Chapter Text
Her hands were trembling. Just slightly, but they were still trembling. Marinette took deep breaths in an effort to calm her nerves and get a hold of herself. Whenever she felt like nervousness would overcome her, she focused on her shoes.
She snaked the ribbons of her red pointe shoes around her ankles and tied them tight. She was grateful for the ballet shoes, which had been a gift from Luka, as he joked they would bring her luck at all of her auditions. Her hands wandered up to her ears as well and she fiddled with the small ladybug earrings that were, once again, supposed to bring her luck. She remembered what Luka had told her when he gave them to her.
It had been right before her audition for school. He had grinned at her as he handed her the small box, “Here, ladybugs are supposed to bring good luck. But you know, you don’t even need luck to get into this school.” They shared a hug and he whispered, “Don’t look back, only look ahead okay?” and then she walked into the school.
Even though she had been at Francoise Dupont School of Arts for almost two years now she still got slight nerves before auditions. Especially this one. For the first time she knew she was being considered for the principal role. Juliet.
She had already nailed the single round where she had to dance by herself. That was the easiest part. It was always so simple for her to close her eyes and let the music take over. She could feel each note swell through her body, like her muscles moved on their own. It was so easy to be the character. She was Odette, or Giselle, or in this case, Juliet.
But now, she was going to have to prove she could work well with a partner. And there was only one person with whom she was worried about being paired.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste!”
Of course.
Marinette locked eyes with the very person she was scared to perform with. Over the past few months, they had been paired together more and more often for practices and while she was getting better she still couldn’t quite get in the zone when she was dancing so close to him.
When their faces were nearly touching and his breath was hot on her face. When he held her hands or even worse, her waist and caressed her body and face. The first time they had to dance together she kept losing her balance. Thankfully that only lasted about a week.
But then she kept forgetting to breathe and almost passed out one day because she held her breath too long. Thankfully Adrien had caught her but that was a whole other level of embarrassment to be waking up in the arms of your handsome partner with him asking if you were alright. He even insisted he drive her home.
Once, they were practicing a lift and Marinette had slipped at the last second and kicked him in the face. She had been absolutely mortified and was still apologizing twenty minutes later. She brought him an ice pack and then the next day she snuck him a chocolate croissant before class. But that still didn’t stop him from having a bruise on his cheekbone for about 2 weeks. She didn’t want to think about it but it had looked really hot.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by someone intertwining their fingers. Adrien.
“You ready?” His green eyes were sparkling the way they always did before the music started. Like jewels.
She squeezed his hand and let out a breath she didn’t even know she had been holding, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Hey! We got this! Just do what you always do, close your eyes and let the music take over.”
She smiled gratefully at his faith in her. “You’re right. We got this. We’re gonna be amazing.”
They took their place in the center of the room. As they faced each other, Adrien with his hands on her waist and Marinette with her hands barely touching his face, she thought back to the time they first met. The same music had been playing.
*
“You seem stressed.” Luka was running through a few pieces on his violin while Marinette stretched and warmed up in the center of the room. Nobody else was there for the day but they liked to spend some time just improvising before class anyway. They would spend hours with Luka making up music on the spot and Marinette would dance to it, following the ebb and flow of the music that he gifted to her. It was how they met after all.
Marinette had been maybe eight years old and Luka was not much older. He had been playing in the Trocadero one afternoon and Marinette had happened to walk by with her parents. Even though he was just a kid, Luka’s talent for the violin was just as apparent back then. His eyes were closed and he leaned into the instrument so that it was a part of him. He was playing whatever came into his heart and Marinette just couldn’t resist. She began to dance.
She had already been in dance lessons for years at this point, but that isn’t what made people stop and stare. It was her passion, her love for the music and the way it flowed through her. From that moment on, it was hard to find one without finding the other.
Even though they weren’t a couple, they just understood each other in a way no one else could.
As she practiced her pirouettes she said, “They announced that we’re doing Romeo and Juliet this season. Auditions are in a couple months.”
Luka paused his own warm up to address her, “Hey that’s great! You would be a great Juliet!”
Marinette spun around and landed so she was facing him, “Thanks Luka. But I’m still nervous. It’ll be my first really big audition since I got into the school.”
Luka readied his violin, “Well I know exactly how to help with that.”
He began to play the Balcony Pas de Deux and Marinette smiled. She relaxed her shoulders, took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
*
Adrien stood outside the school looking at the large name gilded over the door.
"Lycée des Arts de Françoise Dupont”
Kagami stood next to him. She was his best friend and they had practically been raised together so she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“You’re going to be fine. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Adrien turned to her, “Come on Kagami, you know I’ve only had private lessons all my life. What if everybody hates me?”
She placed her hands on her hips and frowned, “Anyone that has a problem with you will have me to answer to.”
He smiled at that and gave her a small poke in the ribs, “Yeah I’m sure you threatening people will have them warm up to me in no time.”
She gave a smile, the kind she reserved only for him, “Come on, let’s go inside.”
They walked through the doors together. The school was mostly quiet except for the sound of music coming from upstairs. Adrien realized it was the room where he was supposed to have class. Some people must be warming up.
As he and Kagami climbed the stairs he felt his heart start to pound. He fiddled with the silver ring on his finger and felt his friend slip her hand into his. Surprised at the physical affection, Adrien squeezed her hand gratefully and hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt.
As they opened the door to the dance room Adrien was struck by a couple different things. One, the music was live. There was a boy in the corner with blue hair and his eyes were closed and he was playing the violin. Two, he was playing Adrien’s favorite song. The Balcony Pas de Deux from Romeo and Juliet. And three, the girl who was dancing in the center of the room was absolutely stunning.
Not because she was beautiful (although she definitely was) but because she was dancing in a way Adrien had never seen. Her pointe shoes were red and matched her scrunchie. She was only wearing a simple black leotard but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was moving so beautifully. Adrien stood, absolutely entranced by the performance in front of him.
Marinette, with her eyes still closed, ended with a pirouette into an arabesque and stayed on a relevé. She waited until the last note faded from Luka’s violin and then she opened her eyes and noticed she had an audience.
Two very attractive people were standing in the door and watching her. The girl was taller than she was and had short black hair. She was wearing a red sports bra and leggings and a black workout jacket. She was carrying a black and red sports bag and she was looking at her with a very neutral expression. Her eyes were deep but not unfriendly. In fact, she almost looked impressed.
Marinette didn’t really focus on her because then she noticed the boy standing next to her. He was tall, blond and handsome. His mouth was slightly open. He was wearing simple warm-up sweats and a white t-shirt and he also had a black sports bag. And his eyes, oh his eyes they were something else. Light and fun but serious and engaging at the same time. She could get lost in those eyes.
But then she relaxed her abs in order to breathe and she fell forward with a slight yelp.
Luka set down his violin and quickly helped her up off the floor. He gave a quick hug and a kiss on the top of her head, “Amazing as usual, how about we go introduce ourselves?”
As they walked over to the other two, Marinette was searching for something to say, “Are you both starting school here?”
Adrien gave Kagami a playful look, “No, just me. This girls’ more into fencing and archery.”
When Adrien introduced himself Marinette almost fell all over again. “You’re Adrien Agreste? You wouldn’t be related to Emilie Agreste would you?”
Adrien smiled proudly, “Yeah! She was my mom!”
As Luka and Adrien shook hands Luka noticed the other boys’ ring. He tilted their hands so everyone could see it, “Nice ring!”
Kagami offered a small smile, “I got it for him when he auditioned for this school. For luck.”
“You always said you don’t believe in luck.” Adrien ribbed her playfully.
“No. But I believe in you.” She shot it back in such a way that Adrien raised his hands in surrender.
Luka smiled, “Well, I got Marinette her earrings when she auditioned too. Though I do believe in luck.” He added a wink in Marinette’s direction who playfully swatted his arm.
Adrien’s heart dropped a little watching them. He gave her the earrings. He kissed her head. They must be dating. Obviously, he’s amazing.
Meanwhile Marinette was facing the same dilemma while watching Kagami and Adrien. She was awesome. She was into fencing and archery. She bought him a ring. They were obviously together.
As blue eyes met green ones there was one singular thought, “I am so screwed.”
*
As the music faded away, Marinette looked down and met Adrien’s eyes. He was holding her knees and she had one hand on his shoulder and the other was raised high above her head. Both of their chests were rising and falling with the effort they had put into this audition and she noticed a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
He slowly lowered her to the ground and she placed her hands on his neck to keep her balance while he had his hands on her waist. The whole time she kept her eyes locked on his. For the first time, they had danced together without any slip ups.
And it was amazing.
She didn’t even know where it came from, but she was able to forget everything else except the music and him and she was just able to dance. Their bodies moved as one and there was electricity that neither of them had ever felt before.
Then Marinette looked over to the rest of the class and saw only shocked faces.
She quickly disentangled herself from Adrien and offered a small bow while still holding onto his hand. The rest of class clapped politely but Marinette could only think about the boy whose hand she was holding.
*
Luka walked next to Marinette on the sidewalk while she blabbered on about that afternoon. He smiled as she talked nonstop about her audition and having to dance with Adrien again.
“Luka, I can’t even explain it. It was so perfect and amazing but now that I’ve done it once what if Mdme. Moreau pairs us together all the time from now on? I’ll never be able to focus! He’s too perfect and I’m still a mess when I dance with him and…”
Luka grabbed her shoulders and forced her look him in the eyes, “Mari, you need to breathe.”
Marinette took in a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders.
“Okay good. There’s no reason for you to freak out. It’ll be alright.”
Just then her phone buzzed with an email from school. Marinette swiped through her phone with her fingers trembling and saw the subject line: ROMEO AND JULIET CAST
She squealed and opened up the email before paling and turning to her best friend, “Luka, I think I have a reason to freak out.”
She turned her phone to face him. There, on the screen it read:
ROMEO: Adrien Agreste
JULIET: Marinette Dupain-Cheng