PHOTOGENESIS

Chapter 3

Marinette collapsed into a dreamy puddle of goo on her chaise.

Tikki flittered around her head. "Get a grip, girlfriend!" she said. "He'll be expecting you, you know!"

Marinette sighed breathily. "I just...I need a minute," she said. "I'm actually finally going on a date with Adrien!"

"Yes. You are. Now how about taking down this shrine to him and getting changed for the movie so you'll have more time to hang out!"

Marinette's eyes widened. She looked around the room, her face paling as she took in Adrien's face smiling at her from every angle. "GAH!" Like a tornado, she whirled around the room, sweeping up photos and magazine covers and clippings and finding places to stuff them.

"The schedule! The schedule!"

"AH!" Marinette jumped straight up and practically tore the hanging chart of Adrien's schedule off the ceiling, then crammed it behind her dresser. She panted, wiping her brow. "Whew."

"And now you just need to get dressed..."

Marinette froze in panic. "Oh no! What am I gonna wear? This is a disaster..."

Tikki sighed. "Calm down..."

* * * * *

As Tom and Sabine bustled around the kitchen, they discussed Marinette and Adrien.

Mostly Adrien.

"Isn't it strange, though?" Sabine said. "I mean, that isn't something a normal parent does."

"I know," Tom said with a sigh. "But it isn't our place to say anything."

"But I can't just ignore what that boy's going through!"

"The best thing we can do is make sure he always feels welcome in our home," Tom said.

"I guess." Sabine smiled. "Besides, Marinette is completely head over heels in love with him."

Tom frowned. "Yes," he said. "That's the thing that worries me about all this."

"What do you mean?"

"What if Adrien doesn't feel the same way? What if he never feels the same way about her?"

Sabine scoffed. "Please. Like any boy could possibly resist our sweet, beautiful little girl."

"True, and they are perfect for each other. But if it doesn't click?" Tom sighed. "I'm just worried about what it'll do to her if Adrien never feels the same way."

Sabine frowned. "Hmm..." She shook her head. "No, I'm positive it'll work. I just...I just wish they had gotten together in a more, you know...normal way."

"Yeah..."

* * * * *

While Adrien waited for Marinette, he played with the new apps on his phone, getting the feel for them. He took an awkward selfie and posted it on Instagram.

At my girlfriend's house. First date tonight! Like, ever. I'm a little nervous.

He then went through and looked up all his friends on both Twitter and Instagram and began following them. "Gonna take me a bit to get the hang of this," he muttered.

He failed to notice that he already had over two hundred followers on both accounts.

* * * * *

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Chloé Bourgeois screeched. "GIRLFRIEND?!" She stared in shock at her phone. "What trashy house is that?!"

Sabrina looked at the selfie and felt her blood turn to ice. She glanced at Chloé, dread creeping down her spine. "Umm..."

Chloé looked up at her, her eyes sharp and hard. "You know this house, don't you?"

"Y-yes," Sabrina said. "I—I think I do, anyway, I mean, I could be wrong, I don't know for sure, I only—"

Chloé erupted to her feet and leaned into Sabrina's face. "WHO?!"

Sabrina gulped. "M-Marinette?"

Chloé took a step back. "I'm sorry. I did not just hear you say—"

A new post appeared.

She just came downstairs!

It was a picture of a slightly surprised Marinette Dupain-Cheng in what was absolutely a date outfit.

Chloé threw back her head and screamed like a wounded banshee.

* * * * *

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so not bugging her right now, but tomorrow? I'm hanging her up by her toenails and demanding an explanation."

* * * * *

Nino smirked. "Dude. Nice."

* * * * *

"Huh. Adrien and Marinette are dating now," Ivan grunted.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Mylène said. "You know, I'm not surprised? I mean, any time I see them close together, I think they'd be really cute together, you know?"

"Hmm, I'm not good at that kind of thing," Ivan said. "But I guess so."

* * * * *

Marinette, now wearing a pleated black skirt with pink trim, dark pink tights, low-heeled black calf-high boots, a reddish-pink shirt, and a short black jacket, blinked at Adrien, her rouged cheeks glowing. "Did you...did you just take a picture?" she squeaked out.

"Yeah," Adrien said with a grin. "I'm just trying out Instagram for the first time, seemed like this was a good—"

Marinette let out a yelp. "You posted that on Instagram?!"

Adrien's face fell. "Umm...was I not supposed to?" he asked. "I mean, I just thought that was what you're supposed to do, so—"

Marinette sat down heavily and took a deep breath. "N-no, it's...it's okay," she said, taking out her phone and looking at it. She winced. "I just, umm...I sort of hoped maybe we'd be able to get through the first date without, well..." She played with her hair. "Without..."

"Without...?" Adrien prompted.

"Ah! I just mean..." Marinette swallowed. "I hoped, y'know, we'd get a chance to get used to the idea of dating, being seen together, before doing the...the whole thing...on Instagram and..." At Adrien's crestfallen look, she tossed her phone aside and shook her head frantically. "No, no! It's okay! Really! Don't be..." She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm just...I'm freaking out. It's me. I'm freaking out."

Adrien slid closer to her, schooling his face into gentle reassurance. "Marinette? Why are you freaking out?"

Marinette looked up at him; her face screamed 'are you kidding me?', and Adrien flinched back. "You, umm...you did see how many followers you already have, right?"

"Followers?" Adrien echoed. "N-no, I...I didn't check..." He pulled out his phone and opened his Instagram. After some fumbling, his jaw dropped. "What...?" He shook his head. "B-but how?!"

"Welcome to the wonderful world of social media?" Marinette said with a shaky laugh and a sickly grimace.

Adrien sighed. "I'm sorry," he said.

"N-no...I'm sorry," Marinette said. "I...I panicked. This...this is fine. This is what kids our age do. And like you said, we'd be doing this sooner or later anyway. Probably better to get it out there now." She picked her own phone back up; she saw a new text, opened it, and winced.

Girl! You, me, tomorrow, spill session! Congrats by the way!

"What's wrong?" Adrien asked.

Marinette put her phone away. "Alya knows," she said, rolling her eyes. She wiggled her knees absently back and forth, gripping them tightly with her hands. "So, umm...we've got some time to kill, umm..."

Sabine suddenly showed up again with a tray of cookies and two glasses of milk. "I thought you kids might enjoy a snack—oh! Marinette, you look so cute!" She set the tray down and stepped back, looking at both of them and smiling. "You are adorable together!"

Both teens blushed.

"I simply have to get a picture of this," Sabine said, beaming. "Hey, I know! Marinette, can I see your phone for a second?"

"Umm...sure," Marinette said, handing over her phone.

"Okay, stand up," Sabine said. "Move closer...smile...!"

Adrien and Marinette posed and smiled (Marinette looking sheepish and Adrien looking bashful), Sabine took a picture, then gave them an impish smirk. "And...there."

Marinette paled. "Mama? What did you—"

Sabine handed the phone back and waved. "Have fun, kids!" She laughed as she wandered out of the room.

Marinette and Adrien looked at the phone. Marinette gasped. "Oh, Mama, you didn't!"

Sabine had posted the picture on Marinette's Instagram.

"She did," Adrien said, shaking his head and laughing. He sat back down and helped himself to a cookie.

Marinette groaned as she sat down and did likewise. "I mean, if it was a less embarrassing picture, maybe, but—"

"Heh, yeah," Adrien said. "We do look kinda goofy." He plucked Marinette's phone and looked at it again, then blinked. "Whoa, no way!"

"What?"

Adrien looked at Marinette, eyes wide. "Jagged Stone commented on it!"

Marinette took her phone back, looked, and smiled. "Huh...yeah, I guess he did!" The third comment on the picture was indeed from Jagged Stone; it was loaded with encouragement and a hope that they'd be at his Friday night concert.

Adrien tilted his head. "I just mean...Jagged Stone's following you on Instagram?"

Marinette blushed. "Y-yeah," she said, dunking a cookie in milk and averting her gaze bashfully. "Well...I mean, I did design an album cover for him, so..."

Adrien chuckled. "Now see, that's why you're more amazing than I'll ever be."

Marinette ducked her head and poked her fingers together. "N-no I'm not," she mewled.

Adrien shook his head and looked at his own phone, reading the comments on the photos he'd posted. He winced. "No, trust me, you really are," he said with a grimace. "You got an awesome comment from an awesome rock star. I'm getting...not so awesome comments from a lot of girls I don't even know."

Marinette cringed. "Y-yeah," she said. "That's kinda...kinda what I expected."

Adrien shrugged and sighed. "I guess it's about the same as all the fan mail I get," he said. "The stuff I actually see, anyway. I know Nathalie filters a lot of it."

"She'd have to," Marinette said without thinking. "Girls can get pretty weird about things like that."

"Oh?" Adrien asked with a teasing grin, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette blushed. "N-not that I'd ever—!" She coughed. "I mean, I was never a fan of Adrien the model, I'd actually never noticed you until you started school, I just...I know how weird girls can get over celebrities..."

Adrien blinked. "Wow," he said. "That's...thank you."

Marinette's brow furrowed in confusion. "Huh? For what?"

Adrien smiled sincerely, and Marinette nearly melted. "For noticing me as a person first, not as a model. Really. That means a lot to me."

"Oh. Well. I. Um. I. Thank welcome? I mean, you're comewel. Come. Welcome you. I—"

Adrien crammed a cookie in her mouth. She nearly choked, then went cross-eyed as she squinted down at it. With a teasing smirk, Adrien snapped a picture.

Marinette spat out the cookie, coughing and pounding her chest. "Adrien Agreste, don't you dare—"

"And posted!" Adrien said, laughing.

"AHHHHHH!!"

À SUIVRE...

Chapter 2
Chapter 4

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