Chapter Text
It couldn’t be. Could it?
Adrien’s heart was overtaken with a shock of instant pain and relief.
His lady.
With the rush of adrenaline came heat. Warmth pooled into his cheeks and flooded down to his fingertips.
“It was him and me against the world.”
The hands he had wrapped around the body of his mug began to shake. He clenched them harder to force them to stillness but, when that effort failed, he instead let go of the mug and interlaced them before bringing them up to press his lips to his knuckles.
Marinette hadn’t noticed his reaction yet; she had looked back down when she said that last part, but that was okay.
Adrien needed a moment.
To breathe.
To stare unabashedly at her before she realized who it was that truly sat across from her.
This is your chance, he thought to himself. You have to tell her. Now. While you still have the courage.
Instead, Adrien stood abruptly, the legs of his chair scraping audibly against the tiled floor.
“I, uh, j-just need a moment,” he stuttered, stepping around the back of his chair.
Marinette’s face flickered between surprise and confusion before landing on worry.
“Oh, okay,” she said. “Are… you okay?”
“I’m feeling awful.”
Marinette frowned.
“Adrien, do you—”
“I mean, awesome! Feeling awesome,” he amended breathlessly. “I’ll… I’ll be back in a moment.”
Turning on his heel, Adrien tried his best to maintain a smooth stride toward the men’s room, which was blessedly empty.
Leaning against the ceramic edge of the sink, he stared down at the naked finger on his right hand. Why, just why had he decided to leave his Miraculous at home today? He had told Plagg that he needed some time out by himself — “Hey, what’s the harm without a Hawkmoth around, right?” — but now his only piece of tangible evidence, the one thing that would prove he was Chat Noir, wasn’t here.
He splashed some water on his face, hoping to cool his burning cheeks and keep him grounded before he lost himself entirely to the intoxicating mess of fear and joy.
I can do this, he reassured himself.
It’s still us against the world.
____________________
By the time Adrien came back, Marinette had returned to counting snowflakes.
Her heart did feel slightly lighter since verbalizing her emotions out loud to someone besides Tikki, but she was caught off guard by Adrien’s abrupt departure from the table.
Had she said too much? He had agreed to hear her out, but she did tend to word vomit. Did she put too much on him at once and make him uncomfortable? Maybe he—
No.
Frowning, Marinette pulled her cup to her lips to take a slow drag of her mocha. She tried to push back her flurry of doubts and focus harder on the climbing number of snowflakes outside the window.
“Marinette.”
She looked back up, startled, and her previous concern doubled in response to the grave expression on Adrien’s face.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “You look…”
… Worse than before.
Adrien looked away and gnawed at his lower lip, clearly weighing his words before continuing on.
“What if I told you,” he finally said, “that we have more in common than just the fact that we both miss people right now?”
What was that supposed to mean?
“Like… what, exactly?” she asked cautiously.
Adrien scratched at the back of his head again, looking increasingly flustered with each second. He straightened and walked over to pull out his chair, but then appeared to think better of it and took another step back before closing his eyes.
He knew Marinette’s nerves were beginning to fray. He just had to keep going.
“Like… the expectations of Paris,” Adrien said.
“Of… Paris?”
“And like the fear that comes with keeping the people around us safe…”
“I don’t under—”
“... The fact that we can trust each other in even the direst situations...”
This was it.
“... Or like.. Like the pressure of keeping our identities a secret.”
Adrien finally opened his eyes and looked at her.
Marinette snatched her napkin to press to her mouth. She looked like she might be sick.
“We’ve shared a lot… M’lady.”
Adrien could feel the race of his pulse all the way up in his temples for what felt like minutes.
All the while, Marinette stared up at him, her eyes wide and unreadable. The fingers that held the napkin over her mouth quivered; it was the only thing that otherwise betrayed what she might be feeling.
I need to come out and say it.
Finally, Adrien braced himself with a deep sigh and sat back down.
“Marinette,” he said quietly, his eyes fixated on her. “I’m your partner. I’m Chat Noir.”
He bowed his head before extending one hand across the table to her, palm upturned.
“And you’re right,” he continued. “It’s us against the world. It always has been and it always will be. I’m sorry I left. I know that wasn’t fair to you, but I just—”
His voice faltered.
Just… say it.
“— I have just been so afraid of what you, Ladybug, might think when you realized your partner was your enemy’s son all along.”
There it was, all laid on the table between them, and all Adrien could do was ignore the tears that threatened to rise. But then his hand began to tremble. He dared to glance back up.
Marinette hadn’t reached out to meet him, to take his hand in kind. Instead, she still sat frozen in place. The edge of the napkin fluttered lightly beneath her nose.
“M… M’lady?” he asked hesitantly. “Please, say something. Anything.”
This was torture.
But then, Marinette crumpled the napkin. She began to cry.
“Oh… Chaton! ”
Ignoring his hand completely, Marinette swung out of her chair and pulled Adrien to his feet.
“It’s really you, isn’t it?” she said, looking up at him. “Don’t you know how worried I’ve been?”
Adrien stumbled at the force of Marinette’s body as she wrapped her arms around him, the very image of acceptance he had longed for but fearfully believed might not exist.
“You… aren’t mad at me?” he asked quietly. He raised his arms to slowly encircle her torso.
“I mean… a little?” Marinette laughed as she pulled back. Her nose and cheeks were even redder now that she had been crying.
“But not because you’re Monarch’s son,” she said earnestly. She paused, lowering her voice. “But because you didn’t even give me the chance to tell you that it doesn’t matter to me. You’re my partner. I want to be here with you through this, Adrien. That’s what ‘you and me against the world’ means, remember?”
Adrien lifted one hand to wipe away his own tears. He didn’t bother to fight against them now, not in the wake of this relief so immense he could just about fall to his knees.
Instead, he let her go and chuckled quietly.
“I’ve missed you, M’lady.”
She reached out to cup one hand against his cheek as she kissed the other.
“I’ve missed you too, Chaton. ”
___________________
When the two stepped out of the coffee shop again, their arms were linked and their coffee mugs had been dry for well over two hours.
I’m going to need to go back into the closet to find the Chat Noir gloves, Marinette thought to herself as she buried her free hand deeper into her pocket.
Maybe she’d make a Ladybug pair for him, too, after they returned from buying a heater for her family. She had taken way longer than anticipated; they were probably starting to worry by now.
But then Adrien caught her eye. He looked down at her with warmth and she couldn’t help but smile.
Everything wasn’t perfect, but they were together again.
That was all that mattered.
After all, it had been approximately 108 days since Chat Noir and Ladybug had defeated Monarch.
Three hours since she had reunited with Chat Noir.
And now, there were countless days ahead of them.
It was December. And she had never felt happier.