Well, after yesterday's angst, have some fluff instead! Remember to comment and vote!                                                                         -Colorado

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It would be wrong to say that Adrien Agreste didn't like modeling. It wasn't like it was the best thing in the world, and he definitely didn't want to do it forever, but sometimes he enjoyed certain shoots of his.

Like when his photographer was Vincent Giuseppe, someone who Adrien could call a friend. He always thought of new and creative ways to engage Adrien and had been his photographer since he was young.

He also enjoyed photoshoots when a friend was allowed to be there. Nino, unfortunately, had gotten a ban from photoshoots, but Kagami had gone to a few before they had broken up. Plus, Marinette and Alya had found their way to his set before.

His best shoots were when both happened. One of his favorite shoots he'd ever done was when Giuseppe was his photographer and Marinette and Alya were there. It was always a blast!

But today was an exception.

"Now if you two are both comfortable with it, Adriano put your hands on Marinetta's waist." Giuseppe instructed.

"I'm so sorry about this." He whispered to her.

"It's okay, Adrien, really!" She said, her voice just as low as his.

"Still, I can't help but feel guilty..." He trailed off.

"Well, I'm here to tell you to not feel guilty."

"Remember you two! The look that we're going for is 'young love!'"

Adrien wasn't sure what his father was thinking when he said that Marinette would be his modeling partner. Although he was grateful that he was doing this shoot with Marinette and not Lila, the air around them was awkward to say the least.

"Young love, huh? I guess that shouldn't be too hard." She winked and Adrien felt his heart skip in his chest.

Just what did that mean?

"Y-yeah." He said, blushing.

"Adriano, pull Marinetta a bit closer to you. And try to tone down that blush, while it's sweet, we're going for an 'already in a relationship' look."

"Yes, Giuseppe." He said, pulling Marinette towards him so she was almost flush up against him. "Is this okay?" He asked her softly.

"Of course it is, Adrien." She said, whispering. "I've told you before, I don't mind this whatsoever."

"You can't say things like that to me." He told her. "Especially after..."

"Yesterday?" She guessed what he was thinking.

"Yeah."

"Now, I need you to gaze into each other's eyes."

Oh God, as if things weren't awkward enough! He knew that he would have no problem getting lost in her eyes, hell he had done many times before, but things were different now. She knew the reason he sought her out. She knew the reason why she had caught him gazing at her before. She knew that he was in love with her.

"Adrien, go ahead." Marinette chuckled a little bit. She moved one of her hands, which had been on his shoulders previously, to his chin and directed his face to look down at her.

"But-."

"But nothing, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can talk about yesterday, okay?"

Adrien gulped, nerves pooling in his chest. He definitely wasn't looking forward to being rejected by her. They both knew that she liked Luka and that they were only postponing the inevitable. She probably didn't want to mess up their friendship, but he knew that she didn't need to worry about it. There was no way he wasn't going to continue being her friend, even after the inevitable rejection.

"Okay."

"Don't be nervous, I promise everything is going to be fine."

She really shouldn't say things like that. It kept giving him hope and hope was a very dangerous thing.

"If you say so." He muttered.

"Adrien, why don't you believe me?" A small smile was splayed on her lips and amusement was dancing in her eyes.

"Well, because-."

"Okay, great! Now, Adriano, lift Marinetta up in the air. I want to see big smiles on both of your faces!"

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready."

He lifted her up by the waist, the light breeze ruffling the dress she was wearing. A large grin appeared on her face as she laughed. He felt a smile grow on his face, too. He couldn't help it really, her grin was just contagious.

"Yes, fantastico! That's exactly what I want to see." Giuseppe cheered as he snapped photographs of the two of them. "Alright, Adriano, you can set her down now."

"That was a ton of fun." Marinette said as he carefully set her down.

"Good, I'm glad."

"Alright, kids, we're going to change it up a bit now. Can someone bring them a bench?" Giuseppe called to the assistants running around the set.

Quickly, someone grabbed a bench and brought it over to the two of them. It was an intern that Adrien didn't recognize.

"Ah, thank you. Now, you two sit on the bench and hold hands. Marinetta, lean your head on Adriano's shoulder and Adriano, I want you to look at her like she's the love of your life."

'Shouldn't be that hard.' He thought to himself.

The two of them did as they were told, and Adrien tried his hardest to not focus on how close Marinette was. Or how lovely she smelled. Or how it felt so right to have her hand clasped in his. Maybe, if he had realized it sooner, then they could do this without the shoot, but he didn't.

Now here he was, stuck modeling with his crush/best friend who knew of his feelings because she accidentally heard him raving about her to Nino. What a predicament. He really did have the worst luck in the world.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Now, I want Marinetta to stand up on the bench and for Adriano to be holding her hand from the ground."

Adrien inwardly whined at the loss of her warmth. It was rare that they got to be cozied up like that and it would probably be even rarer now that Marinette was aware of his feelings.

"Alright, we can do that no problem, right?" Marinette asked him, grinning.

"Y-yeah, sure."

"Don't worry, I trust that you won't let me fall." She shot him a wink as she stood up on the bench.

"I would never." He smiled and offered out his hand to her.

She took it and gave it a light squeeze.

"I know. I know that you'll always be there to catch me when I fall and," She paused, looking down at his hand. "I hope you know that I'll always catch you when you fall too."

Did...

Did that mean what he thought it meant?

"Guh," What were words again?

"You're silly." Marinette giggled. Wow, she was beautiful.

"Beautiful! Keep up that lovesick look, Adriano!" Giuseppe told him, obviously enjoying this.

Of course, as soon as Adrien realized he was staring, he stopped. He didn't want to make Marinette uncomfortable. She had said she was fine with him putting his hands around her waist, but staring at her could be a different story.

"Adrien, I told you that it's okay." Marinette told him.

"I'm just triple checking." He said.

"Well, that's unnecessary. I can guarantee there won't be anything in this shoot that I'll be uncomfortable with. I promise."

"Even knowing what you know?" He asked. A small sparkle appeared in Marinette's eye. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what that sparkle meant.

"Especially knowing what I know."

Oh Lord, that sounded a lot like flirting. But that was impossible, why would she be flirting with him? She liked Luka, didn't she?

"O-okay, then." He said, his voice cracking.

"Alright, now I need Adriano to stand up next to Marinetta and spin her around." Giuseppe instructed. "Remember that you're supposed to be in love! Be sure to incorporate that into your expressions and poses."

The two of them nodded as Adrien stepped up next to Marinette. He spun her around slowly, making sure Giuseppe had the opportunity to take photos of them.

He couldn't help it but to gaze at Marinette as the camera clicked in the background. Her eyes were closed and a small smile was on her face. Adrien thought she looked beautiful, but he always thought that she looked beautiful. Still, there was something special about being there with her. Maybe it was the confession or the fact they were supposed to be acting like a couple, but something felt different to Adrien. 

"Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! You know, if your modeling is always this good when your girlfriend is around, maybe we should have her come to set more often!" Giuseppe remarked. Adrien felt his face heat up.

"Oh, she's not my-."

"Thank you, sir. This has been a blast! I want to go into fashion one day, so this was a great opportunity to get my foot in the door." Marinette interrupted. Adrien's head snapped towards her, his mouth open in an 'o'.

"And someone who loves fashion, too! She is a keeper Adriano, you better hold onto her."

Adrien was still gaping at Marinette, his mind processing the implications of her words. She winked and gave him a secret smile.

"Uh, I-I'm planning too." He told Giuseppe.

She probably just didn't want to crush his spirits. It was definitely something that Marinette would do, but why would she be so open to the idea when she knew that he liked her? Was she just leading him on? No, Marinette would never do that. So then, why had she been flirting with him throughout the entire shoot?

"Good. Now, I don't need the bench anymore, so you can get off." He waved the same intern over to take care of the now unnecessary prop.  "Okay, Adriano, do you think you can lift Marinetta up in a bridal carry?"

"Sure thing, Giuseppe." Adrien said, seeing Marinette nod out of the corner of his eye.

"Well? Chop, chop! I don't have all day, you know."

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready!"

Thank goodness for his practice as Chat Noir. He was able to lift Marinette up seamlessly. He hadn't been sure if enough strength had transferred over to his civilian self, but apparently there was.

Having done this before, Marinette's arms immediately went around his neck. He tried hard not to coo when she closed her eyes and cuddled in closer to him. It wasn't like the two of them had never been in this position before, he had saved her from plenty of akuma attacks after all, but there was something so different about this time. 

"Good, good. Now Adriano, gaze down at her like she's the first flower of spring."

"Okay."

He supposed he had no choice but to stare. Of course, he would've loved to get lost in her eyes and Lord knows how many class periods he's wasted away because he was too focused on Marinette, but it was still a bit embarrassing.

Marinette opened her eyes and looked up at him, returning his soft look.

Scratch that, it was really embarrassing.

How was Marinette so good at modeling? This was her first time doing something like this, yet Adrien could almost believe that she returned his feelings. With just one look, she successfully got his heart to race.

"Fantastico! Both of your lovesick looks absolutely sell the mood! I'm sure your father will be pleased with these pictures."

"Thank you, sir." Marinette said.

"Alright, you can put her down now."

Adrien quickly did as he was told, his arms sighing with relief even as the rest of him missed her warmth. If he was lucky enough, maybe another pose Giuseppe had in mind would put one where he could hold her close.

"Okay, I need you two to lay down on the grass and gaze up at the sky. Adriano, put your arm around Marinetta and be pointing at a cloud. Marinetta, lay your head on Adriano's chest and put your arm around his torso."

Adrien laid down, nervously awaiting for Marinette to join him. He hoped that he smelled good. What if he was sweating too much? Oh God, what if she hated him because he was too nervous?

"This is nice." Marinette murmured as she situated herself on his chest.

"Y-yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"What? Did you think otherwise?"

"No! Not at all." Adrien protested.

"So, we're supposed to cloud watch right?" Marinette asked.

"Yep."

He trained his eyes to the sky, looking at the clouds.

"Look at that one." Adrien pointed up. "It looks like a seahorse don't you think?"

"Definitely." Marinette nodded in agreement. "Look, that one looks like a witch riding her broomstick."

"Oh yeah, it does! And that one totally looks like ice cream."

"I can definitely see that."

"Mari check it out, that one looks like a rose." Adrien said.

"White rose. It means purity and innocence." Marinette said. "A bit like our love, don't you think?" She turned to look up at him, winking.

"Guh." Adrien felt his face heat up as he took in Marinette's smirk. His mouth was moving, trying to say something, anything, but nothing was coming out.

"What cat got your tongue?" She teased.

Of course it was a damn cat pun that brought him back to life.

"Our?" He whispered, not daring to hope.

"Mmm-hmm. Our. I told you, we had some things to talk about after the shoot was over."

"Yeah, but-."

"Alright! Next what I need you two to do is sit back to back, your hand on your chin." Giuseppe interrupted Adrien and he felt a tiny bit of annoyance rise up in him. Didn't he see that their conversation had been kind of important?

"Later, I promise." Marinette grabbed his hand and squeezed, kick-starting his heart. He could only nod.

"Alright, can someone go and tie their red strings?"

"What? Red strings?" Marinette asked.

"You've never heard of the red string of fate?" Adrien asked.

"Of course I have, I'm just wondering why it was added into this photoshoot." Marinette shrugged, sitting up and stretching.

"Who knows?" Adrien asked.

"Now, I want a look of unrequited love in your eyes! It technically isn't unrequited, but you two don't know that, understand?"

The two of them nodded, and positioned themselves as instructed.

Unrequited love, huh? That seemed to be the constant in Adrien's life. First with Ladybug, and then Marinette. Even Kagami had been an unrequited love of sorts, but he had been on the opposite side than the other two cases.

Why did he always fall for girls who were enamored with someone else?

"Perfect! Keep that look up."

It was no wonder he was good at 'pretending' he had an unrequited love. That was what he was going through...right?

But Marinette had been flirting with him throughout the entire shoot. Then there was her comment not five minutes earlier. Could he really be lucky enough that she did, in fact, feel that way about him?

Oh, how he hoped he was right.

But, what about Luka? Weren't they dating? After New York it had certainly seemed that way. Maybe they were in a situation similar to his and Kagami's? Not exactly dating, but not exactly 'just friends' either? So, where did he fit into all of it?

Was it that foolish to hope that things had changed between them? 

"Good, good! Alright kiddos, we only have three more poses to go and then you're free!"

Adrien wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, he wouldn't have to bear the hurt of pretending Marinette was his girlfriend. On the other hand, it meant that he would no longer have an excuse to be close to her.

"For this next pose, I need Adriano to bow and place a kiss on the fair lady's hand. Think you can do that?"

"Not a problem!" Marinette said brightly.

Feeling almost nostalgic, Adrien picked up Marinette's hand and placed a feather-light kiss on it. It was almost like it was the old days again, back when akuma attacks were just starting out and he was trying way too hard to impress his lady. Or when he kissed Marinette's hand half a dozen times as Chat Noir.

"A kiss for the lady." He whispered, letting her hand go.

"Why, thank you kind sir." Marinette giggled.

"For your next pose, I want Adriano to offer a rose to Marinetta. Where are our red roses? I need them!" Giuseppe said, his foot tapping impatiently.

Adrien shook his head, smiling. That was one thing he liked about Giuseppe, how he tried to move shoots along as fast as possible. However, the effort is futile when interns are running all over the place.

Someone handed Adrien a red rose, and a small chuckle escaped him. Out of all the fantasies he's conjured up of giving Marinette a rose, this one had never come to his mind. It had always been real when he offered her a rose, and when she accepted it, it was because she accepted him as well.

It was just his luck that something like this would be the reason she accepted his rose.

"Get down on one knee, Adriano, and Marinetta, have your hands covering up your mouth like you're surprised."

They did as they were asked, and Adrien offered her the rose with a sheepish smile.

"Okay, Marinetta, I need you to take the rose and sniff it."

Giving Adrien a bashful smile, she picked up the rose. God, did he love her. It was excruciating, how natural and easy this seemed. Now, he would know exactly what she would do if she ever accepted a real rose from him. It felt so much more real and it hurt.

"Looks amazing! You can stand up now, Adriano." Giuseppe said. "I just have one final optional pose for you to do."

Adrien and Marinette exchanged looks of confusion.

"If you both feel comfortable with it, I need Adriano to put his hands on Marinetta's waits and her her arms to go around his neck."

Adrien shrugged. He didn't see how this was any different from the other pose Giuseppe had them do, but he did as he was asked, after making sure Marinette was okay with it, of course.

"And now, kiss!" Giuseppe cheered, camera ready.

Adrien's head snapped towards his photographer.

"Wait, wha-?"

Before he even knew what was happening, Marinette had grabbed his face, turned it towards her, and kissed him.

'Marinette, Marinette, Marinette.' His brain chanted.

The kiss wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but it was everything he could've ever wanted. He was kissing Marinette, and she was kissing him! How could it not be amazing?

Huh, looks like his love wasn't so unrequited after all.

"Come on," Marinette said, out of breath. "Let's go find somewhere to talk."

He glanced at Giuseppe, who nodded at the two of them.

"Okay, it's obvious we have a lot to talk about."

"Oh," Marinette smirked. "You have no idea." 

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This was a lot of fun to write, although it took me longer than expected. I also want to say thank you to all the votes and commenters! They're always a blast to read!                                                                                                       -Colorado