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Chapter Text

The warm scent of baked bread and cookies welcomed Marinette as she walked into the bakery after school.  She began to call out a greeting to her parents when she realized the shop was empty. There was a brief, intense moment when Marinette’s thoughts zoomed towards an akuma but then she noticed the sign on the counter saying they were in a consultation and to ring the bell for service.

Catastrophizing thoughts silenced, Marinette grabbed some of the reject cookies (Marinette was ninety percent sure Papa kept it stocked even if the cookies could have been sold just to satisfy her--or Tikki’s--sweet tooth) and headed upstairs.  She’d just reached the first landing when her mother popped out of their small office and called out to her.

“Marinette!  Perfect timing!”  Sabine smiled proudly.  “We have a special guest that has asked to see you!”

“Me?” Marinette wondered as she went back down the stairs.  If it was a bakery consultation maybe it was one of her parents’ friends?  The last time a customer had asked to see her, Marinette had been nine years old and a friend of her papa’s aunt had come in and squished Marinette’s cheeks as she gushed about how adorable her pigtails were.

Poised for a quick get away if her pigtails endangered her cheeks again, Marinette followed her mother into the office.

And was swept into a hug by a purple blurr.

“Marinette!  How’s my favorite little designer!”  

“J-Jagged?”  Marinette stuttered, wide eyed.

Penny giggled as she rose from her chair to greet Marinette.  “You’re going to squish the poor girl, Jag.”

“Oh!  Right, love!  Sorry, Marinette!”  Jagged stepped back to let Penny--gently--hug her.

Marinette recovered from her surprise and returned the hug.  “It’s so good to see you both! What are you doing here?”

Jagged and Penny shared an excited look and then Penny extended her left hand and displayed an exquisite light purple diamond, rose gold engagement ring.

Marinette starred, bug eyed, before squealing and throwing her arms around the two.

 “Congratulations!”  Marinette enthused as she pulled back and bounced on her toes.  “Oh, this is incredible! I didn’t even know you were officially together!  Oh, I knew you’d be perfect for each other and you’ll be so happy!”

Everyone laughed with Marinette as she came down from her happy jig.  

“So, wait,” Marinette realized, “are you here to order your wedding cake?”

Jagged nodded and gestured towards the picked over flavor samples on the desk.  “It was hard to choose--I don’t think your parents know how to make something that doesn’t taste rock n’ roll--but they helped us narrow down the flavors for our croquembouche.”

“We actually had another reason for coming here today, Marinette,” Penny added with a smile.  “You know Jagged has made no qualms about reminding everyone that you’re his favorite designer--”

“I only speak the truth.” Jagged said as he slung his arm around Penny.

Penny laughed.  “And I agree with him.  You truly have a gift, Marinette, and what’s more, we know we can trust you with our privacy.  We were hoping you would let us commission you to make our wedding clothes?”

Marinette’s jaw dropped and her arms went limp.  She stared at them for a solid five seconds before jumping up and down again. 

“Eeeeeep!  I-I mean…” Marinette tried to compose herself and act professional.  “I would be honored! What kind of look did you have in mind? And when’s your wedding date?”

All four adults winced.

“That’s...the tricky part, M.” Jagged grimaced.

“You see,” Penny explained, “we’ve managed to keep our personal relationship out of the spotlight so far, but we would really like to get through the wedding and just enjoy it without the stress of the media swarming us.”

“Non-rock n’ roll piranha…” Jagged grumbled.

“We realize it’s only a matter of time before something blows our cover and our relationship is out.” Penny went on.  “That’s why we decided to have a quiet wedding with only our closest friends and family and then send out a press release once we are safely on our way to our honeymoon.  That way it’s released on our own terms and we can be off the grid for the initial press frenzy.”

“That makes sense...so just when is this quiet wedding?” Marinette braced herself.

“A week from Saturday.”  Penny winced.

Marinette felt her eye twitch.  Today was Friday. That meant, counting today, she had nine days to make two full designs for a rock star and his bride.  No, eight days--she would need to have them finished on friday with maybe a little wiggle room for final adjustments.

“We understand that this is asking a lot, Marinette,” Jagged said. “We’re basically doing a glorified elopement, just without that sneaking out under cover of night and climbing out a window and down a ladder bit.  We’d completely understand if this is too much for you.”

Marinette straightened to attention.  “Absolutely not! It’ll be close and we might be limited on what I can promise you, but I will make you the most rock n’ roll bride and groom Paris has ever seen!”

That made everyone laugh and Sabine put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“Your Papa and I have talked about it,” she said, “and while we wouldn’t normally do this, we recognize that this is an opportunity that could make a big difference to your future, so we’ve decided that we can excuse you from school a few days next week if you need it.  And no, young lady, you are not allowed to pull all-nighters to get the work done.”

Marinette pouted but nodded her agreement.  “Understood.”

She missed Jagged sharing a wink with Tom.

“It’s going to be a small wedding,” Jagged explained.  “Penny’s brother’s got a beautiful penthouse flat with a rooftop garden.  There’s room enough for the ceremony and even a light meal and some dancing.

“I talked with your musician friend Luka,” he went on, “he and Kitty Section are going to do music for the ceremony and a set for the reception.  He even agreed to keep our identities under wraps until the band gets there. The other members know that they’ve got a gig at a wedding, but he said they might get too excited and slip if they knew who they were playing for before hand.”

“That’s great!”

“We’re very excited.” Penny blushed.

“So, besides Kitty Section, your parents will, of course, be there.” Jagged recounted.  “Then there’s Penny’s parents and her brother and sister-in-law, I’ve got my Mum and cousin Iggy…there’s a few friends from over the years, their plus ones--we’re not really having anyone from the industry--and, of course, we want you there!”

Marinette should have been warned by the dangerous look in her ‘uncle’ Jagged’s eye.

“Why don’t you bring that sunshine, model friend of yours along as a date?” Jagged asked, as innocent as a minx.

“D-da-wha a-a,” Marinette slapped her hands to her cheeks, “Adrien? A date?”

“Sure, why not?” Jagged smiled. “Just tell him to keep it hush-hush until after the wedding and you guys can come and have a good time!”

Sabine and Tom chuckled at the beat red, stunned look on their daughter’s face.

“We’re all finished here,” Sabine said and ushered her daughter toward the door. “Why don’t you three go upstairs and consult about the designs?”

Marinette was still sputtering as she walked up the stairs.

Penny shot her fiance an amused glare.  “And just what was that?”

Jagged smiled back and pecked her on the cheek.

“You know you think they’re sweet together--you ship them just as much as I do!”  Jagged smirked. “Maybe I can save the poor boy from being a wasteful, oblivious fool as long as I was.  Who knows? Maybe a certain someone will even catch the bouquet!”

Penny rolled her eyes affectionately.  “Keep in mind that they’re only sixteen.  Wait a few more years before you suggest where to buy engagement rings.”

Jagged opened his mouth to deny that he would do that, only to give it up as a lost cause.  He had been carrying the jeweler's business card in his pocket since he bought the ring. In his defense, it wasn’t just for Marinette and Adrien!  It was a good jeweler! He could pass on the information to other people, too!

“Fine.” he mumbled.

Marinette was a little nervous about taking them to her room for a consultation.  The Adrien posters had become more reasonable over the years, but they still speckled her wall--hey, it’s not everyday your crush has such a ready supply of gorgeous pictures you can gawk at!  She loved her room, but she was nervous that it seemed too teenagery for to be entertaining design clients.

Jagged and Penny didn’t seem to feel that way, though, and the way they sat comfortably on her chase soon put Marinette’s mind at ease.  Soon, she was lost in a world of purple designs.

Jagged and Penny had a base idea of what they were wanting and Marinette’s inspiration was instantly sparked.  She was so thankful that ideas were coming easily for this project because she would need to run to the fabric story today before closing.

Jagged was deviating from his usual rocker jacket for the occasion.  Marinette designed him dark purple dress pants with a lavender strip running down the outside of each leg.  She was going to pick out a soft, formal fabric to make a short sleeved, deep v-neck shirt to wear with a dark purple leather vest.  He said he would supply his own shoes--Marinette was forcing herself not to wince or remind herself that he actually said boots .  It was his choice and she was not going to worry about him showing up with worn out punk boots that would clash with the outfit...or at least she’d try not to worry too much.  To finish the look, Marinette planned a studded leather belt and matching leather wristlet. 

Jagged raised an eyebrow at the word ‘wristlet,’ obviously thinking it sounded to dainty, but she showed him her idea that would look more like a leather guard or band around his wrist.

When the conversation shifted toward the bridal gown, Jagged threw his hands over hears and started childishly chanting, “La, la, la! Not listening!  La, la, la! Not listening!”

He quickly made toward the exit.  “I’ll leave you ladies to it, I know better than to tempt bad luck on our wedding day!”

The girls laughed as he closed the trap door behind him and retreated down stairs.

“You happy, Penny?” Marinette asked.

Penny beamed back at her.  “Very. I know there will be tough moments, and we’re probably crazy for trying to get married in a week, but I know we’ll be good partners.  I’m not worried about having the perfect wedding, I just want us to be married.”

Marinette admired how Penny talked about marriage.  It was very similar to how her parents talked about it.

Penny’s style was slightly more conservative than Jagged’s usual loud tastes.  They decided on a pale lavender dress with a dual skirt; the under skirt would be form-fitted skirt to just above her knees.  The over skirt would be open in front to showcase the underskirt and the hem would start high by her waist and billow down at an angle from a studded belt into a wide, full skirt that dropped below her knees.  The bodice would be fitted and have a more v-shaped, edgy sweetheart neckline with spaghetti straps that crossed over a dipped back. Marinette would also make her a matching birdcage veil and fingerless, lace gloves.  

It was quite the undertaking, but Marinette was already working out a timetable in her head so that she could manage well.  She’d have to adjust for akumas…she could only hope it would be a light week. 

Marinette made plans to have a brief ‘fitting’ the next day with both of them so that she could check the color tones of the fabric with their skin tones before she did any cutting.  They also made a few appointments for later in the week when the outfits would be ready for actual fittings.

Jagged and Penny made a clandesend get away and Marinette booked it to the fabric store.  It was a rush to get everything she would need before closing, but she was well acquainted with the store and the owner, Maurice.  When she told him she’d just gotten a big, rushed commision he assured her that he would let her stay after closing a few minutes.

Marinette was one of Maurice’s favorite customers.  She knew quality when she saw it, but was thrifty and had a good head on her shoulders.  She always had a kind word to say to him, and he’d even caught her defending his little girl from bullies in the park once--though she didn’t know, at the time, that the girl was his daughter.

Marinette swiftly made her decisions about fabrics, but made sure she didn’t make panicked, poor decisions.  In the end, she had everything that she needed, minus a few things that she had Maurice order for her with a rush charge--grateful for the business credit card Penny had given her to cover costs.  Maurice assured her that she would have the last few items by monday and she was walking out of his store not ten minutes after closing.

That night Marinette made the patterns--a grueling process, but one that she was an expert at.  Her parents managed to convince her to let them cut out the pattern paper, after she marked it, while she knocked out her homework for the weekend while she still had the chance.  Then they forcibly removed her from her work space so she would get ready for bed and made her promise not to do any more work until morning.

Marinette was riding a designing high and didn’t want to stop, but acknowledged that she’d done as much as she could for the day and that she was at a good stopping point.

“What a day, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed as the Dupain-Cheng home quieted down for the night.  “I’m so excited for you!”

Marinette did a little wiggle as she settled back in bed.  “I know! I can’t believe it! Designing wedding attire for Jagged Stone’s Wedding!  Pinch me, I must be--yow! Tikki, we talked about this! It’s just an expression!”

Tikki giggled.  “So? Are you going to take them up on their offer of a plus one?”

Marinette flushed beat red but was saved by a video chat request on her phone.

“Yipe!”

Okay, maybe not saved.  Adrien was calling her.

Chapter Text

“Hey, A-adrien!” Marinette smiled and waved into the camera.  “How was your evening?”

Adrien blew a frustrated breath out.  “I have mixed emotions on that front.”

“How so?”  Marinette asked.

“My father had his little spy over again today, not that I’m supposed to know about that.” Adrien grumbled.  “Of course, they would be more convincing if Lila didn’t oh-so-sweetly make a point to stop by and say hello to me and paw through my stuff because she was just ‘in the neighborhood.’”

Adrien smiled then, and she could tell it was genuine and not forced despite the topic.  “But now I’m talking to you, so it must not be that bad an evening!”

Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes.  Their relationship had changed over the last few years.  She was still nervous around him at times, but they were definitely mutual best friends.  Lila had attempted to make good on her declaration of war, but Adrien had thwarted Lila’s attempts and stood by Marinette’s side.  When the trouble with Lila had started becoming apparent, Adrien had taken her aside and asked her to be frank with him about what was going on.  She told him about the threats and Lila’s attitude about telling people what they wanted to hear. They had been very careful about how they navigated the situation from then on--especially after Adrien discovered his father was using Lila to spy on him.

Both Marinette and Adrien were leary about what the consequences of full-out exposing Lila would mean after that discovery.  Adrien felt betrayed because of the spying and because he knew, even if he was unlikely to get help from his father before the discovery, that he couldn’t go to his father or Natalie to ask for advice on the problem.  They did, however, team up with the Dupain-Chengs and handled the situation carefully.

Nino was one of the first to learn the truth.  Marinette was a little envious because all Adrien had to do was pull Nino aside and explain the situation and his best friend had a change of attitude.  He apologized to Marinette for belittling her concerns, for not taking her seriously, and for letting Lila manipulate him into treating Marinette poorly.

The rest of the class was neither here nor there.  They didn’t take Lila’s claims against Marinette seriously, but neither did they truly believe Lila was lying to them.  Of course, Alix had thrown a fit when she caught Lila lying about a pro skater and hadn’t trusted her since. 

Alya was another story.  She was a stalwart defender of Lila and refused to entertain the idea that Lila was lying to them.  It was because of her defence that the rest of the class didn’t think much of the claims that Lila was lying.  Alya wasn’t unkind about it, but she was just too stubborn to admit that she was so easily fooled or that she hadn’t done due diligence.  

It wasn’t great for their friendship, but they just developed a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy when it came to Lila.  Marinette was hurt, yes, but she was more concerned for Alya. She, Nino, and Adrien were watching as Alya slowly changed under Lila’s manipulation.  She was prone to defensiveness--more than usual--and Alya was less bold than she had been when they first met her. Lila had her hand in almost every part of Alya’s life.  She influenced what she wrote about, she controlled what she wore (Lila was fond of burnt orange and didn’t want to share the color palate, so she convinced Alya that orange looked bad on her), she demeaned Alya’s relationship with Nino, caused tension with her family, and slowly tried to limit the contact Alya had with her other friends.  Alya picked up the slack on the work Lila couldn’t do because of her ‘humanitarian’ work. She wouldn’t even listen to Ladybug when her favorite superhero tried to caution her about Lila’s influence, saying that Lila had warned her that Ladybug was overly cautious and suspicious of her-best-friend-Lila’s other friends.

Marinette knew an abusive relationship when she saw it, and Lila and Alya’s friendship was abusive. 

Alya didn’t want to see it and argued that they were nothing like Chloe and Sabrina’s abusive friendship--or how they used to be. Chloe was making positive strides because of diligent mentoring from the positive people in her life like Ladybug, Adrien, Ms. Bustier, and Jean-What’s-His-Name.  Sabrina was also coming into her own and they had a much healthier friendship, even if it still had its hiccups.  

They all did what they could but ultimately had to wait, hope, and pray that Alya would come to her senses before it was too late.

Ladybug and Cat Noir’s relationship had also undergone some changes.

After Oblivio, they eventually arranged a time to have a long overdo discussion.  Ladybug restated how dangerous it was when he lost focus during battle. She explained the stress that it put her under to worry that one of these days their luck would run our and either someone would get hurt or Hawkmoth would get their Miraculouses.  Or both.  

It was also hard on her to have to keep turning him down when he knew she had feelings for someone else.  Now that she knew he meant it when he flirted with her, it put her on edge and she was starting to feel like it was affecting their friendship.

He apologized.  He knew he was being childish at times, but he was also struggling to know what to do with his feelings for her.  He opened up to her that he didn’t have a lot of experience with close relationships and he didn’t really have anyone he could talk to about her--especially not by name.  

The fact that he felt stifled in his everyday life came as a shock to her.  She figured he was one of those outgoing, gregarious types, but, again, she was surprised to get a hint of a sensitive and vulnerable soul underneath Cat’s bravado.

They made a deal.  Cat would make an effort not to flirt during akuma fights, although he was allowed the well timed pun so long as he didn’t lose focus because he said that if he tried to stop he might die.  They would make plans once a week to do a ‘patrol’ that really was a glorified ‘play date’--as Cat called it--for them to relax, have fun, eat some junk food, and maybe occasionally game plan about Hawkmoth.  And, perhaps the hardest point, Cat promised to work on allowing himself to be himself outside the mask.

Cat Noir delivered on his promises, too.  Overnight, he stopped flirting at inappropriate times.  Of course, on the occasion of their first ‘play date,’ Ladybug had nearly fallen off a roof laughing when he’d showed up with an itemized list of all the flirty quips he’d held in during fights and could now safely share with her.

In return, Ladybug agreed she would stick to their agreement and cultivate their friendship.  She promised him that he could also use her as a sounding board for advice on relationships--and not just romantic relationships either.  Ladybug would encourage him while he figured out who ‘the cat behind the mask’ was and support him when he felt inadequate and penned in. She also made it a point to warn him against flirting unless he meant it, even if it was part of his nature to tease and charm, because some might take him seriously, unlike her, and it would be leading them on.  

She told him he had given her the courage to believe in herself and let herself shine and so she would be there to do the same for him.

Their friendship was never the same after that, it was much stronger.  Their teamwork excelled even past their already spotless reputation and they were a true force to be reckoned with.

It was actually around that time, oddly enough, that her friendship with Adrien began to take off.  He started, obviously nervously, being more outgoing with his friends. He let his nerdier side show through more often, to the utter disdain and contempt of Lila--who had ever since attempted to control him and mold him back into what she wanted.  He teased all his friends more readily and Marinette found herself a frequent target after one of his comments triggered her Kitty Reflex and she had promptly and involuntarily teased him right back as she would her partner. Then she found out he was also a pun addict--must be a blonde thing--and she would mercilessly either harass him about his terrible puns or engage in a heated pun war and show the boy how it was really done.  Consequently, she’d revised her collection of birthday gifts and ever since then every birthday, Christmas, or ‘just because’ gift somehow involved pun based merchandise.

He wore the first Meowy Pawmas sweater to school every day for a month after she gave it to him at Christmas.  Of course, when he wore his pun merchandise he had to smuggle it out of his house and put it on at school like tween girl hiding that she was putting on makeup against her parents’ wishes.  Unfortunately, that practice died when he found out that Lila was spying for Gabriel.  

He was a regular at the Dupain-Cheng house, though he didn’t tell Marinette that he was sneaking out of his room as Cat Noir in order to make it there most times.  Tom quickly became a role model for him and had offered to make him an apprentice baker whenever Adrien wanted. He’d nearly broke down and cried because he knew that, coming from Tom, that was basically an offer to adopt him.  He still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life after school, but he was feeling more optimistic about having choices since he knew he had supportive adults in his life encouraging him to make his own responsible choices.

“How was your evening, Star Eyes?”  Adrien asked.

Marinette beamed so brightly that Adrien was sure he would have been blinded if they weren’t separated by a phone screen.

“I got an amazing commission today!”  Marinette gushed. “I can’t tell you who it is because they are eloping and trying to keep it hush-hush--”

“Oh, that’s so romantic!” Adrien gushed.

Marinette giggled.  “I knew you’d think so!  Anyway, they are doing a small ceremony and reception and have asked me to make their wedding clothes.  So, that means I’m doing my first wedding dress and groom’s ensemble...for next Saturday.”

“Next Saturday!?” Adrien exclaimed.

“It’s a little close.” Marinette shrugged.

“Marinette, you do know that we mere mortals need sleep, right?  As well as food, water--you know. Nutrients.” Adrien sassed.

“I know, I know.  It’ll be really close, but it's a great opportunity and my parents are behind me.  They already said they would call me out from school a day or two if I need it--so if I go MIA over the next week don’t worry.  Just send pizza and coffee.” Marinette sassed back.

She couldn’t help but giggle when she heard Adrien groan dramatically.

“Say...I do have a--um...a...well...I guess it’d be a question for you?” Marinette asked hesitantly.  Was she really doing this? What, three years of unspoken and unrequited love from afar and she was just going to pull this stunt out of nowhere?  Maybe she was drunk on designing adrenaline.

“What’s up?”  Adrien became serious, picking up on her nervousness.

“Okay, so...the bride and groom are kinda friends of the family.”  Marinette explained. “Mama and Papa are going to be making the croquembouche and all three of us are invited to the wedding.  Kitty Section is also going to be playing, actually, though don’t bring it up with any of them because Luka is the only one that knows who the couple is.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll just keep radio silence about the whole thing.  Although, I wonder if Kagami knows? You know how she gets when she’s determined to find out something.”  Adrien commented.

“Heaven help Luka if his girlfriend gets on him about this.”  Marinette said without hesitation. “Anyway…the couple said that I could bring a-a p-plus one if I wanted to...so I guess what I’m asking is, would you like to be my date for the wedding?”

She immediately started backpedaling.  “Not that it has to be a-a date-date! It could be a friend-date--an escort!  Wait, does that sound weird? Probably, who says escort now a days? Um--I--”

“Marinette?” Adrien interrupted.  “ I would love to be your date to the wedding.  Actually, if it’s something you’d be interested in as well… I wouldn’t mind if we called it a date-date.”

“Really?” Marinette asked timidly.

Was he blushing? He was blushing!  Oh, no. He looked adorable.

Adrien was doing that nervous tick he had--that Lila criticized him for--of rubbing the back of his neck.  “Yeah, actually...I mean, I’ll have to get Father’s permission for the wedding, so let’s hope for a miracle…but I was actually going to ask you out for coffee or ice cream tomorrow. I mean, obviously that’s on hold until after your project--unless you’d really like me to bring you that coffee?”

“I-I guh, gwah--” Marinette shook herself.  “You wanted to ask me out? But what about that other girl you’re in love with?”

Adrien looked like she’d asked him what had happened to his pet, three-headed, talking dog from Mars.  “Wait, what?”

“Um, you know… the girl you told me you were in l-love with?  After the wax museum?” Marinette asked, meanwhile wondering why she was putting her foot in her mouth instead of just saying yes.

Adrien, if possible, looked even more surprised.  “You remember that?”

Marinette gave him the stink eye.  “It was a memorable day that we will never speak of again.”

“Right...It never worked out with her, actually.”  Adrien explained. “We both realized we were better off as friends.  I’ve actually had my feelings sorted out on that for a while now... I can’t believe you remember that!”

“Heh, heh.  Yeah…”

“Marinette, was there a reason?” Adrien asked tentatively.

Marinette took a deep breath.  Stupid mouth. It never listened to her stupid brain.

“I, uh...I may have had feelings for you for...a while.”  Marinette sheepishly admitted.

“Really?” Adrien brightened.  “I thought you thought of me as just a really good friend?”

Marinette glared at him through the phone.  “Don’t give me that, Agreste! You’ve been friendzoning me for years!”

Adrien sputtered.  “I have?!”

“Yes!” Marinette sighed.  “You know, people have money on when you’ll realize I have a crush on you!”

“What?!  Why didn’t someone someone just tell me!  Deciphering teenage relationships is hard!” Adrien yelped.

Marinette thought she heard a cackling on Adrien’s side of the phone, but dismissed it as that audio disturbance Adrien had told her his phone had.  She totally missed Tikki rolling her eyes and shaking her head in annoyance.

“So, wait!” Adrien said.  “Back then after the museum?  Did you have a crush on me then?”

“Guilty.”

Adrien groaned.  “I was so insensitive!  I’m so sorry, Marinette!  I never would have rubbed my-- then, may I make myself clear, I’m saying THEN, as in former --crush in your face!”

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.  “Adrien, you didn’t know. Besides, I was disappointed but it helped me remember that you needed me as a friend, not as a girlfriend.  I’ve really enjoyed these last few years getting to know you as my Sunshine bestie.”

Adrien smiled at her.  “Can’t say I disagree with that.  Your one of my best friends, Star Eyes.  Thanks for letting me be myself.”

“It's been my honor,” Marinette said sincerely before adding, “It’s not every day one gets to meet a specimen of your advanced nerdiness, after all.”

Adrien laughed and foundly rolled his eyes.  He caught sight of the time.

“You need to get some sleep while you can, Sleeping Beauty.” he teased.  “Talk to you tomorrow?”

Marinette blushed hotly and smiled back.  “Tomorrow. Good night, Adrien. Sweet dreams!”

What a day.

Chapter Text

Marinette crashed--literally--through the classroom door on Monday morning and tripped over her own feet on her way to her desk.  A few students giggled, Lila and (unfortunately) Alya outright laughed, but Adrien and Nino jumped up to help her as she groaned in a Marinette heap on the floor.

“I’ve heard it said that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.” Adrien said by way of greeting.  “You okay?”

“Yeah...thanks.” she said to them both and went to her seat with Adrien following her.

“I thought you were going to take time off to get ahead?” Adrien asked softly.

Marinette nodded.  “I still might, but if I can manage it, I'm going to try to balance my work and class time so I don’t get behind here, either.  I’m planning on trying to knock out as much homework as possible during lunch and then hopefully I’ll be free to work as soon as I get home.” 

“Uh huh.  And food?” Adrien questioned.

“Currently is a casualty to the effort.”  Marinette answered drolly. “You’d be proud though, it put up a good fight.”

“Yeah, how about no.  I’ll grab us lunch and we can eat in the library while you work.  Don’t argue, I will resort to feeding you like a baby, if necessary.” Adrien said and sat down just as Ms. Bustier entered.

“What was that about?” Alya whispered.

Adrien winced and wondered if he’d just ripped open the proverbial can of worms.

“I got a big commision but it has a tight deadline.  Sorry I can’t tell you more, but I signed a confidentiality agreement.” Marinette whispered back.

“Does Adrien know?” Alya’s voice plainly held hurt.

“He knows about the time crunch part but not who it’s for.” Marinette answered.

“Would it really be such a big deal to tell me?”

Marinette sighed.  “I’m sorry, Alya, but if I tell anyone I would be violating my agreement and I could lose my credibility and held accountable to penalties. I’ll fill you in on all the details as soon as I can, promise.”

Alya sighed.  “Alright, girl, I understand.”

Adrien felt anxiety knot in his stomach.  Alya was clearly not all onboard for the secrecy and he could practically feel Lila preening in the back, sensing the tense atmosphere.  One look at Nino and he knew he felt the same. Ten to one, Lila would be adding fuel to the fire by the end of the day.

Marinette did not need the added stress of Lila and Alya drama to distract her from her already stressful week.  Don’t get her wrong, she was ecstatic to be designing for Jagged and Penny’s wedding, but she had had nothing but nightmares last night of things like Penny walking down the aisle in a burlap sack, Jagged wearing a barrel for cover as though he was in an old Hollywood comedy (worse, he was wearing the ragged punk boots she feared), and Fang telling her off for ruining the wedding before eating her.  So no, sleep was taking a hit whether she tried to get good sleep or not.  

Tired, and yes, Adrien , hungry, she was tucked away in a quiet library corner with the day’s assignments spread out before her on the table.  Marinette was glad, and holding back the warm-fuzzy feeling and blush that tried to turn her into Mushinette, that Adrien had offered to get lunch for her.

He’d basically done the same thing on Saturday, too, making good on his promise to bring her pizza and coffee.  Only, on Saturday he had brought her cherry cola and Chinese takeout. It had been exactly what she was craving and she wondered what dark magic he used to accomplish the feat of guessing correctly.

She had successfully completed Jagged and Penny’s fabric check and had finalized a few design details, getting them in and out of the Dupain-Cheng house without any prying eyes being the wiser.  The fabrics had been well received and the finished sketches had been raved over--to a blushing Marinette, which only spurred Jagged on more because he said she needed to get used to how awesome she was.  A few hours later the blush had receded and she was deep into a sewing trance. She was not so far gone, however, not to be broken from her spell when she heard a rift from The Twilight Zone ’s theme song.  Marinette promptly picked up her phone when she heard Adrien’s personal ringtone--that he had picked himself and changed without telling her, thus giving her a heart attack when it had first gone off.  He thought that had been hilarious. The nerd.

She was both excited and amused when she saw his text.

Adrien: Ragnarok is upon us.  My father said I could be your date to the wedding!

Marinette: Yay! Grab your apocalypse kit and dress semi-formal with an edge.  We’re leaving at noon to help set up, is that time okay for you?

Adrien: That’ll work purr-fectly. :)  And it’s not an apocalypse kit, it’s a zombie preparedness kit.

Marinette: *Eye Roll* Sure it is, Sunshine.  Just remember, it's an elopement and we need to not even mention it to Alya or Nino.  Probably not till Monday...at least. I guess. I don’t know. You’ll understand when you get there.

Adrien: I would never sacrifice a poor young couple’s romantic elopement to Alya’s insatiable hunger for a story.  And Nino can’t lie or keep a secret to save his life. The poor fool. Nope. The cat’s got my tongue and will be staying in the bag.

Marinette: Ha!  It’s always cats with you! Whyyy!?  Well, wish I could talk but I’m up to my ears in fabric.  Back to the grindstone! Be assured, the sewing machine has not yet eaten me and I will reemerge into the land of the living soon!  Remind me, what does the sun look like?

Marinette almost cried laughing when Adrien sent her a closeup picture of his hair, with him just barely visible and posing dramatically.  She barely managed to send him back a gif of a Looney Toon laughing hysterically.

Adrien: When are you breaking for dinner?

Marinette: Probably around 5?

Adrien: Uh huh.  That’s what I thought.  It’s 6 now.

Marinette:   Oops.  Don’t judge me.

Adrien: No judgment, just open the door.

That caught her off guard, but Marinette had a smile growing as she leapt up and went downstairs.  Sure enough, Adrien was standing there when she opened the door to the apartment--takeout in hand and wearing a huge, smug grin.

They had shared it in the living room--Marinette was not letting anything that could stain within  a ten foot radius of her work! Plus, if Adrien saw all the purple he’d probably put together who the client was.  She decidedly ignored the fact that a certain pair of parents regularly popped in to say hello. Marinette was disgustingly certain she’d heard a camera go off at one point.  Adrien loved the parental interaction, though, so she supposed she couldn’t be too mortified.

“So, does this count as our first date?” Marinette asked with a blush.

Adrien’s face lit up in return.  “I--um,” he cleared his voice of a squeek, “I don’t think this is can be called a first date, just Adrien and Marinette bestie time.  No, we’ve done this before and it’s not good enough for a first date with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette almost bit back a giggle and blushed a few shades even darker.  “How gallent!”

“A knight in shining armor does try.” Adrien said dramatically.

They had a nice break together, admittedly shorter than either would like and Adrien kissed her hand before he ‘took his leave,’ as he put it.

She blushed and had a dreamy smile just thinking about it, which just happened to be when Adrien sidled up next to her and whispered in her ear, “Thinking about something special?  Dare I get my hopes up?”

Marinette jumped in her seat, screeching a little ‘eep!’ that had the librarian shushing her.  Adrien chuckled and placed a lunch tray in front of her before taking his seat.

Marinette glared at his smug smirk, but ignored his question.  He already knew anyway.

“Are you sure I can’t pay you back for this?” she asked.

He gave her an are-you-serious look.

“I know you can afford it but that’s not a free pass for people to take advantage of you!” she argued.

Adrien felt his heart melt and he took her hand to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles.  “Thank you, Marinette, but I know you’d never take advantage of me. Look at it this way, you like making gifts for your friends and I like to feed my friends when I get the chance.  I think it’s a trait I picked up from your mother.”

Marinette smiled.  “Well, when you put it that way, I’m sure she’ll be proud.  It’s still her goal to fatten you up, you know.”

Adrien pawsitively beamed.  “Hey, she’s welcome to it! As soon as we graduate, you know, I’m moving out and quitting modeling.  Father won’t have any say in it, I have plenty of savings to live off of even if he cuts me off from my trust fund--which he shouldn’t be able to do anyway since it was set up by Mother in her will.  And let me tell you, on that glorious day I am buying out the bakery and eating until I pass out! No more model diets ever again!”

“Here, here!” Marinette toasted him with her water bottle and tried to ignore the painful twisting in her gut at the reminder of how much Adrien hated modeling. 

Adrien waggled his eyebrows at her and then pointed at her food.  She did not have to be reminded twice, and Adrien was gentlemanly enough not to comment when her stomach did an impression of a whale before she took her first bite.  Thankfully, the school lunch had been a deli sliced chicken sandwich on half a baguette so she could easily eat with one hand and work with the other. Adrien ate silently next to her and focused on his own work, knowing that she needed to make every spare moment count this week.  It was nice, though, because even as she was absorbed in her work, Adrien never once felt like Marinette was pushing him away or ignoring him like when his father obsessed over the company.

Half way through the lunch break, they heard snickers coming from a table blocked from view by a row of books.  It was easily ignored, at first, until a voice spoke up in a false whisper that instinctively caused their stomachs to roil.

“That’s just inexcusable, Alya!  I don’t know how you put up with it!” Lila’s voice carried so well they were sure the whole library could hear.  Where was the librarian when you needed him? “Marinette’s just so secretive, it’s clear she doesn’t trust you.”

Adrien frowned and felt his blood boil, sharing an almost identical look with Marinette, the only difference being that what was left of Marinette’s sandwich was quickly becoming crumbs in her clenched fist.

“Marinette sometimes works with confidentiality agreements,” Alya said more quietly, “It’s just needed sometimes, and, admittedly, people have tried to steal her designs before.”

Lila sighed pathetically.  “I’ve worked with plenty of celebrities myself, Alya.  They wouldn’t think twice if I told my best friend about it in confidence.”

“Well...Marinette tends to think of worst case scenarios a lot.  She’s probably just trying to be extra careful to adhere to the contract.”  Alya said softly.

“If you say so, bestie,” Lila cooed, “I just think you deserve better.”

Adrien reached out to squeeze Marinette’s hand as they fell silent.  Marinette squeezed his hand back and just shook her head at the situation.  Clearly, Lila had wanted them both to hear the exchange. They both had expected Lila’s new dose of poisoning, but they couldn’t do anything about it.  Confronting Alya again would only push her further away, they’d found that out the hard way. Once, they’d even gotten Alya’s parents and Nora, all of whom were already concerned, involved but Alya had shut them down and had iced out everyone but Lila for a week.

Marinette didn’t realize her eyes had been watering until Adrien brushed a stray tear off her cheek.  He gave her a sad smile and she leaned over so they could share a side hug. One last knowing look passed between them before they went diligently and silently back to work.

Tuesday found Marinette taking her parent’s up on their offer to let her stay home from school.  She was still stressed about the timeline, and slightly behind. She’d woken up in a cold sweat after another nightmare where her designs had literally fallen apart at the seams while Jagged and Penny stood at the altar.  Penny had wept and Jagged had looked at her in deep betrayal and said he knew they should have chosen Lila as their designer.

Marinette had promptly crept downstairs, nudged her mother awake, and whispered, “Lila wouldn’t know a couture suit from a birthday suit!  I’m staying home tomorrow...or...today!”

“That’s nice, Marinette, go back to sleep.  You can tell me about your nightmare in the morning.” Sabine was an expert at this exchange and was already back to sleep before Marinette had tiptoed back out the door.

It was actually the perfect timing to take the day off because Jagged and Penny would be arriving on Wednesday evening for their first set of actual fittings and Marinette wanted as much of a finished project to show them as possible.  Come to think of it, she’d probably take Wednesday off, as well.

She was quite pleased with her progress as the daylight dimmed outside her window.  She had various aches and pains from working too long in the same position, but Marinette only felt satisfied as she paused her work and stretched her back upon hearing a knock on the door.

Marinette idly wondered who it could be as she went to answer it.  Her parents were still working downstairs and she knew Adrien had gone straight from school, to fencing practice, to a photoshoot on the other side of the city.  Checking the time, she knew it was likely he was still at the shoot. Nino had already brought her the homework she’d missed, the main reason he’d volunteered for the job being that he had promised on Monday not to bug her about her project and he knew Lila was still slipping critiques about Marinette’s secretiveness in any conversation she could manage it.  Barring Adrien, he was the most trusted friend for the job. He hadn’t even interrupted her work, understanding that whatever she was working on was BIG and he just gave it to her parents. Nino left with a palmier in his mouth, a pain au chocolat in his hand, a box of madeleines to bring home for his family, and the instruction from Sabine that he was a growing boy and needed to put some meat on his bones.

She opened the door and dropped her jaw in surprise.

Marinette didn’t know how he did it.  Of course, the obvious answer was that he was using his superhero powers as a renowned model and the son of the Gabriel Agreste for the forces of good.  Or, at least, for the forces of romance.

They hadn’t even gone on an official date yet and already they had easily slipped into roles of an established relationship.  The plus side, she supposed, of being in love with your best friend. Adrien had quickly proven to be an expert at offering support whilst wooing his girl.

Adrien had somehow managed to find her a delivery service that would bring coffee and pizza to her door.  Now, a lanky college student stood before her with a to-go crafte of what smelled like her favorite coffee and a still-warm box of pizza with a single red rose resting on the lid.

“Special delivery!” the guy said smiling.

With a small squeal and a thank you, Marinette tried to tip him but he declined and said it had already been taken care of.  Before he left, though, he told her he’d been instructed to ask her to look at the pizza.

Marinette was slightly befuddled, but complied.  When she opened the box she saw that the pizza was loaded with all her favorite toppings but also had M&Ms on it, laid out in the shapes of hearts.  She gasped. How long had it been since they had watched Princess Diaries together?!

“Oh, thank you--” she started to say but was cut off by a pitch pipe.

Adrien had hired her a singing telegram .

The little rascal.

To top everything off, the guy started to sing “Miracles Happen” from the Princess Diaries soundtrack.

She was blushing hard and alternating between embarrassment and elation.  She almost wished she had a camera...but apparently her papa was of a similar mindset because it was around that time that she noticed him recording the whole thing, hiding--as much a teddy bear of a man can hide--in the corner of the hallway.

She just sat back and enjoyed it.  The guy had a good voice and she guessed he was probably either already trying to make it as a musician or was studying music performance in university.  She definitely was feeling like she was being serenaded and the only thing that could have put it over the top would have been if it was Adrien himself singing it.

The song came to an end and the guy bowed to Marinette and Papa’s applause--a slightly awkward affair for Marinette since she was still holding the goodies.  The guy seemed good natured and even high-fived Papa on the way down the stairs.

“So what was this?” Papa sing-songed.

Marinette blushed and giggled giddily.  “He sent me pizza with M&Ms!”

Tom looked like he was trying and failing to hide how off-put he was by that flavor combo. “Oh…”

“Like from Princess Diaries .” Marinette reminded him.

“Oh!” Tom cooed and practically had hearts in his eyes.

“You enjoy your break, Cupcake.” Tom kissed her forehead.  “Mama and I will be finished soon and we’ll join you. How’s everything coming?”

“Really good.”  Marinette sighed in relief.  “I think that if I stay home tomorrow I can have both outfits finished in time for the fittings.  Then all I will have left to do will be the final alterations and the accessories.”

Tom shook his head in amazement.  “I don’t know how you do it, Marinette!  You just seem to be able to create at inhuman speeds!”

Marinette giggled.  “Guess I must just have a little of Ladybug’s luck on my side!”

Tom laughed and went down to finish helping in the bakery.

As soon as he was gone, she and Tikki chuckled a little at their inside joke.  Tikki proceeded to gush over the sweet gift while Marinette set up the pizza on the table and got a coffee mug down.  After savoring a sip of her coffee, Marinette sent Adrien a text with a gif from the movie and a note saying ‘thanks for seeing me when I was invisible.’”

A few minutes later he responded.

Adrien: You’ve never been invisible, you’ve always been a shining star, Star Eyes. <3

Marinette knew some people would call it cheesy, but she personally couldn’t bring herself to.  It was sweet and she knew it was from the heart. Any other view just felt too pessimistic.  

Marinette: You are my sunshine, Adrien.

Chapter Text

Adrien checked his reflection once more before he would have to head downstairs where he knew his father would be waiting to inspect him.

“Would you quit your worrying?  You like fine!” Plagg, ever sympathetic, said.  “If your pops doesn’t like it then he doesn’t have to look!  He can just use some of that stupid hair gunk he uses and glue his eyes shut!  Just imagine! You’d probably be able to walk around the house in your cats-doing-physics sweatshirt for a week.”

Adrien just rolled his eyes, unfazed by Plagg’s irreverence.  He eyed the outfit again and made sure he had camembert--safely sealed in a plastic bag where it would hopeful not share its foul odor--stode away in his inner vest pocket.  He dreaded the inevitable moment when Plagg would break it out and just hoped to get through the ceremony without suddenly smelling like a gym sock.  

Marinette had said to dress semi formal with an edge...and while Adrien loved what he’d chosen to wear, he wasn’t sure the great Gabriel Agreste would agree.

He was wearing black dress pants and a white button-down shirt with a high-quality, green vest.  He wasn’t wearing a tie and had instead left the top two buttons undone and rolled his sleeve cuffs to lend a dashing air.

He chose to ignore Plagg’s laughter whenever he’d said the words “dashing air.”  The kwamii had obviously let the odorous cheese he ate go to his head. No sense of suaveness, that cat, and the situation just couldn’t be remedied no matter how many times Adrien watched Disney’s The Aristocats with him.

C’est la vie.

“You’re going to be late if you want to help them.” Plagg reminded him.

Adrien looked at the clock.  “Oh camembert!”

Plagg bristled.  “Stop taking my lovely camembert’s name in vain!”

Adrien ignored him and Plagg had to hurry and hide in Adrien’s vest.

Marinette had encouraged him that the outfit was great and to trust himself, but as he descended the staircase and saw his father’s look of surprise he began losing confidence rapidly.

“This is what you’ve chosen to wear to accompany Ms. Dupain-Cheng to the wedding?” Gabriel challenged.

Adrien forced himself to smile casually and hold his ground.  “Marinette said the wedding has a casual atmosphere. It’s going to be small and held on a rooftop garden that’s owned by the bride’s brother, apparently.  Her suggestion was to go ‘semi formal with an edge.’”

Gabriel hummed and took in his son’s appearance.  Adrien stewed in anticipation long enough to be glad that he’d broken out the extra-strength antiperspirant deodorant this morning.  

Please don’t make me go change! Adrien thought.  Or worse, demand I stay home!  

He’d been surprised enough when his father gave him permission to go on the wedding-date with Marinette.  Adrien had had to beg Natalie for a five minute appointment to talk to his own father. When he finally was within the same room as the man, Adrien had to contend with a tablet for Gabriel’s attention.  Somehow, he caught his father’s attention when he said the word elopement .

“What was that?” Gabriel’s eyes suddenly flew off the tablet screen and locked on Adrien’s eyes.

“Friends of Marinette’s family are having a small, elopement style wedding next Saturday,” Adrien said and was pretty sure he saw Gabriel sigh in relief. “She’s been commissioned to make the wedding clothes and she’s been invited to attend the wedding.  Her parents are also attending and she invited me as her plus one.”

Gabriel looked thoughtful.  “Ms. Dupain-Cheng is undoubtedly an up and coming talent.  Adrien, do you have feelings for Marinette?”

Adrien worried what would happen if he said yes, but he knew his hot blush had already answered for him.  “Yes, Father. Marinette is one of my best friends and I care about her very much. I’ve actually been hoping to start a relationship with her.”

Gabriel nodded.  “I wouldn’t normally approve of you dating an aspiring designer, as so many of them would seek to use my son as a means to curry my favor, but Marinette has a well developed, stalwart work ethic.  She is obviously determined to make it in the industry based on her own merit and I’m confident she is not one to use people for connections. Indeed, I’m well aware that she risked career suicide when she antagonized Audrey Bourgeois into becoming closer with her daughter.  If you want to invest your time with her, then I approve.”

Adrien was shocked but tried to rein it in before it was so obviously splayed across his face that it was deemed rude.

“Thank you, Father, I appreciate that.” Adrien smiled.  “Then, may I go to the wedding?”

Gabriel nodded, a barest up-turn at the corner of his lips.  “Her parents are attending?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“If they are attending I will approve that you join them.”  Gabriel agreed. “I trust that they will ensure you and Marinette are not in an environment that turns too unruly.  Tom Dupain is, if memory serves, quite a large man as well… I will allow you to attend without your bodyguard, for the occasion, seeing as he will be on hand.”

Adrien had to hold in a chortle.  Tom Dupain may be built like a bear, but--unless he was akumatized--had all the ferocity of a teddy bear.  Although, Adrien was sure that he would be very protective of his family if the need arose.

He’d literally almost danced when he received his father’s official permission...instead he held out until he reached his bedroom and turned a jig while Plagg hid his pleasure behind a mask of exasperation.  

If his father reneged now it would devastate both Adrien and Marinette.  They’d both been looking forward to this all week.

It was the promise that got Adrien through the unpleasantness of having to pry Lila’s claws off his arms.  The sweet reward dangling in front of him when Lila faked concern over Marinette’s absence and oh-so-conveniently added that she hoped it didn’t have anything to do with something unsavory.  As if Marinette couldn’t have a mere sick day without getting Lila’s permission! Thankfully, Ms. Bustier had walked into the class just in time to hear that implication and had chastised Lila and announced that Marinette had been excused for work experience credits.  

When Marinette came back to school on Friday (a day later than she’d hoped), Adrien abandoned his dignity and begged her, on his knees, not to leave him with ‘the harpy’ again.  He preened when that made her laugh and as they walked to class she gifted him one of her Papa’s fresh strawberry filled croissants.  

Lila’s voice soured the sweet moment when she oh-so-kindly reminded him, “Careful, Adrien!  Those things are filled with so much fattening junk! You wouldn’t want Marinette to ruin your figure.”

Marinette had grit her teeth.  She smiled and replied. “As considerate as that is, Lila, my parents only use fresh, organic ingredients and their recipes are actually heralded as being innovatively health conscious.  So Adrien doesn’t need to worry, not that he would need to in the first place because he’s great the way he is and shouldn’t have to conform to someone else's idea that a certain body weight is the definition of beauty.”

That had gotten Marinette a shrill, approving whistle from Alix and more demure praise from Mylene, Rose, Nathaniel, Max, and (surprisingly) Chloe.  Adrien swung his arm proudly around Marinette’s shoulders and smiled widely while taking a pointedly large bite of the pastry. It would probably go on report to his father--along with whatever else Lila reported about, he still had no clue what she told him--but Adrien wouldn’t pass by an opportunity to celebrate this little victory.

“You chose well.”

Adrien was startled out of his musings when Gabriel finally voiced his opinion.

“I did?” Adrien squeaked.

Gabriel nodded once.  “It’s unconventional, but if the couple is who I suspect then an unconventional choice in attire is a wise decision for this occasion.  It still conveys respect for the event while also capturing a sense of charisma, or, as you put it, an edge .  You picked this out?”

“Yes, Father.”

Gabriel hummed.  “If you are growing tired of the modeling aspect of the brand, perhaps we can discuss the possibility of you learning more about the business side of things...perhaps interning in the acquisition or the marketing departments.  We could even see how you do on the other side of the camera; managing, staging, photography, etcetera.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Adrien beamed.  This was either the best day ever or he’d been correct when he’d teased Marinette last week and the world really was coming to an end.

“Very well,” Gabriel nodded.  “You had better leave if you want to arrive at the boulangerie on time, Adrien.”

“Thank you, Father,” Adrien nodded his head in a near bow, “have a good day!”

Relief flooded him like a tidal wave as he slipped into the back seat of the car.  His bodyguard was driving him to Marinette’s place and he would be arriving early enough to ensure he would be able to help the family load everything into the delivery truck.  With one small stop on the way there, Adrien was soon bounding up the steps to the Dupain-Cheng apartment.

Sabine answered the door when he knocked. “Oh, Adrien!  Don’t you look quite dashing!”

“Thank you, Sabine,” Adrien said with a smile, “you’re looking especially lovely yourself.”

Sabine giggled and teased.  “Save it for your girl, she’ll be down in a few minutes.  The final fitting went well yesterday, but she was still up late last night and awake early this morning trying to get the accessories done.  Thankfully, everything is finished, packed, and ready to go and--a bonus--she’s been so busy getting herself ready that she hasn’t had time to catastrophize yet.”

Adrien chuckled. “I can’t wait to see her, but in the meantime feel free to put me to work!”

“I knew I liked you,” Sabine smirked.  “Take a seat and relax for a few minutes.  Tom’s still getting the croquembouche ready for travel.”

Sabine had left to check on her husband and Adrien had wandered into the kitchen, and barely a minute past before the trapdoor to Marinette’s room open.  

Adrien starred in open awe as Marinette stepped lightly down the stairs with her heels swinging from her hand.  She was always a natural beauty, but today she had accented her features with a bold cateye eyeliner and pink lipstick.  Her dress, obviously a Marinette original, was her signature shade of pink. It was a two-piece ensemble with a fitted, high necked, sleeveless bodice and a wide, billowing skirt that went to her knee.  Her favorite blossom design adorned the left side of the skirt and making it reminiscent of a poodle skirt design. A modest gap between the waist of her skirt and bodice bore a sliver of midriff and she wore the demure obsidian pendant he’d given her for her last birthday to match her favorite earrings. She’d styled her hair into messy (but not really messy--more like rockstar-teased) curls and was just.  Absolutely. Gorgeous. 

“M-m…” what was her name again? Wait.  What was his name?

“Cat got your tongue?” Marinette maganged to tease through her blush.

You have no idea, Adrien thought.

“You look stunning, Marinette.” Adrien got himself together.  You’re Cat Noir! You can do this! he reminded himself. “This is truly unfair to the bride.”

Marinette giggled.  “You underestimate me, good sir!  If you’re impressed with this, wait until you see the gorgeous bride in the gorgeous dress I’ve made her!”

“I don’t know… you set the bar pretty high, Star Eyes.”  Adrien teased.

“You look very handsome, as well, Adrien.” Marinette dared to run a hand down the collar of his vest.  “This is a good look on you. Very Adrien .” she paused and seemed to lose the grasp she had on her flirtatious vibe.  “And by Adrien, I mean you. Not the perfume or the perfume add.”

Adrien laughed.  “Why thank you. Does that mean I don’t have to go leaping across rooftops, flapping my arms like Mr. Pigeon?”

“I think we’ve had enough of Mr. Pigeon this week.” Marinette said deftly.

While it had not been a big week for akumas, poor Mr. Ramier had been akumatized five times since Tuesday night.  Luckily, they were easily dealt with and it gave Marinette a chance to stretch her legs and back, but it got old pretty quickly.  Especially for Cat Noir, who’s allergies were not helped in the slightest by the Ladybug Cure. Honestly, she didn’t know why Hawkmoth kept insisting on reakumatizing Mr. Pigeon.  They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, so maybe that said something about Hawkmoth. 

“Agreed.” Adrien said heartily.

Adrien shifted slightly and brought a bouquet out from where he’d been hiding it behind his back.  “So… I know you can’t really bring them to the wedding, because of the whole don’t-upstage-the-bride thing, but this is our first official date...and...yeah.  These are for you.”

Smooth.

Marinette beamed as she brought the bouquet up to her nose.  Alstroemerias for devotion and friendship, daffodils for new beginnings, and red roses for love--eleven of them to signify ‘you are my treasured one,’ or...at least that was what google had told him.

“Adrien, these are beautiful!” she gasped.  “Thank you!”

They managed to get the flowers in water, but had yet to get past their blushes when Tom and Sabine came to gather them for loading duty… although that was delayed long enough to take a few pictures of the embarrassed teens.

“Wow, Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed as he helped her hold on to her garment bags and boxes during the drive to the venue.  “I knew you were going big, but even just seeing the carriers I know you did a lot more than I expected.”

“I just hope they like it!” Marinette worried her lip.

Adrien decided to distract her.  “Do I finally get to know who’s wedding we’re going to?  My father seemed to have an idea but I’ve been purposefully not thinking about it all week so that I wouldn’t slip up!”

“You don’t think he’ll say anything, do you?” Marinette fretted.

“I doubt it,” Adrien reassured, “if anyone appreciates privacy, it’s Gabriel Agreste.”

“Whew...I hope so!  We only have a few more hours and then we’ll be home free!” Tom chuckled from the front seat.

“So....do I get to know?” Adrien asked eagerly.

“Nope.  You’ll just have to wait and be surprised.” Marinette said smugly.

“Marinette!” he whined.

“Not a chance!  I wouldn’t miss the look on your face when you finally find out for the world!”

“That’s just cruel.”

“Don’t have kittens, we’re almost there!”

That made Adrien laugh, as she knew any cat-based joke would do, and soon enough, they were gazing across a beautiful, lush rooftop garden.  

As they were getting out, Marinette snorted when she heard Adrien mutter, “Whoever they are, I hope they like the Ladybug and Cat Noir toaster I got them…”

Lanterns were strung out between sturdy-looking tiki torches and purple roses, candytuft, lilacs, wisteria, and lavender were gathered and dispersed around chairs and a lattice arch and makeshift altar.  Adrien was a little surprised to see that the aisle runner was what looked like black vegan leather. The wooden folding chairs were also black, as was the arch at the altar. A professional, if small, stage was set up on one end of the garden but Kitty Section had not arrived yet.  The dance floor in front of the stage currently held a few black and lavender covered tables in anticipation of the light meal that had been promised. He could see what Marinette had meant, semi formal with an edge.

“This has to be one of the most beautiful wedding venues I’ve ever seen.” Adrien said appreciatively.

“Thanks, mate!  This was all Penny and her brother, they threw this together like generals planning a battle!”

Adrien spun around to see...Jagged. Stone.

He was two feet away from Jagged Stone.

Jagged Stone just talked to him.

He was at Jagged Stone’s wedding.

Marinette brought him as a date to Jagged Stone’s wedding.

Marinette designed the wedding clothes for Jagged Stone and his bride.

He knew she was out of his league.

Marinette smirked and tipped his jaw closed.  “Careful, hot stuff, that’s a good way to catch flies.”

Jagged threw his head back and laughed.  “I’m glad you decided to bring your plus one, Marinette.”

“Me too,” Marinette blushed.  “Jagged, this is Adrien Agreste.  Adrien, this is Jagged Stone.”

“Rock on,” Adrien whispered.

Jagged laughed again and rigorously shook Adrien’s hand.  “Glad you could be here, Adrien, you speak my language!” He became a little more serious.  “I hope I can trust you with Marinette here, she’s my favorite designer and my honorary niece.  She’s something special and deserves to be treated well.”

Marinette was wishing she could pull a Vanisher and disappear in a flash of embarrassment but Adrien snapped out of his haze.  

“On my honor, sir,” Adrien said.  “Marinette’s amazing and she deserves the best.  I won’t let her settle for less, even if it means she decides that’s not me.”

Marinette blushed and nudged him with her shoulder.  “Unlikely.”

Jagged beamed proudly at them.

“Right!”  He said breaking the moment.  “Penny is hiding in the second room down the hall, so if you can bring her her gear I can take my duds.”

Marinette giggled as she handed him the garment bag and boxes labeled ‘groom.’

“Here you go Mr. Groom!” she teased.  “No cold feet now, right?”

“Are you kidding!”  Jagged cried. “It’s a totally paradox!  I just want the whole thing over so we’re married already and yet I don’t want this day to end!”

They seperated and Adrien helped Marinette carry the bride’s accessory boxes to the bride’s room then waited outside while Marinette brought them in.  He smiled when he heard an excited squeal followed by the cacophony of female chatter, knowing the dress was a hit.

When they got back to the garden, Kitty Section had arrived and Tom and Sabine were busy setting up the lavender, purple, and black croquembouche.  Their offer to help was declined--”Not at all because we think you’re accident prone, Marinette!”--and so they wandered over to their friends.

Luka was chuckling under his breath as Juleka and Ivan looked shell-shocked and Rose was completely starry eyed.

“I take it they met the groom?” Marinette teased as they approached.

“Marinette!  What are you doing here?  Did you know? Oh, can you believe it!  It’s soooo romantic !” Rose gushed.

Marinette giggled.  “I knew. Jagged and Penny hired me to design their clothes and told me that they’d hired Kitty Section but that only Luka knew who the wedding was for.”

“Oh, I don’t know how you two managed to keep it a secret all week!”  Rose enthused. “I would have positively burst!”

“What about you, Luka?  Did Kagami give you any trouble?” Adrien smirked.

Luka smirked right back.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kagami is perfectly respectful of my boundaries.  Especially after I promised her I’d bring her back an autograph.”

Adrien snorted and Rose turned to him.

“Did you know, Adrien?”

Adrien shook his head.  “Nope. Marinette asked me to be her date and I knew about her commision, but I had no idea who it was for.”

Rose and Juleka both came to attention for that.  “ Date !”

Rose jumped Marinette and Juleka sedately smiled where she stood.

“Oh, what a day!  A rockstar’s secret wedding and Marinette and Adrien are together!  And were in a garden! Project Secret Garden is finally a success!” Rose squealed.

“What’s Project Secret Garden?” Adrien asked over Luka, Juleka, and Ivan’s snickering.

“You will never know and you will never find out!” Marinette said with a red face.

“Sure I won’t, Star Eyes.” Adrien smirked.

Marinette practically burst with pride when Jagged came strutting down the aisle in the ensemble she’d made him.  It fit him perfectly, both physically and metaphorically. He was absolutely glowing with happiness as stood next to his--Marinette had to hold back a facepalm--Best Fang.

She just hoped the goofball hadn’t given Fang the rings.  

The small congregation rose to their feet as Kitty Section started to play an electric ballad.  Marinette smiled as her papa wrapped an arm around her mama’s shoulder and was a little startled when Adrien slipped his hand into hers.  She could get used to that.

Penny was radiant.  She was resplendent and the dress brought out her beauty without being so outlandish that it outshone her.  Marinette was pleased to see that the outer skirt flared out and billowed around Penny in the soft breeze. The man Marinette assumed was Penny’s father--he was exactly as Penny had described him, right down to the purple dress shoes Penny said he’d bought just for the occasion--was trying not to blubber as he led her down the aisle to Jagged who was staring at his bride with a look that was too adorable to belong on the face of a hardened rockstar.

The ceremony went off without a hitch.  No paparazzi showed up to hassle them, the weather stayed mild, and everyone said the appropriate things at the correct times.  There was just one minor surprise.

“Do you, Jerimiah Clarence Stone, take Penny Merie Rolling to be your…” the voice of the minister faded away as Adrien shared an incredulous look with Marinette.

“Jerimiah Clarence?!” they whispered together.

“I do, with all my heart.” Jagged answered the minister and placed a rose gold band with a black stripe on Penny’s finger.  A black ring with a rose gold stripe was already on his left ring finger.

“And that Jerimaiah Clarence stuff doesn’t leave this roof, we clear?” Jagged said to laughs in the congregation.

With a kiss, they were married and the party began.

Turns out, Jagged Stone’s mother was a kind, spunky woman who played electric guitar as well as bingo.  Between Kitty Section’s performances, she dedicated a song to her son and new daughter-in-law that she said she had begun writing when--ahem--Jerimiah was born.  The powerful performance clearly showed where Jagged got his talent from and the couple both kissed her cheeks before helping her off the stage. Penny’s parents made a stirring speech, followed by embarrassing stories courtesy of Penny’s brother and Jagged’s cousin.

Adrien had to laugh when he saw what Jagged had described as a ‘light’ meal.  The meal was catered and served family style and it was decadent. He’d somehow managed to get the purple Marinette Soup recipe either from the hotel or from Marinette’s uncle.  That was followed by other favorites of the couple until Adrien thought he’d split a gut--but he’d be willing to risk it because they still had Tom and Sabine’s croquembouche.

He was glad he’d risked it because, as usual, it was delicious and he was wondering if he could get away with ordering a croquembouche from Tom and Sabine without them wondering if he was trying to wisk their sixteen-year-old daughter away to be married.  Maybe he’d just risk that, too.

The evening started to wind down around sunset and Adrien was enjoying what had to be his favorite part of the day: slow dancing with Marinette with his arms.

Kitty Section was doing a cover of a song that he wasn’t really paying attention too.  Marinette had her head on his chest and Adrien was resting his head on top of hers--he’d grown significantly taller than her in the last few years.  She had her arms around his neck and he had one hand on her waist and the other rubbing circles across her shoulder blades. 

“Have I mentioned how beautiful your designs were, Marinette?” Adrien whispered.

Marinette smiled.  “A few times.”

“Have I mentioned how beautiful you are?” Adrien asked.

“I seem to recall that.” Marinette hid her blush.

“Marinette?”

“Uh huh?”

He paused so she turned her head up to look him in the eyes.

“Have I asked you to be my girlfriend yet?” Adrien asked softly.

Marinette smiled brightly and Adrien was dazzled by the stars dancing in her eyes.  “I would love that, Adrien.”

Adrien pulled her close again and placed a small, lingering kiss on her cheek.  “Me too.”

Edit: January 23

Hi!  So this is the rough outline of what Jagged and Penny's outfits look like.   Thank you Starxid for asking for the reference.  Sorry, I have no idea how to get it flipped into a portrait.  I'm just glad I was actually able to get this far because this did not want to work with me! ;)

Chapter Text

All of the guests and workers at the Rolling-Stone Wedding proved trustworthy and no one leaked any information before the couple got on a plane for their honeymoon late afternoon on Sunday.  As the private jet took off, Penny sent a press release to Nadja Chamack and gave a close reporter friend--who had been at the wedding and acted as the photographer--the go ahead to file the article he’d done on them.  The article was due to be released in a popular rock and roll magazine on Monday morning, and the media was buzzing on Sunday night about the surprise elopement. The selfie Jagged and Penny had taken in the plane of them and their wedding rings had gone viral within a half hour.  Fans everywhere where waiting anxiously for the article to come out so they could enjoy the more exclusive details the magazine was promising.

Adrien had texted Marinette excitedly on Sunday afternoon that he had already pre-ordered a few copies of the magazine--one for him, one for Marinette, one for each of her parents, and a few extra in case of emergencies.  He also shared the happy news that his father had actually showed up to Sunday dinner and they had discussed the possibilities for his new role at Gabriel. Adrien had been given permission to have more freedom in his wardrobe (Adrien successfully held back an eyeroll at that), so long as he made sure to still dress appropriately for the situation.

Natalie nearly had to give Adrien the heimlich maneuver when Gabriel had said he could pepper in his atrocious cat collection with more dignified pieces when attending casual settings like school.

That is why Monday morning broke bright and early and found a way-too-giddy-for-the-hour Adrian Agrest, wearing a Marinette Original t-shirt with a cat in a Gospel Choir robe and the caption “Raise your paws up!”  He’d paired a nice cardigan and his standard jeans with it, and though his father had pinched the bridge of his nose he had said nothing.

When Marinette saw him, still half awake and wondering how she was going to adjust to a boyfriend that was a morning person and woke her up with cat gifs and coffee (well, the coffee she could deal with and he was smart to bring it after waking her up), she had laughed until she almost fell over.  Then, before his feelings could get hurt, she kissed his cheek and told him she’d missed his kitten wear.

They had to seperate after a quick dash to their lockers.  Adrien had received a text from his bodyguard saying the magazine’s had arrived and that he had generously driven to the school to pass them along so Adrien could show Marinette right away.

Marinette met up with Rose, Juleka, and Ivan on the way up to the classroom and the three were still buzzing about their gig and telling Marinette how much they loved her designs.  Marinette braced herself when she heard the sound of a certain voice holding court inside the classroom.  She had prepared herself for this, but the others had not and were completely floored by what they heard.

Lila was sitting next to Alya--in Marinette’s seat--and gushing about how grand Jagged Stone’s Wedding had been and how she wished she could have brought everyone, but it was a private affair.

“Only the biggest names in the industry were there!” Lila gushed.  “I was so honored that Jagged’s bride Pepper asked me to be her maid of honor!  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fulfill that role, as my mother felt I wasn’t old enough yet.  I was so disappointed, but I did manage to catch the bouquet!”

“And I bet I know who you’re thinking of, girl…” Alya teased and Marinette’s heart sunk because while she’d thought she’d recognized the signs of Alya trying to set Adrien up with Lila but she had hoped she’d been wrong.

“Marinette!  Did you hear?  Jagged Stone eloped this weekend and Lilia was just telling us all about it!” Alya said excitedly.

“So I hear,” Marinette walked past the still stunned members of Kitty Section and rested her books on the table.  “Tell me, what was it like?”

Lila gladly went on with a tall tail of some grandiose extravagance which was nothing like Jagged and Penny’s actual wedding.  Somewhere in the middle, Adrien walked in with a big smile on his face--which immediately vanished when he heard what Lila was saying.  He walked up to Marinette and placed an arm over her shoulders. Lila, seeing this, suddenly realized she was in Marinette's seat and practically pushed Marinette into the desk so she could immediately latch onto Adrien’s arm.

Nino walked in right about then, saw the scene and just sighed, running a frustrated hand under his cap.  Rose, Juleka, and Ivan were having a quiet conversation by the door, along with a newly arrived and distressed looking Mylene.

“Adrien, that shirt really doesn’t suit you.  It’s tacky. You should wear your father’s clothes instead.” Lila said before going back into her fantasy land.

Adrien tried to remove Lila’s hands from his arm but she only dug her nails in deeper.  At this point the entire class had arrived and Lila was still going on about Jagged’s wedding.

“The bride, Pepper, seemed nice enough, but I mean,” Lila scoffed, “come on!  She’s clearly a golddigger! I hope he got a good prenup!”

That was a mistake.

“How dare you!” Marinette yelled.  “ Penny --because that is who Jagged Stone married-- Penny Rolling, now Penny Stone, is one of the most kind-hearted people you could ever meet!  She is responsible for at least half of Jagged success because she not only keeps his tours, and his press arrangements, and his personal life organized; but she also goes out of her way to think of creative ways to further his career and helps him keep sharpening his craft!  She’s intelligent, ethical, caring, and loyal and she does not deserve to have some pathetic, lying, social climber like you lie about her so that you can inflate your already bloated image!”

“Marinette, how could you!” Lila cried at the same time Alya accused her of being out of line.

Adrien, however, started clapping.  “Oh, hear, hear! Amen and tell it, sister!”

Lila cruelty clenched his arm.  “Adrien, don’t you think Marinette’s being unbelievably rude to me?”

“Marinette, you are so jealous!  I don’t even know you anymore!” Alya exclaimed.

Adrien had had enough.

“No, Lila, I don’t think Marinette was being rude to you.” Adrien said loudly, getting everyone’s attention.  “I think you were cruelly gossiping about someone you didn’t even know but pretended to for attention. Now, kindly let go of my arm and give me some actual space!”

A few classmates were surprised by this, but now that it was pointed out they noticed Lila was a little close.

Lila pouted.  “You didn’t mind when Marinette was holding you like this.  Did I do something wrong? Or were you just afraid to tell Marinette that she was making you uncomfortable?”

Adrien scowled at her and pried himself out of her grip that she still hadn’t loosened.  Instead, he stepped toward Marinette and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“You’ve never asked permission to be that touchy with me, nor are we close enough to justify ‘friendly’ touches like that.  In fact, I have asked you a number of times to respect my space but you have refused to listen and keep harassing me.” Adrien said firmly.  “On the other hand, Marinette is my girlfriend and we have discussed what kind of physical affection, such as hugs and hand holdings, we are both comfortable with.”

Everyone stilled when the word girlfriend was uttered and Marinette and Adrien smirked at their shocked expressions and waited for the proverbial boom .

It came about five seconds later when most of the class exploded in excited chatter.

“Congratulations!”

“Oh, I knew you’d be wonderful together! It’s so romantic!”

“Marinette, how could you not tell me about this?”

“I estimated there was an eighty-five percent chance that Marinette and Adrien were compatible for a romantic relationship.”

“When did you guys get together?”

“Saturday.” Adrien answered that question promptly and loudly.  “Marinette asked me to be her date at Jagged Stone’s wedding.”

The class fell silent.

“Th-they’re lying!” Lila stammered.  “Marinette’s obviously turned Adrien against me and they’re saying this to spite me!”

“Meh.” Adrien shrugged.  “I’ll admit, there might be a little spite, but it was caused by you, Lila.  I know that you’ve been lying to us all since we met you, I know that you threatened Marinette, and I know that you’ve been spying on me for my father.  What you didn’t know is that you picked the wrong day and occasion to try to latch like a parasite onto someone else’s limelight.”

“It’s true.” Ivan said.  “Kitty section was hired by Jagged Stone to perform at his wedding.  We were there the whole time and we never saw Lila--”

“There were so many people, I’m sure we just missed--”

“There weren’t so many people.” Ivan insisted.  “The wedding was nothing like Lila said. It was quiet and tailored to Jagged and Penny’s favorite people and tastes.  And the only reason Jagged hired us in the first place is because Marinette introduced us to him over a year ago. If you guys remember, Jagged’s been working with us to break into the business.  So no, Lila wasn’t there, but Marinette and Adrien were because Marinette actually knows Jagged and doesn’t brag about it! Her parents made the croquembouche. They were there.  And Marinette?  Marinette designed all the wedding clothes for Jagged and Penny.”

“And she did great, too.”  Juleka mustered up.

“What?” Alya asked, slightly dazed.  

Adrien took one of the magazines out of his messenger bag, flipped a few pages, then slammed the magazine on the desk so everyone could see.

The page was a little ways into the actual article but it held many beautiful candid shots of the reception.  In one of them, you could barely see Marinette and Adrien slow dancing in the background with the sunset behind them.

The focal picture was a full body pose of Jagged and Penny with a sheepish Marinette between them.  They were clearly showing off their wedding look.

The caption read:

Rocker Chic Wedding Apparel?  Jagged and his bride approve! The couple hired up and coming designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng (above) to create this leather and lavender look for their big day.

“That was the big comision I was working on all of last week,” Marinette said. “If I had told anyone who or what I was working on it would have jeopardized the privacy of their wedding.  If tabloid reporters had heard about their wedding, they would have been bombarded with paparazzi and probably would’ve had a helicopter ruining their wedding. Instead, they had a beautiful wedding that just celebrated their relationship.  I’ve known them both for years and they have a genuine, down-to-earth partnership. And I won’t stand by and let anyone bad mouth my friends!”

Lila was clearly working on a rebuttal, but Rose beat her to it.

“I can’t believe you lied to us, Lila!”  Rose said tearfully. “I just texted Prince Ali and he said he’s never heard of you and he’s not involved in the charity work you described!”

Lila paled.  Rose knew an actual royal?  Personally? And she was just finding out about this?  This was something people were supposed to brag about! What else was the purpose of knowing a famous person?

Alix snorted.  “Well, duh! Marinette’s been saying that since the beginning!  And Adrien, Nino, and I’ve said it, too! For years !  But Miss Reporter-why-would-Lila-lie-Marinette-must-be-jealous just keeps insisting that Lila’s legit and you all just went with it!”

“Babe?  You okay?” Nino said softly and everyone turned to see Alya pale.

“Was any of it true?” Alya asked shakily.

“Of course!” Lila insisted.  “They don’t know what their talking about!  They’re just jealo--”

“I don’t know if any of it was true, Alya,” Marinette said with a hand on Alya’s shoulder.  “But I do know that most of it was made up of lies and manipulation.”

A fire, long dormant, ignited in Alya’s eyes.

“Uh oh.” Nino muttered.  “Run.”

Adrien pulled Marinette out of the way and they and Nino backed off as Alya surged out of her desk and into Lila’s space.  They huddled by Ms. Bustier’s desk--far away from the blast zone.

“You poisonous snake!  You lied to me! For years!  And I bought it because I trusted you!  Because anyone who was friends with a superhero…” another realization hit Alya.  “You really aren’t friends with Ladybug, are you? Marinette was right all along!  And you actually threatened her!  I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been!

“My family hates you, you know that?” Alya rampaged.  “You’ve not been allowed to babysit my sisters anymore because even they picked up on your garbage!  They knew you shouldn’t be trusted! And I defended you to them! I defended you to everyone! I-I did your homework because you were in pain, or sick, or overworked with your charities!  I cut off contact with other people because you said they made you uncomfortable! Or were mean to you! Or-or weren’t a good influence on me! Ha! What a crock! You’ve been manipulating me!  I changed what I posted on my blog because of you! My blog! My reputation is ruined!”

Alya continued building steam with her rant.  Every once in a while, Lila would try to interject something only to be shut down before getting one word out.  Everyone else, even Chloe, backed as far away as they could from Alya’s fury. Even Adrien and Marinette are startled by her vehemence, but Nino held them back from stepping in.

“Just let her go, dudes.” Nino said with his usual chill.  “We tried to warn her, but she couldn’t accept she was being used and was in the wrong.  Now, this is her breaking point and she needs to get this out.”

Marinette nodded and Adrien stared wide eyed at the colorful threats Alya was making.  

“You know, I applaud her creativity.” Adrien casually commented.  “Not everyone could come up with so many intimidating threats that don’t include bodily or psychological harm and could wind up getting themselves in trouble.”

“Of course!  Alya would never threaten anyone like that!” Marinette said.  “That would count as premeditation.”

Nino nodded and they hung back and waited while Alya ragged.  It was impressive, Alya was yelling at Lila while simultaneously using her phone to search for evidence of any of Lila’s claims.  It only added more fuel to her fire when she couldn’t find any evidence and it was plainly obvious that none of Lila’s claims were true.  Except for her mother working at the Italian Embassy.

“Still...maybe we should step in before Alya resorts to actual violence.” Marinette said calmly.

Nino shrugged.  “I guess. I mean, she looks good in orange, but it would probably be a bummer if I had to visit my girlfriend in prison.”

“Yeah.” Adrien agreed.  “So...one more minute?”

“Two.  Maybe two.” Marinette nodded.

“Should I remind her about the whole Lila working for my father as a spy thing?” Adrien asked.

“Nah, then none of us would be able to hold her back.” Marinette said easily.

“That’s because none of us have the will to try.” Nino said.

“What’s going on in here?” Ms. Bustier asked in surprise as she came into the room.

Lila burst into tears and flung herself at the teacher. “It’s awful!  They’re all bullying me and I didn’t do anything wrong! I just wanted us all to be friends!”

Alya growled.  “Ms. Bustier, Lila has been lying to the class and you ever since she came to this school!  She was finally found out today-- and she’s threatened other students!  I also have proof that I have been doing most of Lila’s homework for the last year because of her manipulation.  I realize that may implicate me in helping her cheat, but I will not let her get away with painting herself the victim!”

“The validity of her many ailments and absences are also in question.” Max added.  “I suggest cross referencing them with the school records, Principal Damocles, and her mother--in person and not over email or a note that Lila could forge.”

Ms. Bustier frowned.  “I think it’s time the three of us spoke to the principal.” 

“I’ll come, too.” Adrien stepped forward and took his arm out of his sweater sleeve to reveal the marks of Lila’s fingers and nails.  “I need to report Lila for harassment. I’ve already spoken to her privately many times about respecting my personal space but she refuses to listen.  And there are times, as you can see here, that Lila tries to use physical force to get me to agree with what she says.”

“That’s from Marinette!” Lila accused.

“One, Marinette’s hands are smaller than yours, she couldn’t possibly leave this mark.” Adrien rebutled.  “Two, these marks are fresh and Marinette never even touched me like that, I put my arm around her.”

Adrien left with Ms. Bustier, Alya, and Lila.  Marinette made an excuse about going to the bathroom, although everyone just assumed she’d be waiting outside the office for them.

She quickly made her way to the roof of the school as Ladybug and waited.  While the group was in Mr. Damocles office, Ladybug caught and purified five butterflies.  When it finally appeared that Hawkmoth had given up on getting to Lila for a moment, Mrs. Rossi came hurrying into the school and Adrien and Alya were sent back to class.  Marinette slipped back into the classroom just ahead of Ms. Bustier.

Alya was pretty withdrawn after she left Lila in Principal Damocles’ office.  When the lunch break came, she quietly and quickly made an escape and no one could find her until Marinette caught up to her in the park.

Marinette sat next to her on the bench but didn’t say anything.  She gave Alya the space she needed to come to terms with everything.  She did send a subtle text to Nino, however, saying that she found Alya and that she was safe.

“How bad is the damage?” Alya whispered a few minutes later.

“The damage?”

“I let her...poison everything.  You tried to warn me and I wouldn’t listen.  I blamed you.” Alya said brokenly. “She had me doubting you and your weird disappearances.  She had me convinced that you were only interested in Adrien for his connections. That she really loved Adrien but that he was playing with her feelings.  I did her homework. I altered my blog. I declined internships. She even...she was starting to convince me that Nino was bad for me. That he wasn’t loyal or something.  I think she was trying to convince me that he was or would cheat on me with you...because she was always commenting that it wasn’t right that you two were friends. Or that Nino didn’t like her.  Or believe her.”

Marinette sighed.  “It’s over, Alya. Things will get better from here.”

“How?”  Alya said as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“You’re young.  You’re not even in university yet, and you still have time to build up your portfolio again.  You can correct your blog, make it better. Remember all those ideas you had to add to the Ladyblog for the users’ benefit?  Safety alerts, emotional support links? Lila may have gotten you to discard those ideas back then, but there’s nothing stopping you from going through with them now!” Marinette said.  “And you won’t be alone. You can rebuild your relationships with your parents and your sisters, you know that they miss you being you .  And Nino, Adrien, and I will help you when you need us--the whole class will.”

“You would do that?  Why?” Alya asked.

Marinette sighed.  “We’re broken right now, Alya, but I don’t want us to stay that way.  We’ve all been hurt by this in different ways, but I want my best friend Alya back.  Even if things aren’t the same, even if my Alya has been changed because of what she’s gone through.  I’ve changed. I’m not the same as I was before she bullied me. But it’s up to us now, how we choose to respond to this.  We can reach out for help, therapy to deal with this. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to explain all my...eccentricities.  But I hope to be able to...someday. Until then, I hope you can trust me.”

“You’ll give me a second chance?” Alya asked, bewildered.

“I’m not perfect either, Alya.  And I hated watching what she was doing to you.”  Marinette said. “I forgive you, Alya, and I’m willing to try again if you are.”

Alya lunged forward to lock Marinette in a hug and sobbed.  She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d hugged Marinette.  Or anyone, for that matter, beside’s Lila’s hugs that, in retrospect, always seemed to come conditionally.  Marinette cried, too, and the girls just sat in the park, crying and ignoring the mix of concerned or awkward glances other park goers gave them.

Adrien smiled as he reclined seat after his bodyguard picked him up.  It had been...a day. But, he had just walked Marinette home, smuggled a box of macaroons and a few croissants into his bag--plagg would be complaining later, he was sure, but the gougeres he’d bought him should help--and he’d even bribed silence and a smile out of the Gorilla with a box of opera cake, the man’s favorite.  Don’t ask him how he’d found that out.

When the girls got back from the park, lunch was almost over and Lila still hadn’t returned.  They’d spent what remained of the break eating quiche that he and Nino had bought from Tom and Sabine--along with a few eclairs that ‘accidentally’ ended up in their bag and Sabine claimed to have no idea about.  Adrien also claimed not to know anything about the twenty euros that somehow ended up in the tip jar.

They finally had a chance to look at the article about the Rolling-Stone wedding and Alya’s eyes popped at the work Marinette had done.  Marinette and Adrien filled them in on what actually happened at the wedding, except for details that were too personal--like the Jeremiah Clarence part.  Although, personally, the more Adrien thought about it, the more he thought that Jeremiah Clarence would have made a cool rock n’ roll name.  Sure, it wasn’t as hard core as sounding like an actual rock pun...wait. Okay, no he had a new respect for Jagged Stone and his seemingly punny name.

The class was very upset in the wake of Lila’s exposure, but none more so than Alya.  Marinette, Nino, and Adrien had managed to talk the others into not giving Alya a hard time about being Lila’s biggest supporter.  Rose was completely disillusioned regarding Lila’s manipulation. Ms. Bustier had been shaken to her core that a student could be that purposefully deceptive and toxic.  Max was having an identity crisis that he hadn’t seen the inconsistencies of Lila’s claims. Kim, unthinkingly, reminded him about Lila’s ‘saving’ him from having his eye gouged out by a napkin and the fact he wears glasses.  Adrien wasn’t sure if it had helped or hindered when Markov started to share statistics about con artists, abusers, and bullies. Chloe was crowing about how she knew Lila couldn’t be Ladybug’s friend because that title belonged to her--but Adrien knew the truth, Chloe had felt betrayed when Ladybug said that she couldn’t wield the Bee Miraculous anymore.  The fact that Lila had apparently convinced her that some sort of ritual would summon Ladybug to Chloe if she performed it and Ladybug cared didn’t help.  Now that Lila was outed, he could see Chloe’s trust in her favorite hero begin to return.

Rumors and theories were flying all over the school. 

It was confirmed that Lila had indeed been truant and had lied to the school and her mother about her absences.  All her doctors notes had been forged, and not well upon serious inspection. Alya’s admission to having done Lila’s homework was also tallied against her, though, after a talk with the Cesaires, Alya, and Ms. Bustier it was almost certain that the action would be considered an act done under abuse and bullying and the school would be lenient, if not watching her closely from there after.  

Adrien’s harassment charge was reported, pictures taken of the marks on Adrien’s skin and, incriminatingly, chips of Lila’s fingernail polish were still lodged in Adrien’s cardigan.  Mrs. Rossi even revealed that Lila had claimed him to be her long-distance boyfriend who was constantly traveling to model. He knew his father--or more likely, Natalie--had been contacted, but he decided not to make an effort not to worry about it.  He hoped his father didn’t approve of someone treating his son like that and that Gabriel was ignorant of Lila’s harassment...but he didn’t know. At any rate, Adrien had plenty of witness and proof of what Lila had been doing, so he wasn’t going to let her get away with it or cower in fear that his father would penalize him for reporting an offence that had occurred in public.

Some people were claiming that Lila fled the country as soon as she left Principal Damocles’ office, others were claiming that she’d been akumatized in the office and had joined Hawkmoth as his sidekick.  He at least knew that she hadn’t been akumatized at school because he’d seen Ms. Bustier and Principal Damocles and neither had seemed concerned. Plus, when he’d transformed during lunch to search for Alya, he’d found a message from Ladybug saying to be on guard against action for Lila after she’d been outed, but that she’d already intercepted five butterflies and it looked like Hawkmoth had given up on getting through.  

Adrien and his friends had wondered if there was a statute of limitations on how long after truancy was committed that you could still be penalized for it.  Either way, it appeared that more evidence against Lila her actions kept coming in. Marinette was called in later to give a statement about Lila’s threats and bullying.  Students from a dance club reported that Lila had taken money from them with the promise that she would use it to book a special appearance with a celebrity dancer she knew but had yet to follow through on.  She’d also gotten the school jazz band to play for free at a personal party she’d held in the park with the promise that she would ask a renowned jazz conductor and producer to let them audition for a recording contract.

That little deal had failed miserably.  Lila had never applied for a permit to have a large gathering in the park and when the police showed up she disappeared and left the band members to shoulder the blame and pay a fine.  The band had produced records of the offense, records of Lila hosting and inviting people to the party, and records of Lila hiring them. They claimed the only reason they hadn’t stepped forward before was they felt sorry for Lila after she had turned on the waterworks, claimed that she’d panicked and hidden, and that she would make it up to them by really pushing for that audition.  Lila was going to be held responsible for reimbursing them for the fine as well as the additional notation on the police report.

The school had already been informed that the school district had been notified about the onslaught of complaints and was launching an official investigation into Lila’s dealings with the school, with the faculty, and with the students.  Marinette had been in the office on an errand in her role as class rep when she’d heard this. Apparently, the whole faculty would be investigated and evaluated in regards to this long-term abuse and neglect.

It was pretty definite that Lila would be expelled.  What Adrien wondered was what other consequences she would face.  Would she just skip to a new school, tell a sob story about how she was wronged and then start manipulating again?  Would she even stay in Paris? Or would her mother send her back to Italy? The scandal alone could spell the end of Mrs. Rossi’s political career. 

All the speculation, however, could not diminish the great relief Adrien felt that Lila was done.  Marinette was safe, Lila had lost any credibility to target her again. If Lila did try to attack Marinette, Adrien knew a cat that would be waiting and ready to claw her to shreds.  Adrien didn’t have to deal with Lila’s harassment anymore, and with her gone--charges pressed and a restraining order being strongly suggested by the police and likely to be issued--Gabriel had lost his little spy.  Adrien knew it was likely his father would try to find a replacement, but he wasn’t going to be paranoid about it. The only things he had to hide were Plagg and Cat Noir. He’d been able to hide them this long, he was determined to keep them hidden.  Alya was taking the first steps towards healing and it had been the first time in months that the four of them had hung out and had actual fun without the impending cloud of Lila doom descending on them.

After school let out--admittedly, they really hadn’t been very productive that day, but no one could blame them-- Adrien had leisurely walked Marinette home, hand in hand. They weren’t ready to kiss yet, but they had shared a long, tender hug and cheek kisses.  Adrien also kissed her knuckles after he asked her on a date Friday night and she had accepted.

All together, things were looking up.

Actually, Adrien was looking up.  To his father. At the top of the staircase in some sort of power move.  Again.

“Good afternoon, father.” Adrien said.

“Adrien.” Gabriel acknowledged.  “I understand there was some turmoil at your school today.”

It wasn’t a question, but it was a conversation starter.

“A girl in my class, Lila, was exposed as a liar and manipulator today.  Her actions were so widespread that she had affected almost every person in the school in someway.” Adrien explained.  He knew his father had to know, by now, about the harassment charges and Adrien wanted to see if he would ask him if he was alright or ignore it.

“I see.”  Well. That was noncommittal.  “Natalie also said she had been notified that a report had been filed about sexual harassment?”

Adrien sighed.  That was probably as close as he would get to concern.  Adrien took off his cardigan and bared his marked arm to his father.  Gabriel frowned and in a few well metered steps descended the stairs and was inspecting the arm himself.  Hmm, Adrien thought, a little better.

“She did this?” Gabriel confirmed.

“Yes.” Adrien explained.  “She likes to latch onto my arm as though she’s being affectionate, but if I said or did anything she didn’t care for she would squeeze, pinch, or dig her nails into my arm.  I usually didn’t comply, so I don’t know why she thought it would be effective, but I've gotten some good bruises that way.”

“This isn’t the first time this occurred?” Gabriel actually looked alarmed.  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows.  “I wasn’t aware of what the terms of your agreement with her were, so I decided not to bother.”

Gabriel stepped back like he’d been slapped.  “How long have you known?”

“That you used her to spy on me? A little over two years.” Adrien said more calmly than he would have imagined possible.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, Adrien--”

“I don’t care what your reasoning was.  You still did it.” Adrien interrupted. “I have had this feeling of being unsafe hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles for two years.  Every time she pawed through my belongings and every time she threatened me or my friends and everytime she latched onto me like all I was worthy for was arm candy, I didn’t know if that was her or if she was following your orders or acting on your permission. Or both.”

Adrien had never seen his father so stunned.

“And before you start planning who your next mole into my life will be, keep two things in mind.” Adrien said.  “One, if you think you can use Marinette, remember you know how strong her strength of character is, it’s a waste of time to try to break her and if you try to hurt her I will not respond as kindly as I am now.  You can’t bribe her with an internship.  When we became closer friends she decided she wouldn’t associate with the Agreste brand because she didn’t want to be accused of receiving favoritism or using me.”

Adrien knew she already had a promising internship lined up for the summer that was with a designer he knew and approved of as being a good boss, but he wasn’t giving his father that lead.

“Second,” Adrien continued, “if you wanted to be a part of my life you didn’t have to use some cloak and dagger spy.  I have been right here for years , asking you to be a part of my life.  I will gladly let you take part in it.  But I don’t want to be a part of these messed up games.”

Gabriel stood in stoney silence before him.  Adrien couldn’t read any emotion on his father’s stern face.  It was very possible that he was about to be punished, but Adrien had been wanting to say that for years and his father had given him the perfect opportunity.  What a day.

“I will have Natalie make sure that the restraining order is in place by tomorrow.” Gabriel said in his usual monotone voice.  There was a moment of uncommon indecision as his eyes shifted. “You may go to your room.”

Adrien sighed and started up the stairs.

“And, Adrien?” Gabriel added.

Adrien turned around and tiredly stared at his father, starting to lose the happy relief he’d felt earlier.

“Yes, Father?”

“We will discuss this more at dinner.” Gabriel said as he walked away.

Adrien stared after him.  They weren’t even scheduled to have dinner together tonight…

He’d have to see what came of it.

Adrien closed the door behind him when he went into his room and instantly collapsed into the couch.  Plagg didn’t complain for once, but merely nuzzled his cheek and purred before flying off to get his own cheese.

Adrien tried to work up the will power to reach for the hidden box of macaroons when he received a text alert.  He smiled as “Catch a Falling Star” played in musicbox-like chimes.

Marinette had sent him a text with a link to some of the reporter’s candid photos from Saturday that had been emailed to her.  Adrien smiled as he scrolled through the pictures.

He and Tom had posed for one with pieces of choux pastry stuffed into their cheeks like chipmunks.  There was also one of Adrien getting hit in the head by the bouquet before an overzealous woman almost dove off the roof to catch it. Yipes.  Then there was one of Jagged serenading Penny on stage and one of him and Penny performing with Kitty Section. He also saw Marinette and himself chatting with Kitty Section during their break.  The photographer had even managed to catch them all laughing after Juleka teased her brother for calling Kagami and catching him using a very cutesy pet name. It was obvious Marinette had been sent all the pictures to do with her and her friends and family.

There were pictures of Tom dancing with Sabine and pictures of Tom dancing with Marinette on his toes like a toddler while Adrien danced with Sabine.

Finally, he came to some of just him and Marinette.  He’d never noticed the camera at all that night, but the reporter had captured a shot of them glancing at each other fondly during dinner and a picture of Marinette leaning back against him with his arms around her during the speeches.  One of her booping his nose with some of the caramel from the croquembouche and him squinching up his nose. One of them talking with Jagged and Penny. The picture he’d seen in the magazine with them in the background while the bride and groom danced.  

And then his favorites.  The photographer had gotten many shots of them dancing as the sunset was behind them.  Marinette was nestled against him and he was holding her tenderly. Some showed off their full outfits, and Adrien was glad because now he could keep appreciating how stunning she looked in that dress.  She said she’d already had the dress finished for an upcoming school dance and was just planning on adding a crinoline for extra volume, but that now she wasn't sure if she wanted to make a new dress for the dance instead since she’d already worn this one to such a big event and so close together.  Adrien wanted to see her in that dress again, it suited her. At least now, either way, he had something to remember it by.

One photo had a close-up on their heads with only Adrien’s face visible.  He realized he looked as utterly at peace as he had felt that night. Eyes closed, a slight smile, and utterly content.

There was also a close-up of Marinette and her blissful, adorable expression nearly got him choked up.  

The last one was of them still dancing but resting their foreheads together as they talked.  The sunset was casting brilliant colors around them and they were both smiling into eachothers eyes.

Adrien smiled, made sure to save all of the pictures, and immediately set the last one as his lock screen background.

He texted back:

Adrien: These are beautiful.  We should remember this guy.  See if he’s available when we get married.

Marinette: Eeeep!

Marinette: Okay.  Sounds like a plan. <3

What a day.

Bonus Scene...A Few Months Later

Marinette was suddenly swept off her feet and carried out of the path of the rampaging akuma.  Looking up, she saw Cat Noir’s determined and concerned face.

“You okay there, Princess?” Cat Noir asked as he set her down.

“I’m fine, thank you for the save, Cat Noir.” Marinette smiled.

Cat Noir seemed to almost blush for a moment before they were both startled by the sound of some big crash.

“Camembert!  That was too close!” he hissed.  “Get to safety, Princess!”

Marinette waited until he was out of sight before laughing at the fact that her partner swore using the name of the malodorous food his kwamii ate.  She laughed even harder as she saw Tikki exasperatedly shaking her head before they could transform.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

The next day, Adrien and Marinette were walking along the Seine when Adrien stepped on his shoelace and tripped, taking them both down.

“Oh camembert!” he yelled as they landed in a pile of limbs on the sidewalk.

Marinette abruptly froze and Adrien, concerned she was hurt, looked up to find her jaw dropped and looking at him completely gobsmacked.  When he realized what he’d said to cause that reaction, Adrien paled.

“Um...heh, heh…” Adrien said sheepishly.  “I...heard Cat Noir say that?”

Marinette gasped.  “Oh sweet sugar cookies!”