Archive of Our Own ^beta

Marinette sat at her desk with Alya beside her, as she tapped her pen on a heart shaped card, that Alya had picked out.

“I just… am I doing the right thing?” Marinette peered up at Alya with worried eyes. “I mean… I have Luka and I… should I leave him?”

Alya smiled at her and grabbed Marinette’s framed photo of Adrien. She held it in front of her best friend’s face. “I know a certain girl… that used to love this boy… that used to stutter… that used to trip… She was head over heels for this boy.”

Marinette’s thoughts went to every moment she had with Adrien from start to finish.

“A certain girl… that was mad because she found him cleaning gum off of her seat, when he was only trying to help…” Alya giggled and Marinette took the picture. “Then a certain girl… fell in love with the boy in the rain…”

Marinette sighed and brushed her thumb along the picture frame.

“But.” Alya ran and grabbed a blue knit scarf from Marinette’s dress form and threw it around her neck. “That certain oblivious, dumb, blonde boy… didn’t see her…. Calling her ‘just a friend’.” She wrapped the scarf around Marinette’s neck. “ And it hurt that girl.”

Marinette’s blue eyes filled with tears. “So… that girl ran away… to a boy that did notice her….” Alya smiled and sat down beside her best friend. “But… that boy… may not have been the one she truly wanted… that boy may have been a rebound.”

Marinette peered over at her friend with a warm smile. Her thoughts fell to Adrien again. About the gum, the rain, the hat contest, Lila, Kagami… fencing, valentines day… falling for Chat Noir.. feeling guilty about it...finding out Chat was Adrien… Everything they had been through. She couldn’t get her mind off of him. Even when she was with Luka… she was never really with him, mentally, emotionally. He was just someone to help ease the pain of her heartache.

She tapped her pen to the card and suddenly knew what to say. Alya watched over her shoulder with love filled eyes and her chin on her hand.

“Now, I just need to send it.” Marinette smiled at her best friend.

“Good.” Alya smiled and rubbed the top of her head and they both giggled.

They ran down the stairs and out of the boulangerie to the bright yellow mailbox.

“Just send it.” Alya smiled at her and Marinette worried her bottom lip, before shakily sliding the letter into the box. “You did it!” Alya bounced up and down and suddenly Marinette joined in. The two girls giggled and danced around.

“Now, you just have to tell Luka.” Alya smiled at her and she suddenly slumped.

“What if he gets mad? What if I hurt him? What if…” Marinette began to panic and went on a rant.

“It’ll all be okay, M. You’ll see. But the sooner you tell him... The better.” Alya smiled and wrapped her arm around her friends back, as they walked to Luka’s boathouse.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Adrien sighed and fell into his computer chair. He hit a button on his keyboard and all four monitors came to life. He stared at the photo of his mother in the warm sun and searched her bright green eyes, that seemed to be full of her personality. One he hadn’t seen in a long time… except when he ran into Marinette or Ladybug.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and crossed one leg over his thigh. He let out another deep sigh, before Plagg zipped out from his camembert stash to find his miraculous holder upset.

“What’s wrong kid?” Plagg threw a wedge of cheese into his mouth and swooped into Adrien’s face.

“I think I screwed up and I’m just now realizing it…” Adrien ran his fingers into the front of his hair and gripped the soft strands tight.
“If this is about Ladybug and Marinette again…” Plagg was going to say something, but tears streaming down Adrien’s face made him lose his words. He sighed, “Look, just because she’s with Luka doesn’t mean that she’s going to marry him.”

“But she could. I could have lost my chance. I could have…” He solemnly walked over to his bed and fell onto it.

Plagg sighed and suddenly got the idea to go through his fan mail. “Look, you have millions of other human women. Honestly, humans…”
He began to dig through his letter, until he found a bright red heart. “Here.”

Plagg threw the letter over to Adrien and it fluttered down next to his face. Adrien jumped, sat up, and began to read it.

His eyes grew big, as he took the words in.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Cher Adrien,

Salut! It’s me, Marinette. I guess you already knew that. (giggles) I wanted to say that I’ve been scared to tell you this, but… here it goes… I was mad at you when I first met you. I thought you had put the gum on my chair. And then when you talked to me in the rain… when you explained yourself… I fell for you. My heart soared and my stomach filled with butterflies. I began to love you. To want to get to know you.
So, I tried to get closer to you, but my nerves got in the way. I began to trip and stutter and say the wrong things… Every time a new girl came to school and I’d see you look interested.. Or saw them look interested… I slowly began to think that I wasn’t special. That I didn’t matter. That I wasn’t good enough. That I wasn’t pretty enough… And when I heard I was just a friend? I got sad. It broke my heart. So… I tried to mend it.

I found Luka when I was the most down and he gave me attention. He noticed me… So, we started dating… I replaced you with him and in my mind… it felt okay. It felt real. It felt right… But my heart never let you go… It never truly let you go… and when I found out you were also my kitty? My heart beat faster and broke harder. I had not only lost my best friend, the love of my life, but I also lost my partner.
So,I’m leaving Luka. I’m taking a risk, like Ladybug would do. I’m taking a risk on you. I want you. I want to be with you. I want to love you. I want to be loved by you. I want to wake up with you. I want to watch the moon rise and the sun go down… with you. In our own future house, on a rooftop in Paris… anywhere. I just know that I want to be with you.

I’m hoping that you don’t just see me as a friend. I’m hoping that you can accept my feelings, but if it’s one sided… I’m just happy that I got to tell you. Even if it was in a heart shaped note. You’re amazing and I know you hear that a lot. I know that your father thinks you’re perfect… I know you stress out that you are perfect and feel like you have to be… But you don’t. You don’t have to be perfect around me. You don’t have to hide your feelings… You don’t have to wear that fake model smile you put on for the public. I’ll take you broken, happy, sad, or angry. I don’t care. Just know, that I love you. No matter what.

That’s all I had to say. Sorry if this is awkward. But hey, at least I didn’t stutter or say I was taking a coleslaw.

Love your Lady,
Marinette

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Adrien clutched the letter to his heart and fondly smiled, as a blush came to his cheeks.

Plagg swung around and read it. “I honestly, didn’t know that was from her.”

“Yeah right, Plagg.” Adrien finally spoke and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Honest.” Plagg held up his little hand and Adrien chuckled.

“Well then.. fate has an interesting way of figuring things out.” Adrien sighed and set the letter beside him on the bed.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Marinette tangled her fingers together and bit her bottom lip. “So… I’m really sorry, but I just… I love Adrien and I don’t want to play with your feelings anymore… I didn’t understand it myself… and I thought I was over him… but….”

“Marinette?” Luka looked at her with a genuine smile. He touched her chin and brought her tear filled eyes to peer into his own. “I get it. It’s okay.”

“I’m really really sorry, Luka. I-” Marinette began to cry and Luka wiped the tears away.

“Shh..” Luka put his finger over her lips. “It’s okay… I understand… It’s like the song ‘Back To You’ by Selena Gomez.”

Marinette looked at him with wide eyes.

Luka chuckled and kissed her on the lips with a soft smile. “Just listen to it. That’s my final wish for you. Well…” He moved his head back and forth and rolled his eyes, before he smirked. “That and that I want you to be happy. But… if it doesn’t work out… know I’m always here.”

Marinette smiled at him and suddenly wrapped him into a warm embrace. “Merci, Luka. For everything.”

“No problem, mamaMarinette.” Luka chuckled and she rolled her eyes and giggled, as she pulled away from him.

“I should go.” Marinette gestured behind her with her thumb and Luka nodded with a sweet smile.

Marinette smiled and ran out of his room and off of the house boat. She made excuses to Alya and Alya just smiled and let her go.

She made her way to the bakery, ran through the front door, and up to her bedroom. Marinette was about to transform and meet Chat Noir at their usual spot when…

“MARINETTE! THERE’S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YOU!” Her mother called from downstairs.

She jumped and ran down the stairs to find Adrien. Sabine smiled warmly and left out the front door, leaving the two older teens alone.

“I-” Marinette began to stumble out her words and he yanked her to him.

He suddenly pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. She sighed and sank into him, as her knees gave out and he chuckled against her lips, catching her.

He pulled away, after sweeping her up into his arms. “I know. Although, I wasn’t expecting you to fall.”

Marinette played with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. “I wasn’t planning on falling for a kitty either, Chaton.”

Adrien smirked with a quiet laugh and he carried her to the front door.

“Where are we going?” Marinette suddenly began to panic.

“Where else? Andre’s famous la Glacerie.” Adrien smiled and kept a hold of her, as he carried her down the staircase.

“But someone will see you carrying me.” Her eyes went wide and she wiggled, trying to free herself.

Adrien laughed and compensated for her movements. He threw her over his shoulder and continued to walk. “Then I’ll say you twisted your ankle.”

“A...drien…” Marinette giggled, as he tickled her side.

She covered her mouth and blushed, as they walked through the bakery. Tom and Sabine smiled warmly, as they walked past. Marinette waved at them embarrassed and her parents laughed.

“Don’t be too late…” Tom chuckled and Marinette groaned at them.

“I’ll bring her back at a reasonable time.” Adrien smiled over his shoulder at her parents, laughed, and carried her for a few blocks, before finally putting her down in front of Andre’s cart.

“Are you done embarrassing me?” Marinette sighed, as he bought them ice cream from Andre.

“Mmm…” He thought about it and licked his tri-flavored ice cream. “One more thing.”

Marinette braced herself for what he was going to do next. She clenched her eyes tight and heard him chuckle softly, as something cold touched her nose.

She opened her eyes and her lips parted in a gasp. Adrien burst out laughing hysterically, as she swiped the cold ice cream from the tip of her nose. She reached out and went to get him back.

His eyes went wide and he suddenly took off down the bridge. “Hey!” Marinette ran after him, giggling.

Adrien laughed and ran behind a tree in the park. Marinette smirked and cut him off. His eyes went wide and he slid to a stop in front of her. He yanked her to him and she tipped her ice cream onto his mouth.

“Pfft! What was the point in that?” Adrien burst out into a fit of giggles, until Marinette dropped her ice cream and touched his cheeks with her slender hands.

She smiled at him with a determined expression and kissed him on the lips. Running the tip of her tongue along them to clean up the mess, she had made. Once, the ice cream was mostly gone, she kissed him and he pulled her close to him by the small of her back.

“You ruined your ice cream just to kiss me?” Adrien laughed at her and peered at her through his lashes.

“No… I just found a better flavor.” She kissed him again.

Adrien sighed and broke the kiss. “I could get used to this.”

Marinette pretended to be insulted, giggled, pushed him away, and ran away from him to the fountain.

He ditched his ice cream and ran after her. She playfully splashed water at him and he held up his hands to shield his face, before splashing her back. She tripped and fell into the fountain, soaking her clothes. Her wet hair hung in her face and he jumped in to help her.

“Are you okay?” Adrien held his hand out to her.

She smirked and yanked him in. He fell into the water and became soaked with her.

“You’re a dork.” Adrien chuckled on top of her.

She peered up at him with dream filled eyes. “Yeah.. but I’m your dork.”

Adrien burst out laughing and threw more water at her, before springing up and running away from her.

“Hey! You’re gonna pay for that!” Marinette ran after him, giggling.

“You have to CATch me first.” Adrien burst out, while he ran backwards, facing her. “Plagg! Claws Out!!”

“Oh! It’s so… on!” Marinette lowered her eyelids into a challenging expression, before a red glow took her over.