#Adrien is largely just sad that he never gets to spend time with the rest of his friends

[worddevdealswithml]

Failed Step 1 (And 2 ( And 3))

Chapter 18: Sinking into the Winter; Making it to New Year’s

As a week passed, and then several more, Kagami realized that she needn’t have been so worried about boredom; the world, as it so often did, provided plenty to keep her busy.  Dance lessons, for all she had never been a dancer, were… simple enough, and her mother was quite insistent that she take them regularly, and with all the care that she practiced her fencing.

If she had to guess, it was something about it being the new year; she didn’t ask Adrien about it, of course, but it was probably something like that absurd ‘New Year’s Kiss’ thing that some people apparently went in for.

Of course, Kagami had to restrain a slight annoyance at the fact that it was only simple because Adrien would be leading.  She was pretty sure that that little quirk was only as a matter of tradition, and didn’t take into account their particular… personalities.

By the end of the second week of practicing, Kagami had become annoyed at the repeated implication that she’d be the one following in any relationship, and especially in one with someone as… soft, and kind as Adrien. Among his many assets, Kagami would not have counted a go-getter attitude as one of them, especially she wouldn’t have used that term.

By the end of the third week, Kagami had started paying more attention to how her teacher led than how she should follow, which was easier than she’d have expected, since, after all, following was simple.

As November’s chill sank inexorably into the raw freeze of December, one of the coldest ones in a while, from what Kagami had gathered, she only narrowly managed to avoid broaching the subject with her mother.

The problem was that when her mother made choices, it was with the clear understanding that they were the right choices. Therefore, if Kagami was going to bring her doubts up, she’d need to be able to make a case that her mother would listen to, and she wasn’t sure if she could do that.

That meant that if she tried explaining to her mother…  Well…  Wasn’t there that saying?  ‘Better to ask forgiveness than permission?’

She’d never liked that saying, but it had recently started sounding unnervingly useful.

Except, of course, she could… just, do what she was apparently supposed to.  It would, as she’d noted many times over, be easy.

The days slipped by, and as winter break arrived, Kagami still didn’t have an answer.

She could have asked Adrien, but she could almost see his slightly abashed acknowledgement already.  She knew the answer she’d get, and didn’t know how exactly it would help her. More to the point, it hadn’t even officially been made clear that she’d be dancing with Adrien, so as far as Kagami knew, she technically wasn’t even allowed to mention this to anyone.

Christmas came and went with as little fanfare as Kagami would have expected.

She should have expected the updated playlist from Adrien, since he’d spent a fair stretch of time after their sparring match on the 22nd asking whether she’d liked any of it.

She… Appreciated that.  The music was far more reliably palatable this time, too.

And…

Chloe had sent her a card, with a $5 gift card to a store that, after idle curiosity had gotten the better of her, turned out to be an extremely mediocre clothing store.

Kagami had almost laughed, before experiencing a moment of cognitive dissonance as she tried to process whether it was more in line with her interests to be mildly amused by the ‘gift,’ or whether to ignore it.

Still, after a second, she had decided that it would be gone from her head sooner if she treated it with mild amusement, and then let it go.

It looked like Chloe really had gotten better at giving truly useless gifts.

--

The 31st arrived, and Adrien was, frankly, a bit depressed.

Christmas had passed without even an Akuma to get him out of the house, which, of course…  He didn’t want Paris to be attacked, but it had been days since he’d seen Ladybug, and he was starting to miss her.  Then, of course, there was the fact that his friends were going to be over at Alya’s apartment for New Year’s Eve, and… even if Father probably wouldn’t have let him go, it would have been nice at least to imagine that if this ball wasn’t happening…

Anyway.

If nothing else, Kagami would be there… And Chloe.

Of course… Adrien had kind of given up on that whole… thing at this point.

They’d stopped sparring, and he hadn’t seen them interact with each other in the past month and a half, which he had to assume meant that whatever had happened, hadn’t gone so well.

He had Plagg, at least.  Sure, he wasn’t exactly the most conversational, but if he saw Adrien was having a bad day, he had a knack for trying to lighten the mood a bit.  Today, it had been by talking about the real story behind the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Nonetheless, as Adrien had gotten dressed for the ball, which theoretically began at 7, and went past midnight, he had the distinctive impression that it was going to be a long, long night.

--

Chloe sat down at her seat, which, despite being the same one Adrien was at, was still too far from him

It was 7:20, which meant, of course, that she’d arrived fashionably late, despite the fact that her father was supposed to make a speech, and had arrived far earlier.

Her mother would absolutely have arrived even later, so Chloe had no guilt whatsoever about it.

Unfortunately, even being fashionably late didn’t let her avoid the absolutely mind-numbing speeches and endless introductions that were part and parcel of high-class events.

First it was her father, and, of course, she’d heard the speech in bits and pieces a dozen times before.  It was, to nobody’s surprise, bland, televised, and largely about how proud he was of Paris for making it through another year of assault.  There was a personal thanks to the heroes of Paris, though he only referenced Ladybug and Chat Noir, which Chloe found a little bit questionable, since, after all, she was also one of…

Well.

Anyway.

Then, some man she didn’t recognize who was old beyond reason went up to the front and started droning on about the deep significance of the ball, and what the itinerary for the rest of the night was like, and…

Chloe tuned him out after he started talking about how much deliberation it had taken before they had decided that they were willing to let it be televised.

Why, exactly, did anyone care?  It was a ball.  It was fancy. Yeah, it probably deserved to be televised, but at what point did you think it was so private that you might restrict people from watching?

What was the point of being rich and/or famous if you just… never let anyone see you?

Chloe, out of sheer boredom, pulled out her phone under the table, and…

At the rate things were going, it was going to be a long, long night.

[somethingvaguetodo]

Strangers in the Night (Two Lonely People)

This is for @lnc2 who has been having a tough time lately, and loves Ladrien. Hope you like it! I realized I’ve never written just Ladrien before, so that had to be fixed. I imagine this taking place as an alternative ending to Gang of Secrets (no reveal), but it could be anytime. 

Read on AO3 here.

~~~

Ladybug tumbled over the rooftops, bounding over Rue Soufflot and performing a series of impressive aerial somersaults before landing on her balcony. She rested for a moment against the railing, taking a deep breath of crisp night air and glancing up at the crescent moon. She let her eyes scan her surroundings, slipping from the metal scaffolding around Notre Dame to the façade of her school. Ladybug leaned forward, her attention piqued. A strange glow emanated from the courtyard of the collège, shining through the windows.

Before she could think about it twice, Ladybug leapt from her perch, landing silently on the roof of the school. Below her in the courtyard was a lone figure, illuminated by the glow of a lantern, who was slashing a fencing sabre through the air. It was easy to identify the midnight fighter, his golden hair gleaming in the light.

Adrien.

She dropped down from the roof to land behind him.

“Hey.”

Adrien jumped, dropping his sabre to the ground and letting out a yelp. Ladybug covered her giggles with her hand as he spun to face her, a guilty look on his face.

“I’m sorry I know I shouldn’t…” Adrien rushed out, before pausing. “Oh, it’s you, Ladybug.”

“Gee, thanks,” she answered.

Adrien shook his head. “I didn’t mean it like that. I thought I was going to get in trouble for being here.” Suddenly, he looked alarmed. “What are you doing here? Is there an akuma?”

“No,” she assured him. “I was just out patrolling and saw the light, so I figured I should check.”

Adrien bent to pick up his fallen sabre. “Do you often patrol alone? I thought you usually patrol with Chat Noir?” he asked. There was something strange about his voice and the way he asked the question, but Ladybug chose to ignore it.

“Usually.” She shrugged. “But I couldn’t sleep so I decided to stretch my legs. Didn’t want to bother Chat Noir for that.”

“I don’t think he would mind,” Adrien said, his voice soft. He shuffled his sabre from his right to his left hand, bouncing it as if he was testing the weight.

“Probably not,” Ladybug conceded. “But enough about me. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

Adrien met her eyes, holding her gaze for a moment before turning away. “I couldn’t sleep either, so I came here to burn off some energy.”

The longer she looked at him, the more she could see the signs of weariness in him. The slump of his shoulders, the bags underneath his eyes. He wasn’t dressed for fencing, but was more casual than she was used to seeing him. He had on black sweatpants and a white t-shirt, emblazoned with a large Gabriel logo. His hair was messy, and he looked almost like he had rolled right out of bed and into the school courtyard.

Despite having a pile of her own troubles, Ladybug felt a tug on her heartstrings. Adrien usually looked so polished and put together. Something must be really bothering him if he went out like this, even if he didn’t plan on running into anyone.

“Do you want me to give you a lift home?” she asked him.

Adrien kicked at the duffle bag sitting at his feet. “I’m not really ready to go back yet. Are you gonna rat me out?” He looked up at her, eyes wide.

Ladybug smiled gently. “Of course not.”

“Do you want to stay?” Adrien asked. Ladybug thought he sounded like he wanted her to, but maybe it was wishful thinking. “I have a foil in here too.”

“I don’t really know how to fence.”

“I can show you.” Ladybug nodded, and Adrien held out his sabre to her. “Here, take this, it’s easier to use.”

Ladybug reached out and took the sword from him, her gloved fingers brushing against his palm. She wrapped her hand around the grip, watching as her fingers trembled slightly. She was a little nervous about fighting him, but more so about being with him like this, in the quiet glow of this midnight meeting.

It had been a while since she was alone with Adrien, and usually Marinette was clumsy and awkward where Ladybug could be confident and sure. But there was no danger, no villain to fight and nothing to focus on except the sad boy by her side. She really didn’t know who she was supposed to be with him like this.

Adrien stepped up next to her. “Loosen your grip just a little bit, you don’t want to be squeezing your sword too tightly.” He lay a hand on her forearm, and Ladybug’s pulse skyrocketed. “Lower your arm a little,” he said, applying gentle pressure to move her arm into the right position. “Bend at the elbow. Other arm behind your back.” He gripped her empty wrist with his other hand, guiding her arm to rest at the small of her back.

She could feel him behind her, the heat of his body so close to her own. He was still holding on to both of her arms, and she really didn’t want him to let go. She turned her head toward him, only to see that he was looking directly at her face, almost as if he wanted to say something. She waited, the silence stretching between them, but Adrien didn’t speak. Instead, he shook his head and stepped back. Ladybug mourned the loss of him.

“There, that’s perfect.”

Ladybug watched him as he went to his duffle bag, breathing deeply to try and steady her pounding heart. He pulled out another sword and swung it around, before popping a bright red safety tip on the end. He stepped forward, putting a matching one on hers.

“It’s not a real fight, and we aren’t protected,” he said. “How about we just try some attacks. You lunge, I’ll parry.”

Ladybug nodded.

“En garde!”

Ladybug bent her knees and lifted her sword to cross with his.

“Prêts?”

She nodded her confirmation.

“Allez!”

Ladybug extended her arm forward toward Adrien, but he blocked her easily. She stepped back to try again.

“So,” she said, breaking the silence between them. “What was keeping you up tonight?”

The minute the question slipped out of her mouth, she regretted it. It was probably too personal to ask, and it wasn’t like Ladybug and Adrien really knew each other that well to warrant her pushing. But Adrien didn’t seem to mind.

“Have a lot on my mind,” he said simply, blocking her attack once again. “All the expectations people have of me. Who they want me to be, trying to figure out who I want me to be.” He stepped back gracefully with his back foot, giving her the space to lunge again. “What about you?”

Ladybug lunged, overbalancing and stumbling a little. She paused to think for a moment. “Oddly enough, the same things that kept you up. A lot of people expect a lot of things from me.”

Adrien nodded. “Makes sense. Being Ladybug must be a really big responsibility. Do you want to try parrying?”

Ladybug nodded, and this time, braced for his attack. “It’s literally like having the weight of the world on my shoulders,” she divulged. “But not only that, people in my civilian life too. My friends, family… people expect a lot, and it’s hard to live up to that.”

“Tell me about it,” Adrien said. He lunged forward, the tip of his sword coming at her shoulder, and she was just able to get hers up in time to stop it from making contact. “Everyone expects me to be who they want me to be, but I’m still figuring out who I am for myself. The pressure can be too much sometimes.”

In a way, she suddenly realized, she was doing the same thing. She had been surprised to see Adrien as anything except polished and perfect, but maybe that was just the version of him that she was expecting to see. Maybe rumpled-and-wrinkled, wild-hair-and-soft-eyes, fencing-alone-in-the-middle-of-the-night was Adrien too.

But mostly, it was nice to spend some time with someone who understood how she felt, and felt the same way. Someone who wasn’t pushing her to give more than she could, but who knew what it meant that people expected too much from them. Even with Chat Noir, who knew her better than most but still not as much as he should have, the barriers between them were sometimes too much for her to bear. Adrien, who didn’t realize he was here with his friend and classmate, but thought he was spending time with an anonymous hero. A lot of people wanted to know more about who she was underneath the mask, but Adrien didn’t seem to mind her vague answers.

He lunged, she parried.

“Is this what you do, when the pressure is too much?” she asked him.

Adrien looked thoughtful. “I have a couple outlets. Fencing can be one, or playing the piano… or talking to a friend who understands.” There was something about the way he was looking at her that made her blush, and made her wonder if he was thinking the same thing she was a moment before. She didn’t know if he really thought of Ladybug as a friend, but hopefully he found some solace in the thought that they understood each other, even with the words that remained unspoken between them.

Before he had the chance to lunge again, she attacked, thrusting her sword forward. He was surprised, but managed to block it, and suddenly all rules were off. Their swords slashed, technique gone, and Adrien started laughing, beautiful and full, in a way that made her think of thunderstorms and first meetings.

Despite his carefree attitude, he was still in top form, and managed to slip past her defense to press his safety tip against her left shoulder. “Touché,” she laughed, looking at her shoulder as if she could see a physical mark where he touched her.

“Looks like I got you,” he said with a smile.

Boy do you ever, she thought.

In the comfortable silence that lingered, Adrien collected the swords and put them away, extinguishing the light in his handheld lantern before also putting that in his duffle.

“I should probably get going, I don’t want anyone to realize I’m gone,” Adrien said.

“Do you want me to give you a lift?” Ladybug offered again. This time, Adrien nodded, securing the zip on his duffle bag. “How did you get in here in the first place?”

Adrien grinned a genuine smile, pulling the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies.” The edges of his smile were sharp, and it felt out of place, and yet oddly familiar. Nevertheless, his smile made her heart and her cheeks warm.

“If you say so,” she muttered, lifting him up in her arms as he wrapped his own around her shoulders. She crouched and leapt, onto the roof and beyond.

The trip to Adrien’s house wasn’t very long, but Ladybug felt like she would remember every second of it. The weight of him in her arms, the way his eyes glowed in the dim moonlight, his cheeks dusted pink. There was something about Adrien Agreste, that even through all these years and all the ups and downs and fights and failed conversations, he could pull her back into his orbit like nothing and no one else.

One of Adrien’s floor to ceiling windows was propped open, and Ladybug landed on the ledge, pushing it open with her toe. Adrien hopped down from her arms, dropping his bag to the floor. His room was dark, just a nightlight glowing in the bathroom. Ladybug lingered in the window frame, unsure what to say.

“Thanks for keeping me company,” Adrien said, breaking the silence.

“Thanks for teaching me how to fence,” she answered. Unsure what else to say, she turned to leave. “Well, goodnight,” she said, sending him a little awkward wave.

“Wait!” he called, and she looked over her shoulder back at him. He looked young and happy in the low light, and Ladybug couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow, this whole night had been a dream. “If it’s worth anything, I want you to know I like you just the way you are. Saving Paris or fencing pretty poorly.”

“Hey!” she laughed, indignant, but really felt like she was glowing from the inside out. How amazingly easy it really was for him to accept who she was, in any form. “It’s worth a lot,” she said sincerely. “And I like you just the way you are. Picture perfect or trespassing on private property in the middle of the night.”

In the back of her mind, Ladybug wished she was brave enough to lean down and kiss him, but she knew that would only end up complicating a beautiful moment. Instead, she pressed her fingers to her lips and blew him a kiss before leaping back into the night, satisfied.

[quicksilversquared]

More than a Match

Felix Graham de Vanily is back in Paris for the summer, determined to make amends with his cousin. While standing in for Adrien at a photoshoot, he has to deal with a most disagreeable character by the name of Lila.

Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. There can only be one winner here, and Felix is not about to lose.

links in the reblog

Felix Graham de Vanily was more than a little apprehensive about returning to Paris for his mom's summer movie shoot, and for good reason.

The last time that he was in the city, he had caused no small amount of chaos. He had threatened his relationship with Adrien over a (in retrospect) petty, poorly-considered attempt at revenge- how badly their friendship had been damaged really remained to be seen- and gotten off on the wrong foot with all of Adrien's friends, which could make finding people to hang out with more than a little difficult. During that same revenge attempt, he had truly behaved poorly towards one of the city's superheroes, and he would have to try to apologize for it if he could get close to the superheroes again without endangering his life. On top of that, he had palmed his uncle's ring, which- well, was it really stealing when Mr. Agreste had gotten them through less-than-honest means in the first place?- with the full expectation that it would be at least a year before he and his mom returned to Paris, so his uncle might have simmered down by then.

It hadn't been anywhere near a full year yet. His uncle would no doubt still be furious about the retrieval of the ring, and so Felix had to be very careful with it.

Right now, that meant wearing the ring on a strong chain around his neck, hidden under his shirt. If he was going to be spending more than the odd minute here or there in the Agreste mansion, he and his mom might end up looking into getting a safe box for them to lock the ring up in, so that his uncle wouldn't steal it back.

"Don't let on that you're nervous," his mom coached as their train pulled into the Paris stop. "Be confident, don't react to questions about the rings. With a little luck, perhaps your uncle will assume that he misplaced it. Emilie always said that he would mess with his ring when he was designing and she was worried that he'd end up taking it off and misplacing it for good. He's already called me once demanding the ring back and I told him that we didn't have it and maybe he had just lost it."

Which meant that Felix could just act bored about the accusation instead of being surprised. That was useful information.

"I also got us an apartment that's a bit further outside of the city center," his mom continued after a moment. "Both to stay out of the way of the majority of the akuma attacks, and to give us some space from your uncle. We're near a subway line, though, so it'll be easy enough to go and visit."

Felix nodded. His mom had already mentioned that, and he knew that there was a third reason, too: apartments of a decent size close to the city center were expensive. Their family might be wealthy, but (largely due to his father's influence, Felix suspected) they still had never be people to throw money around without due consideration first. "But Uncle Gabriel won't bother to come out and bug us?"

"Of course not. When was the last time that he left that house of his? And if he does- well, I have no problems with kicking up a legal stink. Gabriel would do well to remember that the only reason he has connections to the Mayor's family is because of Emilie and I, so he has no advantage there." Amelie sniffed. "Not that he'll bother to remember that. If anyone asks him, I'm sure he would say that he worked himself up from nothing and made all of his connections himself with his superior bargaining skills."

"Ah, yes, the scowling and yelling and refusing to meet in person is very persuasive, I had forgotten."

Amelie laughed. "Yes, exactly. Emilie was the one who handled more of the PR and meetings with investors, really. If Gabriel had been trying to do it himself, he would have failed miserably." She shrugged, turning back to him with a large smile. "Don't let your uncle ruin your summer, Felix. He roars and rages a lot, but he's always been all bark and no bite."

Felix nodded, taking a steadying breath as the train came to a complete stop and they got up, reaching for their bags. "Right. Of course."

Somehow, he got the impression that that would be easier said than done.

  Really, it- it wasn't as terrible as Felix had thought. The summer had started out slowly- he had seen Adrien at dinner shortly after arriving in Paris, and then Felix had spent a week and a half entertaining himself while his mom started filming on the movie and his cousin finished up his school year.

It wasn't bad, really. He found a small bookstore that was cool and quiet, and he settled down there in a corner to read. It was nice and it was peaceful.

Alas, it was not to last. His mom expected that he would go hang out with Adrien, and so... Felix did. The first three times that he went over, the two of them simply hung out in Adrien's room for part of the day and played some of the video games that Adrien had around. His cousin seemed on high alert at first- Felix certainly noticed fewer things lying around his room, and there were several things with locks on them that hadn't had locks before- but willing enough to try again. By day three, their conversations were far more relaxed, and Adrien spent nearly an hour telling Felix about all of his friends. He wasn't bragging about having them, Felix could tell, but was just genuinely happy to have them and wanted to share that with him.

...unfortunately, Felix knew that it was more likely than not that a large number of Adrien's friends would not be very thrilled to meet him. He had not made a particularly good first impression, to say the least, and they- unlike Adrien- had not had any other interactions with him to go by. Felix didn't resent them for their judgement of him (after all, he rather deserved it, he could admit that much) but it would make meeting them a bit awkward, particularly if Adrien hadn't had a chance to mention how things were going now first.

Or if Felix hadn't done anything obvious to make amends for his earlier behavior. Thankfully, an opportunity to both put off the inevitable meeting and to make things up to Adrien properly practically fell in his lap after Nathalie scheduled a photoshoot right when Adrien was hoping to get together with his friends.

Or, rather, when Adrien had put a meet-up with his friends on his schedule and Nathalie deleted it last-minute to replace it with yet another photoshoot, because apparently she didn't know the meaning of fun. Or being nice, or kindness, or not being a terrible human being, really.

"Are- are you sure that you want to model, Felix? It's not exactly the most fun thing in the world."

Felix nodded resolutely, glancing towards his cousin's door and hoping that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "You want to be with your friends, and I would like to make a good impression this time around before meeting them anyway. It's no big deal. I can sit and make clothes look good for an hour or two."

At last, Adrien nodded in agreement. "I- okay, if you're sure. I'll text you the time and location, so you have it, and-"

"Won't your bodyguard be expecting to drive you there?"

Adrien paused. "...oh. Oh, yeah."

Felix tried not to sigh. Oh, yes was right. Clearly logistics weren't his cousin's strongest point.

"Well, I can ask him to bring me there early, so that I can have some time to relax in the park!" Adrien said after a moment's thought. "And then we can meet and swap outfits there- or I'll bring an extra, actually, it'll be less hassle. It'll be harder for me to get to Marinette's place from there, but I'll manage it. There's a bus line nearby that'll get me close enough."

"Your father actually lets you out enough for you to know how to take the bus?" Felix inquired, unable to help feeling a little incredulous. His cousin hadn't been allowed to walk to his collège, which was only a few mere blocks away, so he had assumed that his uncle had required use of the chauffeured car for all of his other travel. "Count me impressed."

A quick grin flashed across Adrien's face. "He doesn't let me out, exactly. I tend to sneak out. And then, of course, I need to know how to get where I'm going fast, or else I'll get picked up by the Gorilla right away before I have a proper chance of escape."

...that was just sad.

"Anyway, I should probably coach you if we're actually going to do this. You know, give you some pointers and all. Uh." Adrien twisted his ring around, glancing up at the ceiling as though that was going to help him any. "Um."

Felix rolled his eyes. "I hardly think that I'll need extensive coaching to be able to sit in front of a camera and pose."

"Yes, but-"

"Will I need to know several dozen poses to do in rapid-fire succession? I've heard that some models do that."

Adrien sighed. "No, Simon prefers to take more organic shots. I've been learning the fast poses on my own, in case I ever get a photographer who needs that or if I end up branching out and start modeling for catalogues instead of just ads, but Father prefers Simon's artistic vision. So he'll tell you what he wants in general, then give tweaks. Like, there's some moving my head around, maybe, but..." He trailed off, shrugging.

Well. If Felix actually needed any advice to pass off as Adrien during the photoshoot, he was pretty certain that he would be more or less out of luck. With advice like that, it would be a wonder if he wasn't left completely unprepared when he arrived.

"I've not had, like, professional training as a model or anything," Adrien added after a moment. "It's all been informal, which is maybe a bit unusual considering what father's like the rest of the time, but maybe it's good for publicity somehow or something." He shrugged, looking remarkably unbothered by the prospect of his father basing his decision on how to treat Adrien during photoshoots on what would sell best. "So just listen to Simon and don't forget to look towards the camera unless he tells you otherwise, and don't be too stiff but don't slouch, either, and-"

Felix tried not to sigh.

  "If- if Lila's there, just- ugh. Just don't agree to anything she says, and- well, she still tries to lie to me all the time, even though I know better than to trust anything she says. She loves manipulating people, so..."

Adrien's comment about his sometimes-coworker- probably the most intriguing and useful part of his "advice" for the photoshoot once he actually managed to think of something to say- ran through Felix's head as he arrived at the site for the photoshoot, a lovely little park in a less busy part of the city. This Lila character sounded like trouble, and he wasn't much interested in trouble. Or in being manipulated, for that matter.

How very fortunate, then, that Felix had more than a little experience with manipulation. He would be able to spot any attempts coming from a mile away. From what Felix could gather, this Lila person was a sloppy manipulator at best, relying on flashy stories and crocodile tears to keep her influence. They were things that would perhaps work in the short term but would wear off and become ineffective in the long run, particularly once people started picking up on inconsistencies. Eventually, things would backfire on her, and then she would be left alone and hated.

Felix preferred more subtle manipulation, and (unless he was not thinking clearly) only when a situation warranted it. A little nudge here and there to increase the odds of things going his way was rather different than Lila's graceless shoves to make everything go her way, to get the kind of popularity that Lila clearly wanted. His technique was sustainable- after all, infrequent manipulations were less likely to be picked up on- while hers was not.

His cousin hadn't really said much about Lila other than to mention that she might be there and to not fall for her lies, but Felix already disliked her.

"Felix! You got here all right, good!"

Felix pushed away his thoughts and smiled as Adrien ran up. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, presumably with an identical outfit to the one that he was wearing. "Yes, I've had sufficient down time to figure out the system. It wasn't hard to puzzle out."

"Oh, great." Adrien glanced around, clearly making sure that he wasn't being followed, and then passed his bag off to Felix after pulling a smaller bag out from inside of it. "I have an identical outfit in here. Are you good, or...?"

"I'll be fine," Felix assured him. "Go on, go hang out with your friends." He paused and considered Adrien. "Ah, are you going to wear a disguise or something? You know, in case anyone takes pictures of you and posts them?"

Adrien nodded, pulling- surprise, surprise- a baseball hat and a large pair of sunglasses out of his bag. "Yeah, this will work fine! There's plenty of guys in France with blond hair, so as long as my hair isn't visible and they can't see all of my face..."

Felix hoped, for Adrien's sake, that that actually somehow worked and he didn't run into any of his more fanatical fans. Maybe the most basic of disguises would work against most of the population, but there were a few weirdos who probably prided themselves on being able to identify his cousin with the smallest of clues.

"Anyway, hopefully it'll work," Adrien finished after a moment's pause. He glanced back at Felix. "Are you sure you're good?"

"Positive. Go."

Adrien went. Felix watched him for a minute, then made a beeline for the public restrooms building that he had seen earlier. He hated the idea of changing in it, truth be told, but he hardly had a choice.

...well, maybe he could have coordinated outfits with Adrien yesterday and only had to fiddle with his hairstyle at the park instead, but hindsight was 20/20.

Despite Felix's worries, the bathrooms weren't bad at all. He changed quickly and did a fast brushing of his hair into Adrien's hairstyle- it was a little difficult to account for the difference in their hair length in a few places, but he managed it well enough- before leaving the restroom and tracking down the plaza where the photoshoot would be taking place. It was a fairly basic set-up, honestly- a small trailer with the outfits to be worn in it, an equally small tent for changing, a couple chairs for touch-ups to makeup and hair with a screen nearby to block the wind. A few things for lighting and the photography equipment were scattered around, but otherwise it was incredibly minimal.

He had to wonder what normal shoots- ones that weren't solely for the boss's son- looked like. Surely not everything that Gabriel did was so low-budget.

"Ah, Adrien, you're on time- early, even!" A man with a camera hanging around his neck- Simon, Felix assumed- appeared behind him, clapping him on the shoulder and making Felix startle. He chuckled. "That's a nice change from the past couple shoots, hmm?"

Felix only nodded, not sure what to say. In all honesty, he hadn't been expecting the photoshoot's staff to be talking to him much, other than to issue directions for the shoot itself. If he had known that they were likely to be chatty, he would have asked Adrien more questions.

Thankfully, Simon seemed willing enough to move on, immediately turning to the job at hand. The first outfit that "Adrien" was supposed to wear was already in the tent, so if he could just go ahead and change so that they could get started...

Felix was more than willing to comply. The sooner they started, then maybe the sooner they would finish. And while Felix didn't exactly have anything else that he wanted to do- hanging out at his cousin's house while Adrien wasn't there didn't sound like fun, nor was he particularly interested in crashing Adrien's friends' get-together- it was hot outside and changing into a dozen different outfits in quick succession and getting poked and prodded at wasn't Felix's idea of a good time.

Three outfits in, and Felix noticed a girl lingering around the edges of the photoshoot area. She wasn't getting shooed off by security, which meant that it was incredibly likely that she was meant to be there. And sure enough, a minute later, the girl headed into the second half of the changing tent.

That must be the Lila that Adrien had warned him about. Felix had rather hoped that he would get lucky and not have to deal with the liar, but apparently luck wasn't on his side today.

Or was it? Felix gave that a minute's thought. He had been a bit bored thus far, and doing a bit of manipulative sparring might be just the thing to spice up his afternoon. Little Miss Terror wouldn't be expecting it- after all, Felix didn't doubt that Adrien's approach to Lila was rather on the tepid side- and it might be amusing to throw her off her game. Going too far might alert her to the fact that he wasn't actually Adrien, though, and she might tattle, so that added another level of complexity, another thing to think about.

He was so busy trying to figure out how strong he would want to come off that he completely missed Lila snaking up behind him until thin arms slid around him in an entirely unexpected (and unwelcome) hug.

"Adrien! I'm so happy that we get to work together again!" Lila cooed, leaning forward to try to press a kiss to Felix's cheek. She missed when he dodged, just enough to get out of her path but not so far that it would look obvious. Lila pouted, but didn't make more of a fuss. "Aren't you?"

"Mmhmm," Felix murmured noncommittally, disengaging himself from Lila's groping hold smoothly to step away and move into the next pose that Simon had wanted. Lila was forced to back off for the remainder of Felix's solo shots, and then he could escape into the tent to change while she did a few solo shots of her own.

And then came the duo shots, aka the absolute longest forty-five minutes of Felix's life.

(Well. Okay, maybe there had been some other instances when time had stretched out far longer, but as far as normal everyday situations went- well, then this ranked waaay up there.)

Things had gone smoothly when Felix was on his own. Despite never having done photoshoots before- or at least clothing photoshoots, he had posed for a few family portraits over the year- he had gotten the hang of it right away. He followed Simon's instructions with little need for further correction, and the photographer had been beaming.

With Lila added to the mix, though? All of that was completely shot. She was completely unprofessional, and quite handsy to boot. Felix managed to get away from her hands most of the time, dodging where he could and stepping smoothly away to make it look natural, but it was absolutely aggravating.

Thankfully, he got a bit of a reprieve when he loudly complained that she had wrinkled the sleeve of the light coat that he was modeling with her vice grip on his arm and she got scolded.

Unfortunately, that reprieve only lasted for five minutes before she was right back at it. She didn't hold on nearly as tight as before when he had longer sleeves on, sure, but other than that there was no real change. If anything, she was brushing her hands over his shoulders and arms more often than before.

Needless to say, by the time the last picture of the last set of clothes had been snapped, Felix was more than eager to be done, change back to his- well, Adrien's- normal clothes, and be rid of the Italian pest for good.

But Lila clearly had other ideas.

"Oh, I think we could pose for a few more minutes, don't you, Adrien?" Lila purred, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Felix could see where her fake eyelashes were starting to come detached. Clearly she had no idea how to apply them correctly, considering that they had been crooked to start with. "Maybe some, ah, closer poses? Oh! I know! Summer romance always sells, right?"

Felix raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Slick, she was not. Her attempts at manipulation couldn't be any more heavy-handed. Or more distasteful. "I'll pass on that, thanks."

Lila's pout grew. "You don't want to? I think it would be fun! I thought that we were friends." The last word was bitten out with a bit of an edge to it, an unspoken threat. Felix had no idea what it was meant to be.

Forget his cousin coaching him about modeling, clearly Felix had needed more insider info on how to interact with Adrien's friends and classmates.

"It is far too hot outside to be close to anyone," Felix countered tartly, refusing to let himself pause in the conversation. "We have a number of photos already. I see no need to risk heat stroke for more. Additionally, this is a clothes company, not a manufacturer of cheap romance novels, and there was nothing about summer romance in the shoot briefings."

Lila's eyes narrowed. Felix refused to back down.

"Adrien is right," Simon said, glancing over his notes. "And if the shoot goes much longer, we'll go into overtime, and Mr. Agreste hates that. It costs the company money, you know. So we're done for the day. Thank you for your work."

Felix murmured a quick thank-you in return. Lila looked as though she had maybe swallowed a lemon. Before she could recover and come up with a new ploy, Felix turned and strode off to the changing tent to switch back into Adrien's normal outfit as fast as he could.

He made sure to keep a suspicious eye out for any unusual ripples in the fabric of the tent. Felix didn't trust Lila to not try to sneak a peek of him changing. She seemed to have a complete lack of respect for normal boundaries and more than a slight fixation on him (or, rather, his cousin), so Felix wouldn't put it past her to try to look or even snap a picture.

A picture would probably be the more appealing option to Lila, if he was reading her right. Properly hidden so that no one else would discover that she had it, it would make valuable blackmail to get Adrien to play along with her little games.

One final change later, Felix exited the tent to see Lila talking with Nathalie. From the look of it, she had been the one to approach Nathalie rather than the other way around- after all, Nathalie had been standing in the same spot for most of the shoot- and she seemed to be trying to persuade Nathalie of something. And- odder yet- Nathalie actually seemed to be listening.

Felix frowned at that. Nathalie actually listening to someone who wasn't her boss? That was unusual, not to mention incredibly suspicious- and so was the entire inclusion of Lila in the Gabriel photoshoots, honestly. Why would Nathalie- and by natural extension, Mr. Agreste- want to bother working with someone like Lila? She was hardly a talented model. Even though she had had more experience with photoshoots than Felix had, and it was Felix's first time modeling to boot, she had needed more direction (and redirection) than he had. She rarely did exactly as the photographer asked, particularly with several shots alongside "Adrien". She preferred making her poses more flirty and having her hands on "Adrien" whenever she could, even arguing with the photographer about the poses he wanted. Lila was hardly any great beauty, either, and her atrocious hairstyle wasn't doing her any favors. And she was hardly rich or famous to start with, despite what she reportedly liked claiming.

Surely Mr. Agreste and Nathalie wouldn't fall for her lies. Maybe they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but they had enough experience to navigate what his father had always referred to as shark-infested waters of the business world. They should be able to pick up on the lies and manipulation without a problem.

...so why was she here? What was Mr. Agreste getting out of their arrangement? Besides higher bills from photoshoot staff because of Lila holding things up, of course.

Felix didn't like this. Not at all.

Nathalie finally nodded, making a note on her tablet, and then she and Lila parted ways. Felix glanced away at once- he didn't want to appear to be inviting her over, after all, he had already had more than enough of her for the day- but he could see her making a beeline for him regardless. Felix deliberately stepped away, headed for Adrien's bodyguard. He would very much prefer to go back to the house now, but Lila was faster.

Faster, and had very sharp nails.

"Surely you weren't about to run off without saying good-bye?" Lila crooned, her voice so sickly sweet that it nearly made Felix gag. "How rude."

"If you put holes in this shirt with your nails, my father will hear about it," Felix warned her instead of replying with a cutting comment about how hypocritical it was of her to call anyone rude. Lila only scoffed and tightened her hold, ignoring his words just as he had ignored hers.

"I feel like you're forgetting about our arrangement, Adrien." Lila's voice had dropped to a hiss. "Or do you want everyone to turn on Marinette, hmm? Think about it."

She didn't give him a chance to respond before giving his arm another painful squeeze and flouncing away, trailing her fingers across his chest as she went. It was probably just as well that she left, really, because Felix really wasn't sure what to say about that.

What kind of arrangement his cousin had with that wretched girl, Felix didn't know, but he didn't doubt that it was neither a good one nor a smart one. Considering that it apparently involved threats against one of Adrien's friends- the friend Adrien had gushed about the most over the past couple of days, coincidentally- there really was no way that it could be a good arrangement.

He brought it up with his mom that night, bringing up the fact that Adrien had thought to warn him about Lila and her lies, but he hadn't mentioned the harassment- the sexual harassment, really, considering the fact that Lila had tried to kiss him and rub her hands all over his chest- that was clearly normal for her interactions with him. That seemed like a rather important thing to mention, and the fact that he hadn't...

"Adrien's probably been raised not to raise a fuss," his mom said once she was done ranting and raving about shameless harlots and the adults who enabled them. "Or- you mentioned some sort of deal. Adrien might have decided the best way to protect his other friend was by just tolerating this monster, because no one's taught him better."

Felix blinked. He had heard his mom criticize her sister before, but not since her disappearance. It was a bit strange to hear, honestly, no matter how the indirect the criticism was, but he wasn't going to point it out.

"Emilie wouldn't want someone harassing Adrien," Amelie said after a minute of angry muttering under her breath. "I'm sure she would have taught him about exceptions to the whole politeness rule after he started attending school and running into less savory people. And she would want me to step in now." Her fingers started tapping against the table, an angry staccato as she thought. After a couple minutes, she spun to face Felix with an eager clap of her hands.

Felix, who was more than used to this sort of behavior by now and who had resumed eating his dinner while she thought, merely raised an eyebrow and set his fork back down on his plate neatly.

"You said that Adrien has regular photoshoots with this girl, correct?" Amelie asked eagerly. Felix nodded at once, raising an eyebrow at how hopeful his mom sounded.

"Yeah. And he mentioned that the start of his summers always has a higher concentration of photoshoots, to make up for not having them during exams and studying. That's why I offered to go for him today, because he's been kept so busy that he's not been able to see his friends. And because he had scheduled something with his friends, and then Nathalie just knocked it off of his schedule to put the photoshoot there instead and that didn't seem fair."

Amelie muttered something uncomplimentary about that, too, then her determined expression returned. "Well, that works in our favor. Tell Adrien that you'll do his next photoshoot, too- if you're willing to, of course," she added hastily. "And then I want you to tell this girl no. Tell her to back off. Enforce your boundaries- which I know you're good at doing."

Felix hesitated. He could see where his mom was going with her plan and why it would make more sense for him to be the one to confront Lila instead of Adrien, but- well, another Lila-filled photoshoot really wasn't that appealing.

But it sounded like he wouldn't have to deal with Lila's nonsense this time and could cut it off like he normally would, abrupt and sharp. He could see her downfall in person, see her expression go from overconfident to uncertain to crushed.

Maybe it was a bit petty and vindictive of him, but... well, Felix was a bit petty and vindictive, so what.

So he nodded. "I can do that."

Amelie lit up, clearly excited. "If I'm reading this girl right from what you've said, your no will mean next to nothing to her and she'll persist. To press charges and win, we'll probably need audio- and I can set you up with something that can hide under your clothes without showing."

Felix couldn't help the grin that flashed across his face. "Very nice."

"If my schedule allows, I'll be there too," his mom added. "As close by as I can be, so I can step in as needed. If Nathalie thinks that she'll be telling Adrien- you- to simply endure the harassment, she has another think coming."

"I like that," Felix said at once. "I mean, I don't like the idea of having to tolerate any more of Lila's company, but I can do it."

"Fantastic." Amelie leaned forward, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Now, as for the rest of the plan..."

  Convincing Adrien to let Felix take over for his next photoshoot was easier said than done, particularly after Felix told him about the brief face-off that he and Lila had had after the photoshoot. Adrien wanted to step in and work to smooth things over before Lila could lash out at Marinette in retribution, but Felix pointed out that Lila wouldn't be able to lash out at Marinette if Felix carried out the photoshoot like his mom wanted him to. She would be completely and thoroughly discredited, and if she turned into an akuma for it- well, so what? Better her than Marinette, surely, or Adrien.

Adrien hadn't considered that, obviously. After another moment's consideration, and the reassurance that it was Amelie's plan and not Felix's, he had given in and sent a screenshot of his photoshoot schedule to Felix so that he could show his mom and they could plan. Thankfully the next photoshoot wasn't too far out, so Adrien might not have to deal with keeping Lila happy in the meantime so that she wouldn't try to smear Marinette's reputation.

(Apparently Marinette was the only one of Adrien's friends who had been told about Felix's stepping in for a photoshoot thus far, and the only one told about Felix's plan to knock Lila back. He hadn't seen her again in person, but from what Adrien told him, Marinette had already forgiven Felix for the fiasco he had caused during his previous time in Paris.)

(Marinette was also the person that Adrien was going to be spending his time with while Felix was doing the photoshoot. Apparently most of his other friends were going to be busy, but Marinette wasn't, and she had been plenty happy to spend some time with Adrien.

Adrien had been pleasantly surprised by that, since he had been sure that she would be busy, too, but Felix hadn't been. After all, Marinette was in love with Adrien, wasn't she? Of course she would make time to spend with Adrien, that shouldn't have been a surprise.

Or had she not confessed to Adrien again in the months since Felix was last in Paris? He would have thought that she would have.)

"Remember to turn the recorder on," Amelie reminded him as they pulled up near the school, where Adrien was finishing up with a fencing lesson. He and Adrien were hoping to make the swap earlier than they had the previous time, since the photoshoot was pretty much right after Adrien's fencing lesson got out and it would be hard for them to swap without risking someone noticing. "And be very clear vocally about your objections, so that the recorder will pick them all up."

"Will we be able to use the recordings, do you think?" Felix asked, a thought occurring to him last-minute. "Or is it against the law here? I think it's fine back at home, but…"

"I'll deal with it if there's any legal issues," Amelie assured him. "I have connections, and I'm not afraid to use them."

That didn't quite answer Felix's question, but he supposed that it was as good of an answer as any. With one last check to make sure that he looked like Adrien and had everything he needed, Felix hopped out of the car and slipped into the school, making his way to the locker rooms. The fencers were finishing up their last matches, so it was easy enough for Felix to head to the bathrooms and text Adrien to make sure that he would know to come into the bathrooms, too. They wouldn't see each other face-to-face before the photoshoot- after all, Adrien's teammates might question how he had somehow doubled himself if they ran into the two of them in the bathroom- but it would make the trade much easier.

It wasn't long at all before Felix heard someone else enter the bathroom. He straightened in his stall, listening closely and keeping an eye on his phone. That could be Adrien, but it could just as easily be one of his teammates.

Luck was on his side. His phone buzzed, and a message lit up the screen.

Adrien: In the bathroom. Left my fencing bag on the chair near the door- you can take it so that the Gorilla doesn't wonder where I left it.

Felix nodded and shot back a quick message.

Right. See you later.

After another pause, Felix stepped out of his stall, heading for the sinks and washing his hands before claiming the fencing bag that was sitting on the somewhat out-of-place chair near the door. One glance- or rather, one whiff- inside assured him that it was Adrien's bag, and so Felix slung it over his shoulder before heading out into the locker rooms. A few good-byes to Adrien's teammates later and Felix was in Adrien's car, being whisked efficiently away by his bodyguard to the photoshoot.

Trade-off: smooth as butter.

Now that he had been to a photoshoot once, there was far less hesitation in Felix's step as he headed into the small tent to change, then out to hair and make-up for a touch-up. He had to wonder why Mr. Agreste would schedule a photoshoot for right after fencing in the first place as the stylists teased his hair to perfection. Surely the real Adrien's hair would be sweaty and messy after fencing and it would have made more sense for him to have some time for a shower first?

Maybe this was a one-off thing, just happening because they were trying to catch up on photoshoots after exams and they also had to work around Lila's schedule. If she even had one, that was. Something made Felix guess that Lila simply spent a lot of time holed up in her room, scheming and plotting. Maybe she pretended that she had a packed schedule in front of her friends, but in reality...

Well, one had to be really uninteresting to go to the same amount of effort that Lila was to get attention, and that generally suggested a lack of real activities to do.

Just like the previous time, the photoshoot started with individual shots. Felix went through the motions, posing and adjusting his expression as requested. It all went very smoothly...

...and then Lila showed up.

While Lila did her first individual shoot and Felix changed into his next outfit, he pulled the recorder that his mom had given him out. It was small and discreet, easy enough to hide until his shirt or in a pocket without creating any lumps. He got it set up to start recording, then headed outside, resigned to at least a few minutes of dealing with Lila and her grabby hands.

And as expected, Lila started clinging to him the second that Felix got back outside.

"Positions, please!" Simon called. "I want you back to back, but not quite touching, just next to each other-"

"Don't you think that we should be closer, though?" Lila asked immediately, wrapping her hands around Felix's bicep. "We could play a couple!"

"Not for these outfits," Simon told her. "Backs to each other, please-"

"Oh, but I think-"

"I think my sleeve is getting wrinkled," Felix commented, trying to step away from Lila. "And if you don't let go, you're going to bruise my arm."

Lila scowled and finally released him. Felix readjusted his shirt- there were no wrinkles, of course, the lovely light fabric that the shirt was made out of wasn't the type to get creased up by a minute's clinging- and then slid easily into position.

"Good, Adrien, perfect!" Simon called. "Lila- no, not like that, I want your arms crossed- if you stand like that, it looks like you're trying to cop a feel, and no one wants that."

...Felix wasn't even surprised.

The next few shots went the same way. Lila was clingy, but not as incredibly forward as she had been at the end of the previous shoot. Maybe getting her off required several reprimands and comments about how she was messing up his outfit, but she did get off. Eventually.

And then they changed outfits again, and Simon consulted his shot sheet. His eyebrows raised, and then he glanced between Felix and Lila. "The top suggested theme for these outfits is, ah, summer romance."

Felix blinked. That... was not what he was expecting. It sounded like something that Lila would have suggested, not something that Adrien's stick-in-the-mud father or his secretary would come up with.

And then it hit him like a brick. He would bet anything that this was what Lila had been talking to Nathalie about at the previous photoshoot. She had been the one pushing and pushing for a 'Summer Romance" theme for an excuse to get close to him in the previous shoot, and now she had gotten it.

"Oh, that's lovely, isn't it, Adrien?" Lila trilled. She attached herself to his arm, plastering herself against his side. "There's so much to work with there! Hugs, kisses- we'll be so cute together!"

"I'm not comfortable with that," Felix said at once, looking to Simon. "You said that was a suggested theme. Would it be possible to go with another theme?"

Simon nodded, referencing his sheet. "Yes, of course. One of the other suggestions was-"

"Oh, I think we should at least try it!" Lila insisted. Her grip got tighter, and her nails dug in. "Here, let's just start now and not overthink it!"

With that, she bounced up on her toes and tried to press a kiss to Felix's cheek, aiming for close to his mouth. Felix leaned back as fast as he could, dodging her completely in one quick movement.

Maybe he had complained about taking gymnastics as a child, but sometimes it really did come in handy. Perhaps he should consider picking it back up again.

"I'm not comfortable with that," Felix told her clearly, ignoring Lila's scowl and the way her nails dug in even deeper. "And since I said no, we're not doing it."

"Well, I want to!" Lila insisted. "Come on, Adrien! We're friends, aren't we?"

There was that edge again. This time, Felix knew what it meant: by the time the photoshoot ended, she was probably going to start her attacks on Marinette's character. It was an attempt to bring Adrien back under her control.

Too bad she was dealing with Felix, not Adrien.

"That doesn't mean that I'm comfortable doing romantic shots," Felix said firmly. "Particularly if you're going to try to spring unwanted kisses on me. Now kindly let go of my arm. Your nails are digging in."

A scowl flashed across Lila's face before she pasted on her happy face again. "How can you know that you aren't comfortable with it until you've tried it? At least a few shots-"

"Remove your fingers from my arm or I will remove them for you."

Lila's grip only got tighter. "Stop complaining, I'm hardly-"

Felix didn't let her finish. Before she could break any more skin, he grabbed two of her fingers and bent them back sharply. They gave with a (satisfying, Felix had to admit) crack, and Lila snatched her hands back with a cry.

"My fingers!"

"I told you to let go," Felix told her tartly, stepping away and rolling up his shirt sleeve to reveal the dents and cuts from Lila's nails. "Simon, would you mind snapping a picture of this? I have a photo from when she did this during the last photoshoot, but this is far worse."

Simon nodded at once, getting in close and snapping photos from all angles. Across the way, Nathalie finally noticed the commotion and hustled over, glancing between Felix and the sobbing Lila.

For once, Felix was willing to bet that the tears weren't fake.

"He broke my fingers!" Lila sobbed, clutching her hand close to her chest. "Adrien, I can't believe that you would be so mean-"

"Nathalie, I think you should look at this," Simon told Nathalie, pulling her over next to Felix. "Adrien has commented numerous times during photoshoots that Lila is holding on to his arm too hard. He asked her to let go several times in a row before he pulled her off, and- well, I can't blame him, she's drawn blood."

Nathalie's lips pressed together in a thin line as she inspected the injury, and then she pulled out her phone. "I'm going to call Lila's mom, and then I'll call Mr. Agreste. I think it's safe to say that Lila will be fired. This is unacceptable."

Felix could barely hide his smile.

  Twelve minutes later, Mrs. Rossi rushed into the park, her wide eyes locking onto the still-sobbing Lila almost immediately. She rushed to her daughter's side at once, kneeling down beside her.

"Mio caro, what happened?" Mrs. Rossi asked, reaching for her daughter. "Ms. Sancoeur said that you got your fingers broken!"

"What happened is that Lila learned the consequences of sexual harassment," Felix cut in coolly before Lila could speak up, and Mrs. Rossi's head swung to the side, her eyes wide. "Some of the consequences, at least. I will be pressing charges, and she'll be lucky if I'm the only one."

"Se- sexual harassment?" Mrs. Rossi exclaimed, glancing between him and Lila. "Surely that's an exaggeration, Nathalie, how on earth would Lila do anything that could be considered sexual harassment to her boyfriend during a photoshoot? Surely this was just an overreaction to a lover's spat-"

"I was not aware that your daughter was dating anyone, least of all me," Felix told her, since- well, it was true. After all, Adrien wouldn't touch someone like Lila with a ten-foot pole. "Frankly, considering how often Lila lies, I'm surprised that you believed her at all. No one wants to be dating a liar, particularly a social-climbing liar with no respect for personal space."

Mrs. Rossi reeled back. "A- a liar? No, Lila's a sweet girl!"

"They're just trying to frame me, Mommy!" Lila sniffled, and Felix rolled his eyes. Of course she would pull out the mummy card now. "Adrien just a-attacked me out of nowhere, we were just modeling-"

Felix snorted. He had abandoned his Adrien act for good now, and from the looks he was getting from Nathalie, she had caught on to the switch. He held up his injured arm, deciding to ignore Lila completely. She clearly wasn't going to admit that she was in the wrong, so entertaining her at all was a lost cause. "A 'sweet girl', hmm? She's given both me and my cousin bruises from clinging so hard, and now she's broken my skin. And she's been threatening to destroy the reputation of one of my cousin's classmates, all because she's a petty brat who hasn't been properly contained."

Mrs. Rossi shook her head, her eyes wide as she took in the injuries. "No, that doesn't sound like her at all! Why- why would she want to destroy anyone's reputation, that makes no sense!"

"Because I haven't-"

"Because Marinette called her out on her lies," Felix told Mrs. Rossi tartly, raising his voice over Lila's whine. "The lies about knowing all sorts of famous people personally, because she 'saved their cat' or was personally helping them with songwriting or was running a million charities, or the lies about going on a- what was it, a three-month trip out of Paris during the school year, when she was actually here the entire time?"

Mrs. Rossi slumped on the ground. "No, no, I can't- I can't believe this-"

Lila shuffled closer to her mom, still clutching her hand to her chest as she made another effort to squirm out of the situation. "They're lying, mama, don't listen to them-"

"Well, you had better start believing it!" Amelie snapped, appearing out of the nearby trees and striding up to the group. She waved her phone. "I have pictures of your little hussy of a daughter trying to force a kiss on my son, and we have evidence of her refusing to let go of my son's arm. You should be ashamed, really! I don't know how I would be able to show my face in public if my son acted the same way that your daughter has! Lying and manipulation and sexual harassment and threats for months and months and months on end, and what have you done to stop it? Nothing, by the sounds of it!"

"I didn't know-" Mrs. Rossi started, but Amelie cut her off with a scoff.

"You didn't know? Oh, excuse me for not being very impressed there. I've been busy as anything quite often with my projects and modeling and films and charity and events, but you had better bet that I made the time to check in with Felix's teachers! If I didn't have the time to go in before or after school, I emailed them. I made sure that I met his friends. I knew the instant that he started acting out, and I could talk to him about it. Have you done any of that?"

"No, but-"

"And this whole business with Lila being 'out of the country' for months! How did you miss that she wasn't going to school?" Amelie demanded.

Mrs. Rossi flinched. "I- she said that the school was closed because of akuma attacks-"

"For three months? That's not even a good lie! Do you live under a rock? Sometimes the akuma attacks drag on for a bit, but it's just hours, not- not even days! All you would need to do to disprove her ridiculous lies would be to turn on a TV! Or do a Google search, that only takes seconds!"

"I-" Mrs. Rossi swallowed hard, and her voice got quiet, nearly inaudible. "I was busy at a new job, and I- I thought that I could trust her."

"Clearly not!"

"In any case, Lila is fired as a Gabriel model, and we will be plenty transparent with the media as to why should they ask," Nathalie told Mrs. Rossi, consulting her tablet. "Adrien has confirmed that he's been grabbed at just like Felix, and that is unacceptable. Mr. Agreste expects that his son be able to work without being sexually harassed by other models."

Mrs. Rossi only nodded, all of the fight drained out of her. Lila whipped her head back and forth between her mom and the rest of the group, panic starting to spread across her features.

"Mama, you don't believe them, do you-"

"Quiet, Lila," Mrs. Rossi snapped. "I've heard enough. I've seen the evidence. I know that you're lying now."

Lila's face screwed up, and then she suddenly lunged to her feet, right at Felix. "How dare you! I had everything going my way, and you've screwed it up! When- when I get akumatized, you'll regret this, Adrien!"

Felix stepped neatly out of the way, extending one foot just enough to send Lila sprawling back to the ground with a wail of pain but not enough that it would be obvious that it was completely on purpose. "Boo-hoo, cry me a river. Also still not Adrien. Try his stunt double instead."

Lila only sobbed on the ground, clutching at her fingers. Her mom hauled her up, looking completely ashamed as she hustled her daughter away.

"Well, I think that's the end of this photoshoot," Nathalie said as soon as the duo was out of sight. She sighed, massaging her forehead in clear exasperation. "Felix, can I ask that next time, Adrien actually shows up like he's supposed to?"

Felix raised an eyebrow at her. "Why? It's not like anyone will be able to tell the difference."

"Gabriel would be most unhappy-"

"Gabriel is unhappy about most things most of the time, so I don't see how it makes any difference," Amelie told her tartly. She looped her arm through Felix's. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I think that Felix and I have a lawsuit to go file. Good-bye."

As it turned out, Gabriel didn't even have to tell the press why its newest model had been abruptly dropped. An Adrien fan had been hidden nearby and watching the shoot, and had taken video of the entire Lila downfall. It had been uploaded at once, and spread across the internet by other fans.

Fortunately, it meant that- at least in Paris- no one would ever believe Lila Rossi again. The outrage over everything that she had done- and especially the attempt at a forced kiss and the clinging to Felix hard enough to break his skin- was enough that Felix was pretty sure that no one would even try to be her friend out of pity. There was no way that any of Adrien's classmates would miss the news, either, which was really what they were most interested in.

Unfortunately, Adrien's fans were over the moon at the idea of an Adrien stunt double, because it meant that there were two of them.

...and unfortunately for some particularly avid and over-eager fans, Amelie Graham de Vanily was none too thrilled about her son and her nephew getting chased around Paris and was still riding high on the success of her lawsuit against Lila. One dinner with the Bourgeois family later and it was officially against the law in Paris to chase after teen celebrities and to form what amounted to search mobs, and there was going to be further investigation and adjustment as needed to prevent other future harassment. Also- and on a completely unrelated topic- Audrey Bourgeois would be in charge of the wardrobe department on the next Graham Films production.

And as for Felix... well, all of a sudden, Adrien's friends all became a lot more receptive to the idea of inviting him to their get-togethers. Some were still a little wary of him, but that didn't bother Felix at all. After all, Felix was used to people regarding him with some trepidation at home, and he was hardly going to make himself comfortable by acting all warm and cuddly. But several of Adrien's friends were fine with that, or perhaps they just were accepting because they knew that it would make Adrien happy.

Felix didn't suppose that it really mattered either way. He wasn't trying to form lifelong friendships in Paris, just trying to enjoy his summer as well as he could. And with Lila firmly out of the picture- she had been shipped back to Italy to attend boarding school, mostly to keep her away from akumas- and with outwardly friendly company...

Well, the summer was looking bright.

[cobraonthecob]

i think it says a lot about your show if your supporting cast isn’t interesting/only has one trait. 

(It’s been awhile since I’ve watched the show. I refuse to rewatch because I’ll just be wasting my time feeling angry and tired)

I’m just going to cover the Miraclass because they’re the supporting cast.

Alya aspires to be a journalist but she was the Sassy Black Friend from the start, and instead of developing her character, the writers went nowhere with her. Instead, the writers bastardized her wish to be a journalist and made her a tabloid journalist, and further escalated the Sassy Black Friend into the Black Friend who’ll push for the two white/white-passing characters to get together. 

Mylene wants to be an actress? It’s been years since I’ve seen her debut episode, but that’s what she wanted, right? Oh, and she’s dating Ivan. 

Alix is just a skater girl who’s snarky. 

Juleka is shy and wants to be a model. 

Rose is the bubbly, naive, dumb blonde to counter Chloe’s nasty blonde. She’s a romantic and that’s it.

Nino wants to be a DJ. This is supported by three episodes (in a grand total of nearly 90 right now) and then the rest of the time he’s just. not there except when it’s time to push the Love Square again.

Ivan’s just...there. and in the background being cute with Mylene.

Kim is the jerk athlete. There’s a weird love triangle going on between him crushing on Chloe despite that crush being ruined early on in S1 and Ondine having a crush on him.

Max is smart and into tech/coding and gaming. He made a robot friend and that’s about it.

Nathaniel’s the quiet artist in the back of the class.

Sabrina is Chloe’s lackey who really should’ve left her by Season 2 if the writers were smart and knew how to actually write a character arc. Instead, they play Chloe’s abusiveness for laughs and then crank it up to a 50.

Chloe. Oh Chloe. ML really said ‘we’re going to give this girl a redemption arc only to find out she’s irredeemable but we’re going to keep acting that she’s redeemable and on top of that make her to be the victimized good guy, unlike our actual leader”. So many episodes wasted on Chloe when they could’ve gone to any other character. 

ML suffers from too-large cast syndrome, so of course not everyone in the Miraclass can have character development, but at least give them more traits or let their character development stay? They get one or two episodes (or one and a fraction, depending on who they are) each and then it’s all about humiliating Marinette or showing how sad Adrien, Chloe, or Gabriel are. ML has no idea what to do with an already massive cast, and then they hurt themselves because they kept adding more and more characters, and throw the old ones to the side. It’s been almost ninety episodes, and we’ve barely scratched the surface on most of the classmates, or when we did, the character development (if you can even call it that) was half-done at best, only to be regressed by the next episode or never picked up again until two seasons later.

As I wrote these character descriptions, I realized that none of them made me want to write them for an AU...except for a fix-it where I spend all my time rewriting all of ML just to give them the characterization they deserve.

Your supporting cast should never be turned into cheerleaders for your romantic leads, your supporting cast should not be the writer’s mouthpieces for how the story should go, and they shouldn’t be just puppets you can move around at your own whim because the plot won’t work on them.

[bevvydraws]

A Kiss That Feels Like Home

Pairing: Lukanette and mentioned Adrigami!

Word Count: 1.5k! 

Warnings: A slight (?) bit of angst, but really it’s nothing bad. 

Notes: They are both older in this one-shot. Marinette is 19 and Luka is 20. 

This is a one-shot based on this drawing that I made! I hope you enjoy!  

--------------------------

“It’s so cold…” Marinette said, stating the obvious as she felt her shivering get worse. There was no way she would be outside at night when it was this cold under normal circumstances. No, if these were normal circumstances, she’d be happily snuggled up in bed watching movies on her phone until she inevitably fell asleep. But she was well aware of the fact that that wasn’t an option right now. Not when she got such a seemingly urgent text from Luka. She opened her phone and looked at the message again, letting out a puff of breath that made a visible cloud. 

“Meet me in the park beside your house. It’s important,” was what the message said. She reads the message over and over again, still confused. Luka didn’t usually text like that, and it was odd that there was no ‘please’ anywhere in the message. That’s what made Marinette hurry to do a little bit of makeup and don her winter coat, earmuffs, gloves and the largest scarf she could find. Marinette hated the cold, something that only increased once she started wearing the Ladybug earrings. Marinette also didn’t normally go through much effort to look nice, but recently she had found herself wanting to always look her best around her dear friend that may or may not have taken hold of her heart. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked around the park for any sight of Luka. 

All she saw was the empty and quiet park, illuminated by the lamp posts placed around the perimeter of the park. The light reflecting on the fountain was beautiful, and if it weren’t so cold Marinette might have been tempted to stay here all night to just take it all in. But it was cold, and Marinette was about to call Luka and get some answers as to what all of this was about when she heard a sound that made her face light up despite the shivers still taking hold of her body. It was unmistakably the sound of Luka’s motorbike, having traded his old delivery bike out for it just last year. Marinette smiled at the memory of him excitedly telling her all about it and letting her be the first one he took for a ride. 

Seeing him pull up to the gate of the park, Marinette walked towards him, her arms wrapped around herself slightly. Luka took his helmet off, and replaced it with the beanie Marinette made for him for his last birthday. Once he had his bike situated, his focus was entirely on Marinette, a big smile on his face. “Hey Marinette,” he said almost breathlessly as his gaze quickly passed over her before settling on looking into her eyes. 

“Hey Luka,” Marinette tried to greet him casually, but her voice was shaking from the cold, “what’s the emergency? Is everything alright?” She stopped right in front of him, looking up at him and searching for any sign of distress on his face. 

“I just had a talk with Juleka and realized that I’m the biggest idiot in the entire world, and I just needed to tell you something before I was able to talk myself out of it. It’s really important and I’m sorry it’s so late I’m sure you’re freezing but I--” Luka was rambling and only stopped once Marinette pressed her finger gently to his lips. 

“Luka.. slow down, okay?” she smiled up at him, thankful that the cold had already tinted her cheeks red. “I’m not going anywhere, just take your time.” 

Luka’s much larger hands came up to capture her hand, and he pressed a gentle kiss to the finger that was placed against his lips. Marinette felt her face heat up, suddenly not feeling so cold anymore. “I hope you aren’t going anywhere. That’s actually what I want to talk to you about…” he looked away, almost bashfully, before looking Marinette in the eyes, “Marinette, I love you. I want you to be my girlfriend.” 

Marinette felt her breath hitch in her throat, “H..huh..?” 

Luka smiled in a way that was so genuine Marinette was sure that her legs were going to give out underneath her, “I said… I love you, Marinette.” 

Marinette’s eyes widened as she searched his face for any sign of a joke, any sign that this was some prank or maybe it was all just a really really good dream. There was no way that someone as supportive and caring as Luka could ever love Marinette romantically. Not after spending so long pining after Adrien. Even though she had given up on him after seeing how happy he was with Kagami, she could never shake the guilt she felt when it came to just how desperately she had fought for his attention. She only ever felt guiltier when she thought about how obvious it was how Luka felt, yet chasing after someone who she felt so detached from in a romantic sense. Now, with Adrien and her being good friends, and her feelings for Luka blossoming into something she’s never experienced before, it felt too good to be true for him to confess his love for her. 

“Luka I…” her words refused to work, and she stood there with her mouth open, desperate for anything to come out. She could see Luka’s expression become tinted with sadness, but he still stayed where he was. 

“Juleka and I were talking, and I realized that I never actually pursued you. I made it clear how I felt, but I never tried past that. I didn’t… I didn’t think my feelings were worth it. I was so worried about not pushing you away that I wasn’t honest with myself in what I wanted to do,” Luka’s grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly, and he hung his head in shame.

“What you wanted… to do…?” Marinette managed to get out. 

“Yeah,” Luka nods, still looking at the ground, “Like ask you on proper dates, or buy you flowers, or tell you every opportunity I got just how beautiful I think you are. I wanted so badly to chase after you, to make sure you never doubted my feelings for a second. But I didn’t want you to feel pressured by my affections. I was… so worried about your feelings that I wasn’t true to my own. I was just waiting passively for you to settle for dating me.” 

Shocked by what she was hearing, Marinette carefully tilted Luka’s head up, and through her tear-blurred vision she could see Luka had tears of his own running down his face. She quickly wiped his tears away with her gloved hand, “Oh Luka…” she said softly, “It wouldn’t be settling. Please don’t sell yourself short. You are so amazing, and I’m sorry I made you feel like  you couldn’t be true to your feelings around me,” her own tears started falling harder, “especially after you were always so careful to tell me I could always be true to my feelings around you. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend to you.” 

Luka tried to cut her off, most likely to insist it wasn’t her fault, but Marinette just put her finger to his lips again, “Luka… I love you too. I love you so, so much.” 

A sudden gust of cold wind passed over them and both of them shivered and then laughed softly. Marinette bashfully removed her scarf and wrapped it around Luka and herself. Luka gently put his hand on her lower back and pulled her closer to him, the hand that had been close to his lips now resting on his chest. Luka leaned down to rest his forehead against her own. “I’m not dreaming… am I? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.” 

Marinette giggled softly at his silliness, “Unless we are sharing the same dream, this is real.” As if to prove her point, Marinette placed a little kiss to his cheek, giggling again at the red print left behind. She pressed another, even lighter kiss to the corner of his mouth before pulling away, looking up at him shyly. 

Luka looked back at her with so much love that Marinette almost felt like crying again. She was barely able to register the feeling of him pulling her even closer, his other hand cupping her cheek gently. She happily leaned into his touch, and he chuckled softly. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are so amazing.” 

“The same could be said for you, Luka Couffaine,” Marinette responded, her voice barely above a whisper as she saw his face slowly drawing closer to her own. 

“Let’s be amazing together then,” he practically whispered, his gaze moving between her lips and her eyes. 

“Nothing would make me happier,” Marinette’s voice was barely audible, but that didn’t matter because then they were kissing. Soft and gentle, a kiss full of love and understanding. A kiss that felt like the warm comforting embrace of home, even as another large gust of winter air passed over them.

-----------

tags: @sleepysloth707

[fragileizywriting]

princess and the knight

AO3 | Start Here | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

The storm is starting to die down.

Not a lot, it’s not enough. Instead of the onslaught on the tiles of their roof, and the wind hitting up against their door and windows, there is simply just rain. The wind has disappeared, for now, leaving the pittering and pattering on their rooftop— it’s relaxing, and calming, to know that there aren’t any holes in their roof and there is no water getting in. The rain makes her all the more thankful for the green fire that burns and swelters at the fireplace, licking at the sides of the logs with small cracks and snaps. The house is quiet, sans for the fireplace, and their quiet chatter.

They are tired. It’s quite easy to forget that they’re exhausted whenever they have a conversation, but the moment Chat’s mouth clicks shut, she’s all the more aware of it.

She is lonely. It’s easier to forget that she can’t reach out to him and hold him the way she wants to when they’re bantering or conversing. The moment she opens up her eyes and sees the slight distance on the couch between them, it tells her all she needs to know.

No matter how much she wants, Chat Noir doesn’t like her that way. Maybe it’s for the best.

“Adrien loved honeycomb.” She finds herself blinking long sweeps with her lashes.

“Did he?” Chat is in the process of licking his claws clean. His tail flicks slightly, unreadable, and his furry ears twitch at her words— but nothing else gives any indication of emotion.

“He loved all sorts of sweets,” It’s only fair that she breeches the topic. She knows he didn’t have to tell her anything about his past— even though they’re friends, there’s no need for him to tell her about his migraines. She’s thankful he has— she’s so, so thankful to have learned more about the demon who sits across from her with stars in his diamond-shaped eyes. She wants to know everything about him. But that is a selfish wish. “I used to bring him food all the time. Sneak him all sorts of sweets whenever I would go see him.”

“I don’t want to pry,” He tilts his head. This sweet, soft, gentile giant of a demon who speaks softly, just in case he’s worried of hurting her. “Can you tell me more about him?”

“You want to know more?” This surprises her.

“Of course I do,” He licks his last claw clean, showing her the most friendliest of grins he can make. It doesn’t always work out in his favor, given that his teeth are sharp and deadly— far too large to be considered normal teeth, with his canines poking out sometimes when he lets them out at their full length— but it’s endearing all the same to her. “Of course I want to know more about the guy you’re selling your soul for. Must be some guy.”

Where does she start? What does she even say?

How does she condense an entire friendship into only one conversation?

She struggles to find a proper starting point, one that will explain exactly why or how her friendship with Adrien came to be.

She starts with: “Adrien loved someone.”

Chat pauses with his arm trying to place the cleaned plate on the low table behind him. He doesn’t have to stretch far, given that his arms are long, but he’s completely unfocused on the action in favor of looking at her in the eye. “Did he?”

“I don’t know who it was,” She amends her words, for some inexplicable reason. It seems to calm down the demon anyway, and she doesn’t know how to react to it as she watches his ears unflatten from his head. “I never found out who it was. Honestly, I shouldn’t have even found out. I was ten years old when I learned my first spell, and I had been so excited to show Adrien that I grabbed the first basket of cookies I could find in the bakery and headed over to his house.”

Chat listens quietly, like he usually does when she talks about him. There are so many words trying to spill out of her.

“He’d been confined to his bed for a couple of days already— oh, it was horrible. I had no idea just how long he’d actually spend there— I had begun with the assumption that it would be a week or a bit more before he was back to health.” She sighs. “Imagine seeing the incarnate of the Sun, a golden child with laughter so sweet it could nurse a crying baby to rest, confined and wrapped in countless sheets and put under custody just because he’d fainted half a week before.”

They were young, yes, but something about the sight of her best friend laying in that giant bed with no one there with him always made her uncomfortable. For a boy so small, even at a young age, and a bed so huge, she was disturbed by it. The bed was almost as big as her room. Her friend was the smallest speck of gold in a purely grey room.

At first, she’d pulled up a chair to the bed, had helped him move closer to one of the edges, and kept him company that way. Then came the days where she was too tired to try sneaking in a chair from another room, she’d sit on the massive bed with him. She’d slip off her slippers, tuck her feet under her petticoats, and have quiet conversations with him so that it wouldn’t alert any passing maids.

She suspects, however, that the maids already knew. After all, there were cookie crumbs everywhere. They did a bad job hiding it.

By the end of it all, she’d be laying with him on occasions. Multiple times she’d found herself fallen asleep next to him— how he shivered from the cold and how she’d tried warming him up while they were both asleep.

“He’d missed my birthday and he was so upset about it, so I decided to go visit him instead. The cookies I’d brought with me were magical,” She can feel her lips twitching into a smile. “It was my mother’s recipe. You take a bite of the cookie and you’d be filled with warmth and affection if you were in love with someone, and it was even sweeter if they were in love with you back. It was a winter delicacy we crafted in the bakery to keep customers from feeling too lonely during the cold season— everyone loved the batches. Very few people thought we were selling plain biscuits.”

Chat listens to every word, resting a hand against his cheek up against the sofa. “You gave him one.”

“I did,” She laughs, thinking about how her friend’s face had transformed the moment he bit into one. “I had no idea that the cookies were magical. I think you’ll get a kick out of this one, Chat— the cookies are made with clover honey, magically transformed to just be lover honey.”

“Oh, how wonderful! Wordplay is such a good way to make a joke— I’m sad I wasn’t the one to think of it.” But he grins anyway. Two perfectly sharp and perfectly deadly rows of teeth completely visible to her via the fireplace and the green Chat Noir flames. “Would you be able to make some? Do they really taste like honey?”

“They’re very sweet— of course, I can make some,” She agrees easily, giving him a smile of her own. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had this recipe, too, but they taste just as good as honeycomb. It would be nice to eat it with you.”

She wonders if he’ll feel anything when he bites into it. How will he react when he finds out that the cookie is sweet from a mysterious someone being in love with him?

She wonders if she’ll be able to hide the affection when she bites into it. After all, she— she loves him. It’s hard to hide something like that.

“Would you seriously come in through the window?”

“Yes. It was big enough for me to climb through— he lived on the second story, but the apple tree just outside his window was old enough and I was young enough that the branches wouldn’t sway too hard when I climbed them.” She can’t stop her quiet laughter, thinking of how her boots would sometimes snag against an apple or two and knock to the grass below. She always made sure to collect whatever fruit had fallen when she left, making sure that there was no indication that she’d been there to begin with. “His father prohibited visitors. Adrien was there alone for days if no one showed up to greet him. There were maids that took care of him and fed him— bathed him— but no one to stay with him. His father had turned our friends away when we’d tried to see him, and none of our friends were brave enough to try sneaking in except me. Besides, I was the smallest one who could climb the tree without breaking the limbs, so I don’t blame our friends.”

“A ladder? A flying spell?” Chat tilts his head, bewildered. “Surely you tried?”

“Of course we had,” She tries not to shutter at the memory of them being caught by the groundkeeper, a giant ladder in their hands as they tried marching towards Adrien’s window with something so heavy, and how the old man had attempted to console them with an apologetic no. “But we were too young for any of the more elaborate plans.”

Chat’s ears flatten in sympathy. “I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard on you all.”

“It was a little bit. I would sneak in anything I could through that window, too, bringing him food and gifts from our friends.” She shoulders into the couch pillow, trying to get comfortable. “Nino would write him so many letters that my bag was swollen with them, they all would burst out of my bag the moment I tried to pull one out. Adrien cherished every single one with such care. I would read the letters to him when his hands were too weak to break the seal, and I’d add little bits of stories here and there to give it more of a flare.”

“What would you add?”

“Nino didn’t always write down the whole story, simply because he thinks we live in his head. You’ve noticed it when he’ll try to mention there’s something happening at his house, but completely forget to actually invite us?” She smiles when Chat Noir nods with exasperation to her words. “My point exactly. Even as a young boy he’d do it too. So I’d try to fill in the gaps when he didn’t explain something correctly, assuming that I’d been there for the story he was telling.”

Chat Noir’s laughter is a friendly one as he thinks about his best friend.

“You know, Nino told us a bit about Adrien, when he’d tried to get drunk with me and Luka that one night,” Chat rolls his eyes when Marinette groans at the memory.

“Tikki, don’t remind me. What a mistake that was.”

“Nino just wanted to try something new.”

Boy did he.

A drunk naga she could handle— even as she’d been squeezed by the man’s thick tail as he’d drunkenly sang to her, claiming that she was the stars and the moon that guides his ocean currents, all of it was fine. Habitable, even. Luka had rather kept her listening to his songs the whole night— and if had been just drunk Nino and drunk Luka she’d been with, she’s certain she would’ve been listening to the two of them howling into the night, drunk off their minds, singing their hearts out.

But she hadn’t been prepared to deal with a drunk Chat Noir.

There was fire everywhere.

Even with Luka’s— albeit drunk— flooding spells to quench the charred earth, and her containment spells to keep the fire from spreading, Nino had somehow gotten caught in the crossfire between the two other beings by mentioning a wrestling competition— she would’ve laughed at the memory if it hadn’t been so dangerous.

Chat Noir’s teeth aren’t the only dangerous ones— Luka had drunkenly admitted to having venomous fangs, claiming that a human would drop on a dime if he bit them. She’s still not sure if he had been bluffing or telling the truth, but hadn’t been able to consider the validity of his claims when Chat had already agreed to wrestle him to the ground.

The two of them were monsters. Literally and figuratively. Even with a tail that spans an entire side of a house, with a weight that is likely to crush standard carriages, Chat Noir had been able to wrestle a whole coil and a half off of his own body like he’d been fighting his equal.

There was so much drunken snarling. So much biting. So much demonic howling— so much naga hissing— so much of Nino laughing at the sight of two creatures fighting. She had to tend to so, so many bites at the end of that night.

She counts her blessings every day that Alix hadn’t been put into the mix, because she’d been out of town.

If a drunk naga and a drunk demon had been difficult, she can’t begin to imagine the damage that would’ve been created if a drunk witch with a tendency to literally fan flames with her wind magic had joined the party.

Every blessing. Marinette is thankful for every blessing.

“It wasn’t all that bad.” Chat’s laughter fills the living room.

“You’re not the one who had to tend to a wounded— and drunk— demon.” She laughs with him, despite rolling her eyes. “And then had to keep that drunk demon from throwing another fight when also trying to heal a wounded— and also drunk— naga. Was it necessary to bite him on the tail?”

“Yes. If he had been truly concerned of not being bitten, maybe he’d have legs like the rest of us.” Chat’s diamond eyes glitter wide and wonderful as she giggles. “Only the weak have a huge tail instead of legs.”

“Please don’t say that to him in front of his face,” She can’t stop laughing, holding onto her sides from humor. “At least when you two are drunk, you two don’t have enough coordination to actually kill each other.”

“I can’t die,” He shrugs, a wicked look on his face. His look isn’t sinister, but it’s certainly an excited one. “At least, as far as I’m aware. Luka’s the only one who’s in danger. If he picks a fight with me, he knows that I won’t be able to lose.”

“You’re horrible,” She swats at him, trying not to feel so upset at the thought of Chat Noir being an unkillable demon. Idiot, idiot, of course he wouldn’t age like her. And of course he wouldn’t live such a short life just like her. Even if she’d wanted him to be with her like a normal relationship, something that they can’t have— Chat Noir is practically ageless compared to the creatures that live on Earth. “He’s a good guy. Don’t you dare hurt him irreparably.”

“Oh, no, you’re absolutely right— Luka’s great. I love the guy. If I didn’t consider Nino to be my best friend, I’d absolutely consider Luka being my best mate.” He crosses his arms over his chest. She tries not to snort and laugh at him refusing to call Luka a friend. “I’ve never met someone who can take a hit from me as well as him. And then proceed to get back up and hit just as hard. I can still feel that punch he’d landed on my jaw.”

“Is it not because you didn’t let me heal you that time, claiming you wanted to keep it as a souvenir of the day you got your butt kicked by a non-demon?” Her face goes a bit flat with sarcasm. When he doesn’t reply, just giving her a little quirk of his mouth, she falls into giggles. “You two are going to end up hurting each other really badly one day. More than just face punches. Why can’t you just hang out together without throwing fists?”

“Please. I’m a demon of honor— I am not going to lose to a noodle in anything.”

“A noodle?” She hides her mouth behind her hands, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing again.

“Fine, a buff noodle.”

“A noodle,” She parrots, wheezing behind her hands.

“I won’t lose to him in any of our competitions. And that includes fishing, thank you.” He grins.

“Trust in my familiar to try to win in a fishing competition against a sea serpent.” She rolls her eyes. She rolls them extra hard when his tail twitches at the word familiar. He always finds the word a bit insulting to his demon status, but it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s a little black cat on her shoulder while she walks through town. “You know he has a literal advantage against you? The same way you have the advantage of hunting in forests? He doesn’t blend in very well against trees, given that he’s from the sea, but at least he can still hunt on land. You’re just useless hunting in water.”

He shakes his head. “Hey! I can hunt in water! Just because I don’t like doing it doesn’t mean I can’t. Besides, don’t buy into his lies, Princess. He’s just a snake, not a dragon. Sea serpents are dragons, and no matter what Luka says, I don’t see any dragon scales on him. Just snake scales. Dragons don’t produce snake oil for spells.”

“I’m well aware. I studied lots of spells, you know,” She snickers. “Even after Adrien passed away, all I did was read and read. All I could think about was reading more spells and mastering them. I’m not considered Ladybug for no reason, Chat. Handpicked by your own supposed ‘mother’. Surely you would’ve known the process, assuming she really is your mother?”

She didn’t mean to switch the conversation back to her, but Chat at least looks relaxed on his side of the couch, so she can’t feel too bad. “Oh, don’t worry. I remember it. My mom spent days reading over your ‘resume’. Went through your entire record. Every spell you’d performed, every spell you would perform in the future— she read all of it. Guess you were a good fit after all. I’m glad she picked you.”

Something in her slows down. Maybe she can entertain the idea that Chat Noir is telling the truth about his parents for a little while. “She really read all of it?”

“Extensively.” There’s a little twitch at the sides of his mouth, but he’s still playing for humor. “She leaves hell for months at a time and comes back with a scroll the size of the dining table. Reading it, pouring over it, practically ignoring me— her favorite son— for a piece of paper. Obviously she has work to do, I’m not actually blaming her. It was just a little funny to try to get my mom’s attention and she was distracted for the first time ever.”

“So she knows,” She frowns a little bit. “She knows about the miraculous cure that I’m— we— are going to attempt.”

“I’m sure she does.” Chat’s ears twitch as if he’s picking up on what she’s saying in between the lines. “I mean, she knows every spell you’ll ever cast, since you’re her prodigy. Just as my dad knows every spell I’ll ever cast, since I’m his. Although something tells me he’s never read any of it and just lets me go like a loose canon.”

The thought of literally taking a leash off of Chat Noir and him hopping through a portal funny enough that the frown on her face flickers. “Is Plagg really like that?”

“Sometimes. Hard to believe he’s my father figure, from the way he acts.” He snickers, but keeps his face as even as possible, trying to match her. “But he’s the one I spent most of my time with, and I know that he loves me. I couldn’t imagine being without a dad like that.”

The great Chat Noir. Friend, familiar, demon who owns her heart and soul, bonding with a god as old as time and calling him dad. It’s strange— most of it is, whenever he talks about his life away from the contract on his chest that binds him to the Earth for a little while longer. Does he miss home? His family? He’ll live for a long, long time— and gods don’t die— so it won’t be like he’s potentially missing out on seeing them again— but it’s the principle, isn’t it? Does he miss his home?

“What about Adrien? Was Adrien’s dad like that?”

She falters. “No. Gabriel was never kind to Adrien, even before the illness.”

“Oh.” There’s pain in Chat Noir’s diamond eyes. “I’m sorry for him.”

Adrien deserved to have a loving family, too.

“Adrien always chalked it up to grief. They’d lost his mother a year prior from me meeting him for the first time— it always sounded like that his mother passing away was the reason for the abuse. I don’t think his father visited Adrien once in the time that he’d been bedridden.”

“His father really did that to him?”

“It was horrible, but— yes. Like I said, Adrien would’ve been alone for most of that time if it weren’t for me. He told me that he never had the strength to eat anything anymore, he was so weak, but always made the exception to eat the lover-honey cookies I brought him. It helped that they were soft— there wasn’t a crunch to them. It was good on his decaying strength— I couldn’t show up without at least one. He deserved to feel love, if he couldn’t feel it from his own father.”

“He must’ve loved someone a lot.” Chat adds privately.

“I think he did,” She looks down to her hands. She smooths out her shift, just for something to do. “I think he really did.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The face he would make when eating it, my goodness— I wish I could’ve seen that face on him forever. We would play Princess and the Knight a lot— I was the knight, of course, who had to climb up Rapunzel’s tower via a tree outside his window in order to get to him— or to awaken the Sleeping Beauty from his sleep after slaying the dragon.”

“Of course,” He smiles.

“I’d use magic to create illusions of a beastly animal that I would slay— my illusions spells have never been as good as yours, but I think they did the job. In the end, I’d give him a piece of the lover-honey cookie in order to wake Sleeping Beauty up, and his face would just brighten so much.”

“Isn’t the legend that Sleeping Beauty is awoken by a kiss?” Chat’s face scrunches in quiet humor. “Or were you afraid of making it awkward?”

“We were children,” She muses, but a blush stains her cheeks. “I— I didn’t— we were friends. I loved him, I did— but I wasn’t going to push him to make a decision he couldn’t make while sick. He never said anything about it, either. Besides, the cookie was more than enough to get him to smile and be happy, even if it was for a little while— that was enough for me.”

“Was it?” There’s something painful in his eyes when she looks back up to him.

She fists her shift between her fingers.

“I prayed to Tikki every night. Begging her, pleading that she’d give me more time with him— I also begged her to let him have enough time to be able to tell the truth to the person he loved. Goodness, I even started to pray to Plagg, hoping for a miracle of some kind that he’d hear me. Imagine that, a little Ladybug praying to a different god, just in hopes for a miracle.”

“I don’t think he minded it.” Chat’s voice is soft. “He loves Tikki, after all. I don’t think he minded hearing a prayer from a Ladybug.”

“I— I knew that his sickness was incurable, I knew that— but— maybe he could find just a bit of happiness— if a god had just heard— maybe—”

“You did okay.” She glances back up to Chat with wide, watering eyes. She can’t see him from the amount of tears she’s producing— his fist and claws are so gentle around her wrists as he gently tries to pull her hands off her shift. “You did all you could, Marinette.”

“But it wasn’t enough—”

“Marinette—”

“Adrien— he— he never got the chance to tell them. Whoever it was— they never got to hear it. That’s why I want him back, Chat— I want him to get the chance to tell the person he loves the truth.” Her breath turns ragged, hard, aching in her chest. “This has never been about me wanting to tell him— that isn’t why I want him back. I want him to have the choice— I want Adrien to be able to live and breathe and be happy and never be in pain ever again. My friend didn’t deserve what happened to him. I never even got to say goodbye to him, Chat.”

“You did everything you could— and everything you did helped him.” At what point in the night had he gotten closer to her? Or had she moved on the couch closer to him without realizing? “Adrien knew that. He knew that you were doing your best. Spending time with you must’ve been the only thing he cared about, you know.”

Her cries break her voice. “I— I showed up one day. My bag was so full of Nino’s letters. So full of cookies.”

Why does he look at her with such sad eyes? “Princess. It’s okay.”

“He wasn’t there.” She squeezes her eyes shut to the point it hurts. “He’d— he’d passed away the night before, I think. Sunshine in a boy. Gone. His room was completely— completely empty.”

“Marinette,”

“He was— he— he was totally gone. His father never mentioned anything to any of us. There was nothing. No— no funeral— not even a word.”

The demonic seals on her earlobes burn bright and painful as she continues to cry, and she can’t help herself as she presses her face where she can see the same seal glowing on Chat Noir’s chest, bright enough to light up under his night shirt.

“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.” His claws go through her unbound hair. “He’s going to be able to tell the person he loves. We’re going to get him to, I promise you. And you, my dearest little witch, are going to be able to tell him, too. I promise.”

His heartbeat is loud— gentle— soothing as she presses her ear onto his chest and listens, curling into his arms, tucking herself close as she cries.

AO3 | Start Here | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[gryffindorcls]

A New Light

This is a birthday fic for my wonderful friend, @hermionemonica​!   HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, MY AMAZING FRIEND!!!  I hope you enjoy this little bit of Adrienette!

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AO3

Fanfiction

Word Count:  11,203

“What are you smiling at?” Kagami took a long sip from her drink.

Adrien shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“You have been staring at the wall and smiling for the past five minutes. You are either in great pain or are thinking about something that makes you happy.”

“Great pain?”

“Yes, whenever you get hurt, you smile and brush it off.”

“When have I ever done something like that?”

“Last week when you got distracted and tripped at fencing practice. As I recall, you bruised your arm.”

“I was waving to a friend, and I didn’t want her to worry.”

“It was a pretty bad bruise. Is that what is hurting you now?”

“What?” Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, Kagami, I’m not in pain.”

She took another sip. “Then why are you smiling?”

“I was just thinking back on my day at school.”

“I take it you had a good day then?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I did.”

“So, what happened today that made you smile like that?” Kagami set down her drink. “I would love to hear about it.”

“Well, Marinette came into school on crutches today. She sprained her ankle, and the doctor told her that she had to stay off of it for a few days.”

“And her being hurt is what’s making you happy? I do not understand.”

“No! It’s nothing like that. Seeing her in pain is the worst. But Alya was on a field trip to the tv studio with the school newspaper, and Marinette needed someone to help carry her belongings. I offered, and she and I got to talk a lot today.”

“I see. Anything else?”

“At the end of the school day, I walked her home, and her mom gave me a whole bag of pastries!” Adrien reached into his backpack and pulled out a brown paper bag. “Would you like one?”

Kagami shook her head. “No.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, taking a large bite out of a chocolate croissant. “They are delicious.”

“I’m sure they are.” She took a deep breath. “I think we should see other people.”

Adrien choked on the pastry. “Excuse me, what?”

“I’m breaking up with you.”

“But...why? What did I do?”

“Tell me, who were you waving to when you fell down at fencing practice?”

“Marinette, but I don’t see how…”

She held her hand up in the air, effectively silencing him. “That’s why.”

“I don’t understand.” Adrien’s chest began to tighten. “What does Marinette have to do with any of this?”

“You’re in love with her. Everyone can see it.”

“I’m not in love with Marinette. She’s just a friend.”

“And apparently, everyone can see it but you.”

“Kagami, I don’t understand what’s happening right now. Nothing is going on between me and Marinette.”

She sighed and shrugged. “I know. It’s because I’m in the way.”

He did his best to control his breathing. “You don’t love me anymore?”

“Adrien, I will always love you. You have been an amazing boyfriend, but the longer that we are together, the more I come to realize that we are not meant to be. Honestly, I’ve been waiting to have this conversation with you for a while. It’s okay for you to be in love with Marinette. I see that now.”

“Kagami…”

“I am not mad.” She paused and scrunched her face. “Well, I’m not mad at you. I am upset with myself for not thinking about things logically before we started going out. I was blinded by the idea of dating you, and I did not take the time to see how much better your life would be if you were with Marinette instead. She makes you happy.”

Adrien groaned with frustration. “Yes, because she’s my friend, and even if I did have a crush on her, she’s not in love with me.”

“There was a time when I thought you were perfect, but it turns out I was wrong. You’re a wonderful person, Adrien, but you are very oblivious.”

“I’m not oblivious.”

“Then that means you are refusing to admit your feelings for her because you’re scared.” Kagami shook her head, reached across the table, and took his hand. “There’s no need to be afraid. You two are perfect for each other.”

He took back his hand and hung his head. “But she’s only ever been my friend.”

“And we were friends before we started dating, and I hope to continue being your friend after today. Things change, and I have learned that it is okay when they do.”

“How did you even come to the conclusion that I’m in love with Marinette?”

“Well, your face gets brighter whenever you see her or talk about her, you’re always leaning in her direction, and you’ve told me at least three dozen times how amazing and incredible she is. The list goes on, Adrien.”

“I can’t love her.”

“But you do.”

“Even if I did, I can’t. We’re just friends. She's not interested in being my girlfriend.”

“Excuse me for sounding like Chloe when I say this, but that is ridiculous.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. Deep down, he knew that Kagami was right. Adrien had always harbored feelings for the girl who sat behind him in class. While he enjoyed hanging out with Kagami, spending time with Marinette was different.

Marinette was magnetic. Adrien was naturally drawn to her energy, and he was enamored by her kindness. He’d always felt like she could be more than just a friend, but his love for his partner had prevented him from exploring those feelings.

Had he thought about asking her out when he moved on from his crush on Ladybug? Yes, but he’d assumed that she wasn’t interested after she disappeared halfway through their escape from the Bourgious’ mind-numbing anniversary party. Besides, she had Luka.

Asking out Kagami had been his way of letting go of the unattainable love interests in his life. Kagami was cool, and he was definitely attracted to her. He desperately wanted to love her the same way he loved Ladybug and Marinette, so he did his best to make their relationship thrive.

For months, he took her on dates, bought her flowers, and celebrated their milestones, but his heart refused to cooperate. He never felt the same dizzying adoration for Kagami, and this was something that racked his mind with guilt. Nonetheless, Adrien had worked hard to move on from his former crushes, and he didn’t know if he was ready to once again embrace his feelings for Marinette.

“I don’t know what else to say.”

“Say that you will think about it. I want us both to be happy, and neither of us will be truly happy if we stay in this relationship.”

“I guess,” he whispered. She stood up and walked around the table. “Good, now I must get going.”

“Already?”

“We have nothing else to talk about.”

“And what am I supposed to do now?”

“Go home and think. Find your happiness.”

“How can I be happy when you’re the second girl who’s rejected me? I really wanted us to work out.”

“I know.” Kagami knelt down and cupped his cheek. “And I’m not rejecting you. I’m setting you free.”

“As long as I am Adrien Agreste, I will never be free,” he mumbled.

It was a truth that had been woven into every fiber of his being. Chat Noir was his only escape, and his civilian life was bound not only by his father’s rules and expectations but by his life in the public eye. He longed for freedom outside the mask, but it was a dream that seemed woefully out of reach.

“You have the power to change that. It is all about how you look at the world, and perhaps it is time for you to start looking at things in a new light.” Adrien’s broken spirit began to mend under Kagami’s unwavering stare.

He sat up straight. “I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try.”

“You need to be honest about your feelings.” She smiled. “Once you do that, everything will fall into place.”

Ladybug’s final rejection played in his mind. “I already tried doing that with...someone else, and it didn’t work.”

Kagami removed her hand from his cheek and rose to her feet. “Think about it this way, if Marinette had been the one to tell you that she loved you the day Miracle Queen showed up, would you have kissed her, or would you have pulled away at the last second like you did with me?”

“I...I don’t know.”

Why are you lying, his mind screamed, Of course, you know.

“Yes, you do. Goodbye, Adrien. I’ll see you at our next fencing practice.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the cafe.

Even though he was surrounded by people, when Kagami disappeared from sight, Adrien became painfully aware that he was sitting by himself. It was a sensation that he knew all too well.

He pulled out his phone and texted his bodyguard. His phone chimed with a response a few seconds later.

Gorilla: 5 minutes

Adrien groaned. He had five whole minutes to sit by himself and think. At least when he was alone in his room, he had the luxury of talking to Plagg. There were too many people in the cafe for his Kwami to safely come out of hiding, so he sighed, rested his head on the table, and waited for the Gorilla to arrive.

He felt empty, but he was surprised to find that he wasn’t sad. Being rejected by Ladybug had hurt infinitely worse than hearing his now ex-girlfriend say that she wanted to break up with him. By the time his phone chimed a second time, he had concluded that it was the absence of Kagami's presence that upset him more than the actual break-up.

After hastily grabbing his belongings, he walked out of the cafe and hopped into the backseat of his family’s car. On the way home, he stared at the passing scenery. When they drove past the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery, a dull ache thudded against his chest.

It doesn’t matter what Kagami says, I can’t ask out Marinette. She doesn’t love me like that, and it would ruin our friendship.

He turned his head away from the window.

And I can’t lose her as a friend.

The car pulled up to his house.

I almost lost Ladybug’s friendship by being too forward.

Adrien hopped out of the car, walked into his house, and made his way to his room.

Marinette can never know how I feel.

Upon reaching his room, he closed the door behind him, sat down at his desk, and turned on his computer. His Kwami flew out of his backpack and landed in his lap.

“You okay, kid? Plagg asked, sympathy lacing his tone.

“Yup.” Adrien nodded. “I was just about to do my homework before I have to get ready for bed.”

“And you don’t want to talk about what happened at all?”

“Nope.”

“Then something must be really wrong. Talking about your love life is your cheese.”

“My cheese?”

“Yes.” Plagg flew into his cheese cabinet and emerged with a large wedge of camembert. “You love telling me about your crushes almost as much as I love eating cheese.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I guess I’m just not in the mood for it tonight.”

“I don’t want you bottling this up and getting Akumatized. That would be apocalypse-level bad.”

“I promise that I’m fine.”

“Your girlfriend broke up with you. You moped for weeks after Ladybug rejected you.”

“This is different. I was in love with Ladybug, and as much as I love spending time with Kagami, I never actually fell in love with her.”

“You were pretty upset in that cafe.” Plagg crossed his arms. “You can’t tell me that you weren’t.”

Adrien shrugged. “I think I was just shocked, but then I realized that Kagami was right. Yeah, I’ll miss her company, but we really are better off as friends.”

“Look, kid, I didn't say anything when you started dating sword girl because I wanted you to be happy, but I knew it wouldn't last forever. I’ve been preparing for this moment for a while. A break-up is a big deal, and it's okay to be a little upset.”

“What do you mean that you ‘knew it wouldn't last forever’?”

“I always thought you’d wind up with pigtails. Kagami was right about that, too. Your whole face lights up when you talk about Marinette...and you talk about her all the time.”

“No, Marinette is just a friend, and I intend to keep it that way.”

“Are you serious? Adrien, I…”

He cut off his Kwami. “Do you remember when Kagami asked me if I would have kissed Marinette if she’d been the one to confess her love first?”

“I hear everything...all the time.” Plagg shuddered dramatically, prompting Adrien to roll his eyes.

“Then you heard me tell her that I didn’t know, but that was a lie.” He paused and released a heavy sigh before continuing. “My answer to that question will always be ‘yes’. I remember wishing that Marinette had been the one to stay that day. I would have kissed her in a heartbeat.”

“A-ha! So, you do love Marinette!” A smug grin settled on Plagg’s face. “I knew it.”

He threw his hands into the air. “Of course I do! I would be an idiot not to, and honestly, I was an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Remember the time she tried to kiss me when I pretended to be a statue?”

“Yeah, I do. That was one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to watch, and I’ve been alive since the beginning of time.”

“Once I started to move on from Ladybug, I realized that I’ve had a crush on Marinette for months. Since then, not a day has gone by that I don’t regret that moment in the wax museum.”

“Then just tell that to Marinette so everyone can be happy and move on!”

“I can't! No one can know how I feel about her. It would ruin everything.”

Plagg shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that Marinette walked away!” A lump started to form in his throat. “Yes, I would have kissed her if she’d stayed and told me that she loved me, but she didn’t. Kagami did. Then two days later I saw her eating ice cream with Luka. Do you know how hard it was to be okay with that?”

“Maybe it’s not what you think.”

“She walked away, Plagg. Marinette isn't in love with me. Was there a time that asking her out was a possibility? Sure, but I missed my chance...and she’s in love with Luka now. If she knew that I liked her, she wouldn't want to be my friend anymore.”

“I see where you’re coming from, but I really think you may have misread the situation.”

“I learned my lesson after Ladybug. I will not pursue another girl who is interested in someone else. I refuse to set myself up for heartbreak again. Getting rejected by Marinette would earn me a visit from a purple butterfly.”

“But what if she is interested in you?”

“Whenever I’ve asked her if she sees me as more than a friend, she’s always said ‘no’. I would ask her out on the spot if she told me that she loved me, but it’s not going to happen.” Tears started to pool in the corners of his eyes.

Plagg poked Adrien’s cheek. “No, don’t do that. I didn’t mean to push. Please don’t get upset.”

“I’m fine. I’m not going to get Akumatized. Not this time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Adrien picked up his textbook and waved it through the air. “I have my homework to distract me, remember?”

“Fine, but I’m still going to watch out for purple butterflies.” Plagg punched the air. “Nothing will get past me.”

He scratched his Kwami behind the ears. “Thank you for caring.”

“For you, kid, always.” Plagg nuzzled his cheek before flying off to the other side of the room.

For the rest of the evening, Adrien did his best to focus on his schoolwork. Every time his mind conjured up an image of a raven-haired girl with pigtails, he pushed the thought away.

After doing a sub-par job on his physics homework, he took a shower and climbed into bed. He tossed and turned for two hours before falling into a restless sleep. When he awoke the next morning, his mind was filled with fog.

Still doing his best to not think about his love life, he got ready, ate breakfast, and hopped into the car. When he arrived at school, he noticed Marinette struggling to simultaneously carry a box and juggle her crutches, and without a second thought, he sprang into action.

Seeing that the light was green, he sprinted across the street, grabbed the box from her hands, and placed a steadying hand on her back.

“Thank you, Adrien.” She smiled, and the emptiness he’d felt the previous night melted away.

Maybe asking her out wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

“You’re welcome.” Adrien’s heart pounded in his chest. “Next time, text me if you need help carrying something to school.”

“I appreciate the offer, but hopefully there won’t be a next time. If the doctor gives me the all-clear today, I won’t have to use the brace anymore.” Balancing herself on one crutch, Marinette gave him a thumbs up.

No, she’s your friend, Adrien. Don’t mess this up.

“T-that’s good!” He swallowed against a dry throat. “So, your ankle is feeling better?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a little weak, but I can walk on it as long as I sit down and take breaks.”

Why does she have to be so cute?

“I’m really happy to hear that.” Adrien reached out and touched her arm.

“I...oh...um...we should probably use our feet now.” She shook her head and groaned. “No, wait, that sounded weird. Sorry, We should go to school...um...using our feet. WALKING! THAT’S WHAT YOU CALL IT.”

“So cute.”

“What?”

Oh, God, I said that out loud!

“I...uh…”

“Did you just call me cute?” Her voice sounded strained. “Unless that’s not what you said! Of course, that’s not what you said! What did you just say?”

Change the subject, Agreste!

“I said, um...oh, shoot! Yup! That’s it. Oh, shoot! We’ll be late if we don’t leave right now!” He chuckled nervously as he shot a finger gun in her direction.

She pinched her lips together and looked away. “Uh, yeah, okay. I guess you’re right.”

Adrien could feel the tension in the air as they slowly made their way across the street, up the stairs, and into the school’s courtyard. With each passing step, the desire to move past their previous conversation grew, but every time he opened his mouth to speak, he choked on his words.

“So,” Marinette said, cutting through the silence, “how was your date with Kagami last night? I remember you telling me that you were taking her to that cafe she and I love going to.”

Knowing that his answer would usher in more awkwardness between them, he stifled a groan. He opened and closed his mouth several times before slumping his shoulders and hanging his head.

She leaned in. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath through his nose and nodded. “It’s just a little uncomfortable to talk about my relationship with Kagami at the moment.”

Marinette’s cheeks grew bright red. “Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry! You’re right. It was very rude of me to pry. It won’t happen again.”

“No! No! It’s nothing like that!” He paused and shifted the box onto his hip. “She kind of...broke up with me.”

She gasped. “Oh, Adrien! I’m so sorry! Are you doing alright?”

“Surprisingly, yes. I’m actually not that upset.

“You’re not?”

“Really, I’m fine. Kagami and I weren’t right for each other. It’s better this way.”

“You really think that?”

“Yes, I do.”

An unreadable expression passed over her face before she turned her head away and looked at the ground. “That’s too bad. You both seemed like a good match for each other. You both have so much in common.”

Adrien swallowed. “Sometimes it’s the opposites that work best together. Almost like two halves of a whole.”

Someone like you.

“Y-yeah, um, maybe.” She cleared her throat. “We should go in. I need to drop off that box of supplies in the artroom before we head to Miss Bustier’s class.”

He forced a smile. “Lead the way.”

As they made their way into the school, his mind chanted the same phrase on repeat. She’s just a friend. She’s just a friend. She’s just a friend.

When they finally arrived at their first class, he tried to not think about the fact that she was sitting right behind him.

She’s just a friend.

Or that she smelled like vanilla and cinnamon.

She’s just a friend.

Or that all he wanted to do was sweep her off her feet and kiss her until they both ran out of air.

She’s just a friend.

By the end of class, he was ready to scream. When Miss Bustier dismissed everyone, he ran into the hallway and sprinted down to the locker room.

She’s just a friend. She’s not in love with you.

Adrien groaned. “Why me?”

“Bro, are you okay?” Nino rested a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been kind of out of it all morning.”

“I told myself that I would stop chasing after things I can never have, yet here I am. Alone and miserable.” He thumped his head against his locker.

Nino took off his hat and scratched the top of his head. “I gotta be honest, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Did your dad do something?”

He shook his head. “No, this time it was all me. I have no one to blame but myself.”

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“Maybe another time. Let’s just get ready for whatever Mr. D’Argencourt has in store for us today.”

“Whatever you say, dude. I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks, Nino.”

Not wanting to be late for class, Adrien changed into his gym clothes and did his best to compose himself before walking with the rest of the boys to the courtyard. When they arrived, Mr. D'Argencourt instructed them to stretch while he retrieved a bag of rubber playground balls from a storage closet.

Adrien never understood why Mr. D'Argencourt insisted on having his gym class play kickball in the school courtyard. They played plenty of other games in the stadium, but never kickball. Even after three incidents in which windows had been broken or cracked, he still refused to move the game to a larger venue. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt. Nonetheless, despite the safety concerns, he was grateful for the distraction that the game would provide. He was looking forward to spending the next hour away from the all-consuming thoughts that made his heart ache.

Today, Mr. D'Argencourt decided to have the boys play against the girls. Adrien stifled a groan. Gym classes were always infinitely more competitive when Alix and Kim were on opposing teams.

After a coin toss, the girls chose to kick first. Adrien took his place on the field and watched as each girl took their turn. He did his best to keep his eyes glued on the kicker, but the familiar clink of crutches behind him pried his focus away from the game.

The ache in his heart came creeping back when Marinette took her seat on a bench, shot him a smile, and waved in his direction. For a moment, he forgot where he was, and he returned her gesture with a timid wave.

She’s so beautiful. Does she even know how beautiful she is? Someone should tell her. I should...no, she’s just a friend. She’s just a...

A rush of moving air breezed past his arm, pulling him away from his thoughts, and a cacophony of groans sounded across the field. Adrien spun his head towards home base just in time to see Alix score a point for the girls’ team.

“Stop flirting, Agreste!” Kim called out from the pitcher’s mound, “You can talk to your girlfriend later.”

“My Adrikins is not dating Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe said as she sauntered towards home base, “He’s dating that rude fencing girl. Not that she’s any better, but still, he has standards.”

Don’t you dare talk about my girl that way,” Alya yelled from the sidelines, “And by the way, it’s kind of hypocritical to call someone rude when you’re also saying mean things about other people.”

“Ugh, whatever.”

A flash of anger surged through his body, and Adrien did his best to remain calm and collected. He and Marinette were just friends, and as much as he wanted to change that, he could not.

Thoughts of his conversation with Kagami and Plagg the night before sent an unpleasant pang through his chest. “Can we just get on with the game? Marinette and I are great friends, nothing more.”

Chloe turned towards Kim. “You heard him. Are you going to pitch the ball or what?”

Kim rolled his eyes and looked at Adrien. “Just keep your mind on the game, Mr. Model. Some of us are trying to take this seriously.”

Adrien took a deep breath, looked at Marinette, and shrugged. She shot him a sympathetic look and mouthed a quick “sorry” before looking down at the sketchbook sitting on her lap.

He nodded, smiled, and turned towards home base.

She’s just a friend.

He watched as Lila walked up to the plate.

She’s just a friend.

His eyes tracked the ball as it shot across the courtyard.

She’s just a friend.

Everything stopped when the ball hit Marinette on the side of the head, causing her to fall off the bench.

Adrien bolted. Within seconds, he was kneeling next to Marinette, cradling her in his arms.

“Oops!” Lila said with a sickening sweetness in her voice, “I guess I’m not very good at this game. Is Marinette going to be okay?”

Ignorning the urge to scream at Lila, Adrien brushed Marinette’s bangs away from her face, revealing a large bump. “You’re hurt.”

She turned her head. “No, I’m fine. Really, I am.”

“No, you’re not. You need to go to the nurse so she can call your parents.”

“I don’t need to go home. I have a group project in art, and…”

He cut her off. “And they will understand that you getting medical attention comes first.”

“But I already missed a day because of my stupid ankle. I can’t let them down again!”

“Marinette, go with Adrien to the nurse.” Nathaniel stepped out of the crowd that had begun to surround them. “It’s okay. You’re not letting us down.”

“Are you sure?” She bit her lip. “It doesn’t really hurt that bad.”

Adrien pulled her even closer. “But it’s going to hurt a lot later.”

“I guess you’re right. Let me just get my things.” She pulled away from his grip, attempted to stand up, and stumbled.

Without hesitation, Adrien snaked one arm around her back and the other under the bend of her knees. She squeaked when he stood and lifted her into a bridal carry. Disregarding his classmate’s gasps, he met Marinette’s startled gaze.

“Don’t worry about your stuff,” he whispered, “I don’t want you to get hurt again. Hold on tight, okay?”

She looped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. “Okay.”

Not wanting to jostle the girl in his arms, he slowly made his way to the nurse’s office. “Sorry about the smell. These gym clothes have to get washed. I know they probably stink right now.”

She giggled. “Don’t worry. I love you.”

He stopped in his tracks.

It was only three words, but coming from her lips, they were the most beautiful three words in the universe. They were a patch of sunlight on a dreary day, wrapping him in the warmth his soul longed to feel. They were a million shooting stars, granting the wishes of all who gazed upon their wonder. They were so simple, yet they were everything. She was everything.

All too soon, the crippling fear set in. They were the words he’d wanted to hear Marinette say more than anything. What if his exhaustion induced haze made him hallucinate the last 30 seconds of his life? What if he was actually in the middle of an elaborate dream? What if it was all a cruel trick that his mind had decided to play on him?

 “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?” He held his breath as he awaited her response.

She giggled. “Repeat what?”

“What you just said.”

“I said that I love the way that you smell. You don’t stink.”

Adrien shook his head. “Marinette, that’s not what you said.”

A befuddled expression overtook her features. “Then, what did I say?”

“I love you.” The words tasted sweet on his lips. “You said ‘I love you’.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Did you mean it?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “No! Of course not!”

His heart sank. “You don’t love me?”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t not love you. People are allowed to love their friends as friends. Right?”

“So, you don’t see me as more than just a friend?”

“Adrien, I...I…I can’t do this anymore!”

She didn’t say no.

“What?” A flutter of hope washed away the disappointment.

“Some things are better left unsaid.” She mumbled, turning her head away from his.

SHE DIDN’T SAY NO.

He swallowed. “It’s okay. You can tell me. I promise it’ll be okay.”

“No!” She hopped out of his arms and covered her face with her hands. “I don’t want to hurt even more! I’m so confused!”

“Your ankle!” He reached out his hand, and she backed away from him.

“I’m fine. I have to go.” She rushed into the nurse’s office and slammed the door behind her, leaving Adrien alone in the hallway.

 “She didn’t say no.” He said to himself, unable to believe what had just happened. “She may actually love me!”

Adrien grabbed his hair and laughed. He spun in place as he resisted the urge to run down the hallway screaming the wonderful news.

I may actually have a chance! She didn’t say no! She...she ran away.

His joy evaporated like water falling onto a hot stove. Disappointment washed over him, forcing him to face the reality of his situation.

Sitting down on the cold, hard floor, Adrien put his head in his hands. For the first time, Marinette did not deny that she had feelings for him. But if she had a crush on him, why would she run away? More than anything, he wanted to be overjoyed. But maybe his assumption was wrong. Perhaps she didn’t like him romantically.

Or worse.

Maybe she did have a crush on him, but she resented having those feelings. After all, she had Luka.

Even though he knew it was going to happen, when Marinette didn’t return to school after lunch, he once again wanted to scream. His need to talk to her consumed his every thought.

Adrien spent the rest of the school day in an energetic haze. His body wanted to run a mile while his mind wandered in and out of daydreams.

He did his best to pay attention in class, but it was no use. The more he attempted to listen, the more his teachers’ words sounded like incoherent babble. His leg bounced under the table throughout every lecture, and he wrung his hands in his lap whenever Marinette’s slip of the tongue ran through his mind.

“I have to talk to her again. Maybe if she knew that I loved her, too, she wouldn’t feel so bad.”

Ten minutes before his last class of the day was scheduled to end, Adrien finally snapped. Waiting to see Marinette was proving to be a torturous task. He groaned and slammed his head onto the desk.

“Dude, what’s going on?” Nino whispered, tapping him on the shoulder, “You’ve been acting weird all day.”

Adrien lifted his head off the desk. “She told me that she loves me.”

“Who?”

“Marinette.”

“She did what?” Nino asked loudly, prompting the teacher to shush him.

Not wanting to get in any more trouble, Adrien began to scribble his response in a notebook.

Adrien: When I carried Marinette to the nurse, she accidentally said that she loves me. At first, she tried to tell me that she meant something else, but when I asked her again, she ran away.

Nino’s expression changed several times while he read Adrien’s note. He then took a deep breath and began to compose a response. When he was finished, he surreptitiously slid the notebook back.

Nino: She’s probably super embarrassed. You should give her the night to calm down before you talk to her again.

Adrien: I can’t do that. I have to talk to her tonight. There’s a chance that she may actually be in love with me. I have to know how she feels.

Class came to an end before Nino had the chance to write back. As everyone began filing out of the classroom, Adrien leaned over, grabbed his backpack, and began to pack up his belongings.

Nino grabbed his arm. “Don’t do it, bro. You’ll only make her more upset.”

Adrien cocked his head to the side. “Why would telling her that I love her back make her upset?”

“I’m sorry, what? You love her?”

“I know she ran away, but if she knew...I don’t know. Maybe we could be more than friends. I think I’ve loved her since the day we met, and I have to tell her. It’s killing me, Nino.”

“You already have a girlfriend, dude.” Nino crossed his arms. “And she’ll be the one doing the killing if she finds out about this.”

He shook his head. “No, she won’t. Kagami broke up with me.”

“She what? When?”

“Last night.”

“Bro…”

He did not want to dwell on his break-up when there were more important matters to attend to. “It’s fine. Kagami actually told me to go ask out Marinette, but I didn’t want to.”

Nino took off his hat and scratched his head. “Okay, now I’m lost. You love Marinette, but you don’t want to ask her out?”

Adrien waved his hands in front of him. “No, that’s not it at all! You see, I realized a while ago that I had a crush on Marinette, but she’s in love with Luka. When Kagami told me she loved me, I tried to move on. But Marinette just told me that she loves me, and she didn’t completely deny it. I think I might have a chance, Nino!”

“My dude, you have more than just a chance, and I can tell you for a fact that she’s not in love with Luka.”

“You think?”

“No, I know.” Nino’s eyes darted around the room before he leaned in and continued. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but Marinette has been crushing on you for months.”

His friend’s words were like music to his ears. “Really?”

“Yeah, and when you started dating Kagami, she told us that she moved on. She even went on a few dates with Luka, but Alya told me that Marinette turned down the chance to be his girlfriend like two weeks ago. She still insists that she doesn’t have a crush on you anymore, but between you and me, I can tell that she still likes you. I think she was just saying that to make herself feel better.”

“She loves me?”

“Yeah, bro. Like, a lot.”

“But when she ran away from me today, she told me that she didn’t want to hurt anymore. Does she hate being in love with me?”

“Not exactly. The dudette was massively bummed when you started dating Kagami, but she wanted to respect your choice. Alya was over at her house every day for a while because of it.”

A prickling sensation formed behind his eyes as a pit formed in his stomach. “I broke her heart.”

“Yeah.” Nino lowered his head. “But you never knew about her feelings, so it’s really no one’s fault.”

The emotional whiplash of the last five minutes began to wear on Adrien’s mind. With a heavy heart, he closed his eyes and sat down.

She loved him, but he’d hurt her. His fists clenched when he recalled the pain that had consumed him after Ladybug’s final rejection. While he harbored no ill will against his partner for making him experience this heartbreak, he kicked himself for knowing that he’d made someone else feel that way. Not only had he broken someone’s heart, but he’d broken Marinette’s heart. Sweet, beautiful, and kind Marinette.

She deserved better.

She deserved to know the truth.

“I have to fix this.” He turned to his friend, his heart full of determination. “I have to go talk to her right now.”

“Finally!” Nino cheered, holding out his fist, “I wish you all the luck in the world, my dude!”

Adrien laughed and tapped his fist against Nino’s. “Thanks! I’ll tell you how it goes!”

“Trust me, I’ll hear all about it from Alya first.”

“Yeah, probably. Okay, I’ll see you la…”

A distant crash cut him off.

“Oh no,” he groaned as an Akuma Alert popped up on his phone.

“That’s the second one this week.” Nino shook his head. “Maybe you could ride out the attack at Marinette’s place.”

“No, my dad wants me home during attacks.”

“Same.”

Another crash shook the ground and almost knocked both boys to the floor.

“Jeez. That sounds close.” Nino looked out the window. “Looks like the Akuma is in the park. I better go check to make sure that Alya isn’t making any stupid decisions before I head home.”

Seeing the worry in his best friend’s eyes sent a paralyzing thought crashing into his brain. Marinette doesn’t have a Miraculous. She’s unprotected.

He gripped the strap on his backpack. “I hope Marinette stays safe during the attack.”

Nino placed a hand on his shoulder. “Bro, don’t sweat. Marinette’s strong. I’ve seen her go face to face with a few Akumas before. Didn’t you call her our everyday Ladybug once? She’ll be fine.”

“But what if she’s not?”

“Then text her.”

With a nod, he dismissed the alert on his phone and hastily typed out a message.

Adrien: There’s an Akuma super close to your house. Are you okay?

He waited for a response with bated breath. “She’s not typing anything back.”

“Maybe she’s taking a nap?” Nino grabbed his backpack off the floor.

“The ground literally just shook. How would someone stay asleep through something like that?”

“I don’t know. Alya told me that Marinette sleeps like a rock. Apparently, she can sleep through anything.”

“I’m still worried.”

“I feel you, but Marinette’s gonna be okay.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because we have Ladybug and Chat Noir! They always get the job done! And my hero obsessed girlfriend is probably chasing after them as we speak. I gotta go! Stay safe, dude!”

As Nino rushed out the door, Adrien looked at his empty notification screen and gritted his teeth.

“I hate Hawkmoth,” he grumbled, opening his shirt collar for his Kwami to fly out, “Let’s get this over with. I have things to do.”

“Do we have to? I’m hungry,” Plagg whined.

“You’re always hungry. Besides, I need to transform now so I can make sure that Marinette is okay before I meet up with Ladybug.”

“Wait, no. That’s not such a great…”

Not wanting to deal with his Kwami’s pre-transformation protests, Adrien cut him off. “Plagg, CLAWS OUT!”

He closed his eyes and waited for the light from his transformation to fade. Usually, he loved the sensation of the Miraculous magic washing over him. For the first time in a long time, he was excited to get back to being Adrien.

Kagami had been right. Marinette was the key to finding the freedom that he longed for in his civilian life. With her, he could find the same kind of happiness outside of the mask that he had when he was running across the rooftops with his partner. He knew that now, all he had to do was tell her that he felt the same way.

But first, he needed to make sure that she was safe.

He opened the classroom window, unsheathed his baton, and vaulted onto the rooftop. He quickly leaped across the street and landed on Marinette’s balcony. The hatch leading to her bedroom had been propped open.

“Princess,” he began, kneeling down next to the windowed hatch and peering into the bedroom, “it’s not really safe to have your window wide open during an Akuma…”

The rest of his words got stuck in the back of his throat when his eyes landed on an empty bed with rumpled blankets. Hopping onto her bed, he peeked over the ledge and scanned the darkened room below.

“Marinette? Are you here?” His heart rate quickened when he didn’t receive a response.

He returned to a sitting position and did his best to control the panic that was starting to overtake his senses. A persistent ring grew louder in his ears as his hands began to shake. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the side of the hatch, hoisted himself onto the balcony, stood up, and ran his fingers through his hair.

What if something happened?

The Akuma roared in the distance.

What if it took her?

He closed his eyes and gripped his baton.

I have to find her.

“Chat Noir!” A familiar voice sounded behind him, breaking his train of thought. “What are you doing?”

Thank God, she’s safe!

He whipped around. “I was looking for you, Princess!”

When he opened his eyes, he was met with an angry-looking Ladybug. “Chat, stop messing around. We have an Akuma tearing up the park and putting people in weird sticky nests.”

“You’re not her.” He choked back tears. “I could have sworn you were her.”

“Who?”

“Marinette! She’s not here.”

Ladybug slowly made her way towards him. “And...uh...how do you know that she’s not here?”

He turned back around and looked at the open hatch. “When I saw that she wasn’t in bed, I went inside. Her room is dark, and she didn’t answer me.”

“You went inside?”

“I had to! She got hurt today and got sent home from school. When the Akuma showed up, I texted her, and she didn’t answer. I thought she might be asleep, but she’s not! She’s not here!” Tears started to flow freely down his face.

“That’s a lot of personal information.” Ladybug rested her hand on his forearm. “Maybe you should stop.”

“But I have to find her! I have to make sure she’s safe!”

“She’s fine. Come on. We have to go.”

“No, you don’t understand! What if she’s trapped in one of those sticky nests the Akuma is making?”

“Then, when I use the Miraculous Cure, everything will go back to normal.”

“But...I can’t just...I have to...I love her, and I know she loves me, too! She loves me, Ladybug! I was going to talk to her about it after school.”

Ladybug dropped her hand and took a step back. “You...love her?”

“And she loves me! I was an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. My feelings for her were always there, I just didn’t want to admit that I had them.” He wiped his face with the back of his hand. “I didn’t get to tell her.”

She shook her head, grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the edge of the balcony. “We don’t have time for this right now. If you really care about Marinette, you’ll help me defeat this Akuma and make the city safe again...just like we always do.”

The logic behind his partner’s words began to seep into his brain and level his senses. “You’re right.”

She nodded. “Yes, I am, and if we don’t take care of the Akuma now, the whole city will be covered in nests.”

“I guess you could say that we’d be in a sticky situation.” He shot her his best grin.

“Not now, Chat!” she yelled before tossing her yo-yo and swinging into the chaos.

Unsheathing his baton, he vaulted into the park; however, before he could land, a long translucent strip flew past him, causing him to lose control and land in the fountain. He groaned and stood up. His long hair clung to his face after he attempted to shake the wetness off of his head.

The Akuma pointed its weapon and released another strip in his direction. Before he could react, the strip hit him, slid off of his suit, and fell unceremoniously into the water where it lay like freshly shed skin from a snake.

“Pay attention!” Ladybug called from the other side of the park. “Don’t get stuck in its webs, kitty!”

“They’re not webs!” screamed the Akuma. “Sticky Fingers doesn’t make webs.”

“Great, an Akuma that talks about itself in the third person.” Ladybug sighed. “First, a distracted partner, and now this.”

“I will steal your Miraculous just like I stole those office supplies, and no one will be able to stop me this time! No one can escape Sticky Finger’s tape!” The Akuma howled with laughter.

“Wait, you’re trapping people in tape nests because you stole office supplies? Wow, Hawkmoth is really getting desperate.”

Chat climbed out of the fountain. “Bold of you to assume that Hawkmoth wasn’t desperate all along.”

“While true, you still need to work on your timing.” Ladybug shook her head. “I thought you wanted to end this fight quickly.”

“I do.” He pointed to her yo-yo. “I’m just waiting for your grand plan.”

“Right.” She threw her yo-yo into the air. “LUCKY CHARM!”

A spotted bucket landed in her hands. She held it up and scratched her head.

“That Lucky Charm’s got you looking a little pail, LB.” He crossed his arms. “I’m guessing that means that you don’t have any ideas.”

“Just give me a second.” Her eyes darted around the park. “That’s it!”

“You have a plan?”

“Oh, I have a plan.”

“Awesome! Lay it on me.”

She shoved the bucket into his hands. “Go fill this up with water, and dump it onto the Akuma’s head.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Isn’t that just going to make him even madder than he already is?”

“Yes, but it will also take the stickiness away from his tape. Why do you think the tape didn’t stick to you after you fell into the fountain? Whenever I try to put tape on something that isn’t completely dry, it falls right off!”

“Oh! I’m on it!” He gave her a little salute before filling up the bucket, jumping onto the Akuma’s head, and dousing Sticky Fingers with water.

The Akuma roared when all of its once sticky strands fell into useless piles around the park. Without skipping a beat, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo around Sticky Fingers, wrapping the indestructible wire around its form. The Akuma fell to the ground with a crash.

Keeping the wire taut, Ladybug called out her next command. “Use your Cataclysm on the thing all the tape came out of! I think that’s where the Akuma is!”

After calling for his power, he slammed his hand down on the weapon and watched as it crumbled to pieces, releasing a cursed butterfly into the air. Ladybug then cleansed the Akuma and called for the Miraculous Cure.

Chat turned to the dazed man sitting in the middle of the park. “Maybe try asking for the office supplies next time.”

The man slumped. “It wasn’t just office supplies. Yes, I was stealing those, and I got caught, but that was only after my partner found out that I embezzled one-hundred thousand dollars of the company’s money.”

“Uhhh, yeah, maybe don’t do that either. That definitely doesn’t sound like the right thing to do.”

“I got fired. I ruined my life, and I lost my best friend.”

Before he could respond, Officer Raincomprix placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll take it from here. Thanks for helping out.”

“What’s going to happen to him?” he asked quietly.

“He’s going to prison for a very long time.” The officer turned towards the man. “Mr. Morel, you’re under arrest.”

The man stood up and clenched his fists. “Is it really so bad to want to be rich and happy?”

“Being rich doesn’t make you happy,” Chat snapped back, “It’s having people you love that brings true happiness.”

“And how would you know something like that?”

“Trust me, I just do.”

A loud groan behind him forced his attention away from the man. He whipped his head around to find his partner holding her head with a pained expression plastered across her features.

He rushed to her side. “Ladybug, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Her voice was strained. “I just bumped my head earlier. It’s no big deal.”

“Let me take a look.” He reached up and brushed her bangs out of the way, revealing a fresh bruise. “That looks...just like Marinette’s bump. She really got hurt today. Did you get hit during the Akuma battle? Why didn’t your Miraculous Cure work on it?”

She shooed his hand and turned her head away. “It’s nothing, Chat. Let it go. I’ll go home and rest. I promise.”

“Good. I care about you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know. Thank you for watching out for me.”

“Always, LB. And I’m going to hold you to that purr-omise. If you show up to patrol tonight, I’ll be purr-etty mad.”

Ladybug laughed. “Two cat puns using ‘purr’? You’re slipping, kitty.”

Seeing her reaction warmed his heart. They had come so far over the past few months, and he cherished his friendship with Ladybug. While he couldn’t be with her romantically, he would always love her.

There was a time when he resented her rejection, but he now knew that the experience helped him grow as a person and accept that there were different kinds of love that someone could feel. Without it, he never would have been able to move on from his crush on her.

Oh, no...Marinette.

As his worry for his partner began to fade, thoughts of Marinette flooded his mind, restarting the nervous flurry in his gut. “Ladybug, I have to go! I hope you feel better, but I need to go see Marinette!”

“Wait!” Ladybug chased after him. “Maybe give her a few minutes before you go bursting into her room.”

He didn’t stop. “No, she didn’t answer my text. I have to go see her right now!”

After running out of the park, he used his baton to vault back to Françoise Dupont. He jumped through the window he’d opened at the school and called off his transformation. He grabbed his backpack, pulled his phone out of his bag, and cringed upon seeing the thirteen voicemail notifications from his bodyguard.

He’d forgotten about the Gorilla, and while he knew that the man cared about him, he had the tendency to be a little overprotective. Nonetheless, Adrien was on a mission.

He had to go see Marinette.

He had to make sure she was safe.

He just hoped that his bodyguard could still be swayed to let him go to the Dupain-Cheng’s before whisking him back to the mansion.

With a quickened pace, Adrien made his way out of the school, but seeing the Gorilla frantically pacing in front of the car stopped him in his tracks. Gathering all his courage and summoning his best kitten eyes, he descended the stairs and walked onto the sidewalk.

He cleared his throat, causing his bodyguard to whip around and visibly relax. “Uh, sorry to keep you waiting. When the attack started, a few of us got kind of scared and hid in a closet, and I left my phone in the classroom. I would have gone back for it, but the ground was shaking.”

His only response was a sympathetic grunt.

“So, I know my dad probably wants me to get home now, but I need a few minutes to...um...drop off notes for Marinette! Yeah, she...uhhh...got sent home early because she got hurt during gym class.” Adrien scratched the back of his head and did his best to smile.

The Gorilla sighed and nodded.

“Thank you!” Taking advantage of the green light, Adrien began to cross the street. “I’ll only be a few minutes!”

When he reached the bakery door, he paused. Thinking back to the empty bed he saw through her windowed hatch, his mouth went dry and his heart pounded against his chest.

Ladybug used the Miraculous Cure. She’s okay. She has to be okay.

He shook his head and attempted to brush away the feeling of dread that weighed on his thoughts. Logically, Adrien knew that Marinette was fine, but worry consumed him nonetheless.

I must see her.

With a determined nod, he grasped the handle, swung open the door, and crossed over the threshold. Adrien immediately lost himself in the aroma of freshly baked bread and vanilla. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The air smelled like his sweet, beautiful Marinette, and he relished the way the air clung to him like a cozy blanket on a cold winter’s night.

“Adrien! What a pleasant surprise!” Sabine said cheerfully from behind the counter, breaking him out of his reverie, “Is there something I can do for you, sweetheart?”

“Oh, uh, is Marinette here?” He gripped the strap on his bag. “I wanted to check and make sure that she was okay after the whole ball incident in gym class.”

She clapped her hands together and smiled. “That’s very thoughtful of you. She’s upstairs. Feel free to head on up! I’m sure Marinette will be thrilled to see you.”

“Thanks!” He rushed through the bakery and bounded up the stairs.

His body buzzed with anticipation as he made his way up to the apartment. Before finally making it to the hatch that led to Marinette’s room, he was greeted by an enthusiastic Tom who ruffled Adrien’s hair before sending him on his way.

With as much confidence as he could muster, he knocked on the trapdoor. When he didn’t get a response, the panic from before started to settle in his stomach. Determined to see Marinette, he lifted the trapdoor a few inches and peeked inside the room.

“Marinette! It’s me, Adrien! I’m coming in. I hope that’s okay. I was really worried, and I wanted to…” The sound of soft sobs stopped him in his tracks.

Adrien thrust open the hatch and ran across the room. He found Marinette kneeling on the ground, clutching her phone against her chest while tears streamed down her rosy cheeks. He dropped to the floor and tentatively reached out his hand.

“What’s wrong?” He wiped the tears from her face using his thumb. “Is it your ankle?”

Marinette shook her head. “No, the doctor took off the brace when he checked the bump on my head.”

“Are you feeling sick?”

“No.”

“Did someone hurt you?”

“No.”

“I’m out of guesses. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Choking back a sob, she turned her phone around, revealing the screen with the message he’d sent. “Chat Noir told Ladybug that he texted Marinette because he worried about her.”

Adrien drew back his hand. Her words were like a needle, piercing through the bubble of secrecy that surrounded his double-life.

“How did you…” He swallowed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Marinette, you can’t tell anyone. I trust you, but you have to promise…”

Before he could finish, she placed a gentle hand on his cheek and shot him a watery smile. “My partner told me that he sent me a text, and apparently he’s in love with me.”

“Y-your...partner?”

“Yes, Chaton. My wonderful, goofy, yet lovable partner who puns way too much at all the wrong times.”

Adrien searched Marinette’s face for the solution to a puzzle that he’d been trying to solve since he’d received his Miraculous, and he found every answer behind her shining bluebell eyes. They were the same eyes that had looked to him for reassurance in the heat of battle. They were the same eyes that sparkled every time he saw them under a moonlit sky. They were the same eyes that glowed with fiery passion whenever their owner found the solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem.

They were his lady’s eyes.

“You’re…” The rest of his words never came.

As if able to read his mind, Marinette nodded and laughed. “Yes, I am.”

“All this time you were right behind me?”

“Yes, and apparently we’ve been dancing around each other for a while.”

“Of course I fell in love with you twice! It only makes sense for our everyday Ladybug to be the actual Ladybug.”

“I’m so happy that it’s you.” She pulled him into a tight embrace. “Everything makes so much more sense now.”

He snaked his arms around Marinette and felt all the tension from before leave his body as she rested her cheek against his shirt. All felt right with the world until a second revelation slammed into the forefront of his mind.

Ladybug told Chat she loves another boy.

Marinette loves Adrien.

And Marinette and Ladybug are the same person.

Adrien pulled away. “I was the other boy.”

She laughed. “You caught that?”

“You turned me down because you were in love with me. Like, me me.”

“Yes.”

“All this time I thought you were in love with Luka. Nino told me you weren’t, but hearing it from you...wow. Just, wow.”

She grabbed his hand and held it against her chest. “Do you feel that? Every beat sings your name. It has since the day you gave me that umbrella, and it always will. It broke when I thought I had to let you go, but it never stopped wanting you. My mind tried to move on, but my heart never did.”

He closed his eyes and became lost in the steady thrum under his palm. He tried to speak, but no words came. Adrien was lost in the sea that was Marinette. The waves of her love pulled him in, and he never wanted to return to shore; however, a sobering thought extinguished his elation.

“Adrien, say something.” Desperation clung to her words.

“You don’t love Chat the same way you love Adrien,” he whispered, pulling his hand away and clutching it against his body, “He’s just a friend to you.”

“Yeah, he is my friend.” She brushed her fingers against his cheek. “He’s my best friend...and I fell in love with him, too.”

He looked up. “What?”

“Every time I turned down my partner, a piece of me broke. My heart was conflicted, but my wonderful Chaton grew on me more and more with each passing day.”

“But…”

“Adrien I love every single part of you. I love your smile. I love the way your eyes light up when you laugh. I love the way you stand up for others in and out of the mask. I love how brave and loyal you are. I love you and only you. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. Finding out that you’re Chat Noir is…” Her tears fell onto the floor. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

He lunged forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. His heart pounded against his chest while he became dizzy from the sweet smell of her hair and her breath against his neck. Holding Marinette was better than a dream come true, and he never wanted to let go.

“I love you, too.” He nuzzled the top of her head with his cheek. “There are not enough words to express how much I love you.”

“Then maybe we don’t have to say it.” His eyes fluttered shut as her words tickled against his skin. “Kiss me, Adrien.”

Removing a hand from her back, he pulled away, placed his fingers on her chin, and lifted her head. “Are you sure?”

Marinette’s eyes and nose crinkled as she released a subtle laugh. “Yes, I’m asking you to kiss me.”

He tentatively closed the gap between them until their lips brushed. Wanting more, he tilted his head and leaned into the kiss. He immediately found himself addicted to the sensation. Her breath became his oxygen, leaving him wanting more with each passing second.

Not wanting to stop, he shifted her closer to him, and she responded with vigor. However, all too soon, their need for air forced them apart, and Adrien lamented the loss.

“Can we do that again?” he asked between heavy breaths.

She rested her forehead against his. “We can do that whenever you want.”

“My lady, if we were to kiss whenever I wanted, we would never do anything else. What kind of heroes would that make us?”

“Silly kitty.”

Her fingers laced through his hair as he continued to hold her. Adrien melted under her touch and became putty in her hands.

“I could stay like this forever,” he said, sighing contentedly.

“Oh?” Adrien could hear the teasing lilt in her voice. “Does that mean that you don’t want to eat leftover pastries and cuddle on my chaise while we watch a movie?”

He pulled away. “Wait, that��s an option?”

“And maybe half-way through the movie, we could try kissing again?” She bit her lip and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

“Oh, God, yes.” He swept her into his arms. “Shall we go, my lady?”

She squeaked when he rose to his feet. “Is this whole ‘carrying me around’ thing going to become a habit.”

Adrien leaned in and nuzzled her nose. “I hope so. Well, as long as you’re okay with it.”

“Always, kitty.” She put her arms around her neck and rested against his chest. “Okay, I’m ready.”

He carried her over to the chaise and gently rested her against the pillows. He sat down next to her and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. The purple edges of her bruise peeked out from behind the loose tendrils.

Adrien cupped her face in his hand and ran his thumb over her cheek. “Does your head still hurt? It seemed like you were in a lot of pain at the end of the Akuma battle.”

She placed a feathery kiss on his palm, sending a warm shiver through his body. “I’m fine, kitty. It hurts, but I’ll live.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Actually, yes! Could you get the painkillers for me? There’s a bottle on my desk.”

He hopped up and gave her a playful salute. “On it, my lady. While I’m up, did you want ice?”

“No, that’s okay. I’m kind of cold right now, and I had ice on it earlier today.” She smiled. “Just the painkillers and some water. Oh, and if you wanted to grab the pastries from downstairs, that’d be awesome.”

“You got it.” Adrien threw open the trapdoor and hurried down the stairs.

Before he made it to the kitchen, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled out the device and looked at the screen.

Gorilla: ETA

Without responding to his bodyguard, Adrien called Nathalie and begged for permission to stay at Marinette’s house. He silently cheered when he received a positive response a few minutes later.

His phone buzzed again.

Gorilla: Pick you up at 9

Adrien smiled.

Gorilla: Have fun

Triumphantly, Adrien walked into the kitchen. Even though he knew that Tom was a much warmer father than his own, he still found himself surprised by the older man’s desire to help. Within minutes, he had a tray full of snacks and two glasses of water ready to take upstairs.

“Thank you.” Adrien picked up the tray. “I really appreciate it.”

Tom chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Anytime, son. I’m just happy to see that Marinette has someone like you in her life.”

Son. He mulled over the word in his mind. He called me son.

“Sir.” Adrien looked down. “Would it be okay if I took Marinette on a date this weekend?”

Tom clapped his hands together and beamed. “Finally! Of course, you can! Just as long as you never call me ‘sir’ again. Tom will do just fine.”

“Okay, si...I mean, Tom!” He could barely contain his joy. “I’m going to take these up to Marinette.”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you!”

As Adrien walked out of the kitchen, a surge of warmth blossomed in his chest. When his mother left, his house stopped feeling like a home but seeing Tom’s reaction made him realize that a home didn’t have to be where you lived. It was a place that was filled with love, and every inch of the Dupain-Cheng’s apartment was dripping with love.

For too long, he’d been trapped in his gilded cage, forced to accept his solitude without complaint, but with Marinette in his life, he didn’t have to anymore. He finally had a place where he belonged. He finally had a place that felt like home.

With a skip in his step, Adrien brought the food and drinks up to Marinette’s room. Before taking a seat on the chaise he grabbed the medicine bottle and set it on the tray.

He then settled himself next to Marinette who rested her head against his chest and draped her arm around his torso. Adrien looped his arm around her back and pulled her closer. He nearly combusted upon feeling her body wiggle as she snuggled against his side. At a loss for words, he kissed the crown of her head and became lost in her essence.

“You’re so warm,” she said with her face buried in his cotton t-shirt, “I could stay like this forever.”

“Me, too, princess.” He kissed her again. “Me, too.”

For the rest of the evening, they watched movies, ate food, and held each other. Eventually, Marinette’s breathing became slow and steady. Even though his arm had fallen asleep, Adrien didn’t dare wake the sleeping girl in his arms.

She trusts me, his mind sang, Maybe I’m her home, too.

A tear escaped and trickled down his cheek. He wasn’t alone anymore, and he never had to be alone again. He had Marinette, and she had him.

He was complete.

He was home.

He was loved.

He was free.

[miraculous-ladybug-bitches]

Cut Up Promises

‘European Head of Law Enforcements, Chloe Bourgeois and her girlfriend, French Fashion Designer, Marinette Dupain-Cheng clash with model and heir to Agreste Industries, Adrien Agreste: Adrien Agreste is a homophobe and verbally abuses the celebrity couple.’

- by Alya Cesaire

“And that’s the tea,” Alya said, munching on chips on Marinette's marble veranda with Greek arches, overlooking her generously sized pool.

“What a mouthful,” Nino says, arm slung around Alya’s shoulder.

“I can’t believe you did that, Chloe. It doesn’t seem like you,” Kagami says.

Chloe scoffs, checking her nails. “That prick was asking for it, with his bitch-ass attitude.”

“You're telling me,” Marinette grumbles, flopping on top of Chloe.

The blonde took out Marinette’s hair from her tight bun and raked her fingers through the midnight blue hair.

Kagami was a 3 time winner of Olympic fencing and Alya was a travelling international reporter. Chloe was a prestigious lawyer that had law firms all around Europe.

Chloe and Marinette had been dating for 2 years and were incredibly happy. Alya married Nino, an international DJ sensation. Kagami was with Luka, the lead guitarist in a world famous band.

“What made you go off your rocker, Mari?” Luka asks, guitar long forgotten in his hands.

Chloe immediately sneers and Marinette’s lips part in a snarl.

“Apparently he’s friends with Nino so I was nice to him at the beginning.” Marinette starts but is cut off by Nino.

“Nah, man. I’d never betray you or Chloe like that. I ditched his ass when I figured out what he said,”  Nino said, seriously.

Alya places a comforting hand on her husband’s and gestures for Marinette to continue.

“But, like Nino said, that motherfucking piece of shit had it coming. He was such a dick. Let me start from the beginning. So, we just met and….”

The night of the gala

Chloe and Marinette emerged from their limo, Chloe’s hand curled possessively on Marinette’s waist.

Chloe wore a beautiful yellow dress. It had no sleeves and was made with a delicate satin. It cling to her body, highlighting every curve and showing them off with a classy look. She had large black hoops for earrings and wore 2 diamonds rings on her right hand with a third on her left. She had a simple gold and obsidian intertwined necklace.

Marinette was adorned in an ombre black to red dress. The top was a thin strap for sleeves, and had a cut through the middle to show off her assets till her waist. On her waist lay a beautiful silver embroidered belt and below the dress flowed off into a rich red. She had a ruby pendant, courtesy of Chloe, with one simple gold ring on her left hand. She wore her favorite black earrings. They were triangle shaped with elegant carvings inside.

Every and all parts of the two’s outfits were designed by Marinette, of course. Both of their closets were custom designed by Marinette. The two girls would always tell you they lost track of whose closet was whose, with all the clothes sharing.

Cameras went off as the two women smiled and waved.

“Where’s everyone else?” Marinette asks, tilting her head up once they were out of the paparazzi frenzied crowd and into the sophisticated gala.

Chloe leans down to whisper in Marinette’s ear, “They can’t come because they don’t give a flying fuck.”

Marinette giggles and goes on her tippy toes to press a kiss to Chloe’s cheek.

Instead of usually teasing Marinette for her lack of height, Chloe’s eyes turn cold as she sees a familiar head of blonde in her peripheral vision.

“Chloe? What’s wrong, mon amour?” Marinette asks.

Chloe purses her lip. “You know that really close childhood friend I told you about? The one that ditched me for being gay. The one that started bullying me by spray painting words like ‘slut’ and ‘dyke’ on my locker and using his friends to beat me up or touch me to convince me that being gay is a phase and all girls like boys? Well, he’s here.”

Marientte’s lips part in shock. Then her eyebrows furrow in anger.

“Let me give that shit a piece of my mind.” Marinette hisses, moving toward the crowd.

Chloe chuckles at her girlfriend's anger and pulls her back.

“Where are you going, ma chérie? You don’t even know who you are going to. You won’t be able to do anything to him. He is too powerful,” Chloe says, a small smile on her face.

Marinette huffs. “Will you at least tell me who it is?”

Chloe raises a perfectly done eyebrow. “Do you promise not to kill him?”

Marinette holds her chin up high and crosses her arms. “I’ll try.”

Chloe sighs. “That’s the best I’ll get from you. Adrien Agreste. His name is Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette’s jaw drops through the floor. “No. Mother. Fucking. Way.”

Chloe looks at her with alarm. “What? What happened?”

Marinette fumed. “He’s supposed to be my model for my next shoot.”

Chloe lets out a small ‘oh.’ Then she shakes her head. “Don’t let my bad relationship with him hurt your chances to become a better designer.”

Marinette narrows her eyes. “Fine. But one wrong comment and I kick his sorry ass so hard, he’s gonna wish he wasn’t born.”

Chloe laughs, kissing Marinette. “Deal.”

They spend the rest of the evening mingling with the guests before a voice destroys the rest of their evening.

“Chloe Bourgeois! I thought I recognized that hair!” a cheerful voice says from behind them.

Chloe turns and forces a smile once she sees who it is. “Adrien. A pleasure.”

The eccentric man grins, opening his arms. “This must be Marinette. I hear we’re working together soon.”

Marinette lets out a fake smile. “Yes, we are. How delightful.”

Adrien gestures for the two of them. “So, you two are awfully close for friends.”

Marinette’s eye twitches. “We’re dating.”

Adrien blinks in shock before laughing. “Got mad skills and jokes. But really though, what’s up with you two?”

Chloe smirks and girls her head back. “We’re actually dating, Adrien, and we are very happy.”

Adrien looks between the two and sighs. “It’s sad you haven’t grown out of this, Chloe. Marinette, I expect. Didn’t she grow up as the poor daughter of a baker? She doesn’t have anything. You were born rich, Chloe! You could get a real man and actually be happy instead of living on some ‘gay’ phase.”

The entire ball room is baffled by the man’s statement.

¾ of the people there looked as though they wanted to punch him or make him choke on his dick. The other ¼ wanted to do both.

Marinette opens her mouth to retort, when she is cut off by Chloe’s booming voice.

“That is enough, Adrien. It is one thing to say that shit to me, but never to Marinette. Do you know what kind of shit you put me through? My family ‘disowned’ me but to keep up their good image, they just ignored me and let me do whatever. And then you, my best friend, turned on me. Do you know how much it hurt every time I would have to stay after school to wash my locker because it had the words, ‘bitch’ or ‘attention whore’ written on it? Do you know that I started having panic and anxiety attacks?” Chloe snarls, her voice raising in volume with each line.

Adrien raises his hands in mock surrender. “Jeez, sorry for poking your buttons but-”

“I’m not finished, you son of a bitch, so sit your motherfucking ass down on the damn chair,” Chloe yells. “I went into depression because of you. I also almost did up something stupid because of you. That’s right, Adrien. I cut myself. Many, many, many times. And then I got into drugs and alcohol. And that’s how I met Marinette. She found me, cocaine in my hand, breath reeking like alcohol, and cuts all over my arms. She saved my life and became the only reason I wanted to live. I fought to see her smile. To see her laugh. And she helped me heal. And I love her for that. And I always will. She is the reason I made my enterprise and fortune. She’s the reason I’m not at the bottom of a river, dead.”

Chloe felt Marinette’s hand slip into hers and she feels tears running down her face. She belatedly thanks herself for wearing waterproof mascara and eyeliner.

Adrien looked appalled.

Current day

“….and he tried to apologize. So that’s the tea,” Marinette finishes, quoting Alya’s earlier words.

It was so silent, you could hear the crickets chirp.

“He’s a dick,” Kagami finally says, her formality and politeness temporarily forgotten in a haze of anger.

Luka nods, unable to say anything at the moment.

“Work next week is gonna be interesting, huh, Mari?” Nino says.

Marinette blanches. “I’m going to need a shit ton of alcohol for next week.”

[thewritewolf]

Two For Two Chapter 29: Against the World

The final battle. Dragonbug and Snake Noir versus Hawkmoth. The fate of Paris rests in the balance... but Hawkmoth was never one to fight fair.

(This chapter ended up being 5.3k words long, so I’m only posting a third of it here. The full chapter will be on Ao3, as usual.)

@ladynoirjuly2020

Enjoy!

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Read on Ao3

After using the purple potions to sneak across the city to the Agreste mansion, they realized that of all the combinations of potion colors left to them, there was really only one choice.

There would be no elemental showdown. No space for flight. No need for true sight. Tricks and evasion could only get them so far. No, what they needed was power - and as much of it as they could get. With that in mind, they fed Tikki, Plagg, Sass, and Longg the orange potion and felt their bodies thrum with the barely contained power of two heightened miraculous.

“We’ll need to be careful,” Snake Noir said as he stared at his childhood home.

“Of course. We’re heading into Hawkmoth’s lair.”

“Not just that.” Snake Noir shook his head. “We’re breaking into Agreste Mansion. It has a lot of defenses. Defenses I had thought were meant to keep criminals out.”

“...But you think he might have always known it would end like this?”

“Maybe. He never liked taking risks or leaving things up to chance.” Snake Noir clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. “I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem. They probably don’t have it turned on to full because they’re waiting on me.”

“Right…” She put a comforting hand on his back. “Let’s get this over with.”

Snake Noir nodded and put a hand on his bracelet. “Just to be safe, though… Second Chance!”

She was about to jump across when Snake Noir caught her wrist. She turned back to see him standing there was a look of fury that took her aback.

“What? Chat, what’s wrong?!”

“The defenses,” he said through clenched teeth. “Are on max power and full alert.”

She blinked back at him in shock. “What- But doesn’t that mean-”

“If I had somehow managed to make it home, I would’ve been fried.” There was a dangerous look in Snake Noir’s eyes as he glared at the mansion. “I know how to get in now, though. Follow me.”

The specific route they took was a little roundabout. Running around the block that the mansion was on, breaking cameras along the outer wall - all in preparation for diving through the window above the front door. Both of them landed in superhero pose and quickly rose to their feet, Dragonbug immediately having her yoyo shield and her dragon sword drawn and ready to fight. She wasn’t sure what she expected to fight - maybe robot henchmen or something equally cliche - but only dead silence greeted them.

“Where to next?”

She looked toward her partner, but Snake Noir was storming up the stairs, baton drawn and ready in staff mode. The door he approached immediately had a metal plate slide shut over it, but he was undeterred. One swing from his staff saw the door shake and tremble in place. The second put a huge dent in it. The third put it hanging off its hinges. And the fourth one sent it flying.

Rushing in behind him, the first thing she noticed was a massive computer panel. It came as a shock to her because it definitely hadn’t been there the last couple times she’d been there. But then she noticed the scuff marks on the floor and the revealed button panel on the wall. That control center had been there the whole time, just kept hidden. How long had Gabriel Agreste been preparing for this?

Her racing mind distracted her from the professional-looking woman sitting in front of the computer bank. The look on her face quickly changed from startled to determined as she stood to fight off Snake Noir with her bare hands. Naturally, she didn’t get far, but not for the reasons Dragonbug had been expecting. Nathalie got to her feet and immediately clutched at her head before crumbling to the floor, the sudden movement enough to send her to her knees.

That was when Dragonbug noticed that her professional appearance was marred by an air of sickness and disheveledness. Strands of hair pulled free from her bun clung to the sweat on her unnaturally pale face. Her eyes were bloodshot and tired, with dark rings around them. And once she was on the floor, it looked like she wasn’t about to get up any time soon.

Still, whatever her other qualities - misguided loyalty, neglect of Adrien - she was doggedly determined. Nathalie latched onto one of Snake Noir’s arms, attempting to pull him away from the computer system.

“No! We’ve come too far, you can’t stop us now!”

There was a strange cocktail of emotions on her partner’s face. Pity. Anger. Bitter sadness. Disgust.

“It doesn’t matter!” Anger took the forefront as he shouted at her. “Can’t you see that it isn’t worth it?! We’re the only people not brainwashed in Paris!” Bitter sadness reared its head as he watched her struggle feebly in her sickness to tug on his arm. “At least, Dragonbug and I are.”

Nathalie’s face contorted into anger, a bizarre break from her usual cold expression. “I won’t let you take this away from Adrien! He will finally have his family whole again!”

For a moment she was worried that he was about to reveal his identity, so powerful was the look of dismay on his face. But it smoothed out into a cold, expressionless stare as he spoke one word.

“Cataclysm.”

A look of horror spread across both Nathalie and Dragonbug’s face as his clenched fist glowed with destructive energy. It seemed even more powerful than usual, wreathing his clawed gauntlet in black fire with a halo of green.

But she didn’t need to worry - his claws raked the computer, causing it to spark and glitch disconcerting. The mansion’s lights flickered and went out. After a few moments, dim red lights activated in their place. The omnipresent hum of power that she had been ignoring since she had arrived was significantly quieter.

“That’ll be all the defenses systems except for the exterior metal plates over the windows and doors going out.” Snake Noir said, staring straight into Nathalie’s eyes. “As well as most of the lights.”

Nathalie stared right back, suspicious and a little afraid. “How did you-”

“What can I say?” Snake Noir glared at her. “Cats get into all sorts of places and I suppose I’ve always been a bit of a snake.”

Dragonbug glanced worriedly between Snake Noir and Nathalie. “So… what are going to do about her? We can’t exactly turn her in to the police yet.”

Snake Noir shrugged. “Tie her up. The computer is thoroughly done for and she isn’t strong enough to break out of a paper bag right now.” He put word to action, tying her up as she failed to put up resistance. “No doubt because of the broken-” He froze and his eyes widened.

“...Chat? The broken what?”

Then it clicked.

“Wait. If she doesn’t have the peacock miraculous… who does?”

“I don’t know,” Snake Noir said, shaking his head slowly. “I can’t think of anyone else he’d trust with something like that, or with any of this.”

“What makes you think you know anything about Gabriel?” Nathalie asked angrily, tugging at the rope.

Snake Noir glared at her before grabbing Dragonbug’s elbow and walking away. “Come on, my lady. Let’s go talk some place where rude people won’t be eavesdropping on us.”

Once they were out in the hall, she asked him, “Where to next?”

He went down the stairs, eyes narrowed in thought. “I bet he has a secret lair somewhere in here. And he spends more time in his study than anywhere else in the house. We should start there.” He glanced back at her, a smirk on his lips but sorrow in his eyes. “Unless you think I should just cataclysm it all down and search through the ashes?” He flexed his claws.

“Chat…” They reached the bottom of the stairs and stood next to a door on the ground level. She put a hand on his cheek. “I know this is tearing you up inside. You don’t have to pretend it isn’t with me, okay?”

He sagged, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. “I…” His hands went to his face as he groaned. “Later, okay? Once this is all done, I promise I’m going to fall to pieces. Can you pick me up after that?”

A flicker of a smile passed over her face. “I think I can manage it, yeah.”

He sighed in relief. “Good. Now, come on and I’ll show you what I know.”

The door was locked, but super strength alone was enough to bust it down, no cataclysm necessary there. A few tentative steps brought them inside the seat of Gabriel Agreste’s fashion empire. Her eyes scanned the walls where designs from all seasons were pinned in an orderly fashion.

There were few personal, non-work related items inside, but one of them was the large portrait of Emilie Agreste behind his desk. Snake Noir had gone to stand in front of it. She had thought it was for sentimental reasons, but her partner’s mind was all business as he moved the painting aside to reveal a safe. He held out his hands as if presenting it to her.

“Tada! This is where I found the book of the Guardians.” Snake Noir stroked his chin. “Come to think of it, its probably still in there.”

“We’ll remember to grab it on our way out. It won’t fit in either of our pockets and I don’t want to carry it into a fight.” She stepped closer and started rifling through the desk. “So… any clue on where the button or lever or switch or whatever will be in here?”

Snake Noir shrugged. “None. Maybe a lucky charm will give us a hint?”

“Good thinking.” She cleared her throat and tossed her yoyo in the air. “Lucky Charm!”

A spotted paint brush fell into her open hand.

“Hm…” Snake Noir hummed in thought. “Are we supposed to dust for fingerprints or something?”

“Good idea.” She smirked. “I can see I’m rubbing off on you. But I’m not sure that’s the right answer.”

He snorted. “Yeah, okay. I can have good ideas all on my own you know. But anyway,” he glanced from the lucky charm to her. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, it’s supposed to be a hint, right?” She looked from the brush to the painting. “Maybe the safe is only a diversion.”

[aquariusrunes]

The Superfriends AU (part 10)

Damian was not having a good day. It was six in the morning, he had to be at Edna’s photoshoot in an hour, he had left a perfectly warm and very cuddly boyfriend and large dog in his bed, and his cousin was rambling far too much for his taste. He sat out in the lobby of the floor their rooms were on, leaned back as far as he possibly could in one of the red chairs, his legs crossed, hands gripping the armrests. A scowl to rival Batman's resting on his face. 

Marinette sat in the chair next to him, his laptop on the coffee table in front of them. The girl was hunched over typing frantically on his phone. She had kept it all night, which didn’t both him much, he could go a few hours without being constantly updated on the Gotham Academy Class 1A drama. As long as she was keeping it charged. 

The second half of the photoshoot the day before had been very interesting, his cousin spending every moment of every break they got on his phone. When he had a moment to check it at dinner he noted four unknown contacts, she labeled each of them.

First there was Sweetness.

Then there was Mighty Mouse.

One labeled Rock Vamp Opera.

And finally the one she had been exchanging the most texts with, Foxtrot.   

He waited for his cousin to finish whatever long text rant she was obviously on, instead he checked himself in the camera of his laptop, fixing his hair. He smoothed it back as best he could but without any product it was hard. Edna had forbidden him from gelling it till the shoot was over. The things he put up with in this family, really. 

“What exactly are we doing?” Damian asked. 

“We’re going to…” She trailed off, still focused on her texting. “Video call some girls I go to school with.” She finished. 

“At six in the morning?” He asked. 

“Time difference Dames.” She set down his phone. “Okay!” She pulled his laptop close. “They just broke for lunch so Juleka should be logging on soon enough!” Marinette pulled up a web page browser, typing in the URL for Instagram. She immediately went to Damian’s account. He wasn’t sure when his cousin had gotten his password, but knowing how much Dick loved to mess around on it, he had to assume she got it from him. 

“Okay, I’m going to change a few lines of your bio.” 

“Why?” He asked, head falling back. 

“Well, Colin takes over your instagram on weekends right?” She asked.

“When I see him, yes.” Honestly, Colin and Dick were really the only ones who posted on his instagram. It was clearly stated in his bio that Colin controlled his instagram on weekends, the fact that Dick was in control of it the rest of the time, was not mentioned anywhere.  

“So I’m going to change this line, red menace takeover weekends. To something clearly stating your relationship.” 

“He’s called my boyfriend in practically every post that features him.” Damian said, now leaning forward to see what his cousin was altering. 

“Yeah, but people are lazy, and don’t want to dig. They want things to be obvious and loud so they don’t have to put a lot of thought into it.” She grumbled. “Trust me, I know from experience, some of the people at my school literally have to be punched in the face and then kick in the nuts by the truth before they believe it.” 

“Try not to sound too bidder Nette.” Damian hummed. 

“Just, prep yourself to give a good speech about your and Colin’s relationship. We’re really going to need something that pulls right on the heart strings.” 

“Because?” He asked, this whole morning was excruciatingly annoying. 

“Are you going to use Rose?” Damian looked up, taking notice of two blonde Parisian teens standing at the entrance to the lobby. They both were still in what looked like pajamas, both holding coffee. 

“That’s the plan.” Marinette said, answering Adrien’s earlier question. 

“Devious.” Chloé cocked her hip, taking a sip from her cup. “And relatively smart. Should be quite the show. Shame we’ll miss it.” 

“Someone could always ask nicely for their friends to record it.” Marinette mused. 

“Should I text Nino?” Adrien asked, his face clearly stating how unsure he was of the situation. 

“If you want.” Marinette said, finishing her work on her cousin’s social media. “I’m going to give my crew a heads up once things are in motion. If you do text him though, let him know nothings happening till, most likely, after lunch.” 

“Marinette?” Her fingers stopped their work, her head popping up to look at Adrien. “You sure about this?” He asked. “It could be kind of...explosive.” His fingers tightened around his coffee. “What if it causes an akuma?” 

She gave him an understanding smile. “Don’t worry Adrien, I’ve got contigonsies for that. Like I said a few days ago, I’m playing a game of RISK, and you can’t win the game if you don’t capture any territory.” 

“And your about to clear the board form the looks of it.” Chloé smirked. 

“Something like that.” Marinette looked back down at the computer, switching back onto the video chat app and logining online. “But the goal isn’t to clear the board, not yet.”

… 

Contrary to popular belief nowadays, Mylène did not hate Marinette. She didn’t even necessarily dislike the girl. But she did not agree with the brash and loud way she had been going about her problems with Lila. She found them rude and distasteful, and honestly, a little out of character for her once friend. She was sure Marinette didn’t do everything Lila accused her of, at least half of the allegations had to be simple misunderstandings that the two girls could never figure out because they were always at one another's throats. 

But try as she might, she just couldn’t take Marinette’s side. Lila brought up quite a few good points in regards to Marinette’s character, while the Italian girl wasn’t a saint either, Marinette wasn’t quite the angel everyone thought she was. And some of her and Lila’s fights were truly violent and horrendous to watch. 

But she wasn’t one to speak poorly of others, especially not Marinette. While the girls weren’t friends anymore, and she didn’t agree with what was now Marinette’s additude, she still was nice to most people, even those who sided with Lila. And she did a lot for people, even when they didn’t notice her good deeds. 

Marinette had always been very eccentric ever since Mylène had known her. But this was probably one of the strangest things she had ever experienced due to Marinette. Mylène was seated on Juleka’s bed, Rose seated on the goth girl’s other side. They were staring at Juleka’s laptop, a facetime app opened. 

Last night all three had received text messages from unknown numbers claiming to be Marinette texting from a friend’s phone. Mylène was sceptical, even after getting a picture sent to her, but Rose was curious and so was her other friend, so when they said they were going to be eating lunch at Juleka’s house so they could talk with Marinette, Mylène agreed to go along with everything. 

“Okay…” Juleka typed in the screen name she had been sent the night before, AmyrWayne05. 

“What do you think she wants?” Mylène asked. “And who’s phone was she texting from?”

“I don’t know..” Rose crossed her ankles. “I didn’t recognize the boy in the photo she sent.” 

“Neither did I.” Juleka said. 

“I didn’t even know Marinette was out of the country.” Mylène whispered. 

“Kim and the others probably did.” Juleka supplied. “I doubt she wouldn’t have told them,”

“But why didn’t they tell us?” Rose asked, blinking innocently. 

“I can think of a few reasons.” Mylène’s voice was low, wondering why her boyfriend hadn’t said anything. 

“Well whatever they might be, we’re about to find out.” Juleka called attention to the screen name displayed on her laptop. The three girls watched as the smaller text underneath the name changed from offline to online. A second later Juleka was being asked to join a video call. She quickly hit except and the screen went black, loading until the familiar face of Marinette Dupain-Cheng was on the screen. 

“Girls!” She said happily. “Thank you so much for calling!” 

“You said it was important.” Rose said, eyes a little down cast. The girls didn’t exactly talk on the regular any more. 

“It is! Super important.” 

“So, what’s going on?” Mylène asked, wanting to get through the call as quickly as possible. She had felt weird all day, not telling Lila or Alya about the texts from Marinette, it was like she was cheating on them. 

“Okay,” The bluenette let out a large breath. “I know you guys think Lila hung the moon-”

“Marinette I am not going to sit here and listen to you bash on her!” Mylène interjected. 

“That’s not what this is!” She waved her hands frantically. “I promise!” 

“It better not be.” Mylène crossed her arms. 

“I promise girls, it’s really not. I-just, okay, so I heard that Lila’s been telling people that she’s dating Damian Wayne. Right?” 

“She is.” Rose informed. “They’ve been dating for a few months now. They’re really in love and I’m not going to listen to you say anything negative about their relationship Marinette.” Anyone who knew Rose, at least knew her well, knew that love was the thing she was most passionate about. She refused to stand for any sort of injustice involving the subject and would defend a couple till her dying breath, no matter how well she knew them. 

“Okay.” Marinette said, voice low. “Then I won’t say anything.” She gave a sad smile. “I’ll let him tell you.” The laptop suddenly shifted, the view changing quickly from their classmate to a good looking young man they recognized from the photo Marinette sent the night prior. 

“Hello.” He said, eyeing each of them carefully. “Do you three know who I am?”

“Your the guy from the picture Marinette sent.” Jukela answered. 

“Would one of you please google Damian Wayne for me?” He asked, Rose quickly complying with the request. She looked up the famous boo of their friend on her phone, a small gasp escaping her lips as she turned the small screen towards her girlfriend and Mylène. 

And there was the boy currently on Juleka’s laptop.

“You’re Damian Wayne?” Mylène asked. 

“That’s what my driver’s licence says.” He said, but his tone made the three girls unsure whether it was supposed to be a joke or not. 

“Why are you with Marientte?” Juleka asked. 

The boy looked to something off screen, probably the girl in question. “Can I?” He asked. He waited a moment before sighing. “I’m sure you’ll all find out why later, but for the moment, all you need to know is that I am with her as of the current moment.” 

Rose gave him a strange look but didn’t say anything. 

“This is why you wanted to talk to us?” Mylène asked. “To tell us you were hanging out with Lila’s boyfriend?”

“No.” Her voice came. 

“Actually, Lila is why we wanted to talk.” Damian said. 

“What about her?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” 

The three girls all went quiet, none speaking. His face was pensive, eyebrows nicked and corners of his lips pulled down into a frown. “I’ve never even met Lila.”

“But she said she’s known you since you were very little!” Rose exclaimed.

“A lie.” He said simply. “I couldn’t have known her from the time I was little because I was locked away in a compound till I was ten years old, and even then I was kept exclusively within the walls of Wayne Manor for another year before my father could introduce safely to the world as his ward without my Grandfather taking harsh and violent action.”

“She said her parents were friends with your dad.” Juleka added.

“I’ve checked with my father and he’s never met anyone with the surname Rossi. And none of his friends have a child named Lila.”

“I’m very confused.” Rose whispered. 

“Girls, we need your help!” Marinette’s voice came. “Or rather, Damian does.”

“With what?” Mylène asked. 

“Adrien mentioned that Lila’s been telling pretty much everyone that she and I are dating, is that correct?” Damian asked, his hands folding in front of him. 

“She’s been talking about it for the past few days.” Mylène said, she vaguely remembered Nino mentioning Adrien being out of town for a modeling gig that involved Damian Wayne, she was still confused as to why Marinette was with them though.

“She’s told practically everyone who would listen, and some who wouldn’t.” Juleka crossed her arms. To most it would be hard to pick up on, but Mylène could tell when the girl was angry. Juleka had been questioning Lila a lot more lately, Mylène was sure the girl was just waiting for a good reason to switch sides, and the only reason she hadn’t already was because of Rose. Juleka had been Mylène’s saving grace when it came to her current problems with Ivan. The goth girl was probably afraid of a rift forming between her and her girlfriend the way it had between the classes former favorite sweet hearts. 

Damian sighed on screen. “I’m not a person who likes to ask for assistance from others, but under these circumstances, I’m in need of your help.” The three girls watched as his hand raised to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes closed before his hand dropped and he looked up at them. “I don’t know how much you all know about Gotham, but people have always had mixed reactions when my siblings have come out in the past, my own coming out included. Normally they don’t have a huge problem with it because all of my siblings have come out as pansexual or bisexual, or something that includes both genders. But when I came out I didn’t specify my sexuality. I just announced I was dating Colin.”

Oh no. 

Mylène could feel it, Rose’s heart was swelling. If he was really about to go into a long winded story about he and his boyfriend’s love, then Mylène was sure Rose’s Champion of Love and Justice persona was about to be uncaged. Many of their classmates called it her Sailor Moon mode. 

“Who’s Colin?” Rose asked, voice timmed and quiet. 

“Colin is my boyfriend.” A small smile gracing the boy’s hard features. “We’ll be celebrating our three year anniversary in two months and two days.”

“Oh.” Rose’s hands clasped together, a dreamy look crossing her face. 

Suddenly Damian’s face become more downcast. “Not a lot of people like Colin. Well, not a lot of people who people listen to like him.”

“Why ever not?” The blonde asked, moving so her face was closer to the screen.

“Colin is an orphan.”  The words were blunt and hit all three girls hard and unexpectedly. Of all the things Mylène had been prepared for this morning the heart breaking backstory of Damian Wayne’s boyfriend was not one of them. “Basically anyone with money and influence insists he’s a gold digger trying to mooch off of me. And the Wayne Ward Fangirls are quick to crucify him for anything he does, wrong, right, good, bad, all of it. And of course there are those in the religious communities who are constantly berating us. That faction is especially hard on him, he lives in a Catholic orphanage you see.”

“That’s terrible!” Mylène could swear that the small blonde girl had tears in her eyes. 

“While I agree that’s awful, and I also agree that Lila shouldn’t be lying about dating you, I don’t see what it is you need our help with?” Juleka asked, voice laced in confusion. 

“If word gets around,” suddenly Marinette’s face was squished in frame with Damian’s. “That Damian has a long distance girlfriend, things are going to get worse for his and Colin’s relationship.”

“People in Gotham play very dirty, they’ll latch on to any rumor or fact, as long as it serves their needs. People will be throwing Lila Rossi’s name in my face, in Colin’s face, and in the faces of all of my family members for years.” Damian’s face had gone back to sternly neutral. “People will insist that Colin broke us up or something absurd like that, they’ll use her to villainize him.”

“They will?” Juleka asked, concern written on her face. “That sounds like something that only happens in movies.”

“They will.” He insisted. “Trust me, I’ve seen it happen before to members of my family and their friends. It’s just a matter of time before it gets to the right people, unless…”

“Unless?” Rose asked, voice going high, the girl eager to help. 

“Unless we cut off the head of the snake.” Mylène supplied. “We need to make a statement, make sure everyone who might have heard Lila’s lies knows that it’s fake.”

“The louder the better.” Marinette added. “To make sure she doesn’t turn it around on Colin or Damian.”

“I hate to ask this of you,” Damian said. “Especially since we are perfect strangers, but my c-“ He grunted, his body jostling on the screen as Marinette shot him a glare. “Companion.” He finished begrudgingly. “My companion here, insists that you three can be trusted with this task.” 

“Please help us girls.” Marinette said. “If not for me, then for Damian and Colin.” 

Damian sighed before going into his own plea. “Colin is very important to me.” His voice was quiet. “I’m not the easiest person to get along with, and everyone says I don’t deserve someone like him.” He looked down. “He is one of the most important people in my life and I don’t want some girl, who I’ve never even met, to ruin it because she wanted her five minutes of fame.”

Rose stood quickly from the bed, almost knocking the computer off her girlfriend’s lap. “Don’t worry Damian! We’ll take care of everything!” She shouted, running for the door, her voice leaving behind the call of “no one stands in the way of true love!”

Juleka and Mylène watched her go before the goth girl sighed. “We should go get her before she runs all the way back to school.”

“Yeah,” Mylène stood. “She’s going to need backup.” She looked back at the computer. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything.”

… 

Nino didn’t know what was going on. 

He was sitting on the stairs in the gym area of his school, most of the student body just loitering around. Lunch was over but they still had about five minutes before anyone needed to start heading to their class rooms. The room was filled with soft chatter and laughter, he wasn’t invested in any conversations though. 

Adrien had texted him a few minutes ago and told him to start recording. He didn’t know why, but like a good bro, he did as asked. His phone was barely raised, picking up mostly just the shoes of his classmates. He noticed across the gym Marinette’s crew also had their phones up and were recording, though Nino wasn’t sure why. He now knew that Marinette and Adrien were in Steel City together, but Marinette had asked that the reason she was there with Edna remain secret and Nino didn’t want to pry into the girl’s personal life. If she didn’t want to tell anyone, then she had a good reason. But he also knew, via Kim, that Marinette had no international coverage and couldn’t contact anyone. Leaving the question of what her crew was currently doing? 

Maybe Adrien texted them too? 

But what would he need recorded so badly?

Nino debated getting up and going over to talk to the group but Lila and Alya were stationed in the middle of the gym, either girl would spot him if he made his way over to his secret friends. And he really didn’t feel like lying to his girlfriend today. 

‘ BANG ’

Everyone jumped as the doors to the school crashed into the walls behind them. All eyes on the entrance, taking in the petite form of Rose Lavillant. The small girl’s face was heated a blush pink, eyes narrowed into a glare and hands clenched into fists. Juleka stood on Rose’s right, her backpack slung over her shoulder and her girlfriend’s carried in her hands. Mylène stood on the girl’s left, arms crossed and an expression on her face that looked both angry and guilty. 

“LILA ROSSI!” 

His hand instinctively shot into the air, camera focusing on the trio. Nino had known Rose since he was five years old, and not once in all of those years, could he ever remember her yelling, nor could he ever remember her really being angry. And definitely not this rage fueled. No one spoke as the three girls made their way towards the center of the gym, Lila and Alya both standing helplessly in the girls’ sights. Nino took notice of his friends’ phones now trained on the pack as well. 

“Rose?” Lila asked. “Is everything oka-”

“SHUT UP!” 

Nino flinched at the pink girl’s tone, several others in the crowd did as well. 

“Rose what’s wrong?” Alya quickly inserted herself between the two as Nino stood, standing on a higher stair to get a better camera angle. 

“What’s wrong?” The blonde asked. “What’s wrong?!” Rose’s hand raised into the air, for a panicked moment Nino thought his girlfriend was going to get decked in the face. But then Rose’s finger shot out from her fist, pointing accusingly at Lila. “SHE’S A LIAR!” 

With her words came a few cheers from Marinette’s crew and a handful of others in the school who had come to resent the girl. 

Nino even heard one “preach” though he couldn’t tell where it had come from. 

“Ros-” Alya was cut off. 

“Everyone!” Mylène shouted, “Take out your phones and google Damian Wayne, you know the famous kid from Gotham? I’m sure everyone knows that he’s Lila’s boyfriend, or so she’s been telling us.” Mylène shot a glare over her shoulder at the brunette. “Go to his instagram!” 

Nino didn’t want to stop recording, thankfully he could see the people’s phones in front of him. The boy’s icon was a picture of him flipping off the camera with a rainbow painted on his cheek. His bio was only four lines. 

Damian Wayne

Animal Rights Activist 

My Boyfriend and Brother are the only ones who post on here

Please don’t talk to me

Nino tried really hard not to laugh, but couldn’t help his snicker. He knew pretty much instantly that Damian was not in fact Lila’s boyfriend, and doubted them ever actually meeting. But did she seriously not do even the smallest bit of research? There is no way it would have been that hard to figure out that the boy was gay, let alone in a relationship. 

“That’s right everybody!” Mylène shouted. “Damian Wayne has a boyfriend!”

“He’s cheating on me?” Lila asked eyes wide and heartbroken, Nino would admit, it was a good idea to save face. Claim the long distance son of a playboy was a player himself. If he didn’t know better he’d probably buy it. 

“They’ve been dating for three years.” Juleka’s voice was quiet but strong, the people around her who heard it started passing it back to those behind them who didn't.

Lila opened her mouth to spit out another lie but Rose beat her to the punch. “TWO YEARS, NINE MONTHS, THREE WEEKS, AND FIVE DAYS!” Her fists were clenched at her sides again, her whole body shaking. “THEY ARE TWO MONTHS AWAY FROM CELEBRATING THEIR THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! AND THIS-THIS...LIAR! IS TRYING TO TEAR APART THEIR HAPPILY EVER AFTER!”

Juleka placed a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder, trying to calm her just a little bit. 

“Lila also lied about knowing the Waynes! Damian Wayne didn’t interact with anyone outside of his family until he was eleven! And Bruce Wayne confirmed that he doesn’t know anyone with the last name Rossi, and none of his friends have a daughter named Lila!” Mylène shouted. “The three of us talked to Damian Wayne today! Adrien Agreste is modeling with him right now in America! He asked Damian about Lila and he’s never even heard of her!” 

There were mixed reactions from the crowd surrounding them. Mylène suddenly shot her phone into the air. “He sent me a video telling the whole story! If anyone wants to watch it! I will happily show it to you!”

“I can so explain this!” Lila said, stepping forward. “You see, some of Gotham’s villains have come after my famil-“

“I SAID SHUT UP!” Rose screeched. “COLIN WILKES IS A PRECIOUS BOY WHO DESERVES THE WORLD! AND YOU ARE TRYING TO TAKE HIS PERSON FROM HIM JUST FOR A LITTLE ATTENTION!” Juleka pulled Rose back a step, worried about her girlfriend getting too out of control. “GOD!” She shouted. “YOU ARE SUCH A LITTLE...LITTLE-”

“Say it Rose!” Alix shouted from the side lines, Nino swore if her the short girl’s smile got any wider her face would crack in half.

“ATTENTION WHORE!” He almost dropped his phone. The crowd, which had started to get more vocal, went silent. Alya’s jaw dropped and even Lila was left speechless and wide eyed. 

“Oh my god.” Kim’s voice carried over the noiseless room. 

Rose was left fuming. Her body was still vibrating at a speed Nino was sure couldn’t healthy. Her cheeks were puffed out, making her eyes large, the blues popping out against her now red face. 

“Lila is a liar and nobody should believe a word she says.” The girl huffed. “I am the champion of love and justice,” she squared her shoulders. “And refuse to stand idle while someone destroys the bond of two sweethearts.” Rose took a deep breath before striking a pose similar to Sailor Moon’s iconic one. “In the name of true love, Liar Rossi, I will punish you!”

Nino was not prepared for the burst of applause that erupted from the crowd. He actually howled out a cheer of his own, phone focused on the girls in the center of the mob. He moved his phone to follow Lila as she went running out of the corral of applauding teenagers. He assumed she was heading for the bathroom, probably to fake cry till someone came to comfort her. 

A long, loud, exasperated sigh fell from his lips as he watched his girlfriend chase after the Italian girl. He shook his head as he stopped the video, tapping on his messaging app and sending the video to his best bro. 

DJBubbles: Dude

DJBubbles: how did u know this was going 2 happen?

… 

Alya hesitated outside of the bathroom door. Cautiously she glanced back over her shoulder, people were still cheering she could hear them from down the hall. She wished she could be with them. But she had a mission to see through, and with everyone turning on Lila she knew it was do or die time. 

She slipped her phone into her back pocket and took in a deep breath before pushing open the door, masking her face in concern as she approached the girl hunched over one of the sinks. Lila had her face in her hands, muffled crying sounds coming from behind her fingers.

“Lila?” She asked quietly. 

“Oh god!” Lila turned away from her. “Alya it’s so awful!” She took a few steps farther away, laying her head against the wall of the restroom. “I-I just-just…” 

“Lila it’s okay…” Alya placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.”

Lila sniffled, looking at the girl over her shoulder. “It’s not.” She whispered. “I lied.” She turned her head away quickly. 

“Why?” Alya asked. 

“I don’t know.” Lila whipped around, tears streaming down her face. “I-well, I just-” She sniffled loudly. “I like Adrien so much.” She started, back leaning against the wall. “But he didn’t really seem to take notice of me, so I thought if while he was gone I could get everyone talking about how I had this awesome boyfriend it’d make him, well, I don’t know.” 

“You wanted Adrien to be jealous of Damian?” Alya asked, eyebrow cocked. 

“Y-yeah.” Lila looked down. “I know it was stupid and I just should have kept my mouth shut. But I didn’t know how else to get his attention.” A few more tears streamed down her cheeks, her hands raising to rub at her eyes. “I’m so sorry I lied to you.” 

Alya sighed. “Look, I can kind of see why you did it.” She crossed her arms. “But Adrien isn’t the type to respond to jealousy. In fact, if he did like you and found out you were with someone else, then he would gracefully bow out. He wouldn’t want to come between you two.” 

Lila’s eyes stayed focused on the floor. “I guess I didn’t think about that. He really is so sweet.” She whispered. 

“And while I don’t think you should have lied about dating Damian Wayne, I definitely don’t think Rose, Juleka, and Mylène had the right to humiliate you like that. It was uncalled for.” Alya’s eyebrows nicked together. “They should have just asked to talk to you in private. Seriously, I have never seen them act so vicious.” 

“Marinette must have turned them against me.” Lila’s face suddenly hardened. “She’s out to get me Alya. You know she is. She’s taking everyone away from me!” Lila surged forward, grabbing the girl’s shoulder. “She’s going to steal you too!” 

“Marinette will never steal me from you Lila.” Alya sucked in a deep breath. “Your my best friend, and I’ve got your back no matter what!” God that left such an awful taste in her mouth. 

“Thank you Alya!” Lila pulled the girl into a tight hug. One brunette’s face turned devious while it was hidden, the other simply rolled her eyes. 

… 

Nino took his seat at his desk, unable to hide the smile on his face. He was rewatching the video on his phone. He honestly hadn’t felt this good in a while, probably not since the last time he wielded the Turtle Miraculous. It felt like everything was over, but seeing as how Lila still had Alya, and probably Sabrina, who was out sick today, he figured it wasn’t. Meaning his job as mole wasn’t done quite yet. But the few minutes he had to celebrate the Liar’s major take down with his friends was invigorating and made him feel like he was operating at one hundred percent again. 

Rose, Juleka and Mylène all came into class together, everyone already in the room standing up and cheering for them. Alya and Lila weren’t back from the bathroom yet, so Nino applauded them from his seat. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Kim shouted. “The hero of the hour, champion of love and justice herself!” He jumped up on his desk, extending his hands in an overly complicated gesture in Rose’s direction. “Ms. Rose Lavillant!” 

Nino’s classmates cheered harder as Nathanael walked forward and embraced the tiny girl in a hug. “We’ve missed you sweetness.” 

“I’ve missed you all too!” Rose hugged him back as forcefully as she could. “I’m so so sorry everyone!” She pulled back from the red head, positioning herself to look at those who filled the opposite side of the classroom as Nino. “Can you ever forgive me for falling for her lies?”

“It took all of us time to see she was lying,” Max came forward, setting his hand on Rose’s shoulder. “The important thing is that you finally saw through them.” 

“Yeah, she’s pretty good at covering her ass, none of us blame you for taking so long.” Alix said, kicking her feet up on the desk.

“Do you think we could have our old seats back?” Juleka asked, voice quiet as she stepped forward and took Rose’s hand. 

Kim jumped down from his and Alix’s shared desk. He held his arms wide open, embracing the two girls. “Welcome home babe.” He said, dramatized tears in his voice. “God we’ve missed you.” 

Alix rolled her eyes. “Knock it off drama queen.” She yelled. “Seriously though,” She swung her feet around on the bench, standing up and gesturing to the seats. “It’s good to have you two back.” 

“I think you mean three.” Max said, he and Nathanael had their arms draped over Mylène’s shoulders. The girl had a small blush dusting her cheeks as she climbed the steps towards the back of the room where her boyfriend sat.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t listen to you.” She whispered, eyes downcast. “Do you think you can forgive me?” Ivan gave a soft smile, scooting down the bench so that Mylène could sit by him. The girl sat down quickly, latching onto her boyfriend’s arm with a large smile. 

“Power couple’s back,” Kim whispered. “We got all our lovely ladies on the side of truth and justice, I know have video of Rose striking her cute ass sailor moon pose. It’s like all's right with the world!” He said, sitting down at Alix’s old desk, the girl having reclaimed her seat now that everybody’s favorite girlfriends had retaken their old desk.

Everyone was happily chattering away, Marinette’s crew filling in the three girls on everything they missed when Lila and Alya walked in. 

“Not all our lovely ladies have come to their senses.” Nino mumbled, resting his cheek against his fist. As long as Alya had yet to see the light, he couldn’t in good conscience retire as Marinette’s mole. And he certainly couldn’t leave his girlfriend alone with that coyote. 

“How can you still be friends with her?” Mylène asked. “After knowing everything was lie?” 

Alya shot the girl a dirty look. “She lied about having a boyfriend, that didn’t give you the right to humiliate her in front of the whole school.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “I swear, you’ve all become as bad as Marinette.” Alya took her seat behind Nino, Lila sitting where Marinette once did, large crocodile tears still streaming down her face. 

“Seriously Nino?” Juleka whispered, disbelief in her eyes.

The boy simply shook his head, turning away from the majority of his classmates. Alix flipped around on her knees, leaning close to the goth girl and whispering into her ear, she then moved on to give the small explanation to Rose. In the back of the room Ivan was quietly filling Mylène in on Nino’s situation. 

The three girls were quiet, save for Rose’s soft. “Oh.” Thankfully it wasn't loud enough for Alya or Lila to hear. 

It wasn’t long before Miss Bustier came into the classroom. She set her papers down on her desk, then turned to write something on the board before finally facing the class. Her eyes scanned the room slowly, a loud sigh escaping her lips. “Okay,” She breathed. “Let’s just begin class.” The poor woman was so tired. 

_______________________________________________________________________

(part 1)  (part 2)  (part 2.5)  (part 3)  (part 4)  (part 5)  (part 6) (part 7)  (part 8)  (part 9)  (part 10) - Here (part 11)

Not  exactly Photoshoot Part 3...I’m just trying so hard to get to this Incredibles cameo guys, I feel like I keep underestimating how long parts are going to be. I’m so sorry it’s taking so long for this character to show up. Anyway, who was prepared for Rose this time around? I love the idea of her being essentially this tank that no one sees coming till it’s far too late. Now it’s just Sabina and Alya, and Nino left on Lila’s side (or so she thinks). I also love the idea that the class has the most ridiculous pet names for one another. Not sure when part 11 will be up because we are getting very close to finals week at my college, but I’ll do my best to get something out as soon as possible! Thank you all so much for the likes, reblogs, and especially the comments! They are such huge mood boosters for me, they really change the whole course of my day and I appreciate them so much. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I loved writing it. As always if you have any questions about the story or AU feel free to ask, I love getting them and will happily answer any question you got (even if it’s not about this AU)! And if you want to be tagged let me know! 

@graduatedmelon @northernbluetongue​ @violatiger8​ @bamagirl513​ @vixen-uchiha​ @beaversuenightly​ @tumbling-down-hills-and-stuff​ @todaylillypads​ @laurakinneylance​ @vgirl-10123​ @wellcrud-blog-blog​ @silvergold-swirl​ @crazylittlemunchkin​ @an-ahez​ @queencommonsense​ @ladybug-182​ @meganemily231​ @driftingmoonlitpetals​ @kand-roo​ @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry​ @theatreandcomicfreak​ @paradoxal-occurance​ @miraculousl4dybug @thanks-captain-obvious​ @sassydepression​ @multishipper1needshalp @wegan97​ @surprisebishhhhhhhhh  @redscarlet95 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @synnesstra @fandomkitty8 @tired-yeetling @saluteswifties @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @dast218 @naclychilli @royalchaoticfangirl @panda3506 @nataladriana9 @shreky-boi @my-name-is-michell @dawnwave16  @thethirdwheelfriend @quiet-oracle @heaven428

[dakotacrisis]

Deal’s End (12)

One final wish.

(Read on AO3)

---

Months rolled by as Marinette moved on with her life without Felix. It took some getting used to waking up and not having him around. She had even avoided saying his name as much as she could. Everyone at school figured that he moved away but didn’t give it much thought beyond that. The only other people that seemed to note his absence outside of Marinette were Adrien, Alya, and her parents.

Alya was Marinette’s rock during the beginning when she was most broken up about it. A number of sleepovers that ended in cartons of ice cream and a box of used tissues.

And then there was Adrien. Marinette’s now official boyfriend. She insisted on taking things slow when they started. She was in no proper headspace to be a normal girlfriend and wanted to distance herself from the new relationship for some time before she was back to normal. Adrien didn’t question her and said that he didn’t want to rush her into anything she was uncomfortable with. So a lot of their quote unquote dates were casual lunches and hand holding in the park.

After the first month Marinette was as normal as she thought she was gonna get. Her dates with Adrien branching out to more traditionally romantic and a few kisses exchanged. The first time they kissed there was a small fluttering in her stomach but not much beyond that. It wasn’t the spark that Marinette had heard Alya talk about when she had her first kiss with Nino.

Summer had come and gone and autumn had officially began. The trees burning in colors of orange and yellow and red. It was chill enough to break out the fluffy sweaters and warm drinks but not enough that it was uncomfortable to be out. It was a picture perfect backdrop to a romantic season.

After school one day Adrien invited Marinette over to his house for a study date. There wasn’t a lot to work on but she was happy to spend some time with him outside of school. When it came to go Adrien walked her out to the front door.

“Do you need to get home anytime soon?” Adrien asked after they stepped out of the house.

“No. Why? What’s up?” She asked.

Adrien came up to her, his wide green eyes tenderly watching her. “Marinette, I wanted to talk to you about something that may not be the easiest thing to talk about. But I care about you and if one of us isn’t happy then it should be addressed. Don’t you think so?”

“What are you getting at?”

He held her hands, “Do you love me?”

“What kind of a question is that? Of course I love you. You’re my boyfriend.” She tried to laugh it off.

“I believe that you love me as much as say you love Alya.” He continued, “You love me as a friend. But not more than that.”

“What makes you think that?” Marinette backed up an inch.

“Marinette, I do love you.” Adrien held her hands tighter, “You’re an amazing person and I am so happy spending time with you. But we both know that whatever this is between us isn’t working and it is because we’re trying to force romance into what is meant to be a friendship.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Her voice broke a touch.

“Are you happy with me?” Adrien asked, “When you look into the future is it me you’re seeing? Cause I don’t think it is.”

“I am happy with you. I love hanging out with you and if I were to look into the future I would hope that you were there with me.”

“I may be there and you may be happy with me but are you happy with me as a romantic partner?”

“Adrien…”

“We both know who it is you really want.” He stared down at their interlaced hands, “I thought that maybe I could be what you wanted. But with how sad you were when he moved away and how distant you’ve been since we started dating I couldn’t keep going on. Not when I knew that whatever this is between us was only hurting you more.”

Marinette started to break down completely. There was no use pretending now. “I never meant to hurt you or use you.” She whispered, “I thought you were what I wanted. What I needed. But in the end I was using you. You were the kind and handsome placeholder for all the emotions and love I wanted to give to someone. Then he showed up and little by little everything changed. I told myself that it was just a phase. A passing fancy. That I was your girlfriend and my feelings for him would drift away as a pleasant memory. I squashed them down and left them to wither and die in my gut. But they just wouldn’t.” Marinette sat down on the steps. “I led you on because being with you was better than being alone.”

Adrien sat down next to her. He held her close and rubbed her back gingerly. “It’s alright, Marinette. I’m not upset if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“How can you not be? I--I--”

“You’re hurting and if being your boyfriend helped you not to hurt then I’m okay. But you are still hurting. All I want is for you to be happy. You’re my friend and I love you and I want to help you however I can. But I think what is best for the both of us is if we stop pretending and go back to what works best for us.”

“You still want to be my friend?”

“Do I still want to be friends with the kindest, smartest, funniest, most talented, and bravest girl I have ever met? I think I’m gonna have to say, duh!” he said. Marinette laughed a bit.

“I love you. I really do.” Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder, “As my friend.”

“I love you too, friend.” They sat on the steps watching cars and people go by. Their relationship as a couple officially at an end. What had she done to deserve someone as great as Adrien in her life?

Upon returning home she collapsed onto her chaise and let herself have a good cry. She had put herself through all this pain and for what? Breaking up with Adrien wouldn’t bring Felix back. She had given up years of her life for a relationship she ended up not really wanting. Now all she had to show for it was a heart more broken than before.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note Felix had left. The last thing he had ever given her. She held it close, a stray tear hitting the paper. “I wish you were here.” she whispered.

All of the sudden she felt a hand on her back. She turned around and saw her mom kneeling next to her. “Oh sweetie, what’s wrong?”

“Mom.” Marinette hugged her tightly. “It hurts so much.”

“What does? What happened?” She asked.

“Adrien and I broke up.” Marinette muttered.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Her mom held her closer, “I’m so sorry. It’s gonna be okay.”

Her sobs grew louder and her dad came up to check on her as well. Both her parents held her in their arms as she let out all the pain she had been bottling in for months. They thought it was all for Adrien and she was fine to let them believe that. The reality hurt much worse.

Marinette went to bed early that night. She was too exhausted to see the note on her desk until she woke up in the morning. Picking it up her heart leapt into her throat. It was the paper from her sketchbook. The one with Felix’s sigil on it. She hadn’t seen this since she signed it.

Quickly turning it over she saw the contract was there with large black letters that read: VOID, stamped across it. One hundred percent satisfaction or your years of life back guarantee. Just as soon as she read it the paper caught fire and burned up in her hands leaving nothing but a puff of smoke in its wake.

Her five years had been returned. She called it a small victory.

Getting ready for school was a chore. But she felt lighter somehow. Like a weight had been taken off her shoulders and she could finally move forward. Walking into class she said hi to her friends. They were all sympathetic about her break up with Adrien but she assured them it was fine. Maybe under different circumstances they could have made it work but she was happy to have him in her life as just a friend.

In all honesty not being a couple helped a lot since they could just hang out without any expectations. She’d tag along to some of his photoshoots and make funny faces at him to break his concentration. He’d come over to play video games at her house after school. They’d study together and cracked jokes and made dumb puns. It was nice.

There was still that aching feeling in her chest when she thought of Felix. She missed him and often times found herself doodling his sigil in the margins of her notes. And she would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted to try and summon him again. In the end she talked herself out of it. It was too big of a risk.

One day Adrien was over at her house studying what with exams on the way they could use all the study time they could get.

“UGH!” Marinette snapped her textbook closed. “I can’t focus.”

“Video game break?” Adrien suggested.

“No. I think I just need some fresh air and some snacks. You wanna come?”

“You go on. I’m still copying down the notes I missed.” Adrien gestured to the notebook Marinette had lent him.

“Alright, I won’t be long.” Marinette headed downstairs and stepped outside. The cold wind snapped her senses back into focus. She took a few minutes to breathe and people watch before she went back in and grabbed a couple snacks before heading back up to her room.

“I have macarons and juice.” Marinette announced. A small shiver went down her spine upon entering the room. “Adrien? What are you doing buddy?”

Adrien was half off the chaise and his eyes were wide. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. “Oh uh hi there.” He waved at her.

“Hey yourself.” she tossed him a juice bottle. “Why are you so squirrely?”

“There was a um...a spider. It’s gone now.”

“Freaking spiders.” Marinette sighed, “Remind me I need to vacuum up the cobwebs in here this weekend.”

“Will do.” Adrien was kinda restless the rest of the afternoon they were working and Marinette decided to call it off early. He wasn’t focused and her brain was going to melt if she kept trying to cram information in it.

“We still on for group study in the library tomorrow?” she asked before he left, “Alya and Max are bringing flashcards.”

“Yeah. Sounds good. See you then.” Adrien said before turning around to his car muttering to himself.

“Weirdo.” Marinette chuckled as she went back inside and got ready for bed.

The next day at school Marinette shuffled inside and placed her things in her locker. She had trouble falling asleep last night and was still sleepy when her alarm went off in the morning. What she would have given for another hour of blessed sleep.

Upon walking into the classroom she received a jolt that woke her up instantly. A figure in black jeans and a red hoodie was sitting in her seat with their feet propped up on her desk and their hood up. She rubbed her eyes but the figure remained.

She felt her feet moving beneath her without any sort of command from her brain as she neared her desk. “You’re in my seat.” Her voice was quiet.

They looked up, pushing the hood back off their head, revealing grey eyes that sparkled like silver and mussed blonde hair. “Surprised to see me?”

“Yes I am.” She took in a shaky breath. “Felix...what…”

“Come here, love,” he stood up and took her out of the classroom. They passed Adrien in the doorway who gave them a knowing smile.

Felix dragged her down to the now empty library. They stood apart from each other as Marinette tried to settle all the emotions in her head. Felix was here. Why was he here? How was he here? Was it because her wish had been voided?

“Marinette,” Felix spoke first, “I--”

She rushed him in a hug. His arms closed around her molding her to him. She was shaking and crying but god help her if she could stop. “There, there, love,” Felix whispered as he tried to soothe her, “Cry it out. It’s alright.”

“I’m okay.” Marinette broke out of the embrace abruptly. “Sorry. I got overwhelmed.”

“Don’t apologize.” He smoothed out her hair. “I can imagine that this is a bit of a shock.”

“A bit of a shock?” Marinette stepped further away from him. “A bit of a shock!”

“Oh boy here we go.” Felix braced himself, “I’m ready let’s have it.”

“I haven’t seen you in months!” Marinette shrieked, her whole body filling with anger and sadness, “I was left alone on a dance floor trying not to cry my eyes out the last time I saw you. I entered into a relationship I ended up not even wanting because pretending to be in love was better than being alone. All I had left was this note in my fridge to remember you by cause all the pictures you were in mysteriously vanished. I was finally starting to accept that you were a strange and heartbreaking moment in my life and was moving on from it.”

She rushed up to him jabbing a finger into his chest. “Now you’re here and I don’t know what to think or what to feel. I’m angry and upset and happy and confused and worried and hopeful and about a billion other things. So yes, seeing you in my seat like nothing has happened was ‘a bit of a shock!’”

She turned away taking several deep breaths to calm herself. This was too much to deal with this early.

“Marinette,” Felix touched her shoulder but just as quickly withdrew it when he saw her glare, “What do you want me to say? You want me to apologize for leaving? You want me to say that I should have stayed and damn the consequences? Cause we both know it wouldn’t have helped. It would have just made everything worse.”

“Then why are you back?” Marinette rounded on him, “Why are you back? Is it because my contract was void? Do we have to strike a new deal or something? I am not in the mood for games, Felix. I don’t want any roundabout answers or riddles. I just want a straightforward answer.”

“It has nothing to do with your contract. We don’t need to make any new deal. Your years of life were returned. That was the end of it.” Felix explained calmly.

“So what is it then?”

“I was summoned.”

“Not by me.”

“No, love, not by you.” Felix reached into his notebook and took out a piece of paper before handing it to her.

“My chemistry notes?” She scanned over the paper. “How did you get this?”

“Because of this.” He pointed to a doodle in the margin. A smear of dried blood on it. “Funny what a little paper cut can do.”

“But if it wasn’t me then…” the realization started to dawn on her. “I gave Adrien my notes to copy. I went downstairs for snacks and…”

“When you came back up he was acting weird?” Felix nodded with a crooked smile. “Yes.”

“He…” Marinette’s hands flew to her mouth. “Adrien! Oh god, what did he wish for? What was the price? I swear if you took his soul--”

“Hey, hey, calm down.” Felix eased her, “He’s fine. No soul reaping here. I promise. I understand your worry but there is nothing to be worried about. Everything is fine.”

“Has he made a deal with you yet?”

“Yes.”

“No!” Marinette was pacing again, “Oh god this is so bad!”

“Marinette, love, will you get ahold of yourself for five minutes and let me explain?” Felix grasped her by the shoulders to stop her movement. “Can you give me that? Can you give me five minutes?”

Marinette nodded. “Okay,” he let her go, “Let me start from the beginning when Adrien first summoned me.”

“A good a place as any to start.” Marinette took a seat at one of the tables. “I’m listening.”

“When I first showed up in your room I was panicked because I thought you had gotten incredibly stupid and conjured me again. When I looked around though the only one there was Adrien. He was startled and confused as to why I was there and how I had appeared. I knew you would be back any second so I quickly explained that I had never been a transfer student and was actually a demon that you had accidentally summoned that one day you got hit in the face with a dodgeball. I begged him not to let you know I was there and that I would explain everything once we were away from your house.”

“Why didn’t you reveal yourself to me when you were in my room? If anything I think I could have helped explain to Adrien what you are.”

“Given your reaction to seeing me just now I am gonna say that you would have not been any help at all. If you knew I was there it would have been extra gas on the fire and that was not going to be good for anyone.”

“That’s fair.” Marinette relented. “Go on.”

“So after we left and went back to Adrien’s house I explained the situation more and I had to tell him about our deal and how he had factored into it. He was good about it. I swear that he is one of the most understanding people I have ever met. He really does take everything in stride. He didn’t even get mad when I told him it was I that cut the air conditioning in your house that one day.”

“Felix, you’re drifting.” She said.

“Sorry. Back to it.” Felix cleared his throat, “After we got all of that out of the way I told him that since he summoned me, accident or not, we had to make a deal or else I could never leave. So we made a deal.”

“And this is where my worries come in.” Marinette said, “I fought you for a week before striking a deal. You’re alone with Adrien for one night and he’s quite literally made a deal with the devil. So just tell me what it was he did wish for.”

He reached out a hand and gently stroked her cheek. “He wished for the brute to be a gentleman,” His voice broke a touch, “or in my case, human.”

Marinette shot to her feet so fast the chair clattered to the ground behind her. Human? Her throat felt dry. “He can wish for that?” 

“Apparently so.” Felix chuckled.

“But why?”

“Because he loves you. And he’d do anything to make you happy.”

“And he thought that was you?” Marinette joked.

Felix scoffed, pretending to be wounded. “Was he mistaken, love?”

“How much did that cost if not his soul?”

“Turning a demon into a human is seen as a punishment where I was from. My bosses were already pissed at me for how much time I spent up here, complaining about me going soft. They were going to punish me somehow but in their eyes Adrien did that for them. So they may have let the price slide just this once.”

“How is being human a punishment?”

“Loss of immortality and you are now under the sway of god again which you had fallen from before. It’s basically seen as a betrayal to your fallen peers.”

“I have so many more questions about the logistics of this. I mean, do you have a soul now? What happens when you die? What is your DNA? Do you even have a place to live?”

“In order: yes, I don’t know, I don’t know, and no. That being said, can I stay your house for a couple weeks? I have literally nowhere to go and no money.”

“I’ll talk to my parents. Maybe you can take the photographer’s advice and become a model. He said he knew an agency.”

“A model? I can see it. I may be mortal but I am still hot as hell and devilishly handsome.” Felix laughed. The sound filled Marinette with warmth.

“On second thought I don’t think you need your ego fed anymore.”

“Too late, I’m already imaging.” He started making ridiculous poses.

“Okay cool it, Jojo.” Marinette rolled her eyes. She approached him, resting a hand on his chest. “Are you really human?”

“Yes.”

“Are you here to stay?”

“Yes.”

“Do you…do you…” The question was stuck in her throat.

“I do.” Felix cradled her face in his hands. “It isn’t much and I’ve a lot to learn still but that’s half the fun of love isn’t it?”

“Yes.” She was crying now. Felix gently wiped away her tears and waited patiently for her to calm down.

“So, are you happy?” He asked.

“I am. I thought I’d lost you forever.” She hiccuped.

“You think you could drive me off that easily?” He pressed his forehead to hers, “You couldn’t shake me when I was a demon and now that you’re my girlfriend you’re never getting rid of me.”

“Girlfriend? Jumping ahead of ourselves don’t you think?” She laughed, “Shouldn’t you take me on a date first?”

“Was extinguishing every light in Paris so we could watch the shooting stars not a good enough first date for you? Cause I hate to tell you but I’m not gonna be able to top that now without any powers.”

“How about dinner?” Marinette suggested, “Then dessert at Andre’s.”

“Sounds perfect.” he leaned in closer. “But first I am going to drag us back into the far stacks of the library to make out because that is all I have been thinking about since that night we watched the stars.”

Marinette stood on her toes and pressed her mouth against his. Her hands balled in the fabric of his hoodie. His hands wove into her hair pulling her closer still. Butterflies, fireworks, bouncy balls, everything was going off inside her as he kissed her deeply. This was what it was supposed to feel like.

He wasn’t letting her go any time soon either. One kiss followed another more desperate and hungry and loving than the last until they were both out of breath. “I love you,” She whispered against his lips. “I love you, Felix.”

“I love you too, Marinette.” he kissed her again. “I do have one little condition though?”

“And what would that be? More eclairs?” She giggled punctuating her words with small darting kisses.

“Well yes, obviously, but more than that I want to make one last deal. An official end to my demon dealing ways.” He looked at her with so much love and adoration it threatened to strangle her. “I’ll trade you the rest of my life for the rest of yours. Sound fair, my love?”

Marinette laced her hand with his, “It’s a deal.”

THE END

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(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

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(tagged)

@sannsibarr @miss-mysterys-blog @maribug-adrienoir @mermaidreject @corabeth11 @goblinwhoships @symwinter  @dreaming-being  @yourgeekysister

[hermionemonica]

Destination: Chapter 3

Welcome to the third chapter! Thank you for appreciating my work so far, and thank you for sticking around! I cannot emphasize how grateful I am to you all! There's less sadness here and things actually start rolling. So, enjoy! 

(I own none of the characters of this universe. This is merely a fan fiction.)

AO3 link

First chapter || Previous chapter

Finally, thought Adrien. After weeks of requesting and begging, his father had finally allowed him to go out with his friends. Every time he had asked, some photoshoot or press event would always come up. He secretly wondered if his father intentionally scheduled those in such a way that he could not meet his friends. Because honestly, he had never quite liked Adrien's friends. Nino was a taboo in the Agreste mansion since the Bubbler incident, Alya was only “the girl who runs the Ladyblog". The only person whom his father seemed to treat with some respect was Marinette; he remembered her as the girl who had designed the hat which Adrien wore to his father's fashion show.    

Marinette.    

His beautiful, talented, kind, amazing classmate. His everyday Ladybug.    

His friend, who had once been in love with him.    

It was Kagami who had told him that Marinette had been in love with him for more than a year.    

“I am surprised, how could you have never noticed? She was hopelessly in love with you!”    

Marinette had been in love with him. The awesome girl whom he had admired since she stood up to Chloe in class, she had been in love with him. And he had never noticed. Seriously, how stupid could he have been?    

Strangely, his father had seemed particularly interested in Marinette for a while. He had been surprised to know that it was Kagami he was dating. Adrien recollected the conversation.    

“Father, I just wanted you to know that I have a girlfriend now.”    

Adrien thought he saw a glint in his father's eye as he spoke. “Well, I believe it was only a matter of time before you got involved with Miss Dupain-Cheng.”    

“What, Marinette? No father, I am dating Kagami.”    

“Oh,” his father had been surprised, “Well, Miss Tsurugi is a pleasant candidate too.”    

‘Candidate'. Adrien laughed. As if this was a competition. Although to be honest, that was probably how Kagami saw it. She was constantly pushing him for more and more. She refused to take things slow. And towards the end, she had started to demand an explanation of what he had been doing or where he had been at any time. She almost detested the times when he chose to hang out with his friends instead of with her. It was like she wanted him to be hers and hers only.    

Like he was a prize she had won.    

And that’s what led to their break-up.    

“I cannot do this anymore, Kagami.”    

“What are you talking about, Adrien?”    

“I don't want to be with you anymore. You’re making it too hard. I-I just can't breathe.”    

“So, you want to break up with me?”    

“I am sorry Kagami.”    

“I knew this day would come. I had been mistaken, you do not belong with me,” Kagami placed her hand on his shoulder. “I just have one thing to say. Follow your heart; it will lead you to your destination.”    

And that had been it.    

Adrien had feared Kagami would get upset, and maybe she would end up akumatised. But none of that happened. It was almost as if she had been expecting this to happen.    

But Adrien was yet to figure out Kagami's last advice. He was confused about his heart. Kagami had never made him feel the way Ladybug had. And now, Ladybug was even further away from his reach than she ever had been. But Adrien had long reconciled himself to that.    

The ring on his phone shook Adrien out of his reverie. He picked the phone and saw Nino’s contact name displayed on the screen.    

“Hey, Nino, what's up?”    

“Just calling to check on you dude. You still up for the Louvre, right?”    

“Yeah, of course!”    

“Okay, see you in an hour!”    

Adrien went to take a quick shower. Nino’s call had made him feel all the more excited. And in spite of himself, he found himself thinking about the one person he was more excited to meet today than anyone else.    

Marinette.  

It was strange, how he had started to spend most of his time thinking about her. It was almost as if thinking about her made him feel happy. Over the past couple of months, they had grown much closer than they used to be, which meant they got to spend more time together. And every day, Adrien found himself being more and more blown away by this wonder of a girl. Everything about her was so amazing. And when he was with her, he felt this unexplained warmth in his chest, that made him think of all the good things in life.    

Not unexpectedly, his thoughts distracted him and he took a bit longer in the bathroom than he normally would have.  

“Ready for your day out, kid?” Plagg asked from his cheese corner.  

“I am, but you aren’t.”  

“What do you mean? I’m always presentable!”  

“No, you’re not. Not until you get rid of that gross smell of cheese!”  

“That is an unthinkable insult to my precious baby!”  

“Oh shut up! You have to clean up if you want to come with me today. I don’t want to be smelling like stinky cheese today.”  

“Ah, of course! Gotta impress the girlfriend, huh?”  

“Plagg, you know Kagami isn’t going to be here today.”  

“I wasn’t talking about her.”  

That statement confused him, but a summon from Nathalie made him hurry. Much to Plagg’s chagrin, Adrien sprayed him with the same deodorant that he was wearing on himself. He was downstairs in a few minutes.  

His father had insisted that his bodyguard drop him at the Louvre. Although that wasn't quite to his liking, Adrien had conceded to it. He would have loved to walk with his friends, but he had given in, thinking it to be a small price to pay in return for an entire afternoon with his best friends.    

When Adrien got there, he found Nino was already waiting for him. “Adrien, you're here! The girls should be here any moment now.”    

They had barely exchanged pleasantries when they heard Alya’s voice, “Are you boys done with your love-fest already?”    

“Alya!”    

At Marinette's voice, Adrien turned around with a smile. But as soon as his eyes found her, his smile was replaced by a deep blush that spread over his cheeks.    

Marinette was wearing her hair down. Just like that day when she had helped him and Kagami escape from the Bourgeois party.    

Her raven locks fell on her shoulders, and a few strands framed her face. And when she walked, her tresses danced in the breeze just a little. And she took his breath away just like she had the first time. Because she looked beautiful. So beautiful. It took him a few moments to recover. And then he took in the rest of her.    

Her outfit, that is.    

She was wearing a black t-shirt with a large green paw-print at the centre. She had paired it with a pair of shorts in matching green, and a pair of high-heeled black boots.    

Adrien felt his breath catch in his chest.  

Marinette was wearing a Chat Noir inspired outfit. And from the looks of it, she had designed it herself.    

Adrien felt a little shaky at the knees. Marinette had created that outfit with her own hands. She had made the design thinking about him. She had sewed it thinking about him. She had put it on thinking about him. He could not explain why his heart-beat accelerated at that thought.    

“Doesn't she look really pretty?” a voice brought him back to reality.    

“She does,” Adrien answered dreamily, and then he recognised the voice who had asked the question.    

Luka.    

“Hey Luka, I didn't know you were coming?”    

The reply to his question came from Marinette. “He was free today so I dragged him along. I hope it won't be a problem?”    

“Of course not, girl!” Alya said, but Adrien didn't quite agree with her.    

The afternoon turned out to be much less fun than what Adrien had expected. At least for him. Nino was with Alya, and Marinette was with Luka. And Adrien ended up third-wheeling with either of them. Of course, they tried to involve Adrien in every activity as much as they could, and there were times when the five of them did something together. But most of the time they stayed with their partners and he ended up being the odd one out. He couldn't really blame his friends though.    

Adrien was used to third-wheeling with Nino and Alya, because he had been doing so ever since they had started dating. But it used to be easier before, because he had never been left alone. Marinette would be with him. Even though they weren’t “together”, it was nice to have someone third-wheeling with him. For a moment, he wondered if there was someone he could call over to join him, but he couldn’t go ahead with that. Because he didn’t think he’d enjoy third-wheeling with anyone as much as he would with Marinette.  

But now, Marinette was with Luka, not with him. And they were “together”. For some reason, that thought made him feel even worse than being left out. Adrien could not ignore the way he felt a burning sensation in his chest every time he looked at Marinette and Luka. For the first time in his life, Marinette's smiles made him angry, because it was not him she was smiling at.    

What did Luka have that he didn't?    

Woah, where did that come from?    

Wait, was he jealous? Of what Marinette and Luka had?    

And then, all the emotions he had been subconsciously pushing away came to him in a rush.  

He was jealous that Marinette was with Luka. He was jealous of the attention Marinette was giving to Luka. He was jealous that Luka was allowed to be so close to her and he wasn’t.    

He wanted to be the one who held Marinette's hand. He wanted to be the one who made Marinette smile.    

He wanted to be Marinette's one.    

“Are you okay, kid?” Plagg called out from inside his pocket. “You have been silent for a while.”  

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Now I am.”  

Next Chapter

[agrestebug]

Marichat May 2020

Here’s another one-shot from the collection! Thank you guys so much for all the likes and comments. I’m glad you are enjoying the stories so far! I hope you guys enjoy this one too and remember, please don’t repost to another site without my permission!

Day 13 - Possessive Kitty

It had been a little over three months now, and he was starting to notice it more and more as time went on. Marinette was like a beacon to all of their friends. They gravitated to her like magnets. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was his girlfriend now that made him notice, or if things had always been this way and he just hadn't realized it.

Okay sure, he knew how helpful Marinette was. It was one of the things he loved about her. She was always willing to help a friend in need, spreading joy in that amazing way she did. But this, this was different.

And he wasn't sure he liked it.

This morning, he had found Nino and Marinette leaning up against each other, sharing headphones and whispering in low tones. Neither one noticed him until he was practically on top of them. They had barely moved apart, saying good morning and acting like they hadn't been doing anything.

He hadn't commented on it of course. He knew they were friends, and it wasn't his business what they had been doing. Besides, he knew Nino had Alya, and they had been friends for a long time. It wasn't weird to see them being close. He sighed. He didn't like this feeling. He couldn't even hold his girlfriend's hand because she didn't KNOW it was him, but everyone else seemed to be able to be close to her.

He frowned from the bench where he was sitting, another prime example unfolding in front of him as he watched Kim lift Marinette into a giant hug before swinging her around happily. "You're the best Marinette!" Kim exclaimed loudly.

Alix's aggravated voice was clear across the commons, "You're a traitor Marinette! How are you going to help him win a bet against me!? See if I ever help you with your little 'gardening' projects ever again!"

Marinette's blush was easy to see, and Kim asked instantly, "Wait, you garden Marinette? I didn't know that."

Adrien frowned more. He hadn't known that either. She had a few plants spread around her balcony, but he'd never heard her refer to having any gardening projects.

Marinette said it a little too loudly, "Alix! My gardening days are over!"

Alix huffed, but he didn't catch what she said after that. He was too busy watching Max approach the trio with a purpose in his step. He watched Marinette give quick smiles to Kim and Alix before disappearing with Max just behind the stairs out of sight.

He looked around subtly, seeing Nino and Alya talking just a little ways down. They probably had a great view of her... of them. They probably had a great view of them. He just wanted to make sure everything was okay. That's all.

He got up and walked over to Nino and Alya, saying it shyly, "Hey guys, I'm not interrupting am I?"

Nino put an arm over his shoulder, "Never my man, what's up?"

Alya had a knowing smirk on her face, "Can't see my girl anymore from where you were sitting, could you?"

Adrien felt himself blush slightly, but said it casually, "I don't know what you mean."

Nino snickered under his breath as Alya said it not the least bit convinced, "Yeah, okay. So, you are going to try and tell me that you weren't glaring daggers at Kim just now?"

"Why would I do that?" He asked innocently, glancing over briefly to see Max and Marinette bent over a tablet with their heads nearly touching. Both of them were smiling brightly as they talked back and forth. Markov was hovering just over Marinette's shoulder, but was floating between her and Max. He wondered what they were talking about so intently over there.

Nino patted his shoulder in warning, drawing his attention back to them. Okay, so maybe his brief glance was more like a hard stare, "Don't dig your hole deeper dude."

Alya however, would show no such mercy as she smirked evilly, "I bet you are just dying to know what is going on over there. I'm sure you've noticed Max spending a little more time with Marinette lately."

Adrien nodded instantly, Alya's grin widening as he backtracked, "No, I mean, they are friends, so that's normal right?"

Nino shook his head at Alya's knowing expression, taking pity on his best friend facing his girlfriend's evil ways, "Max altered a design program for Marinette so that she could draw digitally or scan her drawing into it. That way, she can manipulate them on the tablet without having to start from scratch."

Alya said it low, "Kill joy."

Adrien let out a soft sigh of relief, "Oh, okay. I bet that will come in handy, given how much she designs."

Marinette let out a short squeal before hugging Max, who smiled brightly as he hugged her back. Marinette turned and pulled Markov to her face, giving him a soft kiss. Markov's propeller whirled faster for just a few seconds, and Adrien frowned again.

Alya laughed, "Oh boy Agreste, you've got it bad."

"Don't tease the sunshine child Als." Nino chided teasingly.

Adrien asked confused, honestly not sure what Nino was talking about, "What do you mean?"

Alya chuckled, putting her hand on her face as she studied him, "You're so cute Adrien. You have a crush on Marinette, don't you?"

His face flamed, "Wh-what? N-no! Of course not! Marinette is just a friend!" At least, she was 'just' friends with Adrien. Chat Noir was the one who had the privilege of being her boyfriend.

Alya raised a disbelieving brow at him, "Uh huh, that's why you haven't been able to take your eyes off of her lately. You aren't as subtle as you think you are."

Adrien's hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it absentmindedly. He knew Alya wouldn't let this go unless he admitted something, and technically it was the truth. A small part of the truth, but the truth all the same. She meant so much more to him than what he would ever admit out loud to anyone but her, and occasionally Plagg just to get on his nerves, "Yeah, I, really like her."

"That's great dude!" Nino congratulated him instantly, Alya blowing on her nails and polishing them on her shirt, "Called it."

The musical chime that signaled their next class had them all instantly moving. Adrien hesitated slightly though, watching as Marinette disappeared towards her own class. Alya rushed off after her, giving them a hasty wave goodbye before disappearing too. Nino stayed at his side, an amused smirk on his face as he said it, "You should ask her out my man. Marinette is awesome."

"I know." He said as they walked together to their next class, "I just, I don't think father would let me have a girlfriend right now."

Nino blew a raspberry, "Then don't tell him."

Adrien smiled to himself, that's exactly what he was already doing, "He'd find out eventually, and no doubt pull me out of school. I really like Marinette, and I know she'd blame herself if that happened."

Nino nodded sadly, "No, you aren't wrong."

Adrien asked quickly, "You won't say anything to her, right?"

Nino held up his fist, "Bro's honor." They fist bumped quickly, sharing a smile.

They entered their class, but Adrien couldn't concentrate on anything. He'd already covered most of this material when he was home-schooled anyways. His thoughts were on his purrincess, and Alya's comment about glaring at the guys who were with her. He wasn't glaring, and he certainly wasn't jealous. Marinette was friends with everyone, and he was happy that Max was able to help her with something she loved.

He felt a small pang of sadness. While he was pretty decent when dealing with technology, he'd never have been able to do what Max did for her. He could have paid to have it done, if that's what she really wanted, but it probably wouldn't mean as much since he didn't do it himself.

In a rare moment of obvious disinterest, he folded his arms on the desk and rested his head, staring blankly towards the front of the room without taking notes. Was there something he could do for her that she would really love? Alix had mentioned gardening projects, maybe he could buy her a few more plants for her balcony? Or, was there a reason she said her gardening days were over? Maybe something had happened... he let out a soft sigh. He'd have to ask her about it before doing anything drastic. She had looked so sad after she'd said it. The last thing he wanted to do was make his purrincess cry.

He got up slowly as class ended, Nino giving him a sideways grin as he asked, "Miss Bustier next right?"

Adrien instantly perked up, "Right." He started moving faster, ignoring the way Nino was trying to hold in his laugh.

He turned into Miss Bustier's classroom with a smile, his eyes going straight to her empty seat. His shoulders slumped and Nino clapped his back, "You know, for not wanting to say anything, you sure aren't hiding it very well dude."

"I can't help it Nino." He admitted honestly. Marinette was that warm spot in the sun he just wanted to be surrounded by all the time. He was addicted to the tingling feelings she gave him with every smile and every laugh. She wasn't just a magnet to him. She was a force of gravity, pulling him to her without equal.

He pouted slightly. And yet he'd barely been able to talk to her at all today.

"Hey, have you guys seen Marinette?" Ivan asked them from the doorway. Nino shook his head, "Not since break."

Ivan looked disappointed, "Oh, okay. That's okay." Ivan glanced to the side and his eyes lit up, "There she is. Thanks anyways guys."

Adrien frowned, moving mechanically towards the door. He peered out and saw Ivan talking happily to Marinette.

Damn it. He was starting to consider transforming just so he could eavesdrop. He shook his head quickly to clear it. No he couldn't do that. If Ladybug found out she'd skin him alive. Marinette nodded and Ivan's smile brightened, patting the top of her head affectionately with his large hand. Marinette just beamed up at him.

Nino shook his head, watching the blonde model agonizing over the girl who had been in love with him forever. A jealous Agreste was turning out to be a hilarious scenario. Alya was sure to get a kick out of seeing Adrien acting this way. The poor boy.

Nino leaned back on the desk and cleared his throat, "Does Ivan look happy?"

Adrien said it trying not to sound bitter, "Yeah."

"Oh good, Marinette must have finished his gift for Mylene." Nino said calmly, watching with immense satisfaction as Adrien whipped around to face him, "She made something for Mylene?"

Nino nodded, "Ivan mentioned something a couple weeks ago about wanting to do something nice for Mylene for her birthday, and Marinette happened to walk by so he asked her for her advice. She offered to make something for Mylene as a surprise, for him."

Adrien felt like an idiot. That must have been what he had caught her working on a few times now, the gift she had said she was making for a friend.

He walked over to his seat and sat down heavily. "I'm being an idiot aren't I?"

Nino nodded instantly, taking his seat next to him, "Without a doubt my man."

"I'm not jealous." He reiterated to himself out loud, but Nino patted his shoulder, "There is no reason to feel jealous. I'm telling you dude, if you ask her out, you will make her day," Nino corrected himself, throwing his arms up into the air, "heck, you'll make her whole year!"

Adrien frowned, "What if, she doesn't like me back?"

Nino gave him a deadpan stare, "Adrien. Really? THAT'S what you are worried about?"

No. He thought instantly. I know she likes me, as Chat Noir, that's why we are dating in secret. But as Adrien, she had just barely started being able to talk to him without stuttering. He would notice her still acting a bit jumpy, and blushing on occasion when he caught her off guard, but those moments were getting to be few and far between. He kinda missed them.

"Bro, you are a literal teen cover model. Use it!" Nino quipped when he stayed silent.

"Marinette isn't impressed by things like that." He said dejectedly, ignoring Nino's facepalm.

"I'm telling you, if you don't just pluck up the courage and ask her out,"

"You are asking someone out Sunshine?" Alya's voice said excitedly from the doorway, Marinette standing right next to her. The girls took their seats, both of them silent as they looked between Adrien and Nino, waiting for an answer.

"No." Adrien said.

"Yes." Nino said at the same time.

The boys shared stern glances and the girls laughed. Alya shook her head, her voice dripping in amused sarcasm, "That was very informative thank you."

Marinette still had a soft smile on her as she caught his eyes, "If you really like her you should go for it."

"I don't think she likes me very much." Adrien admitted sadly, pointedly ignoring Alya's eyes rolling.

"Anyone would be an idiot not to like you." Marinette said, a cute blush adorning her cheeks. "N-not because you are famous or anything! But because you're a great guy! You're smart and funny, and really nice and sweet, and I mean of course you're handsome, anyone who's not blind can see that, I mean, obviously, NO but wait that's not the only reason either!" Marinette's face found her hands and she took a deep breath, missing how Adrien's face was tinged with pink.

Alya and Nino exchanged knowing smirks. It had to be happening. This was the moment and they were going to be around for the rest of their lives to tell them 'I told you so'.

Adrien cleared his throat slightly. Had it suddenly gotten warmer in here?

"Thanks Marinette that, that means a lot to me." He told her softly.

She looked up from her hands and nodded, "Of course. You're one of my very best friends."

Nino and Alya facepalmed at the same time, Adrien holding back the need to flinch at the awful word. Friends.

He planted a smile to his face, telling her the truth, "You're one of my very best friends too."

Class began as Miss Bustier walked in, and all too soon it was coming to an end. He was hyper aware of Marinette's every move behind him. He felt like he'd been on the edge of his seat the entire class. At least now they had one last break before the last class of the day.

"Hey Marinette, are you ready?" Adrien instantly turned, seeing Marinette smiling at Nathaniel.

"Absolutely, you want to go to the art room?" She asked. At Nathaniel's confirmation, the two left the room already deep in conversation.

Nino shoved his arm, "Dude, what was that! That was the perfect moment!"

Alya nodded but said it knowingly, "Being a good friend is where it starts you know. I'm telling you, ask the girl out."

"I'll, try." He told them. He was pretty sure she would reject him, but if it would get Nino and Alya off his case, he would do it. He got up and Nino asked wide-eyed, "Wait, you are going now?"

"Why not?" He said with a shrug, leaving the room and hearing Nino's warning to Alya, "No, you aren't going to go film it happening." "You don't know me Nino."

Adrien chuckled to himself before the laugh turned into a sigh. This was definitely something he didn't want on video. He peered into the art room, seeing Nathaniel and Marinette in a bright discussion about superhero clothing. He watched from the door with a smile, until he realized that her beautiful bluebell eyes were staring at him, "Hey Adrien, is everything okay?"

He blinked once and nodded, his hand going to his neck, "Oh, yeah, no everything is fine. I don't want to bother you but if you have a minute, can, can we talk?"

Marinette quickly looked at Nathaniel who gave her a shy smile, "You were a big help, but I think I can take it from here."

She popped up out of her chair, smiling brightly, "If you need anything else just let me know." Nathaniel nodded as Marinette made her way over to the door.

A smile crept onto his face, seeing the slight blush on her cheeks. They went down the hall a short way to one of the benches that overlooked the commons. He sat down heavily, a soft sigh escaping him. Marinette sat with him, and as he chanced a glance at her, he saw her letting out a relieved, relaxed breath.

He smiled as he told her what he noticed, "You've been hanging around with the guys a lot, haven't you?"

Marinette said it quickly, "I don't mind, honest. I love them so I don't mind helping everyone when they need me." She turned slightly to look at him, a knowing glint in her eye, "What did you want to talk about? Did you need something?"

No. He thought instantly. His life was nearly purrfect. He had the best of friends, and most amazing girlfriend... if only he could take her hand the way he wanted, or kiss her good morning, or hug her simply because he wanted to. He loved her hugs. It had been a few months... maybe, maybe he could tell her the truth.

"Honestly," he started slowly, seeing her yawn. He stopped, asking instead as he smiled at her, "Do you need anything? You look exhausted."

She shook her head, "No, I'm okay. Really."

"Hey Marinette."

They looked over and saw Marc walking up to them slowly, a book in his hand. Marinette smiled instantly, but Adrien frowned. He really couldn't get five minutes with her?

"What's up Marc?" Marinette asked. He shifted uncomfortably, "Nathaniel said you looked over the artwork with him, c-could you take a look at the next chapter for me?"

She nodded before telling him, "Of course, just give me a few minutes to finish talking to,"

"No, don't worry about me." He told her quickly, "It's really nothing important."

Marinette frowned, "Are you sure?" He nodded, "Yeah, go. We can always talk later."

She nodded, "Later then. Come on Marc, I think Nathaniel is still in the art room."

He watched them walk off and leaned back against the wall, shutting his eyes as he tried not to be upset. This was, and god he couldn't believe he was about to even think this but, it was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Why couldn't everyone leave her alone? Couldn't they see how tired she was? They couldn't give her a few minutes to herself?

His eyes snapped open, that was it. A few minutes to herself, that was something he could give her. She needed a chance to relax, to just get away from everyone for a little bit. He had only noticed the guys all day, but he could only imagine what she did for the girls.

He nodded once to himself. He was going to protect his purrincess, even from herself. He had the purrfect plan too. Ice cream. He'd take her out after school to André's for ice cream, and tell her everything.

He made his way back to Miss Bustier's classroom for the second half of her class. Nino and Alya were staring at him expectantly as he walked in, Alya asking confused, "Where's Marinette?"

He made his way to his seat, "Helping Marc."

"Did you," Nino started, but he shook his head, "I didn't get the chance. After school. I'm going to take her for ice cream."

"Atta boy Agreste!" Alya approved happily.

The end of the day just could not come fast enough for him. It felt like time was dragging its heels on purpose, slowly tormenting him so that he could idle over the manic thoughts and crazy scenarios that kept playing out in his head about what could happen if this went wrong. The bell finally sounded their release and Miss Bustier asked him kindly, "Adrien, I know you don't have a lot of time, but I'd like to speak with you for a minute if you can."

Adrien looked straight at Nino, asking low, "Make sure she doesn't go home." Nino gave him a thumbs up and he looked back at Miss Bustier, "Yes of course."

He fidgeted in his seat as everyone filed out. Why were they taking forever?! Usually everyone was out of the room in seconds, and NOW they wanted to take their time?

Ivan and Mylene finally left the room and Miss Bustier walked over to his desk as he asked a little concerned, "Am I in trouble?"

"Oh no Adrien of course not." She said sweetly, "Your father's assistant called this afternoon to let your teachers know about the photoshoot you had coming up."

He deflated, "Oh, right." He'd forgotten about that shoot. He was going to be out of school for an entire week. He nearly facepalmed. Crap. He'd forgotten to tell Ladybug about it too.

Miss Bustier said it knowingly, "I know you love being in school, and your grades overall are excellent, so next week a lot of the work we've gathered for you is simply reading material. No heavy load, no extra work. When you come back, we'll each give you a short quiz and as long as you pass each one, we'll excuse the other assignments."

He told her smiling, "Thanks Miss Bustier, that will be a big help."

She nodded, "Anything we can do to help. Have a good afternoon Adrien." She watched him gather his things, telling him as he reached the door, "Oh, and good luck with Marinette."

He blushed but smiled at her. He didn't even want to know how she knew something was going on. That was just part of Miss Bustier's power he supposed.

He glanced around the commons, but couldn't find anyone he was looking for. He rushed outside and found her instantly, but his heart tightened in his chest.

Nino and Alya were talking to Rose and Juleka, and right next to them, Marinette was talking to Luka. Luka suddenly pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and Adrien felt his insides burn.

Okay that was it. He was done.

That is HIS purrincess. Why was Luka bothering her?! He had to fix this. It had gone on long enough. He took a hard step towards everyone when a short beep pulled his attention. Gorilla was staring at him with a sour lemon face. He frowned, looking back to where Luka was still happily talking to Marinette. Gorilla shook his head in response, tapping his watch.

"Yo Adrien!" Nino called out to him, subtly motioning to Marinette and Luka.

Gorilla shook his head firmly and Adrien sighed, giving Nino a small wave, "I gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

He passed by the group, getting in the car and sulking in the back. They pulled up to the mansion and Nathalie was waiting for him at the door, "Cutting it very close Adrien."

"I had to talk to my teacher about missing school next week." He said flatly. Nathalie raised an eyebrow at his tone, but didn't comment otherwise, "Only piano today. Your instructor should be here shortly."

"Whoop-eee." He muttered as he walked past her and upstairs to his room. Plagg zoomed straight out of his shirt to his cheese stash, coming back out with a wedge between his paws, "You know, maybe you should stop trying so hard to get pigtails' attention. You are already going out with the girl. Who cares what she does with her friends."

"I don't get to spend any time with her during the day because she's spending it with everyone else. She's MY girlfriend, it's not fair." He fell face first onto his bed, groaning into his pillow.

Plagg watched his chosen with an amused smirk as he savoured his cheese. Adrien being his own worst enemy was one of the highlights of dealing with such a lovesick kitten. Plagg finished his cheese and ducked quickly to hide as the piano instructor arrived.

When Adrien returned from dinner later that evening, looking more sullen and mopey than before, Plagg took pity on him, "Why don't you go see your girlfriend? She hasn't seen her Kitty all day either, you know."

Adrien's eyes lit up and he nodded, "Plagg Claws out!"

He transformed and was racing across Paris in the same second. As her balcony came into view, his heart swelled and a goofy smile spread across his features. He landed with a soft thump, and grinned when he heard her rushing to reach the skylight.

Her eyes were bright as the hatch opened, and she was up on the balcony in seconds, "Hey Kitt- OH!" he lifted her up in his arms, hugging her tightly to his chest as the purr's just rippled out of him. He nuzzled his nose into her loose hair, breathing in her scent deeply. He missed her. He missed being able to do this.

She giggled, wrapping her arms around him just as tightly, "I missed you too chaton. I hate that I don't get to see you during the day."

He purred happily, "I feel the same way. It has been, an excruciatingly long day." He pulled back, but refused to let her leave his arms. She ran her hand through his hair and his eyes closed as a soft sigh escaped him.

"Let me go grab a few snacks and you can tell me all about it." She unwound her arms from around him, but he pulled her closer, not giving her a chance to escape. "In a little while. Can I just, hug you for a little bit?"

She blushed but smiled as she shook her head, "A long day huh?"

"You don't even know the half of it." He admitted heavily. They sat on the lounger together, Chat pouting when he had to let her go so that she could get comfortable. The second she was, he wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her chest, smiling like a madman.

Her hand moved rhythmically through his hair, inciting another round of purrs before he told her, "I missed you today. A lot."

She kissed the top of his head gently, "You know you can come over anytime you want."

He smiled up at her, "I'm really happy when I'm with you. I'm glad you agreed to be my girlfriend."

She bopped his nose lightly with a smirk, "Against my better judgment."

"One of the best decisions you'll ever make in your life." He said grinning.

"No doubt." Marinette said smiling back at him. "And for what it's worth, I'm glad I agreed to be your girlfriend too."

He nuzzled back into her chest, the smile refusing to leave his face. He'd tell her the truth soon, but maybe for tonight he would just enjoy being with his girlfriend.

He felt himself smirking proudly, hugging her tighter as he thought it, 'That's right. Mine.'

[ecofinisher]

Cars Au (They’re humans, I swear)

So I watched Cars on TV abd guess what came into my stupid brain? Yeah an AU.

As Usual. The AU’s are differently from the canon.

Lighting McQueen = Adrien Agreste

Chick Hicks = Felix Graham de Vanily

The King = Wang Fu

Sheriff = Roger Raincomprix

Mater = Wayhem

Sally = Kagami Tsurugi

Ramon = Nathaniel Kurtzberg

Flo = Lila Rossi

Doc Hudson =Armand D’Argencourt

Fillmore = Kim Chien Le

Sarge = Max Kanté

Guido = Luka Couffaine 

Luigi = Ivan Bruel

Mack = Gorilla

Red = Marc Anciel

Harv = Gabriel Agreste

Adrien, a young and egocetric Nascar-racer has been throught the last racers of his young career winner of the first price and on his current race his goal was to to beat the record as the rookie with the most wins and to have a chance to get sponsored by the Chinese legacy, where Wang Fu, a veteran racer has been the past 40 years.

Due to disagreements between himself and the Agreste crew, he keeps refusing to let the crew change wheels during the race and near the finish line his tires crack and he arrives at the finish line at the same time as his main rivals Wang Fu and Felix Graham de Vanily.

After the ceremony the three are invited to race against each other to solve their issue on another racing track and Felix bets with Adrien, that if Felix wins the race Adrien has to owes him half of his earnings and vice versa Felix does the same to Adrien if he loses.

Adrien’s driver tried to convince him, that he should do the necessary things for his car or next time he could have had an accident and eventually die. Adrien doesn’t believe it would ever happen, but assures the driver it will be fine, it was just this time. Days passed and Adrien sat in his vehicle in the trailer of the truck talking with his agent, which also was his father and got convinced him and the driver to stay awake and drive the whole night long, so Adrien could practice earlier for the race. During the night Adrien’s truck is attacked and the driver released the trailer leaving Adrien’s vehicle behind and Adrien is waken by cars honks and Adrien notices he’s not on the trailer and races the highway along trying to find his driver and enters the wrong exit ending up being pursuied by a policeman named Roger, which arrests him after he accidentally detroyed the city’s belongings.

Meanwhile the driver had set a missing notification for people to look for Adrien Agreste or his last whereabouts and the driver explains, what happened.

Adrien wakes up finding himself in a jail and yells out his innocence and is encountered by Wayhem, which introduces himself to him and tells him about the town he was in. Roger appears and lists down everything Adrien caused last night with his car and showed his vehicle on the outside full of scratches and bumps, making Adrien whine about his “baby”. Escorted by Roger to the court he meets the judge Armand D’Argencourt, who after Adrien sigh bans him immediately without anymore words earning convtroversial reactions from the present townies. Before he gets freed by Roger one of the townies raises the hand and that person was a young woman around Adrien’s age, which stated the choice wasn’t a good one and suggested the best justice for Adrien would be community work and he would have to fix all the mess he caused to pay for his “misbehavior”

Attracted and annoyed by the Japanese-descendant lawyer of the town he is escorted to his first job by Wayhem, which was to put cement around the town’s statue of their founder. Unmotivated Adrien was trying to cement the ground and Wayhem suggested him if he would be more motivated, he could be faster and be able to leave the place without any more problems and Adrien follows Wayhem’s ideas and fixes everything in a few hours.

The judge Armand D’Argencourt came back and was horrified by his deeds and ordered Adrien to start all-over again and Adrien denies it and argues with the judge until Armand came to the conclusion to bet for the two to race together and the loser would have to fix the road. During the race Adrien suffers an accident and is patched up by the lawyer Kagami, which Armand had sent as she was one of the fewer people, that wouldn’t mind to deal with him. Kagami tells Adrien he has to re-do the things he did and do them all over again, but notices he’s pissed with everyone and says he should have done it right since the first time, so his car wouldn’t be ruined and half of his tasks were done.

The next day the citizens encounter the statue’s ground fixed with new planted plants around it and two light poles were fixed and everyone was impressed by it. Ivan and Luka had out of fun said, the town needed a new make-over and in the next hour the two had decided to fix their garage from both sides to make it look better and on the other side the owner of the gas station Lila had the same idea and had help from her artsy neighbor Nathaniel. Armand was fascinated, by what was going on and went to look around for Adrien and encountered him on the racetrack he had have an accident the other day trying to manage to pass by the two last curves, which he never made it without slowing or braking down.

Armand compliments him about his deed and gives him a tip for his driving, which Adrien didn’t quite get it and he tried it out, causing to wreck the second vehicle he borrowed from the confiscated vehicles of agent Roger’s parking spots.

With the time Adrien is working on his tasks, the townies managed to befriend him a little, including Kagami, which owned a small pension and offered him a room for him to overnight. Before the night Wayhem accompanies Adrien out of the town for the two to race together on a e-bike through fields at the farm of a farmer, which Wayhem claimed to be dead. Adrien find Wayhem was being ridiculous, cause it was strange for the goats there to be alive after all those years. While the two together annoyed the goats on the E-bikes out of the farm appeared a old man, which yelled at them scaring the two, then released his shepherd at the man to scare them away and the two escaped.

The next morning Adrien is looking for Armand as he needed his word and he enteres into his garage, where he encounters an old racing car and takes a closer look of it and finds out, Armand D’Argencourt was a famous racer and is caught by Armand, which scolds him for his behavior and after many questions of Adrien he answered, what had happened and why he was here. Adrien felt insulted about Armand’s hypocrisy about both of their differences and left him going to the gas station to get some coffee, where he mets half of the townies and Kagami asks Adrien, if he would drive with her around. Roger tells her to be careful on who she trusts and she assured him she trusts Adrien with all of her heart making Adrien feel weird at her action.

Adrien is surprised at noticing Kagami owned a sports vehicle and enjoyed with her their ride in it and soon Kagami ordered him to stop on the parking stop with a street heading up the rocky mountain and she asked the blonde to accompany him and show him the view to their town and the rest of the places far away from them. Adrien finds out, that Kagami used to live in a large metropolis, but got with the time sick of that live and left the place without having a clue, where to go until she broke down and landed in this town and stood due to the hospitality of the townies and their loyalty. Adrien got to know Kagami better and their town and felt bad to know, that their town’s popularity had sunken after several constructions out of their range.

While Adrien worked on the last task he observed Kagami talking with the other citizens, then pondered on any ideas to help out the town and the next day as everyone saw the messed up things were fixed, they were sad about Adrien’s exit, but Adrien showed up along with Marc and told them, he just went to help the firefighter man to do some stuff they would see at night. Roger reveals to Adrien, that half of Adrien’s vehicle was fixed and he could ask Wayhem to tow his car and accompany him at his escort to the next city to inform about the disappearance. Adrien asked, if it was okay if he first asked Luka’s crew to continue to fix his car and for Nathaniel to color it afterward. The three men were excited and observed the racing car being fixed and the rest of the day Adrien fulfilled everyone’s wish as a customer, including getting his arm tattoed with “I love my mama”

At the night Kagami was called to meet the townies at Marc’s garage, where they introduced a nicely dressed Adrien and his racing car in new colors and wheels exciting Kagami for Adrien’s success and his deeds for the townies. Adrien revealed, that he spend the whole night with Marc to exchange all the lights around the city, making Kagami happy as the town looked like it was a few years ago, when the town was more popular. Luka brought out with Ivan a stereo system to play loud music for all to dance together. Adrien began to see Kagami in a different light and during the dance he leans in for a kiss, but is interrupted by Wayhem, which mentioned to have seen a large crowd of vehicles heading to their town and as they approached Adrien shrieked realizing that those were journalists and paparazzis, which surrounded Adrien with questions and he tried to get out of there to his new-made friends.

Adrien’s driver appears too and apologizes him for what happened and mentioned, that he needs to bring him back or he will get fired. Adrien tries to get out of the crowd stopping by Kagami, where he tries to talk with her but couldn’t come out with something and as Adrien’s driver announced him he would get fired because of not convincing Adrien to get back into the car, Kagami tells Adrien to go and thanks him for his amazing job with the town, then both are separated by the journalists and Adrien is guided into the vehicle along with the driver and the crowd departed leaving the townies back and Kagami caught on the leave one of the journalists talking to Armand, which confesses in the end, that he told the people about Adrien’s whereabouts making the townies sad, mostly Kagami and Wayhem, which left the man back, followed by the others leaving Armand back, which felt disappointed about his decision.

The next day Adrien was on the racing track with his fixed racing car and he couldn’t concentrate on his race and entered into the pit stop box, because he wanted to quit, but to his surprise he encoutered there all the townies, including Armand D’Argencourt, which admitted he had done a mistake and wanted to help Adrien out on his race. Adrien continued his race following D’Argencourt’s instructions and tips, getting the lead of the race for the rest of the rounds. On the last round Adrien continues to lead in the race with Wang Fu and Felix behind him trying to surpass Adrien. While Wang Fu tried to keep Felix back on the third place Felix tried to pass beside the veteran and hit him on his back, causing him to loose his control and fly out of the track crashing on the outside of the road shrieking all the viewers, including Adrien, which witnessed it by seeing it on the screens over the arena. Adrien stopped his car before he could pass the finish line and turned around to help Wang Fu out of the car and sat him back inside his car and is questioned about his deed and Adrien confessed to him, that winning didn’t matter to him anymore and after Felix won, Adrien offered to help Wang Fu finish his last ride today, which he accepted.

After the race Adrien thanks Armand and the townies about their appeareance and is interviewed by journalists and Adrien apologizes on live for his past behavior and promised to be a better person from now on.

Days later he appears with the rest of the townies back on the city and encounters Kagami on the rocky mountain, where she was observing the town and informed Adrien, that she had seen him arriving. Adrien announced her he would want to move there to be close to his friends and mainly to be with her, earning a smile from the lawyer, which pulled him into a kiss and confessed, she had been eagerly waiting to do that after knowing he would return.

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 11 - OMMAM

Author’s Note: Yay! Updating! Actually, it'll be a double update today! Also, the title is pronounced like "oh ma'am", sounds like "oh man" if you're confused.

Reference slides for Claude's room here!

There are temperatures in this chapter. The show takes place in Paris, so they'll be Celsius, but as an American used to Fahrenheit, I've put the Fahrenheit equivalent in parentheses next to the Celsius.

Chapter Summary: Claude sets his scheme into action. They all check on a sick Marinette.

First | Previous | Next

The bell on the door rings as Claude enters the bakery. Not intending to buy anything, he passes the line and waits patiently for Tom to notice him.

“Hey son! You here for Marinette? She should be in her room, head on back!” 

Once in the back, Sabine stops him,”Claude! I wasn’t expecting you. Do you guys have plans today?” 

“Oh no, I just was in the area and I thought I should stop by! It’s always great to see a friend!” She didn’t really need to know of his scheme, at least not for now.

“That’s sweet of you dear. While you’re up there, could you ask Marinette if she’s eaten recently? Tom and I didn’t see her at all yesterday, and it looks like she didn’t touch any of the leftovers.” The short woman shakes her head fondly, “Sometimes that girl gets too wrapped up in her projects - forgets that she needs to eat.”

“Will do, ma’am!” Claude hurries up the stairs at his usual excited pace. He should probably let Allan know that Marinette forgot to eat often enough that it was considered a habit of hers. He would certainly be the one to go about correcting that. Not that he and the rest of them weren’t concerned with her health, but Allan is the mom friend for a reason.

Seeing Marinette’s trapdoor he goes over his goals in his head. The main goal is to set her up to be distracted or busy for the rest of the morning. It wouldn’t do to have her try to make plans when he had them all gathered to go over his plotting. It would be nice to get Adrien’s number - preferably without her knowing. Of course, as always, he would aim to see that stunning smile of hers, she didn’t show it off nearly enough.

“Marinette, my magnificent- oh.”

He bursts into her room with his usual loud theatrics, but switches to be quieter impressively quickly. The girl in question is flopped across her bed, clearly dead to the world. Just to be on the safe side, he climbs the ladder, and whispers over to her,”Psst! Mari! How asleep are you?”

His only response is a light shiver, he frowns, finally noticing that Marinette is rather curled in on herself - her blankets kicked to the side - and the trapdoor to the balcony is slightly ajar. Well that just won’t do.

“Tsk, were you out late on your balcony? At the very least you could have shut the door properly. You’ll get yourself sick like this, and what would Allan say then?”

He moves onto the bed to correct her missing blankets. Pulling the trapdoor shut completely - it seems to have an annoying habit of sticking - he goes back down her ladder. Standing in front of her desk, he steals a sticky note and borrows a pen to leave note - he won’t be here when she wakes up:

Marinette!

I stopped by to say hello and I found that you were still asleep. Allan would be happy - he’s rather concerned about your sleeping schedule. He would have been less pleased to find that you were freezing yourself, what with your blankets off to the side and the trapdoor open! Your mom wanted me to remind you to eat, so you should do that! Can’t be our patisserie princess if you’re starving! We’d hate to see you suffer like that! Take care of yourself.

Your friend, Claude! ☺

Seeing her phone nearby, he unlocks it quickly and goes to her contacts. He knows most of his friends passwords, for the sole purpose of spontaneously changing their background and their names in the chats. Occasionally he’ll set reminders for them to take care of themselves if he deems it necessary, but not as often. He would never use it to snoop, and his friends are aware he knows the password - they’ve given the all clear. 

In this instance, he has plans that Mari can’t know about. Not that it’s a bad thing, but he thinks it would be best to do it in secret. For this, he needs Adrien. The boy’s name is easy enough to find, with two heart emojis next to it no less.

Claude grins mischievously, another thing to add to his growing list of evidence to fuel his suspicions of Marinette’s true feelings towards the model. He has no issue with it - totally ships the two actually.

He returns to where Marinette left off last on her phone - the group chat actually - and sets it back where he found it. 

“Farewell ‘Nettie! Sleep well!” He exits the room with a wave, completely unaware of the blue eyes that were watching him carefully the whole time. The little being smiles after him.

---

Kid Mime: Guys meet me at my house in 30 minutes. This is Claude.

Adrien: Uh, okay. Did Mari give you my number? 

Kid Mime: sure

Melodie: Wait, what’s going on?

The Mom Friend: hes plottin agan al’

Felix: Oh wonderful, what is it this time?

Adrien: What’s going on?

Melodie: Don’t question it. 

Melodie: Am I right to assume you’re Adrien?

Adrien: Yeah? Did I miss something?

The Mom Friend: jus go with it. hes got good reasons

The Mom Friend: probably

Kid Mime: i do.

Kid Mime: trust me

Kid Mime: its abouut mari

Adrien: Alright. Uh, where do you live? I’m not sure if Father has plans for me today

Kid Mime: felix please

Felix: Fine. 

Felix: Adrien, I will be picking you up at your place 20 minutes from now.

Adrien: Okay?

---

Adrien is browsing through the Ladyblog posts of the last month. He’s reviewing all footage of his Lady to see if there was any point he could have seen through her facade. He’s got nothing so far.

A knock at his door.

“Adrien.” It’s Nathalie, “You have a visitor. He says that he is here to pick you up.” Right, Felix is here for Claude’s mystery thing. Adrien pushes back on the floor, flying across the room on his chair. It’d probably be healthy for him to stop obsessing over Ladybug anyways - it’s all he’s done today. He carefully scoops up the sleeping Plagg, putting him in his inner pocket.

“Coming!” He opens the door and sees Felix standing in the entryway, speaking to Father. He hasn’t even been here a minute and Gabriel Agreste is already willing to speak to him. It’s so surprising it’s honestly sad.

Felix, he thinks, teach me your ways.

As he comes closer, the senior Agreste turns to his son, “Adrien. It is pleasing to see you striving to make such promising connections at your age.” Behind him, it almost looks like Felix winks at him, but it’s so uncharacteristic of the boy that Adrien can’t be sure, “Enjoy your time with Mr. Voclain today.” 

With that he exits, shutting himself back in his office.

“Will you two be requiring a ride?” Nathalie is at the door, looking at them curiously.

“Uh…”

“No ma’am. I have my own driver.”

“Alright. Adrien, be back before curfew.”

“Yes, Nathalie.”

They walk out together. Felix’s car is much more toned down than Adrien’s normal one, it fits the boy’s taste better, and Adrien wonders if Felix is actually given choices when it comes to his things.

“We may proceed to Claude’s house now, sir.”

The driver nods and they join the other cars on the road.

“So, uh, what exactly is going on?”

“I am not entirely sure.That said, I do have some idea, so allow me to explain. You have not known Claude long enough to be aware of this, but occasionally, Claude gets an idea into his head and will draw us all together to pull it off. There is often a large amount of scheming and sneaking around on his part. Sometimes it is simply a prank or surprise of the sort, but this time I get the distinct feeling that it is more serious than many of the past plots. Considering what little he told us through text, and the fact that Marinette was not present in the chat, it likely has something to do with her.”

“Okay. Should I be worried for her? Like, did Claude find something out...?” 

“If it was dire, he would likely call us all to her house and tell us then. Seeing as he is planning, it is not anything to worry too much about.”

“Okay. Um, do you know how he got my number? He wasn’t exactly clear with his answer.”

Felix shook his head, smiling a little, “I have learned that attempting to decipher Claude rarely yields satisfactory results.”

They sit in silence for the remainder of the ride. Adrien is stewing in concern. Marinette has seemed fine lately - she’d seemed like she was doing a lot better actually - but then so had Ladybug. If Claude is concerned, then Adrien will trust his judgement, he spends more time with the girl than the model anyways. He would know if something was wrong. The idea of Marinette upset again hurts him, especially so close with Ladybug revealing her thoughts.

Were the kind pig-tailed girls of Paris just especially prone to emotional distress lately?

“We are here.” Felix breaks him out of his thoughts. Adrien glances up at the building before them. Time to find out what Claude’s got planned.

---

Claude’s room is a blue-gray rectangle with light carpet. He had two large fluffy gray rugs, a window seat what held a mish-mashed variety of pillows and two large green pillows on the floor - one of which Allegra was sitting on. Across from the door was a dresser cluttered with various knick-knacks with a tall mirror and a hamper to the right of it. There was a low shelf with a plant on it containing various books and games. The bunk bed had a giant teddy-bear under the ladder, and the bottom bunk had been converted into a couch of sorts. Claude was standing against the wall near a whiteboard that had various colorful markers on its shelf. Adrien and Felix enter, the latter sitting on the window seat, and after a moment’s hesitation Adrien sat on the bed-turned-couch.

“Alright, you two are here, now we just need-” “Hey.”

“Allan! Yay, now we can get started!” Claude claps his hands together as Allan takes a seat on the other green floor cushion.

“What is it this time?” Allegra leans back on her arms, looking at Claude expectantly, “I’ve got the feeling it’s more serious than filling Felix’s locker with confetti?”

“It is, it’s about Marinette. I know that we all are aware of her issues with confidence-” Adrien frowns at this, hating to hear his everyday-Ladybug described like that. Not that it’s inaccurate, but it’s such a far cry from the confident leader he knew she could be. He can’t help but feel he could have done more. He tunes back in to what Claude is saying, because the least he can do is help bring her back, “But I think we under-estimated just how bad it is. When I went back for my textbook, I told her we enjoyed hanging out with her, and she was legitimately surprised-”

“But she’s so great!” Allegra interrupts incredulously.

“I know! She covered it up quickly - honestly she would do great in acting - but guys it was more than just surprised. She was…” he trails off, looking for the words, “She was like, absolutely astounded - like this was some sort of staggering revelation, but also hopeful? Then that got crushed immediately, even before she covered everything else. What even happened?” Claude intended the question to be rhetorical, but as the others were processing what he said, Adrien sighed.

“A lot. A lot happened.” Everyone’s head snapped to him immediately, having forgotten that he may have answers. He ran his hand through his hair - Father would have a heart attack at his model son’s hair looking so unruly.

“So you do know.” Allegra looks to him in confirmation, “Not that I’m asking what happened - that’s for her - but you do know?”

“Yeah, I do.” His face darkens as he thinks of all the classmates he still has to interact with on a near-daily basis. It drives him crazy, but it’s more bearable than when they were constantly trash-talking his best friend.

“That’s helpful. Even without tellin’ us things, you’ll be able to know how Mari might feel about whatever Claude has planned.” Allan speaks carefully, clearly still thinking things over.

“What is it that you have planned Claude?” Felix draws everyone’s attention back to the other boy. 

“I have done some research on the best ways to help-”

“Willing to bet murder wasn’t one of them.” Allegra mutters under breath.

“No, unfortunately not. However! There were other options, aren’t illegal. A lot of it is just being there, so just letting her know we do actually care about her and making an effort to hang out with her.” He sums this up and puts it on the on the whiteboard next to a number one.

“What’s she doin’ right now? Does she think we’re all hangin’ out without her? I don’t wanna’ have her worrying about that.”

“A good point Al. I went over to her house to try and find a way to distract her while we would be doing this-”

“And?”

“And she was sleeping. Shocking I know, but it would seem that she is capable of actually sleeping.” Something about this sticks in Adrien’s mind. He feels like there’s something he’s supposed to remember.

“Good. I’m happy-”

“Allan, before you celebrate our baby bird finally learning to take a break, you should know she was basically freezing herself. Balcony door open and no blankets.”

Allan tosses his arms in the air in exasperation, “Someone needs to teach her the definition of ‘self-care’!”

“I’m with him.”

“We can work that in. Anyways, point two - when she says something bad about herself, we aren’t supposed to just tell her she’s wrong. We’re supposed to find the root of it I guess? Like instead of ‘you aren’t stupid’ we’re supposed say something like, ‘why do you feel that way’ if that makes sense.”

They all nod and he adds a second point to the board.

“This one is a little harder for the non-Adriens among us, but we should be aware of it in case it becomes relevant. We have to make sure she realizes that she’s allowed to feel bad about a bad situation - mostly the one that instigated this I guess? So as I said, she doesn’t talk about it much with us, but…” he adds it to the board next to a 3.

“How much do you guys know?” Adrien doesn’t want to reveal something that Marinette doesn’t want them to know.

Allan shrugs, “Not much really.”

“We just have what we can infer… or theorize - but then we sound nosy, and we really aren’t trying to dig into her personal stuff.” Allegra adds.

“We noticed that she reacted poorly to being asked why she transferred, as well as all the moments when she cuts herself off. It was simple enough to notice a trend. Our best guess is bullying, but we do not actually know anything for sure.”

“Not to mention the-” Claude starts the sentence, but the other three finish with him, “bruises.”

“Yeah, those.” Adrien rubs the back of his neck and messes up his hair more. The rest clearly wish to ask more questions, but realize that any questions may earn more of an answer than they feel they’re allowed to know. They’re worried, but don’t want to go behind Marinette’s back to get answers she hasn’t given them yet.

After a moment, Claude brings them back on topic, “So I think one more little thing is compliments? From what I understand, sincere compliments are better than just standard ones. I think though that these should be in addition to any compliments we normally give her, because if we suddenly started complimenting her less she might think it’s weird and take it badly.”

The others give various affirmations, and Adrien raises his hand. Claude notices and blinks at him momentarily before calling on him, “Adrien. Also, you can shout it out - not going to give you detention.”

“Oh, okay. What qualifies as a ‘sincere compliment’? I sincerely mean anything I say to her.”

Claude gets a mischievous look that the other three recognize, “Adrien, care to elaborate? What kind of compliments?”

“Well, like she’s really pretty and really nice. I used to call her our ‘everyday-Ladybug’ because she just so strong and brave. Not to mention talented. Have you seen some of her designs? Did you know she won one of my father’s contests? She’s such a good leader too, maybe a bit rusty now, but I’m sure that if it came to it she would come up with an amazing plan for really anything. And she got so many people together. She was so good at figuring out which people complimented each other and would work well together and-” he notices them all looking at him strangely, “What?”

“Well,” Allan is smiling at him,”Other than it being nice t’ hear ‘bout Mari before all this, your rambling kinda’ sounded…”

Claude is bouncing on his feet, grinning eagerly, “I knew it.”

“What?”

Allegra looks at him, “Maybe think about it for a moment.” To the rest she shakes her head, adding, “I don’t think he’s even realized.”

“No, it would not seem so.” Even Felix seems to understand what they’re getting at.

“What haven’t I realized?”

“Adrien. You precious sunshine boy.” Claude still looks delighted, “You have a crush on Marinette.”

“What? I don’t have a-” He had a crush on Ladybug, not Marinette. Sure, Marinette was beautiful, with her bluebell eyes, and adorable pigtails, and she had a lot of similar qualities that Ladybug had that had made him like her in the first- oh. “... I have a crush on Marinette.” His face immediately flushes at the realization and all the implications.

“Well that was incredibly pure.” Allegra and the rest seem to have found this entertaining. Adrien is panicking over the fact that he has a crush on two different girls. He’ll have to talk with Plagg later.

“Perhaps we should spare Adrien. Claude, do you have anymore points? You also have yet to inform us what ridiculous name you have thought up this time.” Felix draws everyone’s attention off Adrien. He certainly appreciates it, his face is still slightly red.

“Uh, that’s it for my points, but OMMAM do I have a name for you!” Claude quickly adds point four to the board, “Operation Make Marinette Appreciate Marinette!”  He looks to them, waiting to see if it sinks in.

Allan gets it first, smiling slightly, and Adrien gives a thumbs up soon after.

“Oh, come on, seriously?” Allegra rolls her eyes and Felix shakes his head.

“Anyways! November 1st - day one of OMMAM! Here we go!”

Something about that last statement strikes the same bell in Adrien’s head from earlier. Something about November maybe…

“Wait it’s November?” Maybe following it will fill in the blanks?

“Yeah, the spooky month ended yesterday.”

“What temperature is it outside?”

“Just below 4 (39℉). Why?”

Wait. November - cold. Adrien thought back to last year, remembering how Marinette had been oddly tired. He remembered vaguely hearing about a condition, which she had mentioned again over the summer. Claude had said that when he checked on her she’d been sleeping…

“Claude, you said Marinette was sleeping? You checked on her earlier today? Were there any heaters in her room?”

“No… why? Is something wrong? Do we need to go check on her? Her parents are home.”

No heaters and Mari’s room was typically close to the outside temperature. This could be bad.

“They’re catering today, they were only there for a little bit this morning. We should go over there now, just in case.”

All of them are standing now. Allan asks first, “What’s wrong? Should we be worried?”

He doesn’t really know, Alya knew the most and he can’t ask her for obvious reasons. Marinette’s parents’ phones will be silenced, Marinette herself won’t be much help if his hunch is correct.

“Uh… maybe? It’s only November, but we should still go...”

They’re all out the door quickly, heading in the direction of the bakery.

---

By some luck, Adrien has a key. He doesn’t even remember the exact circumstances that led to the Dupain-Chengs giving him it, but this is the first time he’s used it.

“Should we call up? So she knows it’s us?” Allegra asks cautiously.

“I don’t think she’d hear us. She’s probably still asleep.” Adrien leads them up the staircase. 

“Really? She doesn’t sleep in a lot and it’s pretty late even if she did.”

“It’s a thing. I don’t really know the details. If we get her up she can probably explain better. I wasn’t really the one she hung out with last year. She gets really tired when it’s cold? I think it’s more than that though.”

“Oh.” 

Adrien can see that they’re all stressed and concerned. That’s fair. He would be too if someone suddenly told him that they need to go check on his new friend immediately without a clear reason.

They reach the stairs to Mari’s room and Adrien pushes open the trapdoor. As he expected, the girl is still in bed. The others frown in concern, Adrien climbs up to her shaking her gently. She only hums in response.

“We should probably try to warm up her room.”

“Wait. Does she have a fever?” Allan steps forward and stands near the ladder, “We don’t want to heat her up too much then. Just make it not cold anymore.”

Adrien nods, turning to feel the girl’s forehead, “Probably? She feels hot but I don’t really know.

“Allan can stay with her while you show us where the heaters are.” Allegra suggests.

“Maybe find a thermometer?” Allan is above them now and they nod as Adrien leads them back down into the house.

“Hey ‘Nette, you awake at all?” If she’s been sleeping all day she should wake up to at least drink something.

She hums at him in confirmation. “Alright. Have you eaten today?” She shakes her head slightly, though it’s an odd gesture from someone laying on their side.

He sighs, having figured as much, “What did you eat yesterday?” She vaguely gestures behind him. He sees two energy bar wrappers and an empty plastic water bottle, “... that’s it?” He tosses them over the edge into the trash.

She nods and he sighs, “Mari, that’s not healthy…” She gives him an odd look, her eyes squinting at him. She doesn’t have the energy to elaborate verbally so he just shrugs at her.

The trap door opens and Allegra enters. She has a glass of water and a thermometer.

“I considered soup, but figured it could wait for now. The boys are getting the heaters.” She climbs the ladder carefully and hands Allan the thermometer, putting the water on a flat surface and sitting at the top of the ladder near the end of the bed.

After some negotiations, Allan convinces Marinette to let him take her temperature. A minute later, it beeps. Looking at it he reads,”38.8 (102℉).” He shakes his head at the sleepy girl.

“Hey, Mari, can we convince you to drink something?” Allegra lifts the water glass.

In response she scrunches up her nose and tries to burrow under the blanket, mumbling,” s’eeepp…”

“Marinette you’ve been sleeping for hours. Just drink something for us and we’ll leave you be, okay?”

Marinette’s brain is slow and she’s not quite sure what’s happening. She knows Allan and Allegra are here and they want her to drink water. Maybe? It’s all very confusing. Where is everyone else? Weren’t they here? What is that they wanted? She thought it wasn’t a school day today, so why are they here?

“Wha?” She tries to open her eyes further to get a better idea of ...anything really, but it turns out to be too difficult a task. She can spot a glass of water though, she thinks one of them is holding it. Or it’s floating magically. Water would probably be good, but that means sitting up. Sitting up means moving. A lot. She hears one of them mention the water again. She shakes her head. She hates to disappoint them but sitting up is such a task.

“Marinette, honey, just sit up quick then we’ll leave you be.” Allegra has pulled herself further on the bed as she and Allan continue to negotiate with their dazed friend. The boys have returned with the heaters but haven’t done anything with them. They’re all standing around the room waiting for further instructions. 

“What should we do now?” Adrien calls up to Allan. He hates that he feels so useless, but they can’t all just crowd around her.

“Ibuprofen? That could help the fever.” 

“On it.” Adrien’s the only one that actually knows where it could be so the others leave it to him. 

“How’s she doin’ Al?”

“She’s got a fever of 38.8 (102℉), and won’t drink water.” 

“She’s pretty tired, I’m not sure she can sit-up…” Allegra adds on.

She can’t sit up. Marinette wants to make sure they know they’re aware of this so she tries to speak. She greatly overestimated her ability to do so however, so all that comes out is,”noo...t’ muh wor’...”

Allan shakes his head at her and Allegra smiles softly. Claude and Felix can’t hear her from where they are. Adrien reappears with a bottle of ibuprofen, passing it up to those on the bed. Allan reads the bottle while Allegra moves to help Marinette prop herself up. The girl is too weak to really resist and settles for leaning heavily against the braided blonde.

“Marinette can you take some ibuprofen too? It could help.” Allan has the ibuprofen and water ready, holding it out for her. She somehow manages to summon enough strength to grab them both, swallowing the medicine with the water. She gets about halfway done with the water before her arm starts shaking from the struggle. One of the others takes it out of her hands for her, setting it down. She slumps further, ready to go back to sleep. Marinette really hopes there's nothing else they have planned for her. She doesn’t like to let them down, but she’s just so exhausted. 

It seems they finally understand that, because she’s allowed to lay down again and she vaguely registers them climbing down as she drifts back to sleep. She’s woken by her mother? She isn’t entirely sure how much time has passed, but she has soup for her so that’s nice. Marinette is pretty sure she had most of the soup. Or some of it? It’s not entirely clear to her in all honesty. Eventually she’s allowed to return to rest.

She wakes up again. It’s late, and she can tell it’s dark out. If she woke up on her own then she’s probably better now. That logic makes sense. Yeah…

There’s probably something she can do. The designer sits up slowly, thinking. Maybe she can- wait. Her plants! It’s fall and they can’t be outside in the winter, she has to take them inside so she can care for them! This certainly isn’t something that can wait for morning! Not at all! She should get on that.

---

Chat Noir is on a late-night patrol. Too many of his friends are going through things and sometimes it helps to just run across the rooftops. It can help clear his head.

That said, he would like to check on them. Ladybug is unfortunately out of the question, but he can always swing by the bakery. Marinette won’t be up, but maybe-

He pauses as the bakery comes into view. The girl in question is currently up and on her balcony. That’s not right. He and the other four stayed at her house for a few hours and she slept the whole time. Her parents came home and the friends left after letting them know. Marinette was definitely very sick, so there was no reason for her to be outside on her balcony of all places.

She seems to be trying to move her plants? It can’t be easy with how much she’s shaking. He starts forward again, picking up his pace when it begins to look like she may collapse. He lands near her and she doesn’t even seem to notice. Before he can say anything, she goes to try moving a different pot and trips on nothing, falling backwards into him.

“Hey Princess.”

“...hi?”

He gently grabs her by the shoulders, turning her around to face him though still holding her up. As much as he wants to ask her just what she thinks she’s doing, he can’t exactly say ‘hey I’m Adrien Agreste, I’m well aware that you are very sick and shouldn’t be outside in the middle of the night, especially in the fall. I was literally here hours ago and your temperature was almost 40 (104℉), you lovable moron.’

Instead, he says, “Are you okay? Lookin’ a little shaky there Mari.”

“ ‘m fine.”

He raises an eyebrow moving to feel her forehead, “Really now?” He can feel the heat of her fever through his glove.

“Mhm. Had a fever, but ‘m betta’ no.” She looks up at him blearily and blinks.

“You’re better now huh? The fever you’ve got begs to differ.”

“Don’ hav’ ah feev’r. All good…” She shakes her head and would have fallen over if it it weren’t for the fact he was still gripping her shoulders

“All good? And why is that?” This ought to be interesting.

“I woke up… an’ I got ou’ here…” She seems to be utterly convinced by this rock-solid reasoning.

“Princess, I hate to break it to you, but you aren’t actually better. You should get back to sleep.”

“ ‘m no’ tire’” She huffs like some defiant toddler, crossing her arms. It may have been more convincing if she wasn’t leaning heavily to one side.

“You should still go inside. It’ll be warmer.”

“No, an’ my plantsss…”

“Your plants can survive outside another night. Come on Mari.”

He guides her to the trapdoor, holding it open for her and following her inside. It feels weird being over so late, but he has a feeling that she may not actually sleep. He’ll just keep an eye on her until she does.

“See? t’s not warm.” She’s curled up near her cat pillow and is glaring at him feverishly. It isn’t all that menacing if he’s honest.

“Well,” he makes a point to look over the edge of the bed at the heaters they didn’t end up setting up earlier, “What about those heaters?”

She blinks at him.

He moves down the ladder. They didn’t do anything earlier because they didn’t want to make her too hot, but now the temperature has dropped and the girl’s room is rather cold.

After a bit, the room has warmed some and he returns to his friend. She hasn’t moved much and just blinks at him sleepily. He sits next to her.

“There, is that any better? Think you can sleep now Princess?”

“ ‘m not tir’d…” She just looks at him, as if suggesting she sleep is entirely bizarre.

“You’re sick. You need your rest Marinette. Your room is warm now so-” He gets cut off when she flops across him. Oh well, he’s probably the warmest thing in this room right now. If that’s what it takes to get her to sleep then he can deal with a Marinette blanket.

“ ‘re m’re w’m.”

He smiles at her, “Really now?”

“Mhm. but ‘m not tires..”

“Anything that could make you tired that you can think of? Because you do need to sleep. I could look something up…” He glances down at her. She’s making a weak grabby motion in his general direction.

“ ‘ugs?” She looks so hopeful and who is he to say no to her? He scoops her up so he can hug her without leaning down and squishing her. She’s curled against him and returning the hug feebly. 

After about ten minutes her breathing evens out and she falls asleep lightly. He doesn’t want her to wake up so decides to wait a moment before moving her to her bed properly. He doesn’t really mind.

Besides, sleepy Marinette hugs are wonderful. He can wait.

He eventually transfers her under her blankets so that she can sleep on a proper bed and he can go to his own. He brushes her hair out of her face carefully as her exits her room. Being sure to shut the trapdoor properly, he goes back to his house.

He’d rest easier knowing one of his friends is doing all right.

---

Author’s Note: Apparently, a common effect of being overworked is having trouble falling asleep. As I said, Marinette worked herself sick - quite literally.

From here, the winter effects of her miraculous will begin impacting Mari, especially due to the fact that she worked away any stamina she may have had.

Reference slides for Claude's room here! I really know nothing about the typical parisian house, so I just designed the room based off Claude. Is it easy to tell he's my favorite to write for? I think I understand his personality best, so it's really easy to write for him.

Does anyone know if I can schedule my posts on AO3? It'd be useful, but I'm not sure it's an option.

Double update today! I'm really looking forward to the akuma in the next chapter. I'm both ashamed and proud of it.

As always, thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed in the comments below! I love seeing comments!

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[samantha-girlscout]

a hand of yours

This is my @mlsecretsanta for @phantompierce-okamoto !

A note to Phantom:

I know I’m posting this at the very end of the posting period, and I hope you didn’t feel left out throughout all of the posting period. I’ve had a lot of commitments this month, so it’s been a little rough getting this done. But, I hope that the length of this will make up for it. 

(It got a tinsy bit away from me... ^^; )  Anyways, Happy Holidays and I hope you have a wonderful new year. ♥ 

It was New Year's Eve, and Adrien was lonely.

His father had forbidden him from going out. Something about not being able to trust Paris enough for him to leave the house. He wasn't entirely sure how that was related to spending the evening at a close friend's house for a small class party chaperoned by her parents. But, in his father's mind, the threat of all of Paris partying in the streets was enough to keep him home.

Even if he, himself, was attending a gala half a world away.

Nothing about the situation made sense to Adrien, but what was he to do? He had considered sneaking out to the party regardless. It'd be pretty simple, especially with how understaffed the estate was today. But, apparently, his father had called Marinette's mother directly to inform her that he couldn't make it. So, if he suddenly showed up on their doorstep, the likelihood that she would inform his father of his escape was particularly high. Plagg had suggested sneaking in via Marinette's roof, but there was no way he could do that without raising suspicions as to how he got there in the first place.

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time so far today, Adrien clicked on another video of someone trying to win the try not to laugh challenge. It was mostly just white noise at this point, but it at least distracted him some as he waited until he was tired enough to go to bed. Which, at this rate, wouldn't be for some time, but at least he wasn't just sitting there staring at his wall stewing anymore.

He was about eight videos into his little endeavor, and sadly winning the challenge himself, when an odd noise in the hallway caught his attention. Having a large mansion with servants meant that it wasn't unheard of to hear something in the hallway, but it was nearing ten and a majority of the staff were home for the holidays today. So, in theory, he shouldn't hear anything beyond his room…

Pausing the video he scooped Plagg up from where he had been lounging on a pile of papers and stuffed him into his shirt pocket. The kwami made a small noise of protest, but didn't say much more as Adrien cautiously moved to his door in an attempt to listen. For a few panic-stricken moments he stood there, ear pressed to his door.

But, as he stood there he couldn't pick up on anything.

Adrien stood there for quite some time, listening. Experience as Chat Noir over the past two years made him wary of opening the door, but also wary of leaving threats unknown. After a few minutes of standing there, straining his ears and hearing nothing, Adrien decided to just write it off as something in the background of the video he had been watching.

Chagrined at his paranoia, maybe he should take a break from patrolling for a few days, Adrien went back over to his computer. He was about to go over to his desk and resume his video watching when, all of a sudden, there was a knock at his door.

Adrien froze.

He could feel adrenaline as his body readied itself to either flee or fight. He wasn't entirely sure which would be better; pretending that he wasn't there or going to the door and punching the intruder in the face. He was about to stand, to do which, he wasn't sure, when a voice on the other side caught his attention.

"Adrien! It's me, Nino!"

Adrien let out a sigh of relief as the tension melted away, leaving him with a slight buzz of energy coursing through him. He clumsily leapt to the door and yanked it back with a bit more force than he probably should have. When he finally opened the door he found that, lo and behold, his friend was indeed standing there, arms full of bags and a big smile on his face.

"Nino? What are you doing here? How on Earth did you get in? Did anyone see you?"

Nino smiled broadly and held up a key with a Coach flower keychain hanging from it. "I'll tell you all about it in a moment, but I'm afraid that if I stay out here too much longer, someone is going to catch me."

"Sure, sure."

Adrien opened the door wider and let Nino in. The other boy immediately set everything in his arms down on the floor and let out a sigh. Adrien was quick to shut the door and as soon as it was securely locked, he turned and gave his friend his whole attention.

"Okay, so we were all pretty bummed when Marinette's mom found out that your dad didn't want you to come over. We actually almost called it all off, but Alya said that wouldn't be fair to the rest of the class so we went ahead and set up the party. A little before it was supposed to start, though, Chloe showed up.

"We were all pretty pensive about having her there, what with her history with Marinette and everything, but she was actually pretty chill. And, come to find out, she only came there to give us this." He held up the key to illustrate his point. "She told us about how your father had left you all alone for New Year's and we thought it'd be a great idea to bring some of the party to you!"

He smiled widely as he opened the bags to reveal treats and party favors galore. Adrien felt something in his chest tighten at the sight of it all. Nino continued to speak as he unpacked everything and placed it on his coffee table.

"Everyone wanted to come over and surprise you, but I was the only one who could sneak off without getting into too much trouble. Marinette's hosting the party so her parents would definitely notice if she left, Chloe apparently promised her dad that she'd spend the night ringing in the new year with him, and Alya has something with her little sisters in the morning so she has to get home early. They're all sorry that they couldn’t come over but with how much of a stealth mission it was to get in here…" He laughed. "I'm pretty sure we would have gotten caught."

Adrien rushed forward and gave Nino a big hug. He nearly dropped the noisemakers in his hands, but he readily returned the embrace and patted his friend's back. Adrien felt his eyes water and did his best to swallow them, lest he ruin the moment.

"Thanks, Nino. This— This means a lot to me. "

"Of course, my dude. " Nino squeezed him gently. "I couldn't let you ring in the new year all by yourself."

They stayed like that for a few moments longer than was probably necessary, but Adrien didn't really want to let him go, as silly as that might sound. He was sad when they finally pulled apart, but he couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across his face as Nino handed him a noisemaker.

"I don't know if we should actually use these, but I grabbed them anyways."

"Technically speaking it's supposed to just be me and the Gorilla in the house and he usually goes to bed early so… We could probably make a bit of noise without making him too suspicious."

"Good," Nino laughed. "I might have biffed it on the stairs up here. I was so sure that I was going to get caught…"

"I think that I heard that, actually. Gave me a bit of a heart attack, actually."

"Sorry about that." Nino scratched at the back of his neck, sheepish. "I guess I should have warned you about it. But I didn't know for sure if I was going to make it. And, if I got caught, I didn't want you to get in trouble, too."

"It's fine. I'm just glad you made it okay."

He turned to look at everything that Nino had brought with him. Besides the snacks, sweets, and party favors he spied a few movies and games. Tucked a bit behind the surprises, though, was a duffel bag and pillow. Adrien raised an eyebrow at them and watched as Nino kicked them out of sight behind his couch and laughed, nervously.

"Since the party was going to be pretty late, Marinette said that anyone could stay the night if they didn't want to  go home so late. My parents wanted to go to a party tonight, too, so they were cool with the plan of me staying. The plan to surprise you was kind of last minute, though, so I just brought all of my stuff with me. I…  I don't know if you're okay with me staying or not, but…"

"Of course!" Adrien smiled. "It might be hard to sneak you out tomorrow morning, but we'll figure it out."

"Great!" Nino reached down and fanned the movies and games that he had brought with him. "Now what do you want to do first?"

###

It took quite a while for either of them to become tired enough to call it a night.

They decided to watch a movie first and enjoy the treats that Nino had brought with him. It was a pretty typical movie, but neither had seen it yet so they were easily immersed in it. So much so that they didn't realize how close to midnight it was until the credits were rolling.

At that point, Nino outfitted each of them in novelty glasses and top hats and turned on a live stream of the event going on at the Champs-Elysées. Nadja Chamack and Jagged Stone were hosting the event this year and seemed to be having a good time. They watched in rapt attention. And, as the countdown ended, they blew on their noisemakers and cheered in the new year.

There was a beat of silence after they finished making so much noise. Adrien wasn't sure if it was his paranoia, or what, but he almost swore that they were going to get caught. But, thankfully, he never heard the loud footfalls of The Gorilla walking down the hallway. Once he was sure that there was no one out there, he went so far as to poke his head out, he found himself dissolving into a fit of giggles with Nino over the whole affair.

Shortly afterwards they went about setting up the new game that Nino had received as a Christmas gift from his parents.  Adrien recognized it immediately as one that he already owned, but had never had the time to play. It was a pretty mindless game, all things considered, but it lent itself to more conversation.

Which, more than anything else, Adrien thrived on.

"You know," he said after a while. "This is going to be my first sleepover."

Nino paused the game and turned to Adrien.

"You've never had a sleepover before?"

Adrien shrugged. "I went to parties with my mom and dad, but since dad never really wanted me to do much outside of my activities it just… never happened. I remember a few of the guys at fencing or basketball have asked over the years, but dad's always been worried about my safety or whatever so…"

"Did you still ask if you could go?"

Adrien sighed and put his controller to the side. Leaning his chin on his hands, he continued. "I just always told them that I was busy and didn't even bother asking. I mean, what's the point in asking if all you ever get is no, right?"

"I guess…" Nino trailed off. He stared at the screen for a moment before something dawned on him and he whipped around to face Adrien. "Wait. Was he always this controlling? Even when your mom was around?"

"Yeah. At least with mom around she was able to convince him to let me out a bit more. But, I mean, he always had last say on everything…"

"That's brutal."

"Yeah…"

They lapsed into silence for some time,  just staring at the paused screen. Adrien wanted to fix the awkwardness that always fell between them whenever his dad came up in conversation, but he didn't know how. He was always touched by how much his friend cared about him, but his dad was still his dad. And, while he certainly didn't like how controlling he was… he still loved him. Which was somewhat frustrating for Nino since his righteous anger always burned brighter than his own ever could.

"Hey, Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do after lycee?"

Adrien frowned. If he was being honest he hadn't thought too much about that. His father had all of these plans set up for him to choose between, but none of them really appealed to him. Especially due to the fact that most of them involved studying abroad, and he couldn't imagine being able to do that while still being Chat Noir.

"I don't know. I kind of want to go to University, but all of the places that my dad wants me to go to aren't in Paris. He hasn't told me that he wants me to take over his company, but I'm pretty sure that from all of the tracks he has planned out that that's what he wants me to do."

"Okay, but once you're an adult he can’t make you do what you don't want to do."

"Right, but…"

"Look, Adrien." Nino set his controller down and scooted a bit closer to him. "I know you care about your dad, but you can't let him decide your whole life for you. I've seen how unhappy it makes you to do what he wants over what you want. And that's… that's just not fair to you."

Adrien dragged his hand down his face and groaned.

"I get what you're saying Nino, but, he's made it expressly clear that his 'plans' are the only plans that he's going to fund. If I decide to do something else, then I'm pretty sure he's going to kick me to the curb. I'm not sure how much of a choice I really have."

"You always have a choice. And, if he doesn't want to help you achieve your dreams, then I will."

"Nino, I appreciate what you're saying, but I couldn't possibly ask you to—"

"We —you, me, Alya, and Marinette— will all get jobs and rent a house." Nino's voice was thick and the quiet tone made Adrien's throat constrict. "We… We might have to save up a bit before we can start doing what we want to do. University, trade school, whatever it is. But, if we all work together then—"

Adrien felt a shock go through him as Nino reached out and took his hand.

"Then, we can make it you know? I mean it'll probably be hard for a while, but working a little hard to get where you want to be is a lot better than being stuck where you don't want to be forever right?"

Adrien didn't know quite what to say. Sure, he'd thought about going to University and doing something else… But any time those thoughts had crossed his mind, they had felt so impossible.

But, the way that Nino talked about all of this made him realize that maybe, just maybe, a future all his own was within his grasp.

"H-hey," Nino said. "I'm sorry I. I didn't mean to make you upset."

Upset?

Adrien reached up with his unoccupied hand and found that there were tears streaming down his face. He couldn't say that he was entirely upset by what Nino had said, though. So, why?

"I'm not?" He wiped at his eyes in confusion. "Sorry, I just. That kind of thing didn't really… um."

He cleared his throat. It felt like something was stuck there, making it hard to say anything. And, if he was being honest, the small squeeze that Nino gave his hand didn't help all that much either.

But, the open and patient look that his friend was giving him made it a little easier.

"I guess, the idea of being able to do what I want to do with my life is just, kind of overwhelming?"

"In a good way or a bad way?"

Adrien laughed, wetly. "I can't tell. Probably good, though. I mean, your idea sounds a lot more appealing than being shipped off to the best business school China can offer."

"Yikes." Nino winced. "He really wants you to do that?"

"It's either that, Harvard, or Oxford."

"Maybe it's just me. But, it's kind of weird that he's so controlling, but he's willing to let you go study abroad."

"I… I think that he's planning to branch out. I've heard him mention it a few times, but he's never said where specifically the new office is going to be."

Nino grit his teeth. "So, he's pretending to give you freedom, but what he's actually doing is planning to trap you in whatever city you choose to attend university. That's pretty low."

"Sadly, I wouldn't exactly put it past him."

Adrien’s hand fell from Nino’s as an uneasy silence fell over them. Neither really knew what to say so they didn't really try. They let it hang over them like a heavy cloud of uncertainty as they attempted to clear the level. It didn't take too much work, but it certainly didn't feel as much of an accomplishment as the previous three did.

Shortly after the two of them decided to call it a night. Shutting off the console, Adrien watched as Nino started to clear off the couch. He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"You don't have to worry about cleaning up right now. We can do that in the morning."

Nino paused, noisemakers in hand. "I'm just picking up what's on the couch. I don't know about you, but I don’t think that these would be all that comfortable to sleep on."

"Are you planning to sleep on the couch?"

"Well, yeah. I mean I can sleep on the floor, but it doesn't exactly sound that appealing."

"But, my bed is big enough for two people."

Nino nearly tripped over the coffee table as he turned to face Adrien more fully. Out of habit, Adrien shot forward to steady his friend. Thankfully, Nino didn't face plant into the treats, but Adrien was pretty sure from experience that his legs were going to bruise a bit.

"Sorry. It's just, I know from experience that my bed is a lot more comfortable. And, since this is a sleepover I just assumed…"

"It's not really that kind of sleepover though," Nino laughed, his tone a bit higher than usual.

"What do you mean by 'that kind of sleepover'?"

"Well, you see…" Nino cleared his throat. "Best friends don't usually, uh, share beds."

"But, Chloe's told me about how she and Sabrina have shared a bed during sleepovers and they're best friends."

"That's… different."

"How is it different?" Something clenched inside of Adrien and he took a step back, hurt. "Is it because I'm—"

"No! Of course not! That has absolutely nothing to do with any of this." Nino groaned as he pulled at his hat in frustration. "It's different because… because…"

Nino looked everywhere but at him.

Adrien was so confused. If it wasn't because of his bisexuality, then what on earth could make his best friend uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with him platonically?

"Look, Nino, it's okay if you don't want to share a bed. I wouldn't want to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. If you want I can go get an extra blanket and—"

"It's different because Chloe doesn't have a crush on Sabrina!"

Adrien froze.

"I'm sorry that you're finding out this way. This… This isn't how I wanted you to find out." He pulled his hat off his head and started fidgeting with the brim. "But, I can't just pretend that sharing a bed with you wouldn't mean something completely different for me than it would for you. It felt like I was being dishonest with you."

Adrien stood there, dumbstruck.

As long as he and Nino had been friends, he had no clue about his feelings. He didn’t even know that his best friend had feelings for guys in general. Part of him felt ashamed of the fact that he'd never even asked about the type of people that Nino was attracted to instead of assuming based on the two crushes that he'd seen firsthand.

All the other parts, though?

Were absolutely ecstatic.

"It's… okay," Adrien started out slowly, unsure as to how to say what was going through his mind. "I'm sorry that I assumed—"

"It's okay," Nino laughed. "It's actually a pretty recent revelation."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Poor Alya. I called her up in the middle of the night freaking out because I didn't know what to do."

"Oh, yikes. How did you survive that?"

"A coffee on her desk first thing the next morning."

"Makes sense."

Adrien stood there for a moment, considering his best friend in front of him. Nino's friendship had to be one of the best things to have ever happened to him. And, more than anything, he never wanted to lose that.

But maybe…

Just maybe….

"Nino, you're my best friend. And your friendship means the world to me." Adrien paused as he watched Nino visibly deflate. He could guess what was going through his head, but he continued nonetheless. "And, if we're being honest, since I assumed that you would never be interested in me romantically, I tried to ignore that crush and move on."

"I understand." Nino replaced his cap and brought it down to shield his eyes. "If you want I can g—"

"The key word there is tried, Nino."

His head shot up.

"Look, I really don't want to ruin our friendship, but I also really like you, too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I don't want friendship and romance to be mutually exclusive. And, that I want us to be friends no matter what form that might take."

"I'm ok with that," Nino said as a small smile spread across his face. "does that make us...."

Nino yawned, and Adrien couldn't resist chuckling over how cute that made him look.

"It can make us whatever we want 'us' to be." He reached over and patted his arm. "But, we should probably get some sleep first."

"Right." He glanced over to Adrien's bed.

"Please don't feel pressured to sleep in my bed." Adrien scratched at the back of his neck. "Sleep wherever you want. I won't mind I swear. I just want you to feel comfortable."

"I'm okay with it if you're okay with it…"

A few butterflies came to life in Adrien's stomach at his words.

"Okay." He laughed airily. "I'll, uh… go get changed."

"Me too."

Adrien rushed off to his bathroom. He was pretty sure that Plagg was about to tease the hell out of him for all of this, but he couldn't find himself caring all that much. Almost every year the first day was one of the lowest parts for him. Feeling bleak and nearly impossible to get through.

But this year was shaping to be one of the best that he could ever imagine. There were so many possibilities and new adventures laid out before him…

He couldn’t wait to see what the year might bring him.