Chapter Text
“Nino, what are we going to do after school?” Adrien asked from the couch.
They were at Nino’s house playing Mario Kart, a favorite pastime of the dou in recent years. Nino looked up from the floor where he was sitting and shot his friend a quizzical look. After a moment's pause, he replied, “You know, I don’t think I have thought at all about that dude. Why do you ask.”
Adrien turned back to the game and gave a small shrug. “I was thinking about it the other day, and I guess I was, uh, wondering if you had any plans for after school.”
This was something that they had touched on before. But most of their talks centered around how done they were with school and how cool real life as an adult must be. They never exactly got around to talking about what they would do in real life though.
Nino gave a thoughtful hum as he thought about it. “I guess I was thinking of trying to find a job as a DJ, you know that thing I always talk about and dedicate most of my time to?” Adrien rolled his eyes as Nino continued, “I guess I have not thought that far past that though dude. I’m not exactly the poster child for thinking ahead.”
They lapsed back into silence for a moment before Adrien broke it again. “Have you thought about, I don’t know, where you are going to live? Or if you are going to move out at all?” He threw out with an air of forced casualty.
“Dude, I just told you the extent of my plans after school,” Nino replied as he ran Adrien’s kart off the track. “Step one, become an amazing DJ. Step two, unknown. Step three, profit. I have given zero thought to where I would live.”
On the screen Adrien repaid his friends betrayal with a blue shell. He cheered as we was able to race past at the last moment and secure victory. With victory in hand he turned and said, “Well, in that case, want to maybe move in with me?”
At this remark Nino's head whipped around to look at his friend. “Bro.” He said in an awed voice, “I would love to live in that mansion you call a house with you.” Then he gave his friend a quizzical look. “But what about papa Agreste? I doubt he would be okay with me living there as well.” Over the last few years Nino had been able to gain some respect from the cold father. It had been a long hard road for him, and he was not about to put that in jeopardy.
Rubbing the back of his neck Adrien broke eye contact and gave a strained chuckle. “Yeah, about that. I was thinking of maybe, um, moving out? And living on my own? I like the mansion, but it's not exactly somewhere I want to spend any more time living in.”
Now this was news to Nino. As long as he had known Adrien the boy had seemed to be comfortable with living in the mansion. So on the one hand, that meant no high life for Nino. But on the other, it was Adrien taking another step out from under his oppressive father's wing. And when it came down to it, he was happy that Adrien was even asking him about something as big as this. Nodding Nino replied, “Hey man, that sounds like a sound choice. Hell yeah I would move in with you! Gotta stick with my best bro, am I right?”
Adrien let out a relieved breath that he had been holding. “Oh thank goodness, I was kind of worried you had plans already.”
Nino laughed and turned back to the game. “Like I said dude, no plans other than becoming the best DJ ever. Who else do you think I would live with, Max?”
All Adrien could do to reply as he focused on the game was to mumble, “I don’t know man, I don’t know.”
———
“So then I asked him before kicking his butt at the game, ‘who else do you think I would live with, Max?’” Nino replayed for Marinette.
They were sitting at their favorite coffee shop, waiting for Alya and Adrien. Adrien was finishing up his piano lesson, and Alya was working on the school yearbook. So that left Marinette and Nino to chat while they waited.
Marinette grinned as she sipped her drink, rolling her eyes at how silly both of her friends were. Even after years of being around the boys, Marinette could not believe how goofy they could be. It was always funny to hear one of them boast about something little like winning at Mario Kart. Just another perk of getting to know them as friends. “Sounds like you told him,” she giggled.
“You bet I did,” He proclaimed from across the table. “I'm actually kind of glad he brought it up, that's kind of something important to think about.”
Marinette hummed and said, “You’re right, it is an important thing to think about.”
“So have you thought about what you are going to do at all after school?” Nino asked. He thought he knew the answer, that Marinette and Alya would be living together of course. He hoped that for once, the boys had thought of an important life milestone first.
It took a few seconds for Marinette to think about her answer. “Not especially, but I guess I kind of thought Alya and I would move in together? It kind of seems like the logical next step,” she admitted. “Now that you mention it, that might be a conversation I should have with her. I would hate to expect something like that and then get let down.”
Nino scoffed and took a bit out of his scone. “What, make sure Alya does not go cavorting off and room with another girl in our class? I don’t think you have any competition in that department.”
“You never know, she has gotten closer to Chloe in the last year,” Marinette said with a giggle. Why, only yesterday had her friend had gone a long winded rant to the both of them about how insufferable that girl could be.
After that the subject changed and they continued to chat, but Marinette made a mental note to bring it up to Alya next time she could.
———
“And I was about done with my in class paper, when all of a sudden I catch that witch of a girl looking at my paper! Can you believe it? Four years of school together and I would have thought her morals would have become more sound. So then I was like…hey Marinette, are you still listening?”
The remark caused Marinette to snap out of her own thoughts and directed her attention back to her friend. “I'm sorry Alya, I guess I was zoning out again,” she apologized with a small smile. Alya rolled her eyes and adjusted herself on the end of Marinette’s bed. They were having an end of the week sleepover, a tradition of their for the last couple years. And this was the part where they complained to each other about various things. Like Chloe. Always Chloe.
“Girl, you have been doing that all night,” Alya sighed with fake exasperation. Since becoming friends with Marinette she had learned two things. One, she was an incredible person. And two, that she often times got stuck in her own thoughts. “Is there something on your mind that you wish to share with the class?” Alya prodder further.
In fact, there was something on Marinette’s mind. For the last two days she had been thinking over what Nino had said about moving in with Adrien after school was over. To be fair, a decent part of that time was spent fantasizing about what it would be like to live with Adrien. But the whole “living with your best friend” concept had caught her attention even more.
Once school was over, Marinette had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to do with her life. Get her foot in the fashion industry, either through school or through work. At the moment she had a nice college offer lined up, but one thing she had not thought about was where she was going to live. And then Nino came along and dropped the perfect idea in her lap.
Why not find a place with Alya?
She was surprised she had not thought of it sooner. The big reason was that she was not quite sure what Alya was going to do after school herself. But maybe, just maybe if she were to stay in Paris with Marinette, they could find a place together. And that would make Marinette’s day.
Well, now was as good a time as any to broach the subject. “Have you thought about what you are going to do after school Alya?” Marinette asked.
There was a glint in Alya’s eye as her smile widened and she answered, “Why but what else? To become a world renowned reporter!” She struck a pose that elicited a laugh from Marinette as she continued. “I will venture the globe, looking for the best stories humanity has to offer! Nothing can stop my inquisitive mind, except for the occasional fair young maiden.” At this suggestion she slid over to Marinette and wiggling her eyebrows.
Deciding to play the part, Marinette turned and draped herself over her friend. “My, what a handsome reporter I have found! Please, tell me of your daring adventures and harrowing stories,” She crooned.
The girls broke into laughter as Marinette shimmied up against Alya. Once they had settled down Alya ran her hands through Marinette’s hair as she thought about it harder. “You know, other than trying to get a job as a journalist, I really have no idea at what I want to do after school. Why, is there something you wanted to do?”
Marinette hummed beneath her friend’s fingers. “Well I got to thinking the other day about where I was going to live after school. I had been thinking of staying with my parents for a while longer, but a thought struck me. About how it might be nice to go off and get my own place.
“Oh yeah? You gotta make sure you invite me over all the time when you do,” Alya hummed.
“Wait, I was not quite done,” Marinette interjected. “I was thinking it would be nice to get my own place, but it would be even better if I had a friend room with me as well.” A small smile crept across her face as she felt Alya’s finger’s slow their pace. Marinette could feel the gears turning in her friend's head as she took in the information.
It took Alya a second before she resumed her routine. “So are you looking for applicants? I have my resumé on my computer is you want to take a look at it,” She replied calmly. Or as calmly as she could. After so many years friendship Marinette could hear the underlying excitement in Alya’s voice.
“Well seeing as you are the only application I'm interested in seeing, I say you got the position,” Marinette chirped. And then, more timidly, “As long as you want to room with me in the first place.”
The hands on her head shot to her shoulders, and Alya spun her around to face her. A big grin shone on her face. “Girl, are you kidding? Of course I want to! It's not like I don’t already live with you on the weekends.”
Relief spread through Marinette. It was the answer she had been expecting, but she had still been a bit worried Alya would already have other plans. Cheering she embraced her friend. “Awesome! I already have some ideas about decorating, and what the living room could look like, and, and, Im just so excited for this!”
With renewed fervor the two friends got busy. Now that they had a new dream together, they had a lot to talk about.
———
It was more unusual for Adrien and Alya to hang out, and yet here they were at the park together having a picnic.
This had actually become a more regular occurrence in the last few months. It had all began one day when the four friends were hanging out together before one of Adrien’s photo shoots. He was just about getting ready to leave when an audible grumble came from his stomach. He had tried to brush it off, saying things like “it comes with being a model” and “I had a full breakfast, I promise!” but the other three did not believe him one bit.
Once Adrien was gone, Alya Nino and Marinette quickly came up with a plan to feed their starving friend. They rushed to the bakery and around town for some other choice foods, looking for only the best. Then the friends gathered up their impromptu picnic and waited outside where Adrien was modeling. Needless to say the blonde boy was delighted almost to the point of tears when they showed up with the feast.
Ever since the three tried their best to get together with Adrien after longer photo shoots and feed him. Most days Nino would meet up with his best friend, but sometimes they would pair up to deliver the goods. This time Alya was the only one who was able to make it, but she was not complaining. Marinette had given her a basket piled high with pastries and fruits this afternoon. Smelling the assortment of foods had made Alya’s mouth water the whole way to meet Adrien.
As always Adrien was thrilled to see one of his friends and to get some food out of it. “Thank you again for bringing me all this food,” He said for the third time that day.
Alya shot him a warning look and pointed at him with the pastry she was holding. “If you say that one more time mr model I will take this all back and eat it myself. Ill do it, I’m crazy!”
His response was a happy laugh before he mimed zipping up his lips and throwing away the key. With a satisfied nod Alya turned back to her own food, but it did not take long before she was chatting away again. “So you would never believe what happened between Marinette and I yesterday,” she started.
Before Adrien could come up with a response Alya continued to plow ahead. “She asked me if I wanted to move into an apartment with her after school. Isn’t that just one of the best idea’s you have ever heard?”
“Well as a matter of fact, it is right up there,” Adrien said with a grin. He placed his hand on his chest and proclaimed, “For you see, I made the same proposition to Nino just the other week!”
At first Alya was surprised. Usually Marinette was the one to come up with the original plans in the group. Then she smiled as her own plan started forming in her mind. “Oh Yeah? That is quite the coincidence,” she smirked as she continued to eat and think.
Adrien nodded along. “I was thinking, as usual, about how nice it would be to be able to get out of my house, and then it hit me. Once I was done with school, I could finally move out! And really who better to move out with than my best bro?”
“I am sure the dork was over enthused with the plan,” Alya snorted. Then another thought struck her. “Have you talked to your dad yet about this plan of yours,” She asked.
Adrien’s chewing slowed down before it came to a thought as the realization dawned on him. “Oh, I guess not yet,” he mumbled.
It could be said that Gabriel Agreste was a cold, heartless father. Yet it was not out of the realm of possibility that he would want Adrien to stay with him for a while longer. In the past year there had been no talk between the father and son about after school plans, including moving out.
Alya gave the boy a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “That might be a good idea before you go galavanting off with your best friend into the sunset. Im sure the old man would have some thoughts on the matter,” She advised.
“Yeah, I guess you are right,” Adrien admitted. He went back to chowing down on his snacks, thinking about how he might approach his father about this dilemma.
Now that she had thrown the mood down the toilet, Alya decided to try and make it better. Poking him in the shoulder she asked, “So have you at least looked at places where you two can live?”
Adrien smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “I'm not an expert on looking for apartments to start off. And Nino and I have not had time to get together to look since school is wrapping up,” He admitted. “We were actually thinking of looking over the weekend.”
And there was the opening Alya was looking for. “You know, Marinette and I have not found a place yet either,” she disclosed. “Is there any way the four of us might be able to look together?”
At the suggestion Adrien lit up. “Yeah! That would be a great idea! I don’t know about you, but I feel like the more people we have looking the better. Who knows what a single person could miss.”
Alya laughed and pulled out her phone to message Marinette and Nino about the proposal. “I agree. Well then then lets meet up this weekend to look for places to live. Its a date.”
-------
It was needless to say, Marinette was freaking out just a tad bit.
She had tried her damnedest to get over her nerves around Adrien, but sometimes there is just no getting around an active imagination. It happened s soon as Alya had texted her saying that the squad was all going to look at apartments together. At the mention her imagination threw itself into high gear and had yet to come down from it.
She had been friends with that actual ray of sunshine boy for a while, so she thought she knew what he liked. But what if he for some reason did not like the selection of apartments they were looking at? She knew he was humble, but what if he was disappointed because the apartments were to shabby? Then he would take Nino to live in a big mansion in the countryside and they would never see each other ever again because the boys would be too busy riding horses and playing polo.
Okay, that might be a bit overboard, She thought to herself as she texted back to Alya. I am sure that Adrien will at least stay in the city if he wants to ignore me and my crappy apartment.
In the end Marinette managed to stow the worst of her fears away to meet up with her friends. To be fair, she was much better than a few years ago when they had all started hanging out. At least now she could hold regular conversations with Adrien. Although she still found it hard to be alone with him for more than half an hour on a good day. But she was friends with him now! They would text sometimes and there were always the group study sessions that they would hold. There was even that one time they had a sleepover at Alya’s house in their last year of school. All in all Marinette liked to think that she had made some impressive headway in getting over her nerves.
Yet, there was still that ever present crush that was hanging over her head. Sometimes Marinette thought that maybe this was the day she was over that golden boy and they could just be regular friends. Until he would do something that would make that crush march right back into her heart. There was the one time he brought chocolate to class for his three best friends and blushed when he gave it to her. Or when they went down to the beach and Marinette could not help staring at how muscular his back was. Even little things, like when he was snort after hearing a good joke. Or how enamored he was in whatever movie they were watching. That boy would just not let her get over him.
When she arrived at the first location, both Alya and Adrien were already there looking around. As soon as she walked in the room both of them turned their heads. “Hey there! Look who decided to show up,” Alya said as she walked over to her friend. Across the room Adrien gave her a smile and a small wave, a gesture she was more that happy to return.
“Girl, I am so pumped for today!” Alya exclaimed as she showed Marinette the list of places they were going to tour.
“So remind me, why are we looking for a place with the boys?” Marinette said as she surveyed the room they were in. She turned to the only boy represented in the room and clarified herself, “Not that I don’t want to Adrien. It's just that you were a little vague about it over texts.”
Alya turned and steered Marinette over to where Adrien was standing in the middle of the living room. “Well, I heard from a little blonde birdie that the boys were also looking for a place. And I, being incredibly smart. figured that we could all look together!” Then Alya added, “Plus, I was thinking that maybe we would be able to all find a place close to each other.”
Next to her Adrien’s eyes lit up while Marinette’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Thats a great idea Alya!” Adrien exclaimed. “Man, I can’t believe that I did not even think about that.”
It was Marinette’s turn to get herself together and break out into a grin. “I agree! I know Nino had mentioned moving in with Adrien, but I had not even thought of us living close to each other.,” She praised her friend. In her head she was giving a slow clap for Alya to manage to keep the group together after school. If anyone could do it, it would be Alya.
Extracting herself from Alya’s grip on her arm, Marinette looked around the place they were in. Her initial impression had consisted of there being a literal model and that her best friend in the room. But now that she looked at it she found that those were the best features of the place.
The walls of the room were a dull grey and the shag carpeting was a questionable brown color. Who knows what spills had been absorbed and forgotten on that ugly surface? There was a tiny kitchen that was only separated by an incredibly worn counter. The kitchen area itself was pine green. Every part. Nothing had been spared from the forest treatment, not even the microwave.
This place was in no way Marinette's taste. But she was polite kind of person. Turning to her friends she inquired, “So, what do you guys think of this place?”
Her friends exchanged a look before Alya started to open her mouth. She was interrupted by Nino bursting through the door. “Oh man, I hope I’m not to late guys,” he huffed as hustled in.
It looked like he was about to say something else before he stopped. He did a quick take of the room around him, and then frowned at his friends. “I thought we were going to look at nice places and not dumps like this,” he said in confusion.
Alya huffed. "I was about to say that before you oh so graciously bust in. Adrien and I had just been totally bad mouthing the place before you got here Marinette.”
An amused chuckle came from Adrien. “One of my first comments were about the forest in the kitchen,” Adrien said with a smirk.
Marinette let out a sigh of relief and said, “Thank goodness you guys hated it to. If any of you had liked it I would have stopped being friends with you in this ugly room.”
Nino clapped his hands together and motioned to the door. “Well, that was quick and easy. Should we bust this waffle stand and check out the next one?”
————
“I have never been so disappointed in people's decorating choices before,” Marinette huffed. Her three friends nodded as they slogged to their last apartment of the day. With every apartment so far being a strikeout, the team moral was at a low for the day.
“Can you believe that someone thought it would be a good idea to put clown wallpaper in every room of the duplex?” Adrien lamented. His companions groaned at the thought of that cursed property.
Alya held up her hand and added, “What about the one place where the walls were painted the color of blood? The paint even looked all thick and gross. Who does that?”
“I just can’t believe that we failed at finding any good places that we could all live,” Nino fumed. “When I signed on to look for a new place, I did not ask to be led on a tour of the worst apartments in Paris.”
Alya gave him a withering look. “Listen bud, I am trying my best at finding a variety of places to live. If you have a problem with my selection you can just go and-“
“Oh, look, here we are!” Adrien interjected as he hurried forward to the building in question.
Marinette looked at the complex that spanned a good part of the street. It was quite bland, but with the price range their group was trying to work with she had been expecting that. The one promising thing she could pick out were the balconies that lined the outside of the building. Other than that, it looked like it might be another dead end.
As they found out from the landlord who showed them the two potential apartments, each one was almost identical. This was a welcome departure from the more solo, avant garde places they had been looking at so far. And identical living places also meant that there were no real surprises in store for them. Each place was simply a two bedroom apartment with a single bathroom. There was a small kitchen area with a counter dividing it from the living room, which was where the door from the hall led into. To Marinette’s delight there was a balcony off of the living room, a welcome feature that made her think of her own balcony above the bakery.
When the group had finished scoping the place out, they put their heads together and rated the place.
“Nine out of ten, its nice but it could use some spice” Alya said.
“Eight out of ten. I like the simplicity but I am slightly worried about the amount of space,” Adrien replied.
Nino scoffed and rolled his eyes, “You guys are playing, ten out of ten.”
Next to him Marinette nodded vigorously. “I agree, this place is definitely a ten out of ten. Compared to every other place we looked at today? By far the winner.”
A grin split Alya’s face as she looked around at her friends. “Looks like we have ourselves a new place to live. This is by far the best place we have seen all day.”
When Alya left to talk to the landlord, Adrien slid his arms around Nino and Marinette’s shoulders and drew them close again. This was something that Adrien did all the time, he seemed to have a thing for shoulders. Even so, Marinette could not help but freak out a tad bit every time it happened. “So friends, how about I treat you to a nice dinner in celebration of our monumental adult achievement?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows comically.
Across from each other Marinette and Nino exchanged a defeated look. Adrien was always trying to pay for dinner and take them to nice places. For the most part they managed to avoid it in order not take advantage of their rich buddy. But on special occasions, like now, they were more likely to agree. And Adrien “loves to lavish his friends” Agreste knew that those times were the best time to strike. And so agreed they did, even if it was with reluctance.
An hour later they all arrived at one of the nicer restaurants that Adrien liked to treat his friends to. Adrien had wanted to go right away after the deal was finalized, the kid was always starving. But they others had convinced him to wait a while so they could properly get ready for a proper dinner.
As usual Marinette did not let the moment pass to dress up nice for her blonde crush. She had a range of dresses set aside for such occasions in her closet, and she pulled out her favorite one with the ladybug spots on it. For some reason that always caught his eye. When she arrived she was glad she had pulled it out. As soon as he saw her, Adrien’s eyes immediately widened and a blush spread across his face when she arrived.
Her friends were just as dashing as ever. Both boys were sporting buttoned up shirts with the sleeves rolled up in the late spring heat, and Alya had opted for a plum colored dress. Marinette had to stop and admire what a stunning group of young adults they were. Simply fabulous.
“Are you ready to get the whole Agreste treatment?” Adrien said proudly, brandishing his father’s card.
The only response he got were three identical eye rolls as his friends shook their heads at his antics. At first he had declined to flaunt his wealth. But once Adrien got an allowance, he made a point to spend it almost exclusively on his three friends. At this point they were quite used to his showmanship.
“Lets just get a table already bro, all that walking really worked up an appetite,” Nino said.
They ended up getting their favorite spot at the back of the restaurant, a cozy table in the corner away from the other patrons. As the first appetizer was set on the table the quartet took time to talk about the upcoming weeks.
“Can you believe that we are almost done with school?” Marinette said as the boys across from her dug into the appetizer. “Three years after meeting each other and we are moving on to that next step.”
“Next thing you know we will all be getting married and having kids and stuff.” Alya chimed in nonchalantly. Her three friends all gave her a somewhat terrified expression. “Relax, I was just joking,” She sighed, rolling her eyes. Even so, there was a slight sigh of relief that came from the others.
“Don’t scare me with thoughts like that girl. I can only handle one adult thing at a time,” Nino said through a salad he was trying to devour.
between bites of his own meal Adrien looked over the contract the two groups had signed. He and Nino would share one apartment while Marinette and Alya would share the one across the hall from them. “It says here we can not have any animals except for an animal that can be in a tank. I don’t think that should be a problem for the time being.”
“Anything in the fine print I missed?” Alya asked. “I started reading it over in depth, but got bored halfway through and just assumed it was all good.”
Adrien shook his head. “Not that I can tell.” He set the contract down to continue with his meal. “Then again, I have no clue what to look for or what I am doing, so there is that.”
Marinette took the paper from him and placed it in her purse. “Well if anything comes up I’m sure we can all deal with it. In the meantime, has anyone studied for that math test on Wednesday?”