College AU where Adrien never went to public school so he and Marinette don’t know each other, and Ladybug and Chat are dating.
Marinette swiped a hand over her forehead and sighed wearily. Sometimes she wondered why she’d even bothered finding another job when she’d just ended up at a coffee shop. She could sweep up and wipe tables at her parent’s bakery, and she wouldn’t have the walk home through the rain afterwards. Her parents had insisted this would be good for her. She wasn’t convinced.
“Excuse me, we’re closed,” she called out to the lone straggler, seated in the corner booth closest to the windows. They’d closed five minutes ago, in fact. Her co-workers had all left, leaving Marinette behind to finish and lock up.
The man didn’t look up, and Marinette sighed. Her feet ached. She wanted to sit down and relax. Actually, she wanted to sit down and have Chat give her a foot rub. Yeah, that sounded amazing. So amazing she yanked her phone out and sent him a surreptitious message as she approached the table.
Ironically it wasn’t Marinette’s approach that got the man’s attention, but the beeping of his cell phone. Not even looking up at her, he took out his phone and typed something. Marinette’s phone vibrated in her pocket as she paused beside him, and she thought - huh, that’s weird.
“Excuse me,” she said again. “We’re closed.”
“Oh! I’m terribly sorry,” the man said. “I didn’t realize - I got so caught up in my book.” He hastily started gathering his things together.
She glanced idly at the book. Dealer’s Choice, the title said, with a picture of a handful of cards. Nothing to indicate what the book was about, and it interested her only because it was the book that Chat was reading. He’d spent most of last night gushing about it. Curious, she picked it up and flipped it open.
“I’ll just get out of your - oh.”
Marinette looked up at the soft inhale.
Chat Noir was sitting in front of her.
His eyes were the size of the scones the coffeeshop sold, the ones that weren’t quite as good as Marinette’s papa’s, and his jaw was hanging open in a decidedly unattractive way, but it was definitely him. She’d know those green eyes anywhere. Marinette opened her mouth and then closed it, speechless.
Chat had always told her that they would recognize each other if they ever passed each other on the street, but she hadn’t really believed him until now.
“My Lady?” he said weakly. “Is that -” He stopped suddenly, as though realizing that he could be wrong.
She had a split second decision to make: a moment wherein she could’ve lied and said she had no idea what she was talking about, and he would probably believe her. That was probably what Tikki would’ve wanted her to do. But no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Marinette disregarded it.
This was her partner. The man she wanted to marry. If they’d found each other outside the mask through sheer coincidence, she wasn’t going to turn fate down.
“Hi Kitty,” she whispered, letting herself sway closer. She set the book down and reached for him, running her hands through his hair and scratching where his cat ears would’ve been.
“I can’t believe it,” he said, starting to smile. “I finally found you.”
“I can’t believe it either,” Marinette replied. “Of all the coffeeshops you could’ve come into, it would be the one I work in.”
“I just wanted to get out of the rain,” he admitted.
Marinette smiled, the reality of the situation catching up with her. She’d found him. She’d found her kitty! After all those lonely nights she’d spent wishing they could be together, knowing that they couldn’t because of their duties… he was here. She wanted to laugh with joy. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to take him home and never let him leave.
“Of course you did, my poor minou,” she murmured. “Well, I won’t kick you out. You can hang around while I clean up.”
“You’re too kind to me, Bugaboo,” he said.
“Marinette,” she told him, savoring the thrill of finally telling him her name.
He grinned. “Adrien.”
“Adrien,” she repeated, tasting the word. Then she squinted at him, realizing he looked familiar in more than one way. “Hang on… Adrien Agreste?”
“Guilty,” Adrien said, shrugging.
Well, that explained his atrocious relationship with his father. Marinette frowned fiercely. “Wanna have a sleepover?”
“Is that offer just because you want that foot rub?” he asked, eyes twinkling.
Marinette shrugged, all innocence. “Well, if you’re offering…”
He laughed and got up. “Let me help you clean up, and then we’ll talk about the foot rub. I think I could swing it in exchange for getting to sleep in your bed… no masks, this time.” He gave her a sly smile and she flushed; usually, to have sex, they’d use a hotel room and fake masks she’d made herself.
That was no longer necessary, she realized, and it gave her a burst of confidence to look him in the eye and say: “You can stay forever if you want.”
Adrien, as it turned out, wanted that very much.