MARINETTE

I can't stop touching or tugging my ear and it was getting more annoying every time I would find myself reaching out for it.

Stop it, Marinette!

I hate that heat still rushes in my cheeks when I think about it. How he leaned close, the minimal distance between us, his husky voice as he whispered in my ear, and then the sudden contact of his lips, grazing his teeth on-

I grab a throw pillow from beside me and throw it to my face.

Snap out of it, Marinette!

"Woah," Alya exclaims, looking up from her laptop as she leans on the other arm of my couch. "You okay, girl?"

I muster to force out a nod, my burning face still forced against the pillow.

She hums then I hear her close her laptop. She pushes herself to me and taps on my shoulder. "Are you really sure," she inquires. "You've been acting a bit off ever since I entered your apartment this morning."

I let the pillow fall on my lap. With a frown, I face Alya. "...you've gone on a lot of dates, right?" I ask her after a bit of reluctance. Her eyes widen in surprise with my question.

"Uh," she utters, "I guess? I mean compared to you, I think I've gone on a lot of dates."

"That's because I've never gone on a date," I reply.

She shrugs her shoulders. "Touché. Anyway, why does my experience with dating pique your interest?"

I sharply intake a breath then let it out as a heavy exhale. "What do you do in a date?" I ask instead of answering her.

Alya furrows her eyebrows then lets out a dry laugh. "What really is going through your mind now..." she mutters in confusion before shaking her head, as if erasing her confused state and deciding to answer my question earnestly. "Well, when I am with my date we would mostly talk about our lives, especially things we like and find a connection with them. We throw a few flirtatious remarks here and there but other than that, it's really just casual stuff."

"But what about kissing?" I throw out the question immediately.

"Marinette!" She says in shock, "I am getting flustered with your questions, honestly."

"A-Ah," I stammer and nervously rub my arm, "what I'm trying to ask is if you kiss on the first date..." I trail off.

"That depends on the person, honestly. For me, I find that to be too fast for a first date that's why I kiss the guys I've gone on dates with on their cheeks. Then I-" she suddenly stops and lets out a gasp. "Oh. My. God!" She exclaims, bringing a hand to her chest. "You're seeing someone, aren't you?!"

"W-What?" I spit out, turning flustered with her sudden proclamation. I wave my hands at her. "I-It's not like that!" I deny.

"You are seeing someone! Don't deny it! My best friend, dating?! I must be in heaven!"

My heart starts to beat wildly and my throat is turning dry, all words to defend me were running out. I...I don't know what to say!

It was not even a date in the first place! But...but why would a guy kiss me in a place like that?! 

I want to ask that, but her ecstatic reactions stops me from trying to even explain what is real.

She lets out another loud gasp. "Wait, so what about that question about kissing? Don't tell me he-" she does not even get to finish before letting out a loud scream. I scramble to clasp my hands over her mouth to silence her. She instantly licks the palm of my hand which causes me to pull them back. Alya goes back to screaming excitedly. "Ah! Girl, your first kiss on the lips!"

Wiping my palm on my shirt, I grumble under my breath, "It wasn't on the lips."

Her ears pick it up clearly because she raises her eyebrows. "So you really did get kissed. Where did the guy kiss you?!"

How much is my face flushing now? I can't stop blushing and I won't be surprised if my hair starts turning red as well. "Why should you know?" I huff out and unconsciously tug on my ear. To my demise, she catches that lone action.

"Your ear?!" She shouts, "He kissed your ear?"

"...more like nipped."

"Oh, shit. That's hot!" She gushes. "And kinky, if you think about it. But I don't hear you complaining," she drawls out.

I slam a hand on my face. Why did I even bring this up with her?

"Alya, it wasn't a date at all. I really wanted to ask what it means if a guy suddenly did that to you. I've been bothered for the last few days..."

She wraps her arms around and shake me vigorously. "Ah! My best friend with boy problems! Who would have thought that this day would come!"

I let out a sigh in defeat and decide to ride along with her excitement and happiness.

Though, I'll never tell her that it was Adrien Agreste who did it.

------------

"It's about time you arrived, blue-head," Agreste comments out loud when I arrive at the doorway leading to the holding room in our university's auditorium. "I was really thinking if you would bail on me." He haughtily props one leg on top of the other, sitting on one of the chairs placed in the room for us.

"I'm not one to run away, Agreste," I reply and make my way to one of the vanity tables set up for me. I let out a breath and place my bag on the table. "But the traffic was horrible," I mumble.

"Oh, it's not because of the mishap some nights ago?" He quips, throwing me a knowing smirk.

I draw back and let out a scoff, "Laxatives, really?"

He shrugs nonchalantly which causes me to roll my eyes.

"Well, your plan backfired because I did not drink any at all."

"Backfired?" He lets out a dry laugh. "Maybe the plan was to never let you drink at all. Maybe the coffee was really just for your co-workers..."

"Oh, shut up," I spit out and turn back to the mirror. "You all are a pain in the ass, literally."

Just as he was about to retaliate, someone knocks on the door then pushes it open. "Mister Agreste, Miss Dupain-Cheng?" A student calls out to us with a smile on his face, "You'll be up in five minutes," he finishes then closes the door.

"Well then, my blue-head," Adrien breathes out and stands, fixing his tie then coat. He juts his chin towards the door. "It's time to show these youngsters what we've got."

"Dear students, we are here this afternoon with two of our alumni who now work in the respective presidential parties! Let us give Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng a round of applause!"

The applause of the students fill the auditorium as Agreste and I walk to the center of the stage. I nervously wave at the students while Agreste really goes all out and throws his hand to the air, waving enthusiastically. The emcee leads us to our seats which are placed beside each other.

Once I fix myself on my seat, I cross my feet together and subtly tug on my skirt that has risen a bit. It has not made a difference and I huff under my breath. I notice that Agreste has been watching me this whole time through the corner of my eye and I let him be. Like as if he would care. He calls for someone from backstage and whispers in the person's ear, then the same person runs back to the side. I suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

Why would he call for someone to run here and then run backstage-

"Excuse me," a voice calls out to my side which surprises me. I look at the person with wide eyes. It's the same person Agreste whispered to. Now that person is carrying a blanket, handing it to me. "You may want a blanket to place on your lap, miss," he continues.

"O-Oh," I stutter, "thank you." He smiles at me as I take it from him and he returns backstage.

Blood rushes to my cheeks as I comprehend what just happened.

He asked for a blanket for me to cover my legs.

I throw a fleeting glance at Agreste and I catch him trying to hide a smile, clearing his throat doing so. "Thank you," I mutter only for him to hear.

"I'm only doing what any man should do," he mutters back, not looking at me.

"Well, not every man would randomly nip a woman's ear," I grumble.

"The two of you seem so busy!" The emcee comments out loud into the microphone, catching our attention. She brings out two microphones and hands one to each of us. "I hope you won't stay too long in your own world, we do want to hear from you both too."

"Ah," Agreste sighs and brings the microphone closer to his mouth. "We were just talking about how the campaign is going so far."

I only muster to nod in agreement and flash a small smile at the audience.

"Oh, before anything about the campaign," the emcee chimes in, "perhaps you can individually introduce yourselves to the students?"

"I'll start," Agreste volunteers, flashing a grin at the emcee before facing the students in front of us. "It's great to be back in such a familiar place. I am Adrien Agreste. I graduated with a degree in Political Science and I now work as the campaign manager of Aaron Byvael," he finishes and nudges me after.

"I-I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng," I stammer at first then start to gain my confidence. "I also graduated with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Psychology. I now work as the campaign manager of Sir Rustan Nordic. I hope that whatever we will discuss today will impart on you important knowledge especially in thinking of what you want to become after university."

All the students applaud after our greetings and when it dies down, the emcee brings the microphone to her lips. "Thank you for accepting our invitation to be here today. The students prepared questions for you and we made sure that such questions won't require you to say anything that must be kept confidential for the campaign. Shall we start?"

Agreste and I look at each other before nodding at the emcee. She flashes a smile at us. "Okay, my dear students, there are two microphones stationed at each side of the auditorium. If you have a question, you may just head to a mic near you. Oh!" She exclaims, "that was fast, we have our first student!"

The first student is a girl who has her hair fixed in a ponytail and is wearing denim jeans with a casual shirt tucked in. She nervously smiles at us then grabs the mic. "H-Hi, I'm Leean, a fourth year student. Hopefully, I'll get to graduate this year." The students laugh with her remark. "It's been four years since you graduated," she continues, "and I've heard that the both of you started to work as campaign managers for the past year and a half. So for the other years, what did you after graduating?"

"I think you should answer first," Agreste whispers and I decide to follow him.

"Um, I first worked on an academic paper that tackled on the correlational relationship of the past presidents and their winning platforms that influenced its citizens," I reply, "After that paper I decided to focus on the psychology of persuasion and how it could be used in the election period. That was how I was discovered by Sir Nordic and now I work for him."

"Well, I hold a different story," Agreste chimes in, smirking at me. "I did a lot of volunteer work after graduating. It never was about the money for me, it was more about giving back for everything I learned here. I did a lot of charity work, especially in the rural areas. This was what appealed to Byvael about me."

Oh my God. I can't believe he's pulling this card at a event like this!

"His main reason for his platforms are the poor and how he could improve their ways of living. Such a noble thing for a person to do..." he trails off.

I bite the inside of my cheek out of rage. I can't believe I fell for it. Of course he's using this as an opportunity to promote his candidate. These students are voters as well - and the influential ones at that.

"Wow," the student utters in awe, "what you did is amazing, Mister Agreste. Thank you for your answers."

"Thank you, Leean," the emcee says, "Who else would like to ask a question? Ah, there's another one!"

Another student, a boy this time, grab the mic from the side and waves his hand at us. "Hello, I'm Daniel, um a third year student." He shoves his other hand in the pocket of his sweatpants then continues, "I don't know if you'll be allowed to answer this question but I'm really curious. Would things have been different now if you ended up taking care of the opposite party? Just...a 'what-if' question, you know."

I immediately bring the mic near my mouth. "That would never happen," I answer, "I think even in another life, I would still be supporting Sir Rustan Nordic. He is a very great man with great ideals." Hmph, beat that, Agreste! Let's see what kind of answer you'll pull up from your ass!

"I actually first thought of working with Miss Marinette for the campaign," Agreste speaks into the mic which I instantly react boldly to.

W-What?

I look at him with confusion clearly written all over my face. Even some of the students started to discuss among themselves.

What are you trying to pull off?!

"What are you saying?" I whisper through gritted teeth. He only winks at me before facing the students again.

"But where's the fun in that?" He continues, then he chuckles softly. "Working for Byvael is really fun, it still is stressful but I find the work to bring a healthy kind of stress. So if things went differently..." he shivers, "I can't imagine a world like that as well because there is not better man I would love to support other than Aaron Byvael, the man for the poor."

------------

Right after the event, I grab his arm the moment we reach our holding room. "What the hell was that?" I seethe out. "Byvael will hear about what you said!"

"And he knows already," he utters nonchalantly and yanks his arm away from me. "One of the reasons why he hired me."

"But did you really have to say that bit about working together?-"

"At least I didn't say that I was turned down by you," Agreste immediately shoots back, anger laced in his voice.

My jaw drops with his statement. How could I have turned him down?!

"What?" I spit out, "I-"

"Hey, Marinette, please check the applicants for our team. They're waiting with the secretary."

"Let's see who's cut out for the winning man, Sir Nordic!" I let out a soft laugh. My co-worker smiles at me and hands me the file folders that holds the résumés of the applicants.

"Try to see who can be part of the team. I'll leave that to you."

I head out and flash a grin at the few people who are vying to be part of our team. My grin turns to a frown though when I reach a certain face.

"Agreste?" I utter, "w-what are you doing here?"

Oh my God, I did that. I really did that. My blood turns cold now that I'm thinking about it again. Things have been so hectic for the past months that I completely forgot about my first encounter with Agreste after graduating from university.

"I was eager to join your team," Agreste continues, crossing his arms. "But you held a prejudice against me, saying that I was not cut out for a noble man like Rustan Nordic. This is why I went to Byvael, to prove you wrong! I could have used it, the fact that you turned me down, to Byvael's advantage. His popularity would grow if the public sees how stuck up the team in-charge of Nordic is," he seethes out.

"I never saw it that way-" I try to defend myself but he holds a hand up to stop me from finishing my statement.

"Marinette," he starts, using my real name. "Let's just continue our game of banter, okay?" He breathes out, sounding tired with this whole thing. "Don't think that anything you'll say now will change the past."

And without a word, he walks out of the room leaving me alone with my thoughts running all over my mind. I clench my hands into fists and bite back a scream I want to let out this instant! Everything he does infruriates me!

Is that how he really thought of me?! If he thinks that way of me then I'll show him that I could truly be stuck up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another chapter :)) i hope you liked it!

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