21. Chapter 21

Alya Cesaire has an innate passion for seeking the truth.

An aspiring journalist who was willing to face all the dangers in the world just to deliver a fast, fresh and fascinating news for the sake of journalism, this personality was often a challenge to those people around her.

Especially Marinette.

Ever since they clicked from Day One, and later on learned about her stuttering mess with a certain model, the brunette promised her to be the World's Best BFF - which comprise of consistent teasing, daily reporting, Agreste-ive monitoring with a progressive summary about her love life.

Sometimes she wondered if Alya might venture a career in Showbiz if push comes to shove.

"You're not gonna answer it?" Adrien asked her.

She exasperatedly sighed. "Why do I have a feeling she's calling about the status of my sanity rather than my well-being?"

A knowing look twinkled on the blond's green eyes, and with a lop-sided grin, he wrapped his arms around her as he leaned himself on her back.

Resting his chin on her crown's head, he chuckled, "Then why don't we give her a taste of her own medicine?"

"What do you - oh. Oh."

"Oh."

She smirked as she looked at the video icon on her phone's screen. "Let's hope we'll not break her."

"Good luck on that."

Upon hitting the button, the screen revealed two heads - a male and a female - with undistinguished expressions. A window revealing the night sky was near their left, and with the ample illumination, it appeared that they were inside a lobby.

Nino opened his mouth first but Alya was able to beat him. "Where the frick-frack are you..."

Then a moment of silence.

Of course, the all-knowing Alya would trail off. She would even squint just to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her.

Because it was uncommon for Marinette not to combust whenever Adrien was intruding her personal space, as well as Adrien for having an intimate skinship with Marinette.

The image was so odd in so many ways that their best friends gaped and left speechless on the sight.

"I'm sorry, Alya, that we failed to be there as promised." the designer said, fighting back a grin. "Adrien and I were caught up in a certain circumstance that we ended up stranded in Argentan - "

"But don't worry, we're both okay!" the model interjected, and to add fuel to the fire, he fondly rubbed his cheek on hers. "Marinette is completely safe with me."

"Adrien!"

"What?"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

She was supposed to get mad at him, but his ridiculous demeanor won. So she rolled her eyes.

"C'mon. This is serious."

"But I am serious." he pouted, then gave her a short peck.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"OH. OH. OH MY. OH MY FREAKING GOD!"

When the screen suddenly wobbled, then followed by a shrilling voice, they knew that they've successfully broken Alya.

"Oops."

"Guh - "

"I think we also broke Nino." Marinette mused when the upside-down screen showed a stupefied face. Adrien snorted.

"Du - dude!" the capped guy frowned. "Rude!"

Before his friend could comment, a scream made the three winced.

"My ship has finally sailed!"

"What is she doing?!" the designer asked, and was answered by a loud cheer.

"Congratulations, Marinette!" it was a yell from Rose. "Congratulations, Adrien!"

"Erm..."

"Oh, they finally hooked each other?!" it was Alix's. "Damn, I knew it why they weren't here!"

"And here I've thought that that sunny boy was an Ace!" it was Kim's.

"Pay up, Musclebrain!"

A grunt sounded in the background, then a rant from Max. "According to my calculations, there's a 5% chance that Marinette and Adrien will going to be here before the day ends, and should've been lowered since Marinette has a 90% chance to screw up things under duress, plus a 93% probability of Adrien's notorious bad luck. Combining those two will result in a negative percentage. Hence, impossible."

"Hey!" Marinette and Adrien retorted.

Nino guffawed as he adjusted the camera, and before he could utter a word, a blur shook the screen again and showed Alya's close-up face.

"You have a lot of explanations to do, young lady!" the brunette declared. "And I want all the complete and concise details - and that includes you, Agreste!"

"Uh - "

"Don't be that harsh on my man." Nino interrupted as he lightly shoves his girlfriend to fit himself on the screen. "He's just a pure cinnamon roll who's innocent in this world..."

He paused, then looked at the screen again.

It was evident that both Marinette and Adrien were wearing their not-so-usual hair, with their not-so-usual clothes, and obviously, all alone inside a bedroom.

"Dude." Nino bolted his best friend some beady looks.

"What?"

"Dude!"

"What?!"

"You sly sin-namon roll." he flashed a toothy grin. "Don't tell me you immediately hit the third base with Mari?"

"NO!" the two teenagers shrieked with mortification.

"Didn't I tell you that we caught up in a certain circumstance?" the designer explained. "So there's this wedding - "

"We - wedding?" Alya gasped.

"Can you just - "

"Oh my God, Adrien you're aiming for a home run?"

Marinette groaned face palmed. "Why do we have friends who jump to conclusions?"

"Listen up, guys." Adrien took over the phone. "We got stranded, and some Good Samaritans saved us a place. But there's this wedding celebration here and we need to show up in order to earn our keep."

"Oh." their best friends chorused.

"Yeah. Oh."

"So who caused the delay?" Alya asked. "Your fans?"

"Well...something like that."

The reporter hummed as the blond rubbed his neck. "So that might be the reason your bodyguard's here."

Realization dawned on Adrien's face and grew paler when he suddenly remembered about Natalie's voicemail.

"Oh, crap! I need to talk to Gorilla! Is he there with you? No, scratch that, I'll call him right now!"

He immediately passed the phone back to Marinette as he dived on his own phone that was plugged into a nearby outlet. He yanked the charger out, then entered the bathroom for a more private call.

Now that Marinette was left alone to deal with their friends, she couldn't help but sweat cold beads.

"So." Alya began. "Are you two...exclusives? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Their friends might've been nosy, but they genuinely cared. "Ye-yeah."

"Who initiated the confession?"

"It's, uh...Adrien."

"What?!" the brunette sputtered, earning a chuckle on her companion.

"Pay up, babe."

A euro bill was exchanged between them, which raised the designer's brow.

"Nino..."

"What? Don't you know how many times I've caught my man making googly eyes on you?" her friend guffawed on her blanched expression. "Who sealed the deal afterward?"

"Me."

"What?!"

"Pay up, babe." the brunette chortled much to the DJ's dismay, especially when he returned the bill back to her. "I know that you know that your man can't resist my girl's charms."

Nino shook his head, wiping some fake tears. "I can't believe my boy's a man now."

"And look at my girl, she's becoming a woman now!"

"Alya." Marinette cut their drama. "Are you selling my love life for gambling shits?"

"Money matters, honey." Alya grinned with pure delight. "You have no idea how much blood and tears I've shed for years just to have my OTP becoming a canon."

"I thought LadyNoir is your OTP?"

"Yeah, but Adrinette is my exclusives."

"What a creepy love team name."

"Hush, woman. They're originals. Copyrighted by yours truly." she laughed, then sobered. "But seriously, I'm happy for you guys."

"Ditto, Mari. You two are made for each other."

This made Marinette smile. "Thanks."

"And seriously. You two must be here ASAP." Nino pouted. "You have no idea how many alibis we've invented just to save both of your asses here."

"I'm sorry." she apologized. "We once thought of traveling back to Paris, but we made a promise with Miss Bustier to be there - though we'll not be able to arrive on time."

"What would you expect from the Queen of Tardiness?" Alya joked. "But hey, it's okay. Better to be late than never. Besides, Miss Bustier somehow understands. She's cool."

She sighed with relief.

"And it's a good thing you two didn't go back to Paris. Not only that you'll miss the rest of your summer vacation, there's this train commotion that might've caused some traveling delays."

"What do you mean, Nino?"

"Ah, you know. Property damages. Usual things. But of course, Ladybug's there to save the day." his girlfriend responded. "Oh, gotta go now Mari! The crew's calling us for dinner."

"But wait, Alya! What do you mean by - "

"Sorry girl. Gotta go now!"

"Ah, okay. Take care."

Then the call ended.

Marinette was still staring at her phone's blank screen when Adrien finished his own call.

"You okay?" he asked as he went outside the bathroom. She hummed.

"Seems like our friends managed to save our asses from Miss Bustier's wrath," she said. "How about yours?"

"Oh. Gorilla decided not to follow us here. He'll just wait for my arrival in Saint Clair tomorrow." he answered. "He doesn't want me to go back in Paris either."

"Did he tell you the reason why?"

"No. But I know it was Natalie's orders."

Marinette had met the Agreste's personal secretary on several occasions, and even though the lady bore a stoic expression, she knew that she cared for the younger Agreste's happiness. She might've swapped her birthday gift for Adrien, but Marinette wasn't fond of indulging herself on something that happened in the past.

A loud knock sounded, and when Adrien opened the door, they were greeted by Camile.

"Madame was asking if you two were done." the maid asked. "She's waiting for you downstairs."

The blond glanced on his companion, and when she gave a brief nod, he answered: "Yes, we'll be there in a short moment."

The maid made an acknowledgment bow, then left.

"Are you ready, Princess?" he asked as he offered his hand. She accepted it.

"Yes, my dear Knight."

They were in the middle of the stairs when Adrien received a text. When he swiped his phone screen and read the message, he snorted.

"Guess who's asking for an evidence?" he asked her.

"Let me guess. Alya?"

When he showed her the content, she grimaced, especially when she saw a 'Relationship Goals' hashtag written on it.

Leave it to Alya Cesaire and she would announce the news to the world.