Adrien stepped out onto Marinette's balcony, the cool night air brushing against his skin as he gazed up at the starlit sky. His heart felt heavy with the weight of his feelings for Marinette. The events of the evening only served to intensify his conflicting emotions. When she'd agreed to the fake engagement it had seemed like a good idea, one that seemed like it could benefit the both of them. But now, as he stood under the vast expanse of the night sky, doubts began to creep in.
"Fake engagement," he murmured to himself, the words tasting bitter on his tongue. How could he pretend to be engaged to Marinette when all he wanted was for her to see him, to want to be with him. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake his feelings for her which, most certainly, ran deeper than friendship.
Plagg flew from his resting spot in Adrien's shirt and came to hover beside him. "You okay, Kid?"
Adrien nodded, his eyes trailing over into the distance at the iron monument which held both the best memories of his life...and some of the less desirable.
He sighed, resting his arms on the balcony railings as he watched his friends leave the bakery, chasing each other down the street, looping arms around each other and just basking in being in each other's presence once again. The night had been filled with so much genuine love, he was starting to blur the line between what was real and what was not.
Tom had been incredible. From the moment he'd approached the big guy asking for a quick word at five that morning, Tom had been straight up supportive of everything. No, he hadn't told Tom the real truth, just his truth. That Marinette was the most important person in his life and he couldn't be without her a moment long. A truth that would remain hidden. He hated lying to them, and he was most certainly dreading the end of the relationship. Tom and Sabine had been there through everything, treating him like one of the family. He hated that he was, ultimately, going to disappoint.
Alya hadn't killed him either, like he'd expected her to. She knew it was fake - not surprising, really - but then she'd given him a little hope. Marinette wasn't going on all these dates to find a boyfriend, but more to find a reason to get over someone...someone he hoped was him. She didn't need to get over him...maybe under—
Nope, not opening that baggage. She was his friend...his friend!
Lost in his thoughts, Adrien didn't notice Marinette stepping out onto the balcony behind him until she spoke, her voice breaking through the silence like a gentle breeze.
"Don't jump! It's not that bad!"
The sight of her took his breath away even as his heart ached with longing. In that moment, with the stars shining down on them, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe their fake engagement was a chance for him to finally reveal his true feelings to her one last time. But as he looked into her eyes, so full of warmth and kindness, he knew that whatever happened next, he would always cherish their friendship above all else.
Why the hell was this all so hard!
"Come here." He beckoned her to him. If he was going to play the doting fiancé for the time being, he was definitely going to make the most of it — even when they were alone.
She strolled over to him, Tikki releasing and flying to Plagg as Adrien looped an arm around Marinette's shoulders and pulled her into him. His body almost self-combusted as her head positioned itself on his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist. He prayed she couldn't feel the erratic beating of his heart.
They stood in silence for a while, looking out at the twinkling of stars before Marinette finally broke the silence. "I thought you were following me home."
The matter of fact statement was the first time this taboo subject had been spoken about. It was six years ago. One year after their partnership began and one year before he left her to pursue a career he wasn't even sure he wanted.
"When?" The question was pointless considering he knew exactly what the answer was. As always, he was stalling for time, not wanting her to turn him down once again.
"That night."
His hand clenched, squeezing her shoulder and causing her to bury her head deeper into his chest.
"I thought you were following me," he responded, basking in the closeness they still shared year after year. He had never been physically like this with anyone before, not since his mother had died anyway, and now he basked in it, absorbing himself in what real love felt like — even if it was only platonic.
"I'm sorry for messing your dating life up." He sighed, turning his head and pressing a soft, lingering kiss into the top of her head before dropping his forehead in its place and nuzzling.
Her skin under his hand prickled with bumps, guilt flooding over him for keeping her out there.
"You're cold," he stated. "Go inside and I'll be down in a minute."
"I can stay if you need me to."
He would always need her to. But not now. He had a call he needed to make. "You've done more than enough already. I'm making you marry me. The last thing I want to do is give you pneumonia as well."
She giggled. "Okay, well, don't be too long. My parents have gone to bed but said it's fine for you to stay...if you want to, that is."
A twitch of his lips and she turned around heading back into her room.
Tikki flew to him, nuzzling into his cheek before leaving him once again alone with Plagg.
"You should tell her," Plagg said. "I don't think it'd go as badly as you think it will. She adores you, Adrien. She wouldn't be doing this if not."
"I know." He sighed, looking once more at the Eiffel Tower. He knew she loved him. She just wasn't in love with him. Not at the moment, anyway.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, not at all shocked to find a mountain of missed calls from Lana. Rolling back his sleeve, he checked the time before tapping on her number, placing the phone to his ear and heading to one of Marinette's outdoor seats.
"Adrien, darling! So how's the fiancée?" Lana's voice was coated with something like success.
"She's fine. We just had a gathering with some of our friends and her parents."
"Sounds cute! Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know there will be an official engagement party this weekend and we will be using your mansion. I've already called Nathalie and made the arrangements for a marquee to be set up in the garden and I've sent out invitations to the biggest stars around. It's going to be the party of the year."
Adrien rubbed across his eyebrows firmly. Neither he nor Marinette were opposed to the limelight. After all, she understood Adrien's job and they'd been through so many galas, interviews and broadcasts as their alter egos. It was all pretty much second nature to them both.
But this was different. This was the world coming into their sanctuary, especially his. His Paris trips were quiet and secretive, people only realising he was there when he arrived back in London. He'd wanted to protect Marinette from the media outlets because he knew what they could be like and he didn't want her to go through anything which could interfere with her life. A little late for that now.
"I'll make sure Éliott sends something over."
"Don't worry about that," Lana said. "I'm sending him over with everything you need. Including some rather wonderful dresses for your lady."
Adrien looked down through the skylight. "I can't wait to see what you send."
"I'm sure you can't!" And he knew exactly what she meant by the tone of her voice.
"Anything else?" A glimpse of Marinette pacing her room caught Adrien's eye. She looked stressed and adorable at the same time. Her hands flung around as she vented to the small kwami, who was looking highly amused. Adrien searched for Plagg, dropping him a wink once he found him, signalling the kwami to go and see what was happening in the room.
"Adrinette is flying high on the top searches at the moment. There's quite a few pictures of the two of you out there when you properly look. Anyway, I think it'll be best if you stay in Paris for a while, do some coupley stuff and get papped. Also, it shows you're not afraid of showing your face back there after...well...you know."
"Sure," he agreed, he'd never heard such wonderful words leave his agent's mouth before. His eyes had remained on Marinette, his own smile expanding as he watched her laughing animatedly with Tikki and Plagg.
"Excellent. Well, I'll see you at the weekend, then. Give Miss Dupain-Cheng, my love. Ciao, darling."
The call ended, yet he remained where he was, watching. She was now dancing around with Plagg, the smile on her face causing his own to brighten too.
She had always been attractive. Though not the main force that made him fall in love with her, it was definitely an added bonus. She'd grown her hair longer since their teen years, wanting to be able to do more with it.
He still remembered the day she'd struggled to Dutch braid it. She'd gotten so frustrated she'd launched her brush across the room and given Nino a concussion. They still laughed about it — well, everyone except Nino.
That night, Adrien had gone home and pulled up video tutorials on YouTube, training himself for hours before promptly collapsing just before his alarm was due to go off. But that didn't matter, because that night, on patrol, as she'd whined about not being able to do normal girl things, he'd placed her head in his lap and delicately put his training to good use. She'd knitted him a new scarf in gratitude.
He would gladly do anything for her. Not only because he was a sap when it came to her, but because he knew she would be willing to give him that much in return. And that was why he couldn't afford to mess this up and lose her. His feelings needed to stay hidden. She didn't need the added complication of how he felt screwing all this up. He needed to catch his daydreams before they ran so far away that he couldn't pull them back.
Taking a deep breath, he climbed back down into her room and settled on the bed.
Marinette came up to meet him as Tikki and Plagg hovered by her side. "My parents, being the wonderfully embarrassing beings that they are, told me not to worry about the noise we make as it's our 'engagement night'."
Adrien spluttered out a laugh, unsure what to say or do.
"I know." Marinette giggled. She lifted the covers on her bed and slid underneath, holding them up for him too.
They'd done this so many times in the past, but right now it felt so different...so personal. Had she done this with any of her dates in the past? Could he imagine doing it with anyone else? Either way, he was suddenly very aware of where her body was and where he was, the warmth radiating from her and settling into him.
At the side of her bed sat her beloved laptop. She pulled it to their laps before lifting the screen and typing in her password, finding the film they had been watching a mere week ago. She pressed play on the laptop, the computer picking up on where they'd left off a mere week ago with only the moon and starlight for company.
He tried his hardest not to overthink everything — the lingering touches — the soft cheek kiss — the hand holding. But as she snuggled into him once again, her head resting on his chest as though it belonged there, overthinking was all he could do. He wanted her. He wanted her more than he wanted to breathe, and from now on he was going to do his best to make her see that.
He was going to change the way Marinette saw him and move himself out of the friend zone.