Chapter Five
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"Nathaniel," I looked at him in confusion, "what are you doing here?"
His eyes ran up and down my body before his eyes shot to Adrien's now calm and collected face.
"He's your date? Since when were you two all buddy-buddy?" He scowled pushing Adrien aside to step into the house.
"Since when did you become my father?" I asked crossing my arms across my chest. "I can go out with whomever I want to."
Here's the thing, Nathaniel didn't like Adrien for some reason. I knew why I don't like Adrien, but I'm not sure what Nathaniel's problem with him was. He also sometimes behaved like he was my boyfriend which was so infuriating. I told him on several occasions to stop, I even threatened to end our friendship, and he stopped at one point, but now he's starting up again.
Nathaniel was about to speak, but Adrien beat him to it, "Let's go, Mari. We have eight o clock reservations." I didn't miss the teasing look he shot Nathaniel though. He was so immature.
I nodded at him then moved my eyes to Nathaniel, "We'll talk later. Now, leave my house so I can lock up."
Nathaniel huffed and stormed out of the house, steam practically coming out of his ears. A snicker passed Adrien's lips, but he quickly covered it with a cough when I shot him a glare.
"Let's go," I said and we exited the house.
* * *
The ride to the restaurant mainly consisted of us talking about the couple-y stuff we'd have to do on the date tonight because we are in the eye of the public.
The car stopped in front of the restaurant and a valet rushed out. Adrien got out of the car and came to my side to help me out. After he handed the key to the valet and warned him to be careful with his car, we headed into the restaurant.
A few word exchanges later, we were finally seated.
"This place is so posh," I muttered, my eyes browsing the restaurant. Everyone here looked like they had a lot of money, I mean, I have money but I don't always look like it. Most of my days I'd look like a hippie.
The sound of chatter and utensils hitting the plates, bowls and glasses filled the room.
A waiter came over and we ordered a bottle of wine.
"So Marinette, tell me about yourself," He said as the waiter poured the wine before walking away. "I want to know more than what the media has to offer."
"I'm twenty four. I work as a fashion designer and I have blue hair along with blue eyes," I said cheerfully, only to receive a look of disbelief for the second time today.
"I totally didn't know that," He said sarcastically making me giggle. "Come on, princess. Tell me something exciting about you."
"I'm pretty boring, actually. There's nothing amusing about me," I said, eyeing the few strands of hair that fell onto his forehead. I just wanted to reach over to push it back. It was bugging me... what are you even thinking, Marinette?!
"So have you had any boyfriends in the past?" He asked, taking a sip of his wine. I copied his actions then nodded. When the wine slipped down my throat, I came to the conclusion that wine tastes awful.
"I had one in college, but it didn't work out well, so we broke up in junior year and stayed friends for the remainder of college," I answered. "I didn't have any before that though."
"Are you guys still friends now?" Adrien asked, seeming to be interested in my dating life. Of course he'd be.
"I haven't seen him in a year, so I don't know," I shrugged. "Enough about me. What about you? Have you had any girlfriends?"
I could have sworn I saw him wince.
"I dated this one girl and I regretted it wholeheartedly. I dated her for about three months, but I couldn't take it anymore so I broke up with her. She still pesters me up to this day," He said, picking up his menu. "Get anything you want, I'm paying."
"Can't we split the bill?" I asked and he just looked at me. Like literally just looked at me like I was crazy.
"Ha Ha Ha, no. I asked you out, I'm paying," He rolled his eyes.
"You can't stop me."
He leaned over to me a bit, his lips a little over an inch away from mine. "Try me, sweetheart."
My breath hitched in my throat. The strands of hair that started to flop on his forehead were annoying me as I focused on them instead of him tempting lips.
My silence made Adrien chuckle and lean back.
Screw it.
I reached across the table and ran my fingers through his hair, pushing it back and fixing the loose strands.
"Better," I muttered after retracting my hand. Adrien then looked at me with his eyebrow raised. I looked away and muttered, "The loose strands were annoying me."
"Sure," He said, amusement dancing in his eyes then he chuckled and went back to looking at his menu.
A while later, a waiter came to take our orders before leaving.
"Everything here is so expensive," I commented. "Are you sure you don't want to split the bill?" After the words passed my lips, I realised how stupid they sounded.
Adrien took a sip of his wine, "I'm more than able to buy this restaurant, so I think I can pay for a few measly meals on the menu."
"Cocky much," I muttered to myself, but he heard me and shot me a playful glare.
"You always do you hair in a ponytail. I like it better like this," He suddenly said, causing me to raise my eyebrow.
"Why?"
He shrugged, "I don't kn-"
"Adrikins!!" A high pitched voice met my ears.
Adrien's face went pale as the clicking of heels on the floor flooded the room.
"Chloe," Adrien muttered as a familiar looking blonde stood by the table. She looked oddly familiar.
"Adrien," She grinned, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I've been trying to get to you for ages!"
I studied her for a bit and it clicked. She was Chloe Bourgeois. The mayor's daughter and a model at Adrien's company. How could I not know who she was at first?
"Really?" Adrien said, scratching the back of his head. He glanced at me pleadingly, but I looked at him with amusement dancing in my eyes as I sipped my wine. This was fun to watch.
"I called the number you gave me, but it's saying it does not exist," Chloe said and I almost snickered. This girl apparently didn't know that he was trying desperately to avoid her.
"O-oh yeah, I changed my number!" Adrien forced a smile, glaring at me subtly. Oh yeah, I was seconds away from laughing.
"You can give me your new number right now!" Chloe beamed, completely ignoring my presence. Fun.
Adrien's eyes widened as he thought of something else to say. "Since it's a new number, it's hard to memorize. I don't know it out of my head as yet."
Chloe's shoulders fell and her smile faltered a bit, "oh." Her eyes finally landed on me and she scowled. "Who's this?"
Adrien was about to say something, but I beat him to it. "So I'm suddenly visible now?" I asked, widening my eyes in fake curiosity. "Since you graciously acknowledged my presence, allow me to introduce myself. I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
Her scowl deepened and her glare intensified. "What are you to Adrien?"
I shrugged, "I don't know." I then looked to Adrien while Chloe did the same. "Would you mind telling her what I am to you, Adrien? It hurts me to say it."
Adrien glared at me before plastering a fake smile onto his face and taking my small hand into his larger one. "She's my girlfriend, Chloe."
Chloe's jaw dropped. "Her? Your girlfriend? This is ridiculous! When did this happen?"
"A couple months ago," I answered. I then felt Adrien using his thumb to draw circles on the back of my hand making my face heat up.
Chloe looked shocked. Her mouth was wide open and she had an iron grip on her phone, her knuckles turned white. Poor girl...
"Not to be rude, Chloe, but you are intruding on our date. It'd be nice if you could just leave," He said, slightly waving his unoccupied hand in her direction.
Chloe scoffed before stomping away.
"She was interesting," I said slowly, trying to ignore the feeling of Adrien's hand still holding mine. "How long have you known her?"
Adrien groaned. "Can we not talk about her?" And that just made me more interested.
"Why?" I rose an eyebrow. "Is she apart of your past?"
Adrien glared at me and stayed silent. I pulled my hand from his and used it to tuck my hair behind my ear before placing it in my lap.
"So you're not going to answer my question?" I asked him and he replied by sipping his wine. That made my blood boil. Two can play at this game.
The waiter came with the food and left after telling us that he'll soon be back with the bill.
Adrien and I ate in silence. If he wanted to be stubborn and not answer my question then I could be stubborn too and give him the silent treatment.
I took a bite of my well-done steak and practically moaned. It was delicious. I don't understand how people could eat medium rare when it was practically raw meat...
I felt Adrien's eyes on me, but I chose to ignore him.
When Adrien saw that I was actually not going to break and start talking, he let out a sigh. "Why are you so stubborn?"
"Why are you so hard headed?"
He glared at me and I matched him with a glare of my own. He looked away first making me have to hide a grin.
"Let's just stop this," He said, looking down at his plate.
"You started it," I muttered, shoving food into my mouth.
"It doesn't matter who started it! Let's just go back to how we were before Chloe interrupted us," Adrien suggested, his eyes gazing lazily into mine.
"Fine," I huffed.
Adrien and I had a neutral conversation after that. We chatted as we ate and the atmosphere remained light after that. When we finished eating, the waiter came back and left the bill. Adrien payed then led me out of the restaurant, ignoring the eyes that followed us.
When we stepped out of the restaurant, there were a million camera lights flashing, threatening to blind me.
"Mr Agreste! Who is she?"
"Is she a new model?"
"Isn't that Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
"She is beautiful! Are you guys on a date?"
The questions kept coming, but Adrien answered none. He wrapped an arm securely around my waist and pushed through the crowd of reporters and paparazzi. He then hurriedly took the keys from the valet and quickly led me to his car. He opened the door for me and I slid in, my heart pounding rapidly in my chest.
Adrien got in and pulled out onto the main road and started to drive. "And I thought I wouldn't need to take a bodyguard with us."
"That was... wow," I said with wide eyes and Adrien glanced at me. "You have to go through that almost everyday?" I was famous ish, but I never needed to go through that. I mostly kept under the radar.
"Yep," He replied. "It gets kind of tiring and annoying."
"I couldn't deal with that everyday," I stated, clenching my fists.
"Since you're getting married to me, you're in for a hell of a ride," Adrien commented and it finally hit. He was right. Once I get married to him, I'd get swarmed by the media; fangirls and all. I'll be receiving a lot of hate and I'd be criticized left, right and center. Could I handle that?
"What are you thinking about?" Adrien asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Nothing," I lied.
"Are you lying to me, Ms Dupain-Cheng?" Adrien rose an eyebrow at her as he stopped at a red light.
"No," I quickly said, turning to look out the window.
"You know, people would say that getting into a relationship with a celebrity is like having a death wish," He said, coming to a stop in front of my house. "It is kind of bittersweet really. You might get a lot of love from some while others will just give you endless hate."
"Where are you going with this?" I asked, feeling my heart speed up.
"I think you'd get more love than hate," He shrugged. "You also shouldn't think about that right now. Our relationship isn't even public as yet."
My cheeks heated up and I quickly removed my seatbelt and opened the car door. "I-I should get going."
I slipped out of the car and heard him call after me.
"When should I pick you up tomorrow?"
Confusion hit me. "Pick me up for what?"
"We are going to see Emma and the girls tomorrow, aren't we?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
'oh crap, how could I forget?' I thought, chewing on my bottom lip. "Oh yeah. You can come around at 12. I'll bake some more stuff to take with us. You could probably help out." Why did I say that? I never need help when I'm baking.
He muttered an 'okay' before starting the car. He beckoned me to come closer and I complied, leaning down to his window. Shocking me, he placed a light kiss onto my cheek causing me to blush. He gave me a smile and said, "See you tomorrow, sweetheart."
Before I could reply, he drove off.
I huffed, shaking my head. "Idiot." I turned and walked up to my house, trying to keep the smile off my face.
* * * * *
How was the chapter?
How is the book going so far?
What are your thoughts?
I'm sure you're all enjoying Nathaniel and Chloe so far, but some characters are and I'm here wondering who they might be....
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,
Bye bye little butterflies🦋🦋🦋.