A/N: I said I would update Fated to Destruction first, dammit. And then Friendly Competition that is in dire need of an update. But then this happened :/

Also, on Google I saw pictures of bars in France, and most of them didn't have little alleyways between the building and the next. In this story, there will be. I know it's a small detail, but I felt I should mention it.

Chapter 7

Adrien smiled invitingly at the unsuspecting victim. The poor girl thought he was interested in more than just her life-giving blood. She actually thought that he considered going back to her place so that they could participate in sexual activities together.

If he wasn't craving for blood as strongly as he was now, he might've felt bad. Instead, he was just concentrating on when the time would be right to ask her to leave with him.

As she complained about how her coffee was made wrong that morning and how she screamed at the 'stupid worker' for it, Adrien inhaled her scent.

O positive...the most common blood type. Because so many people had it, Adrien really didn't have a taste for it anymore. It tasted rather bland when passing over his tongue and going down his throat. But it would have to do for tonight.

It smelled nothing like Marinette's AB negative, which was the most rare of all blood types. That, combined with her being his Loved One, made her blood all too sweet to his nose. Just the thought of it made his fangs sore.

He remembered the first night he secretly visited her, how hard it was to not tip her head back and plunge his teeth in her neck and have the most delicious meal of his life. But with each visit he built up a tolerance to it, so that he could repress his urges fairly easily when seeing her.

He slightly shook his head to dispel the fantasy of him taking almost exactly what he wanted. If he kept up with thoughts like that, he'd end up leaving the bar and run to Marinette's to accomplish what his mind had imagined.

He needed to quench his thirst before he lost control.

The blond leaned in closer, giving her a devilish smirk and lowering his voice when he spoke.

"What do you say we get out of here, hm?" he murmured, ghosting a fingertip around the back of her hand that lay on the table.

She (he thought her name to be Roxane) blinked, seemingly surprised, but recovered quickly with an easy grin.

"Sure thing, handsome," she purred before grabbing her purse and hopping off the barstool. She made sure to swing her hips just right to catch the male's attention, yet Adrien kept his gaze glued to her face. He refused his eyes to explore any other part of her body, not that he had any desire to.

Although, he couldn't help but wonder how Marinette would look wearing the dress 'Roxane' had on: tight, short, and red. He knew she could look good in any color, but with red he felt her dark hair and fair eyes would stand out even more. And if she gave him such a coquettish grin, and walked so that she beckoned him closer with each step taken-

He clenched a fist and willed the mental image away. Now wasn't the type for fantasy-world, he needed to finally feed. He cast a glance back to Nino, silently telling him that he'll be back in a few minutes. The werewolf nodded in understanding before Adrien turned and followed after his victim.

She was waiting outside on the front stoop leading into the bar. At the sound of his approach she turned and smiled at him, her eyes glazed from the alcohol she had consumed. Adrien acted as if nothing was wrong and held out his arm like a gentleman, but not before giving her a leering grin. He still had to act that he was interested in her.

"My home's that way," she slightly slurred, pointing down the street. The vampire nodded and together they started down. But as soon as they came to the little space between the bar and the next building, he quickly pulled her inside and held her against the wall.

She looked shocked only for a moment, her mouth hung open as she stared at him in bewilderment, but she adopted a coy smile and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Eager are we, handsome?"

He forced a small smirk to play about his lips. "Very. I just couldn't hold myself back any longer."

With that said he dips his head close to her neck, her vein seeming to call out for him to pierce. He hears her breath hitch, and he immediately can tell she's expecting something far different than getting her blood sucked.

He opens his mouth, lets his canines extend, and sinks them into her neck.

At first she hisses in pain and squeezes his shoulders, but her grunts of agony very soon turn into gasps of pleasure, courtesy of the aphrodisiac chemical that Adrien injected her with through his bite.

He moaned himself, though it wasn't in the type of pleasure she was feeling. In his starved state, her blood had never tasted better, even if it was the most common blood type in the world.

With each drop of blood swallowed he felt his strength return anew. He gripped her hands tighter as they were pressed to the wall in front of him, wanting to keep her there so he could finish his meal.

What the vampire failed to register in his euphoria was how Roxane's body seemed to slacken, how her breaths came out just a bit slower, how her head briefly lolled down before gradually raising again.

"Adrien!"

At the sound of his friend's voice, Adrien's eyes snapped wide open. The sudden appearance was enough to shock him out of his feeding, his fangs popping out of her neck as he stood above her, looking at Nino as if he forgot that he was even here at all.

Honestly, he had.

Nino frowned, and by the way his voice slightly shook, he was pretty scared. "Dude, you're gonna kill her! You've had enough, let's go home."

The blond stilled, and he knew if his heart was beating, it would've stopped in fear.

Slowly, he turned to observe the girl.

By now she had passed out and was only being supported by his hold on her arms. The side of the neck that he drank from had two puncture wounds in it with blood still streaming out of them. Her skin was a shade too pale for normalcy.

He grimaced at her state. He almost killed her. He almost killed someone. He's never killed anyone, ever.

He gently eased her back down to the ground before facing Nino again. He bit his lip and raised a hand to the back of his neck, shamed green eyes failing to meet nervous hazel ones.

"I-I didn't mean to. I mean, I did, but I didn't plan on losing control like that," the blond stammered.

"I know," Nino breathed in relief. "You threw up most of the blood you had, you were practically starving. I know control would've been hard, that's why I came to check on you."

While Nino's words were meant to be comforting, Adrien felt anything but. He thought he held some of the greatest control compared to all other vampires, but with just one bout of thirst, it was reduced to nothing.

Maybe he really was a monster.

"Hey, hey," Nino interrupted sternly, walking closer to put his hands on the vampire's shoulders. "I know what you're thinking. You're not a monster or whatever, you're Adrien Agreste. Sure, you may be a vampire, but you're still human, with thoughts and feelings. So you lost a little control once, big deal!"

Adrien's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Yes it is a big deal, Nino. I lost control! I almost killed someone tonight! If a little thirst is all it takes, then I'm no better than the savage vampires that walk the streets at night."

"Don't start with that," Nino barked harshly. "You're not one of those savages, you actually try not to hurt people. And it wasn't just 'a little thirst', you were starved!" He sighed and pressed his thumb and index finger on his nose. "Look, we can talk later. Right now we got to get her home."

Adrien grudgingly agreed. He picked up the discarded purse from the ground and rifled through it, intent on finding a wallet. Once found it he picked out her ID that confirmed her address.

Luckily, she only lived about 10 minutes away.

He bent down to pick up Roxane. As he shifted her in his arms, Nino took the chance to look at the card for its address too.

"Let's get going," Nino spoke after seeing where she lived. "I'm tired."

Although vampires hardly needed sleep, Adrien felt exhausted as well as the night's events finally caught up with him. The two men stepped out of the alley and after checking for any possible people, broke into sprints toward the girl's address.

...

It wasn't all that hard to get into Roxane's apartment. She kept her key in her purse and there was a staircase around the back of the building to get to her room. After depositing her on her bed, Adrien and Nino left the way they came and ran out of town and back to the safety of the woods.

Once deep enough in the forest, the pair chose to walk at a leisurely pace in order to relax and talk. Nino kept insisting to Adrien that he wasn't a monster, that this one time was simply a mistake. The blond only agreed with him to make him happy, since the guilt still didn't eleviate from his heart.

He just wanted to change the subject, but how? He thought for a few moments until his earlier conversation with Marinette passed through his mind, along with a promise he made to himself.

"Hey," Adrien spoke, cracking a grin. "So, you met Marinette's best friend Alya today, right? What was she like?"

Nino arched a questioning brow. "Why do you want to know?"

He shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "No reason, really. Just curious, since she's my Loved One's best friend, and my best friend became friends with her."

Nino placed a hand on his heart and gave the Prince a mushy, starry-eyed look. "Aw, dude, you consider me your best friend? I'm so touched!"

Adrien grinned and rolled his eyes while shaking his head. Nino laughed at his reaction, dropping the facade.

"But seriously, what do you think of Alya?" the blond inquired, still trying to not arouse suspicion. If Nino knew what he and Marinette were thinking, the music lover would probably abandon any possible thoughts to having feelings for Alya. Adrien knew his friend would get flustered, deny anything that could happen, and avoid the girl like the Plague.

He had to tread lightly.

Meanwhile, Nino shrugged. "She seems pretty cool. She has a good taste in music..." he trailed off, indicating to Adrien that there was more to his answer yet Nino wasn't willing to disclose any more details.

"What does she look like?"

Plagg chose that moment to poke his head out from Adrien's collar. "Quit while you're ahead, kid," the kwami hissed.

Adrien let out a strangled grunt to usher Plagg to shut up and get back inside his shirt. The kwami rolled his eyes but complied with his Holder's wishes.

Nino turned back to look at Adrien, who had fallen a little behind in his distraction. His hazel eyes were narrowed in questioning. "Why do you want to know what she looks like? Aren't you just interested in Marinette?"

Green eyes enlarged in surprise, with a small bit of offense. How could Nino suggest that he was interested in another girl? Okay, he conceded that his question could be taken like that, but wasn't he obvious enough in his devotion to Marinette?

"No, I don't like her," he quickly answered, wanting to get that idea out the window. "I was just wondering...for...ah-"

How was he going to get out of this one?

Nino gave him a long, hard look, until finally the pieces seemed to click together. As the werewolf's eyebrows shot up, the vampire grimaced at being caught.

"Dude, I-I don't like Alya! I mean, yeah, she's pretty, but I've only known her for like one day!" His cheeks tinted pink. "D-Don't suggest things like that! Get it out of your head."

Adrien merely blinked, stupefied at how Nino effortlessly confirmed what the vampire had been wondering in one, flustered answer. He may not have truly liked her, given he's only known the girl for a day, but now that the seed of interest has been planted in his mind...

The Prince smirked, casting his friend a knowing look as he passed him.

"Alright, man. Whatever you say. Just don't go making catcalls now, because that's my thing."

"Dude!"

...

The next day at school, Marinette could immediately tell that something was wrong with Nino. He looked relaxed, the same behavior he displayed the day before, but it ended when she and Alya had said good morning to him.

He was fine when greeting her, but he couldn't even meet Alya's eyes for some reason. It was like he was afraid of her, or something. When Alya was about to open her mouth and question him about it, he shook his head and retreated to his seat.

Weird.

And disappointing. She was hoping that Nino and Alya would become a thing, but with the boy tensing and refusing to meet her gaze, it was obvious it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

What else was weird and disappointing? The project Madame Bustier had just assigned: to make a presentation on a symbolic theme in the story they were currently reading. The entire class groaned at this new dent in their personal lives, yet their teacher took the annoyance in stride and passed out the rubrics with a smile.

When Marinette received hers, she noticed that it was due in two weeks. They were also allowed to pick project partners, a detail that had the ravenette grinning slyly at Alya, to which she replied with a snicker and a fist bump.

The aspiring designer's eyes flickered down to Nino, who didn't look like he had a partner.

She smiled when an idea came to her, something that could maybe make her one true pairing canon!

"Nino!"

At the sound of his name, the boy turned and smiled. "What's up, Marinette?"

"It looks like you don't have a partner, want to join me and Alya?" she suggested, trying to not sound like she had an ulterior motive for inviting him to their group.

Nino frowned, as his gaze settled on Alya, whose own eyes were glued to her phone.

His eyebrows furrowed as he nodded determinedly. "Sure, I'll be in your group."

"Awesome!"

Internally, Marinette squealed. This was just one step in the right direction for Nialya...or, Alno? Nalya?

She could figure out a name later.

A/N: Uh oh, Marinette's plotting! Should she play Kiss the Girl, or Can You Feel the Love Tonight? ;)

*Based on some reviews, I felt I should clarify. This was just a joke, Marinette's not going to play either lol

Next to be updated will either be Fated to Destruction or Friendly Competition.

You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it.

Believe me.