It has a happy ending....right? {COMPLETED}

Chapter 9

 Nino sat on the couch in disbelief, seeing his ex-girlfriend, now a renowned crime lowlife was the last thing he expected to see that day.

"This should help us," He sighed, leaning back onto the leather sofa. Now they could track Alya, seeing where she went and what she did, seeing who she stayed with most.

As they pushed forward with their genius plan, Alya hadn't been seen at all, not even to see her best friend, Marinette, who was completely fine and wasn't harmed by Ladynoire at all, leaving Adrien with a sense of comfort the next time he saw her.

"Milk, eggs and flour, got it!" Marinette checked each item off the small yellow-lined notepad.

"Thanks, sorry I caused you guys so much trouble at the mansion last week," Alya apologized, rubbing her right hand up and down her left bicep.

"Alya, it's not your fault, keeping up the shield is hard work," Marinette placed her hands on Alya's shoulders, taking a firm but gentle grip on her. The sympathetic smile that Marinette gave the brunette put her mind at ease, though a small bit of guilt still hung over her.

"I know, but-"

"No buts, you protected us as much as you could, what matters is that you're okay,"

Marinette left for the grocery store, picking up the ingredients that were provided to her. As she scanned the aisles for flour, the yellow bag with a signature company symbol she had seen around the bakery when she visited her parents.

"Okay, now I can go home and check on her," Marinette thought to herself before bumping into someone. The blonde stood before her, staring at her blue eyes.

"Hey, Mari!" He smiled, making Marinette's cheeks turn light pink.

"A-Adrien," She stepped back slightly, taken off guard by his appearance. Her nerves had been on edge ever since Alya was found out by Misterbug, if Misterbug's civilian self knew her, he probably knew Alya too. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for a meal tonight, for supper," He grimaced, "Well, I haven't been having much luck. I have no idea how to cook,"

"H-how about you come over to my place and I'll make you dinner if that's okay with you?"

The suggestion slipped out of her mouth, not thinking of the consequences of her actions. If he saw the duffle bags of cash that sat in her living room, he would become suspicious of her and the last thing she wanted was to ruin her progress with her relationship with Adrien.

"That sounds great, thank you, Mari," He smiled. "Well I have to go, I'll see you later, around 4:30?" He asked, turning over his shoulder as he walked in the opposite direction of her.

"Sure, sounds great," Her voice trailed, lowering in volume as she left the aisle and proceeded to the checkout. She needed to quickly get home and clean, telling everyone that he was coming over.

"Why did you invite him over?" Kagami exclaimed, aggressively stuffing duffle bags into a small storage closet.

"I don't know, It just slipped out!" Marinette exclaimed from the kitchen. As she wiped down the stove, she heard a knock at the door. Kagami quickly ran to the kitchen and looked at Marinette in shock. "Is the Mona Lisa put away?" Marinette asked, quickly cleaning more and more of the kitchen.

"Yes, and I told Alya to stay in her room and that I would keep her company,"

"Good, as far as he knows, he thinks you're still missing," She explained. Kagami quickly went to her shared room with Alya, bringing the two bowls of macaroni that were made beforehand.

"Hi Adrien," She huffed, still tired from cleaning and getting pots out to cook.

"Hey Mari, sorry I'm early, but I can help you with anything," He smiled nervously.

"It's okay...." Her voice trailed leaning to look at the oven clock that read 4:00 pm in green block lettering. "You can help with cutting the carrots," She smiled, leaving the door open for him to come in.

As he chopped carrots into small pieces, he noticed a familiar blonde come through the door.

"Hey Marinette, I got a really weird text from Ka-" She paused, seeing Adrien standing over the kitchen counter. "I-uh," She paused, looking at the blonde.

"Chloe?" He asked.

"Adrikins!" She jumped onto her childhood best friend. "I haven't seen you forever!"

"Hey Chlo," He stepped back from the sudden attack.

"Chloe, can you go check on Kira?" She asked through her teeth. Kira was a code name for Kagami if they ever had to say something about her in public.

"Sure..." She quickly went to Kagami's room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

"And Kira is?" His voice trailed.

"My kitten,"

"Also, I thought you and Chloe hated each other," He chuckled, confused as to why the two enemies seemed to be good friends now.

"Apparently, her talents in stitching are unmatched, we actually bonded over that pretty much," It wasn't a complete lie, they did bond over sewing in college and they realized how both got tired of Misterbug's heroic attitude and cocky persona, they both wanted to rule over Paris.

As Chloe, Adrien and Marinette sat at the dinner table, they chatted cheerfully, Chloe being mindful of what she said to Adrien. One little slip of speech would make Adrien suspicious of them. Everyone now knew that Alya was Shelly, which put her at risk, thanks to Misterbug opening his big mouth to reporters.

After dinner, Adrien and Marinette cleaned the kitchen, she could feel something between them. Something strong and passionate but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"Okay, the oven and dishes are all cleaned," Adrien smiled, sighing as he dried his hands of water. Marinette hadn't noticed but he had cleaned most of the kitchen, while she only dried and put away the dishes.

"S-sorry I didn't help more, I must've gotten distracted while putting away the plates," She nervously smiled, hopping up on the counter. Adrien stood across from her, the small strip of space not providing them with lots of options to stand.

"It's okay," He smiled, wiping away her guilt. His fingers were slightly pruned from the water, but somehow still soft to the touch, well what Marinette could gather by just looking at them.

"Again, thanks for helping out with making dinner," She thanked him. "Despite what you said early today, you're actually a great cook,"

"Yeah, but when I'm making it alone, I always seem to mess it up somehow," He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. Marinette could still feel the tension between them, but not tension like when she stood in the same room as Misterbug as Marinette, but a different kind of tension. "Marinette, I think you're a great cook too,"

"T-thanks," She avoided his gaze as he had suddenly stood inches from being in between her legs.

"Marinette, I actually wanted to ask you if maybe we could turn our lunch meetings to..." He hesitated, his expression and ego almost fragile to her. "Maybe sometime we could..." Marinette had suddenly realized what kind of tension was between them.

She grabbed the neck of his tie and pulled it towards her, his lips meeting hers as his neck flew forward. His shock melted to pleasure as he moved closer, now standing in between her thighs and having his hand gently placed on the side of her neck. The taste of her lip balm was so familiar to him, one that he had tasted recently.

"Thanks for dinner, It was amazing," Adrien smiled, grabbing his coat from the coat rack.

"No problem, if you ever want to come over, just call me," She smiled, leaning on the door frame. They said their goodbyes and Alya and Kagami were free to roam about the apartment again.