Fake Dating

9 - The first trip

That was the worst night in Marinette's life. First, she hadn't been able to calm down after her first meeting with her fake boyfriend. She tried everything that usually worked: tea, favourite music, meditation. All those relaxing technics failed, and she went to bed totally exhausted physically and psychically without a chance to fall asleep when crazy thoughts were attacking her brain all the time.

Moreover, she still saw Adrien's face before her eyes – with his agreeable look and warm smile... He really seemed to be a nice person. Yet, when she thought about spending a whole day with him, her stomach knotted tightly. She'd never experienced such a strong stage fright – even before her first concert on a stadium! That was definitely a bad omen...

The next morning she woke up beat, sleepy and pale. When she saw her face in a mirror she groaned in despair. She looked like hell! No make-up would hide her pale face and dark circles under her eyes, yet she took a chance. Then she drank an espresso and left home even though it was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Good morning, My Lady!" Adrien who was leaning against a car parked on the street greeted her with a wide smile.

"My Lady?" she repeated and burst out laughing, forgetting that five seconds ago she had preferred to stay at home forever than meet him today.

"Well, you're Lady-Bug, so be My Lady. I spent half the night to figure out a nice nickname for you, so please, don't take that satisfaction away from me."

"Half the night of thinking, and you're coming to me with that?" she asked ironically.

"Maybe I pronounced it in a wrong way..." he replied jokingly. "Wait. Let me try again..." he stood up and approached to her. He took her hand and said in a deep voice: "Good morning, M'Lady..."

"Oooh..." escaped from her, because those words suddenly became powerful.

"Yeah, he's just discovered a talent for flirting..." Nino commented wryly, after leaving the car.

"Aaa!" Marinette squeaked totally surprised by appearance of a stranger.

"Brilliant, huh?" the bodyguard muttered to Adrien and rolled his eyes. "Nino Lahiffe." he introduced himself.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." she said and shook hands with him.

Nino looked surprised at his hand. That was a really good handshake. Quick but firm. If Marinette wanted to impress him or convince him to herself, she just succeeded.

"Officially I'm Adrien's bodyguard, but for your little mystification I'm acting as your friend." After those words he glanced at the model to check if he understood the plan correctly. When Adrien nodded, Nino added: "We all are aware of how uncomfortable this experience will be, but bear in mind that not only for you. If I have to hear your flirting, especially such pickup lines like the last one, I'd prefer to be deaf."

"Careful, Nino!" Adrien interrupted in a warning tone.

"I'm just saying..."

"I think that this trip will be inconvenient mainly for Marinette, so leave it off. Besides, I've thought I pay you to be deaf when I need it?" he winked at his friend.

"If you lived a model's life, I'd have some fun. But no... You can ruin all fun..." Nino muttered, getting back in the car.

Marinette giggled. She glanced at Adrien uncertain and asked in whisper:

"He's more your bodyguard or your friend?"

"I'm not sure... Recently my father even suspected us to be in a relationship..." he blurted out.

"Oh, so that's why..." she understood suddenly. Adrien smiled under his breath when she stopped, embarrassed. She was still forgetting about their agreement of not taking such blunders personally.

"Plagg panicked a little that my dad would organise me a wedding within a month just to be sure to have grandchildren in the future."

"Plagg?" Marinette burst out laughing. "Or you?"

"To be honest, when I heard who would be my bride, I agreed to this crazy plan of fake dating instantly!"

"It's good to know your reasons." She admitted and finally understood what Plagg had meant yesterday, when he'd said that the clock was ticking.

"And..." Adrien began, making Marinette feel nervous immediately. She knew he was going to ask about her reasons.

"Are you going or not?" Nino cut in irritably, leaning out of the car. "If you stay here a bit longer, we'll arrive at noon. Perfectly to meet more tourists..."

"We're coming, you grumbler..." Adrien muttered, then opened the door before Marinette. "Your carriage awaits, M'Lady."

"Should I start calling you 'My Prince' or what?" she joked, getting into the car.

"Only if I can call you 'Princess' instead of 'My Lady'..." he replied chivalrously and sat down next to her.

"Flatterer..."

"Geez, I'll die before the evening..." Nino murmured wryly, starting the engine.

Adrien and Marinette exchanged amused glances and chuckled. Although they both had been afraid of this trip, surprisingly they found themselves quite comfortable in their company. And the day seemed to be more interesting than they previously had expected...