Marinette woke the next morning with a small smile on her face. She'd kissed Adrien on the lips and he'd kissed her back. She was completely ignoring the fact that this was all fake, just for now anyway. She remembered when she got home last night she was still hungry so grabbed herself a granola bar. Placing her hands to her face she could feel the remains of it stuck there. She must have fell asleep on it.

It was noon on Saturday, about the normal time she woke up on weekends. She liked her sleep. Nothing was going to change that. Past boyfriends had tried to get her to go out running with them on a Saturday or Sunday morning, and at that exact point she knew they weren't meant to be. Marinette Dupain-Cheng did not do mornings. She also didn't date world renown playboys, well until now that was.

She'd text Adrien as soon as she'd gotten home last night, letting him know no one had tried to abduct her from the underground metro. She thought that would be the last she'd hear from him that evening. Yet every time she sent a reply, he replied back. It wasn't even good conversation, but the thought of it sent a thrill down her spine. He'd actually seemed quite excited to see her again.

Picking up her phone from her bedside table she saw it was out of charge. Wondering out, she made it into the kitchen before her stomach made the loudest noise possible.

"Woah! I think I'm hungry." She laughed to herself as she pulled out some croissants she'd baked yesterday and flicked the switch on the kettle. Heading over the the fridge she grabbed the milk and jam.

As the kettle boiled, she grabbed her Ladybug style mug and added coffee - lots and lots of coffee. About two and a half spoons to be exact. It was going to be a long day. Adding the water she stirred the granules to help them dissolve before adding her milk and mixing that in too. The perfect stay awake concoction. She took a sip, burnt her mouth and winced as the bitter taste hit her tongue. Yep, today was going to be great.

Cutting into the soft and fluffy croissant she spread a thin layer of jam, added them onto a plate and walked into the lounge to catch up on the latest episode of Love Island. Settling onto her sofa, still in her 'Cat's pyjama's' pyjamas she picked up her beautifully jammed croissant.

"Now this is the life." She said to herself as she lowered the buttery flaky pastry towards her mouth. As she took her first magnificent bite there was a knock at the door.

With her mouth overly full she let out a huffed noise, pushed herself off the sofa and headed towards the door, making sure the croissants were placed delicately on the coffee table. She gave them a lingering lost love look as she walked away.

Marinette checked through the side window to see who it was and rolled her eyes. It was Alya in full running gear. Marinette opened the door still chewing her croissant and motioned for Alya to enter. The latter did not look happy. Alya spent as much time at Marinette's as she did her own home so walked straight into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Marinette followed feeling like a school child about to be scalded and having to miss playtime. Standing in the doorway, she kept eye contact with Alya as she drank from the bottle.

"Why haven't you answered my messages?" Alya asked the question and Marinette charged to the kitchen counter where she'd left her phone.

"Crap! It's dead. Sorry. Is everything ok? Did you need something?" She pulled the lead out from behind her kitchen stereo and plugged the phone in.

"I need you to explain." She slammed her water down and pulled her own phone out of her pocket. She tapped around for a couple of seconds as Marinette played with her hands. Her mind racing around what it could be. Before she could think too illogically; her last thought being perhaps she'd made a copy dress of one of Alya's for Chloé, she saw the imagine on Alya's phone and released a sigh.

"Adrien, Mari? Really?" Marinette rolled her eyes at her long time friend and went back to her coffee and delectable pastry in the lounge. Sitting cross legged on the sofa and picking the plate back up she looked at the doorway waiting for Alya to come and join.

"Why not, Adrien? He asked me out and I said yes." Marinette took another flaky bite of the magically pastry.

"Is he still here?" Marinette almost choked.

"No! Why would he be here?"

"Well you know, your absolute obsession with him from the age of thirteen, the fact he'll sleep with pretty much anyone who walks, and you being a -"

"Alya, stop! I'm not just going to ask him around to sleep with him. You know I want it to be special." Her face was burning, absolutely flaming at Alya's thoughts. They were fake dating, nothing like that was going to happen.

She was saved by the sound of her phone in the kitchen. Message after message after message came sounding out of her phone. She finally took Alya's phone off her to see what she was looking at. There for all to see was a selection of pictures of her and Adrien.

They'd made it onto the local news stations. The picture of Marinette and Adrien walking hand in hand to the park, him looking at her almost wistfully as she went to her parents bakery. The two of them sharing a laugh over wine and cheese, Marinette standing up for Adrien with the jackass fan in the Gastropub and finally one of the two of them kissing. It looked so tender and so sweet, it almost looked real.

'Don't mess with Agreste's new girlfriend'

Marinette read the title of the piece and began to laugh. She handed Alya her phone back and took a large swig of her coffee, perhaps the two and a half spoonfuls of granules were too much. It needed more milk. She stood up, mug in hand and made her way back to the kitchen. Leaving her croissant again. She was glad she hadn't decided to warm it up.

Placing the mug next to her phone she saw messages and missed calls continuing to come through. She walked to the fridge and grabbed the milk as Alya followed again; bringing in the croissant, setting it down on the table before sitting down herself.

"I'm not happy about this you know." She stated, more like a mother than a best friend. "But I'm here if you need to talk, and I'll beat the crap out of him when he cheats on you."

Marinette giggled at her words.

"When he cheats on me? He's changed Alya. He's not the same as he was." She looked down at her phone to find three of her messages were off Adrien. "See," Marinette declared picking up her phone, "messages off Adrien. I haven't spoken to him at all since I went to sleep last night."

"So he was here?" She raised one condescending eyebrow at Marinette.

"No. He just messaged me to check I got home ok."

"Hummm... ok. Whatever you say. You do realise he probably sees you as a challenge. It'll look great for him with the guys if he tells them he slept with the girl who's had a crush on him forever, stole her vaginity and left her heartbroken. Especially as he stole you from Luka." Marinette looked down at the floor, her heartbreaking for Adrien. Everybody saw him the way the man did at Gastropub last night. Entertainment. That's all they saw him as.

She looked up at Alya and straightened her back. This needed to stop. It was time everyone, including Adrien himself, knew he was more than just a joke. She needed him to know he was so much more than he gave himself credit for, along with those around him and it would start tonight with all their friends.

Alya left about fifteen minutes later. Marinette felt like her head and been put through a blender and she still hadn't checked her messages. She had, however, finished her croissant and made herself a second. She unplugged her phone and walked into the bathroom to have a quick shower before heading out to her parents bakery.

Scrolling through the names she saw majority were from the girls. Alya, Alix, Rose, Mylene and Juleka. She winced looking at Juleka's name. Luka was her brother, and now she'd know the reason she cancelled on Luka was for Adrien. There were also messages from clients and ex-clients suddenly interested in talking with her. She smiled to herself. Perhaps this idea was better than expected. Finally she saw Adrien's name and decided to open the messages from him first.

Good morning Princess, I hope you're ok with all the press stories appearing this morning. If you need anything let me know. My agent is ready to do any crowd control.

She smiled. He was actually worried incase she wasn't happy. She couldn't wait to let him know about the sudden interest she was getting in her work. She began to read the next message from her fake boyfriend.

Princess, are you awake? I've spoken to my agent to let the reporters know that you are my official girlfriend and that we'll be out again tonight. He's letting the press know as so as they ring for a comment. We're sticking with the lycée secret sweethearts story, I hope this is ok. Let me know.

Finally she looked at the last message.

I've heard Alya's with you at the moment. May the force be with you!

That was her dork! That was the blonde haired geek she'd remembered from her school days. Smiling to herself she turned on the shower and stepped in. She knew she was about to enter the lions den when she stepped into the bakery. Her mother was going to go crazy. They loved Adrien, he was around a lot in his teens. Both her parents treated him as one of their own and always teased her about him. This could be an interesting day.

Stepping out the shower she wrapped a towel round her body and one round her head before brushing her teeth and moving back to the bedroom. She'd walked into the room hitting the phone off her hand, what could she text back?

Alya pretty much had me attached to a polygraph machine with a spotlight on me. Don't worry though, you know I'm good at ace'ing tests, you copied off me enough.

Marinette smiled to herself with her reply. Not too bad. Walking towards her closest she looked for her evenings outfit. She needed to look family friendly yet still dressed up enough to make it believable that she could grab the attention of supermodel, Adrien Agreste. She'd found the perfect combination.

Packing it in a bag along with her hair straighteners, she put on her usual bakery uniform. A white tee with flowers and her pink jeans, and prepared to leave. Breaking her flow was a sound coming from her discarded phone on the bed.

I always knew you were a smart one, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Have a good afternoon and I'll see you this evening. Let me know when you're on your way and I'll meet you outside x

***

Adrien was at the bar with Nino and Alya. Alya had been glaring at him since he arrived and he knew exactly why.

"I'm not going to hurt her Alya, I promise."

"I don't believe a word of it, Agreste. We all know about your conquests, I just hope Marinette isn't one to just be added to your list. She still likes you, you know." Adrien's head turned to look Alya in the eyes. There is no way Marinette still had feelings for him. He wasn't the sweet Adrien she'd known back in lycée. He was an ass-hole to the tallest order. Girls like Marinette didn't fall for guys like him. They had sense and they looked for guys with the family gene.

A picture of Luka appeared in his mind again. Marinette and Luka cuddled up on a sofa, hands cradling her baby bump whilst Luka's daughter ran around playing in the beautiful Princess dress Marinette had made her. A family of blue hair and blue eyes. Something twisted in his stomach, a tight clenching feeling. Somewhere, deeply buried in the back of his mind, he knew he wanted the vision of Luka to be him.

A glass of something was passed to him by Nino and he took a big gulp. He needed to be careful with his drinking. He was quite sure, too much would lead to some sort of vulnerable moment with the girl slowly changing his life. The press statements coming out after yesterday's outings were positive with a lot of reporters truly seeing something special in his relationship with Mari. He never knew she could be such a great actress.

"Agreste, you dark horse. Marinette? I can't believe it! It's like we're back in school." Kim had arrived and slapped one of his big hangs on Adrien's shoulder. This seemed to have been the normal welcome this evening. Ivan, Max, Nathaniel and now Kim. He didn't know if they thought highly of him for dating Marinette or lowly of her for dating him. All he knew was he didn't like the way they spoke about her, like she was some sort of incapable child.

Even when he went to see Nino earlier he'd belittled her. Explaining how she didn't know how to be in a relationship, how he was wasting time with her and that she'd got enough on her plate to sort out without the hassle of him. He'd never wanted to prove people wrong so much in his life. She was right everyone saw her as young and defenceless, but not him. After yesterday he could no longer she her as anything but strong, determined and amazing. She'd stood up for him, the only person he'd ever known to care so much to stand up for his name.

He smiled to himself as he thought about how she'd made a grown man apologise to him and without thinking he moved his hand up to his lips. They'd kissed each other. Nothing too major but still it caused him issues getting to sleep last night. Adrien turned to face Kim with a smile plastered on his lips.

"I've waited a long time for her. I'm glad she trusts me enough to give this a shot." Kim seemed taken aback and Adrien was glad of the reaction. He'd waited for her, not the other way round. He was so determined to give her what she wanted. She deserved it.

A vibrating in his back pocket distracted him from the conversation himself, Kim and Nino were having and he pulled his phone out.

Ready to be my Prince? x

He smiled and excused himself walking out of the bar. Looking up and down the street he was in search for his fake girlfriend, and that's when he noticed a few camera crews were outside. He hoped she'd turn up soon or he'd look like he'd been stood up.

Suddenly a movement caught his eye. A stunning woman was walking towards him and for the first time since arriving in Paris, he wanted someone in his bed.