"We have hardly seen each other since you moved to Paris." Adrien stated after catching Felix in the school hallway on his way home. "And this includes the fact that we are now studying in the same class!"

"We must be both busy people." Felix replied carefully.

He was warm to his cousin, but the sediment from the fact that no one from the Agreste family was present at his father's funeral was still kept in him.

Of course this wasn't Adrien's fault. He was soft and pliable in character, and, in completion with an authoritarian father, this drove him into a totally hopeless situation.

"I'm free on Friday evening though." Adrien smiled solemnly, as if handing Felix the keys to a safe. "We could spend some time together." He continued with a hope in his voice. "What do you think?"

Felix looked at him, pondering.

On Friday he planned to finish a school project with Marinette. The time of work on the project was extended until the beginning of the next week, as many students didn't have time to finish it.

That meant they only had this weekend. And as much as Felix wanted to help Adrien get out of his prison for a little while, he did not want to risk this meeting, since Shadowmoth had no days off and he could disrupt their plans at any time.

"I meet Marinette on Friday." He said finally.

But instead of the expected disappointment on his cousin's face, Felix saw surprise and... alertness?

"Like a date?" He asked with concern, raising his voice a couple of octaves on the last word, and almost horror flashed through his face.

"Like a school project." Felix replied, without taking his studying gaze from Adrien.

His cousin visibly relaxed, and an expression of relief appeared on his face.

Now Felix was alert too.

He knew Adrien was crushing on Ladybug and was too clueless to understand his classmate was the same person.

Why then was he so worried about the possibility of Felix dating Marinette? Did he have feelings for Marinette on her own? Looked like that, judging by his jealous reaction.

And probably, Adrien himself didn't know about his own feelings. That would be pretty typical of Adrien.

"But I'll think when we can spend time together." Felix promised before leaving.

*

This was actually his mother's idea.

When Amelie heard that Adrien wanted to meet, she seized on the opportunity to get him out of his father's house for a little while.

In the end she convinced Felix to move the school project to Saturday, and instead organize a movie night.

"We will kill several birds with one stone!" Amelie explained. "You will improve relations with your cousin, get to know Marinette's friends better and you don't have to sacrifice the evening with her, because of course she will be invited too."

Hmm, thought Felix, if you don't take into account the little detail that they won't be alone. And besides, it wasn't in his plans to give Adrien extra time with Marinette.

But Felix saw that there was a lot of sense in his mother's words.

In addition, Felix read somewhere that the way to a girl's heart lies through her best friend. And if he understood the alignment of forces correctly, Marinette had two of those.

Tikki, surprisingly, had a high regard for him, despite his previous antics, and was on his side in the matter of relations with Marinette. Alya, on the other hand, continued to treat him with apprehension and looked askance.

So it didn't seem like a bad idea to gather their entire group of friends at his place.

From this point of view, even Adrien's presence was playing into his hands, since Nino adored the model and considered him his best friend. And the fact that Felix would give them the opportunity to spend time together could win him an additional ally.

Amelie called Gabriel herself and persuaded him to let Adrien stay at their place for the night. Without mentioning the other guests, of course. She ordered a guest room to be prepared for Adrien and the living room for gatherings, as well as snacks for the evening.

Then she announced to Felix that on Friday she is leaving for a dinner with her old Parisian friends and trusts Felix to take care of his guests.

To Felix's surprise, all the invitees came.

Nino with a suspicious but grateful smile, Alya with a sly grin, Adrien with the expression of a happy puppy on his face, and Marinette with a mysterious penetrating look.

"So, what is our reason for the party?" Alya asked, sitting next to Nino on the smaller sofa.

"I didn't say there would be a party." Felix narrowed his eyes on her. The fox was definitely up to something. "I thought we agreed to a movie night."

"Didn't you know that movie night is a code name for party night, evil twin?" Alya asked slyly.

"I don't appreciate the nickname, Foxy." Felix grinned at her skeptically.

"Foxy?" Adrien raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Alya opened her mouth to speak, but Felix beat her to it.

"It's an internal joke." He said. "You know, hair color and all." And winked at Alya, who smiled back.

"How didn't I think about it before?" Adrien commented, looking between them, obviously surprised by their friendly interaction, but also slightly suspicious. "Really suits you well, Alya." He added slowly and looked at Nino questioningly.

Nino shrugged slightly in bewilderment.

It almost looked like they understood the meaning of the joke.

Felix threw a careful glance at Nino. He was dating Alya and could guess about her double life... or maybe he even was a part of it?

But Adrien... Felix will have to confront the fox about this later, for safety reasons.

"So, did you quit being evil?" Alya said in the meantime, smirking at Felix.

"Not really." He smirked back at her. "The evil part compliments me well, but the 'twin' part implies a duplicate. And, despite the illusion of my appearance, I am unique."

"True." Alya agreed with a sigh and took a sly look at Marinette, who watched their communication with curiosity.

"If I didn't know better," Nino said, looking at Felix. "I would've thought that you were flirting with my girlfriend." He placed his hand over Alya's shoulders protectively.

"You shouldn't worry about that." Felix replied confidently. "I have someone else on my mind."

He refrained from looking at Marinette's reaction to his words. The tension in the room was already high, and Felix's plan was a quiet friendly evening...

"So we're having a party?" Marinette screeched a little louder than necessary from the middle of the large sofa.

"As the ladies will do." Felix replied, bowing to Marinette slightly, and sat down to her right, on the opposite end of the sofa from Adrien. "We will dedicate our meeting to the greatest holiday of all times and peoples." He announced solemnly. "The first Friday of this week."

That caused a friendly laughter in the room.

"And what a party without party games?" Alya added, when the laughter died down.

"What do we play?" Adrien asked excitedly.

"Never have I ever." Alya smiled. "Who did the named activity — bends their finger. Who wins picks the movie. We make three circles. I start." She paused for a moment to make sure everyone was following. "Never have I ever fallen asleep in public."

Marinette and Adrien bended their fingers.

"Does it count if non of public actually saw you sleeping?" Adrien asked guiltily.

"Sure thing, dude!" Nino replied. "Never have I ever lied to a law enforcement officer." He said.

Felix bended his finger and raised his eyebrows in surprise at Marinette, who was banding hers.

"It was for a good cause." She made excuses.

"It always is." Felix smirked.

"Never have I ever played strip poker." Adrien said, trying to turn the attention to himself, Felix guessed by the nervousness in his cousin's voice.

Alya and Nino bended their fingers, both blushing.

"That's... educational." Felix chuckled.

"Haha." Alya snapped. "Wait till we reveal your dirty secrets."

"All my secrets are pure." Felix retorted. "I wash them thoroughly."

Marinette giggled.

"Never have I ever read a partner's text messages." She intervened in the escalating tension.

"Really?" Alya exclaimed, watching Nino bending his finger.

"Your hands were busy and you asked me yourself!" He answered indignantly.

"Sorry, babe!" Alya gave him an apologetic kiss on the cheek.

"Never have I ever sung in public." Felix continued the circle.

Marinette and Adrien bent their fingers a little embarrassed.

"It was for a good cause as well." Marinette explained, looking down.

"I'm sure you have a great singing voice, Mari!" Adrien reassured her.

"Thank you, Adrien." She smiled shyly. "I'm sure you have one too."

Felix rolled his eyes and mentally shook his head at their mutual bowing.

"Never have I ever been the subject of a rumor that wasn't true." Alya continued, smirking as she caught his facial expression.