking about it when he went to sleep, and he promised himself that he would reached out to her in the next day. She couldn't keeping fear him.
This goal was made so much easier when he saw her sneaking around, trying to go to her locker unnoticed. She screamed when he said hello and he suspicious were confirmed. She was afraid of his reaction.
He tried to explain to her there was no big deal, but she was so nervous that keeping talking over him. Marinette confirmed that she had the photos because of her passion of the fashion-world.
In that moment, he couldn't stop himself and provoked her. It was hilarious to see her trying not to give him the wrong idea and at the same time shut down the idea that she liked him.
He hadn't intended to get so close to her, and just noted what he had done when her hand pushed him, to create a distance between them. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to mind it, though. She had seemed very nervous when told him that she wasn't interested in him at all.
Marinette only relaxed when he said that was only kidding. He couldn't resist but put an arm around her shoulder, in a comforting manner, when tried to explain that he was already use to it.
Her laugh was beautiful, he thought. She managed to get her nervous under control enough that made a joke. Feeling that she was okay, he got the arm away from her. He didn't expect to miss the contact so much.
He used the rare opportunity that was they talking calming without anyone seeing to do something he was longing to do for a while. He invited her to his photoshoot.
He admitted to her that it could be a bit boring. But he was still hoping that she would come any way. He knew that if she did, things would be far more interesting. He was so happy when she accepted.
Adrien didn't know why he felt the urgent need to tell her how much she meant to him. Maybe that was the way she was looking so adorable or how much fun he always had whenever they were together. But he stopped and said he was glad to have her as friend.
Only a strange thing happened. Over the day, he kept thinking about what he said, and the word friend didn't seem right. Marinette was so much more than that. She was someone he felt curious about, someone he wanted to spend more time with. She amazed him even by the smallest actions and reactions.
Startled, he realized he wanted Marinette to have a crush on him. To be completely honest, he was disappointed that she didn't like him. He wanted her to like him… because maybe, deep down, he had developed a bit of crush on her.
Right, wasn't the same then the stunning feeling he had whenever he was next to Ladybug, but it was still much to calm simply friendship. He wants to kiss her, even though he knew he never will. She didn't see him as nothing more than a friend, she had said herself, and it would bring no good to mess with friendship. No, Adrien would ignore these feelings and one day they would go away, he hoped.