Requested by @popqueye

When Adrien is forced to come to Marinette and ask her to fake date him, he doesn't expect her to say yes.

And he really doesn't expect to actually start developing genuine feelings for her either.

More than 'just a friend' feelings, that is.

_______________________________

Adrien's smile was fake—but it was bright and convincing, and that was all the cameras needed to take their shot. Thankfully, Adrien knew how to pretend well enough to look happy while posing next to his friend, Marinette, in a photoshoot.

His friend, who was actually pretending to be his girlfriend, was actually doing a lot better at this than he was.

Adrien kept his eyes focused on Marinette as she effortlessly posed for the camera, and he vaguely wondered if she had ever done this before. She was good. Too good. She'd never told him before that she had experience—

"All right you two, let's change it up. Adrien, put your hand right there on her hip—good! Now hold still."

Marinette's skin felt hot underneath his hand, even though she was wearing a dress that obviously covered, yet pronounced her figure—

"Perfecto! Now look into each other's eyes."

Adrien's eyes immediately snapped to Marinette, and to just his luck, she was already looking up at him, smiling at him with that smile that didn't used to affect him until now apparently.

Marinette was his friend. A really good friend. He liked having her as a part of his life; he enjoyed her company. But when his father suddenly decided that Adrien needed a girlfriend for publicity, Adrien was conflicted to either seriously date someone, or get on his knees and beg someone to pretend date him.

Thankfully, he didn't have to beg Marinette for her help. She was all in for helping him. At first, he felt bad about asking her to fake date him... because, well, she was an amazing person who deserved a real relationship.

But now, their relationship was starting to feel incredibly real. And for some odd reason, that made his stomach feel like it was on fire. In a good way.

"Are you okay?" Marinette whispered right as the camera clicked and flashed, momentarily blinding him for a second. "You look nervous."

Adrien's smile widened, and he hoped that his photographer couldn't tell it was a nervous one. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

No, he wasn't fine. But Adrien had to pretend he was, otherwise Marinette and his photographer would both notice, and then he would have to explain why his hands suddenly felt so sweaty.

Shoot, and now he could feel sweat running down his forehead. He really needed to get a grip.

"Excellent!" The photographer snapped his fingers. "Now, Miss Marinette, please lean forward and give your boyfriend a delicate kiss on the cheek."

Adrien opened his mouth to interject (because having Marinette kiss him anywhere would really jeopardize his composure), but Marinette wasted no time. In a matter of seconds, she was standing up on her toes, and he almost choked on his own salvia when he felt her warm, soft lips, brush against his skin. He was so sure that those around them could see his now flushed cheeks. Adrien swallowed, forcing himself to smile like he was a fool in love as the cameras began to flash repeatedly.

Well... he thought he had to force himself, until the moment ended too soon and Marinette pulled away, leaving his cheek to feel cold and longing for her touch once again. The photographer had to snap his fingers repeatedly in front of Adrien's face just to snap him out of his ridiculous stupor.

And when Adrien turned to look at Marinette, he found her smiling and failing to conceal her giggle behind the palm of her hand.

Involuntarily, his smile widened as he watched her. Her smile was absolutely breathtaking—

WAIT WHAT? Who was he kidding?

Since when did he ever have these sort of thoughts when it came to Marinette?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Although Marinette's tone held a hint of concern, she was also still smiling, amused that he was struggling internally. "You look flustered. Are you hot?"

Adrien shook his head, knowing that if he said anything, his voice would most likely crack. And then he would just further embarrass himself.

Marinette didn't believe him though. Instead she stepped forward and gently placed the back of her hand against his forehead. "You're a little warm..." she mused as she studied him further. He figured his bodily temperature would keep rising the longer she kept on touching him.

"It's the lights..." Adrien cleared his throat, hoping that his voice sounded normal and convincing when he spoke. "They're bright... a-a-and strong, and shining in my face, and—"

"Hot?" Marinette supplied with a snort. He tried his best not to pout. "Well, the shoot is over. You don't have to stand in front of the lights anymore."

She gave him the perfect opening to move away, and so he did. Adrien took a step back from her, and he could see the way Marinette quickly frowned when she caught onto his tense movements. But he was not about to explain to her why he was so tense.

That would be a disaster. Because they were just friends.

None of what they were pretending to have was real.

"I should get going." Adrien jabbed a thumb over his shoulder and offered her a sheepish grin. But the action didn't make her smile.

Instead, her small frown remained tight as her eyes fell down to her feet.

"Right..." She said, and she didn't look up either when she added, "I'll see you later then."

He felt his stomach wrench with guilt as Marinette turned on her heel and quickly made her escape before he could stop her. As he watched her from behind, he idly wondered if perhaps Marinette had been hoping that they could've hang out after the shoot.

He didn't really give her a chance to ask, did he?

Adrien groaned underneath his breath, running a hand over his face. He was such terrible friend. He should've never asked Marinette to pretend to fake date him.

Because now, he wanted it to be real.

"It's not a sin to fall in love, Adrien." Plagg whispered from the pocket inside his robe, and quickly poked his head out to shoot his holder a knowing look. "You should tell her how you feel."

Adrien averted his eyes, suddenly feeling guilty. "I'm not in love."

He could feel his kwami's eyes on him, as if the little being was taunting him in his conscience, saying, 'oh really? Want to prove it?' Adrien rolled his eyes. Okay, so maybe he was getting pretty close to being 'in love.'

"Whatever." Plagg grumbled, "The point is, you should tell Marinette that you like her."

Adrien scoffed at that. "Yeah. Except, I have no idea if she likes me back, and if I say something, it could evidently ruin our friendship."

Play snorted at that. "You do realize saying nothing could also ruin your friendship too, right?"

The blonde groaned and threw his head back. "Ugh, I shouldn't have asked her to be my fake girlfriend."

"I think Marinette enjoys being your girlfriend." Plagg hummed cheekily, "I bet she would enjoy it even more if she was your real girlfriend. Or better yet, let's think bigger. As your wife."

"Shut up, Plagg."

The black kwami did as he was told, but not before letting out a loud snicker to emphasize that he was right, and that his holder knew it too.

_______________

"I should've never agreed to be Adrien's fake girlfriend."

"This is all on you, girl." Alya said through the phone. "You should either tell him how you really feel, or cut this charade out. 'Cause going on like this isn't good for you."

Marinette fell back into her chaise, her head hitting her pillow, groaning at the thought of even considering telling the boy of her dreams that she wished their fake relationship was real.

"I can't tell him, Alya."

Through the line, the brunette groaned, "Ugh, Mari, seriously. You need to."

"I can't."

"Then you need to tell him that you can't pretend anymore."

Marinette bit her bottom lip, glancing over at one of the framed photos of her and Adrien hanging on her bedroom wall—a photo she wasn't ashamed to have hanging there, considering Adrien had been the one to give it to her.

It was a simple photo, one that was innocent and between friends. It was taken during the first photoshoot she'd ever participated in with him, and Adrien had liked it so much that apparently, he had taken a copy of his own to hang it up in his room as well.

She'd offered him an uneasy smile when he'd first told her that, because she did find that a little odd, but then again, it was the sentiment that counted.

Plus, she could live and be happy with the fact that Adrien had her hanging on his wall, because she could also happily shove it in Chloé's face—

"You still there, Marinette?"

The ravenette shook her head, forcing herself to come back down into reality. Now was not the time to be thinking about how to make Chloé even more jealous than she already was.

"Yeah sorry... I was just... thinking about what you said."

"Oh really?" Alya sounded as if she definitely didn't believe her, and she had every right not to.

"Yeah... no. Not really. I can't do that either."

A loud groan sounded through the line. "You are hopeless, Marinette."

"I know, Al."

"This will never end unless you say something."

"I know."

"So how long are you going to let it go on?" Alya asked.

"I—" Marinette paused abruptly the moment she felt her phone buzz in her hand. Confused, she pulled it away from her cheek, only for her eyes to widen at the image of Adrien's caller ID flashing on her screen. "I—uhh—Adrien's calling me!"

"What?!" Alya screeched. "Well what are you doing still talking to me for? Answer him!"

"No! I can't! I'm too nervous!"

"Oh, put a sock in it, Marinette," Alya snapped—and definitely didn't do so in a mean way, but did it in a way that clearly stated she meant business. "Answer the phone before I phase through this screen and answer it for you."

"Okay..." Marinette sighed defeatedly, before switching to answer Adrien's call. She didn't even get the chance to hang up with Alya, considering her best friend took the liberty of doing that for her. And even despite feeling incredibly nervous, a part of her knew this was something she had no choice but to face.

So, she took a deep breath through her nose, and swallowed down the lump in her throat.

"H-Hello?"

_______________

A wide smile pulled at his lips the moment Adrien heard her voice through the line. He wasn't even aware that her voice had such an effect on him now, or that he loved it so much. He enjoyed simply listening to how angelic it sounded.

His top lip pulled up slightly. That was a odd thought to have. Why was he having all of these weird thoughts?

"H-Hey Marinette..." His greeting came tumbling out in a nervous chuckle. "I-I was just calling to apologize to you for how I was acting earlier today."

There was a short pause before her confused voice asked, "Apologize? Why are you apologizing?"

"Well..." he reached up to slowly rub the back of his neck. "I brushed you off and I have a feeling you were wanting to hang out after the photoshoot."

His suspicion was confirmed as truth when Marinette hesitated to confirm nor deny his comment. After a few seconds of silence, she let out a heavy sigh. "Was it really that obvious?" She nervously chuckled.

He offered her a nervous chuckle as well. "Well... no. But... well, I wanted to hang out with you too. I mean—I still do! Um outside of work, that is."

If he didn't know any better, Adrien swore he heard her choke on the other end of the line. Somehow, she was able to recover though with a light chuckle. "You do?"

"Yes definitely!" He exclaimed, "You are my friend, after all."

"Right..." and suddenly, Marinette sounded incredibly defeated.

Shoot. Adrien ran a hand over his face. What was he even saying? Unknowingly throwing Marinette into the friend zone pit? Not cool.

"I mean..." he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling so awkward. "I was going to ask you... if... uh.. you wanted to go... on a..." he gulped, "...a date... with me this afternoon?"

He smacked himself on the forehead when his invitation came out sounding like a question. Be confident, he silently reprimanded himself.

"A date?" Marinette squeaked.

"Yes!" The blonde exclaimed. Then he cleared his throat when he realized how too excited he sounded. "I mean, yes. I would like to go on a date with you... and it not be work related."

"...Oh." She sounded as if she was lost. And then he heard her let out a squeal. It was so loud that he winced and had to pull his phone away from his ear, just so that his eardrum wouldn't burst into a million pieces.

"Marinette?" He questioned worriedly when her excited squeals seemed more distant, as if she'd set her phone down and had walked away. "Are you okay?"

"Oh I'm fine!" Marinette said, her voice sounding far away but still audible. "It's a yes to the date, Adrien. We can meet at that little café down the street... the one I told you about!"

He tried to remember what that place looked like—mostly because Marinette would always point at it all excitedly whenever they passed by it.

"O-Okay," Adrien found himself smiling as he pictured him and Marinette seated in a cute little booth together. "I-I'll pick you up at 5?"

"O-Okay." Marinette shyly responded.

He ended the call with her a shortly afterwards, and the smile that adorned his lips the entire time while he got ready had yet to cease—and he didn't want it to go away; not anytime soon anyway.

He was going on an official date with Marinette.

Which meant... she wasn't just a friend anymore.

Yeah... the blonde sighed happily, he liked the sound of that.

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This one was a cute one to write. I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for being patient with me!

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