Jealousy killed the cat

Chapter 8: Acting out

Adrien was proud of his girlfriend. He wouldn’t have believed she had acting skills the way her face displayed her emotions. He has learned to act from a young age, hiding his emotions when in public, behaving in the proper way for the Agreste name. Marinette at home was Marinette at school was Marinette anywhere he took her. The only exception was when she used to stutter and be shy around him, the reason for which he now understood. And kicked himself for misunderstanding it for so long.

As it works out, she can act and act well. She won the lead in the school play. 

She tried to get him to audition.

“I know you can act. Remember, I know the real you and your daily public acting. Besides, all the girls already see you as Romeo, the part is essentially already yours.”

He refused. There was enough spotlight on his life for him to seek more. He would be content to sit with the crowd and watch her prancing around on stage. Or so he thought.

The first rehearsal Adrien witnessed was a blast. Marinette was playing a fourteen-year-old girl talking to her mother about getting married. The words and actions were all acting, but Adrien bet the blush on her face was real. She threw him a glace which confirmed what was going through her mind.

The second rehearsal was a disaster.

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,” Kim, playing Romeo, picked up Marinette’s hand. “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”

“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this,” Marinette’s beautiful voice was enchanting. “For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.”

“Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?”

“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.”

What was all this talk of lips and kiss. Adrien could not recall this scene.

“O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”

Kim was a good Romeo, though not a good an actor as Marinette.

“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.”

“Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.”

Marinette stood stiff as Kim bend down and placed a kiss on her lips. Adrien, shot out his seat, glaring daggers at Kim. Marinette did not react to the kiss, her mouth closed.

Kim pulled away. “Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.” 
 
“Then have my lips the sin that they have took,” Marinette responds.

“Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.”

Kim leaned down to Marinette, this time she moved forward meeting him halfway. Their lips met and Marinette kissed him back.

“Hold it right there!” Adrien shouted. “Get away from her!”

The two on stage jerked apart, having been caught. 

“Adrien?” Marinette looked confused. Seriously? She forgot he was sitting right there watching her and she isn’t even embarrassed?

He stomped up the stage placing himself between Kim and his girlfriend. 

“What do you think you’re doing, kissing my girlfriend like that?”

Kim stood dumbfounded, not even defending his actions.

“Adrien! Seriously!” The hair rose on the back of his neck. He recognized Marinette’s pissed off voice, usually directed at Chloe. This was the first time she aimed it at him and he couldn’t understand how Chloe didn’t cower in front of Marinette. Well, he would not back down either, she is the one who kissed another boy. 

Before he said anything else Marinette took his hand and pulled him. “Come with me.” 

She took him to a room backstage, closing the door behind them.

“What was that?” she demanded.

“That was you kissing someone else. How could you, did you forget I’m your boyfriend again?”

“What? What an insane question is that? I could never forget you’re my boyfriend. I have a recording in my head running on infinite loop ‘Adrien’s my boyfriend, Adrien’s my boyfriend’. Why do you think Alya complains I’m always distracted with a smile and a faraway look? There isn’t a moment I’m not elated that you are my boyfriend.”

“Then why did you kiss Kim?”

Marinette froze. That seemed to stump her. It took her a moment to respond.

“Adrien,” Marinette’s soft voice had a questioning tinge to it. “That’s acting. It is part of the play. He’s Romeo, I’m Juliet. You know how this play works, it’s a romance. They are two kids falling in love, and they kiss. It’s in the script. The kiss meant nothing to me beyond playing the part. It isn’t like when I kiss you. There is no emotion in it. I don’t love Kim, I love you.”

“Well,” Adrien hesitated. He knew what she was saying was true, he knew it was true before. Then why did he react this way, why did he want to beat Kim to a pulp? “It seems you enjoyed that kiss way too much.”

“Thank you,” Marinette smirked. “It means I’m a very good actress.”

Her answer irritated him. He couldn’t quite explain why, even to himself. This whole situation did not sit well.

“I want you to quit the play.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t like you kissing Kim, and if this play means you will kiss him then you should not be in this play.”

“That isn’t fair, you know how hard I worked to get this position. You know I’m going into designing so I will not get to act after school. This is my last opportunity.”

“I know. But I will not have you cheating on me.”

“I am not cheating, Adrien,” Marinette’s pissed off voice has returned. “You have these beautiful models hanging onto you in many of your photoshoots. You are all over each other in front of the entire world. Do I stop you? Do I have an issue with it? I used to be jealous of them because I wanted you for myself. Now that I have you I don’t give a rats ass about them. You can be with them as much as they want, I don’t care, because I know that at the end of the day you will leave them behind and come to me because you love me. And I love you,” Marinette paused for a few seconds. “I love you Adrien, but I won’t let you control me and stop me from doing things I enjoy.”

Adrien felt berated. He felt guilty for trying to control Marinette and for wanting to take away something she loved doing. Nevertheless, he still wanted to shout at her and knock Kim’s light out.

Marinette watched him, looking for something on his face. He was not sure if she found it.

“How about this?” she began. “I won’t kiss Kim during rehearsals. We kissed now and that would be enough practice. But I will kiss him during the play. I must, it is part of the script.”

Adrien deflated. What was he supposed to do? Pushing any further and he might lose her. He didn’t want to lose her, he loved her more than life itself.

“Okay,” he whispered.

She put a hand under his chin and lifted his head to face her. Looking into his eyes she asked: “Okay?”

She was so beautiful, her eyes held him drowning in the blue sea.

“Okay.”