Merry belated Christmas everyone! I'm late for my update because of celebrations. I've been pretty busy with my children.

Hope you'll enjoy anyway.

Chapter Nine : Carpe Diem

From all the people (read there Plagg, or at most Marinette) Adrien expected to see in his kitchen at dawn, Nino was surely the last.

Nino, plus Marinette though; this was the pinnacle. A deadly pinnacle if you asked him! Such an encounter was mostly supposed not to happen so early in the morning. Let alone at his place! Not without arousing suspicion (considering there that Alya could have held her tongue for the last 24 hours which was... more than improbable actually).

"Did the Scooby-Gang have a meeting scheduled today?" Adrien asked as he slowly rubbed the sleep away from his eyes.

His still sleepy strut led him toward the kitchen counter where he took a seat on one of the barstools. He fist-bumped Nino who sat next to him before pinning his elbow on the work surface, resting his chin in the palm of his hands as he watched Marinette fussing over the stove. He had no idea what she was up to but it smelled divine; his stomach rumbled, unequivocally agreeing with him.

"Good morning, Master Chef. What are you up to?"

"Pancakes." Her voice was as sharp as a knife, sending shudders down his toes. Turning around, she avoided his gaze and placed three pancakes on the plate in front of Nino, then on his. "Nino was telling me how nice it'd be to have a double date tonight when Alya will be back from the TV studio," she explained while dropping the last pancakes on her own plate.

"This is a very good idea. I'm free tonight," Adrien enthused until Marinette's cold—icy—glare fell upon him.

Uh-oh. It looked like she didn't find the idea that great. He should have seen it coming. After all, she was the one who had said, just yesterday, that they would have to find an excuse to break up. But she also agreed to give their fake dating a little bit more time to make it look tangible. So this double date was a very good opportunity to give their acting skills some credit, right?

Then he could take advantage of the night to make her enjoy the prospect of being with him and eventually change her mind about the fake side of their dating journey. And if need be, they could use an argument during their hang out and put the breakup in.

It was a win-win for both of them, wasn't it?

Adrien made big eyes at her, hoping that he could make her understand all this without a single word. Basically, she was pretty smart, she would easily come to the same conclusion just by putting her stubbornness aside.

"Isn't it a good idea, Sweetheart?" He couldn't look more intently at her than he currently did. And it went the same the other way around.

She sternly looked him straight in the eye before replying while still firmly holding his gaze. "It is," she stated.

"Wait." Nino cut off their interaction.

Marinette and Adrien both froze with their fork dipped in their breakfast before they turned toward him. Their faces paled in front of the inquisitive stare Nino gave them. He couldn't have sensed their unwillingness to come tonight and unmasked their cover, could he?

"Don't you put anything on your pancakes, Dude?"

Adrien blinked at him utterly confused before looking down at his plate, then back at his best friend. Not what he'd expected, and all the better. Saved by the bell—or rather, pancakes.

"He prefers these plain."

"I prefer them plain."

They both spoke at the same time.

"You two are already starting to get disgustingly lovesick. Just everything Alya has been craving for years," Nino nonchalantly said before sticking his fork into one of his whipped cream-covered pancakes and stuffing a piece into his mouth. The guy was completely unaware of the cutting-edge tension currently increasing in the room. "Bon appétit, Lovebirds."

"I have to go back to the bakery," Marinette told Adrien while busy emptying each of her stuff on his bed. "I didn't pack an outfit for a night out in my overnight bag. Just a pair of skinny jeans, a pair of sneakers, and an old sweater that my mom used to love when she was… about my age actually." She grabbed said sweater and placed it in front of her to cover her pajama top and cringed.

The sweater was quite simple actually. It was matching Marinette's bluebell eyes and there were four white Chinese symbols across the chest.

"I find this sweater very nice, to be honest," Adrien admitted. "It suits the color of your eyes." He couldn't help but let his thoughts flow out.

Marinette intently took in the Chinese writing and shrugged. "I don't even know what's written on it. It could be written that I'm an idiot, for all I care, I wouldn't even know."

"Carpe Diem," Adrien read aloud. His many hours of learning and practicing Chinese were at least finally serving a purpose.

"Seize the day," Marinette whispered, giving clear meaning to his words.

"Maybe it's a sign to tell us not to worry for tonight and to take things as they come, don't you think?"

He made a move forward and took hold of her sweater before motioning for her to lower her head so that he could help her to put the wool cloth on.

"Because you, Adrien Agreste from all people in Paris, believe in signs? We both know we suck at this; we've spent years missing the most obvious signs pointing to Gabriel." Marinette snorted as she put her arms in the sleeve. "Do you want me to tell you what's going to happen if we're going all Carpe Diem tonight?" she asked with a serious stance.

"I'll probably have my wicked ways with you in the restroom before the end of our double date? You're always horny when you're angry." He raised a challenging brow, a smirk curling at the corner of his lips.

"Well, uh… I…" She blinked at him, speechless. "Whatever. If we're not worrying about what Alya has got on her mind, we'll probably have to do some sort of weird activity; axes throwing or go-karting. We certainly can't go and meet them being all Hakuna Matata or—"

"Actually, it's Carpe Diem." Adrien held a finger up and cut her off, only to get a stern glare in return. "Nevermind," he gulped.

"You do know that Alya and Nino like to go out on dates that are out of the ordinary, do you? They're going to drag us into their madness!"

"I know they do like karaoke." Adrien shrugged with some nonchalance.

"That's exactly what I mean: madness!" Marinette squished the sides of her face as she pulled her hair almost off and grumbled. "Wait a minute! Are they planning karaoke tonight?"

"I don't know." Adrien lied even though he didn't know why he actually did it. His behavior must have already given him away as he once more used his signature move and racked a hand through his hair.

Marinette's brows furrowed and she pointed a finger in his direction. "You know something." She poked the tip of her forefinger against his chest, her eyes narrowing as she leaned closer. "You're lying to me. I can tell by the way you're currently rubbing your scalp."

Indeed, he was obvious. She had a point.

He sighed and stopped short instantly, his hand dropping at his side. "Fine," said Adrien as he sheepishly looked at his treacherous hand. "They planned a karaoke."

"I'm gonna murder Alya," Marinette muttered through gritted teeth as she hastened to get rid of her sweater. "This is going to be a disaster."

"Don't you like karaoke?"

"Let's just say that."

"If you can't sing, that's okay. You don't have to go on stage, and I don't have to go either. I'll stay with you to watch the others," Adrien suggested.

"Because you actually planned to… sing on stage?" Marinette's eyes widened.

"Well, that's precisely what karaoke's made for so… yes?" Wasn't that the whole point? "But if you really don't want to go tonight, we can just say you're sick. Or I call in sick. Whatever."

His eyes looked straight into hers, intent on her let down her guard, to break down the walls that she had been rising between them for some days. And if he had to use kitten eyes for it, he would do it without any hesitation. He did it, actually. Wielding the technique with a lot of practice and know-how. He didn't wear the catsuit for no reason after all.

"Fine," Marinette sighed. "We'll go. Carpe Diem, isn't it?"

"Carpe Diem," Adrien repeated in agreement.

"Great. But there's still no way I'm putting on this sweater to go out on a date; the wool itches." She pouted.

A cute lovely pout that just made her lips look even more kissable. Hold your pants, Adrien. She hadn't expected the kiss yesterday, and nothing suggested that she would be more prepared this time.

"Go get ready at the bakery if you want. I'll come and pick you up around 9 p.m."

"That would be nice."

"It's all set then," Adrien stated matter-of-factly. He slowly leaned in and chose safety with a soft kiss laid on Marinette's cheek before pulling back with a smile. "See you later for a ride." He couldn't help the little twitch of his bottom lip.

"You're incorrigible!" Marinette snapped back as she gave his forearm a small slap. "I can still change my mind."

"A sweater that itches or a free ride. You'll have to make a choice. Although in my opinion, the question does not even arise."

"You're a bitch," Marinette muttered under her breath.

"Such colorful language for a pretty mouth."

"Oh, shut up."

"Make me," Adrien smugly taunted her. He bit on his cheek right after he threw the line but it was already too late.

What was said, was said. And he had put his foot in it again.

"I… I need to go. Or you know, plain old me… I'll end up being late. I'll see you later." She turned her heels at a back-breaking speed and ran away.

Next chapter will be uptaded on time on friday, I promise.

See you soon!