Chapter Text
Chapter 10: Just a Friend Lunch
Ladybug landed on her balcony and quickly dropped her transformation. As she entered her bedroom and settled in for the night, she began to converse with Tikki.
"That Chat Noir… he knows Lila because she's in his… what? What type of activities does she do outside of school? Then again, if I asked her who knows if she would be telling the truth or not…" Marinette flopped down on her bed and groaned.
"Why didn't you let Chat Noir finish his sentence?" Tikki questioned.
"Well, I don't want his reveal to be easy. I'm still not one hundred percent sure I want to know who he is." Marinette admitted.
"You do really want to know though, right?" Tikki landed on the pillow beside Marinette's face and patted her cheek. "Master Fu gave his permission according to Chat Noir. There's nothing you should be worrying about, Marinette!"
"I guess…" The pigtailed girl got up and grabbed a notebook from her desk. She sat down on the lounge chaise and began to jot down her clues.
"Okay, so his favorite color is blue with green being a close second. I have interacted with his civilian self before and he knows Lila. Which, as I write this down now, that was a dumb question since I already knew he went to my school…" she scratched her head as she began to think.
"What about the way Chat Noir acts? Or maybe other things he's said before?" Tikki suggested.
"Let's see…" Marinette prepared to write more stuff. "He's a huge dork who likes to crack jokes and be theatrical."
"But he mentioned he acts differently in his civilian form, remember?" Tikki sat down on the desk and helped her.
"So, that means in school he's probably calmer, more reserved. But why would he have to be different?" Marinette pondered.
"Maybe he likes living the double life? He wanted to keep his identity secret?" Tikki suggested.
"No, he said he could be his 'true self' as Chat Noir." She chewed on the pen cap for a moment as she tried to recall their conversation from a few days prior. "He also said something about us being true to ourselves."
"That's right! He also said he saw you as an everyday Ladybug." Tikki floated to the top of the computer monitor and sat down. She tapped her chin thoughtfully as she tried to help her friend out.
"An everyday Ladybug… Wait." Marinette looked up at her friend and was momentarily startled to see images of blonde hair, green eyes, and bright smiles staring back at her. "I just remembered… He also called me that…"
Marinette stared at the photos she had placed up on her wall and began to see the model clad in black with cat ears. "There's no way…" She couldn't believe it.
Tikki stayed silent as she calmly watched her friend with a serene smile on her face.
Marinette looked at Tikki and pointed. "You knew! You knew it was him!" She exclaimed, feeling betrayed.
Tikki put up her hands in defense. "Yes, I've known Chat Noir’s identity for a while now. However, I can't tell you- blubblift’s name unless you already know and speak their name out loud." To make a point, she had tried mentioning his name only for bubbles to come out of her mouth.
"Oh, Tikki. I had no idea! I'm sorry for accusing you." Marinette hugged her small friend briefly before rambling on. "I still can't believe that Adrien Agreste is possibly Chat Noir. But as I look at the clues, it starts to match up. Except, what was he going to say about Lila before I interrupted him? She's in his what?" She put the notepad and pen down as she struggled to figure out what he would've said.
"Hmm… Maybe in his class?" Tikki suggested.
"You're right! That would make sense." She paused for a moment as she face palmed. "I'm glad I stopped him because that would've given him away instantly. If I compared him to the other guys in my class, who else has blonde hair and green eyes?"
Tikki giggled and flew over to her friend to pat her head. Marinette groaned softly as this news became overwhelming for her.
"I think you should stop overthinking and focus on getting to bed, Marinette. Losing sleep on this won't help you. You should be fully rested for school tomorrow!" Tikki suggested.
"You're right, Tikki. Maybe I should just go to sleep and think about this more tomorrow morning." Marinette yawned as she went up to her bed. "Goodnight, Tikki!"
"Goodnight, Marinette! Sleep well." The kwami also settled in for the night.
Surprisingly, Marinette did sleep relatively well that night, even though she had confusing dreams about Adrien and Chat Noir and her as both herself and Ladybug. As soon as she woke up the next morning to her alarm blaring and her mother calling for her, it all faded away.
"Good morning, Marinette!" Tikki greeted her sleepy friend.
Marinette yawned and stretched as she turned her alarm off. "Morning, Tikki." It took a moment for Marinette to register what was going on that day.
"I'm going back to school! I'm seeing everyone again!" She exclaimed cheerfully as she got up and started to get ready for the day. She froze while brushing her teeth as the realization hit her. She would see Adrien again. And she now knew he was Chat Noir. How could she face him?
'So yeah… Chat Noir happens to be the same boy you've loved for a while now but that also means that the boy you love has also been your superhero best friend… who's a huge dork… so Adrien is a friendly dork…. Nothing to worry about…' Marinette thought to herself as she continued brushing her teeth mindlessly.
"Marinette? You've been brushing your teeth for a solid five minutes, are you okay?" Tikki asked her friend with concern.
Marinette spit out the toothpaste and quickly rinsed her mouth and brush. "I'm fine! Adrien's a dork! I'm fine!"
Tikki crossed her arms and gave her a knowing look. "So that's what's on your mind." She sighed and flew over to pat her friend's head. "It'll be okay, Marinette. Just be yourself!"
"Right, just be myself! There's no issue with Chat Noir being Adrien. Nope!"
"Marinette! Alya is here!" Her mother called up to her. Marinette finished her morning routine and quickly went downstairs to meet her friend.
"Hey, girl! How are you feeling?" Alya greeted Marinette as she entered the main bakery area.
They both hugged each other and Marinette momentarily forgot about her worries with Adrien as her friend's presence brought her a sense of relief. "I'm so glad to see you! I'm doing better. Everything has just been so chaotic lately."
"I totally understand. It's always such a weird feeling to come back from being akumatized. I'm so glad that they dropped your expulsion, though. Who knew that Lila had such a disease? I bet she felt terrible about the trouble she caused." Alya chatted with Marinette as they both walked to school together.
"Oh yeah, totally terrible." Marinette muttered sarcastically.
"Oh, my bad, it may still be a soft spot. I'm just glad you're back." Alya tried to make things more positive as they approached the entrance. "Oh look, our two favorite boys are waiting for us!" Alya waved at Nino and Adrien, who waved back.
Marinette's heart began to beat faster as they got closer. 'He's just your dorky best friend… I don't need to be tongue-tied… He's Chat Noir… the big goofball…' She tried to prepare herself to greet the boys.
"Hey! How are you dudettes doing? We're glad to have you back, Marinette!" Nino beamed.
"Hi, Alya. Hi, Marinette! I'm happy to see you're doing better." Adrien’s smile was genuine and soft. Marinette had seen that same look directed towards her as Ladybug many times and she had no clue they were one and the same until now.
"Hey guys! Uh, yeah. It's been a crazy few days but I'm glad to be back with everyone!" She tried to stay calm and act natural but found herself getting lost in Adrien's eyes. He returned the smile and also stared back into hers.
Alya raised an eyebrow at her friend managing to form a proper sentence in front of Adrien and the way they both made eye contact. "Guess we should head inside, right?" She suggested, since they were all currently blocking the entrance door.
Both Adrien and Marinette snapped out of their unexpected staring contest and followed Nino and Alya inside.
They all headed to their lockers and got what they needed for class.
Alya got close to Marinette and whispered into her ear: "You okay, girl? That was some intense gazes you and Adrien were giving each other."
Marinette's face flushed and she tried to wave it off. "What? Oh that was nothing! Adrien's just a huge dork! Hahaha…" she laughed nervously and didn't realize what she actually said to Alya.
"He's a huge dork, huh? So what happened between you two for you to say that?" Alya's inquisitive eyes focused on Marinette. This wasn't good. Alya was ready to interrogate her and Marinette didn't really know what to say.
Thankfully, the boys interrupted them as they all began to walk to class.
"How are you feeling, Marinette? You okay?" Adrien asked the pigtailed girl beside him.
"Y-yeah! I'm glad to be back!" She said quickly. She glanced at his face and made eye contact once again. His eyes were curious. She thought about their last conversation as Ladybug and Chat Noir and realized he was trying to figure out if she knew or not. She decided she should just play it cool for a while. He still didn't know that she now knew who he was. She would need to find some time to talk with him alone so they could figure out what they should do with this new information.
"Marinette?" Adrien's voice finally pierced her thoughts and she realized she had been ignoring her group of friends. They were already sitting at their seats, when did that happen?
Marinette laughed nervously. "Oh sorry, I guess I got lost in thought, hehe…"
Alya patted her back and smiled. "Hey, it's alright. If you need anything from us, just let us know."
"Yeah! You can count on us to help you get back into the routine." Nino chimed in.
Adrien seemed to be contemplating something for a moment until he spoke up. "Yeah, if the cat's got your tongue, no worries!" He gave his signature model smile which made Marinette feel conflicted.
She stared at Adrien for a moment intensely, not allowing herself to glare or give away that she understood what he was implying. However, this definitely confirmed that he and Chat Noir were the same person and she honestly couldn't believe it.
"Right. I'll try not to let things bug me." She replied coyly. This caused Adrien's model grin to turn into a cheshire smile for a short moment until he turned back around to face the front of the room.
Periodically, as they waited for class to start, their various classmates checked in with Marinette to see how she was doing.
Lila soon entered and dramatically teared up as she walked over to Marinette. "I'm so glad to see you back in school, Marinette! I'm so sorry that my illness put you in such a rough spot. I hope you'll forgive me." She put on her usual show trying to make herself look good to the rest of the students.
"Uh, it's okay, Lila. It's in the past now." Marinette tried to remain polite even though she knew everything Lila said was a lie.
Soon, Ms. Bustier walked in and began the lecture after welcoming Marinette back.
Class seemed to drag on forever. Tick. Tock. Second by second, Marinette watched the time and waited for a moment to be alone with Adrien. Finally, it was lunch break and everyone began to get up.
Marinette took a deep breath to prepare herself for her next steps.
"Can we go somewhere alone to talk for a bit?
"Do you want to go somewhere alone to chat about things?"
It appeared that Marinette and Adrien had the same thought process after class as they both spoke up at the same time. They both chuckled and apologized for talking over each other.
Alya took this rare opportunity and ran with it. "Yeah, Nino and I will go get lunch on our own today, so you two can hang out on your own. Bye!" The glasses-wearing journalist directed her boyfriend away from Marinette and Adrien to give them space.
An awkward silence fell over them for a bit as they were left alone and began walking towards the entrance of the school.
"So…" Marinette started.
"So…?" Adrien questioned, allowing her to lead the conversation.
"Let's, uh… go get some food and talk?" Marinette wanted to facepalm after she said that because that's what they were already doing.
Adrien chuckled softly. "Okay, there's a nice Italian bistro nearby. Follow me!" He suggested as he led the way.
They arrived at the restaurant and were seated quickly. They both got a slice of pizza and a drink to enjoy their quick lunch together.
Marinette was extremely flustered by the whole situation. Could this be considered a date? She always dreamed of being alone with Adrien like this, but now knowing that he was Chat Noir made her feeling conflicted. Yet she was extremely happy. She could feel her face heating up as her mind ran wild.
"Lost in thought again, my lady?" Adrien spoke up softly.
"Nothing to worry about, kitty." Marinette froze and her eyes became wide. Meanwhile, Adrien's smile grew wide and his eyes twinkled.
"I knew it! You did figure it out!" Adrien stated excitedly.
"I-I just responded to that out of habit! I haven’t processed this yet! I still can't believe that you are… you-know-who." Marinette whispered the last part.
This caused Adrien to snort, which caught Marinette off guard. "I'm not the Dark Lord, Marinette." He teased and stuck out his tongue playfully. "Though, I know what you meant."
Seeing Adrien act like Chat Noir with her threw her more off guard. "How can you both be so different yet so similar at the same time?" She still wasn't quite ready to accept this yet.
"Well, I am me. Though I'll admit my other side allows me to not have to think about how my image reflects on my father." Adrien answered honestly. There was a flicker of sadness in his eyes when he mentioned his father, Marinette noticed. However, he smiled once more and focused on her.
"I still can't believe it." Marinette simply repeated.
Adrien began to frown. "Are you… disappointed that it's me?" His voice was quiet and worried.
"No!" Marinette shouted and stood up, forgetting where they were momentarily. Everyone in the restaurant stared at her outburst. She blushed and waved apologetically as she sat back down and lowered her voice. "I'm actually… really happy to learn that it's you. But it's just super hard for me to process because…" she began to blush and struggled to say the next thing.
"Because?" Adrien encouraged her to continue.
She took a deep breath and then responded very quickly. "Because I was so in love with you as Adrien that I turned you down as your other self but then it turns out you were both the same." Her face was burning as she made her confession. She began to stuff her face with pizza so she didn't have to speak more.
Adrien's mouth was agape in awe and his face was bright red as well. "The person you rejected me for was actually… me?" He stated incredulously.
Marinette simply nodded and looked away in embarrassment as she continued munching on her pizza.
Adrien couldn't help but laugh at the irony of everything. "I can't believe it! To think I was my own competition!" He smiled at Marinette brightly and began to eat his lunch.
Marinette swallowed her food. "Yeah, it is pretty funny when you think about it."
They both fell into an awkward silence again as they continued eating. They were soon finished and Marinette was washing down the food with her drink.
It was Adrien who broke the silence. "Just so you know, Marinette. Now that I know that it’s you wearing the spots, I can say that I'm even more in love with you."
Marinette spat out her drink, spraying Adrien by accident. "Oh my God, I am so sorry!" She threw her napkin at him as she realized what she did and then covered her face in embarrassment.
He grabbed the napkin and wiped his face, laughing. "No, no! I dropped that on you too soon. It's okay!"
Suddenly, a small exasperated voice called out from Adrien's jacket. "That was close! Your spit spray could've hit me and my snacking cheese!"
Meanwhile, Marinette's purse quietly shushed the coat: "Shhhhhh!"
A waiter soon visited their table asking if there was an issue and requesting they please settle down, as they were disturbing the other patrons.
"Ah, I'm sorry, sir! We're actually finishing up soon so we'll take the check now." Adrien apologized, scratching his head.
Marinette still hung her head in shame and embarrassment as the waiter glanced at her momentarily and left to get the check.
"I'm so sorry, Adrien. Ugh… why am I so hopeless?" She groaned.
Adrien reached out to grab her hand. This caused the pigtailed girl to look at him with puzzled eyes.
"You're not hopeless. You're amazing and you're important to me, no matter what." Adrien stated seriously with a slight blush on his face.
Marinette's face became even redder as she stared at him. "Adrien… Thank you. You're amazing as well and just as important." She shyly returned the compliments and enjoyed having him hold her hand.
The waiter soon arrived with the check. Marinette was going to grab her wallet when Adrien waved his hand and offered to pay. She insisted that he didn't need to, but Adrien wouldn't take no for an answer. She eventually relented but swore she would pay for the food next time.
"Does that mean we have a second date planned?" Adrien teased with a cheshire grin.
Marinette's face became as red as her Ladybug suit. "Was this a first date, though?" She quipped back, her voice higher than usual. However, she tried her best to keep a serious look on her face as she crossed her arms.
"Okay, okay. We'll call this a ‘just a friend’ lunch. And you can pay for the next ‘just a friend’ lunch." Adrien relented.
Hearing him say the words 'just a friend' made her chuckle, knowing she has said the same about him many times before. She felt it was odd how relationships could easily change between people.
The two of them left the Italian Bistro and headed back to school.
Adrien gently grabbed Marinette's hand as they walked, causing her to blush once more. However, as they slowly got closer to school, Marinette suddenly tugged him into a nearby alleyway so they could have privacy to talk.
"Adrien… Please, don't take it the wrong way because I've dreamed of a moment like this many times. However…" she took a deep breath and sighed as she found herself struggling to express what she wanted to say next. She looked at their hands now holding each other. Adrien gently rubbed his thumbs over her skin, encouraging her to continue.
She glanced back up at him, making sure they both made eye contact. "I like you a lot. Maybe I can even say I love you. But I'm scared to be in a committed relationship while we're still fighting Hawkmoth."
"You worry he may use us against each other?" Adrien guessed.
Marinette nodded her head solemnly. She hated saying it, but she had to look at the bigger picture. "What if something bad happens again and one of us gets akumatized? I'm still so grateful you saved me but if he knew about our feelings about the other… or even learned our identities while akumatizing one of us- I honestly don't know how much information he gets when he takes over people. I mean, he knew Lila wronged me…" she went silent as she stood there beside him.
Adrien looked at her solemnly, sad understanding on his face. Suddenly, his face lit up like he had an idea. "Then what if Ladybug and Chat Noir dated? We could keep our civilian life friendly but enjoy going on dates as our alter egos?" He suggested as he looked at her with eager eyes.
Marinette struggled seeing him beg with such a face. "I won't say no…" Adrien pumped his hand happily. "But! I want to take things slow. Let's keep it low-key. I don't want the media to know right away."
Adrien pulled her hand in for a kiss. "Anything for you my lady."
However, before his lips touched her, Marinette pushed him away by the nose like she would do with Chat Noir. "Don't forget who you are right now, we don't want more rumors of Adrien Agreste dating his mysterious classmate."
Adrien pouted for a moment, but agreed. Thankfully, they were mostly hidden in the alleyway. "True, the paparazzi can be relentless."
They both walked out of the alleyway and back to the school. As they got closer they noticed Alya and Nino waving towards them.
"What do we tell them?" Adrien asked as they got closer.
"Uhhh…" Marinette smiled and waved nervously at her friend who was already giving her the 'you're going to tell me everything that happened' look. "We tell them that we're just really good friends now?" She replied unsure of her words.
"Alright, we're no longer good friends. We're great friends." He joked.
This caused Marinette to laugh which prompted Alya and Nino to question their behavior as they got close to them. They all returned to class while Adrien and Marinette avoided any of Alya's or Nino's – but mostly Alya's – questions.
Marinette had to admit to herself she never expected being akumatized would lead to this new type of life with her partner. However, she felt more relaxed knowing he was there by her side no matter what.
They would take their romantic relationship slow and focus on protecting the city. Once Hawkmoth was finally defeated, then they could think about starting a life together as more than friends in their civilian identities.
She smiled at Adrien, who winked at her as they both took their seats.
Hopefully, it won't take too long to defeat Hawkmoth. In the meantime it would be just the two of them. Ladybug and Chat Noir.