-13- Secret Gifts and Fashion Shows

One Week Later

"Marinette! There's a package for you!" Tom calls out to his daughter from the living room. She comes racing down. He holds up the box, covered in pink wrapping paper and a red bow.  "I think from a certain boyfriend of yours...?"

"Dad!" Marinette grabs the package and runs back up to her room. "Look, Tikki! Adrien sent me a present!"

Tikki flies over as she begins to open it. "What is it?"

Marinette moves the tissue paper aside, picking up a white teddy bear holding a red heart that says, 'I Love You Beary Much', along with a sketch of her wearing the red dress she just finished designing, the one she wore to dinner with Adrien's dad. "Aww! Isn't this so cute, Tikki? Look at the bear..."

"Since when can Adrien draw?" Tikki asks, side-eyeing the sketch.

"Adrien's very talented." Marinette holds the bear up to Tikki. "And just like Cat Noir, Adrien is obsessed with puns, too." She notices a piece of paper folded behind the bear's heart. "Ooh! A letter!" She sets the bear aside and reads it.

my dearest Marinette- every color in the world could do no justice for your beauty you are far beyond mere colors of earth and the softest fabrics in the world cannot compare to your designs for I am jealous man of fabric that touches your skin while I am empty handed tonight

Marinette's cheeks burn a crimson red as her heart races. "A poem, Tikki. Adrien wrote me a poem..." She grins down at the piece of paper and starts dancing around her room. "Adrien Agreste wrote me a poem!"

Tikki reads over Marinette's shoulder. "Adrien may have many skills and talents, but poetry isn't one of them."

"What do you mean, Tikki?" She asks, offended. "Don't you remember that romantic poem Adrien wrote last year on Valentine's Day?"

Tikki glances over to her dresser where Marinette still has it framed. "You mean the one you took out of the trash, Marinette?"

She blushes and laughs. "Yeah!"

"That Valentine's poem is better than this one, though." Tikki flies over and rereads Adrien's old poem. "It seems he has lost his touch."

"Even if the poem's not that great, it's still sweet." Marinette tapes it over her computer. She leans forward and kisses it. "It's the thought that counts."

"Why wouldn't Adrien give this to you in person?" Tikki asks.

Marinette shrugs. "You know how Adrien's father is. So protective and controlling. Even if the house were on fire, he wouldn't let Adrien leave. Besides, Adrien's not really a public person, so maybe sending me gifts in secret is the only way we can communicate when he's stuck at home." Her eyes widen. "Which means if I say anything about the gifts, his dad might find out and force Adrien to break up with me and we'd never see each other again!" She smiles. "Aww! It's like this secret between us. I can't wait to see Adrien at school."

"Which you're going to be later for if you don't hurry up," Her kwami reminds.

"Right!" Marinette slips her shoes on, grabbing her bag before running downstairs. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" She jogs down, bouncing giddy with each step, and runs straight into Adrien outside the bakery. "Oh! Adrien!"

"I had my bodyguard drop me off early so we could walk to school together." Adrien grins and holds out his hand. "Shall we?"

Marinette grabs his hand. They walk to school. She can't stop staring and smiling at him. Adrien's the best boyfriend ever. She stops walking and stands up on her toes to kiss Adrien, which catches him by surprise.

"What was that for?" He asks with a smile.

"For being the best boyfriend ever."

Adrien laughs. "Okay. Then this is for being the best girlfriend ever." He grabs the back of Marinette's head and tilts it back, leaning down to kiss her.

Alya and Nino walk up. "You guys start dating and can't keep your hands to yourself," She jokes, shaking her head.

"Just wait 'til they get married," Nino says, laughing, and Alya smacks his arm.

Marinette pulls Alya aside. "Adrien sent me a present this morning! He wrote me a poem! Here, I took a picture." She hands her phone over. 

Alya quickly reads it. "Wow. I didn't take Adrien 'Serious Model' Agreste for the romantic type."

"I know! Isn't it great, Alya?" Marinette grins. She takes her phone back and leads Alya back over to Adrien and Nino. Both couples pair off and hold hands on the way to class. She looks up at Adrien. "I have to go grab something from my locker," She tells Adrien, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before running to the locker room. She opens her locker and jumps as a piece of paper falls out.

"What's that?" Tikki asks as she bends down to pick it up.

"I don't know." Marinette unfolds the paper. She smiles. "Another poem from Adrien?"

your hair distracts me in class two ponytails in sync bouncing when you laugh your smile makes my heart skip a million beats you're the perfect girl for me

"Ugh! Adrien's such a romantic, Tikki." Marinette drops the second poem in her bag. She grabs her history textbook and closes her locker.

"When did Adrien even have time to slip that in there?" Tikki questions the locker with a stink eye as they walk out. She ducks back into Marinette's purse.

"You heard what Adrien said, Tikki," She whispers down to her purse. "His bodyguard dropped him off early. He must have done it before we walked to school together. Oh, he's so sweet." She reaches her friends and they head to class.

Nathaniel walks in behind them, eyeing Marinette as she takes her usual seat. He walks up and takes in a deep breath. "Hey, Marinette!"

She looks over. "Oh, hey Nathaniel! What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go back to the art museum with me after school," Nathaniel starts, noticing Adrien quickly turning in his seat. "As friends of course, Mari."

Marinette didn't like the nickname. It was reserved for Cat Noir and only Cat Noir.

"Actually." Adrien stands up. "I have a surprise for the class. My father is hosting a fashion show this evening and he wants me to invite the entire class." He starts handing out tickets. "I'm going to be modeling some new designs my father's releasing for the season. I was surprised when he gave me these tickets to invite everyone. He doesn't usually do that."

The class starts cheering.

Chloe turns her chin up in disgust. "Of course I was invited. I'm the only one who deserves to be there." Adrien glares at her as he drops a ticket on her desk.

Adrien smiles at Marinette as he reaches her desk. "One for you, my sweet lady."

"Why, thank you, kind sir!" Marinette giggles as she takes the ticket form his hand.

"Here, Nathaniel." Adrien hands him a ticket. "I didn't forget about you."

"Thanks, Adrien." Nathaniel mumbles, storming back to his seat at the back of the room. He keeps his eyes on the back of Marinette's head and her two ponytails in sync, bouncing as she laughs at something Adrien says. She reaches out and plays with his hair. Nathaniel growls to himself, surprising himself when his pen snaps in two pieces. He stares in disbelief before reading in his bag to pull out a replacement. He spends the rest of class sketching Marinette in her red dress.

***

Light pours into the room as Hawk Moth stands before a large window. A smirk plays on his face. "Yes. He'll do perfectly. Again. All those old feelings of jealousy, obsession, and rage are still there after all this time. It's just what I need to get Adrien away from that girl. That fashion show tonight should push Nathaniel over the edge and I'll be able to akumitize him again!" Holding out his hand, a butterfly lands, and he catches it, turning it into an akuma. He sets it free. "Go, my akuma, and wait."

***

Marinette stands backstage at the fashion show, waiting for Adrien to come back. The fashion show just ended, but the host mentioned a special surprise coming up. She waves at Alya and Nino sitting in the front row. She looks down at herself, wearing that red dress again. It was a request from Adrien. He asked her to meet him backstage. After this morning's gift, she couldn't say no to anything he asked. She looks up just as Adrien walks over and she grins. "Hey!" Her eyes widen when she finally notices what he's wearing.

Adrien's suit resembled the one from her sketchbook, down the the exact detail. She spots her signature on the cuff and gasps. It was the same suit from her sketchbook. "Adrien, where did you get that suit?!"

"Your parents." He smirks. "I know you've been spending the last week working on it. While you were handing out with Alya yesterday, I went over to your house. I wanted to see if the suit was done. After agreeing to make macaroons with your dad, he let me take the suit to surprise you." He holds out his arms, spinning slowly. "Surprise. I'm wearing it tonight."

"What?" Marinette asks. "But the fashion show is over."

Adrien bites his lip. "Yeah. That's where the second surprise comes in."

"Time for that special surprise, ladies and gentlemen!" The host speaks again as the audiences claps. "Please welcome back the star of our night, Adrien Agreste, son of top fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, modeling a new piece made by his girlfriend and classmate, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

Before Marinette can say anything, Adrien grabs her hand and leads her on the cat walk. "It's gonna be okay," He whispers in her ear, holding tight onto her hand. "This is the surprise. It was actually my father's idea. Now everyone can see your work!"

Marinette smiles at him. Her hearts melts. Adrien really cares about me.

Straightening her shoulders, she walks confidently down the cat walk with Adrien. They both wave to their school friends, who are cheering and rooting them on. They pose at the end, smiling at the cameras. In one quick second, Adrien cups Marinette's cheek and kisses her. "MY GIRLFRIEND DESIGNED THESE!" He shouts, stepping back to let Marinette have the spotlight. Her eyes widen. "Isn't she amazing?"

Everyone starts clapping. Marinette's heart races and she smiles as roses are thrown in her direction. People actually loved her work; they were proud of her. She glances over at Adrien, who's unfazed by the hundreds of cameras pointed at him. How can Adrien do this with people watching and spotlights on him? Adrien grabs her hand as they start walking back. He leans down to kiss her on the cheek and she smiles. "Thank you, Adrien."

Nathaniel watches from the audience as Marinette and Adrien kiss again. Angry, he stands up, knocking over his chair, and heads to the bathroom. "That should be me kissing Marinette. Not Adrien!" The akuma follows him into the bathroom. He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket, a third poem he wrote for her. Nathaniel was going to give it to her after the fashion show. The akuma lands on the paper. Nathaniel's head shoots up as a purple butterfly silhouette appears on his face.

"Evillustrator... nice to see you again. It appears your love's heart still belongs to another. Care to change that?"

"Yes, Hawk Moth."