Archive of Our Own ^beta

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It was the next day. It hadn’t been 24 hours since their kiss, Adrien couldn’t stop thinking about it and now he’s gonna see her face to face, except she doesn’t know it was him who she kissed. How is she feeling? How would she feel if she knew it had been Adrien? the boy whom she no longer had feelings for.  But Adrien’s thoughts stopped in their tracks as he came face to face with her. Literally. He had been so lost in his thought he didn’t see her coming, although it seems she didn’t see him coming either and now they were crashing. The books and papers she’d been carrying were now on the floor. 

“I’m so sorry! I--”

“I’m so sorry Marinette, are you okay?”

Of course, she had bumped into Adrien, it was just her luck, wasn’t it?

“Yeah I’m, I’m okay. I’m so sorry Adrien I didn’t see you coming.” Before he could reply she was already picking up her stuff. He crouched to help her. Their hands met. Their eyes locked for a second. Marinette panicked, grabbed everything as fast as she could and left almost running only saying “Well, thanks Adrien see you in class”. Leaving a blushing agape Adrien behind.

Marinette got to the classroom, sat in her place, and banged her head a few times against her desk. Before Alya could ask, Adrien came into the classroom looking directly at Marinette, but she just stayed with her forehead glued to the desk, her blush increasing. Adrien was about to lean in and ask her if she was okay when the teacher came in and asked everybody to take their seats. Marinette managed to avoid answering any of Alya’s questions and tried her best to keep her gaze on her notes, not wanting to take any chances at accidentally catching Adrien’s gaze. 

An eternity later it was finally time for lunch but Marinette was not looking forward to it knowing fully well that Adrien was gonna sit with them. She just couldn’t handle that right now, not with everything that had happened just last night. Alya stayed with her in the classroom for a little while but left after Marinette told her she just needed a minute alone to clear her head. A few moments after Alya left Adrien came in.

Marinette froze as soon as he came into the classroom. Was she upset with him? He didn’t mean to upset her but, now that he saw her, he noticed she was blushing. Nino told him she had a crush on him, confirming what Andre also told them, but maybe just like Andre, Nino didn’t know that Marinette’s feelings had changed. But if it were the case Alya would’ve known, right? she would’ve stopped him, right? Before he realized it, he was standing next to Marinette.

“Hi Marinette, um, are you feeling okay?”

“Yes! I’m okay! Why wouldn’t I be?” She responded immediately still avoiding looking at him

“Um I, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to go out after school today, I have some free time after school and--”

“No! I mean yes! I mean I’d love to but I told my parents I’d help with the bakery today”

“Oh, I see… I wanted to go out with you since you were the one that helped me stand up to my father and were the only one to support me and listen to me when I said I didn’t want to be a model…”

He sounded really sad. She didn’t mean to make him sad. Looking up at him she noticed he was no longer looking at her, his eyes glued to the floor. Maybe he truly wanted them to be friends, after all, Adrien didn’t have many close friends and he could certainly use some more friends. Maybe she could make an effort to be there for him.

“Maybe I could tell my parents I can help them tomorrow, where did you want to go?” his eyes lit up and it made her feel warm. 

“I was thinking maybe we could go get ice cream.” He truly didn’t think before speaking. He saw her eyes widening and she looked away again.

“I um, I, yes it sounds nice but you know, I did promise my parents to help and you know it’s been super busy at the bakery lately and-” she started to get up and pick her stuff up with her “but you know what maybe tomorrow? you know? anyways I gotta go!” And just like that, she was gone.

It took Adrien a few moments to realize that she had left just like that, and well, of course she did. Why did he mention ice cream? after everything that happened yesterday, why did he? He slowly made his way to the cafeteria, half hoping to see her there, but she wasn’t. Alya looked at him and knew that things didn’t go exactly well. Alya left once again and soon after lunch break was over.

Once back in their classroom Marinette didn’t come back, Nino and Adrien looked back at Alya who told them calmly that Marinette went home because she wasn’t feeling too well. Adrien felt like time moved slowly for the rest of the day, and couldn’t honestly focus on class feeling anxious about Marinette. She didn’t seem that upset when she left, and Alya didn’t seem that worried about it but, what if Marinette got akumatized?

After school Adrien overheard Alya telling Nino she couldn’t go out with him cause she needed to go give the class notes to Marinette and Nino was looking pretty bumed about it. “You know I could go deliver them to Marinette if you’d like” Adrien interrupted without thinking.

“I don’t know Adrien she wasn’t feeling so good you know?”

“Come on Alya, he’s just gotta deliver the stuff, and if she’s feeling too sick he can just leave the stuff to her parents right?”

“Well I guess so but I just feel like I should go see her” Alya was looking kinda worried now, and that made Adrien feel uneasy.

“You can go see her after our date. If she’s feeling really bad, you can stay over don’t ya think?”

Alya thought about it for a moment before saying “Well I guess you’re right, Adrien you sure you don’t mind going to deliver this?” She didn’t look too convinced but Adrien truly wanted to go see Marinette.

“Yes, I don’t mind, especially since I know you guys had planned this date for a while now. I’ll deliver this, go have fun”

And just like that, they were on their way and him on his. He got to Marinette’s house rather quickly and he soon realized that Marinette wasn’t lying when she said the bakery was gonna need extra hands today. He went inside and tried to approach Marinette’s mom, but she was rather too busy with customers. While he waited, Marinette’s dad noticed him and approached him.

“Hi sir, um I, I came to Marinette I mean give this to Marinette-” Tom let a small laugh out.

“It’s okay son, you can go upstairs and give that to Marinette, we’re rather busy as you can see, thanks for bringing this to her.” Tom patted him on the back and left just the way he came.

Adrien made his way through the door that led to the apartment’s stairs. Once on the other side, he stopped for a bit. He wasn’t sure about going upstairs. He did want to see Marinette but he didn’t want to intrude, he’d only meant to leave her the notes with her parents. 

Hesitant he made his way upstairs, he knocked on the door a few times waiting, but Marinette didn’t answer. He figured if she was feeling sick she might be in her room and maybe wouldn’t hear the knocks. He tried to open the door and it was unlocked, he was only gonna leave her the notes on the kitchen table and leave, maybe it was for the best. He was writing a note for her when he heard Marinette talking.

He couldn’t quite understand what she was saying but she sounded upset, so he decided to check on her. He climbed the stairs to her room and knocked on her door, but before he could say something the trap door opened.

“Alya I swear if you’re here just to tell me that I still love Adrien I’ll-” Marinette opened the hatch door and met Adrien eye to eye. She immediately jumped back and fell on the floor. Adrien rushed into the room to help her up. 

“Marinette are you okay?” He lent her his hand, she hesitated for a moment, but took it and got up.

“Yeah! Thanks! Adrien, I didn’t know it was you! What are you doing here?” She said while standing up, was speaking rather quickly and taking a few steps back until she was leaning on her desk. She looked kinda nervous and uneasy.

“I’m sorry, Alya had a date with Nino but wanted to give you today’s notes and I was just gonna leave them in your kitchen but I heard you upset and thought to check on you and…” He kinda got lost in her eyes. As soon as he stopped speaking she looked away. He doesn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, after everything that happened yesterday, he just wants to make sure she is okay, and now here he is, alone with her and feeling like he needs to talk to her.

Scratching the back of his head he asked “About what you just said-” but he was immediately cut off by Marinette.

“It wasn’t true! I mean it was! I mean-” Marinette genuinely seemed to be struggling with her words and started banging her head with both hands. Maybe this was a bad idea and he should have left the notes on the kitchen table and just left.

After a moment or two, looking at her evading his gaze he decided it was time to leave. “I’m sorry, um here’s today's class notes I’ll be leaving now” Marinette looked at him and met his eyes. She grabbed the folder and spoke “Wait, I, I’m sorry… for running away like that”

“Don’t worry Marinette I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable”

“It’s not that, I, I just…”

“You’re really special to me Marinette, it took me a while to realize, but I meant what I said, you were the first to listen to me and gave me the courage to speak my mind.” 

Marinette got lost in his eyes, she felt his breath just above hers. She didn’t know when they got so close, she didn’t notice, and she kinda didn’t care. Her face felt burning hot. They were both blushing.

“I have feelings for you Marinette.” They were almost kissing, Adrien could almost feel her lips on his. “I love you” he said, and now they were kissing.

He could still remember her lips on his. She didn’t know but this was the fourth time they had kissed and Adrien didn’t think he’d ever be able to forget her kiss. But then, suddenly she was pulling away. “I’m sorry. I- I can’t.” She said while slightly pushing him away, with both her hands on his chest.”

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“I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry.” She looked away.

“Why are you saying that?”

“Thank you for bringing me the class notes.” She avoided the question. 

“Marinette are you okay?“ He tried to move closer to her, but she pulled away heading towards the ladder that led to her bed.

“You should probably get going, it’s getting late” saying that, she disappeared upwards to her bed.

Marinette couldn’t hold her tears any longer, laying on her side she tried her best to hold her breath until he was gone, so he wouldn’t hear her crying. Only after she heard him close her trapdoor, and then a few moments later heard the door of her kitchen opening and closing she started sobbing. Tikki flew up to her face and cradled her cheek. 

Marinette couldn’t believe she kissed Adrien, not even 24 hours ago she was kissing Chat, and after telling Alya, Tikki, and even Chat that her feelings for Adrien weren’t there anymore she had kissed him. Her heart was pulling her in different directions, but no matter what she couldn’t be with either boy; her love for Adrien led her to lose the miraculous, and her love for Chat almost got her akumatized. She had so much love for both boys it was getting messy, she could’ve sworn kissing Adrien felt like exactly kissing Chat.

After some hours of crying and trying so hard to not think of Adrien or Chat, she decided to go get some fresh air as Ladybug. Not even a block away from her house she bumped into Chat, of course, that was her luck.

Adrien had been worried after leaving Marinette’s house, he stayed nearby for a while just in case Marinette became akumatized, but he eventually had to head back home. A few hours later he’d become anxious about the whole thing again, and decided to go check on her from the rooftop across her house, just to see if she was doing okay. Less than a block away from Marinette’s house he bumped into Ladybug who didn’t notice him until she landed on the same rooftop he was. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she clearly seemed distraught. 

“Hey LB everything okay?” her eyes met his quickly before seeming to rather find a point to his right to stare at.

“Yeah, what are you doing out? Did we have a patrol scheduled?” He tried to search for her gaze but she averted him. 

“I just needed some air to think. Are you sure you’re okay?” his hand reached for her shoulder but she pulled away. 

“Yes! Why wouldn’t I be?” This time her eyes met his. Her voice picked up and she suddenly seemed happy, too happy to be natural. “You headed somewhere?”

He didn’t reply right away, rather he looked towards her right, in the direction she came from. Was Chat seriously planning on going to see Marinette? After everything that happened yesterday? Panic started to creep up on her, and something about her must’ve shown it because Chat was now looking at her worryingly.

“Ladybug, what’s going on? Please, you can tell me.”  

Why did he have to be like that? Why is he so perfect? Always there for her. It made her heart ache and she could almost feel the tears gathering in her eyes. He was now holding her gently by the shoulders, and even though it hurt, she didn’t feel the panic anymore.

“Thanks, Chaton, it’s nothing. Just life getting a little complicated. I’ll be fine.” 

Her smile was soft, and she looked better, suddenly calm, but still, her eyes were red and small tears started to gather in her eyes. He hugged her. He wished he could take her pain away, but even if he couldn’t, he could be there for her, just like Marinette had told him a few days ago.

“I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better and even if I can’t actually do anything for you, I’ll always be there for you LB.” Their embrace became a bit tighter.

There was something about that last thing he said that tingled in the back of her mind. It reminded her of something. Something she had said recently. Before she could get to it, he was letting go. He offered to go on patrol to take her mind off of things and she agreed.

Later that night Marinette was laying on her bed, feeling a little bit lighter. The patrol had been a good idea, she had some fun with her partner running around on rooftops and having small conversations about nothing. She still felt confused about her feelings towards Chat and Adrien, but she was able to let that aside for now. She was falling asleep thinking about all these little things when something in her mind clicked. 

“You know, even when there’s nothing you can physically do for the people you love, sometimes just being there for them is enough”

She had said that to Adrien a few days ago, and Chat said something along those lines to her today. But it had to be a coincidence, right? Just like how yesterday, when Adrien went to see her, she told her mom she was busy and went to her balcony, after arguing with Alya, Chat was there on the roof in front of her house… with a bag of pastries… Just like how her kiss with Adrien was so similar to her kiss with Chat. These were all coincidences. They had to be. Because if Adrien and Chat were the same person, well, no, they simply couldn’t be.

The next day, Marinette didn’t show up to class. Alya said Marinette was feeling sick and that’s why she didn’t show up, still Adrien couldn’t help but feel uneasy. The classes went by slower than usual and Adrien kept thinking over and over if he had screwed up in going to see Marinette. He still didn’t quite understand what had happened. After he told her he loved her they kissed, and that kiss felt just like the kiss they shared the night before, and yet, she said she shouldn’t have. Then again, that night she did say her feelings for Adrien were too heavy to bear, and that she was moving on from him, just like he said he was moving on from Ladybug, yet in that kiss, it didn’t feel like she had moved on. 

Before he knew it classes were over and Adrien offered once again to take the notes to Marinette, Alya didn’t even protest or suggest she rather go, instead, she thanked him and gave him the notes. When he arrived at the bakery, which wasn’t as busy as the day before, but was still busy, Tom greeted him and told him that Marinette was upstairs pointing towards the door. He made his way upstairs uncertain. Why did he tell Alya he’d come? What if Marinette didn’t want to see him?

Marinette heard a knock on her kitchen door and was about to go check, when it occurred to her that it could be Adrien. She didn’t think it’d make a lot of sense, but it still could be him, the door was unlocked and he’d come in, if it was Alya she would too. She really couldn’t see him right now, not after thinking all night long of all of the things that could prove Adrien was Chat Noir. She heard footsteps approaching and ran back up to her bed. She heard some knocks on her trapdoor. “Marinette, it’s Adrien um I, I brought you today’s notes.” She didn’t answer. Maybe he would leave if he thought she wasn’t home. “Marinette? Are you in there? Are you okay?” 

Maybe she didn’t want to see him, but it could also be that she was really sick and maybe someone should go check on her. “Marinette? Can I come in?” he waited for a response but after a few moments decided to go in. “Marinette?” he asked as he peaked into the room, but it appeared empty. The lights were off. Adrien came into the room and approached Marinette’s desk, to leave the folder on top of it. As he walked closer he bumped into a trash bin that was knocked over; it had pictures of him coming out of it, lots of pictures. He looked above Marinette’s desk where he once saw she used to have pictures, there weren’t any. He left the folder on the desk where he saw some pictures of him and approached the ladder that led to Marinette’s bed.

“Alya told me you weren’t feeling good, are you up there?” but she didn’t answer. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I’m really worried about you, can we talk?” She really couldn’t see him right now. What if when she looked into his eyes and she saw Chat looking back at her? What if he said he loved her and they kissed again? Or what if she hurt him and got him akumatized? She couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk him . She heard him take a step up.

“I’m just sick, thanks for bringing me the notes, you can go now”

“Marinette, please can we talk?”

“I, I don’t- there’s nothing to talk about”

“I think there is”

“There isn’t, so you can go.”

“Marinette, please”

“What do you want to talk about?” She sounded exasperated.

“About what happened yesterday, when we kissed. I have feelings for you and-”

“I’m sorry. I don’t” She cut him off

“Can you come down?”

“Please go. There really is nothing to talk about. I’m sorry.” Marinette had tears running down her face. She didn’t wanna lie to him. But she knew they couldn’t be together, even if he wasn’t Chat. She wouldn’t be able to tell him she doesn’t have feelings for him if she were looking into his beautiful green eyes. And she definitely couldn’t tell him why they couldn’t be together without revealing that she was Ladybug.

“Marinette I can tell there’s something going on, plea-”

“Just leave me alone, please. I really don’t wanna see you.” Despite trying so hard not to, Marinette started sobbing. She tried her best to cover her face so he wouldn’t hear, but unbeknownst to her, he did.

Adrien heard her sobs, and even though she kept telling him to leave and that she didn’t have feelings for him, Adrien couldn’t quite believe her, something fell off, he wanted to stay, he wanted to go up to her and hug her, talk to her, but she didn’t. He really should’ve left the first time she told him to, and now he had to go. It pained him but she wanted to be alone and he was already making her feel bad. He slowly made his way out, and stayed in the kitchen for a few moments, wiping his unshed tears. He could still hear her sobbing, but no akuma seemed to come. After he caught his breath again, he decided it was time to leave. 

As soon as Adrien left Tikki approached Marinette. “Are you okay Marinette?”

“No Tikki. It hurts.”

“Do you truthfully don’t have feelings for Adrien anymore?”

“It doesn’t matter anyway Tikki, I can’t be with him.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I lost the miraculous because I got blinded by my love for Adrien.”

“We all make mistakes Marinette, but if you love him and he loves you-”

“It still wouldn’t work. Not while I’m Ladybug, not if he’s Chat Noir.” Tikki’s eyes went wide for a split second while she suppressed a gasp. Thankfully Marinette didn’t see her.

“Do you think Adrien is Chat Noir?”

“I’m not sure, I tried really hard not to think about it, but what confuses me the most, is that the kiss I shared with Adrien felt so similar to the kiss I shared with Chat, and then I started connecting dots, and thinking of all the things that tell me Adrien could be Chat, and I just can’t see him. I’m scared if I see into his eyes I’m gonna know.”

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Adrien had just gotten to his room and released his transformation, when he saw a blast in the distance. An akuma had appeared. He transformed again, and left out the window of his room. He arrived a few moments before Ladybug, but when she did, she seemed to be a lot better than last night. The fight went by smoothly, it didn’t take them long to defeat the akuma. Just as they had their usual fist bump, she started acting a bit bashful.

“Um, I just, I wanted to thank you for being there for me the other day.” she was fidgeting with a strand of hair.

“No problem Ladybug, you seem to be doing better.”

“Yeah, kinda, you being there for me really lifted me up, you know?” 

“I’m glad it did, a friend just recently told me that, even when there’s nothing you can physically do for the people you love, sometimes just being there for them is enough” her eyes opened wide for a split second and her expression seemed to flash with something, but before he could truly tell, it had changed back and she looked away.

"You okay LB?”

“Yeah just heard my miraculous beeping and well gotta go before I detransform you know? Anyway see you tomo- I mean see you Chat!” and just like that she was leaping away with her yoyo.

She seemed pretty weird at the very end there, it reminded him of something, or rather someone but he wasn’t quite sure. His miraculous beeped breaking him out of his thoughts. It was time to head home.

Ladybug took a detour on her way home, feeling like she needed some air before heading back to her room. She needed to sort some things out before talking to Tikki. When she got home and detransformed, Marinette had some tears running down her face. Tikki flew up to her face after devouring her macaroon and hugged her cheek. 

Between sobs, Marinette spoke. “I’m so sorry Tikki, I didn’t mean to find out, I don’t wanna lose you, and I don’t wanna lose Chat.” Tikki flew in front of her to look her in the eyes. 

“You won’t lose us Marinette. We didn’t want you guys to know each other’s identities because we knew how much you cared for each other, and how your feelings towards one another could be used by Hawkmoth.” 

Marinette continued crying for a while, feeling hopeless, thinking about Chat Blanc and how it made sense now, and about that time Su Han pressured her about Chat Noir’s identity, and how that plan turned out with Sass going back too much in time and making everything weird. It made sense now, Chat and her, Adrien and her, would always end up in disaster, they couldn’t be together. That’s why when she went after him, she lost the miraculous, and then when she tried again with his other identity she almost got akumatized.

The next day when Adrien got to school, Marinette wasn’t there. Class started and he began to wonder how many days was she gonna skip school when she arrived at the door out of breath and apologizing for being late. Miss Bustier told her to take her seat and she did. All class it had been impossible for Adrien to concentrate, he really wanted to turn back and look at Marinette, and if she let him, talk to her.

When lunch came around they all headed to the cafeteria together. They got to the table, he sat beside Marinette, and turned to look at her to speak but stopped. He hadn’t taken a good look at her until right then and there. Marinette’s eyes were stuck in her tray, she kept idly moving the food around with her fork. She seemed off. Adrien couldn’t identify her emotion, she didn’t look quite sad, or mad, or upset, but she definitely didn’t look okay.

“Adrien I forgot to thank you for taking the notes to Marinette these two days.” Alya spoke breaking him out of his thoughts. He looked at her to say something back but Marinette spoke before he could.

“Yeah, thanks Adrien” She looked up directly at him with a soft smile on her face, it seemed like a genuine smile, yet her eyes showed something different. Her gaze returned to her tray of food.

“No problem, I’m glad you’re feeling better now.” She looked at him again with the same expression before returning to her food once more. That soft smile with sad eyes. He stared at her until Nino spoke, taking the conversation in a different direction. Adrien couldn’t honestly tell what he and Alya were talking about, just as the conversation started the world around him drifted away while he kept thinking about the girl right next to him.

When classes were over Adrien turned to Marinette and asked “Can you stay? Can we talk?”

“Sure” she answered with that same smile. 

Alya was the last one to leave, after she said goodbye to both of them she closed the door, leaving them alone in the classroom. Marinette took a few deep breaths before looking at Adrien. “What do you want to talk about?”

“About what happened at your place. About the kiss.”

“I’m really sorry about the kiss. I shouldn’t have done it.” she said, looking away. “I don’t have feelings for you anymore.”

“I don’t think that’s true Marinette. I know there’s something else going on. You are really special to me Marinette. I love you, and I know you have feelings for me too.” Every word he said made Marinette’s heart crumble into pieces.

“I don’t”

“Then look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t have feelings for me.”

She took a deep breath. This was gonna hurt her so bad. This was gonna hurt him so bad. But being together might as well end the world, and she honestly didn’t think there was another way to convince him that they can’t be together. She looked up and her gaze met his.

“You are a really good friend to me, Adrien.” His green eyes seemed to look deep inside her. She had to be strong.

“You truly mean a lot to me.” The fear of losing her partner was stronger than the sadness this brought to her.

“But I don’t love you. I don’t have any romantic feelings for you. I’m sorry.” She saw the pain in his eyes and she couldn’t take it anymore. She looked away. She needed to leave before her feelings betrayed her and made her tell the truth.

“I’m really sorry Adrien. I have to go now.” she left before he could say anything.

Adrien kept thinking about the whole exchange he had with Marinette all afternoon. The more he thought about things the less things made sense. He left earlier than he would’ve to patrol, deciding he’d take the long way there. They met on their usual rooftop, made some rounds, and came back to their spot. Ladybug had brought a set of cards as she did sometimes. 

While they were playing, Chat decided to ask “How are you doing now? You seem better”

“I… I guess in a way I am. It’s hard when you have no control over the things that happen to you, you know?”

“Yeah, I think I know what that’s like.” he pondered about it for a second.

“But don’t worry, I’ll be okay, it’s better this way.” He looked up at her. She was smiling, but her eyes seemed sad. That look on her face… it looked just like Marinette’s expression earlier. He tried to shake that thought off.

“I’ll always be here for you Ladybug.” He said while looking directly into her eyes. They stayed like that for a moment. Just looking into each other’s eyes.

“Thanks kitty.” She smiled.

They kept playing and the conversation changed, but at the back of Chat’s mind that thought kept going around.  When Adrien arrived back home late at night, his mind was going at crazy speed thinking about Marinette and Ladybug. Thinking about everything that had happened in the last few days, or maybe even weeks. Trying to look for something to calm his mind. All he had to believe they were one and the same so far seemed to be that look both of them had today on their faces. That could be a coincidence, and he wanted to dismiss it but his mind wouldn’t let it go. 

The next day at school Adrien was tired. He didn’t get much sleep thinking all night about this whole ordeal. He had recalled that sometime before, he did suspect Marinette could be Ladybug, that time that their chemistry teacher, miss Mendeleiev, got akumatized, but then again at the end of that fight he saw Marinette give her miraculous back to Ladybug, didn’t he? 

As classes went by Adrien’s head was going in circles starting to doubt some of the stuff he remembered. The way Ladybug had been acting lately, and how Marinette said loving Adrien was a heavy burden because it really made her do anything. He was still missing some pieces to get to any conclusion yet. He decided to take a different approach, if she was Ladybug would the last couple of days make more sense? Ladybug did want to snack with him and kissed him on the cheeks goodbye three times. She was acting weird when they switched their miraculous, but could it really have been Ladybug flirting with him?

While his mind kept reeling he overheard Marinette’s and Alya’s conversation behind him. 

“Alya, seriously, I’m okay.”

“I just don’t believe you, you don’t look okay.” A pause, they probably exchanged looks Adrien assumed. “Are you sure you wanna leave things like this?”

“Even if I wanted to, I have no control over this. It’s better this way Alya, trust me.” 

Those words. Those words seemed awfully similar to what Ladybug had said last night. It could be a coincidence but before Adrien really could process it, he’d turned around looking at Marinette directly into her eyes. Her eyes opened wide, and her expression told him everything he needed to know. It was her.

Panic started to creep over her. He knew. The look in his eyes told her. He overheard them and now he knew. Alya seemed to pick up that something was going on between their looks but decided not to say anything. The bell sound told them it was break time, and even though everything happened in just a few seconds it seemed to Marinette that it lasted an eternity. Nino looked back asking if they wanted to go to the cafeteria for lunch but before anyone could say anything she agreed and started making her way out.

On their way back to the classroom Alya and Nino went back to the cafeteria because Nino left his phone, and when they left Adrien and Marinette alone, he tried to speak but before he could she stated she had to go to the bathroom and left running. The rest of the day went by in a similar fashion, they were back at Marinette avoiding Adrien. Every time he would try to speak to her alone, she would find an excuse and run away. When classes ended she left as soon as the bell rang. Adrien knew this was gonna be hard.

Marinette had managed to convince Alya with half the story, telling her about the kiss, and that she lied to Adrien about not having feelings for him when she still did but that she was afraid because of the way she lost the miraculous. She couldn’t tell Alya the whole truth, she couldn’t know that Chat was Adrien, that’d be way too dangerous, thankfully, besides trying to convince her to give Adrien another chance, Alya didn’t ask about it anymore. 

But Marinette had a bigger problem now, Adrien knew she was Ladybug, and by the looks of it, he knew she knew he was Chat.

Chapter Text

Marinette was pacing around her room thinking about what to do next. Could she convince Adrien she wasn’t Ladybug? Act dumb and pretend until he dismisses it? But knowing Chat he wouldn’t quit. She couldn’t avoid him forever, but how can she tell him they can’t be together? Either way, they had to talk, and she’d rather they be Chat and Ladybug, it’d be easier for them to find a private spot to talk, and if she were honest, it’d be easier for her heart to not stutter. 

Adrien was pacing in his room, trying to make sense of the situation while his mind was going over everything that had happened between them. In all their identities. The first time André became Glaciator, when he decorated that rooftop for Ladybug, and Marinette was sad over a boy. The time Marinette kissed him thinking he was a statue. The kiss Alya took a photo of when they were at the Montparnasse Tower. That time he helped Marinette practice her declaration of love to buttercup- wait HE was buttercup?! It didn’t matter now. But still, if she loved him, why was she pushing him away? Was it because she didn’t know he was Chat? Or was it because she discovered he was Chat? He wouldn’t get anywhere without talking to her, if she’d only stopped avoiding him. Then he got an idea, Marinette was able to avoid Adrien, but Ladybug couldn’t avoid Chat, could she?

After running around for a while, Chat found Ladybug at the top of the Eiffel Tower. She was sitting down with her legs dangling over. He was afraid she’d make a run for it when she heard him land, but it didn’t happen, so he approached her.

“Hey Ladybug”

“Hi Chat”

He didn’t know where to begin. She stood up and turned around to see him. Their eyes met and he took a step closer. She didn’t move. He moved his hand to caress her cheek. She let him. His thumb was going back and forth brushing right beneath her left eye, and she leaned into his touch. His face came closer, his breath above hers, and their gazes intertwined. Him lost in her blue eyes, and her lost in his green ones. 

“I’m sorry, Chat.” Her hand came to rest on top of the one he had on her cheek. “We can’t be together.” tears started to gather in her eyes. 

His other hand came to her other cheek and he gently wiped away the tears that came streaming down her face. It pained him so incredibly much to see her like this. “Why are you saying that? I know who you are, and I’m pretty sure you know who I am. Why can’t we be together?”

She tried multiple times to speak but ended up closing her mouth once and again not knowing what to say. She sighed. “It’s hard to explain Chat, but we can’t be together.”

“We have all the time in the world, talk to me.”

Her hands came to grab his and took them off her face, but kept their hands intertwined. She took a deep breath before she spoke. “This isn’t the first time we find out about our identities, and this isn’t the first time we’re together.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure what happened, or how many times it has happened, but I know of two. One time I…” She closed her eyes a little bit too tight, took a deep breath, and continued “I broke into your room as Ladybug to give you a beret I made for you.” She opened her eyes to look at him, he was surprised but she didn’t know exactly what he was thinking, seeing him wide-eyed made her panic. 

“I’m sorry, it’s not like that, I, I was looking for you, I mean as Marinette, but I couldn’t find you and then Nathalie didn’t let me in and--”

He rested his forehead against hers making a shooshing sound, smiling fondly. It broke her. He was so close and he was being so understanding and he loved her so much and she loved him so much and his lips were so close to hers. She felt his breath as he let out a soft chuckle. His eyes returned to hers. She wanted to kiss him so badly, and unbeknownst to her, Adrien felt the same way. But they couldn’t! She was trying to explain why! She had to focus. She looked away and cleared her throat, which made Adrien lift his forehead.

“I really wanted to give you the present I made and the girls were rooting for me, when I couldn’t find you I decided to transform and leave it in your room, but when I was about to leave when I remembered that I didn’t sign it, and I wasn’t about to make that mistake again so I returned, looked for a pencil and wrote a note on the wrapping. I was making my way back to the girls when Bunnix found me.”

Adrien was a bit confused, and Marinette could tell as much by the puzzled look he had, but he patiently listened and waited for her to continue.

“Bunnix took me to her burrow and told me something had happened in the future, she didn’t really explain, she put a bowl over my head to block my view and told me that the less I knew, the better. When she took it off, I was at the top of Montparnasse Tower and everything was…” a pause, she shook her head and took a breath. “a mess. She left and then I found…” her eyes were tearing up. She looked at him, looking into his eyes, looking for something. She cupped his cheek and more tears went down her cheeks before she started sobbing. 

“Buginette? What’s wrong?” he wiped her tears

“I, I…” she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. When she opened them again, she launched herself over to hug him. 

It took Chat by surprise, and after a moment, he hugged her back stroking her head while holding her. “It’s okay Bug, I’m here.”

“I can’t do this again. I don’t want to do this again. I can’t fight you again.” He froze. “I found you, but you weren’t you, you were all white and your eyes were blue, you were akumatized and you were hurting so bad, you kept telling me I broke your heart.” She hugged him harder, shaking her head against his chest while she spoke.

“But--”

“You were calling me Marinette. You told me our love had done that and” she pushed back just enough to see his face. “I was so scared. I’m still scared, I don’t want to go through that again.”

His expression softened. But still, he looked worried. He had so many questions. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? What happened after? What do you mean you didn’t want to make the mistake of leaving a gift without a note again? but he ended up asking “And this has happened twice?”

“No.” she wiped her tears and composed herself a bit. “I have only met Chat Blanc once. The other time I’m talking about, I don’t even know what happened.”

Chat leaned his head to the side with a questioning look. Marinette thought he looked really cute and made her giggle. “Remember that time I told you to meet me here to talk about something, but then everything went crazy, lights were flickering and time was all funky because Sass had used his power without a holder?” 

“Uh-huh” Chat nodded. 

“Well, I had told you to meet me there because Su Han insisted I had to know your identity, so, I made a plan with Viperion to be on call with me so when you told me your identity Viperion could go back in time but he’d know it and he could help me tell Su Han without me really knowing.”

“Okay…”

“But something went wrong. I don’t know what happened. I don’t think even Sass knows. I guess something must’ve happened between us since, you know.” she looked away and blushed “I had a crush on you.”

“I understand, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen again. Maybe we weren’t ready back then, but if something were to happen Bunnix would’ve shown up by now, don’t you think? Besides we don’t really know what actually happened, yes Chat Blanc told you it was our love, but he was akumatized, maybe Hawkmoth found out, and the second time, we don’t know. What if Viperion said something to someone else, or somebody saw us, you don’t know. We don’t know”

“But we can’t risk it. You told me yourself, we did anything for the love we had, me for Adrien, you for Ladybug.”

“But you told me as Chat you wanted to kiss me.”

“And you told me we shouldn’t.”

“Yes, because I thought I was kissing a regular civilian who didn’t know me, a superhero.”

“Still, we can’t.”

“You know I want you, and I know you want me, don’t you?”

“Yes, but--”

“So stop saying we can’t be together.”

“Adrien, you still don’t realize.”

“What?”

“I almost got akumatized that night.” He was about to protest but she spoke again. “I… I lost the miraculous because I was so set on you that I mistook you for Felix.” She looked down.

“Marinette…” he tried to lift her head up with his hand beneath her chin but she moved away. “You didn’t know, in fact, if you knew my identity back then this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that!” she looked up and took a step back. Tears were streaming down her face again. “Either way, I lost them.” she sobbed. “I keep making mistakes because of my feelings for you. We were supposed to keep our identities a secret, we’re not supposed to know, it’s too dangerous.”

“Well maybe we can learn to be careful, we’ve been through so much together, and we’re stronger now.”

“We can’t Chat.” She hugged herself. “I’m sorry.”

“Marinette…”

“Don’t.” She smiled and wiped her tears. “You’re irreplaceable Kitty, I won’t let Su Han or Tikki change that.” She came closer, looked into his eyes, then down at his lips. They kissed. Her hand came to his cheek. Their kiss was soft but full of emotion. It lasted only a moment, for both, it felt like it ended as soon as it started.

She broke apart. “I want you, but I can’t have you, we can’t be together. Not like this. Maybe one day when Hawkmoth is defeated.” Once more, tears streamed down her cheeks. “Don’t stay out too late, I don’t want you to get in trouble. See you at school Chaton!” And then she left. Chat stood there, wanting to chase after her, with his heart half broken and the taste of her lips still on his.

Chapter Text

At last, it was Friday. For Marinette, it seemed the week had been way longer than usual. When she arrived at her classroom, she noticed she was the first one to arrive. She’d never been this early before, yet, here she was, eyes puffy, exhausted but extremely awake. Marinette hadn’t been able to sleep much. She kept having nightmares and waking up, then she’d spent time crying over the whole thing. Her head, which was resting on her arms above her desk, kept spinning while she stared at some distant point on the wall in front of her, unaware that she was falling asleep.

Adrien got to school early. Really early. As soon as Gorilla left he went to the nearest coffee shop to get a coffee for himself and one for Marinette. If he were honest, he was mostly going to get a coffee for her. Adrien wasn’t able to sleep much the night prior and was guessing she must’ve been in the same boat, then again, even if she wasn’t, he knew his lady wasn’t a morning person, at all. 

When he got to the classroom, there were already some classmates there, but most importantly, Marinette was there. She was sitting at her place, with her head facing the door resting above her crossed arms on her desk, sound asleep. Neither Alya nor Nino had arrived yet. Without thinking Adrien sat next to Marinette, putting the coffees aside, out of Marinette’s reach so if she woke up suddenly she couldn’t throw them off accidentally.

She looked so tired. She had a faint blush on her nose and around her eyes, almost imperceptible. She had been crying. He was hesitant about reaching her head to caress her hair when he saw a tear running down her face. Her expression hadn’t changed, she still looked peaceful yet Adrien’s heart broke and fell to the ground. His hand reached her. He was caressing her softly, almost afraid she would break or disappear. A soft smile drew on her face, and she let out a soft breath.

How long he spent looking at her, caressing her, Adrien doesn’t really know. The world around him had disappeared as soon as he saw her. However, reality came crashing down when he felt Alya staring at them behind him. Adrien’s hand froze and as he went to look at her he noticed she wasn’t the only one staring. All of their classmates had arrived. Everyone was staring at them from their places, a blush appeared across his cheeks. When his gaze reached Alya’s, he saw her expression change from puzzled to mischievous. Adrien’s eyes went wide but before he could say something, Alya spoke to Nino to scooch over and sat down where Nino usually sat, breaking down the spell of silence that everyone seemed to be under. It was almost as if time had been frozen and now was going at crazy speed trying to catch up.

Adrien was still processing what was happening when the bell rang and he felt Marinette’s head move a bit. He turned to look at her, she was waking up. Her eyes were adjusting, blinking slowly at him. She looked gorgeous, that small smile still on her face, eyes glowing softly, and Adrien was looking at her, dumbfounded, his mouth slightly open, out of breath and blushing furiously. When her eyes adjusted, her gaze turned soft and she smiled fully. Her look, filled with adoration. 

Miss Bustier came through the door with her usual good morning and that brought Marinette back to reality. Panic crept into her, her eyes opened wide, and a blush as intense as Adrien’s came onto her entire face. Adrien retrieved his hand almost as if he had burnt himself, and Marinette immediately sat up with the perfect excuse of class to not look at him. Alya turned slightly and gave her a mischievous look before returning her gaze to the teacher in front of them. Trying her best to ignore Adrien’s burning gaze on her, Marinette noticed that most of her classmates were giving her congratulatory or proud-like looks when her gaze crossed with one of them. Marinette felt so on edge, so nervous and she couldn’t understand why. Adrien was her partner, her best friend, they fought side by side on a daily basis, why is she so jittery just for having him sit beside her? Marinette took a deep breath, calmed down, and decided to focus on the class. 

Adrien felt so giddy being next to Marinette, and couldn’t forget the look she had just given him a few moments ago when she woke up. He could tell she was nervous, but she didn’t seem upset or bothered by having him at her side. She was probably having a hard time concentrating with him constantly looking at her. He decided to focus on class when he noticed he totally forgot to give her the coffee he had brought her. He carefully slid it so that it was in her periphery view. She turned to look at it and then at him. 

Barely above a whisper, he said “Coffee. For you”

She blinked rapidly. Processing. She looked back at the coffee and noticed there was another one just a bit further. Adrien had specifically bought her a coffee. That thought warmed her heart. She grabbed it carefully, looked back at him, and mouthed her response. “Thanks Chaton” She took a sip of it, and it was perfect. Just as she liked it, it still was hot but not too hot to burn her tongue. 

Just before the class ended Miss Bustier assigned them a project in pairs. Alya teamed up with Nino, which made Adrien and Marinette pair up. The rest of the day went by normally. They had lunch together, the four of them. Adrien would make the occasional joke in class, which mostly got eye rolls out of Marinette along a soft chuckle. When Marinette dropped her pencil she bumped Adrien’s head, as they both leaned to pick it up. Alya would glance once in a while and give her looks, but Marinette kept her cool. She didn’t feel nervous anymore, after all, even if Adrien was her crush, he was above all, her partner, she didn’t have anything to be nervous about. 

When it was time to go home she half expected Alya to walk home with her, to plague her with a million questions, but she didn’t. Instead, Adrien offered to walk her home, which prompted Kim to shout “About damn time you realized Agreste!” This brought a soft blush to his face, barely even there, however, it made Marinette blush furiously once again and prompted a lot of their other classmates to follow with the cheers. Chaos ensued for a brief moment, and Marinette felt bitter-sweet about the whole thing. They weren’t dating. Even if they could, why was everyone assuming they were now dating? How was she gonna stop them without getting everyone to ask questions? Why wasn’t Adrien saying anything? 

Almost as if he had read her mind Adrien spoke. “Calm down Kim, don’t go on assuming things.” He sounded so serious, almost upset. The cheers died out, but a lot of whispers and small talk around them followed. Adrien grabbed his bag, turned around, and softly said “See you outside” without waiting for an answer before heading out.

Alya, and most probably everybody else too, was looking at her with a mix of surprise and pity. She could see a million questions popping in Alya’s head. A heavy feeling set into Marinette’s heart. Suddenly she felt as if she was about to burst into tears. Everybody was looking at her as if Adrien had just rejected her in front of everyone, and she was starting to feel like it actually had happened. 

Without saying anything to anybody else, or looking at anybody else, she broke out of her thoughts, said goodbye to Alya and Nino as she would’ve any other day, and headed out the door. 

Although Alya said goodbye as usual, and Nino followed, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly off. She didn’t let it show, and pretended as if nothing had changed at the end there when the girls all came close to her to crowd her with questions and the rest of the class came as well. 

Marinette was walking so fast she was almost running. Even though the stares were no longer there, that heavy feeling remained, threatening to make her cry. She was about to head out of the school when she caught sight of Adrien. He was leaning on a wall and the sight of him made Marinette’s stomach sink further, bringing the tears to her eyes. She was about to make her way back when he turned to look at her. His face went through so many expressions when he saw her. First, he smiled, he looked confused, then upset, and lastly sad, before returning to the serious almost blank expression he had before. It all happened in a moment but it made Marinette feel like running away, she looked down and decided that she’d go right past him and head home, but when she tried he grabbed her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks and gently spoke.

“Hey, what happened?” 

If she tried she could break away easily and keep going as she planned, he wasn’t holding her back strongly. She decided to turn to look at him. His expression was now one of worry and concern. She took a deep breath before speaking.

“If you’re not busy, why don’t we go to my place to work on our project?” she gave him a soft smile.

He nodded in response.

They walked side by side in silence to her house. When they got there, they said hello to her busy parents, explained they had a project to work on, and made their way upstairs. Once in her room, Adrien sat on her chaise and started to get his notebook out, ready to work on the project just like she said. 

Marinette, not realizing he was doing this thinking she didn’t want to talk, was feeling nervous thinking he was upset. Hesitant she put her hand over his notebook which caused him to look up at her and meet her gaze. They spent a moment like that before he slightly leaned his head to the side, with a puzzled look. She had to speak. She cleared her throat, which felt as dry as a desert before speaking.

“Hey… um… about what happened… I, I’m sorry about what Kim said I--”

“What?” his tone was still serious and she truly wasn’t used to it. 

She decided to look away while she spoke. “I, I thought that’s what made you upset and I, well--” He was laughing softly, which made her stop and look at him. His gaze was soft again and she felt a small laugh bubbling in her as well. She joined him and shortly after their laughs died. 

“I thought you were upset, with what everyone was saying and how everyone had been acting all day as if we were a couple just because I brought you coffee.” That sentence broke her heart a bit. 

She understood now what he was saying. She was the one that told him they couldn’t be together, still, it hurt her to hear the words out of him like that as if he didn’t want to be with her.

“I, well, I mean, It’s not that, well I mean kinda, I” she didn’t know where to start or what to say, and as she struggled she saw him chuckle lightly while he looked at her fondly which made her face burn and instinctively look away. She tried again. “I didn’t want them making those statements because well we aren’t dating and they are gonna tease us and then how are we gonna convince them we’re not a couple without revealing too much and--” her words were lacking space between them, she was talking faster and faster until Adrien put a single finger to her mouth, shushing her softly, with a wide smile spread across his face before taking his hand away. He was so gorgeous.

Meanwhile, Adrien was just happy she wasn’t upset. He didn’t care what everybody else thought, as long as they got to be close, as long as she didn’t push him away, nothing else mattered. He understood she thought they couldn’t be in a relationship and he wanted to respect that. 

“I’m sorry.” a pause “When I sat next to you in the morning, I wasn’t really thinking. I just, you looked so tired, sleeping and I just wanted to give you the coffee I brought you, but then a tear fell down your cheek and I just, I wanted to hug you so bad, but I didn’t want to wake you or make you upset, and so I started stroking your head — he blushed — and well when I came back to reality everyone was staring and the class was starting and” he let out a small sigh “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, that everyone got on our case like that.” She gave him a gentle smile. 

“You’re right kitty —she said while placing her hand on his head, patting him— as long as things are clear between us, who cares what they say. Now, let’s get working on this project.” She sat down and they started talking about their project, but Marinette couldn’t stop thinking being close without being together was gonna be harder than she thought.

Chapter Text

They were working on the project with almost no distractions after Plagg and Tikki were fed and floated away to Marinette’s loft. However, Adrien felt like he should take the opportunities he had to talk to her like this, in private to get to know more about his lady. All the stuff he always wanted to know but never did to protect their identities.

“Marinette, can I ask you something?” He tried testing his luck, not wanting to upset her.

Marinette glanced up at him “Sure” she said, a little confused by the sudden question, then returning her attention to the project.

“Remember that time, when Glaciator first appeared, and you told me there was another boy?” he made a pause. Her face flushed profusely, but only hummed in response, so he continued “Was I the other boy?” She still refused to lift her gaze.

A few moments went by and Adrien was about to speak, to apologize and change the subject when she finally answered timidly. “Yes”

“So you’re telling me, that basically we stood up each other?”

She looked at him and pondered for a moment before speaking again. “Yeah, I haven’t thought of that.”

“There’s so much stuff that starts to make sense I just have a million questions. Don’t you?”

“I guess so, I remembered feeling so bad that I stood you up, back then I didn’t think our banter meant anything, I thought it was just part of your act. I’m sorry.”

He looked at her softly, for a moment, and then his head lit up with another question. “Wait! How did you manage to detransform as multimouse and give your miraculous to Ladybug that one time?”

“It was an illusion, I had to be sure you couldn’t possibly think I was Ladybug” she laughed softly.

“Makes sense” he stayed quiet, deep in thought. Looking for other things he wanted to ask her, but also waiting to see if she would ask him something.

“I know!” she said after some moments, “How did you manage to be Chat and fight Gorizilla by my side while also Adrien was being caught by him?”

His hand went to the back of his neck, as he sheepishly smiled. “Remember Wayhem? One of my fans, the one who kept posting my location that day?” She only nodded in response. “I asked him to pretend to be me, we changed clothes and he cut off the head of his Adrien cut out and wore a helmet.” She lifted her eyebrows amazed at the plan he pulled off.

They kept talking while barely working on the project for almost all afternoon. Connecting dots, sharing stories of all the times they weren’t there for the other, making sense now. Talking about close calls and other stories they now could share when suddenly Adrien made a connection that rather brought some heavy questions.

“Mari, do you remember that time on Montparnasse Tower? That time Alya took a picture of us kissing and we had no memories of it?” Marinette suddenly tensed a bit, her attention now fully on him. “What if that happened because we learnt our identities?”

She pondered for a second before speaking “But didn’t the akuma make people forget everything? Last thing I remember was being in an elevator, with you unconscious, drawing some clues for myself right before getting hit.”

“Hmmm. You’re right, but it makes you wonder what led to that, doesn’t it?” They stayed in silence for a bit, Adrien made a sound, as if to ask something just to immediately shut up and shake his head.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.” Her gaze locked into his, encouraging him to speak. He wanted to ask her if she had thought of how many times they had kissed, in and out of the mask. He knew there was at least another one he couldn’t remember, that he found out on that Nadja Chamack interview. But he didn’t want to make the conversation uncomfortable. He decided he’d save that question for another day.

“I just was gonna ask you how you were that day after detransforming” She gave him a confused look. He continued “I was in a cardboard Chat Noir suit and I have always wondered what the hell happened during that fight.” She started laughing and soon after he joined her.

Before night time came, Adrien left. Marinette was surprised he was allowed to stay as long as he had, and wondered if would be in any trouble. She liked being close to him, she liked this new dynamic to their friendship, and thought maybe everything would be alright, maybe as long as they don’t date, the world won’t end, and as long as she can keep her partner, she would be alright.

When Adrien got home, he half expected to be in trouble for being so late without permission, but his father was nowhere to be found. In reality ever since his image was in those rings, he had a little bit of more freedom, not having photoshoots all the time. He went up to his room, changed into his pajamas and stayed there thinking about Marinette, his Lady, and how things were now between them. He liked the friendship they had now. Maybe now that they could spend more time together and get to know each other better without the mask, Ladybug could be convinced that nothing terrible would happen if they got together.

Adrien decided to go out and see Marinette, it wasn’t really late, and even though he had just been there, he just really wanted to see her again. Being with her, seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, he would never get enough of it. After all, now that she knew, he could visit her as Chat and they could spend more time together.

She had just gotten out of the shower and was brushing her hair when she heard a soft tapping on her skylight. She peeked over and saw Chat sheepishly smiling at her. It made her blush a little. She went up to her loft, opened it and waited for Chat to come inside. He jumped down and crouched right in front of her, his stare deep into hers. He looked a little out of breath, but even when his breathing normalized, he kept staring deep into her eyes. Her face was burning and she kept waiting for him to say something, but he didn’t. She then cleared her throat and that seemed to break the spell.

“I- um Hi- I” he reached the back of his neck like he usually did when he was nervous. It wasn’t something she saw often in Chat. “Sorry, I know I was just here but, I, well, back at my house, I-”

He was really struggling and it was cute to see him like this. She realized he must spend a lot of time alone and even though he could get away as Chat it’d be weird to explain as Adrien how he managed to get out.

“You wanna watch a movie?” She offered, and he was thankful.

“I’d love to”

He detransformed and Marinette went down to grab some hot cocoa for both of them. When she came back, they put up a movie on her computer and sat next to each other on her bed. They were watching a rom-com movie, and for the most part they were laughing and talking while watching the movie. Near the end of the movie, Adrien noticed Marinette had been quiet for a while, and he was about to look over when she leaned in, letting her head rest against his chest, trapping his arm around her shoulders. She had fallen asleep. He supposed he should let her sleep, after all she hadn’t been sleeping a lot lately, and figured he would wake her up when the movie was over, but before he knew it, he was falling asleep as well, his head above hers.

He woke up a little lost at first, not knowing where he was. The room was still dark, which meant it still was night time. He tried to move and then noted Marinette was fully on her side, her head on his chest and one of her legs hugging one of his. He started to remember how they fell asleep watching a movie, and looked around for her laptop, unable to find it on her bed. He found his phone in his pants pocket to check the time, it was 3am. He had to go home. He tried gently to move to get Marinette off of him without waking her up, but she started speaking, still half asleep.

“Where are you going Kitty?”

He froze. He looked at her, her eyes still shut close. “Shhh, go back to sleep, I gotta go home.” he said really low, trying to convince her while she was still half asleep. She didn’t answer so he tried to move again, and she wrapped her arm around his torso and her leg hugged him tighter. “Princess, I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise, but I gotta go now.” He tried once more to move, but she wouldn’t let go. “Marinette, really-”

“Stay” she interrupted him. He looked at her again. Her eyes were still closed. “Don’t go” she held him tighter.

He noticed her expression was upset, and a tear started to roll down her cheek. He caressed her hair and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay princess, I’m here, I’ll stay” he felt her relax against him, still not letting go. He then decided he could stay a little longer, as long as he was home before the sun was up, he wouldn’t be in trouble, or so he hoped.

Chapter Text

Marinette woke up a little uncomfortable. She was trying to move, but something was preventing her. She opened her eyes and looked over to find the object in question. Her laptop, still over her legs, was now shut off, out of battery. The movie was over for a while now. Lifting her head, she noticed Adrien was deep asleep. It made her smile and feel warm. She closed the laptop and set it aside.

She pondered for a moment if she should wake him up. His breath was even and peaceful. He seemed comfortable, relaxed, in his pajamas, and his hair Chat-like messy. Once again she laid next to him, his arm came down to hug her closer, his chest now her pillow. She was on her side, her hand roaming in the expanse of his chest, watching it move as he breathed and it lulled her back into slumber.

They were sitting at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Her head on his shoulder, legs dangling over the edge. She felt warm and safe. Fuzzy feelings and happiness filling her soul. Time seemed to be frozen, yet they were watching the sunset. She could live like this forever. She never wanted this moment to end. How had she been so scared of knowing Chat behind the mask? It all seemed silly now. Maybe they could be more than friends.

Suddenly something started to pull Adrien away. Bunnix’s voice spoke loud and echoey. “You have to let go, Marinette.'' She looked over to him, he gave her a sad smile. He then stood up and gave him his traditional two finger salute as he started back off.

“Where are you going Kitty?” he didn’t answer. She launched herself over and hugged him, but a few moments after he was moving again to get off her grip. She held onto him tighter.

“I gotta go now.” He tried once more to move and wiggle free, but she wouldn’t let go. “Marinette, really-”

“Stay” she interrupted him. “Don’t go” she held him tighter.

She felt him embrace her, but kept on hearing Bunnix’s voice over and over “You have to let go Marinette”. She cried on his chest. Images of Chat Blanc passed through her brain. The moon shattered. Her body, dust. The world ending. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to let go. She loved Chat more than anything. She had lost him twice now. She couldn’t be Ladybug without him. “It’s okay princess, I’m here, I’ll stay”. She relaxed a little but kept her hold on him. Afraid that if she let go he would disappear.

She woke up to a voice speaking to her. She couldn’t quite understand. Grumpy from being dragged to consciousness she hummed in response, holding on tighter. She then felt silly kisses on her forehead and a hand repeatedly going through her hair. She giggled.

“Wake up Princess” the voice said. She smiled and started to open her eyes. Her vision was blurry and the room was still dark. She heard a small laugh and it made her feel fuzzy and warm.

She finally came to her senses, and reality came crashing down. Adrien was looking at her with adoration. His forehead glued to hers and a dopey smile painted his face. She felt her cheeks burn and her whole body tense, at which again, he let out a small laugh. She smiled at him.

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Her dream came back to her, and her eyes started to well up. A hand of his came to caress her right cheek, his expression preoccupied now. She closed her eyes tightly wishing those memories away, and felt the tears stream down her face.

“Marinette?” She opened her eyes at the sound of his voice. His eyes searching for answers into hers. He was so caring and cute and attentive and wonderful. She couldn’t imagine life without him by her side. She closed the space between them, hugging him and started to sob. “What’s wrong?”

She tried her best to calm down her breathing. “I don’t want to lose you” she said and after a moment of silence she explained. “I had a nightmare” He embraced her.

“It’s okay Bug, it was just a dream, you won’t lose me I promise.” She pulled away just enough to see his face. Her hand cupped his cheek. “I gotta go now.” Her eyes went wide, at her expression he spoke again. “The sun’s about to come up and I’m not sure how my father or Nathalie would react if I’m not in my bed, let alone what they’d do if they found out I spent the night with a girl.”

At this statement they both blushed. He looked away and she caressed his cheek, bringing his gaze back to hers. “It’s okay Minou, I get it.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. and now he was blushing from the neck up. “I’ll see you later?”

“Can’t get enough of me?” he teased

“We have a project due Monday that we barely worked on yesterday?” she said and he looked a bit embarrassed at that. “But yes, I won’t ever get enough of you.” she said. Now his lips were on her cheek. Too close to her mouth. He stayed close, his breath above hers and their gaze intense. He came closer and she could almost feel his lips on hers, but instead, he gave her a tiny kiss on her nose before calling his transformation and sitting up.

“Later princess” he said with a wink, and left through the skylight he’d come last night, leaving her breathless, staring after him.

When Adrien got back home he wasn’t really able to fall back asleep. He kept thinking and thinking. He hadn’t slept so peacefully like that in, well, ever maybe. He loved having Marinette around, and the idea of seeing her again today had him excited. He was so over the moon with finally getting to know Marientte truly, his lady.

Before he knew it he was ready and having breakfast. He had to ask his father permission to go see Marinette and work on the project but he couldn’t reach him. Nathalie said he was rather busy, and after telling her the situation, she suggested Marinette could come by as long as they didn’t make too much noise so his father wouldn’t notice. That was an excellent idea! He ran upstairs and as soon as he reached his room he started calling Marinette.

While the phone rang Plagg came up to his view and spoke “Isn’t it a bit early to be calling Pigtails? Aren’t you gonna wake her up? You know she hates waking up early”

Plagg did have a point, but it wasn’t that early was it? it was 8am, maybe she slept in on weekends but they did have a project to work on. He shushed Plagg and walked further into his room. The last tone rang and he knew he was about to reach her voicemail when she finally answered.

“Hello?” her voice was raspy, he did wake her up.

“Morning princess, did I wake you up?”

“Minou? Is there an akuma?”

“No, I just wanted to talk about our project, I’m not allowed to go out, but Nathalie said you could come by to work on it. What do you think?”

“hmmm…” she definitely was still sleepy “it’s okay, I’ll go, what time is it?” a pause “8:15! It’s so earlyy…” she groaned in annoyance, and at that he chuckled. “Why did you wake me up so early?”

“I just can’t wait to see you!”

“Ugh you dork”

“I’ll get you coffee?”

“Fine, I’ll get changed, have some breakfast and then I’ll head over, but you better have that coffee.” She giggled at the end

“Promise! I’ll see you in a bit!” and then they hung up.

Plagg floated up to Adrien’s face “How are you gonna go get her coffee if you can’t get out?”

“Adrien can’t go out, but Chat can” Plagg started to groan but Adrien called his transformation anyway and made his way out the window.

It had been a bit more than an hour since they hung up when Marinette was ringing the doorbell to Adrien’s house. She was about to speak through the interphone when the doors opened. She went through them and saw Adrien peek out behind one of the main doors to the mansion and wave his hand at her to hurry.

She hurried to him and when they were close, he held a finger to his lips, signaling to her to be quiet. He took her hand and guided her upstairs to his room. Once inside he let go of her hand and walked over to the desk, turning around with her coffee in hand. “Like promised” he said, smiling proudly. She melted at that.

They worked on their project for a while, making good progress. Plagg and Tikki had been talking and playing around the room. They weren’t loud enough for either of them to understand what they talked about, but they were so cute nonetheless.

After some hours of work, Adrien got up and told Marinette he was gonna go get some snacks for them to take a break. Marinette nodded and he went out. After a few minutes he came back up with a picnic basket and pulled out some camembert and cookies on his desk for Plagg and Tikki. They flew straight to them and Tikki thanked him.

He grabbed Marinette from the wrist and walked to his sofa. He set up the picnic basket on his coffee table and started to pour various snacks out, to Marinette it seemed like a lot for just the two of them.

“Do we have more company? Are we feeding somebody else?” she laughed.

“Says the person who always fills me up with pastries and sweets!”

“Because you look too skinny sometimes! Besides, you like them!”

“I do like them, but may I remind you I’m still a model, I have to be skinny”

“You are a superhero, you can’t be skinny.”

“Well, that’s why I brought a lot of food” he said, booping her in the nose with his index finger as he said “Boop!” She chuckled at the gesture.

They started grabbing some snacks and eating in silence for a little while. Then Adrien broke the silence.

“Hey Mari” he made a pause, her eyes met his. “Can I ask you about your nightmare?”

There was a small silence, his gaze drifted away. Just before Marinette could speak, he spoke again, looking into the distance through his giant window. “Last night, I tried to leave earlier. But when I pulled away you started talking in your dreams” at this she blushed “and then when I insisted you started crying and I… well I decided to stay ‘til sunrise.”

After a moment she spoke “What was I saying?”

He looked back at her and noticed she was slightly blushing. “Well you were hugging me and I tried to move to get up, and when I did, you asked me where I was going, and I told you I needed to go but you wouldn’t let go and then, you asked me to stay, and started crying”

“Oh…” another pause of heavy silence. “Well I…”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to” he said smiling softly

She took a deep breath and tried again “We were on the eiffel tower, and suddenly I heard Bunnix’s voice, she kept telling me to let go, and then you said you had to leave and I didn’t wanted you to, so I convinced you to stay but I kept hearing Bunnix, and having these flashbacks of Chat Blanc and the moon and--” He embraced her. She didn’t notice when he got next to her nor that she had started crying until he pulled away to wipe her tears.

“I know you’re scared Bug. I’m sorry you've been through a lot alone, I wish you could’ve told me sooner, I wish I could’ve been there for you.” He caressed her cheek with his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. He rested his forehead against hers and she opened her eyes. “Everything’s gonna be okay, you won’t lose me, I promise”

His eyes stared into hers with intensity, his breath above hers, and she felt how much he cared for her, how much they meant to each other. They were so close and without really thinking she brought him into a kiss.

His eyes went wide at first but then he closed them and melted into the kiss. Their kiss was passionate and desperate, yet sweet and tender. They broke away and looked into each other's eyes. She saw the questions in his expression. Marinette knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but she was so tired of bottling her emotions, for once she wanted to follow them, and so she brought him in for another kiss.

Chapter Text

Adrien melted into their kiss. He was confused, but he couldn’t deny he’d been dying to kiss her every time they looked into each other’s eyes. Her kiss was hungry. Her hands buried into his hair at the back of his head, her arms around his neck. His were around the small of her back. He broke away for air but she caught him into a fiery kiss once again. When he broke off the kiss again, he rested his forehead on hers.

His breath was ragged, and so was hers. Her arms stayed around his neck, his around her waist. He lifted his gaze to meet hers. Her eyes had this intense fire in them. She looked at him with such an intensity, but still he could see small tears in them. He worried and his gaze must’ve shown it, because she tried pulling him into another kiss, but his hold on her waist stopped her from doing so. She gave him an adorable pout and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

“Bug, are you okay?” he said barely above a whisper. They were so close to each other he was sure she heard him just fine.

Her gaze went down. She knew exactly what he was asking. What she should be asking herself. There was just so much between them, so much at risk but she was tired. She was tired of pushing him away, of trying to be the voice of reason.

His hand came to her cheek as he spoke again. “Buginette?”

She looked up at him. His gaze searched for something in hers. He was still waiting for an answer, trying to slow her down, to make sure she was okay. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and spilled on to her cheeks. He wiped them off with his hands on both of her cheeks. He was so caring and patient and it made Marinette’s heart swell.

“I…” her voice wavered “I don’t know” she started sobbing. He pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I’m just so tired.” She spoke between sobs. He pulled away just enough to be able to look at her. “I’m so scared of losing you and I keep on having these nightmares, but then ─her hand wiped across her face a bit aggressive to wipe the tears as she sniffed─ what if they take you away? even if I put all of these rules and space in between us, what if they still take you away? I can’t lose you. I don’t want to lose you. I’m tired of having to be the responsible one, I…” she made a pause and took a deep breath. She looked into his eyes, her gaze intense. “I love you. I really do. I love you so much, and you are so caring and cute and perfect. You’re the best partner I could ever have.” His gaze softened. Her hand came to caress his cheek, she looked at him adoringly. “I’m so sorry for all the times I pushed you away, for all the times I took you for granted, for all the times I kept you in the dark. I…” she started crying.

Her sobs became a little louder and more frequent. She was having a hard time trying to regain control of her breathing. “It’s okay Bug, I understand, it’s not easy being a guardian, but we made it through, and I’m here for you, they won’t take me away.”

«What if I mess up? What if Hawkmoth wins? What if they take my memories away? What then?» Her head kept asking all of these questions, spinning, catastrophizing. But she tried her best to push them away, holding onto his embrace, where she was safe.

After they kissed, he spent the rest of the afternoon trying to comfort her. They watched a movie, and he held her in his arms. She seemed to be okay, things seemed to be okay. But he knew deep inside, her head was still reeling and thinking things over and over. Catastrophizing. He tried to keep her as late as they both could, but she eventually left. Her parents although, more permissive than his father, still didn’t want Marientte outside at a late hour.

He couldn’t help but worry when she left. Even though she was better when she left, he could see in her eyes she wasn’t okay. After he had dinner, he was pacing around his room thinking about going out and spending the night at her place again. «What if she had nightmares again and needed him?» He didn’t want to push her, but he couldn’t help being worried. Just as he was about to transform and head out to see her, he saw her arrive at his window.

She had a soft smile, but her eyes were puffy and sad. He hurried to the window and helped her in. Once in, Ladybug stood frozen in place, with her hands held together and her eyes glued to the floor.

“Princess? Are you okay?” He tried searching for her gaze. Without looking up, she shook her head, and after a few moments tears came down her face as she started to sob. He pulled her in to hug her, and her head rested in the space between his shoulder and neck. He could feel her tears on his t-shirt. It broke his heart to see her like this, and not being able to do anything to make it better. “Do you wanna stay the night?” he offered. He felt her nod.

He let go of her and waited for her to pull away, before he picked her up princess style. She let out a small giggle at his antics and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He carried her to his bed, letting her down gently. Once there, he remained sitting facing her, his hands started roaming through her hair.

“Did you have dinner?” he asked her after a while.

“Yes but I think Tikki may need some cookies.” he nodded and went to his desk where he had left an unopened pack of cookies. As he did, he saw a flash of pink behind him and soon Tikki appeared by his side. He opened the pack and she flew to his face “Thanks Adrien, for the cookies and for taking care of Marinette. She really needs you right now.” She hugged his cheek, then she flew away.

He went back to Marinette “Are you comfortable?”

“No.” he looked at her waiting for her to elaborate. Maybe she wanted another cover? He didn’t think it was cold, but maybe she was, since she had been out and about just a few moments ago but then she spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. “I need my kitty” she blushed as she said so, looking at him in a way that made his heart beat faster. He probably was blushing as well.

He turned off his light and layed down next to her. Close enough for her to reach, but giving her some space as well. She closed the space between them, resting her head on his chest. “Is this okay?” she asked, sounding incredibly shy. His arm came to hug her and he placed another kiss on her forehead. “I’m sure you can hear my heartbeat telling you it’s more than okay, princess” at that, she chuckled softly. A few moments later, she fell deep asleep and soon after so did he.

He woke up just as the sun was rising, only to notice Marinette was gone. He sat up and noticed that Tikki wasn’t next to Plagg at his desk, as he went to grab his phone he noticed the sticky note that was on his screen.

«Had to leave. Sorry.
Thanks for letting me stay Kitty»

His heart warmed at that.

Today they needed to finish their project, not that they had much left to finish, but he was glad he had an excuse to see her again, even if he didn’t know where they stood now, he’d always be there for her, and he knew how much she needed him right now.

Marinette woke up just before the sun started to rise. She looked up to find herself in Adrien’s arms. She hadn’t slept this peacefully in a couple of weeks now. She sat up and Tikki flew up to her.

“Are you okay Marinette?” She spoke softly.

She only nodded in response. Carefully she extracted herself from the bed, trying her best not to wake up Adrien. She grabbed a sticky note from his desk and left him a message on it, deciding to stick it on his phone. His hair was messy but he looked beautiful nonetheless. Her heart fluttered as she leaned in to leave a kiss on his forehead. Then, called her transformation and left through the window she arrived the night before.

Once she entered her room and sat on her bed, she released her transformation. Tikki floated near her face waiting for her to say something.

“Can we really be together Tikki?” a pause “Knowing each other’s identities, Fu always said we couldn’t but what are we supposed to do?”

Tikki gave her a fond look before speaking “Oh Marinette, I know Fu said that, but the truth is, none of us know what will happen. The future is a mystery. It’s true that it’s dangerous for you to know each other’s identities, but you both know that, and have grown so much since you both became Ladybug and Chat Noir. We can’t go back in time, and if needed, Bunnix would’ve already done so. The choice is yours. You both have to choose what will happen between you and how you’ll handle it. But I don’t know what’ll happen anymore than you do, or than he does.”

Marinette cupped her hands for Tikki to land on them, and once she did she pulled her to her cheek. “Thank you Tikki, I don’t know what would I do without you” Tikki cradled her cheek.

“What are you gonna do about Adrien?”

“I think I have an idea, he deserves something big and romantic, for all of the thing he’s done for me”

Marinette texted Adrien, telling him she had to help at the bakery today and wouldn’t be able to meet up until late afternoon. They had practically finished their project the day before, minus some adjustments but nothing she couldn’t handle on her own.

He spent all day thinking of her. Thinking about going to see her, worried she might haven’t slept well or at all last night, and so on and so forth. The day went by slowly. Plagg tried to distract him playing foosball, and talking about cheese. He appreciated his efforts, but they did little to actually distract Adrien.

Before sunset he received a text from Marinette. «Wanna go on patrol? Meet me at the Eiffel Tower!» As soon as he read that he called his transformation and left immediately.

When he arrived she was leaning on the railing they usually sat by. When his feet met the metal base she turned around to face him. She looked stunning, and with the sunset behind her, Adrien felt like he was dreaming. He stared at her for a while, too long maybe, because she started giggling before speaking.

“Cat got your tongue?” she came closer. He couldn’t reply, his heart was beating erratically, and his throat felt dry. Her breath was above his in an instant, looking at him with a dangerous gaze, he felt his heart burning, but felt a bit relieved noticing her blush as well. She leaned to whisper in his ear “Bet you can’t catch me” as she gave his bell a little fling, as she had done so many times in the past.

Before he could react, she pulled away, booped his nose and swung away. It took him a few seconds to come back to reality and started chasing after her. He came close to catching her a few times, and heard her laugh as he trailed behind. She really had gotten a head start leaving him out of breath back at the Eiffel Tower.

The sun finally set, and she stopped at a roof near her house. He ran and trapped her in an embrace, her back glued to his chest, without really noticing the roof they landed on. “Got’cha” he said to her ear, mimicking her catchphrase when she caught akumas. She giggled and relaxed in his embrace. They remained like that for a moment, out of breath from running around, and then he started to notice the roof around them.

It was the same roof he once decorated for her, that first night they fought Glaciator. He let go of her to take a look around. She had set candles and some fairy lights, the ones from her balcony he recognized. There was a picnic blanket laid out with some petals spread, as well as some pillows and cushions and a picnic basket.

He turned around and found her looking at him with her hand extended to him. He took it and she pulled him to her.

“You know ─she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear─ there’s this boy, who I’ve liked for the longest time, and…” She looked up at him through her lashes and his heart threatened to jump out of his chest.

Grabbing his other hand in hers, she continued “The day I met you, I judged you wrong. I thought you were pretentious and superficial. But then I got to know the real you, someone sweet, sincere, and generous. After that I tried to tell you something, except every time I tried it was as if my brain stopped working, but this time, I think I’m ready. I love you. All of you.”

Small tears gathered in his eyes. He recognized that speech from that time he helped her rehearse her confession to “Buttercup”. He was her blind Buttercup. She caressed his cheek getting closer, but letting him close the space between them if he chose to. And he did.

They kissed. This time it was slow, full of emotion still, but tender. After, he let his forehead rest on hers, their hands still intertwined. “I can’t believe we’ve been chasing after each other for so long” he said with a chuckle.

“And I can’t believe that I finally got to tell you my true feelings, and be with the two boys I’ve ever loved, that turned out to be one and the same. I really am the luckiest.”

“I guess your luck rubbed on me too, because I also get to be with the girl I fell for twice.”