Chapter Text
Coming to Las Vegas in the summer was a mistake, Marinette had decided. Even though her plane had touched down well after the sun had set, as soon as she stepped outside she still felt the full force of the desert heat blast her face. By the time she reached her hotel with her university friends, she was sure her top was ruined from how much she had sweat. And their night had only just begun.
“Okay, so strip first?” Maxine said as soon as their bags were in their rooms.
A weary sigh escaped from Helen as she grabbed the bottom of her shirt. “God yes, this shirt is going to be disgusting if I don’t take it off soon.”
“I think she meant going to the strip downtown, with the casinos,” Marinette cut in before her friend could go through with the action. Maxine and Helen were relatively new friends she had made in university, and she was still getting used to their quirks. Such as Helen taking things a bit too literally.
But when they had asked her to join them on their spring break trip to one of the most notorious places in America on the grounds that, “She needed to get some American culture while she was in school here,” Marinette had jumped at the chance. It wasn’t everyday you get to travel across such a large country and land in the middle of the desert, only to be surrounded by hedonism and vice.
Sure, she wasn’t planning on participating too much in said hedonism and vice. But a girl could still indulge here and there.
“I don’t care how she meant it, it's bikini time,” Helen asserted, continuing to follow through with her motion and throwing off her top. Maxine just rolled her eyes as Marinette respectfully looked away as Helen started rummaging in her suitcase topless. When the straps of her swim top were firmly in place, she let out a contented sigh. “There, much better. Okay now we can go down to the strip.”
There were plenty of other university and college students around them as they meandered through the throng of tourists that filled the sidewalks. Marinette couldn’t stop looking around at all the sights that swirled around them. Lights flashed on every surface, advertisements the size of full buildings moving seamlessly and trying to convince her to buy everything and anything. The showgirls wandering around in glittery outfits and pasties talking to whoever would stop to look too long. The confusing mass of restaurants and shops that seemed to clamber over each other to demand her attention.
If she didn’t have two guides to help her along, she would be hopelessly lost at this point. There was too much to see, too much to do. But her guides already had a plan, and it all started in the blissfully air conditioned halls of Ceasar’s Palace.
“First things first, we need to find an open table or something to sit at,” Maxine explained as they wound through the smoky hall. Most of the slot machines were filled with people already, their drinks and smoldering cigarettes at their side as they tapped away at the flashing lights. The girls ignored them, moving towards a collection of card tables instead. “This is where the real money is made.”
“But I don’t know how to play…blackjack?” Marinette insisted as she was placed between the others. There were a couple of other people at the table already, an older man with wispy hair and a younger guy who kept glancing nervously over at the trio.
“That doesn’t matter,” Maxine sniffed. She handed the money over to the dealer, and set a stack of chips in front of Marinette. Pointing to the green chips, she said, “Just do minimum bets with those and don’t go over 21. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose any money. Actually, the worse you do the better.”
“Think about it,” Helen jumped in before Marinette could jump in with more questions. “How does it look if three hot college girls are obviously losing money at a game together? Who might pay attention to that sort of thing?”
It only took a moment for the implications to click in Marinette’s head, and her mouth closed with a soft click. “ We are here to pick up guys, aren’t we, ” She deadpanned as she busted on her first round.
This was not the first time that she had been roped into something like this. These girls in particular enjoyed bringing her along to clubs and bars in their endeavors to pick up dates and one night stands. And sure, it was fun sometimes to get some attention and looks. But way too many men would fixate on her accent, even more on her “exotic nature”, and in the end she usually ended up taking the taxi home alone while the other girls stayed out having their fun. Not that they minded, but they also never stopped trying to get her to come along.
“It’s important you learn this Marinette,” Maxine explained as they lost some more money. “ In Vegas, you have to find some rich asshole who is here for the ego boost and looking to spend a ton of money that he doesn’t care much about. Then you follow him around like a lost puppy as he pays for all your expensive meals, drinks, and gambling. With you keeping the winnings, of course. And if you have to go to some boxing match or magic show, then so be it. Just say you need the bathroom when you are done and go to another casino.”
“Speaking of rich assholes,” Helen butted in again, pointing across the hall. The other two heads turned in tandem. “ Is that fucking Adrien Agreste?”
It was, or else Marinette was Hawk Moth himself. Not for a lack of trying on Adrien’s part, she could at least give him that. He was wearing a patterned bucket hat over his golden hair, and his Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts almost fit in with all the other tourists here. But his clothes were still just a bit too nice for a regular tourist, and when his piercing green eyes glanced out from behind his designer sunglasses, there was no mistaking her kitty behind the shades.
“Oh my god, it is!” Maxine gasped. Alarmed, Marinette glanced over to see the dollar signs already appearing in her friend's eyes. She threw her arms around the two of them, their current losing hands forgotten in front of them. “We should go over and say hi! Marinette, you know French, maybe we can talk to him! I bet he is loaded, and we might not have another chance to get with an actual model in Vegas!”
Oh god, there was no way Marinette could talk to him with them around. She had to think fast. “ That's not Adrien!” she blurted out. When the two looked at her questioningly, she stumbled on her words to say, “That looks like him, but it's actually his cousin, Felix! Yeah, definitely Felix.”
“How do you know Adrien Agreste’s cousin?” Helen asked suspiciously. “I mean, not to make assumptions of all French people knowing each other, but you knowing the cousin of a world renowned model is kinda strange.”
“He is English, actually. But we went to school together, for a while. You know, back in the, um, good ole days.”
For a blissful moment, she thought she had thrown them off. Then Helen was lighting up and dragging her by the wrist. “Let's say hi then! If he is Adrien Agreste’s cousin, he must be loaded too!”
They were only a few feet away when Marinette finally pulled herself together. “No!” She yelled, yanking her arm out of her friend’s grip. Once they both stopped to look at her, she took a deep breath and gave them a pained smile. “I mean no, you should wait here. Felix can be a bit…cranky. But we always got along together, so maybe if I talk to him first I can get him to say hi. Deal?”
They shared a look before nodding in unison. “Deal .”
Taking a deep breath, Marinette turned and started marching over to the hunched over form of her partner. She could tell by the grimace on his face that he must be losing this hand, and the dwindling stack of chips in front of him told a similar story. At least she wasn’t the only one who was bad at this game.
Summoning up her courage, Marinette slid into the seat next to him. He didn’t pay her any attention, his eyes fixed on his cards. “Hey there, come here often, Handsome?” The sound of her voice, however, had him practically jumping out of his seat in surprise. It took him a second to recognize her through wild eyes, and she couldn’t help giggling as the realization dawned on him.
“M-marinette?” he stuttered out. He glanced around, as if looking for hidden cameras, before breaking into a brilliant grin and surging forward to wrap her in a tight hug. “Marinette, it is you! What are you doing here?”
“Keep it down, I’m here with some friends,” she shushed him, but still smiled back as she returned the gesture. “I’ve been good, but I’m surprised to see you here, Kitten. I didn’t think there would be any fashion shows this weekend, how did your dad let you out of his sight?”
“Fashion shows?” he asked in confusion, pulling back to fix her with a puzzled stare. “Why would there be a fashion show here?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Because you are here? Working for your dad? Why else would you be in America, and in Vegas of all places?”
Recognition dawned on him, and he withdrew to look away guiltily and rub the back of his neck. “Actually, I’m kind of here by myself,” he admitted. “And my dad might not know that.”
That just raised more questions in her mind. Before she could get into them, she was interrupted by an arm winding around her shoulder. “Oh there you are Marinette!” Helen said next to her, sliding next to her easily with Maxine following close behind. “We were wondering where you went. And who is this?”
Clenching her jaw, Marinette held back on chewing out her friends on not giving her more time with her partner. But there was still time to shake them off. Taking a deep breath, she plastered on a smile and motioned between them. “Maxine, Helen, this is my old classmate Felix.”
He looked at them in surprise at the name. But when he saw her widened eyes, begging him silently to go along with the ruse, he pulled out that signature plastic model smile of his and beamed at them. “It’s so nice to meet you!”
“Are you really Adrien Agreste’s cousin?” Helen blurted out, not wasting any time to get to the point.
His smile strained slightly, but it held firm as he gave a practiced laugh. “Ah, a familiar question. Yes, we are indeed cousins, but I haven’t seen him in far too long. The life of a model is a busy one unfortunately, not much time for family.”
“Girls, Felix actually wanted to catch up with me a bit,” Marinette jumped in, wanting to get rid of them and to the bottom of the Adrien mystery quickly. “Do you mind if I find you later after we are done? Shouldn’t be too long.”
They both pouted at being ignored, but thankfully without the allure of the image of Adrien they both agreed and disappeared into the crowd of the casino quickly. Marinette couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief when she turned back to him, sheepishly grinning as he gave her a smirk. “So, Felix huh?” he drawled.
“Hey, they clocked you before I did,” she said defensively.
“Well thank you for covering for me, my Lady,” he replied with a mock bow. “Now how about I grab you a drink and we catch up properly.”
Finding a dark, secluded corner on the casino floor was harder than Marinette thought it would be. Everything was too bright, too in the open, too many people around to watch them huddle together. So they wandered together, looking for a bar that would give them the privacy they needed. When they found one, still crowded but also just quiet enough that they could tuck their heads close and hear each other, they found a corner and settled in.
As soon as her order was placed, Marinette was turning toward him and fixing him with a stare. “So, first things first. Why are you here, Adrien?”
He offered up a shrug as an answer. “I’m taking a break from my father?” he offered. When she didn’t take the obvious answer, he sighed and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “There are some…things. Happening back home. Things I needed to get away from, even if just for a little while. So I ran overseas to a place my father would never think to find me.”
“And why didn’t you think to tell me you were in the states?” she continued, pressing forward for a real answer. She grinned and lightly punched his shoulder. “Come on, Kitty, it’s been forever since I saw you, didn’t you want to say hi?”
The smile he gave back was far from genuine. “You know I always want to see your beautiful face, my Lady,” he deflected with a wink as comforting as the bright light surrounding them. Her fears were confirmed when he looked away and focused on his drink again. “But I didn’t want you dropping your important school work to come halfway across the country just to see little ole me.”
She couldn’t help biting her lip and taking comfort in the pain that bloomed as she wracked her mind. It had been years since they had revealed their identities to each other after the recovery of the butterfly and peacock miraculous, and yet Marinette still found herself at odds with the two boys before her. Scratch that, the two men. The one man. Adrien Agreste and his alter ego Chat Noir. Her two favorite people in the world (don’t tell Alya) smushed into one. And even now, after almost five years of knowing they were the same wonderful person, she still felt like she was on the outside looking in.
Sometimes it almost felt like nothing had really even changed. Adrien still lived under the watchful eye of his father, modeling and taking classes at the business school of Gabriel’s choice. Gabriel had let up some in the past years, but he was still insistent about trying to control every little choice in Adrien’s life. She and Adrien were still best friends, but nothing more. No matter how much she tried to be there for him, or him for her, something always managed to pull them apart again.
And the biggest thing to stay the same was that she was still hopelessly in love with him.
Really, she was doing a masterful job right now of not freaking out with him here. Her heart was beating frantically behind her ribs as she let her eyes wander over his perfect face, soaking in every little detail since she had seen him last in person. Her hand burned where it lay neutrally on his forearm, trying to keep it a friendly gesture without any hint of her yearning seeping through. Her nose twitched as she breathed in the smell of his cologne, wanting to dive in and inhale the scent he was currently wearing, which she had gifted him for Christmas.
She wanted to do nothing more than drown in everything Adrien, but she couldn’t. Because they were best friends. And she needed to unravel the mystery that he was presenting her so that when he smiled again, it was genuine instead of forced.
“So, what should we do now?” She asked, glancing down at their now empty drinks and back up at Adrien’s confused face.
“What do you mean?” he replied with a frown. “Aren’t you going back to your friends?”
It was too easy to roll her eyes and laugh. “No? Why would I go back to them now that you are here, Adrien?”
It was unfair how cute he looked when his face flushed and he glanced away in embarrassment. “I mean, I just thought you had plans was all,” he muttered half to himself.
Feeling a bit cheeky, she slowly slipped her arm into the crook of his elbow. It was delicious to see his look of surprise and increasing blush. “Well you see, their only plans were to find rich guys to mooch off of for the weekend,” she explained with rising glee. “And I think I already found my target, so my schedule is suddenly free.”
She didn’t bother holding back her giggles as understanding dawned on her partner’s face, only to be replaced with awe and a certainly cat-like glee. “Really now, is that how it is?” he drawled, that confident charm that he wielded so easily as Chat Noir coming to the surface. “I must be incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful woman to mooch off of me this evening. Shall we, Princess?”
There was the first hint of heat on her face when she mockingly curtsied for him. Remember, he is your best friend, don’t read too much into it. “Of course, my gallant knight. Shall we?”
Once they settled down from their fit of giggles and teasing, they made their way out of the bar and onto the strip. Even with the sun well below the horizon, heat still blasted them full in the face as soon as they stepped through the doors. “Ugh, my dress is going to be ruined at this rate,” Marinette sighed dejectedly as they walked over a bridge, picking at the already sweat-stained garment. She had thought that she had packed appropriately, but apparently she was wrong.
“I could always get you a new one,” Adrien commented airly. When Marinette scoffed and shook her head, his grin widened and he bumped her with his hip. “What? You said you wanted a rich guy to mooch off of, why can’t I treat you to something nice?”
“I didn’t actually mean that,” she said with a light giggle. She bumped him right back before saying, “Besides, I have clothes back at my room that I can change into if need be. We don’t need to be buying me a brand new wardrobe.”
But Adrien wasn’t having any of it, already steering her towards a mid-end store. “Marinette, I simply insist. If I'm going to be spending any money here, I would want to spend it on you. And you might as well take advantage of my currently deep pockets and take me up on the offer.”
She wanted to argue. She wanted to say no like she usually did when he offered to shower her with money, before she was in college. But that had been over a year ago, before she had set off on her own across the world to a completely new country. And while she was happy with the outfits she had brought along, the more she glanced at the selections of dresses around them, the more she found herself thinking about his proposal.
“How about this,” Adrien cut into her thoughts. His face was a perfectly arranged facade of innocence. “If you let me get you one dress, I’ll answer any one question you might have about why I’m here.”
That was enough to finally tip the scales. “Okay, one dress,” she acquiesced, giving him her best serious glare as he broke out into a brilliant grin. “I mean it Adrien, only one dress. You are not to buy every dress I try on today, you hear me?”
He held up his hands in agreement, even if his boyish grin gave away how happy he was. “Do you want any help, or should I just wait by the changing room for you?”
She frowned at him. “The changing room? Why would you be there?”
His smile fell slightly, and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Well, I want to see what you try on. If you don’t mind?”
Against her will she could already feel the blush rising in her cheeks. It was her turn to look away and nervously say, “Oh, yeah. Sure, I’ll meet you over there.”
Half an hour later, after she had whittled down her choices to four dresses, Adrien was happily waiting for her in a chair outside the changing rooms. With a self-satisfied grin he gave her two big thumbs up. She stuck her tongue out at him before making her way into the stall, his light laughter following her.
The first choice was a bit of a cheeky one. When she emerged, he immediately laughed and gave a mocking whistle. “Yeah yeah, get it out while you can,” she said with a self satisfied smile as she turned back and forth. The crimson fabric swayed around her, the frills of the dress easily fanning out with the movement. It was a heavier fabric, and a little stifling, but she’d had to try it on. “I figured I had to try on at least one red-and-black polka-dot dress for your amusement.”
“It’s like the real Ladybug is standing in front of me,” he said with a cheeky grin. “You know, you look a lot like her, Marinette. Has anyone seen the two of you in the same room together before?”
“Yes you dork, you did,” she pointed out, already making her way back to the changing room. “And let's keep it that way, shall we?”
“I always did say you looked good in gray and pink,” he called after her as she returned to the dressing room. She tried not to think too much about going out to grab a dress that matched that description.
The next one was another super hero jab. Adrien’s eyes were wide when she emerged in a midnight black dress adorned with green stripes along the shoulders and circling her hips. “How do I look, Kitty?” she asked with a smirk, turning fully for him and coming to a stop with the fabric swirling around her.
Something finally clicked back into place in his brain, enough for him to close his mouth and lean back with an impressed look. “You really know how to rock the colors,” he said with proper awe. Leaning forward, he lowered his voice to rumble, “You know, I always thought you looked amazing with my ring on.”
And then he had the audacity to wink. Wink! She could feel her face heating up from the comment already, and she turned around resolutely so he wouldn’t see her getting worked up. “Yeah, well I’ve always had a good fashion sense,” she finally sputtered out. Straightening her back, she turned around to face his cheshire grin once more. “And I would say you looked even better in the spots. They really brought out those pretty green eyes of yours.”
Great, now they were both blushing. At least Marinette had gotten the last word in, as usual. “I have one more left,” she mumbled before she turned and beat a hasty retreat back to the changing room.
As soon as the door was closed, she groaned and slid down the wall to the ground. His pretty eyes? She looked good with his ring on? “Remember, you are just friends,” she growled to herself as she shook her head to clear her mind. “You are just friends who sometimes flirt a little bit because that's what friends do, nothing more. He’s probably seeing someone else at this point and you are just friends who ran into each other and nothing will ever happen so just stop freaking thinking about it!”
“Are you okay in there Marinette?” Adrien’s inquisitive voice breached the thin door, and she yelped at the sudden intrusion. “I heard you talking to yourself in there.”
“Yup, ferfectly pine!” she yelled back, mentally cursing her mouth for its sudden inability to string words together properly. “One second, I’ll be back out soon!”
True to her word, she emerged shortly after in a simple pink dress. The straps were white, and white flowers floated across the light fabric. “How does it look?” she asked when she emerged. She swayed from side to side as he gave her a once over before breaking into that brilliant grin of his.
“Perfectly Marinette,” he gushed. “You look perfect in it.”
There she was, fighting off a blush again. “Thanks, I think I’ll take this one then,” she said, already turning back to the changing room.
“Wait, didn’t you say there were four dresses?”
She looked back, feigning surprise. “What? No, only three. Just the two to tease you with and this one. Actually, it might take me a minute to get changed, can I meet you at the front?”
After she had made sure he was off, she scurried back into the changing room and slammed the door shut behind her. Internally, she cursed herself for revealing the existence of the fourth dress. Carefully she shimmied out of the pink dress and hung it up before turning to the last garment.
It fit perfectly when she slipped it on. It was light and airy on her frame, clinging where it needed to stay in place and flowing easily everywhere else. Silently she turned in the mirror, transfixed at the way it moved.
It was a pure white summer dress, with a deep neckline and an open back that showed off her shoulder blades. The bottom ended just above her ankles, floating over the ground gracefully with every small step she took to test it out. There were frills that ringed the dress in three tiers, but they were simple enough not to distract. The longer she wore it, the more she fell in love.
“Marinette, are you okay?”
Her eyes closed as she sighed to herself. “Yeah, sorry I’ll be out in a minute,” she called back to Adrien, already reaching up to take the dress back off. She loved it, but there was no way she could have it. Walking around with a model like Adrien would already send the rumor mills scrambling, and walking around in a brand new white dress in Vegas would only stoke those fires into a frenzy.
The pink dress would have to do, she decided. Stepping out, she managed to put the other three dresses on the rack without Adrien seeing before joining him at the front. He met her with his characteristic smile and his credit card already at the ready.
“Should we go back to my room so you can change?” he asked her as they left the shop.
“I guess, as long as it isn’t far,” she replied. The mere thought of walking back out into the heat though had her scrunching up her nose in annoyance. “Although I don’t want to ruin this dress as soon as we leave the Casino.”
“That's alright, my room is here,” he said, motioning to the building they were in. “You can change, and then we can just spend the rest of the night here. I was looking at some nice restaurants that I can take you to, and then if you want there is a show playing later tonight too.”
She looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. “Look at you, already having a plan all put together,” she said. “Were you still going to do all of this before you met me, or have your plans turned more altruistic since?”
His grin turned into a smirk as he nudged her with his shoulder. “What can I say, I had some time to think while you were in the changing room,” he snickered. “Now come on, I think you are going to like my room!”
She tried not to think too much about what that might mean on the elevator ride up, but when he opened the door and stood aside for her she lost her breath. A wide open suite with floor to ceiling windows, with a stunning view of the strip below and the city stretching out behind. The bed was a king, with coral blue silk sheets on it. But the real ringer was in the gigantic bathroom.
“You have a freaking jacuzzi in here?” she shouted when she walked in to get changed. His knowing laugh was her only answer as she marveled at the tub that could easily fit five or six people that he had all to himself. Not to mention the giant walk in shower with a waterfall head in the corner. He really had chosen a nice room for himself.
Once she had changed, Adrien slipped past her to change himself. When he emerged again he was no longer in his knock off tourist apparel, but wearing a simple button down t shirt and white shorts. He had even managed to match her decently, the blue shirt strewn with a lineless pink flower pattern that was the same shade as her dress. “Shall we go to dinner?” he said, offering his arm for her to take.
“Gladly,” she said with a smile.
Her friends didn’t seem too bothered when she said she was going to spend the rest of the night on her own. From the texts they had sent in response, they had found their own rich men to hang on for the night. Although none of them were as handsome as mine , Marinette snickered to herself. Which made it that much easier to slip into her usual good mood when she was with Adrien.
Getting dinner with Adrien felt like slipping on old clothes. They hadn’t seen each other as much in the last few years since she had started college and he had been drawn even further into his role as a model and rising heir for his father’s business. The only opportunities had been on breaks when she had flown back into Paris from New York, and even then they were rarely able to see each other in such a formal setting. Usually she had to be content with meeting up with him in their hero suits long after any engagements he had wrapped up. And yet, every time they met again and sat down across from each other, it felt like coming home to Marinette.
There was no dithering over what to say, both of them were eager to get to the point. Adrien caught her up on their old classmates and their friends, and Marinette would proudly update him on her class work and whatever new project she was working on. He would happily tell her about the last time he had managed to visit her parents and what they had fed him, and she would roll her eyes and try and pry out how things were going with his father instead.
It was at the entree that she got around to the all too familiar thorny question. Like always, Adrien squirmed in his seat and averted his eyes when the topic of his father came up. She didn’t like asking it any more than he liked to answer it, but she had a deep-seated need to know what the old snake was up to.
Even if he had mellowed out slightly around the same time Hawk Moth mysteriously gave up and delivered the butterfly pin to Ladybug six years ago, Gabriel had made up for it by being even more distant from his son than ever. They hardly ever saw each other face to face anymore. Instead, Adrien would have to schedule to meet with his father in the office he rarely left anymore and would be talked to without eye contact ever being exchanged. And of course he was no less demanding, only now the demands came through calendar invites and assistants instead of directly from the man himself.
“Things with Father are…bad,” Adrien started off, frowning as he twirled the thin stem of his wine glass between his fingers. Immediately Marinette leaned forward, already fearing the worst. Adrien glanced up quickly before his eyes darted back down to his meal. “You remember last time we talked, and he was having me go on ‘dates’ with other models?”
“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth. She had nearly ruined their last meal together a year ago when he had said as much to her, wanting to upend the table and rush to find his father right then and there. Thank goodness her partner knew how to calm her down, even if it had left her fuming for weeks after. Gabriel had been setting up Adrien with other models, booking meals and movies for them to go to and be seen by the paparazzi together. It never lasted more than a few dates, with Adrien kindly telling them he had no interest in them, but a few weeks later a new event would be on his calendar with a new model’s name and a table at a fancy restaurant booked.
Adrien sighed and continued to stare at his food, resolutely not looking at her as he thought of what to say. “Well they have been getting more frequent,” he said morosely. “And it’s been getting harder to let them down and break up with them.”
“And you think your father has something to do with this?” Marinette asked, knowing deep down that he totally did.
Adrien nodded. His face screwed up like his next words were bile on his tongue. “I think he wants me to…settle down with one of them. At least for a while. When I told him no he snapped at me that I could just get divorced when I got bored with them, but it was time for me to get…”
Marinette could feel the blood draining out of her face at the unsaid word. This couldn’t be happening. The topic of marriage had come up between them before, and Adrien had always been adamant that he only wanted to marry someone he was totally and irrevocably in love with. None of the political maneuvering that his father had tried to pull with Kagami, or with overeager fans that shouted at him from red carpet lines, begging him to have their babies. No, Adrien had always dreamed of dating someone and falling in love with them and spending the rest of his life with them.
But now it seemed that Gabriel was once again taking things a step too far. “You told him no, of course,” Marinette cut in, fear and anger swirling in her gut like a turbulent sea before a storm. “You told him you didn’t want to get married to some random model just so the brand looked good.”
He nodded slowly. “Father wouldn’t hear anything about it,” he sighed. “Told me that he had set me up for a date with a prominent model who was really making a name for herself, and that he expected me to pop the question come winter time. If I don’t…well, he made a number of threats, both explicit and veiled. The worst was taking away my access to the graves, though.”
There weren't enough curses for how Gabriel hung those two graves over Adrien’s head. It had been so hard on him when it had been revealed that his mother had been in a coma the entire time, only for her to die in medical care soon after his father made the announcement when he was sixteen. And then the second blow of Nathalie’s declining health in the aftermath, ending on a cold fall morning with Adrien holding her hand in the hospital, the monitors ringing out their death knell around him. There had been many sleepless nights with him staying over in Marinette’s room, her parents caring for him while his father grew despondent to the world around him.
But when that wicked man had finally come to his senses, he had insisted on laying them both to rest in a small mausoleum in the local graveyard. One with two open vacancies, a grim promise for the future. And worst of all, Gabriel held the only key to the building, meaning that even Adrien’s access to grieve over them could be used as a tool to keep his son in line. Something he had done multiple times since.
“That bastard has a lot of nerve,” Marinette ground out, unwilling to say what she really thought about him. “The hold he has on your life…gah! It makes me sick sometimes, Adrien.”
He gave her that sad smile of his and reached across the table to take her hand. “Thanks Marinette, but you know how it is,” he said with a weak shrug. “Not much I can actually do without him following through on those threats. I mean, the legal fees alone to contest my contract with the brand would put me six feet under. Trust me, I’ve looked.”
“Just because I know that, doesn’t mean that I have to be okay with it,” she said, squeezing his hand comfortingly. She sighed and closed her eyes as he idly ran a thumb over the back of her hand. “I wish he would lay off your personal life and stop making you date random people, though,” she grumbled. “I mean if you had time to find someone to date on your own, that might solve the problem, but with him working you so hard, when would you find the time?”
“To answer your questions from earlier, that's actually why I’m here,” he answered with a chuckle. “It took some trickery, but I managed to book the trip with my own money and convinced him that I was in Vegas for a ‘business conference.’ I mean, technically I am here for that, I have a ticket and everything. But as you can see, I am skipping the actual event to have some personal time off.”
Marinette couldn’t help giving him an impressed look. “Well well, Adrien ditching an important event? I thought I would never see the day. And to spend it with little old me, no less.”
“Marinette, I would always spend it with you,” he said, his voice filled with such sincerity she had to remind herself that it was only because they were best friends and partners, and not for anything else. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, although he did not let go of her hand. “If only we were dating,” he joked. Her head shot up, her eyes wide, but he was already barreling ahead. “Father already knows you, you could work for the brand. The only problem is that you are so far away that it would never make sense until you are back in Paris. It would be perfect for me, though.”
“Us, dating?” she said dumbly, scarcely able to understand what he had just said.
He finally let go of her hand to awkwardly rub the back of his neck. “Yeah, it’s pretty silly,” he muttered to himself. “You know what, forget I said anything. But yeah, that’s why I’m here. More wine?”
“What? No, no ‘more wine,’ Adrien!” she said frantically. Hurriedly she reached out and took his hand again, the excitement growing within her threatening to burst. “Adrien, what if we did date?”
It was his turn to be dumbfounded. “Marinette, you know I said that as a joke…” he said slowly.
“Okay, then it can be our little joke,” she shot back. Calming herself slightly, she looked him straight on, a plan already half forming in her mind. “Adrien, we are best friends, right? You know you can trust me with anything.”
He nodded, still not understanding where she was going with this. “So if you can trust me, and you need to be dating someone for your dad to be happy with you, then why not fake date me?”
She could see that he was still confused, so she rushed ahead. “Think about it. We say we are dating, we video chat once or twice a week to keep up the illusion. Then, in a year when I’m done with school, we can date for real until you are able to get out from under his rule. And once you are free, we can ‘break up’ and you will be free to date whoever you want! But this way he stays off your back and can’t keep pressuring you to date models you aren’t interested in.”
“I mean, look at us,” she said, motioning to their still joined hands. “We practically look like a couple already.”
Adrien’s face was screwed up in thought, but his hand continued to clutch hers. “Are you sure?” he finally asked, glancing up at her with those wide green eyes. “I mean, I would love to date you. Fake date you. More than anything. But I don’t want to drag you down like tha--Ow!”
He winced as her foot made contact with his shin under the table. “Adrien, stop putting yourself down,” she said sweetly. “You know I won’t let anyone talk smack about my partner, and that includes you.” Still, she let her smile soften as she continued to squeeze his hand. “Why not use these next couple days as a trial? If anyone asks, we just say we are dating and we wanted to meet up here while you were in town for your conference. And if you still feel uneasy about it, we can just lie and say we ‘broke up’ on good terms. Deal?”
For a moment she was worried he would say no, that he would keep saying that it was too risky or could hurt her. But then he was giving her a shy grin and nodding in agreement. “Okay, we can try for the week,” he said. “My girlfriend, Marinette.”
If she took a moment's satisfaction in hearing the words she had always dreamed of him saying, who could blame her?”
It was so easy falling into the role she had proposed to him. Hand in hand, they wandered the casino and booked tickets for a circus show after dinner. He bought her some popcorn, extra butter, just like he knew she liked it. In the darkness of the theater, she snaked a hand up to the nape of his neck and scratched him there, feeling him melt into the sensation. She almost didn’t question it when they returned to his room for the night and laid down to watch some television.
It was around midnight when he shifted next to her, his arm sliding out from behind her back to look at his watch. “We should probably get back to your room soon, huh?” he said quietly.
“Wha? Why’s that?” Marinette mumbled, her eyes already heavy from all the activities of the day. She snuggled closer instinctively when he started to get out of the bed. “I wasn’t falling asleep, I swear.”
His chuckles became a bit more strained as she held him close. “Don’t you want to sleep in your own bed though?”
She frowned, her brain not quite piecing together what he was suggesting. “No, I just want to stay here with you,” she grumbled. “I’m all comfy already.”
Finally he gave up on pulling away, instead sighing and leaning back into her touch. “Well, a little bit longer can’t hurt,” he reasoned weakly. “But with all your stuff back in your room, we should really get you back there before you fall asleep.”
“I told you, I wasn’t falling asleep,” she said with a yawn. “Besides, it’s not like we haven’t slept together before.”
In the years after the reveal, it had been a common occurrence for Adrien to sneak out of his house as Chat Noir to come spend the night with Marinette whenever either of them couldn’t sleep or had nightmares. In fact, Marinette had always found herself sleeping better with her partner besides her. As the evening wore on, it was one of the biggest things she was looking forward to about meeting up with him tonight.
Adrien wheezed beside her, causing her to frown and sit up to look at him. When she caught sight of his flushed face, her words finally caught up to her and she smacked his arm. “Not like that!” she yelled, her own face heating up from the insinuation. “You know what I meant!”
“Of course.” He smiled weakly. “I mean, I would love for you to sleep with me. Sleep in my bed. Rest in the same vicinity as me without any physical activity involved. I just don’t want you having to sleep in that dress.”
Marinette looked down at the now-rumpled dress that pooled around her. “I mean, I could just wear one of your shirts?” she suggested.
The color deepened on Adrien’s face, but he simply nodded and extracted himself from the bed. After rummaging around in his suitcase, he finally emerged with an old Jagged Stone concert shirt. Marinette’s eyes widened as he offered it to her. “You still have this?” she said quietly, running her fingers over the worn fabric. When she turned it over, there was the Kitty Section patch she had stitched on all those years ago. “I thought you had grown out of it years ago.”
He gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I kind of did. But I always loved it, and never wanted my father to try and get rid of it when I traveled, so I always take it with me wherever I go. It should still be big enough for you, though.”
It was plenty big, even now. She cursed her mother’s genes as she stood looking at herself in the mirror, the bottom of the shirt almost at her knees. It was soft on her skin, although the stitches from the patch tickled her back. Impulsively she reached down and grabbed the neckline and brought it to her nose, taking a deep whiff of him. Expensive cologne and a hint of cheese. Yup, that was her Adrien.
“Are you okay in there Marinette?” he called out.
“Haha, yep! Just coming out now!” she yelled back, hastily smoothing down the fabric before joining him again.
Only a side lamp was on, and Adrien was reclining in the bed looking at his phone. Oh lord, she forgot he preferred to sleep shirtless. He was still as fit as ever, even if his father always complained about how he was too muscle-y for a model. Trying not to think too hard about it, Marinette pulled back the sheets on the other side and slid in next to him, squirming over to plaster herself to his side. He looked down in surprise, his gaze softening as her arms wound around him. “I missed this,” she said simply before laying her head on his chest and turning back to the television.