Partners by Chance

Chapter 17 - Dinner at Agreste's? Sure

Alya

Alya tried to not freak out during travel to Agreste's Mansion in the limousine sent by Gabriel Agreste, but this was bothering her. Adrien saw Marinette in her normal form and, even if he didn't recognize her under the costume, he would surely recognize at the party. But what could she do? They couldn't simply scrap the costume.

Marinette of course wasn't preoccupied. She couldn't be happier. Maybe the reveal wouldn't be bad after all. They worked for an entire year together, they became friends twice and felt in love for each other the same amount of times. What could possibly go wrong?

Marinette was laughing of something Luka said. That pairing... As much as Alya liked it at first, it wasn't working as she though. It wasn't an escape valve as Alya though it would be, Marinette had replaced Adrien with Luka entirely. Even the pictures in her bedroom... They were gone...

Nino landed his hand in her leg. It was warm and comforting. She leaned to rest her head in his shoulder. No matter what was going to happen in the love square today, Nino and Alya would try to get the best time at the party. They deserved it.

Adrien

Adrien's heart started speeding up. He was in another limousine with his bodyguard going to pick Kagami. Why was he so nervous? He started thinking of how would the party be like. The presentation, the dinner, the dance... Oh, the dance. He wasn't able to think in anything else but the dance. What was he supposed to do?

Was he able to move on from Ladybug and Marinette to try to become Kagami's boyfriend? Should he invite her do dance? If it was a slow, would she expect him to kiss her? He had already denied her a kiss, should he now try himself? If he doesn't, will she?

Suddenly, he started feeling cold, his body shaking and with he urgent need to pee, pop and throw up at the same time. He felt sick and totally freaked out. He wanted to sleep, hide under a large pile of covers and never see daylight again. What was wrong with him?

He naively though that should be the only teenager to ever feel like that. He shouldn't be being so stupid. He would pick up a friend and her mom at their place and come back home. How hard could it be?

Turns out the answer is a lot. He needed a few minutes to stop shaking before opening the car door. He took a deep breath and walked to Kagami's home. He pressed the doorbell button once. He waited a few moments. Nothing.

He pressed it again, and again, and again, until he heard a somewhat annoyed voice from the other side saying "I'm coming". They haven't even open the door yet and he was already screwing up, a personal record.

"Oh, Adrien." said Tomoe, Kagami's mother "How nice to see you. I'm going to call Kagami. Come on in."

He entered in a completely Chinese vestibule made out of folding screens. Kagami's mother wasn't wearing a costume, which Adrien found weird. In a few minutes, Kagami was ready and she came to Adrien.

She was stunning. Her short dark hair was stretched, making it seem a lot longer than usual. The silver grey mask was revealing her brown intense eyes an her face that was covered by a tinny amount of rice powder, making her skin look slightly whiter. Besides that, she wasn't wearing any more makeup, but she didn't need anything else in Adrien's opinion.

"You are..." tried to say Adrien, but there was a shortage of words in his mouth.

"Ridiculous?" proposed Kagami.

"Marvelous..." completed him.

Tomoe appeared behind her daughter, ruining the moment like a good mother she wasn't, but tried so hard to be.