Chapter Text
“This is it, girl! Your big break! I bet you’ll have hundreds of orders by tomorrow, just you wait,” Alya exclaimed. Marinette just stared at her phone, frozen in place. She must be dreaming. She and Alya had been having their traditional girls’ night and had stayed up long past reasonable hours- Marinette must have drifted off. In fact, she was certain she must have been drooling on Alya’s shoulder. But then Alya screamed again, and Marinette knew she had to be awake already; Alya’s screech could have woken a bear from hibernation.
Gabriel Agreste retweeted me. Me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Gabriel. Gabriel Agreste. Me.
Needless to say, Marinette didn’t go to bed that night.
“Alya, you have no idea ,” Marinette groaned into the phone pushed between her shoulder and her ear. It had been four days and 13 hours since Gabriel Agreste had retweeted one of her original designs. In that time, Marinette had received thousands of orders. Her tiny two-room shop, Lady Luck, barely had enough supplies at any one time to make 20 dresses; thankfully, her growing celebrity and glowing reputation convinced her suppliers to give her an advance on materials. Unfortunately, she and her two assistants still had to make everything by hand. Since the fateful moment, Marinette had slept a total of 4 hours, and only out of sheer exhaustion. She had drunk four energy drinks and at least 30 cups of high-caffeine tea. Marinette couldn’t tell you what she had eaten if she tried; Alya had been coming by with food from her mom’s restaurant, and Marinette wolfed it down without pausing from her work for even a second.
In short, Marinette was overwhelmed. Not that it was all bad, not at all. Any designer would be over the moon to be noticed by the Gabriel Agreste. And in all honesty, Marinette was far past the moon. She just wasn’t prepared to take on this many orders at once. Thankfully, Alya had volunteered to scope out some manufacturers for her. With any luck, one of them would be willing to make a deal on a minute’s notice.
“Mari, you still there? You probably missed everything I just said, so here’s the rundown,” Marinette did her best to focus on Alya’s voice. “I found a place that already does fashion, so they’re definitely quality, and the owner just so happens to own a few things from Lady Luck. She said she’d love to work with you!” On the other end of the line, Alya could practically feel Marinette’s huge smile, and she definitely heard the huge sigh of relief.
Two weeks later, Lady Luck finally looked like a small mob had come through. This was an improvement over the major tornado that had encompassed the shop since the retweet incident. Alya, ever the best friend, had stopped by with pastries from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. The bell rang as she walked through the door.
“So Mari, your parents want to know if I’ve accepted the position of replacement daughter. I told them only if I get treats like this every day,” Alya shouted with a laugh. Marinette poked her head out from the back room.
“Ha ha, very funny. You and I both know Maman and Papa pretty much adopted you the moment you came home with me during collège for lun- Are those strawberry tarts? ” Marinette cut herself off mid-sentence and lunged at Alya, who just laughed and held the bag above her head.
“No tarts for you, girl, not until you agree to what I’m about to say.”
Marinette eyed her friend carefully. This was Alya they were talking about, after all. Her plans- no, schemes, really. Her schemes were never small, and Marinette could remember more than a few times when she had gotten herself in too deep. Still, those tarts just smelled so good...
“Hit me with it, Alya. Wait, let me guess- you want me to open another location? No, wait, I bet you want me to go on a blind date!”
Alya just giggled.
Oh no, it must be something big. I haven’t seen Alya giggle since she pushed me down the stairs trying to get Adrien to catch me!
Ah yes, Adrien. Marinette shook her head at herself. It was a little embarrassing to admit, even to herself, how much she had liked Adrien. But after lycée had ended, she had moved on pretty quickly. After all, who knew when she’d see him again? So Marinette had taken down all her posters and put them, along with her crush on him, in the back of the closet with her old school books.
What could Alya be planning that was scarier than a double flight of stairs?
“Well, we both know that Gabriel Agreste is the reason Lady Luck started taking off. But , after talking to the manufacturing lady and reading some reviews online, I realized that the people who know you really like you. Like, not just the brand, but you, Marinette. So, I pulled a few strings- benefits of being a reporter- and if you’ll take it, there’s a spot waiting for you on the next season of Dancing with the Stars !”
On the one hand, Marinette knew it was a bad idea. She might not have been shy, but one look at a handsome celebrity and she’d collapse into a stuttering mess, just like in lycée. Even if by some chance she held herself together, there was still the issue of dancing. Everyone knew Marinette was… uncoordinated. Her friends had stopped asking about her cuts and bruises a long time ago, instead learning to keep a first-aid kit on hand. On the few occasions Marinette had tried to dance, at least one participant ended up on the floor.
But Alya was right. If she introduced the public to the face behind the brand, Lady Luck might just blow up again, on its own this time. And Marinette had never been one to back down from a challenge. What’s the worst that could happen? She’d probably get eliminated in the first week, so what did she have to lose?
After hearing her answer, Alya had to run back to work. When the door closed behind her, Tikki flew out from the back room.
“Marinette, why’d you say yes? Are you really okay with going on TV?”
Marinette smiled. “It’ll be good for me and for the store, Tikki. Plus,” she waved the strawberry tart in the air. “these things are just so good!”
Marinette stood in the middle of the store, eyes closed and arms open. Cameras surrounded her.
How did I talk myself into this?
Alya had brought her the paperwork the day after Marinette agreed. Marinette had been interviewed more times than she could count, both on and off camera. Today marked the day she would meet her professional partner. After that, there’d be a couple days of getting to know each other and wrapping up any loose ends at home and at work. Then, it was three weeks of “bootcamp”- Marinette’s partner would try to take her from clumsy to coordinated, while also teaching her their first official dance. After that, the live shows would begin.
Marinette knew that the show’s producers worked hard to match up the couples. Alya refused to give any details about her interview, but Nino said they gathered the parents and the two closest friends in order to get to know the parts of Marinette she might not even know about herself.
Well, there’s one part of me they’ll never find out…
Marinette had spent the last few nights binging old seasons of the show, and every couple met in a different way. They were all manufactured by the show’s producers, of course, but it was still funny to see the pros get a little starstruck over the celebrities. Unfortunately, Marinette knew that wouldn’t happen to her. Even so, Penny, the producer assigned to Marinette, had seemed very excited when she showed up with the camera crew this morning.
Now, as Marinette waited for what felt like an eternity, she began to doubt herself. She probably looked stupid right now, waiting like this. Marinette took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
Penny must have picked up on Marinette’s nervousness. “Everyone said you were a hugger- this is okay, right? I can always come up with something else, but I really think this is my best idea yet.” Marinette nodded quickly.
“Yep, this is fine! I’ve just never been on TV before.” Before she could ramble on, Penny cut her off.
“Okay everyone, the pro is here! Make sure the cameras are rolling. Marinette, you ready?”
Marinette replied with another nod.
The bell above the door jingled and Marinette felt a presence moving closer and closer. A low, familiar voice muttered, “Oh my god,” before two strong arms engulfed her in huge hug. Marinette’s feet lifted off the ground for a moment and her eyes flew open. Her partner smelled familiar too, a strange mix of deep cologne and- Camembert? The pro gently placed her back on the ground and Marinette finally got a good look at her partner. It was this exact moment when she realized she had made a huge mistake. She was not ready for this at all.
“Adrien?”