She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 119: Valerie Vale

Marinette was walking around the Gala with Damian when Tim came strolling up to them with Barbara. "All the guests have arrived. Bruce wants us up on stage."

"It's showtime." Barbara smiles up at them. "Are you ready?"

"You bet." Marinette squeezes Damian's hand.
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She should have felt out of place up there with that billion-dollar family, but she didn't. It was strange to her. This was not how she though her life would go but she was happy to be standing up on this stage, hand in hand with Damian Wayne of all people. The crowd of people were quiet as Bruce walked to the podium. The only sound was the clicking of a camera here and there.

"Thank you all for coming." Bruce began. "It is thanks to events like this that keep Gotham running. Your donations tonight will be going to a multitude of charities that benefit the people all over this city, from the homeless to those in need of an education. Just as every year before this, I will be matching each donation dollar for dollar. I was just informed that before I got up here, we have already raised over $946,000 without any input from myself." Bruce waited for the applause to die down. "That's impressive and the night is still young. We hope to beat last year's record of 2.6 million and at this pace, I'm sure we can do it. Now," He smiles at the crowd. "we had quite the commotion outside and I believe we promised to answer your questions about someone who arrived with my family tonight."

Marinette watched as the camera flashes quickened. She knows that this is what a lot of people are waiting for.

"This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Bruce smiled at the girl and motioned for her to come forward. "Come on up. I'm sure they have some questions for you."

Marinette smiled before reluctantly letting go of Damian's hand to step up next to Bruce. Hands shot up from the people in the crowd, most of them wearing press badges but some looked to be some the elite guests.

"Yes." Bruce pointed to someone in the crowd.

"Is it true you are dating Damian Wayne?" They asked.

Bruce nodded at the girl to answer.

"Yes, I'm dating Damian." Marinette answered confidently. She saw a person off to her left raise their hand excitedly and she pointed to them.

"How long has this been going on?"

"It's relatively new." Marinette smiled. "But we all agreed that keeping our relationship a secret wasn't something that we wanted. We are happy to let the world know."

Damian grabber her hand and she looked over to see that Bruce had left her side so Damian could take his place. She smiled softly at him before pointing to the next person.

"How did you two meet?"

Damian was the one to answer this time. "My brother Dick was touring her class when he introduced me to her." It wasn't technically the first time they met, but it would be their public story. "Her mere presence practically punched me in the face. I was smitten and it's been history ever since."

Marinette smiled when she heard Damian's brothers chuckle behind them and she pointed to the next person to try to cover up the fact that they were all laughing at an inside joke.

"Where are you originally from?"

"Paris." She points to the next person.

"Was Dick Grayson the first member of the Wayne family you met?"

"No. That would be Jason. I accidentally bumped into him on the street." She giggles. "Literally."

These simple questions about her and the Wayne family go on for a bit before Marinette finally points to Lois, who had just raised her hand.