.

.

Our Pretend Game

.

.

"Oh, Marinette honey, please go in the ballroom so mommy and daddy can work." Mrs. Dupain-Cheng said as she stuck more macaroons on a display tower. She wiped her hands on her apron before offering her hand for the little girl to take.

"But I wanna stay with you guys," she said in a pout, taking her mother's hand anyways.

Her mother simply twirled her around until she was dizzy and in a fit of giggles. "My sweet darling, you look so pretty tonight, it'd be a waste if you stay here with us though. Don't you agree dear?" Marinette held onto her mother's legs for support until she regained her balance, tugging at the traditional red Chinese dress she was wearing, she thought the golden flower designs on it were pretty too.

"Most certainly so, dearie! We couldn't find a babysitter on such a short notice, but Mr. and Mrs. Agreste has kindly invited you to join his son's birthday party instead. You don't want to wish him happy birthday?" He was kneading the dough for the croissants to be made, sprinkling more flour on it. Their effective strategy of reverse psychology was working on her as she hummed out loud thinking over it, easily winning her over. They simply wanted their only daughter to make more friends her age and have fun.

"Okay, I'll go then!" As every little kid who changed their mind so often, she gave a toothy grin in return displaying her sharp fangs.

Her mother got on one knee to her daughter's level, smoothing out her hair and pigtails, "Remember your manners and be safe, everyone has different things to say about vampires, but don't let them get to you." She kissed her forehead, "Now go give dad a hug before he misses you too much and changes his mind," winking at the bouncing child. Marinette happily complied, rushing into her father's arms to hug him tight.

"Oh no – I have flour on my hands and now I can't hug you back!" He dramatically complained as his hands were in the air. He then looked at his wife as if the greatest idea ever hit him, "I guess she's going to have to stay here flou-rever!"

"But then I can't tell him happy birthday – oh noooooo!" She joins in on his theatric acts by running back to her mother with flailing arms who watched it all unfold with amusing eyes.

Her dad gave out a hearty laugh, "Make lots of friends that are great at making puns! Those are the kind of people you need, someone to make you laugh Mari-honey!" She caught the running girl and led her to the ballroom doors for her to go, stopping her one last time.

"Marinette, what is the one thing you cannot do?" She asked, because it was very important that all half-vampires know. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng herself was a pure blooded vampire, but the person she fell in love with was human. When a mixed vampire is born, the vampiric traits lay dormant inside their DNA thanks to their human traits, allowing them to pass off as humans except for their fangs that inherently get passed down.

"Don't drink human blood, I know mommy." Marinette replied before finally taking off, yelling in the air, "Bye-bye!" Depending on their vampire heritage, drinking human blood may trigger their vampiric traits, giving them a chance of awakening their full DNA.

She waved her hand, wistfully sighing after her daughter was fully gone. "I want more children. She'd never be lonely then."

"You remember how hard it was trying to conceive, Marinette is our daughter. She'll grow up strong just like her mother." He gently reminded her. Although vampires and humans could procreate, the process was much more difficult.

"I really love you."

Marinette stood at the grand staircase before the ballroom, taking in the grandeur of the bright golden room. The crystalized chandelier in the middle of the room was huge and radiated light that reached every corner of the room. "Woooow," she said in amazement because the whole scene was straight of a Disney movie to her. Despite it being a birthday party for a young boy, there were barely any children around and more adults. She saw kids around her age near the gift table and headed towards them, eager to play with them.

She dodged grownups and servers alike until finally reaching the pair of girls, practically jumping into their conversation, "Hi! Do you guys want to be friends?" Being the straightforward and honest girl she was, Marinette simply blurted out the first words that came to her mind.

The two girls jumped back startled by her appearance, the blonde girl being the first to speak, "Hey, watch it! Who are you anyways?"

"I'm Marinette, what do you guys wanna play?" She asked excitedly, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"My name's Sabrina and this is Chloe. What kind of present did you get Adrien?" Sabrina introduced themselves to her because she knew Chloe was getting irritated.

"Huh, who's he? Isn't wishing him happy birthday good enough?"

Chloe, who couldn't believe what she was hearing, exploded into an animated character. "You don't even know who the birthday boy is?! Who invited you anyways? Adrien's going to be my future-husband of course! So no, wishing him happy birthday is NOT good enough!" She complained, insulted at the inadequacy of this girl.

Marinette gave a full grin, languidly shrugging her shoulders. "Well… I wish you good luck with that then. My parents are catering for the party tonight and they said I was invited."

She scrutinized the foreign girl before her, having never seen anyone dress in such a way and didn't like the ribbon pigtails, preferring designer dresses and high ponytails instead. Now, Chloe was at an age where she expected everything to go her way and because of her rich lifestyle, was very entitled and opinionated. So when she smiled and Chloe saw her fangs, her mouth relentlessly opened for words to escape without disregard for anyone's feelings. "You're only here because you and your family are servants. You also have fangs just like them… you're a monster."

Marinette replied back shocked and angry, "We're not servants and I'm not a monster! You can't treat people like that."

"What are you talking about? People aren't monsters. But you are, one day you'll crave blood and just eat someone." She shot back facing her. Despite the music playing in the background, their conversation was enough for bystanders to hear them.

"I've never had blood before and I'll never eat someone… I'm not a monster." She defended herself, but her words were wavering at the end and they came out weaker than she wanted it to. Chloe stepped back as Marinette came closer and seeing the action made her flinch, retracting a few steps back to give the blonde her room.

"Monster! Don't come near me." Chloe didn't understand the effect of words that could have on people, but she liked the feeling of triumph over her, so she said whatever to keep that feeling longer. Although vampires and humans got along generally well, vampires were the minority race and few people still actually believe in the myths about them.

"I-I'm… I'm n-not…" Marinette remembered what her mother told her – she shouldn't mind others opinion about vampires, but her words were already trembling and she couldn't blink back the tears. They were the same age, roughly the same height, and both had blue eyes. How were they any different from each other? She didn't understand.

Chloe turned her back towards the girl getting ready to leave, "Let's go Sabrina. Proper ladies don't play silly games, especially with monsters." Sabrina stayed back a few more moments, looking back between them with uncertainty in her eyes. She really felt for the girl having a few vampires in her own family, but when Chloe called her name again she quickly followed suit. Better to be on the winning side than the losers, she thinks.

"…but I'm not a monster." She whispered when it was just herself there, wondering if anyone would even believe her. Just like that the ballroom didn't seem as magical anymore and the people around her felt so suffocating. The bright chandelier would allow anyone to easily see her fangs and she didn't want to meet them fearing they might be like Chloe.

She sniffled once before running back up the grand staircase and through her blurry vision bumped into another person. He caught her by the hand to help maintain her balance and when she finally looks up to meet his eyes the first few tears finally slips, his concerned face the first thing she sees. Marinette opens her mouth, but quickly closes it instead using her hand to cover as she speaks, "I-I'm sorry. Thank you for your help." She stuttered out softly and quickly, looking away as she moved past them and out of the doors.

Adrien's eyes followed her figure until she was out of his sight, finally speaking, "She was crying… do you think she's alright mom? How can I make her feel better?" Her eyes were clear like the skies he loved so much yet her voice sounded like the soft rumblings of a rainy day.

"That depends sweetie, do you think you can make her smile again?" She asks, because she knows how compassionate and caring her little boy was and she didn't want him to be disappointed when he can't help her. He'll learn in life that not everything can be fixed and as his mother she wasn't ready for him to face that quite yet.

"She was covering half her face… so I want to see her smile," he said wishfully, imagining the brief corners of her lip lifting. "And if she's my guest, that's all the more reason I should take care of her."

"Is that the only reason?"

Adrien thought back to when he saw her tears fall, cascading down her lovely face, speaking sincerely from his heart this time, "It's just… she looks like me I guess. She made the same face as I did when I couldn't make any friends either." He tried his best explaining how he felt to his mother without making her worried, but she only smiled knowing him all too well.

She ruffled his hair, encouraging him with her voice, "If you run now, you might be able to catch up with her." She bent down to receive his kiss before he took off in search of her, effectively ditching his own birthday party. Her little son was already so kind that she believed they would be good friends.

Marinette didn't know where she was going, but she heard footsteps fall behind her even after running to an empty hallway. Finding the farthest room to hide in she locked the door with her back against it, sliding down slowly until her bottom hit the floor. The room was dark save for the moonlight streaming in by the window and she drew her knees close to her chest trying to calm her anxious heart. For just a few moments, she'll stay here until she can collect herself again and return to her parents.

Adrien arrived at the empty hallway before losing sight of her and wondered if he was already too late. There was nowhere to go at the end of the corridor so maybe, if he was lucky she was actually in one of the rooms.

"Excuse me? We bumped into each other earlier… I was wondering if you were okay." He spoke clearly to the empty surroundings, not even knowing if she was there. There were many rooms with open doors as he walked down the hallway and he stopped at the only one with a closed door.

Adrien wished he knew her name so it would make talking easier because all the polite names he knew sounded too… formal. He wanted to get her attention, but not by calling her miss or girl or kid. He wanted to call her something that would make her trust him. Taking inspiration from all the books he read and art museums he's been to, Adrien gently knocked on the door trying to reach the lonely soul on the other side. "My Lady, are you in there? I know we've just met… but I thought we could be friends." He held his breath in anticipation waiting for her response. Those were words that the knights from his books would say to the fair maidens they respected, he hoped that was okay to call her that.

Marinette briefly remembered the boy from before, whose eyes were green like the pistachio macaroons from her family's bakery, and she wonders if just like the sweets, he would also be familiar and comforting. She could feel the vibrations from his knocks and even heard him say 'My Lady', something she's never been called before.

"I…I don't think we can be friends." They were so incredibly close that she could see his shadow peek out from beneath her side of the door through the slither of light. Marinette felt like she didn't deserve to stand in the light, staying in the dark where monsters like her belong. He wouldn't want her as a friend.

"Why not?" Even though he could hear her fine, Adrien still pressed his ear and body to the door where he thought she was most likely sitting, mirroring her position as he also sat down to face her.

Her lips quivered as she spoke in a small voice, "…because I'm a monster." No matter how hard she tried telling Chloe otherwise, she could never forget the look in her eyes or how ashamed she felt of her own race.

"Can we still be friends?"

Now it was her who started questioning him, "Why would you want that?" The confusion could be heard in her voice and for a moment she didn't think about the self-doubt inside her, but the boy on the other side of the door.

"I want us to be friends, and if you want that too, isn't that good enough?" She heard him shuffle as he stood on his feet, knocking on the door to the syllables of his next question, "Do you want to be my friend?"

Marinette also stood up facing the door, fingers hesitantly touching the handle. She did want to be his friend, more than anything she ever hoped for tonight. Slowly twisting the lock until they both heard the audible click, she pulled the handle back letting the light shine through the dark room.

They blushed upon meeting each other's gaze, both suddenly feeling shy. He could see that she was still nervous around him, so like the heroes in the books he read so much about, Adrien placed an arm behind his back and bowed to her. "My Lady, it's a pleasure to meet you." They would also take the fair maidens hand and kiss it, but he wasn't so bold enough to do that. Like her, he was also lacking in friends—though he was more shy in nature, using the books he loved as a reference to act around people.

Following his act, she slightly lifted up her dress and naturally curtsied, "The pleasure is all mine, kind sir." It felt like a pretend game they were playing, one where they could be anything they wanted beyond the monsters and trophies people made them out to be.

Adrien opened his mouth to speak, "My name is –"

"Charming. Don't care – Charming suits you," She quickly cut him off. To anyone else it might sound rude to disregard a person's name, yet when Adrien saw the light in her eyes return and her rosy lips form an actual smile, his cheeks heated even more at the nickname.

"No monster can smile that pretty." He blurted out loud, catching them both off guard.

He really was different from Chloe she realized, smiling wider than before as she let out a giggle, "Where can we find real monsters to slay then, Charming?"

Adrien offered his hand for her to take, "Follow me, my Lady, I know exactly where to go." And this time without hesitation, she slipped her hand into his as he led her into an adventure.

Their quest starts in the high gardens where they fought various creatures – hacking dragons, slashing ogres, stabbing chimeras, all the mystical beasts they could think of – while of course in reality they were actually destroying immobile garden sculptures with branches, but that was what their imagination was for. They were the heroes of this story, saving villages one at a time and fist bumping each other after every victory. And despite not knowing each other's name, the mystery made them all the more natural around each other, because tonight they were simply 'Charming' and 'My Lady'.

They were under an apple tree where Adrien jumped down with the red fruit in his hand. "My Lady, you certainly are the fairest of them all. Please, take this ripe apple as my token of love." Maybe he was acting too much into his role, but he simply loved the heroes they've become, always striving his best to be honorable and loyal. He was down on one knee as he offered the apple to her like a ring, his 'sword' by her feet.

Marinette graciously took the apple, holding it close to her chest, "You must be careful, Charming. What if the Evil Queen poisoned it?" She was cautious, always the one to be the devil's advocate. It simply added more challenges to their pretend game.

He stood back up taking the apple from her, "You're right! Never fear though, I won't let anyone have you." Adrien looked straight into her shimmering eyes as he promised her and for a heartbeat, they weren't playing pretend. "I will taste it for you," with those final words he took a bite into the apple. If Marinette was the cautious one, then Adrien was definitely the dramatic one. He started to stumble back until he fell on his back, eyes fluttering closed as the delicious red apple roll out of his hand.

"CHARMING! No – Nooo!" She rushed to his side, faking tears as she laid her head on his chest. "Please wakeup… how can you be under a sleeping curse?" She sat back up, determination set in her eyes as she watched him slumber, "I will save you. There's only one thing that can. The most powerful magic of them all – True Love." Adrien, who was not really asleep, tried hard not to jerk up as he heard her words. What did she mean by that? His heart was really racing now, full of jitter and excitement that would burst at any rate.

Marinette cupped his face, speaking softly, sincerely to him, "I'll break you under any curse you're in. Because we're friends." With that said she lowered her head where her lips met his in a sweet, endearing peck of a kiss. It may not have even lasted more than a few seconds, but the magic engraved itself into their hearts writing the memories of their adventure worth a lifetime.

Adrien opened his eyes to the view of clear skies he loved so much, delicately framed by her dark lashes, still hovering over him that he could feel her warmth radiating. Bright red he was, fumbling over the right words to say, "T-True Love's kiss. You saved me…My Lady – no – Princess. It suits you." The tip of his ears were turning scarlet and she was still so intimately close, so close that her fangs gleamed in the moonlight and her hair tickled his cheeks.

Marinette moved to allow him to sit back up and he breathed a sigh of relief, he was starting to become overwhelmed whenever she was around – in a good sense that children didn't exactly know what they were feeling just yet. "Charming, you're awake! Good does prevail."

"All thanks to you of course Princess." He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, eyeing the leaves in her dark hair. His hand was twitching to reach out and pick them, except it was her hand that was already reaching towards his own, boldly running her fingers through his golden locks to get them.

"Don't be silly. You and I – we're a team. As long as we're together the Evil Queen will never win." They may not have known each other long, but Marinette can tell he was the type of person to downplay his accomplishments though she doesn't understand why, he deserved every adoration there was to give. And she would dote on him.

"Yeah… you really are the fairest of them all." Until his mother, Adrien didn't think there could be anyone else that could hold a flame to her, yet here she was before his very eyes with the same dreamy smile. He got up and brushed the dirt off himself, "And a princess such as yourself, certainly deserves a bouquet full of flowers." She tilted her head with curious eyes as she watched him run towards the rose bushes, grabbing a handful by the stem to yank out from its root, however only to return with one rose in hand.

He held it out to her while hiding his other hand behind his back, "… I didn't know there were so many thorns on roses. This one had the least amount of thorns. Sorry it's only one. You should still be careful though." He frowned when she didn't respond, her face appearing blank all of a sudden.

Marinette doesn't know why, but the sweetest aroma she's ever smelled before just drifted in the air. The scent was so intoxicatingly sweet that she couldn't even think of comparing it to any of the baked goods back at home, and they practically made all sorts of desserts. Her eyes traveled to Adrien who held the rose out to her, lingering on his face as she reached out for the injured hand behind his back, cradling it delicately between her own. "Charming… you're bleeding."

His hand was full of cuts and tiny puncture wounds, the color of roses and apples seeping out from them. "I didn't mean to pull that hard. I just really wanted at least one rose." He explained to her but she was no longer looking at him, but at his injured hand.

She was tempted. Tempted to try blood that has always been a taboo for her simply because her mother said so. Marinette thought she was immune to blood. She's had her fair share of blood experiences before: when her dad accidently cuts himself while cooking; when she goes shopping with her mom for specialty blood drinks for vampire consumption; when it was her turn to get blood drawn for checkups. So why is it any different now? She was so sure—

Monster… Chloe's words echoed back to her.

"Are you okay? Do you need blood?" Adrien asked, concerned for her. He didn't know that she was half-vampire or the effect he was having on her. Staring intently at his injured hand, he thought her to be a full vampire, acting weird all of sudden at the sight blood. Was she not feeling well because she was running low on energy? He didn't really know all that much about vampires and he felt foolish for not having the knowledge that could make her feel better.

His voice pulled her out of her trance, jerking back as she scooted away from him, "N-No," when he approached again her she held her hand up for him to stop, "Don't come any closer!"

Monster… The voice continues to ring in her head.

Confusion and hurt flashed through his forest green eyes as he respected her wishes. "I don't understand. Please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm afraid the Evil Queen is enacting her final curse upon us…" Marinette said, wishing with all her heart that for just a while longer, they could keep playing their pretend game. She's panicking on the inside because these weren't her thoughts, she doesn't want his blood.

And though Adrien was concerned, he still stayed in character for her, "And what is that, my Princess?"

"The curse of reality – where monsters like me don't deserve you." She stood on wobbly legs, getting ready to run far from him. The smell was enticing her really, such that her fangs felt sharper than before whenever she ran her tongue over them, but she didn't want to hurt him.

She would never hurt him.

"That's not true! Whatever it is – we'll face it together! Because we're a team," Adrien argued back, desperately wanting to close the distance between them to shake her by the shoulders so she'd believe him – or maybe hug her tightly because it looks like she'll disappear if he doesn't do something.

One day you'll crave blood…

"Because we're friends," She replied, sincerely and wholeheartedly, giving him one last smile. "Thank you." With that final parting she took off running that was incredibly too fast for him to keep up, eventually losing sight of her.

and just eat someone.

Marinette didn't listen to her mother before when she told her not to mind people's opinion, but this time she will.

She will not drink human blood.

Marinette ran back to her parent's arms with tears in her eyes as she hysterically retold her night, not making sense to them as she was panting heavily out of breath while trying to talk. If there were a few things they did understand – it was that she wanted blood for the very first time and this shocked them greatly. The birthday party was already over and only cleaning was left to be done for them. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng left first with Marinette (tired from crying and running) asleep in her arms while her husband stayed back to finish cleaning. She knew exactly what happened to her sweet daughter and didn't expect for it to be so soon, not for years to come at least. Finding the blood of someone intoxicating was akin to falling in love for vampires. Just like how falling in love with is for humans – the gradual familiarity of their lover's voice, their warm sparks of touch, the small habits they notice – vampires falling in love will also find their blood especially different from the rest, regardless if they were vampire or human. Her daughter was too young to even realize what being in love means, yet she found someone close enough to truly love that wasn't romantic in a sense. Who was this special boy, she wonders.

Adrien also ran back to his parents after searching everywhere for her, his hair wild and clothes dirty. And though they tease him for missing his own birthday party and returning back a lost boy, they ask if he had fun. Of course he gushes about how amazing the girl was for making their adventures so fun, but he hurriedly drags them to the entrance to try and find her. Every person he bid goodbye to was another stab of disappointment he felt for not being able to see her again. They didn't know each other's name either. Adrien's mother was his superhero though, offering to help him find her with a reassuring smile that made him feel like everything was going to be okay.

A few short weeks after his birthday – his mother disappears.

.

.

A/N:

I planned this to be a two-shot story, so hopefully it will end next chapter. A nice creative break from my other story so I hoped you all enjoyed the first chapter :) The age is up for interpretation, but they are all under 10 I would say! Also, anyone a fan of Once Upon a Time?

.

.

What do you think happens now?