#another ficletish one-shot thing

[writtenbyrain]

Day Two of @post-reveal-revelry: Miscommunication:

Adrien was sweating, his hands slick as he nervously twirled his ring around his finger.

Normally, going to school felt like a relief, but today it felt more like a death procession as he internally debated whether or not to turn around and say hello when he took his seat in class. Luckily, he was still several blocks away from campus.

And several blocks from having to make a decision.

“Oh, no.”

That was all Marinette had softly gasped the day prior, once Ladybug and Chat Noir had agreed to release their transformations and reveal their identities to one another.

Oh, no.

The two words, all but immediately lost to the breeze as she uttered them, had haunted him for almost 10 hours, 32 minutes, and 47 seconds.

But hey, who was counting?

As soon as Adrien had returned to his room and detansformed for a final time that night, he dove haplessly onto his bed and wasted no time burying his face in the soft mattress, pressing the nearest pillow over his head.

Not that muffling the already-muted sounds of the night could erase the memory of her gasp from his mind.

Plagg, meanwhile, settled unhelpfully onto the pillow next to him—Adrien knew by the signature stench of Camembert that somehow wafted over him, even with his head covered—and told him that he was being, well, utterly ridiculous.

“Come on, kid,” he moaned when Adrien refused to unearth himself from his makeshift bed-burial. “So Ladybug knows you in real life. So she was surprised when you revealed herself. So what? Can you honestly tell me you weren’t a little surprised to find out Ladybug had been Pigtails the whole time?”

With a sigh, Adrien relented, removing the pillow and turning halfheartedly toward his kwami (though half of his face remained glued to the bed).

“Well, a little, I guess,” he admitted. “But she was more than surprised, Plagg. I mean, come on, did you see her face?”

As if the memory of her words wasn’t punishment enough, her face at that moment flashed through his mind, as well: Bluebell eyes wide, cheeks flushed in shock, one hand flying to her mouth in dismay as she took a step back.

Oh, no.

Well, that was decidedly not the reaction he was hoping for, no matter who was under the mask.

“She must be so disappointed, Plagg,” Adrien said softly. He closed his eyes. “So disappointed that it’s… me.”

________

“Tikki, this is a disaster!”

Marinette had popped open her purse and was whispering to her kwami as she paused at the crosswalk on her way to school. Most days she found herself desperate for Tikki’s optimistic reassurance, but today?

Well, today she probably needed a miracle, and then some.

Oh, no.

Why, oh why had she said that? It was hard enough knowing how she had hurt Chat Noir in the past, but knowing now that it was Adrien that looked so dejected on that rooftop? There was no way she could face him at school today. No way.

“Marinette, you need to calm down,” Tikki squeaked just as the crosswalk turned green. “It was just a miscommunication, that’s all! You were surprised, but it’s not too late to just tell Adrien—Chat Noir—how you really feel.”

As per usual, Tikki was right. But while Marinette could find it in her to scale buildings, throw herself into the chaotic fray of an akuma battle, and even dodge numerous of said villains while traversing Paris’s sewers, speaking to Adrien had always been… something else entirely.

Especially now, seeing as “oh, no” was decidedly not what she wanted to first say to her partner, no matter who was under the mask.

“Just a miscommunication,” Marinette sighed, her stride slowing. “You’re right, I was just embarrassed, but I… I don’t know how to tell him that.”

By this point, Marinette had reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the entrance of Collège Françoise Dupont.

Steeling herself for what was likely to be her most awkward arrival to class yet (and that bar was already set pretty high), she took one final breath before ascending the stairs and marching toward her classroom.

Not that her resolve lasted long.

Just as she reached the doorway, her hand hovered over the doorknob, her hesitation nearly giving rise to full-blown panic.

What if he hates me now?

Wait, what if he won’t want to work with Ladybug, anymore?

Oh God, how in the world am I going to manage this without Chat Noir if he up and leaves because of my slip-up yesterday?

And if I can’t defeat an akuma without him, then Paris—

“You can do this, Marinette!” Tikki peeked up and out of the purse with an encouraging smile, stopping Marinette’s runaway thoughts in their tracks. “Just a miscommunication, remember? All you have to do is take it one step at a time.”

One step. Right. Well, she was one step away now, wasn’t she?

Marinette nodded. “Thanks, Tikki.”

Finally, she closed her eyes, gripped the door handle tightly, and pushed into the classroom.

________

Adrien’s breath caught in his throat.

Oh God, his hands were going to start sweating again. He wasn’t ready for this.

He was standing in front of Nino’s seat—scavenging through his bag for class notes he meant to give to the other boy—just as Marinette pushed through the doorway. Her whole countenance froze as soon as she looked up and accidentally made eye contact with him.

Adrien swore he could hear his own heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

Suddenly, Marinette squeezed her eyes shut again, her mouth sloping downward and her brows furrowing as though she were trying to keep herself from crying.

Then, before Adrien could so much as blink, she had rushed forward and thrown herself around him. Her arms snaked up and over his shoulders as her face buried into the crook of his neck.

“I’m so sorry, Chaton,” she whispered. “And I am so happy it’s you. Please, please believe me.”

The moment finally unraveled, and relief crashed into his body with nearly the same force Marinette had.

Adrien found himself wrapping his arms around her torso, pulling her in just as he had waited so long to do.

He could breathe again.