Wintery Warm Drabbles - 19th “Pretend to be GF“
Hold your horses, guys, this is Part 1 ;)
The next prompt will still be all about that!
Adrien nervously shifted his weight from one foot to another while standing in front of the building with the ballroom that his father had rented for the big Christmas party the Agreste family always held.
It was disgustingly formal and stuck up and Adrien wanted to be everywhere else but there. Well, at least Chloé was out of town so he didn’t have to go with her.
What he hadn’t foreseen, though, was that his father had come to him with a question.
Who would be his partner for the ball?
First, he had thought of Nino but his father had politely declined, still leaving it open for Adrien to choose without considering a gender but forbidding him to bring this boy. Adrien knew Nino’s name was still on Gabriel Agreste’s blacklist so he wasn’t allowed to bring him.
Alya had almost been his next guess when he had remembered Marinette. She was an aspiring designer so she would surely be overjoyed to be around some of the most famous designers of Europe, right?
He had asked her right away and well, she had happily taken the offer.
The only thing he had failed to tell her in the heat of his joy was that-… Well… It was supposed to be a date. Or, well, a date to the outside.
Not, uh, not for them, right? She just had to pretend, right?
A little nagging feeling built up inside him but he ignored it as his phone chimed up. He pulled it out, recognizing the caller as Nino.
“ARE YOU COMPLETELY CRAZY, MAN?!”, the voice on the other end shouted and Adrien recoiled, holding the phone away. This voice unmistakably belonged to Alya.
“Uhm… No, thanks… What’s up?”
“Marinette just left!”, Alya now angered around in a slightly lower voice, still loud but at least so that Adrien could hold his phone like a normal person again.
“Uh-… That’s good, right?”
Alya downright exploded so as Adrien dared to take the phone to his ear again he heard Nino speaking.
Nino sighed, his girlfriend audibly stomping around rambling angrily in the background.
“Alya, relax… So, uh, you invited Marinette to this big ass fancy party this evening?”
“Well…”, Nino began, “Problem is, you asked her just this morning, Adrien. She kinda freaked out over the whole day and Alya freaked out with her and she’s wearing an original design and stuff… Anyways. All I wanna say is that I’ll have to kill you with best regards from Alya if you don’t take care of her.”
“I will! I will take care of her!”, Adrien insisted but Nino sighed again.
“No, dude, like… She’ll be in a room with a lot of persons she looks up to and Marinette is kinda a person to have no chill when it comes to situation like these. Please take care that she won’t, uhm, y’know… Go crazy.”
Adrien chuckled, knowing Marinette’s antics.
“Good…”, Alya had calmed down a bit, probably to listen, “And, uhm, dude? Have you told her about, uh, the thing?”
“What thing?”, Alya asked. Nino silently explained it to her, somehow successfully keeping her from freaking out again.
Adrien stiffened and looked down the street, gulping.
“Dude. Adrien. Tell me you-”
“THAT’S IT!!”, Alya yelled. She apparently took the phone again because suddenly, her voice was very close, “Agreste, if there’s one, and I repeat, ONE message from Mari that I might understand wrongly, you are dead. And if there is one Marinette crying in my arms this night, then you aren’t just dead but also castrated, neutered, skinned, burned, buried alive and tarred and feathered and most of all DEAD, do I make myself clear?”
Adrien gulped harder, actually leaning away from his phone.
“Uhm-… Y-Yeah, o-of course, Alya…”
“Am I scaring you?”, her voice was suddenly sweet and caring and he was even more afraid of that than before.
“GOOD!”, she hissed, the old bite apparent again, and he was sure he had never been so close to peeing himself in public. He swallowed, listening as Nino took over again.
“Yeah, I’ll try to calm her a bit, just-”
“DON’T YOU DARE, LAHIFFE!”
“I’ll take care of her. There’s no calming and furious Alya Césaire when it’s about Marinette, got it.”
“One Alya Césaire, don’t forget that.”, Nino chuckled and it was the last thing he did.
“ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF M-”
The call was abruptly ended and Adrien was left alone with tingling ears, blinking once, twice, before straightening up again. He just hoped he would see Nino alive sometime again.
As he looked down the street and saw a car nearing he didn’t know yet how little Nino’s life would matter to him in just a few seconds. The car pulled over and he could make out Marinette’s father and her as the lights flashed on. They talked for a bit, then Marinette opened the door and stepped out. Adrien jumped to her side to help her out, startling her with that but after the first moment of shock she took his hand, standing up from her seat.
“H-Hi Marinette!”, he stuttered, his gaze involuntarily flickering up and down her body.
When Alya had said that she would be wearing an original design he had been excited. But seeing her like this, her slender but somehow muscular body so wonderfully cupped by the amazing dress. Her hair done in a braid that led from her forehead to the back of her head, out of her signature pigtails. Her make up shining in the street lamp, applied to keep her natural beauty and just let her significant traits stand out a little more. Her bluebell eyes sparkled and her lips were so rosy he had to swallow.
Ever since he had joined her shopping as Chat Noir he had found his thoughts wandering off to her more and more often. Now seeing the wonderful dress on her that had the same color as her hair, maybe a bit more on the violet side, seeing her curves catching his attention because of the genius design of the dress, seeing how beautiful she let herself be, he found himself losing his mind.
Ladybug was long forgotten.
In a daze he barely remembered that they were still standing on the wintery sidewalk but the small snowflakes dancing over her eyelashes and midnight blue hair were hypnotizing. Her eyes were like lamps to a moth for him. He couldn’t turn away.
It wasn’t the dress that made her so truly beautiful. It wasn’t that she wore more radiant make up than usual and it certainly wasn’t that she had dressed up like that. The true beauty was her excitement, her genuine joy. The true shine that captured him was how beautiful she had allowed herself to be.
Marinette giggled, which ripped him out of his trance, and turned to her father. Tom leant over, winking at Adrien.
“You take care of my daughter, son!”
Adrien began grinning at the familiar nickname Tom had given him as his visits had become more frequent since Alya, Nino, Marinette and him had become better friends. He nodded, just barely able to look away from the beauty that was in front of him.
“Of course, Monsieur Dupain. Have a nice evening!”
“Same to you, kids!”, he replied before driving off, leaving the two teens standing on the sidewalk.
“You-… You look beautiful, Marinette…”, he finally choked out, feeling awkward and clumsy next to her. She giggled and blushed, making his heart skip a beat.
“Thank you, Adrien. You look quite handsome, too.”
He briefly wondered where this slight dimmed light in her eyes came from, of the lack of her stutters, but he figured she just felt confident in the dress.
Only now he noticed how close they stood to each other, her feet already between his and her chin almost brushing over his chest when she spoke. He only noticed because he now felt her shivering.
“Uhm, let’s go inside! You must be cold. The, uh, the party will officially begin in ten minutes and, uh-…”
They entered the building, Marinette on his arm and her shivering stopping as they stepped into the warm foyer. He grew more and more nervous as they continued down the hall, towards the ballroom. He had to tell her.
So he stopped gently, turning towards her before his father could see them.
“Uhm, Marinette, there’s actually something, uhm-…”
“Adrien, are you alright?”, she asked, sweet and caring as ever. He tried a smile.
“Yeah, of course! It’s just that, well, this here-… This isn’t just an invite to you, Marinette…”
Her eyes sparkled again and she downright looked ashamed as she spoke up, flustered and now finally stuttering.
“O-Oh, yeah that’s right! It’s such a b-big opportunity, Adrien, I didn’t even thank you! I just, ugh, I’m so sorry for my rudeness, I really-”
“No, no…”, he chuckled, “It’s an honor to me that you’re here today. It’s just that, well… My father kinda-… Made me invite someone. As, uh-… As my date.”
Her face was stable for a surprisingly long time. But she also didn’t react for a concerningly long time. Adrien already swallowed, ready to catch her or apologize for everything he had ever done. Or, well, to say goodbye to his life.
“… A date.”, she finally repeated, “Your date.”
He nodded awkwardly, his hand flying to the back of his head.
“Uhm, yeah, well, my father and-… Well, it’s just to pretend because, well, some designers are a little difficult and-… Uhm-… You just gotta pretend and we don’t have to kiss and nothing, we just have to hang out together and maybe dance and, uh, well, that’s all, promise!”
She slowly nodded, her head seemingly working at light speed. Little did he know how close she was to a full fledged nervous breakdown right now.
She had just adjusted to stepping her being in love down, she had just begun accepting he liked someone else. She had just psyched herself up together with Alya to be suave and cool and totally just a friend. To have a cool evening with a cool guy who was a friend, nothing more.
She still freaked out over all the renowned designers she would meet and yes, she was nervous. But this was no comparison, in no way, to the nervousness that built up within her now.
Pretending to be Adrien’s date.
There was something about that that she simply couldn’t grasp. And she felt herself slipping.
Pretending to be his date. Just pretending and, well, pretending to hang on his arm, pretend that kissing him occasionally was normal between them even if they wouldn’t do it today, pretending that they were in a relationship, were probably fooling around, hanging out in their free time, knowing personal things about each other. Pretending to be more than just a friend.
Yep, she was freaking out. On the inside. Just on the inside.
“Oh, uh-… Of course?”, she squeaked, watching as the tension left from Adrien’s shoulders.
“Oh man, I’m so glad Marinette! We don’t have to do more than just stay together, that’s all. And hey, this is gonna be fun, right? Just you, me, a few old and stuck up people that we say hello to and a few really cool younger people that we can talk to and the evening’s over faster than we can imagine.”
She managed a nod and even a slight smile.
“Oh, uhm, yes of course! Exciting, fun and, uhm-… Pretending to be a-… Uh, couple?”
He nodded, now an uncertain expression snuck over his face.
“A-Are you gonna be okay with that? We can also tell everyone you’re a friend and my real partner couldn’t make it or-… Well, some stuff like that?”
She quickly shook her head, now completely accepting that she had absolutely zero chance with him.
“Nah, it’s fine, really. Let’s, uhm, pretend we’re a couple and forget it tomorrow?”
She narrowly missed the sad shadow in his smile as he nodded.
“Yeah, of course. Friends, right?”
“Friends.”, she agreed, hooking her arm into his again.
