Anything For a Friend : A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

Chapter 3

By the time Adrien got to class, Marinette was already there. She was speaking animatedly to Alya, gesticulating as if there were no tomorrow. He smiled to himself--it would be easy to pretend they were dating as long as she kept being adorable, right? He dropped his bag off at his seat and walked up the extra step to where she was sitting, just in time to hear the end of her conversation with Alya.

"--it was like something out of a dream! I wish I had ideas as bold as that. I keep coming up with the same things, shirts, dresses...every day wear. But nothing that would go on a runway and make people gasp," Marinette was saying, finishing with a heavy sigh.

Hesitating slightly, he came up behind her and threw his arms over her shoulders, placing his head next to hers. He couldn't see her face well, and for that he was glad, because he could only imagine the reactive grimace. True to form, she tensed, realized who it was, and tensed even worse before she remembered that they had agreed to this sort of behaviour.

"Hey...Princess," he said, after casting about for a bit for an appropriate pet name. "I hate to eavesdrop, but I think your designs are awe inspiring."

"Th-th-thank you, Adrien," she said, slowly disengaging with him to turn and face him.

He stepped back, hands proudly on hips, before he realized that the stance really only worked for him as Chat Noir. He crossed his arms instead, trying not to look completely nervous. He'd never had a girlfriend before, and he wasn't sure how to behave with a fake one.

"You're welcome," he said after a pause that was too long to be entirely natural, winking at her. "How did you sleep last night?"

Marinette looked nervously behind him, very likely checking for Chloe's attention. Adrien wanted to peek as well, to see if the ruse was working, but to do that would require a full 180 degree turn, and would look completely unnatural.

"I slept grood! I mean good! Great!" Marinette bumbled out, and her nervousness worked to actually soothe his nerves.

He leaned forward, and put a hand on her shoulder encouragingly, as he had done so many times in the past. "Relax," he said quietly. And then, louder, "People are gonna find out about us sooner or later anyway."

"Do you mean to tell me that you two are...what, dating?" came a familiar voice from behind him. He closed his eyes in satisfaction. Well, at least she'd noticed.

Adrien turned, effectively forming a shield between Chloe and Marinette. Chloe stood with arms crossed, a disgusted expression on her face, with Sabrina behind her, echoing the stance.

"Yeah, we are," he said calmly, and extended a hand toward Marinette without looking at her. She took the hand, and he felt his pulse increase. You're a real smooth operator, huh? he thought. Getting nervous from holding hands with a girl. Very slick . "Why do you ask, Chloe?"

"This is a joke, right?" Chloe asked, but her confidence was wearing thin as her blue eyes locked on Marinette and Adrien's intertwined fingers. "Some elaborate scheme to trick me, specifically. How long has this been going on?"

Adrien smiled, hoping he wouldn't give away exactly how accurate Chloe's assumption had been.

"We've been dating for a while now," Marinette interrupted. Both of them turned to look at her, and her face looked just as surprised as Chloe's. "W-we just wanted to keep it a secret because we knew his fans would be so upset...?" Her statement ended more as a question, and she looked to Adrien for approval.

"But I couldn't stand the secrecy," he corroborated. "She thought it would be better for my career if nobody knew about us...but I care about her too much to keep her in the shadows."