It all started on a cold and dreary Saturday night, with the rain pouring outside.

Adrien had come over as Chat because he had been invited to dinner by his girlfriend's parents, but after it started raining, Sabine and Tom insisted he stay and spend the night for fear of his health if he were to go out in the rain. While Adrien tried to reason with them, claiming he'd only be taking up space, the Dupain-Chengs were adamant that he stayed the night. Marinette, of course, loved any chance she got to spend quality time with Adrien.

They had been going strong for around five months now, keeping their relationship on the down-low and between themselves. Yes, they still flirted with each other in school and on the field, but it was so mild that you could barely notice it.

However... some people were starting to get onto them.

The two were currently snuggled up underneath a duvet on Marinette's chaise, and were mostly just making small talk and sweet gestures to one another, before Adrien brought up said subject.

"Alya just won't stop prying lately," he muttered, smirking lightly. "You know what that means, right?"

Marinette sighed. "I don't know, Adrien... I still wanna keep this quiet; between us, you know?"

"Believe me, bug, I do too," Adrien said. "But one way or another, they're gonna find out. Do you wanna just get it over with?"

Marinette's tiny, adorable pouty face was enough of an answer for him. He just snuggled back up to her, and the two continued listening to the rain outside. Soon enough, though, a small gasp came from Marinette's mouth, and Adrien looked at her in wonder.

"You change your mind?" he asked.

"No," she answered definitively. "But! What if... we blatantly act like a couple. We still hold hands, kiss, maybe making out here and there, all that. However, any time someone asks about us as a couple, we just tell them we're just friends!"

Adrien almost laughed - he knew exactly what she was referencing with that. Oh, his past oblivious behavior...

"Well, would that work?" he asked.

"You know our class, Adrien," she smiled. "Better yet - we get some outsiders in on it, aka, people not in our class. Luka, Kagami, Marc, among others, so that way we have some backup."

"Good idea," Adrien nodded. "We couldn't hide this from Kagami if we tried."

"She did figure out we were dating two days after we got together," Marinette muttered in agreement.

That may or may not have been because she had invited Kagami over for a sleepover that day, and the girl told her that she moaned Adrien's name in her sleep way too much for the normal amount...

"Plus, Luka could stick up for us with a good portion of the class," Adrien added. "And even if Juleka found out, I know she'd be chill with it."

"Marc could cover when it comes to the art class," Marinette nodded. "And the rest should just fall into place!"

"You always have the best ideas, m'lady," Adrien beamed.

Marinette wiggled her brows in happiness. "I know."

What was then intended to just be a light kiss just happened to, somehow, turn into a full-blown make out session.

Yep.

Friendship at its finest.

Monday, during morning time...

Adrien and Marinette were walking together to school, happily talking about their Sunday and talking about upcoming projects that they were excited for, and also those that they were dreading. And when they weren't in earshot of anyone, they'd toss banter banter back and fort that their heroes would normally do.

Calling one another clowns was a favorite "smack-talk" gesture of theirs.

However, right as they were about to enter the school courtyard, none other than Alya Cesaire came walking in.

"Hey guys! What-OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU HOLDING HANDS?!" she exclaimed in joy. "A-ARE YOU TWO DATING?! OH MY GOD AT LONG LAST! I'VE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT FOR-"

"Woah, Alya, calm down!" Marinette giggled. "We're not dating!"

"AN ETERNITY AND I-wait... wh-wha-what?!" she exclaimed. "B-Bu-But wh-why are you-WHY ARE YOU HOLDING HANDS THEN?!"

"Oh, its just a thing we have," Adrien said. "We're actually just good friends!"

"Wh-Wh-WHAT?!"

"Oh, hey, I gotta go speak to Kagami about something," Marinette said. "Talk to you after class?"

"Sure thing!" Adrien smiled. "Love you, Mari."

"Love you too, Adrien!" Marinette said, standing on her tippy toes to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. She then walked off, and Adrien shortly followed to head to his locker.

Right before he left, Alya heard him mutter, "What a good friend...".

She wanted to explode out of an equal mix confusion and frustration. Literally, what the actual hell had just happened in front of her?!

Since when did "friends" hold hands, look at each other with heart eyes, and kiss each other on the cheek?!

-0-

Adrien had just walked into class, and right before he took his seat, he whispered something into Marinette's ear, which caused her to giggle sweetly; it was contagious, evidently, because Adrien was still smiling as he took his seat next to Nino. Alya just looked a mix of confused and pissed off.

"Dude, nice job!" Nino said, sticking out his arm for a fist bump.

"Uh... okay! Yeah!" Adrien said, acting confused as he returned the bump.

"Dude, that was like, a romantic gesture you just did with Marinette, right?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, oh! No no no," Adrien laughed. "We're just friends. But I appreciate the thought."

Now, Nino hadn't seen them kiss and hold hands earlier, so he wasn't as phased by this. He just assumed it was a friendly gesture instead of romantic, and thought no more about it. However, he could hear his own girlfriend interrogating Marinette over the matter behind him, and was legitimately growing concerned...

What was going on here?

12:15, lunch break

An akuma was apparently rampaging on the other side of Paris, and as per the usual, Marinette and Adrien had disappeared - like anything was new.

The whole class had bore witness to the little whisper Adrien said to Marinette this morning, and were actually all gathered in a circle in the courtyard, eating their lunch as they discussed what they thought about the event.

"Its about time those two got together!" Kim laughed. "I'm proud of em!"

"But they keep denying it! Even when she kissed him on the cheek right in front of me!" exclaimed Alya.

"I know that our people are the romantics, but I never truly thought about how far the French definition of friendship could be considered," Max muttered.

"Well, couldn't they just be denying it and hiding it?" Alix asked.

"But that's the thing!" Alya said. "They openly act romantic, yet call it friendship! D-Do they have some twisted-ass view of friendship or something?"

"Imagine if, whenever they get married, Adrien asks Marinette to be his best friend instead of his wife," Nathaniel laughed.

"Ah nah hell, hands are being thrown if that happens," Nino said, eating another bite of his salad.

"You... you don't actually plan on throwing hands, do you?" Ivan asked.

"Ooh! Look! There's Luka!" Rose said, pointing at the blue haired teen who was walking towards them. "He's bound to have some info!"

"GOOD!"Alya exclaimed, racing towards him. "LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!"

"Whoa Alya, slow down there!" Luka said. "What's up?"

"Do you know if Adrien and Marinette are dating?" she asked urgently. "Please please please let me know the deets! Luka, I need answers!"

"Well, last I heard, Adrien called her one of his greatest friends," Luka shrugged. "So, that's about the extent of what I know. Hope that helps!" And with that, Luka proceeded to walk off, snickering to himself due to his inside knowledge, leaving Alya with her left eye twitching and her mouth agape.

"I think Luka just traumatized her," muttered Mylene.

"Eh, he has a calming affect that goes with it," Juleka said. "She'll be fine in a bit."

"Babe? You okay?" Nino asked, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder.

Alya didn't respond. What she needed was a nap...

(Meanwhile, on the other side of Paris, Ladybug and Chat Noir were eating their victory lunch on a rooftop, constantly stealing one another's food and kissing off bits that ended up on the other's cheek.)

2:00 PM

It was currently art class, and Nathaniel, Rose, and Alix were determined to get some answers.

The first and third may not have been as interested as everyone else to out Adrien and Marinette's own personal matters, the second was absolutely hellbent on finding out whether or not her OTP had finally hooked up. Marinette and Marc were the only other two in the class at this moment, so the three chose who they would talk to.

Nathaniel started making his way over to Marc, and Alix and Rose chose to speak to Marinette.

"Yo, Marc?" Nathaniel asked, sitting next to him.

"Hey, Nath! What's up man?" Marc asked, putting down his notebook.

"Do you know if Adrien and Marinette hooked up recently?" he asked his friend.

"Hmm," Marc muttered, tapping his chin. "Can't say that they have... but Marinette did tell me she and Adrien got closer in their friendship recently! If that's anything."

Nathaniel sighed lightly. "Better than nothing... thanks Marc."

"No prob!" Marc smiled.

As Nathaniel walked away, he failed to catch the little devilish smirk the boy's lips had curled into.

At the same time, Alix and Rose were asking about Adrien to the blue haired designer in training, who was ingeniously dodging their questions with counter-measures that almost seemed prepared.

"Its just a thing we do, guys, I swear!" Marinette laughed. "Adrien and I are not dating."

"Uh huh," Alix nodded. "Friends kiss each other on the cheek these days, huh? They hold hands to school too?"

"Well, we do! And we're friends," Marinette said.

"But... Marinette!" Rose exclaimed. "You've longed to be with Adrien for so long! Romantically! And you'll accept friendship over that?! You just have to slap a title on it, and bam! Its everything you wanted!"

Marinette just smiled gently, and continued insisting she and Adrien were still just good friends. Alix finally huffed and gave up all hope of ever getting anything out of the girl, and Rose seemingly decided to put the thought to rest for a bit.

Marinette then held up the okay sign with her finger and stuck her tongue out at Marc, who winked back cheekily.

This was going beautifully...

Adrien, at the time that Marinette was in her art class, was in his final class for the day - chemistry. And he was sitting next to the one person he was having trouble not telling about his romantic relationship with Marinette. Juleka Couffaine.

The reason why it was hard for him was because of the fact that, after Juleka had taken interest in modeling, she and Adrien had formed a bond that drew them very close to one another as friends. Actual friends, not romantic interests - they both had their girlfriends.

And also, he had told Luka - he knew, after enough prying and pleading, Juleka would force the answer out of Luka eventually. That's why it was easier to do this gag with Nino; he didn't have a liability in that situation.

"Hey... Adrien?" Juleka asked; Mme. Mendeleiev was currently out of the room, so they had a minute to talk before she came back. "Are you and Marinette actually dating? Or are you both redefining friendship as a whole?"

Adrien bit his lip... he actually felt really guilty about lying about this, and not just with Juleka, but with everyone. He wanted to tell the world that Marinette was his, and he was Marinette's! He wanted to publicly display affection with Marinette, and not worry about what anyone thought.

However, he could tell Marinette wasn't ready for that. And if there was one thing Adrien wanted to be, it was a good boyfriend who respected his girlfriend's wishes.

You could see the dilemma he currently found herself in.

"W-Well... okay, yes, but you can't tell anyone!" Adrien whispered. "Marinette's not ready to go public with our relationship to everyone, and we only told a select few people so we could at least have some backup... Luka included. I'm sorry we didn't tell you guys sooner, but I don't wanna upset Marinette."

"Dude, don't worry about it," Juleka said. "I can understand. My girlfriend isn't really ready to come out with our relationship to everyone yet either."

Adrien smiled widely. "Thanks Juleka. You really are a good friend, honestly."

"No prob dude," Juleka smiled, giving a thumbs up.

"Now..." Adrien continued, letting a Chat smirk slip out. "You said you had a girlfriend, huh?"

"S-Shut up," Juleka said, smiling and blushing.

"Hey, c'mon, I can't be a butt after what you've done for me," Adrien smiled. "Congrats, Juleka! I'm really happy for you."

"Th-Thank you," Juleka smiled.

It was at that moment Mme. Mendeleiev came walking back into the room, chin pointed outward as always, and the two returned to working on their chemical concoctions.

4:30 PM

Alya took a deep breath as she cleared her mind, right before entering the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

She was really, really hoping that this was just all a big misunderstanding; Monday behavior carried too far, or something. She just wanted to know, straight up, if Adrien and Marinette had flipped off Noah Webster and re-defined the word "friendship", or they were actually dating.

The only reason she was confused at all on the matter was because of the amount of confidence they made their comments with. Like, she had never known either of them to be so adamant about something like this. Why now?

Anyway, she walked in, and was greeted briefly by Sabine, who kindly told her that Marinette was upstairs.

"Hey, Marinette?" Alya asked, ascending the stairs to her room. "Look, I know today's been confusing and all, but I just wanted to come by and see if we could clear the air a bi-"

Oh. My. Ladybug.

She had literally walked in on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the sweet and innocent fashionista-in training, and golden boy model Adrien flipping Agreste MAKING OUT!

Her mouth dropped, and Adrien and Marinette seemed fairly surprised at the intrusion.

Nevertheless, Alya didn't say a word... for like, two seconds.

"I swear to the great and merciful God above," said Alya, "if you two even think about saying it..."

Marinette and Adrien looked at one another, still holding each other (the former was sitting on the model's lap), before slowly turning back to Alya...

And smiling.

The second they opened their mouths, Alya snapped.

"NOPE!" she exclaimed. "Nope! You two are dating. You have pushed literally every friend-zone boundary to its fullest extent, to the point where the damn thing is Thanos dust! I don't wanna hear it, no sir! No more of this 'she's just a friend!', 'he's just a friend' BULL CRAP! I'm done! I am actually DONE! Keep snogging, but I won't be here to watch it! You two are dating, and you can't hide it from me! Cesaire out!"

And with that, in a huff, Alya stormed out of the bakery, and Adrien and Marinette just looked at one another with confusion.

"Funny," Marinette muttered. "I was actually going to tell her we were dating..."

"Really?" Adrien asked. "Well, evidently... we were a few seconds too late. You think she hates us now?"

"Nah, she'll be over it tomorrow," Marinette smiled. "I know my girl. She doesn't hold grudges."

"Phew, I was worried there!" Adrien sighed with relief. "Now... where were we, m'lady?"

Marinette giggled, and the two then returned back to their make out session with happiness and contentment, knowing Alya would be better tomorrow.

Twelve years later...

Adrien was currently standing at the altar, waiting for his bride to come down the aisle. He was so nervous, it was unreal...

And then, he saw her. Being led down the aisle by Tom, and dressed in all white, Adrien felt like he was already gonna cry the moment that the organ began to play. She was so radiant... so beautiful.

His best man, Nino, along with his other groomsmen - Luka and Ivan - stood next to him, fully in support of him. On the opposite side, Alya, the maid of honor, and the bridesmaids - Juleka, Rose, and Kagami - stood waiting for Marinette to arrive at the altar, all having wide smiles on their own faces.

Max, who was actually an ordained minister, stood at the center of where the couple would be, ready to read off the vows and his own prepared speech. The rest of the class, other friends, their former teacher and principal - Mme. Bustier and Mr. Damocles, and family members galore. Plus, a few invited members of the few press outlets the two trusted to be at their wedding. Even Master Fu was there, with all the kwamis watching in spirit.

As Marinette walked up to the altar, and stood in front of Adrien, the two held hands. They were both crying ever so slightly... both of them were just so happy that this day was here!

"Dearly beloved," Max said, as everyone sat down. "We are gathered here today to join Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste in holy matrimony. If anyone should have any reason whatsoever that these two should not be joined together for life - please, keep quiet. Its happening, okay?"

Everyone got a good laugh out of that.

"Anyway, I assume - and hope - that you have prepared your own vows?"

They both nodded, and Adrien fished his out first.

"Marinette... what can I say?" Adrien smiled. "You've been a great friend-"

A sudden, loud groan from Alya cut him off.

Adrien looked behind his wife-to be, and Marinette turned to look at Alya from behind her veil.

"S-Sorry, sorry!" Alya whispered. "Reflex, its an old gag. Carry on please!"

Juleka, Luka, and Kagami were struggling to keep their composure from their spots on the altar. In the front pew, Marc, who was writing this all down, let out a loud snicker, which made Kim and Nathaniel look at him oddly. Everyone else was just confused.

Adrien and Marinette, meanwhile, just smiled at one another.

Friendship at its finest.

I hope you guys enjoyed that story! I had so much fun writing it, lol. A review would make my day if you would leave one! :D

Thank you guys for reading! See you all soon! Love you all!