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inner-sakura · 11 months

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Theoretically Forever

[Adrien POV sequel to Hypothetically Ever After, childhood friends AU, adrienette, fake/pretend relationship]

Adrien Agreste has had a crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng for as long as he can remember.

Unfortunately for him, however, she’s only ever had eyes for his older brother Félix, who’s never so much as looked her way.

But when an opportunity suddenly presents itself to turn the tables and rewrite the script on their relationship, Adrien finds himself hard-pressed to turn it down… Especially when it means getting to date the love of his life.

Even if it is only fake.

AU where PV Felix is Adrien’s older brother. inspired by the novel “the boys next door” by jennifer echols. hello and welcome back to the brothers AU fic series that no one ever asked for yet i remain obsessed with.

read it here

chapter one

Adrien Agreste had been in love for as long as he could remember.

Or at least since the age of five, which was practically the same thing.

It may have seemed a bit excessive, or perhaps even absurd to most people. But he’d always been considered mature for his age—more advanced than most of his peers, according to his tutors—and he had a pretty solid grasp of what love looked like, thanks to his parents.

Although his father wasn’t the most demonstrative with his affections, it was clear that his mother and father were crazy for one another. It was there in the way they gazed at each other when they thought no one was looking; in the way his father’s eyes seemed to find his mother the moment she walked into a room, and the way her face lit up when she found him in return. And most of all, it was clear in the way they loved and cherished him and his brother Félix: dearly, wholeheartedly, and without reserve.

Still, five was pretty early for romantic love by most standards.

But Adrien didn’t care. He knew it was real. Even if no one else seemed to believe him.

“Maman, when I grow up, Marinette and I are going to be married,” Adrien declared proudly, beaming up at his mother where she sat on the edge of his bed.

Émilie paused, her hands hovering above the blankets that she was tucking around him. Her lips stretched into a smile.

“Is that so?” She said, smoothing the covers over him with one hand while the other reached out to softly card through his hair.

Adrien nodded emphatically, his hair falling into his eyes and obscuring his vision.

“Uh-huh. And we’re gonna have a big house with a waterslide and live together with you and Papa and Félix forever.” He wiggled under the covers, his body filling with excitement at the thought.

“Oh really?” His mother pushed the hair back from his forehead, laughter clear in her voice even though he couldn’t see her facial expression. “And what if Félix wants to marry someone and live with them instead?”

His vision now clear thanks to her ministrations, Adrien gazed into his mother’s warm green eyes; the same eyes he saw reflected back in his own face every time he looked in the mirror.

“Well, they can live with us too,” he decided finally, his mind made up. “It’s going to be a big house.”

“And what if Marinette wants to marry someone else?” Émilie asked, one brow raising in question.

Adrien didn’t even bat an eye.

“She won’t, Maman,” he assured her, his lips pulling back in a sneaky grin. “I'm a real catch, you know.”

At that, his mother burst out laughing, her eyes sparkling as she leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“Yes you are, my love. But for now, why don’t you focus on catching some sleep... It’s quite late, you know.”

Adrien snuggled down into his pillows, satisfied at having made his mother laugh, and assured in the knowledge that there was no way Marinette Dupain-Cheng could possibly wind up marrying someone else.

They were made for each other, after all.

Even if no one else knew it yet.

-x-

Present

-x-

Adrien had been dreaming about this summer for the better part of the last year.

It had been a warm light on the horizon, and the only thing that helped to carry him through some of the bleaker winter days in Paris. The days where everything outside his window had been cold and grey, and there was no solace to be found inside—the frigid air chasing him through the empty halls of his perpetually silent home.

On those days, especially, he’d clung to that light, letting the warmth strengthen him even when it felt like the darkness might last forever.

But now they were finally here, after so many long days and nights.

Adrien took a deep breath in, savouring the clean, fresh air in his lungs.

It smells like home.

His moment of gentle introspection was brought to an abrupt end by his older brother, who rudely hip-checked him out of the way, nearly running over his toes with the wheels of his rolling suitcase in the process.

“You’re in the way,” Félix said, making his way toward the house without sparing so much as a glance at the natural beauty around him.

Adrien withheld a sigh, refusing to let his brother’s early morning surliness dampen his euphoria.

Summer was here, they were finally back at the lake, and all was right with the world. Or at least it would be shortly.

Fishing his phone out of his pocket with one hand, Adrien dialled the number he’d had memorized since almost before he knew how to count to ten without relying on his fingers.

“Hello? Hi, Sabine, it’s Adrien. Is Marinette there?”

-x-

After getting settled in and unpacking his things in record time, Adrien found himself with both time and energy to spare.

He was too amped up to play video games or sit down and watch something, and he didn’t want to wander too far from the house for fear that he might miss Marinette’s arrival.

And so he made his way to his brother’s room, content to dedicate his efforts to his third favourite pastime:

Annoying his older brother.

Bursting into Félix’s room without knocking, Adrien bounded across the floor, throwing himself onto the bed with a dramatic sigh.

“Yes, do come in,” Félix intoned without looking up from his book. “Make yourself at home. You’re not disturbing me at all…”

“Brother, have you no compassion for my poor nerves?” Adrien cried, slinging an arm across his forehead with enough melodrama to bring his acting coach to tears. “Don’t you know what today is?”

“It’s Thursday.”

“No! I mean, yes, technically it is Thursday, but that’s not what I meant. Today is a much more important day. I’m finally going to be reunited with Marinette, after nearly a year of not seeing her!” He grabbed a pillow, hugging it to his chest and repressing the urge to squeal like an infatuated schoolgirl.

The intent must have been clear in his posture though, if Félix’s disgusted scoff was anything to go by.

“A most auspicious occasion, to be sure.” His brother’s tone was glacial.

Adrien lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling ponderously.

“I think I’m in love with her.”

“Uh-huh.”

“She doesn’t know I exist.”

There was the sound of a page turning. “I find that particularly hard to believe when considering the fact that she’s been your friend since you were in preschool.”

“No, I mean, of course Marinette knows I exist physically,” Adrien said, struggling to find the words. “I meant like…mentally. Romantically.” He fell silent, pouting up at the rafters.

She’s never looked at me because she’s been too busy mooning after you, Adrien thought resentfully in his brother’s direction.

Oblivious to his internal grumbling, Félix sighed, closing the book he was reading with a snap.

“If I tell you what you want to hear, does that mean you’ll give me my bed and my peace and quiet back?”

Adrien rolled over, shoving his face into the comforter and letting out a pathetic groan.

Félix sighed again.

“If you want her to consider you seriously, then you’re going to have to step up your game,” Félix said at last, his words brusque and business-like. “Make your intentions so clear that there’s no way she’ll be able to misinterpret them.”

Lifting his face from the comforter, Adrien shot his brother a suspicious look. “Okay, but how?”

Although to the untrained observer, Félix’s expression may have appeared impassive, Adrien was easily able to pick up on the glint in his icy blue eyes.

“…I can think of a few ways.”

Adrien bristled, his face reddening.

“Pervert,” he muttered, pushing himself up and off the bed, no longer interested in continuing the conversation if Félix was going to insist on being so unhelpful. Besides, what did his iceberg of a brother even know about relationships, anyway? Theirs really was a textbook case of the blind leading the blind.

Adrien shook his head, heading for the door.

Before he could reach it, however, the intercom in Félix’s room buzzed, which could only mean one thing.

Someone was at the front door.

Adrien’s heart leapt straight into his throat.

“Oh my god, she’s here!” He lurched forward, only to double back at the last second, wanting to check his appearance. He fussed with his hair, pushing it back behind his ears and straightening his shirt until he was satisfied that he looked half decent.

“You look like a twat,” Félix said, his version of a compliment.

Adrien eyed his reflection, his face twisting with disgust.

“You’re right. I look like you.” He shook his hair out again.

When he caught Félix rolling his eyes in the mirror, Adrien stuck his tongue out playfully.

“You’d better hurry, otherwise Father is going to be the one to greet Marinette at the door, and we both know what his idea of a welcoming committee looks like…”

At his brother’s not-so-gentle reminder, Adrien bolted, single-mindedly focused on subverting disaster and making sure that his father didn’t do anything horrible that might scare Marinette away before he’d even gotten the chance to say hello to her.

Unfortunately for him, however, disaster seemed intent upon finding him that morning.

Throwing the door open with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, Adrien all but catapulted himself forward, oblivious to any perils that awaited him. Which meant that he’d barely set one foot over the threshold before he was immediately colliding with another fast-moving body.

Well, he had time to think before the inevitable descent began, I don’t need to be a physics whiz to know how this is going to end.

With nothing to grab onto to steady himself, and plenty of g-force behind him, Adrien practically flew through the air, landing on the floor with an inelegant thump, successfully and quite spectacularly knocking the wind out of himself.

He was given very little time to contemplate the cruel nature of gravity, however, because suddenly a high-pitched feminine voice was speaking in his ear, causing his breath to catch for an entirely different reason.

“Adrien!”

And then he was on his back, two slim arms wrapping around his torso and squeezing tightly.

Adrien’s head spun, the combination of a lap full of soft teenage girl and her titanium grip—which was slowly cutting off his air supply—doing funny things to his brain.

“Can’t—breathe, Mari—” he wheezed, his vision going spotty at the edges.

“Sorry!” Marinette laughed, the sound echoing in the quiet of the hallway. “I’ve been working out more lately and I guess all that weight training is finally making a difference.”

She began to pull away, and Adrien felt a rush of panic.

Oh no, she’s getting up, a little voice in his brain cried in alarm. Don’t let her leave—!

He quickly tugged her back down, his grip tightening as he cradled her against his body, inhaling deeply. How was it possible that she smelled even better than he remembered—sweet and smooth, with an undercurrent of spice that made him want to dig his nose into the point where her neck met her shoulder and drink her scent in from the source.

Ashamed at the direction his thoughts had taken, Adrien turned his face away, trying to ignore the burning in his cheeks.

“It’s okay,” he said eventually, his next words coming out far more earnestly than he’d intended. “I’m glad to see you.”

Marinette didn’t respond, but Adrien felt the way she softened in his grasp, melting into him just that bit more. His heart fluttered.

“Ahem.” Félix cleared his throat, shattering the tenderness of the moment with the impact of an atom bomb.

Oh my GOD, has he been there this whole time?? Adrien grimaced, trying not to be offended by the way the sound of Félix’s voice sent Marinette scrambling out of his lap like his pants had just caught on fire.

He eyed his older brother distrustfully, taking in the look of smug superiority he wore. It was clear by his expression that Félix knew exactly how much Adrien had been enjoying that impromptu embrace, and how much he was currently cursing him out in his head for interrupting it.

“If you’re both quite finished, I’d prefer it if you moved your tearful lovers' reunion to a location that isn’t the middle of my bedroom doorway.”

Adrien flushed, shooting daggers at his brother behind Marinette’s back.

I know where you live, he mouthed silently.

Félix merely smirked.

“F-Félix!” The soft breathlessness in Marinette’s voice made Adrien’s stomach clench, even more so than the elbow in the gut he received as she clambered to her feet.

Here we go, he thought, resigning himself to invisibility as his childhood best friend proceeded to make goo-goo eyes at his brother.

Silently, he watched as Marinette threw herself all over Félix, her arms snaking around his torso as she hugged him tightly. And Félix—the traitorous bastard—even went so far as to override his programming and return the embrace (!), patting Marinette once on the back in what was basically his equivalent of an enthusiastic double cheek kiss.

When Marinette pulled back, her face was an adorable shade of pink, her blue eyes shining as she gazed up at him.

A sour taste filled Adrien’s mouth. The image of the two of them embracing would almost certainly revisit him later in his nightmares.

After what felt like an eternity, Félix finally extricated himself from Marinette’s clutches and left, but not before throwing Adrien one last loaded look for good measure.

Your move, little brother. His expression seemed to say.

Yet Adrien remained seated on the floor, stewing in his resentment and jealousy.

He was so preoccupied with glaring after his brother, in fact, that he almost missed the hand extended towards him.

Adrien blinked at Marinette in confusion. Was she… trying to help him up?

How adorable.

“What?” She snapped after a moment, bristling when he didn’t immediately take her up on her generosity.

Adrien raised an eyebrow.

“I’m bigger than you.” And as much as I enjoyed having you in my lap the first time, I think I’ve had enough crashing to the floor for one day, thanks. This part he had the presence of mind not to say out loud.

A twitch of the eye was the only warning he received before he was suddenly being hauled upright and unceremoniously plunked back on his feet. Adrien staggered, shocked at the ease with which she’d lifted him.

“And I’m stronger than I look,” Marinette replied smugly, her expression radiating satisfaction as she gazed at him, her arms crossed in a way that inadvertently showed off muscles he hadn’t known until that moment she’d even possessed.

Holy shit, that was hot. Adrien gawped at her, quickly glancing away before she could catch him staring like a buffoon. Even though he knew the floors were immaculate, he busied himself with dusting off his clothes, just to give himself a minute to regain his composure.

As he was doing so, he heard Marinette gasp.

“You grew. Again.” She appeared outraged by the notion, as though growing was some sort of illicit, sinful activity.

Adrien puffed up with pride.

“A whole eight centimetres,” he confirmed, pleased that she’d noticed. Now he was finally on eye level with his father and Félix, a fact which brought him no small amount of glee. Gone were the days of being the baby of the family in both the figurative and literal senses of the term. At the rate he was going, he might even outgrow both of them by the time he reached his twenties. The concept was thrilling.

“Eight centimetres? How—?” Marinette gaped up at him, her blue eyes bright with incredulity. “What kind of freak body grows eight centimetres in a year?”

Adrien leaned towards her, his lips quirking when he realised just how far he had to bend over to be on eye level with her now.

He rested an elbow on her shoulder, marvelling internally. She’s so tiny!

Outwardly, he decided to do what he did best, which was tease her relentlessly for her shortness. “I’ll have you know that it’s perfectly normal. Most people experience these things called ‘growth spurts’ during puberty. Where they actually get taller!” He lowered his voice as though he was divulging some great secret.

Then he blinked.

“Oh right,” he pretended to take her in for the first time. “I forgot who I was talking to for a second.”

Marinette’s eyes flashed, her nostrils flaring.

“You’re hilarious,” she deadpanned, elbowing him in the side roughly as she slipped out of his grasp.

Adrien grinned, his lips pulling even wider when he noticed the way her mouth was twitching, her efforts not to laugh obvious.

She’s still as easy to read as ever, he thought fondly, gazing at her out of the corner of his eye as they made their way to his room. He chatted her ear off the whole way, practically buzzing with excitement now that she was finally here. The prospect of spending two weeks of uninterrupted quality time together had him so euphoric, in fact, that he didn’t pick up on Marinette’s uncharacteristic silence, or notice that anything was amiss until she was hauling his loft’s ladder up behind her.

And by then, of course, it was far too late.

“Woah, woah, woah, what’s this about now?” Adrien asked, his eyes widening. There was only one reason that the ladder ever came up.

Marinette’s response did little to reassure him of her intentions.

“Top secret.” Was all she said as she fiddled with the hatch, seemingly determined to ensure that it was properly closed.

Once she was satisfied with her efforts, she turned to face him. The look she wore was enough to make Adrien recoil.

This must be a new record, he thought, taking a step backward instinctively. She’s only been here for ten minutes and she’s already up to no good.

“I know what that look means… You’re either about to rope me into something dangerous—and quite possibly illegal—or you’re about to tell me something that I’d really rather not hear.” Adrien said, his mouth going on autopilot as he tried in vain to halt her advance. He could feel himself losing ground, both physically and metaphorically, yet he remained helpless to stop it.

When the backs of his knees met his bed, Adrien merely allowed himself to fall, landing on the mattress with a final sounding thump.

Marinette gazed down at him intently, looking like the cat that got the canary.

“Adrien,” she said, her voice nothing but saccharine sweetness as she leaned into his space. At this distance her scent was nearly overwhelming in its intensity, filling his senses and leaving his mind hazy and punch drunk. “I think it's time to take things to the next level.”

Adrien’s heart was pounding so loudly now that he was almost certain Marinette would be able to hear it if she listened closely.

His voice came out strangled as he repeated. “The next level?”

Marinette drew even closer and Adrien swayed forward, all of his rational, higher-thinking processes abandoning him as his gaze darted between her eyes and her lips.

If I just leaned up ever so slightly…

They were so close now that he could practically feel her inhalation more than hear it, the warmth of her breath fanning across his face.

Yet, instead of kissing him as he’d hoped, Marinette opened her mouth to speak. And when her words finally registered, Adrien couldn’t help but wish that she hadn’t.

“I need you to help me seduce your brother,” she said, blissfully unaware that she’d just dealt him the verbal equivalent of a killing blow.

Well, it’s official, Adrien thought, staring at her in disbelief as he felt his fantasies sinking faster than the Hindenburg.

God hates me. That is the only plausible explanation for any of this shit.

-x-

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