blueberries ; three.
pairing ; joey tribbiani x gn!reader
chapter synopsis ; the one with lumpy potatoes, new years parties, and mother-kissers.
wc ; 9.0k
warnings / includes ; talks of sex/suggestive content, mild cursing, reader wears a dress but obv still gn, and a new love interest !!
series masterlist. main masterlist.
“Are you wearing makeup?” Chandler asked Joey as the actor sauntered into Central Perk, sinking into a chair beside you.
“Yes, sir, I am,” replied Joey, rolling up his sleeves with a smirk. “As of today, I’m officially Joey Tribbiani: actor-slash-model.”
Snorting, Chandler piped, “That’s so funny, because I was thinking you look more like Joey Tribbiani: clown-slash-mime.”
You wanted to laugh, but you kept a straight face, sending Joey a reassuring grin. “Don’t listen to him, you look great!” Tilting your head to inspect him further, you added, “Though—your foundation could be a shade darker, you look like a ghost!”
“What were you modeling for, anyway?” asked Phoebe.
“Well, you know those posters for the City Free Clinic?” he asked excitedly.
Monica gasped, “Oh, wow! So you’re gonna be one of those healthy, healthy, healthy guys?”
Practically dripping with pride, Joey struck a ridiculous modeling pose, which made the rest of you scoff with laughter.
“The asthma guy’s really cute,” you chimed. When Joey sent you a glare, you were quick to tack on, “And you’ll definitely give him a run for his money!”
“You know which one you’re gonna be?” asked Chandler.
“No,” the actor-slash-model sighed. “But I hear lyme disease is open, so…”
Patting Joey’s shoulder, Chandler said, “Good luck man, I hope you get it.” That earned strange looks from the rest of you while Joey just beamed brightly, blissfully oblivious to his phrasing.
It was then that Ross stormed in, a strained mope marring his features. He sank into a chair with a heavy sigh, prompting you to roll your eyes and ask, “What’s wrong now, Ross?”
“Monica told me mom and dad weren’t spending Thanksgiving here—and I didn’t believe her at first, but it turns out she was right. How could they do this to us?”
Sighing, the black-haired woman proposed, “How about I cook Thanksgiving dinner at my place? I’ll make it just like Mom’s!”
“Will you make the mashed potatoes with lumps?” he asked.
Monica hesitated. “You know they’re not actually supposed to have—” She cut herself short at Ross’ sour expression. “Fine, I’ll work on the lumps! What are the rest of you doing tonight? Joey, you’re going home, right?”
From beside you, he nodded enthusiastically, excited to finally go back home and visit his parents.
“And I assume, Chandler, you’re still boycotting all the Pilgrim holidays?”
The man snorted. “Yes, every single one of them,” he sarcastically quipped.
“Pheebs, you’re going to be with your grandma?”
“Yeah, and her boyfriend. But we’re celebrating Thanksgiving in December because he’s lunar, so—”
Slightly confused, Monica asked, “So you’re free Thursday, then?”
“Yeah, why?” replied Phoebe, equally miffed before realization dawned upon her. “Oh, can I come?”
Monica nodded with a grin. “And Rachel’s planning on going to Vail—so what about you, Y/N?”
Tracing the rim of your teacup with a finger, you pursed your lips to the side in thought. “I think I’ll be free! You have room for one more?”
Ross crossed his arms in Monica’s kitchen, making him look abnormally burly in his chunky, woolen sweater. “If she’s talking to it, I just think I should get some belly time, too!” he complained. “Not that I believe in any of this.”
“I do,” you chimed, helping Monica season the turkey in the kitchen. “Babies begin developing ears well before thirty weeks, so I’m sure they’d be able to hear a little bit of what goes on outside the womb.”
Phoebe nodded her agreement. “I think babies can totally hear everything! Here, lemme show you, Ross—this might seem a little weird, but you put your head inside this turkey and then we’ll all talk and you’ll hear everything we say!”
“I’d like to say that I’m totally behind this experiment,” said Chandler. “In fact, I’d very much like to butter your head.”
You snorted in laughter, before turning to see Rachel walking into the apartment, sulking.
“Hey, Rach,” you greeted, hopping up to grab her coat for her. She sent you a half-hearted smile. “Did you make enough money to go to Vail?”
“Forget Vail,” she sniffled. “Forget seeing my family, forget shoop, shoop, shoop.” She mimicked skiing down the snow as tears pricked her eyes.
From the kitchen, Monica handed you the envelope, and you tapped Rachel’s shoulder. “Hey, honey, you’ve got some mail.”
“Just leave it on the table,” she replied, burying her face in her hands.
“I think you’re gonna want to see this,” you responded softly. When Rachel didn’t move, you rolled your eyes and smacked her arm lightly. “Now!”
She jolted in shock, before snatching the mail from you with a mildly offended look. The expression immediately melted away when she ripped it open, pulling out crisp dollar bills. “Oh, my God! You guys are great!” she exclaimed, lunging forward to drape her arms around you and pull you into a hug so tight that it was a wonder your ribs didn’t cave under the pressure.
“We all chipped in,” you assured her. “Except Ross, who now owes me twenty bucks.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek, before pulling away and streaking into her room, yelling out something about packing her suitcase.
When she was gone, Monica headed back to the kitchen, shoving a bag full of goodies into Chandler’s awaiting arms. “Here you go, your standard holiday feast—canned tomato soup, grilled cheese fixings, and a family-size bag of Funyuns for one!”
“You sure you want to spend Thanksgiving alone?” you asked him, peering into the bag with distaste. “What is it with you and this holiday, anyway? I never got around to asking—honestly I was too scared to know the answer.”
Sighing, Chandler placed his hand on your shoulder. “Alright, I’m nine years old—”
Ross and Monica and Phoebe all groaned, muttering how much they absolutely hated this story.
“We’ve just finished Thanksgiving dinner. I have, and I remember this part vividly, a mouthful of pumpkin pie. And this is the moment my parents choose to tell me they’re getting divorced.”
“Oh,” you said. “Oh, my God, Chandler, I’m so sorry.”
Holding a finger up, Chandler shook his head. “Ah, but it gets worse—you see, it’s really hard to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner again when you’ve seen it in reverse.”
He began miming throwing up all over you, and you wrinkled your nose, bile rising up your throat.
“Oh, stop! You’re going to make me puke, too!”
There was a knock on the door, and before anybody could get up to answer it, Joey walked into Monica’s apartment, shoulders slumped.
“Jo?” you asked. “What’re you doing here? I thought you were spending Thanksgiving with your family?”
“They think I have VD,” he sighed, moving to pull you away from Chandler who had frozen mid-puke, and wrapping you up in a tight hug.
A bit surprised, you awkwardly patted his back, mouthing to Chandler to shut up when he began to say, “Be careful, Y/N, wouldn’t want you to get VD, too!” With a stout nod, Chandler bid himself adieu, claiming that he needed to ‘get away from all the merriment’.
When Joey finally let you go, he wound his way into the kitchen, following Monica around like a lost puppy as she cooked. “Hey, Monica, I got a question—I don’t see any tater tots.”
“That’s not a question,” she replied, cocking a sharp brow at him.
“But my mom always makes ‘em—it’s like a tradition! You get a little piece of turkey on your fork, a little cranberry sauce… and a tot!” huffed Joey, sitting down at the kitchen table by Ross. “It’s bad enough I can’t be with my family, you know—because of my disease that I don’t actually have.”
Rolling her eyes, Monica blew out a heavy sigh. “Alright, fine. Tonight’s potatoes will be both mashed with lumps for Ross, and in the form of tots for Joey.”
The two men grinned at each other victoriously, fist-bumping beneath the table.
“I’m off to talk to my unborn child! I’ll be back before dinnertime,” announced Ross, grabbing his coat, waving goodbye to the rest of you and disappearing out the door.
You took his spot at the kitchen table, resting your arm on Joey’s shoulder as the two of you watched Monica berate Phoebe for whipping the potatoes.
“Ross needs lumps!”
“Oh, well,” the blonde started sheepishly, “I thought we could have them whipped and then add some peas and onions.”
Frustration flooded across Monica’s features. “Why would we do that?”
“Then they’d be, uhm, be just like how my mom used to make it before she died,” said Phoebe, which made Monica blanch out of part-guilt and part-exasperation.
“Okay, three kinds of potatoes coming up! Unless you have a specific kind of mashed potatoes, too, Y/N?” she glared at you expectedly, eye twitching.
You raised your hands in a placating manner. “No, ma’am, I’m fine with whatever you’re making.”
The glare melted away and was replaced by one of relief. “You’re officially my favorite.”
Right at that moment, Rachel stumbled out of her room haphazardly carrying about half a dozen bags that looked to be on the verge of breaking open because of how stuffed full they were. She was beaming radiantly nonetheless, rushing to the door.
Before she could leave, however, Chandler ran back into Monica’s apartment, out of breath and blurting out, “The most unbelievable thing just happened! Underdog has gotten away!”
Joey’s eyebrows quirked upwards. “The balloon?”
Chandler shot him a sharp look, before leering, “No, the actual cartoon character. Of course the balloon! It’s all over the news—he broke free and was spotted flying over Washington Square Park! I’m goin’ to the roof, who’s with me?”
All of you began bolting for the door, except Rachel, who lamented that she had to leave for her flight.
“Come on, Rach, an eighty-foot balloon dog is flying loose over the city? You don’t wanna miss that!” you exclaimed, tugging her along. She reluctantly followed after all of you, dropping all her bags to the floor.
“Got the keys!” exclaimed Monica as all of you rushed out her apartment.
“That moment when we first saw the giant shadow fall over the park!” squealed Rachel, eyes sparkling. “I felt like I was in one of those big action movies!”
You chuckled. “Yeah, and the big bad villain was an inflatable balloon in the shape of a smiling dog.”
“But did they really have to shoot him down?” asked Phoebe. “That was just mean.”
The group arrived in front of Monica’s door.
“Okay, right about now the turkey should be crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside! Why are we all just standing here?” she said, rubbing her hands together anxiously.
“We’re waiting for you to open the door,” said Rachel in a ‘duh, isn’t it obvious?’ tone. “You’ve got the keys.”
Monica blinked. “No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do. When we left, you said you got the keys!”
“I didn’t!” Monica’s voice went shrill. “I asked if you had the keys!”
“No, no, your voice went all flat at the end, like you already got the keys!” Rachel stressed, her own tone getting higher to match Monica’s.
“Do either of you have the keys?” Chandler unhelpfully asked, exaggerating the last word.
Panicked, Monica jangled the doorknob. “The oven is on!”
“I gotta get the money and my bags!” Rachel cried out. “I’m gonna miss my flight!”
“Oh!” said Joey. “We have a copy of your key in our apartment, right?”
“THEN GET IT!” Monica screeched, which made the two men step back out of shock.
“Alright, jeez, that tone won’t make me go any faster, you know?”
At the raven-haired woman’s withering glare, Joey bolted into his apartment to grab an entire box full of keys, which made the rest of you groan in exasperation.
After about ten minutes of trying out different keys, Monica bit out, “Can’t you go any faster with that?”
“I got one keyhole and about a zillion keys—you do the math!” he replied, tossing another unfit key back into the box.
“Why do you guys have so many keys in there anyway?” barked Rachel.
“Hm, for an emergency just like this?” deadpanned Chandler.
Rachel was practically vibrating with frustration at this point, grabbing Chandler by the lapels of his button-down shirt and yanking him down threateningly. “Alright, listen here, smirky! If it wasn’t for you and your stupid balloon, I would be on a plane watching a woman show me where the emergency exits are right now! But I’m not!”
“God, I swear I asked if you had the keys,” sulked Monica.
“I didn’t! I wouldn’t say I had the keys unless I had the goddamn keys! I obviously didn’t have the keys!”
“Oh, my God,” you groaned, burying your face in your hands. “Really, guys, there’s no point in arguing about it anymore—blaming someone won’t make the door magically open.”
Ignoring you, Monica rounded back to Rachel, hissing, “Why would I have the keys? You were the last one out!”
“Because you said you had them!” Rachel replied, practically screaming at this point. Joey momentarily stopped trying to jam random keys into the door to watch them fight, but you swatted his arm to get him back to work.
“Why?”
“Because!”
“Why? Because everything is my responsibility? Isn’t it enough that I’m making Thanksgiving dinner for everyone? Yeah, everyone wants a different kind of potato, so I’m making different kinds of potatoes! Does anybody even care what kind of potatoes I want? No! Just as long as Phoebe gets her peas and onions, and Joey gets his tots, and Chandler gets to watch from the side, and Ross gets his gross potato lumps and—and—it’s my first Thanksgiving all on my own and now it’s all burnt and I can’t—” She burst into a mess of tears and running mascara, and you shook your head sympathetically, walking to her to wind your arms around her and comfortingly pat her on the back.
She hiccupped into you, about to hug you back when Joey said, “Hey, I got the door open!”
Monica ripped herself away from you and shot into her apartment, leaving you blinking in surprise.
“Thanks for being there for me, Y/N, you always know how to make me feel better!” you muttered under your breath, before following the rest of the group in.
The apartment was full of smoke, the stench of burned poultry lingering in the air. You waved your hand in front of your face just as Monica yanked the oven open and threw the ruined meal onto the counter. “Well, turkey’s burnt! Potatoes are ruined, potatoes are ruined, and potatoes are ruined!”
It was then that Ross strode into the apartment, whistling a merry tune beneath his breath, before noticing the smoke and the sullen expressions. “This doesn’t smell like Mom’s,” he quipped, which earned him a cuff to the shoulder.
“No, it doesn’t,” grouched Monica. “But you know what, Ross? You want lumps? Here, you got one!” She yanked one of the burned, hardened no-longer-mash potatoes out of its bowl, waving it around with a manic look to her eye.
From across the room, Rachel slammed the phone onto the coffee table, screaming out, “God, this is just great! The plane is gone, so I guess I’m stuck here with you guys!”
Joey crossed his arms. “We all had better plans, okay? This was nobody’s first choice.”
You winced—technically this had been your first choice, but you opted to remain quiet.
“Really?” said Monica, clearly hurt. “So why was I busting my ass to make this delicious Thanksgiving dinner!?”
“You call that delicious?” Ross gruffed.
The entire group erupted into screams and accusations and loud arguments.
You sighed, moving to the door, where Chandler was leaning.
“Now this feels like Thanksgiving,” he whispered to you, which made you snort in laughter.
“Guys, look!” Phoebe exclaimed from the window, interrupting everybody’s yelling. “Ugly Naked Guy’s taking his turkey out of the oven!”
Everybody was in too sour of a mood to care, until—
“Oh, my God. He’s not alone! Ugly Naked Guy is having Thanksgiving dinner with Ugly Naked Gal!”
All of you bolted to the window, both cooing at how cute they were and how gross it was at the same time.
“Ugly naked dancing!” Monica pointed out, a smile breaking out across her face.
“It’s nice that he has someone,” said Phoebe.
The rest of you sighed, before looking at each other fondly.
Soon after, all of you were seated at the kitchen table, watching Chandler cut grilled cheese sandwiches in half.
“Who wants light cheese and who wants dark cheese?” he asked.
“I don’t even wanna know what’s in the dark cheese,” replied Ross as he grabbed half of a sandwich.
“You wanna split with me, Jo?” you asked, holding up an uncut sandwich.
Phoebe clapped her hands. “You guys have to make a wish! You know, like a turkey wishbone!”
With a smile, you held out the grilled cheese to Joey, and he clutched the other side, before pulling. He ended up with the bigger half, a wide grin split across his handsome features.
“What’re you wishing for?” you asked, biting into your smaller portion.
“Duh, the bigger half,” Joey replied, which made you kick him beneath the table. He tilted his head. “What would you have wished for?”
“I don’t know, honestly. I’m really happy with what I have now,” you smiled at him, before turning to look at Chandler, who was clinking a fork against his glass.
He cleared his throat. “I know this isn’t exactly the kind of Thanksgiving any of you had planned, but for me this has been really great. Mostly because it didn’t involve divorce or, you know, projectile vomiting. I was just thinking if Rachel had gone to Vail, or if you guys had been with your family, or if Joey didn’t have… syphilis and stuff, we wouldn’t be all together. I guess what I’m trying to say is—I’m very grateful all of your Thanksgivings sucked.”
The rest of you raised your glasses.
“Here’s to a lousy Christmas,” said Ross.
“And a crappy New Year!” you chimed, before taking a long sip.
“Hi, guys,” you greeted everybody as you sat down beside Ross on Central Perk’s largest couch. “I’ve got news!”
Ross was just about to ask what it was when Rachel came with a steaming cup of tea for you, smiling softly. “Hey, Y/N! Do you guys know what you’re doing for New Years?”
Suddenly, the entire group threw their arms up in the air, groaning loudly.
“Jeez, what? What’s wrong with New Years?”
“Nothing for you, you have Paolo!” Chandler replied hotly. “You don’t have to face the horrible pressures of this holiday—the desperate scramble to find anything with lips just so you can have somebody to kiss when the ball drops! Man, I’m talking loud!”
Frowning, Rachel cocked her head. “For your information, Paolo’s gonna be in Rome this New Years, so I’ll be just as pathetic as the rest of you!”
“I am so sick of being a victim of this Dick Clark holiday! I say this year, no dates—we make a pact. Just the seven of us, dinner,” proposed Chandler, spreading his arms out invitingly.
As the rest of them chimed their reluctant agreement, you winced, setting your tea down. “Sorry, Chandler.”
“Sorry? What do you mean, sorry?” he asked.
“Sorry, as in I already have a date for New Years.” Your words were a little hushed, and you sank further into the sofa out of mild embarrassment.
The entire group seemed to double-take at your words, practically bursting at the seams with questions.
“Who?” Joey asked.
“A guy from work—his name’s Connor, and he’s one of the head researchers for quantum photonics,” you said in response, playing with the fraying threads of your sweater. “I’m not even in that field but I’ve become more or less his consultant and peer reviewer for his papers and just this morning, he came up to me with flowers and asked me to be his date for New Years, and gosh, I just felt like a giddy teenager, you know?”
Monica slapped your arm, an excited smile spread across her lips. “That’s great, Y/N!”
“What does he look like?” asked Phoebe.
“He’s got the most gorgeous dark hair, and soft brown eyes,” you began describing, sinking your teeth into your bottom lip. “And he’s just so soft-spoken, you know? Honestly, I never really saw him in a romantic light until he came up to me this morning and it all just came rushing at me—it’s honestly a bit too good to be true.”
Joey scoffed. “Yeah, especially after the last person you were with.”
Stiffening, you clenched your jaw and shot him a half-hearted glare.
“Who was the last person?” Ross queried.
Purposefully, you dodged his question and said, “Well, good luck with your no-date pact! I’d love to spend New Years with you guys, but—”
“Why don’t you bring him?” asked Rachel.
“No! No, it’s for single people only, that was the whole point!” Chandler butted in.
With a sour glare, Monica said, “Come on, it’s Y/N! The last time we’ve met one of their partners was… come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone you’ve dated. We can make an exception, Chandler. Just one. Besides, I’d really love to meet this Connor guy!”
“Fine,” he sighed. “Just Y/N, but that’s it.”
The next day, the entire group was gathered in Monica’s apartment, helping her decorate a small Christmas tree. Joey wasn’t here, however, having gotten a job as a helper elf at a local mall. You couldn’t shake the feeling of him being upset with you, he’d barely spoken a word to you ever since they had made the date-pact yesterday, but you tried not to read too much into it.
“I can’t believe he hasn’t kissed you yet!” Rachel told you. Untangling the silver tinsel, you wrapped it around the pine on Monica’s coffee table. “God, by my sixth date with Paolo, he’d already named both my breasts!”
You blinked in surprise. Ross made a choking noise from beside you.
“Ooh, did I just share too much?”
Ross huffed out of his nose. “Just a smidge.”
Hanging up another ornament, you shrugged. “I don’t know—I kinda like that he’s taking it slow, you know?”
Phoebe nodded enthusiastically. “David hasn’t kissed me either—are all scientist guys like that? Very methodical.”
You remembered Phoebe mentioning that she was seeing a physicist. “I can assure you, Pheebs, not all scientist guys are like that. A lot of them don’t waste any time with sex, much less kissing!”
“I think it’s romantic,” Monica chimed.
You smiled softly. “It’s really nice. Connor is just—he’s just so nice and smart and gentle and sweet. When he looks at me it feels… I don’t know, I just forgot what it feels like to be wanted by someone else, you know?”
Phoebe sank into a chair, grinning like a lovesick fool. “I know what you mean. I just want to be with him all the time, you know? Day and night, and night and day. And, uhm… special occasions…”
With an exaggerated gasp of betrayal, Chandler pointed an accusing finger at her. “Wait a minute—I see where this is going. You’re gonna ask him to New Years! You’re gonna break the pact!”
“No!” Phoebe vehemently exclaimed. After a moment’s pause, she sheepishly asked, “Can I, though?”
With a defeated sigh, Chandler propped his hands on his hips. “Yeah, cause I already asked Janice.”
“What?” you asked, nearly dropping a fragile ornament you’d been holding. “Chan, the entire pact was your idea.”
“I snapped, okay? I couldn’t handle the pressure and I snapped!”
Monica shook her head. “Janice, though? That was, like, the worst breakup in history!”
“Well, I’m not saying it was a good idea, I’m saying I snapped!” Chandler defended, face reddening.
The door to Monica’s apartment swung open, and Joey strode in, dressed head-to-toe in a ridiculous array of bright green, red, and white fabric that came together into a shoddy elf costume. His shoes were pointy and little bells hung off the ends, and jangled with every step he took.
“Too many jokes,” Chandler gritted out, doubling over as he suppressed the urge to make fun of his roommate. “Must mock Joey!”
“Oh, stop it,” you said, grinning at him. “I think he makes a handsome elf.”
Strange, you thought. Joey almost completely ignored your comment, opting to head back to his apartment, claiming that he had to change because around a dozen kids sneezed on him during his shift.
Back at Central Perk, Ross was throwing a fit after Monica had told everybody that she had also caved and asked Fun Bobby to be her date for New Years.
“Okay, so on our no-date evening, four of you now have dates!” he grumbled.
Raising his hand, Joey said, “Uh, five.”
You raised your eyebrows, but you weren’t really surprised. Joey had an uncanny knack for getting random strangers to fall in love with him.
Rachel bowed her head, also saying, “Six. Sorry, Paolo’s catching an early flight!”
“Yeah, and I met this really hot single dad at the mall. What’s an elf to do?”
Before you could question him further, Ross buried his face into his palms. “Okay, so I’m gonna be the only one standing there alone when the ball drops?”
“Come on, Ross! We’ll have a big party, and no one will know who’s with who!” Rachel reassured him.
“Ugh, this is the last thing I needed right now! Marcel’s shutting me out, and now this.”
It took you a moment to realize that Ross was talking about a monkey that he had gotten, which you believed was really to fill the lesbian-wife-shaped hole in his heart, but you never vocalized those thoughts.
“Why’s Marcel shutting you out?” you questioned.
“I don’t know, he’s moping around all the time, dragging his hands.”
You bit back the urge to say like owner, like pet, but bit down on your tongue and sipped on your tea.
“That’s so weird,” Chandler added. “I had such a blast with him the other night when you asked me to petsit! We played, we watched TV—that juggling thing is amazing!”
Ross blinked. “What, uh… what juggling thing?”
“With the balled-up socks? I figured you taught him that.”
A muscle ticked in Ross’ jaw. “No.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Chandler said placatingly. “It was just a couple socks… and a melon.”
The party at Monica’s place was in full swing.
You had shown up early with Connor, an assorted tray of nearly-burnt homemade cookies in hand. Everybody was fawning over Connor, and he was a doll the entire evening, constantly keeping a warm hand on your lower back and whispering sweet compliments into your ear that made you swoon like a seasick sailor.
There was one point when he had excused himself to go to the bathroom, and Monica rushed to you, telling you that if you didn’t hold onto him for dear life, she’d smack you silly.
The rest of the guests were acquaintances that you barely recognized, and you could feel your social battery draining by the minute. You stood in the kitchen sipping on a glass of punch as you listened to Janice talk your ear off about a new diet that she’d been on, trying your utmost best to come up with an excuse to leave her.
“Sorry, Janice, I gotta head to the bathroom real quick. Nice dress, though, you look amazing!”
“Oh, thank you, you’re such a sweetheart! You know, if Chandler hadn’t already asked me, I wouldn’t have minded having a piece of you to myself—!”
You squirmed away before she could try to flirt with you any more, bolting into the general direction of the bathroom. Suddenly, you crashed straight into somebody’s chest, which you were utterly relieved to be Joey.
He grasped your forearms, concerned, before promptly letting go of you.
“Hey, Jo,” you said, strangely timid. This was Joey, for heaven’s sake, what were you being so shy for? “You look good!”
“Thanks,” he said, before giving you a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. A dark brown leather jacket was thrown over a tight white turtleneck, and his dark hair was combed to the side. “You look great, too. Dresses suit you.”
Tonight, you had decided to wear a silky dress that was a mottled shade of olive green, draping just right over your figure. It shone dimly beneath the lights, and Joey couldn’t help but notice how it brought out the brightness of your eyes.
“Really? I can’t remember the last time I’ve worn a dress,” you nervously replied, tucking a loose curl of hair behind your ear. “I’m only wearing this because Connor told me it complimented my eyes.”
Immediately, Joey’s expression seemed to falter. “O-Oh, yeah. Well, he’s right.”
A knock on the door drew your attention away from Joey, and Monica opened it to reveal a man—and judging by Joey’s wave, you guessed that it was the hot single dad that he had mentioned was his date. Your inference was further confirmed when two small children walked in after him, much to your amusement.
“Oh, uh, bye—” you began to say, but Joey was already moving away from you.
Before disappointment could fester within you for too long, Connor was by your side, curling an arm around your waist. You smiled at him, leaning forward and softly pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek. Rouge dusted across his cheekbones and he returned the favor, before nuzzling his nose against the side of your temple.
It was sickly sweet—nauseatingly so. But you loved it, anyway.
From across the room, Joey watched the two of you cozy up to each other and he cursed under his breath. He forced himself to tear away his gaze and focus on his date and… the two kids awkwardly following behind.
The door flung open not five minutes later, revealing Rachel. Only, she was covered in mud and dirt, and a mysterious goopy substance that dripped down her hair. Her lip was busted and swollen, and deep bruises littered her pallid complexion.
“Oh, my God,” you whispered under your breath, whispering an apology to Connor before rushing to Rachel, who was being fawned over by Monica. “Rach, are you okay? What happened?”
“Fuckin’ Paolo missed his flight!” she spat out, a bit muffled and hard to understand because of her swollen lip, taking a seat on the sofa.
Hurriedly, you grabbed a glass of water for her and dampened a small towel with warm water, and rushed back to her, cleaning away the speckled dirt on her face.
“And then your face exploded?” Phoebe asked hesitantly.
“I was getting into a cab at the airport, when this woman, this blonde bitch with a pocketbook started yelling at me! Something about how it was her cab first, and the next thing I know, she’s just pulling me out by my hair! So I start blowing my attack whistle thingy and then three more cabs show up! So as I’m getting into a cab, she straight out tackles me! And I hit my head on the curb and cut my lip on my whistle!” She burst into tears, before quickly composing herself, realizing that there were more than a dozen people watching her blubber bloody, dirty tears. “Oh. Everyone having fun at the party? Y/N, is that Connor? He’s very handsome!”
Connor waved hello, but you sighed, gently pressing the back of your hand to Rachel’s forehead. “Honey, you might’ve hit your head really hard and gotten a concussion. Can someone get some ice, please? Or a frozen bag of peas, or something?” When Chandler brought you a small pack of ice, you gingerly held it to her head. “Alright, this should bring down the swelling soon. Are you feeling sleepy at all? Is it hard to keep your eyes open?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, I think. Thanks, Y/N.”
“No problem,” you replied, patting her leg softly. “No alcohol for you tonight, though.”
With a meek smile, she nodded, before heading into her room to get changed and clean herself up a bit more.
You blew out a breath, before allowing Connor to sweep you away closer to the windows. “That was…” he began.
“What?”
“You’re really great,” he said, eyes softening. “I know this thing between us is really new, and I don’t want to rush anything, but I really like you.”
You swore you could feel your heart liquefying within your chest and drip down between your ribcage. “I really like you, too, Connor.”
Not too far from the two of you, you overheard Joey’s date purr, “When I saw you at the store last week, it was probably the first time I’ve ever mentally undressed an elf.”
Disgust coiled within your stomach when you noticed that her kids were watching.
“Hey.” Connor’s fingers lifted your chin up to meet his gaze. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” you replied. “I’m good. Let’s go get some more food, I’m starving!”
The next hour was spent mingling some more, and you were already hiding yawns behind a fist. Connor, ever so considerate, had asked you if you were feeling tired and wanted to leave, but you had waved him away. Though you were tired, you really did want to kiss him on New Years.
Before you knew it, it was five minutes before midnight.
You had bumped into Chandler, who had sullenly told you that he had broken up with Janice. Again.
“Will you kiss me at midnight?” he asked you.
You reared back in surprise, gesturing to an equally bewildered Connor. “I’m here with Connor, Chandler.”
He squinted. “Okay. Connor, will you kiss me at midnight?”
“Oh, go away, Chandler!” you swatted his arm, and he hissed, scuttering away to ask another poor soul to kiss him.
From the corner of your eye, you saw Joey tuck in two kids on the sofa with a large blanket, passed out cold. You tilted your head, heading towards him.
“Where’s their dad?” you whispered quietly, not wanting to awaken them.
“Chandler told me he saw him in Monica’s room, getting it on with some chick,” replied Joey, distant. “I’m just watchin’ over the kids.”
Your gaze softened. “That’s real sweet of you. Happy new year, Joey.” A bit more hesitantly, you spread your arms out. You were tired of walking on eggshells around him—you wanted your best friend back. He looked at you for a second, gaze flickering to Connor, who was chatting pleasantly to Ross, and then back to you. Then he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you tightly, blueberry perfume invading his senses, a tirade of overwhelming emotions winding through every nerve. All of a sudden, your glossed lips were on his cheek, nose bumping into his cheekbone. “In case you don’t get a new year’s kiss,” you whispered against him, before pulling away.
Throat tight, he nodded stoutly, watching as you sent him one last devastating smile, and turned on your heel to head back to Connor.
A minute before midnight.
“Looks like the no-date pact worked out,” Chandler huffed. “Except Y/N, the bastard.” He glared at you from afar as Connor placed his hands on your waist, tugging you closer, his nose brushing yours.
“Everybody looks so happy! I hate that,” said Phoebe. Sure, she had been the one who urged her date to go to Russia for a big break in his career, but it still hurt that he’d left nonetheless.
As the clocks hit midnight, the couples around you cheered and began embracing each other. Connor pulled you flush against him and kissed you deeply, and you couldn’t help but grin into him when he skimmed his fingers down your side, tickling you slightly. Your hands cradled his jaw as if he were made of fine china, inching to the back of his neck to lace together.
You pulled away, breathless, just in time to turn and see Joey exasperatedly grab Chandler’s face and plant a firm kiss on his lips to shut him up about being forever alone.
Nora Bing was a delight, despite Chandler’s vehement difference of opinion.
She was confident, a good conversationalist, and often divulged a bit too much information than needed, which made for a rather entertaining evening. She was a pretty popular erotica writer, and though you haven’t had the chance to pick up any of her books yourself, you’ve heard it to be rather… raunchy.
The entire group was out at a fancy Chinese restaurant, and she had asked you to bring your ‘little boy toy’ as she had called Connor.
You sat between him and Chandler, with Nora being on the other side, and Joey across from you.
Soon after you arrived, Rachel and Paolo rushed in, looking disheveled.
“Hi, sorry we’re late. We kinda lost track of time,” the brunette said, breathless. Paolo was kissing down her neck from behind her and you had to resist the urge to gag. Down the table, you could see Ross discretely fist the tablecloth so tight his knuckles turned white.
The two sat down, and the food arrived shortly after. You shared a dish with Connor, who placed a warm hand on your knee.
“Mrs. Bing, I have to tell you, I’ve read everything you’ve written!” said Rachel as she fed Paolo a prawn cracker. His tongue dragged down her hand and the rest of the group watched in disturbed, awkward silence. “I mean it! When I read Euphoria at Midnight, all I wanted to do was become a writer.”
“Please,” the blonde woman smiled at the compliment, “if I could do it, anybody can! You just start with half a dozen European cities, throw in thirty euphemisms for male genitalia, and bam! You’ve got yourself a book!”
From beside her, Chandler gagged around a soup dumpling, pounding his chest. “My mother, ladies and gentlemen,” he hacked out.
Amiable chatter filled the rest of the dinner—Phoebe was telling a story about a homeless man that once chased her in the street wearing a full-body chicken suit, Joey filled Nora in with his upcoming auditions, and you and Connor told the group about what you’ve been up to at work.
Both Nora and Ross had excused themselves to go to the bathroom, and you looked to Joey with a soft smile.
“How are your auditions going, Jo? Do you need any help practicing your scenes? You know I always love doing those with you,” you said, pulling a small plate of wantons towards you.
“Oh, no, it’s fine—they’re more solo acts than anything,” he reassured, before falling quiet once more.
It was your turn to choke on your noodles when Connor’s hand began inching up your thigh. Irrational panic cramped your insides.
Concerned, Monica asked, “Are you okay, sweetie?”
“I, uh… need to go to the bathroom.” Abruptly, you stood up from your seat, face practically set aflame. Connor’s hand fell away from your leg, but he stood up as well. “No, uhm, I’ll just be a second—you can stay here.”
As you rushed to the back of the restaurant where the bathrooms were, you were driven further into a mess when you saw Ross and Chandler’s mom making out against the wall, making obscene, porn-like noises.
You were just about to turn and leave when you saw Joey right behind you, concerned gaze fixed on you. “I was just makin’ sure you were alright, you looked a little—” He cut himself off when he looked back and saw Ross and Nora. “Oh, my God!”
The two sprang away from each other, staring wide-eyed at you and Joey.
“We’ll, uh… just go pee in the street!” you uttered in an abnormally squeaky tone, grabbing Joey’s arm and yanking him away from the bathrooms.
When you returned to the table, Connor smiled at you kindly, but there was a glimmer of apologetic worry behind his hazel irises.
“That was quick,” he commented. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah—no. I don’t know,” you whispered, still a little shell-shocked.
Lowering his voice, he leaned closer to you. “Was it about me touching you? If it was, I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have done that and I should’ve asked if you were comfortable with it first—”
“Oh, Connor, it’s fine! That wasn’t what I was worrying about, I promise.”
With a sigh of relief, Connor nodded. “You’ll tell me if something’s wrong, right?”
“Yeah,” you replied distantly, glancing towards Joey, who’d been boring holes into you the entire time since you got back. “Of course I will.”
Early the next morning, you knocked on Joey’s door, greeted by him wrapped in a bathrobe and his dark hair a disheveled mess.
“Hey,” you said with a warm smile. “I brought you some croissants from that bakery down the street.”
With a grin, he took the bag from you and inhaled deeply, groaning. “Thanks, Y/N, these smell amazing.”
“So, uh, about yesterday…”
You were about to bring up Ross and Nora, but Joey asked before you could, “Was Connor bothering you?”
The mention of your doe-eyed partner made you rear back in shock. “What? No! I mean… he did kinda touch me in a suggestive way and I was just surprised, was all. He’s really great, but…”
“But?”
“I don’t know! Being in a relationship is terrifying,” you huffed, leaning against his kitchen table.
There was a beat of silence. “You guys are in a relationship?”
“Well, we haven’t really made anything official, but I think we are,” you said.
“Oh.” Joey swallowed heavily. “Don’t worry about it too much, okay? Just do whatever makes you happy. I… we’ll always be here for you. I’m one of your best friends, remember?”
Worrying on your bottom lip, you quietly murmured, “Lately it just hasn’t been feeling that way.”
Joey’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean—there’s like this sort of weird tension between us. Do you not like Connor or something? Or is it something that I did? Because you know I love you, Jo—I’d never do anything to hurt you on purpose.”
A troubled expression melded over his features. He shook his head. “You didn’t do anything—and Connor’s great for you! Nothing’s wrong, I promise. I’ve just been in a weird funk—but things are gonna go back to normal soon, I swear.”
“Oh, Jo,” you whispered, pushing off the table and stepping closer to him. Gently, you wrapped your arms around him in a warm embrace and he returned the hug immediately, resting his chin on your shoulder. “I care about you a lot, you know?”
Before he could respond, there was another knock at the door. You let go of him so Joey could answer it.
Ross was standing behind, looking distraught.
“Oh, good, Y/N you’re here too. Is Chandler in there?”
“Yeah, he’s sleeping,” replied Joey.
At the confirmation, Ross grabbed the two of you and yanked you out of the apartment, much to both of your dismay.
“Okay, about last night, you know,” Ross began, gesturing vaguely with his hands. “You guys didn’t tell Chandler, did you?”
With a sigh, both of you shook your heads.
“Great, because I’m thinking… we don’t need to tell Chandler, right? It was just a kiss—just one kiss, it was no big deal. Right?”
“Right, no big deal,” said Joey. “In Bizarro-World!”
Disappointed, you prodded Ross in the shoulder, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You broke the code!”
“What code?”
“You don’t kiss your friend’s mom!” you said, a bit too loudly, which made Ross shush you with paranoid glances back to the apartment.
Joey nodded his agreement. “Sisters are okay. Maybe a hot aunt, but moms? Never a mom! They’re off limits.”
It was then that the door swung open again, and Chandler appeared, yawning.
“What’re you guys doin’ out here?” he asked as he bent down to pick up the newspaper on the doorstep.
“Uh, the three of us had discussed getting in an early morning racquetball game!” squeaked Ross, before gesturing to Joey. “But apparently somebody overslept!”
“Yeah, well, you don’t have your racquet,” Joey shot back.
Scratching the back of his neck, Ross nodded. “No, uh, no I don’t. It’s being restrung. Y/N was supposed to bring me one!”
You blinked in surprise. “Yeah, I, uhm, you forgot to call me yesterday and tell me what kind you wanted! So many different racquets to choose from, you know?”
Chandler rubbed his eyes sleepily. “You guys are spending way too much time together,” he quipped, before turning on his heel and heading back inside, closing the door behind him.
“I’m scum,” lamented Ross once Chandler was out of earshot.
“How could you do that to him?” you hissed lowly.
Ross threw his hands up. “I don’t know! It’s not like she’s a regular mom, you know? She’s sexy, she’s—”
“What, you don’t think my mom’s sexy?” asked Joey.
“Well… sure, but in a different way.”
Joey scowled. “I’ll have you know, Gloria Tribbiani was a handsome woman in her day, alright? You think it’s easy giving birth to seven children?”
“I think your mom’s beautiful, Jo.”
“Why, thank you. See, no wonder she keeps saying you’re her favorite—”
Ross blew out a frustrated huff. “Alright, I think we’re getting a little off topic here.”
From the opposite side of the hall, the door swung open to reveal Rachel and a barely-dressed Paolo.
“Hey, what’re you guys doing out here?” she asked, clearly in a chipper mood.
“Not playing racquetball,” you hummed in a glib tone, shooting Ross a dagger-sharp look.
A little confused, Rachel nodded, but didn’t care enough to ask more about it, leading Paolo out of the apartment and heading up the stairs to kiss him goodbye.
The three of you filed into Monica’s apartment. “Are you gonna tell him?” Joey asked. “You can’t just lie to him forever.”
“Why would I tell him?” asked Ross as he fished a carton of orange juice out of Monica’s fridge.
“Maybe because if you don’t, his mom might?” you chimed, cocking a brow.
“Oh, God. Oh, man—you’re right. I have to tell him.”
With Chandler seated and Ross standing in front of him, you and Joey lingered in their kitchen as you listened in to their conversation.
“You’re my best friend. I had to tell you,” said Ross, which made you roll your eyes.
“I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe Paolo kissed my mom! I mean, I barely saw him leave Rachel’s side that night!” Chandler said in disbelief.
Joey crossed his arms and glared at Ross. Guilt welled up in your long-time friend’s face, and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.
“Alright, no, I can’t do this. I was the one who kissed your mom. I’m sorry.”
Shocked, Chandler got to his feet. “What?” he asked, jaw unhinging.
Stammering, Ross began to explain, “I was just really upset about Rachel and Paolo and I had too much tequila in my system and Nora—uhm, Mrs. Mom—I mean, your Bing, was… she was just being nice, you know? But nothing happened, I swear. Ask Y/N and Joey—”
Rounding on the two of you in the kitchen, Chandler asked incredulously, “You guys knew about this?”
“Uh… well, knowledge is a tricky thing,” Joey began to cough out.
“I spent the entire day with you!” gruffed Chandler. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Defensively, Joey retorted, “Hey, you’re lucky we caught them when we did, or else who knows what would’ve happened!”
“Not helping!” barked Ross.
A muscle jumped in Chandler’s jaw. “And you, Y/N? We spent the rest of that night together and you didn’t say a single word! Too busy making googly eyes at your boyfriend?”
“Don’t bring Connor into this,” you bristled, glaring knives into all three of them. “Listen, Chandler, I obviously wanted to tell you, but it wasn’t mine to tell. Ross had to own up to his mistakes and tell you himself.”
Lifting a finger, Ross said, “Mistake—as in, not plural. Just one. It was just one kiss—okay, I’ll shut up now.”
“I can’t believe this. What the hell were you thinking?” admonished Chandler. “Of all my friends, no one knows the crap I go through with my mom more than you. I can’t believe you!”
Despite Ross’ desperate attempts to get Chandler to hear him out, he turned tail and made his way out of the apartment, slamming the door on the way.
“See what happens when you break the code?” Joey huffed, before rushing out to catch up to Chandler.
You sighed, slumping against the kitchen counter.
“I’m sorry, Y/N,” Ross said, making his way to you.
“I shouldn’t be the one you’re apologizing to,” came your stout reply. You fixed Ross with a pointed look. “I know you’re hurting over Rachel right now, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that you’re hurting others, too. Give Chandler some time to mull it over, and then talk to him again. Okay?”
Ross pursed his lips. “Okay.” He slung an arm over you, pulling you into a side-hug. “Say, what were you doing with Joey so early in the morning?”
Your cheeks flushed with a surge of heat, and you ducked your head. “We had some things to talk about.”
Dubious, Ross narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything in response.
Later that night, you were sitting beside Connor, who was engaged in a lively conversation with Joey—something about how waffles were really just the ugly, older sister of pancakes. You were glad to see them finally getting along, despite the initial awkward stage.
Chandler walked in, sinking into the empty spot beside Connor, asking him how he was doing.
When Ross opened his mouth to speak, Chandler held up a finger. “I was asking Connor, not you, mother-kisser.”
Much to Ross’ dismay, Joey burst out into raucous laughter, which left Connor confused.
“I’m doing great,” your boyfriend replied, evidently puzzled. “How about you?”
Before Chandler had the chance to reply, Ross sat up straight. “Can I just say something? I know you’re still mad at me, I just wanna say that there were two people there that night, okay? There were two sets of lips!”
“What’s going on?” Connor dipped forward to whisper into your ear. The smile melted off of Joey’s face.
You twisted to mumble back, “Ross kissed Chandler’s mom.”
Connor’s eyes widened, and he nodded in understanding before settling back to watch the two hash it out.
“Yes, well, I expected this from her, okay?” retorted Chandler. “She’s always been a Freudian nightmare.”
“If she always behaves like this, why don’t you say something?” Ross postulated.
“Because it’s complicated! It’s complex! Hey, you kissed my mom!” Chandler exclaimed loudly, which made some of the other people in the cafe stop and stare at the two. You sank lower into your seat.
Placing a hand on Chandler’s chest, Ross said, “Hey, you have every right to be angry at me and I’m still really sorry. But you’re not gonna talk to her at all and tell her how you feel about all this?”
“Look, just because you played tonsil tennis with my mom doesn’t mean you know her!”
“I might not, but I still think you need to let her know that you’re upset with her, Chandler.”
Chandler’s face hardened as he considered Ross’ words. With a stiff nod, he stepped away from the taller man, waving goodbye to the three of you on the couches, before heading out to presumably talk to his mother.
“Well,” you said, rubbing your hands together. “I think that’s my cue to head back home.”
“Let me walk you home,” said Connor, gently grasping your chin between his thumb and forefinger before dipping forward to kiss you, all soft and sweet. You pulled away to press another quick kiss to his cheek, then swiftly got up from the couches, his hand intertwined with yours.
Ross watched as Joey barely said goodbye to you and Connor, his expression tight and closed-off.
When both you and Connor were long gone, Ross turned to Joey.
“You’re in love with Y/N, aren’t you?” he asked quietly.
Joey’s head snapped up so quickly that it was a wonder he didn’t get whiplash. His eyes widened a fraction. “What?”
“You are,” said Ross. “I can see it in your face. It’s written all over you.”
The Italian shook his head vehemently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Y/N’s my best friend.”
“Yeah, sure. One that you’re in love with!”
“Well, how would you know, huh?” Joey crossed his arms, panic coiling within his gut.
Exhaling, Ross lowered his voice, muttering out, “Because that’s how I look at Rachel… and that’s how I feel when I see Rachel with Paolo.”
A second of silence passed before Joey cuffed Ross on the shoulder, laughing. “You’re a funny guy, Ross. Just because you’ve gone and fallen in love with Rachel doesn’t mean Y/N and I are the same. You got it all wrong—Y/N’s like my sibling, if anything!”
“You sure?”
Joey sank his teeth into his bottom lip. “Positive.”
Ross couldn’t tell if his friend was telling the truth, or if he was just a really good actor.
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Thought You Should Know
Hi! Happy New Year! I promise I didn’t abandon this fic, life just got REALLY in the way. Alternatively: Yes There Is A Third Chapter To This Fic. Remember how I said it’s built around a dream? No? Well, it is. Here you go. Please enjoy: Son Boy Comfort Ultimate.
Word count: 3,684 (Chapter 3)
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Ship: Love Square (Mainly Adrinette)
Warnings: None
Read on AO3
(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2)
Chapter 3: A Consideration of Everything that is Right and Wrong in The World
Chat Noir’s first akuma after making the discovery was… well. To say it was harsh would be an understatement.
It was the end of the day, but they had still been at school. Adrien would not have known what to do with himself if he had been home. He felt like a bit of a delinquent: Nino, Alya and Marinette had talked him into skipping fencing to go to the cinema with them and watch the first showing of a movie Nino had been raving about for months. He got Kagami to cover for him and everything had been going to plan until that point, but then again why should he ever get to have nice things? He was pretty sure that was not allowed.
As soon as the first ball of slime splashed and stuck to the courtyard floor, the group exchanged looks and a quick “meet back at the theater” before running to hide separately. Nino bolted upstairs to the classrooms, Alya and Marinette ran into a bathroom; he quickly ducked into a broom closet and transformed, ready to get the whole thing over with as soon as he could. He was trying really, really hard not to think.
The akuma’s… suit? Whatever they were wearing— it was really ugly. It looked like a crafts store had thrown up on them: they were covered in the same indescribable-colored slime (purple? Orange? Blue? Brown? All of the above?) their projectiles seemed to be made of, embedded with every imaginable shade of little balls and beads and glitter, and what looked like random bits of plastic. They also had a pair of huge, chunky, bright hot pink headphones. They had leaped into the middle of the courtyard almost right as Chat Noir emerged from his hiding spot, and their voice was a loud, grating whisper.
“Come on out, children! Don’t you want to look at all the pretty slime mixing together?”
“Has anyone ever told you you have a terrible fashion sense?” He clocked the figure in the back with his baton and sent them flying off like a weird, lumpy baseball straight into the locker rooms, leaving a thin strand of purple-green goo stuck to the end that made contact.
They kicked out the double doors and exited looking even more scrambled than before, the slime over their body shifting and writhing.
“It’s not about fashion, street cat, it’s about the feeling!" They shot a ball of slime out of their extended palm and Chat jumped out of the way just a fraction of a second too late; it caught on his right hand and dragged him back fully before sticking (hand included) to the wall behind him with a gross squelch.
“You’d think a fashion designer would have better judgment” he muttered, using all the anger stirring within him to struggle against the sticky, glittery substance (why on earth was it warm? Actually, scratch that. He did not want to know). The villain approached him at a stalking pace, absolutely convinced they had Chat right where they wanted him.
“One down, one to—” A loud creak rang out from behind them and they stopped in their tracks. Chat Noir could not resist looking at the wall across the courtyard and saw Alya peeking out of the bathroom. As his friend’s eyes widened, the villain followed Chat Noir’s line of sight: they turned around just in time to catch the slightest glimpse of her head popping back in before shutting the door again. The akumatized pile of slime turned back to him and contorted its face in what could only be described as a smooshed smirk.
“Be right back, kitty cat”. They seemed to eye him up and down before taking off in the opposite direction, running toward the bathroom door with slime projectiles at the ready.
The bathroom where Marinette was hiding.
“You kids should subscribe to The Whisperer!”
… And Alya— where Marinette and Alya were hiding. Both of them.
He was barely using his brain when he finally yelled “Cataclysm!” —perhaps louder than he may have wanted to—, immediately dissolving the goo on his right hand into a foul-smelling pile of ash. He saw the Whisperer flinch halfway through the courtyard as the tips of a butterfly-shaped mask lit up at the front of their face —where eyes should have been— and peeked out at the sides of their head. That gave Chat the moment he needed to leap after them and trip them with his extended baton; using it once again like a golf club to swing the slimy form the other way and entirely out of the gates of Collège Françoise Dupont.
He gave the bathroom door a knowing smile and a nod, partly wishing Marinette knew - knew that her help and her kindness and her friendship did not go uncompensated. That he planned on making her feel as safe as he did with her. Him and Ladybug would make sure she was protected.
He stopped in his tracks at the school door, watching as the Whisperer still struggled to get a hold of their slimy form. Where was Ladybug, anyway? As used as he had gotten to villains being dealt with in minutes, with new heroes popping up seemingly out of thin air before he could even get to the team, he had been fighting alone for several minutes now, with no signs of backup to be seen.
Had she found out somehow?
This was no moment to get in his own head, but after the humanoid slime being reformed, every attack got harder and harder to dodge or counter. What if she had? It was ridiculous. It was not as if she could just know (about his horrible, awful, selfish choice to keep quiet) and have decided to leave him to fend for himself. How would she? And even if she somehow had, how would she know it had anything to do with Chat Noir? His mind offered terrible excuses, each one worse than the last, for why the worst-case scenarios were not so far-fetched— Maybe she has known it was me all along, maybe she just hates me that much . The longer she was not there, the more difficult it got for him to keep the Whisperer in check. He had no idea how much time went by, but when he noticed, he had just barely dragged the villain out on the rooftops and was dodging slime projectiles by the skin of his teeth. He had been feeling better, he had started to actually let himself go through this, reassured himself it was only temporary, that he was doing his best with the situation. Where had it gone all of a sudden?
Before he even had time to begin formulating a hurtful answer to his own questions, he felt himself be lightly lifted and whisked up into the air.
He had not let himself realize how much he was looking forward to seeing her until she was zipping him masterfully away from the fight.
Ladybug put him down on solid ground- what looked like the back of a store with enough going on to hide out for a moment. He must have been staring, because her expression went from concentration to worry in a second.
“Are you okay?” She grabbed his right hand and looked at his ring as the second paw pad blinked off (had he missed the first one?).
He quickly tried to fall back on their established dynamic. It was easy, it was familiar, it was what worked . “All good. Thanks for that, my Lady, that one was a whisker away from getting me” except that the pun was as dry as sandpaper in his mouth and sounded all wrong; his least practiced smile felt off and did not reach his eyes, as much as he tried (he had never had to try before. Not for her).
She looked him up and down with concern and clocked a bruised cheek and a still-slime-stained arm. “I am so sorry Chat, I got held up transforming and then I had to track you down, and—”
“Bugaboo” he interrupted, planting both hands on her shoulders (like Marinette had done to him when he had started spiraling). She was there and she was worried, and she was apologizing for some wild, unfathomable reason. “I’m okay. Really”.
It was true that it had been a while since he had to fight one of those things alone. The same little voice in his head that kept pushing for him to actually think instead of just playing video games all day demanded that he take the apology; just this once. He had recently begun teaching himself to listen to it.
Ladybug breathed in and sighed in an attempt to relax into Chat’s reassuring gesture, but their regrouping session was cut short by loud, approaching splats .
“Let’s just do this, okay?” She spoke looking in his direction but did not once look into his eyes. “You and me, like it’s always been.” She smiled and it was one of the saddest he had ever seen on her. He wanted to ask, but knew there was no time.
He held his baton like one would a sword and they settled into a hurried fighting stance. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”
The fight was unusually quiet —On the heroes’ side, at least. The Whisperer would not shut up and their voice felt like it was just short of sanding their eardrums down to dust—. They communicated only in short phrases, looks and the occasional hand gesture. You could have cut the tension with a knife, and the living slime’s irritating remarks (“you just need to relax and listen to my voice”, “feeling the tingles yet?”, “maybe some slime will help you calm down!”) did nothing but add insult to injury. Chat was trying so hard to be in sync with Ladybug, to fall into the usual lull of battle, and he could see she was trying, too, but it just did not come. Everything about the fight was off— every move was mechanical; every tactic, strained. When she called her Lucky Charm, he had to keep himself from physically flinching.
They were done with the akuma faster than expected, but it took everything out of them— The fight was over, and nothing was fine.
The victim (some poor failed YouTuber named Ethan) insisted he could get home by himself and left the heroes alone to part ways. After a fist bump that felt as routine and hollow as everything else in the past few minutes, Chat extended his baton and began to turn around to leave before feeling a hand wrap around his wrist.
“Wait. Can we talk for a bit?” Ladybug looked up at him, and he was reminded why he could never say no to those wide, honest blue eyes. Even if she looked worried and he did not think going there was a good idea.
She pulled both of them into an empty backstreet between two nearby buildings, secluded enough that it guaranteed privacy. And she asked the question he had been fearing that entire time.
“What’s wrong?”
He could not even bring himself to say it was nothing. He just looked at the ground and fiddled with the tail end of his belt. He knew he had to say something, anything, to explain himself and his pathetic performance, but his throat stayed locked shut as he did his best to fight back the incipient prickling at the back of his eyes.
“That bad?” Her voice was not mocking or admonishing as he had expected. It was soft. There was something there that knew, on some level, what he was going through. She took a step closer to him and he tried to look up at her, but got no further than her shoulders; the tips of her pigtails messily falling over them.
“We could recharge and talk about it, if you want.” He watched as she raised a hand and placed it, gently, over his shoulder. He wanted to step back, to keep her at a distance, but he could not react fast enough, and it was too late.
He melted right then and there.
“I’m sorry, Ladybug, I am so sorry!” All his defenses broke and tears flowed down his face all at once, like they had been accumulating behind a dam.
“Chat, you don’t—”
“I failed you, I basically lied to you! I can’t even— I—” He could not have stopped himself from letting everything out for her to see if he had wanted to (he did not, and perhaps that was the worst part of it all).
The tears stung at his eyes and nose, and he felt her hands on his shoulders, grabbing at him desperately. “What do you mean? Chat? Are you okay? Chat, your miraculous, it’s—!”
He could not pay attention to a word she was saying as his legs gave out under him and he fell on the rough cement ground, barely registering the fuzz of magic washing over his body, leaving him exposed to her sight. He squeezed his eyes shut and wiped them furiously with his hands, maybe even trying, on some level, to conceal his face. He looked at the ground, the tears giving way to a wave of dry, exhausted anger.
“I could have ended this days ago. I— I should have done it,” he sobbed, “and I didn’t.”
Ladybug made no sound as she continued to tower over him, feet frozen as if nailed to the floor.
Adrien rubbed at his eyes again and made sure they could stay open. They did not sting anymore; instead, they just felt heavy. He used all the strength he had left in him to look up at her, to look directly into her eyes.
“I know who he is, Ladybug. I found out Shadow Moth’s identity.”
In her expression, he could see nothing but deep pain. He could not hold her gaze.
He did not know why she remained quiet. She did not yell at him, she did not leave. She stayed as he laid kneeling on the ground, looking at the gray cement under his knees, and spoke. He told her his story. He fidgeted with the ring on his right hand as he talked about the study, and the glint of the peacock miraculous and the book and how it had made his chest hurt. He began crying when he recounted how big of an idiot he had been the first time his father became the Collector. He had been so close, they had been so close, and if he had just used his brain instead of letting his affection-starved little dumbass heart fool him into thinking that maybe his father actually loved him, maybe, just maybe… he could have… he…
His throat locked up again and he wanted to tear his hair out, to compress himself into a minuscule marble and be launched onto the surface of the sun. He wanted to melt into the ground and rip the streets of Paris apart and swing his father into the Eiffel tower like a baseball and scream until the farthest reaches of the universe could feel his pain. All he managed was for the tears to burn their way down his cheeks again.
He did not see so much as feel Ladybug throwing herself on the ground in front of him, and through the stinging salt in his eyes he managed to see her.
She was crying, too. Shaking her head and grabbing at his shoulders again.
“Stop it. Adrien, stop that right now. This isn’t— you’re not—”
She cupped his face in her hands and wiped his tears away, even though they kept flowing and flowing out of his eyes. “Just… stop it, okay?” He did not understand why she was crying, why she insisted. He shook his head and tried to remove her hands, but they were so soft, and the tears hurt so much, he ended up holding them instead. He looked at her, concerned, empathetic, painfully kind, and let himself fantasize about a world where he was not so selfish; where he deserved her. She just kept him close. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”
And she hugged him. It seemed like something impossible and wrong and like everything that was right with this messed up world they were living in when Ladybug hugged Adrien Agreste and held him tight like he was the most precious thing she had ever laid hands on. He closed his eyes and let himself melt into her arms— and he did not need to feel the electric fuzz of magic or see the soft pink glow of her detransformation behind closed eyelids to recognize her and kick himself for not figuring it out sooner. He held onto her because she still felt like a towering shield around him and like no harm would ever come to him as long as he had her, and she was just as precious to him in that moment as he felt he was for her. He loved her as much as he ever had— maybe even more.
This was it. The safest place on earth. Right here, in Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s arms.
After they separated, silence settled between them. Adrien and Marinette were sitting on the ground of the alleyway cast in half-shadows from the tall buildings on either side; thin beams of sunlight striped the windowless walls that hid them from the rest of the world for the time being. They fed their kwamis, who shared an uncertain glance, and remained looking wordlessly at each other for what felt like hours, but was probably only a minute.
“I’m sorry.” It was Marinette who broke the silence first, at last averting her eyes to the ground.
This startled him more than anything else she could have said.
“About what?” His voice felt coarse after crying for so long. She seemed to think for a moment, as if going through a rolodex of instances to be sorry for in her head.
“I don’t know. About everything. About your dad, about not being able to help you, about not just… telling you?” She gestured to her earrings and to Tikki, who was digging into her second macaron and pretending to not hear them. “Maybe if I had just dealt with it as soon as you told me…”
“You were there for me, Marinette. I am so thankful for that.” Her name was sweet in his mouth, almost drowning out the bitter taste left behind by the past week. “It was all I asked for, and you went above and beyond, like you always do.”
“But you’re still not okay. We don’t know if…” He thought he saw something painful flash in her eyes, but she shook her head and it was gone. “I just wanted to make things okay for you.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you could do to make things okay.” It hurt, but it was true. “This is beyond even the best superhero Paris has ever seen.” He gave her a small smile. Seeing her look back up to meet his gaze, he could still barely believe his eyes. One of his closest friends, the one he had always been able to trust and confide in, who gave the best advice and had the most amazing ideas, was the person he loved and admired most in the world. The mix of feelings was a bit overwhelming— His chest and throat still ached from everything; from knowing too much, from not being able to do what was right for the greater good, to fulfill his duty. However, at the same time, he was sure his heart would burst out of the sheer love he felt for Marinette in that moment.
She smiled back at him. “Yeah, but you’ve kinda got a lot going on right now anyway.”
He rolled his eyes playfully at her. “I thought my job was being the clown of the team?”
She chuckled lightly at that. “Well, I always knew you were a versatile guy.” They both laughed and Marinette relaxed visibly, letting go of the strap of her purse she had been fidgeting with. Adrien noticed how much he had also needed this shared moment of levity.
He scooched forward and turned so that he was sitting next to her and leaned his head on hers, feeling her let her cheek rest on his shoulder. He reached out his hand for her to take, and after hesitating for a moment, she did. After a while of tracing over each other’s fingers with their own, it was Adrien who spoke up.
“Your hugs are firm,” he said, “it’s nice.” It was all he could do not to spurt out everything he felt when she was next to him; how safe, calm and at home she made him feel.
She let the sentence hang between them for a moment, as if she was examining it, and squeezed his hand lightly.
“Your hugs are gentle,” she squeezed his hand lightly, “I never want to let go.”
He squeezed her hand right back, brought it up to his lips and kissed it. He felt her cheek heat up through his t-shirt and a smile escaped onto his face.
“So, what now?” Marinette asked. Her voice was uncertain, but there was an unmistakable determination to it.
Adrien pulled back to look at her, but did not let go of her hand. He would never get tired of seeing her like this, fully and vehemently herself.
“I think we’ll have to figure it out together,” he said. “That’s what teams are for, isn’t it?”
She offered him her other hand and it made his heart grow at least thrice its own size.
“It’s you and me against the world, after all,”she said, a small smile painting her face a lovely shade of hope.
He took her hand and held it tight in a half-silent promise. “Just like it always has been, my Lady”.
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