Love by Design - Adrienette

Say What?

They didn't see each other over the weekend, at least not socially. It did prove necessary to meet up as Ladybug and Chat Noir, but not much transpired. Chat still cracked puns, but he didn't even try to flirt with Ladybug! Knowing who she was under the mask apparently quelled his need to show affection to her while on the job. He'd always been rejected then anyway; her civilian form seemed far more receptive.

It wasn't until the next school day that they had any real interaction again. Adrien had instruction from his father to invite Marinette to their house for the upcoming Saturday, as the day that Adrien's father had originally suggested was now past.

They were at the lockers when Adrien attempted a word with her. "Hey, Marinette. I was wondering if you'd like to come over for a few hours on Saturday. My dad says that would be a good day - nothing else is going on."

"Sure!" Marinette was blushing pretty hard, but was able to come up with a response. She had a new trick to call upon any time she got too nervous talking to Adrien. 'He's Chat, I can handle talking to Chat!'

Alya didn't know what was going on, and that was not okay! The ever curious blogger had to find out. She watched her friends suspiciously. Adrien put his hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Great! See you then!" He walked away.

"Girl, what was that?" Alya was immediately on her friend's case. "First you were able to answer for yourself last week when he invited us to the zoo, now you've accepted an invitation over to his house - just you and him! Not to mention, I swear he was blushing too! Something happened between you."

"Uh... We're nothing! I mean, he's nothing to me! I mean, things know what is?" Marinette dropped her head in defeat; every attempted explanation had come out worse than the previous one.

"Uh-huh." Alya said sarcastically, leading her friend to sit down. "You're going to tell me everything that's going on."

"Adrien's father set us up on a date."

"Say what?"

Marinette put her head in her hands. "Remember when I dropped my sketch book at the park? Well, Adrien's dad found it. He went to see my parents and - long story short - we went to their house for dinner that night."

"Wow..." Alya blinked in shock a few times. "That's an awkward start, but Adrien totally noticed you, girl! He just asked you out!" Alya shook Marinette by the shoulders.

Feeding on her friend's excitement, Mari lost the composure she had gained the past four days. Her hands flew to the sides of her head. "You're right! What am I going to do? What am I going to wear? Mr. Agreste set his first impression of me impossibly high, there is no way I can hold up to it! I'll come in the front door and fall flat on my face, then Mr. Agreste will say I'm not worthy of his son and will yell at me to get out and never come back! Adrien will be too embarrassed to ever speak to me again, and his father will put the word out to all fashion companies to never even consider hiring me! Two dreams crushed in one blow!"

"Girl. Girl. Girl." Alya shook her head, her fingertips on her forehead. "Just be yourself. You clearly did something right the other night! He must like you for who you are. Here I thought you were a hopeless romantic, but maybe you're just a romantic. You're doing it!"

Marinette took several deep breaths and felt her composure returning. For reasons she couldn't tell Alya, her freak-out had been even less warranted than it appeared. How often had Adrien, as Chat, expressed his feelings for her - before he knew who she was - even though she was consistently turning him down? However, that was also before he knew who she was. He seemed to love her now, but that was carryover from their other sides. Would he still love her when he knew that behind the façade she wasn't the strong, confident girl that she pulled off as Ladybug? Her heart was half filled with panic, but the other half was filled with hope. Surely he knew as well as she did that without their masks they were only average people. The time Alya had suggested that Chat and Adrien looked alike, Mari hadn't wanted to believe it. They were too different - as different as Ladybug and herself. Now, knowing that her partner (in crime fighting, and prospectively in romance) understood her situation was her greatest comfort.

A/n - What better way to practice a foreign language than to rewatch an awesome show in it? So here I am, a girl who's first language is English, watching a show that was originally in French, it its German dub. I'm the one who is actually taking a German course, but my mom is picking it up fairly well for not being in the class, and only learning second hand from me. I was watching "Der Bubbler" and it gets to the part where Nathalie gives Adrien the present supposedly from his father, my mom looks over at the screen and says "liar". I cracked up, I didn't know she was watching with me!