Chapter Text
Marinette POV
After we were set free, I walked home. It had gotten late. On soft soles, I sneaked into the silent house. But I wasn't quiet enough because I heard my mother calling from the living room, "Marinette sweetie, is that you?" I walked into the living room, where my parents sat on the sofa watching the news.
"Yes, Maman. I'm sorry I'm home so late, but I got stuck in an elevator and..." "Yes, we know about it. It was on the celebrity news." my dad explained. "WHAT?" "Yeah, look, they're replaying the show right now."
The host, Alec, was standing in the TV studio. Behind him were pictures of Marinette and Adrien in front of the elevator. Someone seemed to have photographed them secretly.
"Rather than dine with his father, who had just returned from New York, young Agreste went on a date. This one went rather moderately, as the two got stuck in an elevator. It is known that the model is claustrophobic. However, the two lovebirds were quite quickly freed from the elevator. There are no comments on the incident from Adrien or Gabriel yet. What exactly happened in the elevator? We will probably never know..."
Tom and Sabine looked at me questioningly but with a mischievous smile. I scoffed. "We aren't lovebirds, and nothing happened!" So I stormed out of the living room. All of Paris must have seen the news story because my phone was overrun with messages from my classmates. Well, I shut off my phone. Tomorrow at school I'll have to face enough questions.
As expected, I was very busy at school, convincing my classmates that it wasn't a date and that nothing had happened in the elevator. They stayed unconvinced. Luckily, Lila changed the conversation. "Anyway. I'm glad you're all coming to my party tonight."
The girls nodded excitedly, only I looked confused. "What party?" "Lila hosts a house party every year. I'm sure you'll come too, right?" explained Alya. I looked questioningly at Lila. "Well, I don't know where or what time." "Oh, I'm sorry about that. I forgot you were new and weren't in the party group chat. I'll text you the details later." Before I could ask why I wasn't just added to the group, the bell rang for the start of class.
After school, I drove to Gabriel Agreste's estate to drop off my hat design and registration form for the contest in person. His assistant Natalie took everything silently. I didn't run into Adrien. He was out of school all day because he had a series of photo shoots to do. Maybe it was better that way. He would just tease me again and make fun of my design.
Lost in thought, I made my way back home. My smartphone buzzed. It was Lila, actually texting me her address and the meeting time. I had almost forgotten about the party but was happy to see my classmates.
So at about 7 pm, I rang the bell in front of her door. Lila opened the door and led me into the living room. "I'm glad you came, Marinette," Lila fluted. My eyes took a look around. Lila's house was smaller than I expected. A few guests stood together in small groups, and others danced to the music.
"Where are the other girls from class?" I asked, a bit puzzled. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. But look, your boyfriend is standing back there..." Lila pointed to a corner of the room, and my gaze caught Adrien standing cool against a wall. I sighed. When will this rumor finally fade away?
"We're not a couple!" "The media says otherwise, though. And so is he." I huffed and walked over to Adrien to remind him of the fact of our non-existent relationship. Defiantly, I stood in front of him and pulled him up to my eye level by his collar.
"Hey, why are you spreading rumors again that..." The blond boy grinned nastily and came closer for a kiss. But before our lips could meet, I gave him a slap. The boy rubbed his cheek and grumbled, "What the hell? No idea why my cousin is so into you. Such a weed. You'll regret that slap..."
"Y-your cousin?" "Yeah, I'm Felix, Adrien's cousin from London. Lila invited me and asked me to pretend to be him. Because of our resemblance, we used to switch roles more in the past. Therefore, I should do it this time too, so you won't be disappointed that your boyfriend won't come to the party or anything. I thought it might be funny."
"Is kissing me without permission supposed to be funny? I'm not going to be scared of you. Also, FYI: Adrien and I are NOT a couple!" My party mood was gone. What kind of a set-up was this? This morning it seemed like Lila didn't want me at the party anyway.
And why did she set it up with Felix? As if I would miss Adrien, for whom I had no feelings at all, at this party. And my heart didn't race when Fake Adrien almost kissed me. No, not at all. Taking a deep breath, I started making my way to the door, where I ran into the group of girls from our class.
"You're leaving already? That's too bad," Rose said. "Yeah, the party's just getting started!" jeered Alix. I couldn't bring myself to ruin the girls' mood with my heavy thoughts. So I replied, "Sorry, girls, but I'm too exhausted to stay any longer. Have fun!"
I squeezed past them and ran to the bus stop. Fortunately, the next bus came quite quickly and took me home, where I could think in peace. At least the design was turned in, and I could relax for the rest of the evening and enjoy playing some UMS III with my parents.
Adrien POV
After a busy day of photo shoots, I was ordered to Father's office. I knocked on the office door and entered. Gabriel was standing at his sketching table. But, as always, work came first. "You wanted to see me, Father?"
My gaze caught another human figure sitting casually on the sofa. My eyes widened in surprise. It was Felix. I hadn't seen my cousin, who lives in London, in years. Not since our parents were involved in a traffic accident. Both his father and my mother died in it. My father's angry voice brought me out of the sad memories.
"Who on earth is this girl? All you ever do is provoke scandals. Don't you know how much you're damaging my brand with this?" I looked at my father emotionlessly. There was no point in defending myself when he was talking himself into a rage, but anger was boiling inside me.
"Father, you know the press. It's all blown out of proportion. We were stuck in the elevator. Marinette is...someone in my class." "Just a classmate? That's not what Felix told me. Can't you see how she's just trying to take advantage of you for your money and prestige?"
I laughed briefly as I remembered how Marinette turned down the expensive outfit. "Marinette's not like that. She doesn't put any stock in that." "And why is she smooching me the first chance she gets?" interjected Felix.
"What are you talking about, Felix?" I asked, aghast. He held his smartphone under my nose. On the screen, I saw a photo, Marinette pulled Felix down to her, and he got ready to kiss her. My face went pale. This couldn't be true. There had to be an explanation for this. "You see my son? You should trust my judgment." I couldn't stand the smug grin from my father and Felix anymore, so I left the office shocked and angry.
Bonus: Some Art I did for the fic.
