Work Text:
“The next shoot will begin in five minutes, everyone please be ready. That is five minutes people.”
Marinette was just finishing getting her makeup done, though the woman doing it said she didn’t really need all that much make up, only the bare minimum. Marinette slipped on her black heels, and thanked the makeup artist for being so kind. She made her way to the main shooting area and stood waiting.
Adrien quickly came to meet her, “Ah, Princess, there you are!” He paused and looked her over, smiling, “And you look perfect as always, my dear.” Marinette blushed at his praise, pushing him away when he began leaning in to kiss her.
“Ah, Adrien, we can’t here, remember? Your dad…” Adrien gave a small laugh and nodded. “Oh, hey, can you give me a hand with my mask? I got rid of the ribbon and replaced it with things that just clip into my hair, but I want to be sure it’s straight.”
Adrien nodded and Marinette handed him the mask before turning her head to one side, then the other. Adrien carefully clipped the mask in place and hummed proudly at the beautiful girl he got to call his own. Sorta. Adrien hadn’t told anyone except his best friend Nino. And Marinette had only told Alya. The four of them were the only people that knew about Adrien and Marinette being together.
And Adrien hated it.
It was so hard for him to keep his hands to himself, all he wanted to do was kiss her soft lips and run his fingers through her dark hair. He was happy he could at least do those things when they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, or when just he was transformed into his alter-ego.
Quickly looking around while Marinette turned back towards him, and upon seeing that the coast was clear, he kissed her soft lips as soon as they were within his sight. It was much shorter than he would have liked, but, precautions.
“Are you ready for your first photo shoot, Princess?” Adrien’s inner model came out and he began fixing the most minute of details about her hair, dress, or posture.
“N- No, not really. I mean, I have no idea what to do!” She was clearly nervous. In hopes to help soothe her worries a bit, Adrien pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on top of her head. To anyone else it would have looked like a simple hug between friends. To the two of them, it meant more. They could feel each others’ tight yet comforting grip.
He pulled away, holding her at arm’s length to look her in the eyes, those beautiful blue eyes, “You’ll be amazing, Mari. Just do what the crew tells you to and everything will go smoothly. Trust me, lovebug.” He smiled his sincerest of smiles to fully reassure her that everything would be okay.
“Places people, the next shoot begins in one minute.” The announcement made her slightly more nervous, but she gave herself a shake and plastered on a smile.
Nervously, she whispered, “Show time.” more to herself than Adrien. He placed a supportive hand against her lower back, and led her to where she needed to go.
~*~
A good hour and a half or so and about a hundred pictures later, it was finally time for a break. Marinette made her way over to the comfy looking chair that had her name on it. Literally. She sank down into the cloud-like cushion, and stretched out her legs and arms. Noticing there was a tray of light snacks on the small table next to the chair, she ate some crackers and sipped at some kind of fruit smoothie.
Adrien returned from speaking to some of the crew members, and leaned his hip against the arm of his lovely lady’s chair. “How’s it going so far?” Marinette looked at him tiredly and shrugged, still sipping away at her smoothie. “That awful, huh?” She only groaned in response. The blonde boy chuckled, continuing his one sided conversation, “Don’t worry, I just asked and you’re over halfway done. You just have one more section to go.”
At that moment, a young man walked in, accompanied by an older woman. When the shoot director noticed them, he walked over and began to speak happily to the woman and boy, who looked to be about the same age as Marinette and Adrien. He was tall, with short, pale blond hair, that was combed back out of his eyes. His eyes were a light blueish grey, and held no visible emotion. He wore an outfit, eerily similar to what Adrien had worn to the masquerade ball. It was different in the slightest, he wore similar black dress shoes, pressed gray dress pants, and a black belt, but he wore a dark gray vest over a light gray dress shirt rather than a stand alone black shirt.
The director turned and pointed to where Marinette sat, and the boy headed toward her. She looked to Adrien to tell her what she should do. He had yet to see the boy’s face as he was distractedly talking to Marinette about what they should do after the shoot was done. He looked up at once when he felt her hand on his forearm, and he stopped talking to look where she wanted him to.
He froze.
The boy had walked right up until he was about two feet from where Marinette’s heel clad feet were resting on the floor. He didn’t speak just looked her up and down, nothing showing on his face. There was a murmur from Adrien, but Marinette didn’t hear him. He was still staring at the other boy. Finally, the silence was broken by the newcomer, “ Adrien . How... Nice to see you again.” It was almost taunting, like a challenging sneer.
The green eyed boy’s glare hardened. He spoke only one word.
“Felix.”
It came out as a low growl. And Marinette had no idea what was going on, or why Adrien was so worked up. As she opened her mouth to say something, the boy, Felix, looked at her with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You must be Marinette. It is such a pleasure to meet you.” He glanced sideways toward Adrien before adding, “I am delighted to be working with such a beauty as yourself today.”
Adrien released a noise something akin to a snarl, causing the girl he loved and the boy he hated to look at him simultaneously. Another growl before he said, almost threateningly, “What do you mean you’ll be working with her.” It wasn’t really a question, so much as an extremely angry statement. He was obviously enraged, but Marinette was unsure why. Not knowing what else to do, she continued to sit there quietly, cautiously looking from one boy to the other.
Felix just gave a knowing smile to the green eyed boy whose eyes were burning into him like fire. He turned to Marinette, “I am pleased to have been chosen as your partner for this shoot.” He picked up one of her hands, and bent into a bow to kiss the back of said hand. Marinette, not wanting to be rude to someone she just met, let it happen, though it didn’t feel right. She could hear Adrien growling low and deep. When she turned her head to look at Adrien to see what was wrong, Felix leaned forward to whisper into her ear, “Come on, Marinette, I don’t bite.”
It happened so fast, Marinette hadn’t realized what had happened until it was over. Until after Felix had been knocked to the ground.
Adrien had stood up, fuming at this poser making advances on Marinette. His Marinette. He had prepared to take a heavy swing at the other boy, fist clenched and raised. But it hadn’t been because of him that Felix landed flat on his ass.
She slapped him.
Marinette had slapped him.
She was standing up in front of the taller boy who was now on his knees with a shellshocked look on his face, staring up at her. Adrien slowly lowered his fist, and he just stood there.
Finally, Marinette spoke down to the kneeling boy in front of her, “I would appreciate if you wouldn’t make unwelcome advances on me.” She paused, taking notice of the few other people who had noticed Felix’s position. “Now. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go for a walk.” And with that she took off her white and black mask and left the room.
Stunned silence until she was well away, before half the room started laughing quietly, and the other half worried if either Felix was okay or if Marinette was coming back to do the rest of the shoot. It only took Adrien a moment to process that he should probably follow her and make sure she was okay. On his way out of the room, he stopped by the director, telling him that he was going to go check on her.
Adrien was sprinting the second he was out of sight and into the hallway. He slowed to a halt, when the door to the stairs came into sight. It was slightly open. He pushed through and closed it softly behind him. He looked to his right when he heard her sweet voice, “Adrien?” She had taken off her heels and was now sitting on the floor in the corner.
Without saying a word, he joined her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders and pulling her against him. He nuzzled into the hair draped over her shoulder. “I wanted to make sure you were alright, Princess. Are you?” She smiled and nodded, leaning her forehead against his.
They sat quietly for several minutes before Marinette sighed and stood up. She held her hand out for him to grasp and yanked him to his feet. He laughed at her effort and picked up her shoes to hand to her.
They slowly made their way back to the shooting area, Adrien snuck a glance over to the dark haired girl and gave himself a smirk. His footsteps slowed just enough that within three more steps he was just far enough behind her to swiftly scoop her into his arms, bridal style.
He walked through the door with a flustered Marinette still wriggling in his arms, yet he refused to put her down just yet.
Without either of them noticing, there was a quick flash from a camera, and a happy smile from the shoot director.
~*~
When Marinette made her way to school a few days later, Alya immediately glomped her, squealing excitedly. Laughing, Marinette hugged her friend back just as tight. But before Marinette could ask what was up, Alya was already dragging her up the stairs and into the building. A huge group of their friends, including Juleka, Rose, Nathaniel, Nino, and several others, were all hovering over a sheepish looking Adrien.
Alya dragged Marinette to the front of the group and snatched a magazine from Nino, who had been holding it in front of Adrien and patting him on the back. When Marinette saw what Alya was pointing at, she felt her face go redder than her alter-ego’s spotted suit.
It was a picture of her and Adrien, only one that she didn’t know was taken. It was of her, cradled into Adrien’s arms. He was standing in a doorway, and Marinette’s face had gone a captivatingly light shade of pink. The two most genuine smiles had graced the pictured duo, making it a very charming candid photo.
When she lifted her eyes from the picture, she made direct contact with Adrien’s. He smiled lovingly at her and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I hadn't even realized that that picture was being taken. But, it looks amazing.”
Marinette looked at the picture once more, a delicate smile on her face.
“It looks perfect.”