Hey guys sorry about the wait! I have a convention I'm going to in less than 2 weeks and my costume doesn't exist yet so... yeah. ANYWAYS! Here is the chapter and I want to thank all my reviewers! So thank you to everyone for your support and kind words! And:
ailey. elliott .7: Chloe won't be seeing the photos in this chapter but she will in the next! (FanFiction hates your name cause they think its a web address. sorry for the spaces)
Loplover: He might listen to Plagg, he might not, you'll find out soon! I plan for it to be Adrienette smut, but I want to explore all of the love square first. Cause we all know how annoyed Marinette/Ladybug can get with Cat Noir and I like that dynamic. :D
Thank you guys so much, and as always I own nothing but I think I like it that way.
Plagg's words kept repeating in his mind over and over again. 'Kiss the girl' he said, but he loved his lady and actually kissing Marinette would be betraying Ladybug and his feelings for her. His eyes shifted over to Marinette, she sat with her hands folded in her lap and her gaze turned out the window. How did she manage to make him act so strangely? She was his classmate, and sure he was flattered that she liked him, but he loved Ladybug. Things were getting confusing.
As the Gorilla pulled up to the Agreste manor, Adrien realized that not only would he have to talk to Nathalie about Marinette being there, but no doubt word would get to his father about this. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, convincing them to let him out of the manor was hard enough, how would he convince them to let someone into the manor, someone of the opposite gender not on business? Once the car was at a full stop he held the door open for Marinette. He watched as she unfolded herself from the vehicle with a grace he never noticed. He began to wonder what else he never noticed about the girl.
Her reaction to his room was as he suspected, shock and awe. "Make yourself at home, I'm just going to wash my face," he jabbed his thumb at the door leading to his washroom. Her headed nodded up and down with a jerk, her face slowly turning from pink to crimson. Laughing at her reaction he shut himself into his washroom. "Plagg, why did you have to say that?" he groaned quietly while turning the water on.
"Because one of the easiest ways to tell how you feel about someone is by kissing them. Plus if she really does like you, which I'm pretty sure she does, she won't care about a kiss or two," Plagg zipped out of his bag and floated through the air on his back.
"If she does like me, wont she be more devastated if I just say, 'Hey, remember that time we kissed? It didn't mean much to me, I love someone else.' I don't want to be the reason Marinette becomes Akumatized," splashing water on his face he grimaced, he honestly didn't want to hurt Marinette's feelings.
"I think you don't have faith in how strong Marinette really is. How many times has ChloƩ tried to make Marinette miserable? How many times has she succeeded? The numbers are clearly stacked in favor of Marinette being fine," the little kwami floated down to rest on the counter.
Grabbing a towel and drying his face he sighed, "I'm not taking that chance Plagg." Exiting the bathroom his heart stopped, where was Marinette? His head whipped around looking and searching for the girl. His bed was empty, his desk was empty, she wasn't on the couch, not by the skate ramp or basketball hoop. His eyes drifted to the stairs leading up to his 'personal' book collection. He quickly went up the stairs two at a time, at the landing he sighed, there she was, looking at the spines of the many books. He watched as occasionally her finger would brush a title on the spine of a book before moving on, "Do you want to borrow some?" Even to his ears it sounded like a different Adrien had spoken and taken over his body.
She shook her head, "No I was just admiring them all, there's a lot here." She smiled at him, he also enjoyed the fact that she found it easier to talk to him when it was just the two of them.
"Did you want to play something or watch anything?" he motioned to the entertainment system in front of his couch.
"You. I mean, whatever you want to do," her nervous giggle filled the air.
He also laughed slightly, "Alright but if I put on a horror movie, you can't tell me you're too scared to watch it." Her face turned bright pink and she nodded. Making his way down the stairs he listened to see if Marinette was following, he couldn't hear her so he wondered if she was light on her feet. Flopping down on his couch he finally felt like he could relax, the shifting of the weight on the couch told him Marinette had followed and was sitting with him. Leaning forward to grab the remote he was suddenly aware of the fact that he had a girl in his room, he could almost feel the sweat forming on his palms. Swallowing the lump in his throat he turned the system on, flipping through the channels got them nowhere so he decided to see what movies were available to watch. Flipping through the channels he would occasionally glance over at Marinette, she was fidgeting and would look everywhere but at him. He smiled, he didn't want to make her super nervous, but she was being super cute about it. He quickly selected a horror movie like he said, because he wanted to see if she would get scared or if she would laugh. Even though he fought the Akuma and Hawkmoth regularly, sometimes scary movies would get a jump out of him, but nothing would ever be as scary as knowing his lady could be hurt.
As the movie progressed he watched as her eyes would get wide as saucers, then turn into little slits as she winced, she had only jumped once and he was a little sad that she didn't try to get closer to him for comfort. Near the end of the film she jumped and grabbed his hand, this time he felt his face flush. He looked at her, but she wasn't aware of what she had done, her eyes were glued to the screen, wide with fear. Her hand was warm on his, and he didn't dislike the feeling of her soft skin against his. Her fingers were curled around his and without thinking he curled his fingers around the tips of hers, brushing his thumb along her knuckles. Her hand jerked away from his and he looked from where their hands were connected to big round blue eyes. After looking into those large eyes he realized what he had done. He mentally groaned before looking back to the girl, "I was just trying to reassure you everything is okay." She nodded dumbly before shifting her gaze back to the movie. He mentally slapped himself, holding another girl's hand? Really Agreste? Get a hold of yourself, you are in love with Ladybug. Right?
Nathalie was either a saving grace or the bearer of the worst news in the universe, he could never tell with her stoic appearance, but he was glad to hear her knock on his door. He let Marinette know he was just going to be a moment and that if she wanted to watch something else, or play any games she was free to do so. Retreating away from the couch towards his door, a chill ran down his spine. This wasn't going to be about eating arrangements, was it? He opened his door and watched the older woman adjust her glasses, "Your father wants to speak to you."
It felt like he was just dropped off the top of the Eiffel tower. "Alright, thanks Nathalie," he felt nervous leaving Marinette in his room by herself, but not as nervous as seeing his father made him feel. The trip down the stairs to his father's office never felt longer, the knock on his door never seemed this loud, and the wait for his father's voice to call him in never seemed to take this long. Once he was in the office he flinched, it was much cooler, and against his hot skin it felt like lightning. "You wanted to see me father?" he hoped he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.
The chair behind the desk swiveled around to face him and his father's face was a stony mask, it was always hard to read the man. The tablet his father usually carried around with his schedule and designs slid across the desk, drawing Adrien's eyes from his father's face to the object on the table. A familiar shape with midnight colored hair was laying against him, "And what is the meaning of this Adrien?" his father's voice was cold as ice, making him shrink back slightly.
"It was Vincent's idea."
"Yes but why?" his father would not let him ramble even if he wanted to.
Adrien thought about it for a moment, he wasn't sure why Vincent got Marinette to model with him. "It might have to do with one of the first images he took, I think," Adrien shifted his weight slightly from one leg to the other. He wasn't sure he was allowed to sit, since he wasn't sure if he was in trouble or not.
"This one?" a slender finger swiped across the screen and an image of himself stared back at him. Now when he usually modeled, sexy and seductive weren't something he could pull off, but those green eyes looking at him from the screen seemed darker than usual, more adult. He suddenly realized even though he was waving it seemed more like he was beckoning the person he was looking at to come to him.
Adrien looked from the image to his father, "I believe so yes." He could hardly tell that he was the same person as the one in the photo, it felt surreal.
"What is that girl to you?" those ice cold words pierced his mind. He didn't even know, how would he answer his father?
Taking a deep breath, he decided it would be best to just tell him what he did know, "She's one of my classmates. I'm not sure how I feel about her." Not quite what he wanted to say but it would do.
His father was quiet for a moment, "She's here right now?"
Adrien felt his pulse race, Nathalie never told his father Marinette was coming? He was dead, super dead. If he was still allowed to go to school after this he would be happy. His head jerked up and down, "She is, she's in my room."
An unusual sound came out of his father's throat, he wasn't quite sure what it was, but it wasn't normal. "A little fast if you don't know how you feel about her," Adrien's mouth dropped open. "If we release these images a lot of people are going to want her head. You've always turned down modeling with others your age, and the one time you modeled with someone they were a small child in the park. Are you ready to protect her even if she is only a friend? The only other thing we could do is hire her as a model, that way they will only send her hate mail, instead of approaching her physically," Gabriel's voice didn't seem nearly as cold as it did a moment to ago.
Adrien couldn't make that decision for Marinette, "I don't mind if you release the images, but Marinette will have to decide if she wants to model again."
"Marinette? Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The girl currently participating in my contest?" this time a little bit of shock seeped through his father's icy demeanor.
"Yes, did I not mention that?"
"We won't be able to use these without editing them. Next time try not to involve any of my participants in any of your antics," this time it was clearly anger.
Adrien got mad, "I didn't want to involve her, Vincent did. Why is that such a bad thing?"
"If Ms. Dupain-Cheng happens to win the competition, it will look like we were giving her preferential treatment. That is unacceptable."
Suddenly it made sense, if those photos with Marinette were published and she then won his father's competition it would look bad. On all of them. He didn't want to do that to Marinette, "Alright. Sorry father. It won't happen again." With a wave of his father's hand he retreated from the cold office. Sure he was mad at the situation but he could understand why his father got angry. Without thinking he slammed his door a little harder than he meant to. A little squeak came from the couch, and his eyes widened, "Sorry Marinette, I forgot you were here."
Marinette looked over the side of his couch, he was guessing she was lounging on it, "It's fine, is everything alright?" His eyes felt like they would fall out of his head if they got any wider. She knew he went to see his father but instead of calling attention to that fact she wanted him to answer how he felt most comfortable. She was too sweet.
"Yeah, just some issues with some pictures taken earlier," he wasn't going to let her know she was why his father was being such a pain. He walked over to the couch to see what the girl was doing, when he got to the other side where he could see her she shrank into the furniture as best she could. She was laying down using one of the armrests as a pillow and her knees were slightly bent with her feet resting on the other armrest. The book she had in her hands was pressed to her face, clearly she was embarrassed by making herself at home. "That looks comfortable, mind if I join you?" he knew what he said sounded highly suggestive. Wide scared eyes looked at him from the top of the book, he could only laugh. He lifted her legs which earned him another adorable squeak, and sat on the couch letting her legs rest across his lap. He let his head roll back against the edge of the couch, letting out a huge sigh.
"Are you sure you're okay?" her soft voice caused him to look at her. Her blue eyes seemed so warm and full of concern, not like his lady's, they were focused on everything but him.
"I'm," he paused for a moment, if he told her what happened that would mean letting Adrien open up, but Cat Noir was his way of letting go, "fine."
She nodded, before closing the book she had open in her chest, "So what are we doing for dinner?"
He was thankful she was such a mindful girl, "Well, I'm not sure, whatever my personal chefs make I guess."
"You have personal chefs? That's cool."
"I guess, but the food they make isn't nearly as good as your parents," he smiled up at the ceiling.
"I don't think the food they make is better," her voice trailed off and he looked at her. She was looking out the window but not at anything, her eyes were slightly glazed, "It's the environment you're eating the food in. Since my house is small and my parents are very warm and welcoming their food is warm and welcoming, and eating in a small space makes it more intimate."
He nodded, "You might be right, but it still tastes like their food is better to me," he smiled at Marinette.
She smiled back at him, he was relieved that she wasn't upset, he wasn't sure what she would be upset about but he was happy that she was happy. A knock on his door and Nathalie's voice came through the door telling them dinner would be served in just a moment. They looked at each other and laughed, getting up in a tangle of arms and legs. They clearly weren't used to sharing their personal space with anyone so it was a heartwarming experience for him.
Dinner was eaten in absolute silence, sure Marinette and Adrien were sitting beside each other, but the dining hall was so empty the teens felt like their voices would echo if they spoke at all. The food was as bad and boring as he remembered it, but it didn't seem to taste as bad with someone else sitting at the table. It was some kind of chicken and pasta dish, with so many noodles there was no way he was going to remember them all. Hell, there are even different types of ravioli depending on the size and shape. Italian food names might be something he would never remember. Once they were finished eating Marinette was ushered off by Nathalie and he was to go to his room and do his homework, he wasn't grounded but if he didn't prove himself at school his dad would roast him over an open flame for sure.
Once his door was shut he immediately looked for the kwami, he wasn't in his bed, or on the couch, but the book Marinette had been reading was sitting on the armrest. Gingerly he lifted it and looked at the title, 'Le Langage des Fleurs', "The Language of Flowers?"
"Yeah certain humans gave meaning to all the things growing around them. But not all meanings are the same. For instance yellow roses can either mean friendship or jealousy," Plagg floated by with a piece of nasty Camembert cheese in his tiny paws.
"I wonder why she was reading this," he placed the book on his table. Turning to Plagg he felt a surge of confidence about talking to Marinette, "I want to see Marinette. So Plagg you know the drill," the tiny being sighed and before he could speak Adrien was talking over him, "Claws Out!"
Again he was out the window soaring through the cool night air. The familiar shape of the bakery approached, he landed on the roof and knocked on the trap door to Marinette's room. She opened the door with a glare, "Yes kitty?"
"Why nothing Puuuurincess, can't your favorite cat swing by?" he crouched down with a smile in his lips.
She rolled her eyes and retreated into her room, he took her silence as acceptance of his presence. He sat by the window and watched as she pinned pieces of fabric together, it was like she was making magic with just some cloth and her hands. "What's eating you today kitty? I had a very busy day, so if you don't mind I have to pin these before I sleep, at least," she didn't even stop to look at him.
He rested his elbow against his leg to lean his head on his hand. "Not a lot is eating me. I'm in a pretty good mood myself," he smiled his best for her, but she didn't even look at him.
"Then why are you here?" her chair wheels glided across the length of the floor in front of her desk. Opening a drawer she procured more pins for her designs.
"I just wanted to see my Purrrincess," the purr rolled of his tongue without him even having to try.
She got up from her chair and stood at the edge of the steps to the roof, "Kitty I don't have time for your jokes. I want to get some work done before I have to sleep."
"Then I will take what I came to take," a sly grin passed over his face. The girl took a step back when she looked at him. Slowly descending the stairs she took a step back for every step he took forward, they kept that same distance until her back hit the wall and he closed the distance between them. He could feel her body warmth in the small space between them, a clawed hand tilted her chin up, wide blue eyes stared into his green ones. As his head tilted down towards hers, their breath began to mingle for a moment, just before his lips were pressed against hers. They were both soft and firm, the sensation was fantastic, until her hand connected with his cheek. He jumped back rubbing his face, "I have what I want. Thank you Princess, until next time." He was up the stairs and off the roof before the female could properly react. His pulse was still racing and he could still feel her lips pressed against his. A goofy smile crossed his features as he headed back to his home and his bed. Marinette might be mad, but he was starting to figure out how he felt, she wouldn't stay mad forever, right?
Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Like I said I am going to a convention so I'll be focusing on my costume for a bit, I have a tiny bit of my prop done at this point. But I will try to also write some of the fic in the meantime. If not I will more than likely work at it at the convention, cause time between panels can be long. so yeah! Thanks guys and I love all of you!
