Marinette made her way down the corridor towards Alya and Nino's room. All were currently staying in the same hotel and had decided to meet up on Sunday afternoon before the gang; minus Adrien and Marinette, returned to Paris.

Knocking on the door she waited for her friend to open up. Nino had already gone to meet Adrien for a pre-lunch drink in the hotel bar, allowing themselves and the girls some separate time together. Alya opened the door and looked at her friend, sheer disgust in her eyes.

"You're not going like that are you?"

Marinette looked down at herself and pulled on the bottom of her off the shoulder jumper. With the amount of makeup and the intensity of the costumes she always liked to have a dress down day on a Sunday. No makeup and comfy clothing. She wasn't sure what the big deal was. Her leggings were clean, and her UGG boots were comfy, what was wrong with that? Alya had no idea what it's like to wear four inch heels most of the day to dance around in.

Feeling herself being dragged into the room, Alya man handed Marinette to remove the hair bobble currently holding in a very messy bun. After the previous night's show Marinette and Adrien, along with Alya, Nino, Luka, Russ and Mr Jagged Stone himself headed to a local pub to celebrate the evening and topping the leaderboard again. The famous singer had made a big deal in the pub, meaning they were mobbed. So what should have been a fun night out ended in about twenty minutes. Today was attempt number two - without the added accessory of Jagged Stone.

"You will never pull Adrien looking like that." Alya quipped, grabbed a brush from the nightstand and attacked Marinette's hair with the ferociousness of a fox.

"Pull Adrien? Alya, we're just friends."

"Just friends, my bottom! Friends do not look at friends that way."

"It's called dancing, Alya. It's another form of acting."

"I'm not on about the dancing side, Mari. It's all the time! He looks at you like you are his sun. Seriously, it's making me jealous!"

Marinette looked at her friend, mouth wide open. There was no way Adrien, the famous supermodel Adrien hot stuff Agreste thought she was the sun. They were partners, and only thanks to last week's night out, friends.

"Alya, I think you're getting ahead of yourself here."

"I'm not Marinette!" Ayla pushed the girl into a seat and began to braid her long hair. "There's something there! We know it, the press knows it, geez the judges comment on it constantly. It only seems that you two don't. You could have it all Marinette, you could have that fairytale romance you've dreamt of since you were thirteen, and even better you can have it with the Prince you dreamt about at the same age too."

A flush of red coated Marinette's cheeks, it couldn't be right, could it? There was no way Adrien Agreste liked her.

•••••

"So what is this carvery we're heading out to?"
Adrien and Nino were currently in the bar at the hotel. Adrien was fully kitted out in a disguise and both males were talking french. This way they could make sure minimal people understood what they were saying. Adrien couldn't help but notice the looks he was receiving from some of the hotel's patrons. It was as though he was from another planet. Over the past year of him living in London he had been told he speaks English that well, people tend to forget he is actually french.

"It's great Nino, you choose your meat and they carve it for you there and then, then you head to another station where you can load up on vegetables and gravy. It's an English Sunday lunch. Honestly, it's the best thing about living here, oh and Yorkshire Tea. When I finally come home I'm having that bad boy imported."

At that moment Nino was glad they were talking french. How would he explain that conversation to droves of fangirls who think the handsome model was cool? Talking about meat, and gravy and tea bags equaled the complete opposite.

"Any meat, eh? So ... you could choose Marinette?"

"Fine, say what you want to say. Get it out of your system. I can tell you've been dying to talk about it since last night," Adrien rolled his eyes. No matter where their conversations started at the moment they always led back to Marinette. Obviously Nino had something he wanted to get off his chest.

"It's quite simple really, my dude. When are you making your move? The dancers curse and all that."

"I'm not making a move, Nino, we're partners and just friends. She doesn't see me that way."

"But do you see her," Nino wiggled his eyebrows at Adrien, causing the model to laugh.

"Of course 'I see her', I'm not blind."

Nino laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"She's a catch man, honestly, the girl is amazing. I was hoping to go on a date with her myself back in Collège. That was the date she accidentally locked Alya in a cage with me."

"You wanted to date Marinette?"

"Dude, everyone wanted to date Marinette. I swear if I met anyone nowadays they'd still say the same thing. She's a wonderful girl, Adrien, and she would be perfect for you. Why do you think we've tried to set you both up so often? It's not for laughs and giggles."

Adrien looked at his friend and nervously ran his hand behind his neck.

"As much as I would enjoy taking Marinette out on a date, I'm kind of dating someone else right now."

"Oh yeah, who?"

Nino picked up his drink and raised an eyebrow at Adrien as he swigged a gulp down.

"Lila,"

Nino couldn't control what happened next. His cheeks contracted and the beer he'd just chugged came flying out of his mouth. The only decent thing Nino did was manage to look away before he bathed his best friend in a shower of beer.

"The devil? Why?"

"What do you mean the devil?" Adrien asked.

"I've been trying to tell you dude, Lila, she's -"

As Nino was about to speak a voice interrupted them and stopped the glasses wearing man in midspeech.

"Seriously, am I ever going to be able to tell you." He mumbled as he stood up and wrapped his girlfriend in his arms.

"I've got a surprise for you, Agreste." Alya sang to Adrien. She moved out the way and indicated to the girl currently signing autographs at the entrance to the bar. Adrien stood from his seat and couldn't help the way his eyes enlarged and mouth dropped open.

She was mesmerising. Like a Goddess. He looked over her body and noticed she'd upgraded from her Sunday slacks to an off the shoulder black jumper, pulled in at the waist by a thick red belt, red leggings and black high heels. Her hair was in an elegant braid and her face lightly coloured in makeup. His heart began to flutter as he thought of possible words to describe her, never reaching the one which truly outlined her beauty.

He noticed her cheeks blush as he gave her a soft smile, Nino nudging him in the ribs reminding him that gaping at a lady was ungentlemanlike. Perhaps he was right, maybe there was something more there, he just wasn't sure she felt it too.

"Marinette, you look ... wow!"

Being part of such an intense show meant he only really saw Marinette in her training gear and her costumes. This felt so forgien and a little invasive.

"Thank you, Adrien." She stepped forward and placed a kiss on his cheek, in way of greeting. Himself mirroring the actions back to her.

"The fun has arrived!" Everyone turned around to see Luka bounding in through the doors, a good looking but slightly older man trailing behind. Luka made his way straight to Marinette and embraced her in a hug.

"Mari, we looked amazing last night."

"Of course we did, we are world champions." Marinette giggled in response. Luka continued his greetings as Marinette approached the tall, muscular brunette that was last to the party..

"Sass, I'm so sorry I never got to say hi yesterday."

"Don't worry little bug, I'm just glad I could make it." Luka's boyfriend hugged the small girl before heading over to say hello to his friends, plus meet the new guy on the block.

"Adrien Agreste, it's so good to finally meet you." The Parisian dancer took Adrien in his arms giving him a quick hug. "You're one of us now and friends always get hugs."

"Well, I'm honoured to be accepted." Adrien said, moving out of Russ' grasps.

"I'm Luka's better half, Russ, but you can call me Sass."

"Sass? That's an interesting nickname? Any reason?" Adrien quizzed, causing groans from the others in the group.

"I'm so glad you asked, petit Minou. You see, when I was World Champion I was known for one thing."

"And what was that?" Adrien asked, curiously.

"These bad boys." Russ (Sass) stood back and began to rotate his hips in a less than family friendly way. "I'm a sassy guy, Adrien Agreste, and don't you forget it. These snake hips have won me numerous titles."

Noticing camera phones being pulled out on them, Alya grabbed Sass by the hand and led him, along with Nino and Marinette out the door.

"Let's get out of here." She announced as they made their way onto the street.

Marinette tagged along next to Adrien, as Alya and Sass laughed together in the front, arms locked, leaving Nino and Luka hanging at the back.

"Have you managed to speak to him yet?" Luka asked.

"Not yet," he stated, "everytime I try, something seems to get in the way." Nino sighed.

"He needs to know, he's got himself in a situation with her now. He's got to date her or Mari gets kicked off the show."

"What?" Nino's outburst caused Adrien and Marientte to turn and stare. Nino, being Nino, began to stumble over possible topics to cover his and Luka's conversation, only to be saved by the blue haired boy himself.

"Father's interested in collaborating with Nino. Poor guys having a freak out."

Congratulations were given by both before they turned back and continued their own conversation.

"Nice save," Nino said.

"I'm good at it," Luka laughed in reply.

"So what are we going to do?"

"We? Not sure about 'we', Nino. You're not the best at keeping secrets, especially when it's people you care about."

"As true as that is, Adrien's my bro. He's been through so much with his father, I just want to be able to finally help him out."

"And you will," Luka replied, "we may just need to do some damage control with Marinette. You see, my plan involves Adrien going through with dating Lila, but it needs to be authentic. Then I can put my plan in motion."

"I trust you, but that's only because I know you want the best for Marinette and will do whatever to get it, including using your contacts to get her on the show." Nino nudged his friend.

"You can't prove anything!" Luka laughed, almost walking into Marinette's back. "Wow, Melody, why have you stopped?"

Marinette was standing staring at her phone, a smile taking over her face.

"We've got the judges' choice." She whispered, hoping no one currently walking past them could understand French.

"What is it?" Adrien asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at the text currently displayed on her phone screen.

"Adrien Agreste, are you ready to perform topless?" A smirk appeared on her lips and he already knew he was doomed.

•••••
The first group performance is coming soon, but will Adrien have to dance with Luka?

❤️ Yes
🖤 No

Also, does anyone have any guesses on what their 'Disney' dance will be?