12- The Carnival

Adrien's POV

Marinette rests against the piano, watching me as I finish my last song. The carnival's about to start soon and we're both excited. "You're amazing," She whispers, giving me the biggest smile. "Uh, an amazing pianist."

"Thank you," I say with a grin. I finish off with a quiet note and rest my arms to the side. "I love playing the piano, but when I'm forced to do it, it feels like a chore." Smirking, I lean in and whisper, "Wanna hear a secret?"

Nodding, Marinette walks over and sits beside me. "Yes. Always."

Pulling out my phone, I open the pre-recorded audio on my phone and play the first one. The same piece I was just doing plays off my phone. "Whenever I don't feel like playing, I leave this on and do something else. Take a nap. Do some homework. Go out and patr—" I stop myself. Great, Adrien. You almost told Marinette you're Cat Noir. "Or play some video games."

Marinette turns and looks at the broken TV. I still haven't gotten it fixed it yet. "I'm guessing you haven't played in a while, huh?" She teases, softly laughing.

I want to laugh with her, but the night I did that wasn't a good one. "I've been meaning to fix it."

She notices the frown on my face. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I shake my head, standing up. "Come on. We have a carnival to go to."

Marinette grins and grabs my hand. We run out of the house, leaving my bodyguard behind, and race to the park. "I'm faster than you!" She shouts as she picks up speed, leaving me in her tracks.

"Not fast enough!" I quickly pass her, laughing, and stop when Marinette trips and flies forward. She falls face first on the sidewalk, scraping her chin and part of her knee. "Marinette!" I rush back over, kneeling down in front of her, and help her stand. "Hey. I got you. Are you alright?"

"I-I think so," Marinette whispers as she struggles to stand. She places a hand on her knee and takes in a deep breath. "I'll feel better... after I beat you!" She pushes me to the ground and takes off running.

"You faker!" I shout as she keeps running, laughing, and I jog the rest of the way.

Marinette's waiting for me at the gate. "I win," She brags with a sly smirk.

"You're crazy, you know that right?" I ask with wide eyes. "You purposely tripped and hurt yourself just so you could win a stupid race?"

She nods. "I'm very competitive, Adrien, and I always win."

There's something about Marinette's newfound confidence. It's attractive. I can't help but feel mesmerized by her. She almost reminds me of...

"Come on. Let's go get some cotton candy." I let Marinette take my hand as we meet with our friends.

Nino and Alya wave at us.

"What's up, my dudes?" Nino asks, giving Marinette a fist bump before doing our signature handshake with me.

"What's up?" I say, laughing. "Marinette is a complete psychopath. Anything to win a stupid race."

"You're just mad that I won." Marinette taps my nose, giggling, and something flips in my stomach.

"So..." Alya looks between us. "When did you two start dating?"

Marinette and I stare at each other, eyes wide. I forgot she decided to tell everyone we were dating. My father was a nightmare when we got home from school. News travel fast when everyone has a cellphone. He gave me an hour lecture about dating and something else I wasn't listening to, but to my surprise he didn't make me "break up" with her. That was the most shocking part of our conversation.

"We..." Marinette looks at me. "When did we start dating, honey?"

My heart races at the pet name. What is happening to me? Why is Marinette making me feel this way? "Uh, well, sweetie, I can't remember because it feels like we've been together forever."

"Aww..." Nino and Alya whisper.

Marinette slips her hand into mine, playing the part. "Yeah. We would have told you sooner, but you saw how the class reacted. We wanted to avoid that kind of attention."

"Too late for that." Nino turns his phone towards us. "Nadia Chamack's already all over it. She wants to invite you two for an interview."

"Oh boy," I whisper, shaking my head. "There's no privacy in Paris."

"There's Adrien Agreste!" All heads turn towards the voice. There's a group of fans waiting by the entrance. They start pointing at me and Marinette. "There's Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I told you they would be here!"

"Uh oh," Marinette and I mumble at the same time.

Alya steps in front of us. "We'll stall them. You two go run and hide."

"Thanks, Alya," Marinette tells her before squeezing my hand. "Come on, Adrien."

"I'll follow you to the ends of the earth," I tell her as we go running through the park.

Marinette glances over at me, something turning in her eyes, but she shakes her head, like she changed her mind. I wonder what she was going to say.

"There." She stops and points at the Ferris wheel. "That should buy us some time." Still holding my hand, Marinette leads me over and we sit inside a cart. "Sorry." She lets go of my hand.

I reach out and grab her hand again. "You don't have to apologize for holding my hand."

Marinette's cheek glow a bright red, still visible even at night. She stares out the window as the wheel turns and we stop at the top. "Woah," She whispers, putting her face closer to the glass. "This view is amazing."

I don't know if it's just tonight, the atmosphere, or Marinette telling everyone we're dating, but something's changed. I'm looking at her differently than I did before. She's grown so much since I met her; she's more confident, brave, and heroic, even. There's this pull about her that's drawing me in and I don't know how to explain it. All I know is I only ever felt like that for Ladybug. Could this be changing? Could I be changing? No, what am I saying? I can't betray Ladybug like that! She's risking everything right now and promised to come back once everything's back to normal. How would she feel if she knew I was in love with someone else?

No, I can't.

No matter how bad I want to.

"Adrien?" Marinette asks.

It's only now I realize she's been saying my name for the past minute. "Huh? Sorry. I was zoned out."

She giggles. "It's okay. I zone out, too, sometimes."

"What were you asking me?"

Marinette looks down at our hands, still entwined. Why can't I let go? "I was asking if you were okay, you know, with me telling people we're dating."

"You did it to protect yourself," I remind her. "And your friends and family."

"Yeah, I know, but..." Marinette trails off. "You must have some mixed feelings about this. I mean, you still love Ladybug, right?" My ears perk at her name. I forgot the entire world knows I dated her. Dating. That I'm dating her. Just because Ladybug went into hiding doesn't mean I still don't love her. "I can't imagine what could be going in your head right now."

It's like Marinette's reading my mind. "It is a little weird, I'll admit. I'm not used to a public life, even if it's a lie, but it's going to change everything. Not only for me, but for you. All everyone in the media will refer to you as now is "Adrien Agreste's girlfriend" and you deserve so much more than that, Marinette."

Marinette pouts as she stares at the Eiffel tower. She slowly lets go of my hand. "I'm sorry. I was just angry and jealous. Lila gets on my nerves so easily."

"No, I'm glad you said something," I say, laughing. "I didn't want to be Lila's date, let alone her dance partner."

"Wait." Marinette looks over at me. "You can't stand Lila, either? I mean, we both know she lies for attention, but I just thought... after you did that photoshoot with her, that you two were such great friends." She says that last part sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Trust me. I can't stand her." Marinette has no idea what I did for her. "The truth is, I only did that photoshoot with Lila so she would do something for me."

Marinette's eyebrow lifts. "Really? What did she do for you?"

"Do you remember, earlier last year, when Lila tried getting you expelled?" The glare on Marinette's face gives me my answer. "Well, I told her, actually threatened, that she had to backtrack her story and tell everyone you were innocent."

Marinette's eyes water as she stares at me. "Y-You did that for me?"

I nod. "Of course. You're my best friend, Marinette, and I would never let anyone hurt you."

Marinette looks away, crossing her arms, like she's distancing herself physically and mentally. Did I say something wrong? "Thank you, Adrien. I'm just glad you've been on my side since day one."

There's still a frown on her face. No. I will not let the night end with Marinette sad. I nudge her elbow, raising a sly eyebrow at her, and celebrate internally when she starts laughing. "No frowns tonight, okay? Not on my watch. We're here to have fun."

Marinette nods. "You're right. We're here to have fun." She looks around. "Hey, this hasn't been moving."

"You're right." I check my phone. "We've been here for five minutes."

A text appears on my screen from Nino.

Nino: Alya and I had the ride shut down for now while we get those stupid fans out of here. Don't say we didn't do anything for you ;)

What does Nino mean by that last part? "Those fans are still here, so Alya and Nino managed to stop the ride for now."

Marinette shows me a similar text from Alya. "I got the same message."

Laughing, I say, "I guess we're stuck here for a while."

She matches my smile. "I guess we are..."