One Way or Another

A Toast and A Dance Partner

Tikki was kind enough to zip up the back of Marinette's dress. After that she helped pin her hair to the side of her head. Then Marinette curled the ends. When she was done getting ready, Marinette checked her reflection in her full length mirror. "What do you think Tikki?" she asked.

"You look beautiful!" the red kwami replied.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "Let's go see if the boys approve."

They left the bedroom and found Adrien and Plagg in the living room waiting for them. Adrien's heart skipped a beat when his eyes landed on his wife. "Princess," he whispered, "you look absolutely stunning."

She gave him a chaste kiss and smiled wider. "Thank you Kitty, and you look amazing as well."

"Not as amazing as you," he replied, moving his gaze up and down her body. "Oh Princess, why do you have to drive me so crazy when I'm wearing all these clothes?"

A laugh. "You know that I love torturing you," she teased. "Now come on, we don't have time for any of that."

"Let's make time," he purred before wrapping his arms around her and leaning her back for a kiss.

After straightening back up, she jabbed him playfully on the arm. "We have to go."

Adrien shook his head. "We have to stay here."

"We're going to miss the ceremony!"

"No one will notice if we're missing," he whispered, starting to pull the skirt of her dress up.

"Adrien!" Marinette objected, pushing his hand back. "You're so bad!"

"You know you like it..."

"Uh uh, no way," she said firmly. "You're not going to mess up my hair. Plus, we're already running late."

Adrien groaned.

She tilted her head at him and ran her fingers along his face. "I promise that I'll make it up to you later," she said, full of flirtatious suggestion.

Now he smiled. "I like the sound of that."

After a loving kiss, Marinette grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door, their kwamis quickly following and disappearing into their outfits.

They hurried off to Le Grand Paris Hotel. Barely making it in time, they spotted Alya and Nino in a row of seats near the back of the ballroom and made their way over. Marinette noticed that Gabriel and Emilie were in a row way up front.

"Cutting it kind of close, aren't you?" Alya whispered to Marinette when they sat down.

"Are you really that surprised?" Marinette asked in response.

And Alya rolled her eyes as the music started playing.

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After the ceremony, the guests for the wedding of Chloé Bourgeois and Stavros Karagiannis went to the main ballroom. Just like they were hoping, Alya and Nino were seated at the same table as Marinette and Adrien, along with two other couples. Adrien's parents, meanwhile, were seated at Audrey and André Bourgeois's table.

The four friends had a blast talking and eating during dinner. But then came time for the toast. Not breathing, Marinette hesitantly took a glass of champagne from the server. While everyone else took a drink, however, she simply held it in her hand.

"Have some champagne, girl," Alya insisted. "It's really good."

"Um, I think I'm all set," she replied awkwardly.