Chapter Text
Chloé had never had the Bee Miraculous for long enough to settle into a routine with Pollen. Their lack of routine didn’t stop them from bonding though. She had gotten to know the little kwami in the short time they were with each other, and she did miss her, but their relationship was nothing like the relationship she had with Wayzz.
Where Pollen had agreed and submitted to Chloé’s every whim, Wayzz expressed his disagreement. He never scolded her, even when she probably deserved it, he instead just made suggestions for things she could be doing, or tried to help her come to the conclusion on her own. Chloé was thankful for him. Even in their short time together, he had made a positive impact on her life. Thanks to him, Chloé had started trying to accept things as they come to her in life. Which is why when Mme. Bustier had paired Chloé with Marinette for a book project, she had kept her freakout internal, and accepted the arrangement with a small smile. The Chloé who felt entitled to the Bee Miraculous probably would have thrown a fit or tried to force Marinette to do everything herself, but the Chloé who was still trying to deserve the Turtle and the trust of Wayzz just sent Marinette a soft smile and accepted that they would be working together.
Ever since Chloé had been appearing on Marinette’s balcony, she had been making more of an effort to acknowledge Marinette in school. A smile here, a wave after class there, and they had been having the most positive interactions between them in years. Chloé didn’t know if the smiling had been enough to make Marinette trust that she wasn’t trying to hurt anyone and was trying to change, but it seemed like the other girl was less suspicious, and she had smiled back at Chloé a few times.
Originally she had been bummed that she had managed at least one positive conversation with everyone else in the class, including Alya which was a miracle that Chloé still couldn’t believe, except for Marinette, but Wayzz had reminded her that progress was still progress regardless of how small it felt.
Chloé rode the wave of hope all the way to her first meeting with Marinette for the project. It had been in a coffee shop between their homes. Neutral ground for them to meet on.
She had arrived half an hour early, in part to find the perfect seat, she figured something closer to the windows so the light could make Marinette’s eyes sparkle, but mostly she needed the half hour to prepare for her first actual nice conversation with Marinette in years. Wayzz had helped her make a list of things she needed to do before they could actually start on the project and they had come up with a plan that had calmed Chloé’s nerves. First she would offer to get Marinette something to drink, as well as something to eat, while she went up to order her own things, so Marinette could settle at their table and they could both have something to occupy themselves with before Chloé moved on to part two. Then, she would apologize, genuinely, for how she had treated Marinette previously and briefly explain that she would no longer behave in the cruel way she had. Wayzz had added a point of expressing that Marinette was under no obligation to forgive her, and though Chloé wanted her forgiveness and friendship, she had to admit that Wayzz was right and had kept it. After her apology, they would work on the project, dividing things in a way that worked for both of them, and working together on what they needed to. If Marinette decided she didn’t want to work with Chloé anymore after her apology, then Chloé would then proceed with part four of the plan, which had been added as a just in case, where she would invite Sabrina over to eat ice cream, cry, and work on their projects so that Chloé wouldn’t be as alone as she would feel.
All in all, it was a simple plan, but having it written on her notebook, tucked safely in her bag beside Wayzz, had made her feel infinitely more calm about the entire project. All that was left now was for Marinette to arrive, and then everything would hopefully go according to plan, bar any akuma attacks that may occur, or epic fights between old rivals.
Chloé had brought her science homework to distract her, and had one airpod in to listen to her work playlist. The other earphone was in the bag with Wayzz, as he had revealed a love of music to her, and she hadn’t wanted him to be bored while he hid in her bag. Chloé became absorbed in her homework, to the point where she hardly noticed the figure who had approached her table, until said figure had cleared their throat. Chloé startled, and found herself looking up at Marinette.
Exactly as Chloé had expected, sitting near the window had caused the natural light to make Marinette’s eyes sparkle. In hindsight, she probably should have sat facing the window as one look into Marinette’s eyes had cleared every thought from her mind, including phase one of her plan.
Wayzz, hidden from Marinette’s view by the table, had realized his holder had frozen. Briefly poking his head outside of the bag to check for eyes, Wayzz floated himself into Chloé’s lap before lightly jabbing her in the stomach with his paw to get her to refocus herself. If the brief glance and smile he received was anything to go by, he had succeeded. Wayzz slipped back into the bag as Chloé stood.
Gesturing at the other seat, Chloé said, “Can I get you anything? I’m going up to place my order and I figured I could just grab yours while I’m up there.”
“Oh sure! If I could just get a small hot chocolate, and two chocolate chip cookies that would be awesome! I’ll pay you back for it.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right back.” Chloé’s internal monologue had devolved to prolonged screams. She was not at all prepared for this conversation and she had decided that whatever came out of her mouth was awkward and was making Marinette uncomfortable. She had no proof for this of course, but she was losing her mind with her nerves right now, and she just needed a half hour break to scream into her pillow and remake her plan with Wayzz because she could not do this.
Upon approaching the counter, Chloé quickly went through the motions of ordering her strong blonde roast and usual lemon cake, as well as Marinette’s own order before quickly paying and stepping off to the side. Her attention fell away from the teen working the counter to drift back to the table where Marinette had begun setting up her schoolwork. The light falling on her hair made it appear lighter, and even through a window, the sun had given Marinette’s skin a shine that had Chloé enraptured. Marinette’s hair was in it’s usual style of pigtails and Chloé fell into a daydream of Marinette letting her hair free, while Chloé would run her fingers through the hair. She almost missed the barista calling her name for her order, but quickly grabbed it and rushed back to the table with Marinette.
Chloé made sure to set Marinette’s order down first, before placing hers on the table and plopping back into her seat. She had left her bag hanging on the chair and she could see Wayzz giving her a tiny thumbs up from inside.
Silence stretched between the two girls as they both finished settling into their seats, neither really knowing how to begin. Chloé fiddled with the napkin in front of her, pulling it gently as she watched Marinette raise her hot chocolate to her lips. Momentarily distracted, Chloé blinked herself back into focus, deciding she needed to rip off the bandaid.
“I’m sorry,” she rushed out. “I’ve treated you like shit over the past few years.” Not her most elegant of starts but the script she had jotted down between classes had slipped her mind. “You didn’t deserve my behaviour, or anything that came with the dumb rivalry I started. It doesn’t matter if I was upset with my life, or jealous over the one you had, I took my feelings out on you and hurt you in the process. You don’t have to forgive me, or believe me, but I know I’ve been terrible and I’m trying to change. I would love a chance to try to be your friend, but if that’s not possible, I totally understand and we can just focus on the project. I just needed to say that first.”
Chloé was actually a little proud of herself. She had spoken fast and she felt like she had rambled a little longer than necessary, but her words had come out clear and now at least Marinette knew. Whatever happened next, Chloé would accept. Even if it was a brutal rejection and she ended up crying with Wayzz later. Chloé promised she would accept the aftermath of her apology with elegance and grace so long as there were other people around to witness her.
Marinette had paused in drinking her hot chocolate, and had listened to Chloé’s spiel with a thoughtful expression on her face. The expression hadn’t changed, but her gaze had shifted from meeting Chloé’s eyes to staring out the window when Chloé had finished. Breath stopped in her throat, Chloé could only watch Marinette’s face for a sign. A subtle movement of her eyebrow, and Chloé’s heart had stuttered, a blink that felt slower than normal and she had almost choked, the smallest of twitches in her jaw and Chloé’s fingers began tapping a nervous rhythm. There was so much to read from Marinette’s expression, but Chloé was unpracticed in her language and could not tell the difference between truth and her own created fiction.
After what had felt like hours, but could only have been moments, Marinette finally brought her focus back to Chloé. “I believe you. I’ve seen you in school recently, apologizing and trying to be nicer to people, so I believe you’re changing. I don’t know if I can forgive you for everything right now, but I think I’d like to try being friends and see how it goes.”
“Okay.” The relief that flooded through Chloé filled her veins and calmed her immediately. Maybe Marinette would never forgive her, but they could try to be friends, and maybe someday they would be close. For Chloé, it was the best news she had heard all week.
Marinette smiled at her before shifting a notebook between them on the table. “Let’s start breaking the project apart and figuring out what we’re going to do.”
The coffee shop study date had gone better than Marinette had expected. She was still surprised by Chloé’s apology, but after a moment to process she felt that the other girl was genuine so she had moved on to try to work with the other girl. After only a few minutes of discussion, they had discovered they actually had similar thought processes for their project, and were mostly on the same page already. Chloé had come prepared with a list of how they could break the project into parts that would require the least interaction from both of them if Marinette hadn’t wanted to work with her, so they had used that as a basis for division of work. After creating a schedule that would work for both of them, they had settled into a routine.
They each began writing their own parts of the project, occasionally breaking to discuss ideas and how to connect the two parts together, before falling back into the comfortable silence. Chloé had bought Marinette another drink and two more snacks in the time they had been there before Marinette had convinced Chloé to let her buy the next round of snacks.
The quiet chatter of the coffee shop was the perfect background noise as they worked together. And Marinette had used Chloé’s focus on their project to slip a cookie to Tikki when she had brought back the new snacks.
All in all, Marinette had found herself genuinely enjoying the blonde’s company, though she couldn’t help but compare their current interactions to how Chloé had been when she was Khelone appearing on Marinette’s balcony. The other girl had offered an insight into fashion that Marinette had only managed to find in Adrien, and strangely, Chat Noir’s company, but the new perspective had been refreshing. Chloé had let Marinette go page by page through her book, letting Marinette explain the components of her favourite pieces, and offering thoughts to the ones that Marinette had been struggling with. Their first interaction on Marinette’s had been strange, and had ended abruptly, but every interaction since had genuinely made Marinette look forward to the next time she would see her.
When Chloé was Khelone and interacting with Ladybug, she was more serious. Her hero worship had faded with time, and now she was just a valued part of the team. They hadn’t managed to truly edge their relationship firmly into friendship territory in the months since Chloé had become a hero because Marinette always felt like Chloé was holding herself at an arm’s length from her. Despite proving herself time and time again, Marinette couldn’t help but feel that Chloé still felt the need to prove she should wield the Turtle. Marinette had almost been jealous when Chat Noir had managed to form a friendship with Khelone and she still hadn’t.
When Chloé was visiting Marinette’s balcony it was different. She still had the serious tone, and had actually been very careful about details surrounding her identity, but she was more relaxed. She would laugh more, smile brighter, and often made Marinette forget who was under the mask as they talked. It was a side of Chloé Marinette was unused to seeing, unguarded, relaxed, not afraid to do the cute snort laugh that she only used when she found something truly funny. It made Marinette miss a friendship she had briefly had with Chloé, but she still felt like there was something Chloé was holding back on the rooftop, something more than just her identity.
The Chloé that was sitting across from her was all of the parts, finally complete in one. As Chloé scribbled notes and wrote her part of their project, Marinette could see the seriousness of Hero Chloé. Every so often she would bite the end of her pen, or scrunch her eyebrows while she thought, and Marinette saw Rooftop Chloé. But above it all was the Chloé that Marinette had always known. Beautiful. Confident. But more relaxed, more open. The girl across from her seemed more content and genuine than Marinette can ever recall seeing her, and she was enthralled.
Though she knew she should have been focusing on her own work, she couldn’t help but stare at the other girl. The more she looked, the more she saw. Logically she had known Khelone and Chloé were the same people, and she had always known that what one did, the other had technically done, but this was the first time she really got it. Chloé had changed from the girl Marinette knew. She hadn’t been paying attention before, but now that she could see it, she regretted not looking closer sooner.
Chloé was different. Chloé had defended civilians in front of a coffee shop because it had been the right thing to do. Chloé had apologized. Chloé had sat on her rooftop talking with her about whatever had come to their minds when they strayed from fashion. Chloé’s mannerisms had bled into her interactions with Marinette the entire time she had been with the hero, and Marinette found that she was waiting for familiar movements she would see with Khelone.
But Chloé was the same. Her confidence was still there, though quieter. She still smirked when she was right. She smiled at Marinette when she showed off her drawings. She still caused a blooming warmth in Marinette’s chest that she could no longer pass as camaraderie with a fellow hero. The girl across from her caused the warmth, no matter what form she appeared in.
Chloé had turned to look at Marinette, a question in her eyes, and Marinette understood. Fire filled her cheeks, as her heart stuttered. There was concern in Chloé’s eyes, the same concern Khelone had when Marinette choked on a too large bite of muffin not even a week ago. It had caused Marinette to blush then, happy her rooftop company had cared enough to worry, but now it was Chloé, still just as concerned, though this time because Marinette had stopped working to stare at her, and Marinette truly understood. Her growing crush on Khelone, the sweet hero on her balcony, translated to the girl in front of her as well. She had a crush on Chloé.
Marinette bolted up in her chair before Chloé could speak, stuttering out a quick, “Bathroom!” before almost tripping multiple times as she made her way away from the table and into the bathroom. Dropping her face into her hands Marinette groaned in frustration. Of all the girls to have a crush on, it had to be her ex-rival, turned very recent friend. And she hadn’t even grabbed her purse before she had gotten up, so now she couldn’t complain about her love life to Tikki.
Taking a few minutes to compose herself, Marinette stared into the mirror. Save your crisis for later. Go out there and finish working on your project. Then go home and tell Tikki everything.
Sufficiently composed, or at least as good as she was going to get after such a revelation, Marinette exited the bathroom. Only a brief pause to stare at Chloé, and then she forced herself to carry on. No matter how this day ended, she was going to be normal, she was going to deal with her crush on Chloé in a normal way, and she was going to live a normal life and do highschool homework with her classmate like the perfectly normal girl she was. She could do this.