Oh, frick, frick, frickity frick! He knows!

Marinette kept her concentration on the flowers as Adrien explained the story, and if she understood his story, he was letting her down gently, being sensitive about their arrangement and making sure the lines between real and not real weren't fuzzy. Making sure that she knew this couldn't be anything more than what it is right now. The barrier was a line which could never really be crossed.

A weird sound came out of her mouth, her brain really not coordinating with it, as she barked out a laugh at Adrien. Tikki flew from her clutch bag, giving the most judgemental of looks. They stood staring for seconds – which felt like decades – before she closed her eyes and breathed out.

"That would be quite the..." Marinette turned around, only to freeze as she looked down at Adrien...on one knee...in an overpriced Hugo Boss suit...holding the single most gorgeous ring she had ever seen in her life. "...plot twist." The words came out as a whisper, her heart beating heavy in her throat.

He was pretending, wasn't he?

She watched the smile crease his flawless face, giving him lines of memories around his eyes and a dimple in his cheek. "I thought if we were going to play this right, you needed a proposal story to tell people. A proposal for a princess."

She hooted again. For goodness' sake, was she a fog horn or something.

Quickly, she bent down onto one knee and cupped her hands around his as she looked at the delicate diamond ring laying upon the black velvet cushion. She glanced into his eyes as they pierced her with seriousness. "It's too much!"

"Never too much for you." His green eyes shone under the street light, and up this close she got to see the tiny yellow imperfections amongst the green, like tiny stars in the night sky. They shouldn't be there to challenge the beauty, but it made it all the more alluring that they were.

"I can't accept this, Adrien. What if I break it? Or lose it down the toilet?"

His smile grew. "It's a good job it's just costume jewellery, then. No one will miss it if you flush it away."

Marinette snorted, taking the ring off the cushion and holding it in the palm of her hand. It was a lot heavier than what she'd expect from costume jewellery and a lot more sparkly too. She felt his emerald eyes trail all over her face as she studied the ring in her hands. It was classic. One which would make it easy for her to continue sewing while wearing it, but still undeniably gorgeous and personal...and fake. Just like their relationship – she reminded herself.

"Here." He took the ring from her, lifting her left hand delicately, his skin warm as his thumb stroked across her knuckles and slipped the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit.

Once it was in the correct place, Adrien gave her a reward of his brightest smile. "Are you ready to party, Mrs Agreste?"

Oh how the words turned her into a puddle of goo. She would always be ready to party as Mrs Agreste.

"Born ready!"

"Finally, I have you to myself!" Alya grabbed Marinette's arm and pulled her away from the bar and into the main garden.

It was a couple of hours into the party, and Marinette had pretty much spoken to everyone – except her friends. So while usually Marinette would have screamed for help as Alya pulled her away from where the action was taking place, right now it was the exact break she needed.

The back of the Agreste mansion had been decorated to the max. It was littered with soft twinkling fairy lights, coiling around trees and lying along the bushes. Flower arrangements adorned the tables set out for guests, each and every display could only dream of being as beautiful as the one Adrien had presented to her earlier. There were balloons and candles. And everything else which you'd find in a billionaire romance novel. Marinette looked around the vast expanse of the mansion's grounds, still struggling to believe this party was in honour of her...well, her and Adrien.

Alya stood beside her, knowing she just needed a moment for all this to sink in, because even though she'd been planning this since she was 14, her diary entries had nothing on what her reality was. Continuing her slow turn around the garden, she glanced at the swimming pool. The large area, which housed their old school summer spectaculars, had been covered over in a black and white chequered dance floor, lights flashing on either side, whilst a large table, which would seat about 18 people, had been placed on one end. In the centre was a large six-tier passionfruit and white chocolate cake, sugar crafted with handmade roses and white doves - one she was sure her parents had made, from the proud look on their faces.

"Nice, isn't it?" Marinette turned to smile at Alya, her friend saluting her with a champagne glass.

"It's beautiful!" She downed over half the liquid, which obviously meant Nino was the designated hero for the night. "So, when are you going to tell him how you feel?"

Marinette sighed, bringing a hand to her head and rubbing. She wasn't going to tell him, not after the proposal. He didn't want to cross the boundaries, and that was abundantly clear now, so there was only one thing left to do – make the most of it.

Just as Master Fu had told her all those years ago: even if life doesn't always give us the gifts we were hoping for, the real gift is life itself. He was right. There weren't many times he wasn't. And she was living her life to the max at the moment. She would enjoy this time with Adrien and carpe-fricking-diem the days she got to call herself his fiancée. Because he'd chosen her to be with, and she'd agreed to do this. There was no point in worrying about the end, not when the present was wrapped up in a big shiny bow – and blond hair..

Marinette looped her arms around Alya, glad she was here and thanking her in one of the easiest ways she knew how – in a big, fat hug. Seeing Alya, Nino, Anthony, Luka, Zoé and the rest of the gang had been emotional balm for the spiralling in the pit of her stomach. She'd met a lot of the celebrities before – but as Ladybug – and she couldn't help the fear that some sort of Marinette catastrophe was waiting to happen. She was here to make things better for Adrien, not worse, and, so far, she seemed to be playing the doting fiancée quite well.

"Give me a hand and let's get the dance floor off the pool so I can start the skinny dipping," Alya said.

Marinette chuckled at the thought. "Come on, Foxy, let's find Nino!"

"You're saying that like I'm drunk!" Alya pouted, Marinette only laughing more.

"I think we're well on our way there." Marinette noticed Nino with Adrien, both of them talking to a couple of actors she recognised from the Avengers movies (no, not any of the Chrises).

"By the way, the gang are starting to wonder why we haven't seen you kiss yet. You know everyone's been after the first photograph for years."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "What have you told them?"

The menacing giggle made her blood run cold. "I told them to wait until tonight. After all, it would be the perfect timing. So pucker up and get your man."

Laughing, she dragged Alya behind her, making sure she kept her hold tight on her friend and restricting her from leaping into the cake – starkers!

... or forced her to kiss Adrien. Not that she didn't want to, but he probably didn't want to. Not really anyway.

The men moved away as Marinette and Alya approached, each congratulating Marinette and giving her a kiss on the cheek as they passed. Alya spun around in her arms, almost taking Marinette out with the quick change of direction, watching them from behind as they left.

"Did you do either of those?" Alya said, tilting her head to one side then the other, quite certainly studying the actors' butts.

Nobody answered.

Moving herself around to face Adrien, she asked again. "Did you do either of those?"

"Errrmmm... I don't know if you know this, but I - um - I don't do guys."

Adrien looked between an embarrassed face-palming Nino and an even more embarrassed and red-cheeked Marinette.

Oh, no! Alya couldn't be talking about...

"Their butts, Buttercup!" Her friend snickered to herself. "Butt-er cup! Makes perfect sense now why we gave you that nickname."

Marinette watched with horror as Alya shuffled in between Nino and Adrien, hands out and preparing to...

"Down, girl!" Félix suddenly appeared behind the guys, pulling Alya's arms away from where she was most likely going to grope Adrien's butt.

"Nice party, Cus! I read in the news that it cost as much as Kagami's and my house. So congratulations, you posh prick! I can't wait for the wedding!" Félix saluted Adrien with his champagne glass before dragging Alya away, and, by association, Nino too.

"Hi!" Adrien's award-winning smile greeted Marinette with his genuine lopsidedness.

"Hey, yourself! This is quite a party!"

The joyous sounds of his laugh graced her ears as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him in for a tight hug, which he responded to with a squeeze of his own. She could smell the mixture of cologne and Adrien, a sweet subtle undertone she wanted to roll in and brand herself.

"Is there a reason Félix moved Alya away from me?" he asked.

Marinette shrugged and turned her head away, keeping her voice level low so she didn't make her friend sound like the creep she could sometimes be. "I think she was going to grope you."

"Grope me? Why?"

"No idea! But I do know it has nothing at all to do with your famous butt!"

She turned back with a wide, freakish smile on her face, only to be met by Adrien's raised eyebrow. He could see right through her. Her hands came to her chest and her fingers started to play a piano concerto against each other.

"Did you tell Alya—"

"No!" Oh, hello too quick denial! If she didn't look guilty before, she most certainly did now.

"Nettie?"

"Oh, look!" Her eyes scanned the room, trying to find someone – anyone – to make this sudden change of conversation legible. And there they were. "There's Lana." Waving like a maniac, Marinette tried her hardest to get Lana's attention, letting out a dramatic sigh of relief as the agent began to make her way over to them. "Lana! Hi!"

"Marinette, darling, you look simply divine." She stepped forward and air-kissed Marinette on both cheeks, before moving onto Adrien. "And you look the happiest I have ever seen. You look wonderful, Adrien."

Marinette almost jumped out of her skin as she felt Adrien's hand glide across the gap in the back of her dress, his big calloused fingers caressing her before grabbing hold of her hip and pulling her in towards his hard, masculine body.

"Just so you know, we have some singer coming out, Adele or something. She's British, I think. Anyway, she'll perform, the news sites will get what they need, and then you'll be free to enjoy the rest of the evening away from prying eyes." In slight disbelief, Marinette couldn't help but smile at the notion of Adele being there as something so unimportant to Lana that she couldn't remember her name. Oh, how the other half lived.

Lana dropped them a wink, and Marinette was curious about how much she'd actually drank. "It's not just the tabloids here tonight either. We have some of the top-notch reporters. This is in the big leagues, Adrinette."

Before Marinette could think too much about Lana using their 'ship' name, a familiar voice — coated with an edge of liquor — met their ears before the stench met her nose.

"Marinette! Adrien! It's about bloody time!" Jagged Stone appeared beside them, swinging an arm around Marinette's shoulder and pulling her away from Adrien. Jagged placed himself firmly in the middle like he was the third member of their little gang.

"Did you know," he started again, pointing a beer bottle at Lana, who looked disgustedly mortified by the rocker's appearance. "This one was almost my daughter-in-law."

Lana eyes widened and Marinette thought she'd have to reach out and grab her eyeballs.

"Was she, now?" Lana drawled out, an eyebrow raising and her judgement clearly changing regarding Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"I dated his son for a month, when I was 14," Marinette replied, moving from underneath Jagged's arm and returning to Adrien. "It was...I don't want to say a mistake, but...it just didn't work out."

"You dated Jagged Stone's son?" Lana repeated, almost disbelieving what everyone was telling her.

"I would have been lucky to have this one in the crew," Jagged said. "She's designed so many things for me over the years. This girl is famous in her own right!"

"Really?" It seemed Lana was getting more and more impressed by the second. Her mouth opened with probably a mountain of questions ready to fire out.

"I'm just going to borrow my fiancée." Adrien's hand tightened around her waist, his body turning them away and towards the exit of the marquee.

With a delicious pressure on her back, Adrien led Marinette around to the front of the mansion, stopping in front of where his mother's statue sat proudly surrounded by roses and fairy lights.

"Woah! What's the rush?" Marinette asked, as Adrien pushed forward almost as though they were racing Usain Bolt. She wobbled a little as her heels tried to navigate a scattering of pebbles.

Adrien looked down at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "I just want to spend some alone time with my gorgeous wife-to-be."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, mon Minou." She giggled, finally coming to a stop in front of him.

The night was cool, but not cold enough to warrant a jacket. However, as the heat ignited in Adrien's eyes, so did the goosebumps on her skin. She was taken back to a couple of hours ago when he was on one knee proposing to her. His eyes were fiery and passionate, then, and he'd looked like he wanted to devour her...just as he did now.

"I just wanted to check if you're okay," he said. "I completely understand that this is a lot, and if you want to bail, I won't take offence."

She shook her head aggressively. "No, I'm fine, honestly. Though having Adele singing at my engagement party isn't something I've ever imagined."

Adrien winced. "I knew we should have asked Ed Sheeran."

Marinette guffawed. How could he talk about an award-winning musician playing at their party like he was just going to ask the guys to get together and reform Kitty Section? Next thing, he'd be saying Taylor Swift was their original booking but she was ill.

"Well, I'm sure he's around here somewhere. We'll have to grab your old karaoke machine later and ask him for a track or two. Maybe you could ever give him a spin of your version of 'Bad Habits'."

Adrien's smile brightened, his head falling back as he groaned. "You promised you'd never bring that up again." He turned his head to look at his mother. "See what I have to put up with."

Marinette giggled, her heart leaping around as she watched him look so happy and carefree...and young. He truly was a masterpiece of everything — except singing.

"But seriously, if you want to end this now, we can, Marinette. I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable." He grabbed her hands and held them tightly to his chest.

She couldn't help but think sometimes it would be nice for him to make her uncomfortable...with his hands...or his body...or maybe even his tail.

Bad Marinette! She really needed to talk to someone about this. She was getting out of control – probably because she was spending most of her time on AO3...and mainly in the Marichat section. Unhinged indeed.

Alya's words flashed through her mind. If she was ever going to get the chance to kiss him, or to show him what he was missing out on, she needed to just go for it. After all, she was right, if they wanted people to believe this, they had to do something believable.

"I'm not uncomfortable, Adrien. Believe me, you'd know if I was. It's just...if we want this to look real, I think, maybe, we should...kiss."

"Kiss?" he questioned, his hands remaining tightly wrapped around hers.

"Well, yeah. Don't you think it'll seem weird if we don't?"

They remained still. Adrien looked at her as though she was a puzzle he was trying to solve, and from the turn of his eyebrows, he wasn't being very successful.

"Would you...would you be okay with that?" His voice was thick as he spoke, and she was starting to wonder if she'd crossed that metaphorical barrier he was speaking about earlier. Instead of keeping on her own side, she had willingly jumped over it.

"It's been a while since I kissed anyone, so I could use some practice for when I next go out on a date." She tried to smile through the pain of even considering being with anyone else.

For a fraction of a second, she thought she'd seen his eyes darken, but before she could examine them more, he blinked and brought the colour back to his usual playful green.

"Well, let's get back then and give the audience what they want." He smiled at her, but it didn't make his eyes twinkle in the usual panty-dropping way she was used to. It was like what she saw on the red carpet, or in interviews. The 'model Adrien' smile from his youth – impersonal and cold.

A couple of men slapped him on the back as he led her through the crowds and onto the dancefloor. They were from a music group of some sort, if she remembered correctly. Compass Points, or something like that.

The ballroom was filled with twinkling lights and the soft murmur of conversation as Marinette and Adrien took the floor Adele, breaking into a love song instead of one of many award winning break up songs.

They moved gracefully together, Adrien's hand gently resting on the small of her back, hers clasped in his. Marinette's heart fluttered nervously beneath her calm exterior.

As they swayed to the music, Marinette stole glances at Adrien's serene expression, his eyes fixed on hers with a warmth that sent a shiver down her spine. This was all part of the plan—a fake engagement to save his name—but the way he held her, the tenderness in his touch, felt far too real.

Adrien leaned in slightly, his breath mingling with hers. Her pulse quickened. This was the moment. Her mind raced with a mix of excitement and panic. Why the hell did she mention this? Now it was here she was so unprepared.

In that fleeting moment, Marinette's inner voice interrupted her rising nerves. Stay calm, she told herself, it's just for show. Yet, her heart had other ideas, pounding louder with each passing second.

Then, just as Adrien's lips began to draw nearer, the music abruptly stopped, as the shriek of a voice was heard over the music.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

Marinette's insides quivered to the point of collapsing, before they turned and ran into a hiding place, taking her soul with her. Her eyes opened and head moved, Adrien's lips coming down to meet the back of her head.

If she didn't hate Chloé Bourgeois before, she was certain she loathed her now!