Fake It ('Til you make it)

Best Friends (Adrien)

Adrien smiled and placed his phone down on the desk beside him. Slowly, he turned back to the script and continued to read. He was down to the last callbacks for the up and coming movie 'Without Hope', and boy what a role it would be if he got it. Not only would it put him into serious acting roles away from the love interest in cheesy rom coms, it would also project him into the Oscar-worthy performance category and finally lose that label of 'a model who can act half decently'.

He'd had a couple of weeks off, so had taken the opportunity (as always) to visit Paris, mostly to check in with his most favourite person, Marinette.

Adrien picked up his phone again. No reply, which meant she had almost certainly updated the app and would now be looking at different ways to torture him within the game. Her favourite pastime, whether she liked to admit it or not.

Moving away from Marinette's name, he started to scroll through his phone, thinking if there was anyone else he needed to check in with whilst he was in the city. Nino was away at university and wouldn't be back until next week (when he was back in London) and he'd managed to catch up with the other guys at Luka's a couple of nights ago. Everyone else in his contact list wasn't a priority, especially since the news about his father had broken a couple of months ago. News which had almost cost him his career.

His friends knew the truth, though, and he was growing increasingly grateful for such a tightly knit group. Their shared items of jewellery also made it all beautifully unique.

"Knock, knock!" The door to his study opened, his PA walking in with a smoothie and what looked like some kind of protein bar. God, he hoped he wasn't going to make him eat it.

"Hey," Adrien said, rubbing his hands over his eyes. Éliott came to sit beside him in Adrien's reading chair, the smoothie and protein bar placed in a reachable distance of both of them.

"So, are you ready for the audition? I truly believe you're a sure thing for it now. Who else are they going to get for the role? Tom Holland?"

Adrien laughed. If only that was the case. "I'm ready for the audition, but I haven't got my hopes up. There's a lot I can't escape. Plus, these guys are more serious actors, including Tom Holland. I'm just the pretty guy in rom coms, or the muscle in action movies."

"Talking of which," Éliott started, "are you doing your workout today or not?"

Placing his hands on the table, Adrien stood up and cracked his back. He'd been sitting still for a while and it was playing havoc with his muscles. "Not. I'm off to meet Marinette."

Éliott snorted. "Of course, you are."

The snort hadn't gone unnoticed. Éliott liked to make it perfectly clear what he thought about Adrien's relationship with Marinette.

"She needs a dress for her date tonight." Adrien walked over to where his sweatshirt and baseball cap hung on his coat rack.

"You're going out tonight then?" Éliott relaxed back, crossing one leg over the other and bringing the smoothie to his lips – thank the Kwamis it was for himself. The way he placed the straw between his lips was nothing more than an attempt to tease. It was just a shame the teasing did nothing for Adrien.

Éliott had been his PA for three years, and in that time he'd changed from just a PA to a close personal friend. He was charismatic and didn't give a damn about Adrien's celebrity status – something he appreciated more than anyone could know.

Even through all the crap pulled from the depths of the past, Éliott had remained by his side, supporting him and encouraging him – and teasing him over Marinette.

But Adrien wouldn't give him the pleasure of an answer. After all, as soon as Marinette entered a conversation it was almost impossible to get her back out — mainly because she was one of his most favourite topics and Éliott was fond of her too.