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Chapter Text

Day 1 (Just Friends)

Adrien glanced down at the note he held in his right hand and then over to Marinette who was currently chatting with Alya and the rest of the girls in their class.

Her hands were moving animatedly as she happily chatted away, a quirk that Adrien found endearing to see. She always seemed to be so full of life — the type of person that Adrien really wanted to have as a close friend to fill the void left by his not-so-comforting home-life.

The previous night, Adrien had come to the realisation that even though Marinette was one of his friends, they didn’t have each other in their phone contacts, and that was a fact that Adrien wanted to change as soon as possible.

(He’d also heard from Nino that he was missing out on Marinette’s silly photos of herself as reactions to messages, something that the blond thought sounded hilarious.)

He’d been scrolling through his contact list when he realised she was missing from the list, noting that there was no contact for her placed between Kim and Nathalie, whose contacts should be been placed before and after the blue-eyed girl’s.

Adrien waited until the girls left before he decided to make his move. He knew how easily embarrassed Marinette could be and how much Alya loved to tease her.

He paced over to the black-haired girl and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, eliciting a small shriek of surprise to escape her lips as her arms flailed. Marinette almost slipped over, but managed to catch herself before she could descend face-first down the steps to her right.

“Sorry for scaring you, Marinette,” he apologised as she turned around, laughing nervously as he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. Now that he thought about it, he really needed to try and break that awkward habit.

“A-adrien!”

Sheepishly, he held out the note for her to take. Marinette’s eyebrows furrowed as she took it from him, reminding Adrien that he should probably tell her why he’s giving her the note.

It’s my phone number,” he explained, missing how the blood suddenly drained from Marinette’s face as she became as pale as a ghost. “I was scrolling through my contacts and saw that you were missing.”

“Thank you.” Marinette smiled, opening the note and staring at it for a few seconds before her eyes suddenly widened in realisation.

“Oh! You should probably have mine then, too,” she exclaimed, hurriedly scrambling to find her phone in her purse.

After a few moments of fumbling around, she showed him the screen displaying her number so that he could enter it into his phone.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to become better friends now that we can communicate outside of school too.” Adrien mused as he entered her number into a new contact.

“Y-yeah.”

Marinette’s lips curled into a radiant smile as she watched Adrien walk away, the blond glancing over his shoulder and giving her a quick wave that she soon returned on his way.

Hopefully she wouldn’t have to steal his phone and delete a voicemail this time.

Day 2 (Seat Buddies)

Marinette sprinted up the steps and into the school as fast as she possibly could, her breath wavering as she did so. She’d managed to sleep through her alarm (again) and was almost ten minutes late!

When she finally reached the classroom, she almost fell over and she pushed open the door. She placed her hands on her knees as she caught her breath, only just noticing that none of her classmates were sat in their seats.

“Perfect timing, Marinette,” Miss Bustier greeted her, motioning for her to stand at the back with the rest of the class. “I’m testing out a new seating plan this week,” she further explained as Marinette walked over to stand beside Alya who smiled at her in greeting.

“Alright then, students. When I call out your name, sit where I’m pointing to.”

Minutes later, Marinette found herself sat on the front row in Nino’s old seat, a very particular blond sat to her right. Maybe some of ladybug’s luck was finally making an appearance in her civilian life.

She glanced over at him, catching his attention. Adrien sent her a soft smile, shuffling towards her as he leaned over like he was about to speak to her.

“I’m glad that I got you as my seat buddy,” he whispered, giving her a wink that sent her heart soaring and caused her cheeks to flush a light pink. “However, with those two behind us, the peace will be ruined quickly.”

Marinette glanced behind her to see what Adrien meant and winced. She quickly faced the front again but could practically feel Lila and Chloe’s stares tearing into the back of her head. Why Miss Bustier decided that placing those two next to each other was a good idea, Marinette didn’t know.

“I feel like this seating plan is going to be scrapped by the end of the day,” she whispered to Adrien who nodded in agreement.

“Oh well. Let’s enjoy it while we can,” he responded with a small shrugged. “Besides, I’m glad it’s you I get to sit next to and neither of those two. They’d probably cling onto me the whole time.” Adrien continued, subtly nodding his head towards the two girls behind him.

“Well, I promise not to cling onto you.”

Marinette’s eyes widen a moment later as her cheeks flame red.

‘Why did I say that?!’

Adrien just chuckles at her as he shuffles back over to his side of the bench, a soft smile adorning his face. “Thanks, Marinette. I really appreciate that.”

Day 3 (Embarrassment)

“Where is that girl?” Alya mumbled as she checked the time on her phone, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

A deep sigh escaped her lips as she slumped back on the bench. When was Marinette going to learn to set a louder alarm?

“Morning, Al,” a very familiar voice greets. Nino slings am arm around her shoulder and pulls her close as he sits down, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

In her peripheral, she notices Adrien sit down to her left, mumbling a greeting.

“You waiting for Marinette?” Nino questioned.

Alya nodded in response. “Yeah. She managed to wake up early yesterday so I thought she would again today.”

An idea popped into Alya’s head, causing her lips to curl into a smirk. Marinette hadn’t arrived yet but Adrien was still here which left her room to pry about how much closer they’d recently become.

“Speaking of my girl…” she started, turning her head towards Adrien, “you two have gotten a lot closer recently, haven’t you?”

As soon as she spoke those words, Adrien’s blank look morphed. His eyes softened as a smile blossomed on his face. He seemed to space out as the dreamy look spread across his features.

“Yeah. I’m so glad that Marinette and I are better friends now,” he responded, the borderline lovesick look never leaving his face.

Alya and Nino shared exasperated looks. That dreamy, spaced-out look on Adrien’s face is not one that you get for someone who’s ’just a friend’.

“Are you two okay? You’re making some really weird expressions right now.” Marinette inquired, breaking the heavy silence.

Alya glanced up to see Marinette staring at her and Nino, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

With one quick glance at Adrien, Alya could see the bright smile on his face. She grabbed Nino’s arm and yanked him up and away from the bench, leaving Marinette and Adrien behind.

“See you later, lovebirds!” She shouted, giggling as she and her boyfriend scampered away.

Marinette, meanwhile, could feel the heat emanating from her flaming cheeks.

“I-ignore her. Psh, lovebirds; she doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” she nervously babbled as she let out an anxious laugh.

“Honestly, I’m used to similar teasing from Nino,” Adrien admitted as he stood up from the bench, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Those two sure are something, huh?”

Similar teasing? Could it be about her?

‘No! Of course it wouldn’t be. You’re just his friend.’

“Y-yeah.”

Gosh, she wanted to be anywhere but there right now. Alya really knew how to set up an awkward situation.

Thankfully, the ringing of the bell provided an opportunity for her to escape the awkward silence.

“See you later bye!” Marinette exclaimed before sprinting away, leaving a dumbfounded Adrien behind.

Maybe one day she’d manage to get over her awkwardness around him. It had gotten better over the past few weeks, but she still had a long way to go.

It was only when she reached the doorway of the classroom that she remember the new seating arrangement — more specifically, her and Adrien’s placement in it.

Day 4 (Hide Me)

Adrien sprinted through the streets of Paris, feeling thankful for the stamina his many sporting activities caused him to have. All he wanted to do was go to the arcade, but his fans just had to chase him again.

Honestly, it was getting a little tiring at this point. Although to be fair, the last time he was chased through the city was when he was with Marinette and that had been a lot of fun. Adrien’s cheeks flushed as he remembered how they’d been mistaken for boyfriend and girlfriend but he shook the thought away in favour of hiding from the hoarde behind him.

Soon enough, he found himself near the bakery and a wave of relief washed by him. If he could somehow hide then maybe…

Adrien quickly ducked around a corner, keeping his fingers crossed as he hoped that he could manage to avoid being found. He poked his head out around the corner and when he noticed that the coast was clear, proceeded to sprint away from his hiding space and towards the door of the bakery.

As he neared the door, Adrien made sure to duck his head every time someone passed by just in case they recognised him and he ended up being chased once again.

Moments later, he pushed open the door and heard the soft chime of a bell. Adrien glanced out of the window and sigh of relief escaped his lips as he watched his fans run off into the distance.

“Adrien!” A voice exclaimed from the counter. Adrien turned around to see Sabine (Marinette’s mother) stood at the counter, a radiant smile adorning her face. “It feels like forever since you visited to practice for the video game tournament with Marinette. Are you here to see her?”

”I’m actually trying to hide from my crazed fans,” he sheepishly admitted, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “I was on my way to the arcade when someone spotted me and shouted my name because they wanted an autograph.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here for a while. Marinette should be upstairs in her room. She’s sewing right now though so make sure you knock first. Tom and I once forgot to knock and startled her that badly it made her accidentally scratch her hand with the needle,” she warned him, the memory of a small amount of blood trickling from her daughter’s hand flashing in her mind.

Adrien nodded as he walked through the door that leads through to the plethora of stairs. He paced up them, feeling a bit drained by the time he made it to the door of the apartment. All that running had tired him out.

When Adrien made it up the next short staircase and to the trapdoor, he knocked, remembering Sabine’s warning.

A few seconds later, a shout of “coming!” came from above, followed by a loud thump and a shriek.

Adrien immediately pushed open the trapdoor, worried that she’d somehow managed to hurt herself. She was a very clumsy person, after all.

When he steps into the room, he noticed her sprawled out on the floor. Adrien assumed that she must have tripped over the bolt of fabric by her feet.

“Are you okay?” He questioned as he walked over and sat on the floor beside her, shocking the blue-eyed girl.

“A-adrien!” She stammered, sitting up and blinking a few times as if she thought she was imagining him being beside her. “How come you’re here? N-not that I’m complaining about that, of course!”

“Fans,” was the only explanation he offered. It seemed it was enough, though, as recognition flashed through her eyes.

“Ah, so like the time we snuck into that cinema together.”

They both smile as the memory of wearing those ridiculous disguises flashed through their minds. That sure had been a fun day.

”Except this time I actually made it to your house,” he chuckled.

Marinette’s eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he spoke the words. She couldn’t remember anything about them being on their way to her house.

“When we bumped into each other, I asked if I could hide out at your place,” he elaborated, causing Marinette to let out a soft ‘oh’ of realisation. “Then we ended up in that empty fountain.”

“Oh yeah!” Marinette giggled. Adrien could feel the blood rush to his cheeks at the sight of her cute smile. Since when was Marinette that adorable?

(To be fair, Adrien had always known she was cute but elected to ignore it in favour of focusing on courting his lady.)

Adrien didn’t realise he was staring until he found his gaze locked with hers. It didn’t seem like either of them would be looking away any time soon either.

“Marinette! It’s busy hour!” A booming voice shouted from downstairs, snapping the two teens out of their trance.

“I’ve gotta go and help out my parents,” Marinette explained. “Saturday lunch is usually our busiest hour of the week so they need all the help they can get.”

“In that case, can I help you?” Adrien questioned, a hopeful look adorning his face and his green eyes sparkling.

“I-I guess so. I’ll find something for you to do when we get downstairs,” she replied, her heart pounding as his lips curled into the biggest smile she’d ever seen on his face.

He then stood up and held out his hand to her which she soon grasped, Adrien pulling her to her feet.

He didn’t let go of her hand, instead keeping hold of it and dragging her along as they ran down the stairs towards the bakery with matching grins.

Day 5 (Clumsy)

“Have you tried out the abilities of the new bots yet?” Adrien questioned as he and Marinette walked towards the school. Ultimate Mecha Strike Four had been the two teens’ topic of conversation for a few days now, ever since they first managed to get each of their hands on a copy of it. “One of them can actually fly!”

“To be honest with you, I’ve still only been using LB03,” she admitted with a sheepish smile.

An exasperated look took over Adrien’s features as he closed his eyes and shook his head, something he shouldn’t have done as they were walking up the steps to the main entrance.

Like any other fool who chose to not look where they were going while walking up stairs, Adrien tripped and fell forwards, gracefully landing on the steps below with a thud. Thankfully, he managed to avoid bashing his head but would probably end up with a few bruises on his arms or legs.

“Oh gosh, are you okay?” Marinette hurriedly questioned as she helped him up from the ground and back onto his feet. “You didn’t hurt anything too badly, did you?”

”Only my pride, but it’ll be fine soon,” he chuckled, brushing himself off and smoothing out the creases in his overshirt. “At least there weren’t too many people around.”

Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief at that and pressed her hand to her rapidly beating heart, her worry washing away as she was glad that he seemed to be okay.

”Hey, maybe your clumsiness is starting to rub off on me.” Adrien joked, nudging her shoulder with his own. A teasing smirk adorned his face as her expression morphed into one of fake shock.

”Um, excuse you, I’m just never in the right place at the right time.”

”Sure.”

Marinette gave him a pointed look for that comment, causing the two burst into a fit of laughter that caused Alya and Nino to notice their arrival and wave at them. Adrien obviously hadn’t learnt from his stupid mistake as he clumsily tripped up the top step. Marinette could see Alya and Nino wincing from across the courtyard.

“Okay, that was your own fault.”

“Fair enough.”

Day 6 (Secrets)

Marinette glanced over to the blond boy sat on the steps outside of the school, his head hanging down. Adrien had been distant all day which was incredibly unusual. Normally, he’d be laughing and joking with them (it had taken a while for him to do so in the first place, though).

She bit her lip, wondering if she should go over and ask if he’s okay. From where she stood, she could only see his back, so she can’t see his expression. Maybe he’s okay. But if he’s not…

“Girl, stop staring and go,” a voice to her right said. Alya. “If something is actually wrong, we need to know. All three of us asking may be too much for him, though.”

“Okay,” she breathed, beginning to pace over to him. Anxiety welled within her as she approached him. What if he was actually okay and her question ends up seeming rude to him?! What if she offends him somehow?!

Marinette shook the thought away in favour of sitting down next to Adrien. Slowly and gently, she tapped him on the shoulder, breaking him out of whatever trail of thought he’d been stuck in.

“Are you okay?”

Adrien took in a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair. The blank expression on his face was unreadable, making it hard for Marinette to understand what he was feeling right now.

All of a sudden, tears start to well up in his eyes, giving them a glossy shine. His lip trembles as he does a long blink in the hopes of holding the tears back.

”It’s been a year already,” he began to explain, his voice shaky as the tears slowly began to drip from his eyes, sliding down his rosy cheeks. “It’s been an entire year since my mother went missing and there’s still no trace of her. Please don’t tell anyone else about this. I don’t want them to worry about me.”

Marinette immediately wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug, hoping that it would somehow comfort him. He’d been keeping this a secret from everyone all day, a task that didn’t seem easy at all.

Adrien soon returned the warm embrace, leaning his head onto her shoulder.

“Adrien, I want you to tell me if something like this bothers you again. I hate seeing you upset.” Marinette declared. She could already feel her shoulder starting to get wet, but she didn’t care.

“Okay,” he whispers between sobs. “I promise that I’ll tell you.”

He lifted his head up and wiped away the last of his tears, giving her a weak smile.

“Thank you, Marinette.”

Day 7 (Sweet Tooth)

Adrien walked into the classroom just as the late bell rang, rushing to his seat a moment later so that he wouldn’t end up being shouted at.

When his eyes landed on a small box marked with the logo of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. Who left this here?

Then he noticed the folded note stuck to the top of the box. If there was a note then that must mean someone left it here for him.

He carefully tore off the note and unfolded it, a smile spreading on his face as he read the words written in familiar script. He should have known that Marinette would remember how he’d been complaining about being hungry this morning.

The next day, Adrien thanked Marinette for the cookies that were in the box. It felt like it had been forever since the last time he’d had them and Adrien was reminded about his sweet tooth because of it.

“Could I, erm,” he awkwardly stuttered. He cleared his throat and dropped his voice into a whisper. “Could I maybe have something from the bakery again today. I’ll pay this time.”

Marinette giggled at him and nodded her head, causing a cheery smile to bloom on Adrien’s face. “Of course you can, Adrien. Don’t feel like you have to pay, though. This is a favour for a friend and stuff like that it for free.”

“But—“

“No buts.”

Eventually, Marinette bringing him a snack from the bakery became a regular thing, even after the week-long diet Adrien had to endure. Marinette’s parents had caught on to what was happening and always gave her teasing glances as she ran out of the bakery with whatever snack they had too many of.

On day eight of their new thing, Adrien decided that he wanted to do something in return. So what used to be just him receiving baked goods became an exchange. She would give him a treat, and he would give her some fabric or sewing supplies in return.

(Marinette had adamantly stated that she wasn’t going to take the fabric from him but then Adrien gave her the biggest pout he could muster which forced her to give in.)

“Tikki, I’m gonna die,” Marinette dramatically wailed one evening as she flopped onto her bed. “He gave me a flower today. A /flower/! Alya’s gonna tease me about this for the rest of the week!”

“Oh, Marinette.” Tikki shook her head, letting out a little giggle.

“And it wasn’t just any flower, it was a pink rose?” She exclaimed, burying her face into her pillow and letting out a small scream. “He’s such a sweet tooth! Why does he have to be so cute?!”

Marinette continued to ramble on that night, Tikki listening to each and every syllable. Her emotions swung, one moment being joyous and the next sobbing fake tears.

Eventually, Marinette stopped her rambling and took a deep breath of air to make up for the lack of breathing during her continually spewed words.

“That boy is going to be the death of me,” she mumbled, face-planting into her cat pillow.

Chapter Text

Day 8 (A Favour Only You Can Do)

“Hey, do you remember when you gave me that letter?” Adrien suddenly questioned, breaking the silence between him and Marinette as they worked on their homework together in the library.

“Oh no,” she muttered, refusing to look him in the eyes as her expression morphed to one of panic. She knew exactly which letter he was referring to and she honestly did not want to even think about it. The memory haunted her, and she wanted to burn it out of her mind.

She promptly slammed her head down onto the open book on the desk, letting out a loud groan of annoyance.

“You said it was a favour that only I could do yet all it was was a prescription for pills,” he continued, and she could hear his chair shifting closer to hers as he leant towards her to teasingly whisper into her ear. “A rather odd thing that only one person in the world can do, don’t you think?”

Marinette could practically feel the smirk adorning his stupid, adorable face. Over the time she’s got to know Adrien better, she’s discovered that he likes to tease and joke a lot more than she originally expected from the sheltered boy.

“So tell me: what letter were you supposed to give me?”

Marinette let out a deep sigh and lifted her head up from the textbook they were supposed to be reading through.

Her cheeks flamed read as she pondered whether or not to tell him about the letter that was actually addressed to him. She promptly shook that thought away.

‘Not now. Maybe someday, though.’

“That prescription wasn’t for me. It was supposed to be for Ma—“ she cut herself off, her eyes widening as she almost slipped up. “F-for my grandpa. He’s better now, though.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” he responded, leaning back away from her. “What about the letter for me?”

“I, er— well, um, you see,” she awkwardly stuttered, tumbling over her words. How was she supposed to cover up the fact that it was a love note of all the things?! “I-it was just a letter to say that I’m, erm—“

A loud chuckle cut off her rambling and she glanced to her left to see Adrien’s lips curling into a grin.

“Mari, was it really that bad?” Adrien inquired, the smile never leaving his face.

It almost made her want to tell him he truth, but that was a story for another time. She knew she wasn’t ready to tell him; not yet.

“Pshhhh, it wasn’t very important,” she tried to brush it off, letting out a sheepish and fake-sounding laugh as she waved her hand down and averted her gaze.

Marinette quickly slammed her textbook closed and shoved it into her already-unzipped bag, hurriedly speeding off a few seconds later with a loud call of “see you later, bye!”

Adrien smiled in amusement as she sped away before glancing down at the black cat kwami nestled in his bag.

“What do you think, Plagg?” He questioned, hoping that he might have an idea as to what was on the letter. It seems his message hadn’t quite gotten across, though.

“I think you owe me some cheese. I told you the letter wasn’t right, but did you listen to me? No!”

Day 9 (Birthday Gift)

A glimpse of blue and green caught Marinette’s eye as she rushed to pack her school bag, a warm smile spreading across her lips at the sight of it.

She paced over and picked up the lucky charm bracelet, making the decision to wear it a moment later as she carefully fastened it around her wrist. The memory of Adrien giving her the bracelet on her birthday flashed through her mind, but a loud squeak of surprise knocked her out of the trance she was about to fall into.

“Five minutes!” Tikki exclaimed after swallowing a bite of her chocolate-chip cookie. The red kwami was sat in her usual place in the pink purse on Marinette’s chaise.

The spotted kwami continued to munch on the cookie as she watched her chosen continue her hurried rush. Marinette had woken up a bit late that morning (although she had been doing better at not sleeping through her alarm recently) and was currently gathering up the last of her stuff so that she could rush down the stairs and out the doors to school where she was supposed to be meeting Adrien, Alya and Nino for a group study session in the library.

“How many minutes have I got left now?” Marinette questioned as she slipped on the straps of her backpack, the purse with Tikki and her phone in it still on the chaise.

“One!”

Marinette swiped the bag before running into a sprint, passing her parents and giving them very brief kisses on the cheek as she left the building.

When she arrived at the library, the doors bursting open with a rather loud bag as they smacked against the wall, her friends had already set up their stuff. However, Alya and Nino seemed to be looking for the books they needed.

“Good morning, Mari,” Adrien greeted with a radiant smile. When his gaze landed upon the bracelet on her wrist, his lips curled into a grin and his eyes sparkled with happiness. “You’re wearing it!”

“Yeah, I am,” she sheepishly replied, twirling it around her wrist. “Sorry for not wearing it earlier.”

“It’s okay,” he responded sincerely, his face lighting up as if an idea had suddenly struck him a moment later. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lucky charm bracelet she’d given him all those months ago when they’d been training for the tournament.

“You still carry that with you?” Marinette questioned, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. She walked over and sat down in the empty seat next to him, watching as he struggled to fasten it around his wrist.

“Of course I do!” Adrien answered, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown a few second later. He turned his head to look at her, a sheepish expression taking over his face. “Could you tie this for me?”

“Uh, s-sure,” she stuttered, reaching out to carefully tie the string together. His skin felt warm to the touch and—with a lightning fast glance up at his face—she could see that his cheeks had turned rosy.

When she finished fastening it, Adrien held out his wrist (the one with the bracelet on it) next to hers so that the two charms were side-by-side.

“Now we’re matching!”

Day 10 (Puns)

“Are you ever gonna let me win?” Adrien questioned with a chuckle as he desperately button-mashed in a rash attempt at victory.

Marinette shook her head as a giggle escaped her lips, focusing on the new combo attack she’d finally learnt to pull off. The bot on the screen swiftly moved around, the screen displaying game over for Adrien a few moments later.

“Best eleven out of twelve?” Adrien asked, trying to prolong the game in an attempt to make a comeback and defeat her.

All of a sudden, Marinette’s father burst through the living room door and ran into the kitchen to grab an apron.

“We’ve just had a random flood of customers,” he explained as he grabbed the apron and tied it around his waist.

“They always come when you yeast expect it.”

Marinette froze, her eyes widening as she looked between her papa and the blond by her side. This was not going to end well for her.

About a minute later, Marinette picked up and pillow and let out a small scream of frustration. “Let me escape this hell,” she mumbled, watching as they exchanged puns back and forth.

“Do you want to know what the best pun I ever made is?” Tom questioned, and Marinette could feel the blood starting to drain from her face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Adrien fervently nod his head, an excited glimmer shining in his iridescent green eyes.

Tom then pointed at Marinette, the aforementioned girl burying her face in the plush cushion again. Why did her papa have to do this to her? She really hoped that Adrien wouldn’t end up joking about it around her all the time after he found out the awful truth.

Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Tom must have picked up on that as he then proceeded to elaborate.

“If you take all of the meanings of her name, you get ‘the one who rises to make bread’. Sabine sure was annoyed when she found out,” he explained with a chuckle, causing the green-eyed teen to burst into a sudden fit of laughter, his chest rapidly rising and falling. Thankfully, he calmed down after a few seconds.

“Anyway, I should get going to the bakery now.” Marinette heard her papa say, the sound of the door opening and closing resounding through the room moments later.

A small snort came from Adrien’s direction as she not obviously tried to contain his laughter. He wasn’t doing a very good job of it, though.

Marinette lifted her head from the cushion in her arms, her gaze locking with Adrien’s as she glared at him, only feeling his laughter even more.

“I’m glad you find my misfortune funny.”

Day 11 (FaceTime)

Adrien sat at his desk, eagerly awaiting the call he knew he was going to receive. His father wouldn’t let him leave the house (again) so this was the only way he could be included. Adrien found himself lucky to have the friends he did as he wa honestly surprised they put up with the fact that he was hardly ever allowed to leave his own home.

Moments later, his phone started vibrating, the name ‘Marinette’ flashing onto the screen. Adrien tapped the green button as soon as he saw it pop up, his friend’s faces loading up onto the screen seconds later.

They all eagerly greeted him, happy that they were still able to include him in some way.

The hours passed by quickly, Adrien’s hidden longing to be there in person with them slowly growing. He envied their freedom but shook away the feeling in favour of focusing on the happiness they brought to him.

Marinette had talked to him whenever Alya and Nino went head-to-head in whatever video game they were currently playing and Adrien was reminded of the time they were at the Cesaire household with Alya’s older sister, Nora. That time hadn’t gone so well, though.

“Hey, Adrien. Have you ever been to the beach before?” Marinette suddenly asked, confusing the blond. She looked at him through the call, another lingering question shining in her eyes.

“Yeah, but it’s been a while,” he responded. By a while he meant the last time he went was when his mother was still around. A lot of time had passed since then.

“Well, Alya, Nino and I have been thinking about organising a day-trip to the beach, and we were wondering if you’d like to come with us,” she smiled, looking hopeful.

Adrien gaped at her as he considered his offer. When he remembered how little he was allowed to leave the house, he grimaced. He’d have to try and catch his father on a good day and hope that he’d actually let him go. His friends couldn’t FaceTime him forever.

“I’ll have to ask Nathalie to ask my father about it,” Adrien responded after pondering it for a moment. “But that’s not a no.”

Marinette’s lips curled into a grin as she playfully rolled her eyes. “Your dad needs to stop being such a control freak.”

A chuckle escaped Adrien’s lips at her words. She was right, though. His father needed to learn that he was own person.

“Let’s hope it’s a yes.” Adrien replied, crossing his fingers and holding them up. She mirrored the action, matching grins gracing their lips.

Day 12 (“Adrien’s Girlfriend”)

“Adrien Agreste!”

Adrien instantly froze in his tracks as he walked across the courtyard in College Françoise Dupont, his eyes widening as he realised who the excited voice belonged to. Last time he saw the guy, it involved a lot of running away.

He pivoted on his heel so that he could face the other teen as he tried to cover up the grimace threatening to cross his face. “Hi, Wayhem.”

The brown-haired boy had his usual wide smile plastered on his face; It didn’t look like he could even smile more brightly than he already was.

(Adrien suspected that it was Wayhem’s inner fanboy leaking out.)

Wayhem ran up to Adrien and wrapped his arms around him in an awkward hug before pulling back but leaving his hands on Adrien’s shoulders.

“Oh, I’m so glad to see you, Adr— hey, isn’t that your girlfriend?”

Adrien's eyes widened at the words. His girlfriend?’ He didn’t even have a girlfriend. Adrien turned his head to see Marinette and Alya walking nearby, Wayhem’s words suddenly clicking in his mind.

Last time he’d seen Wayhem was the day he and Marinette had been running around Paris to escape from his fans. Adrien recalled his father not being too happy about the tabloid articles that followed.

He opened his mouth to tell him that they weren’t dating but was cut off by the brown-haired boy’s loud voice. “Oh, you two are so cute together!” He gushed, his voice echoing around them.

“Shh, keep your voice down. Marinette and I are not dating.” Adrien admitted, watching as the boy in front of his visibly deflated and his eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

“Oh. But you like her, right?” Wayhem questioned, causing Adrien’s cheeks to flare red.

Adrien tried to ignore the way his heart fluttered in his chest and how heat was emanating from his cheeks. He didn’t like her that way, right.

‘But maybe…’

He shook his head no. Wayhem shrugged it off before his face lit up into a grin again and he started happily chatting away about Adrien’s latest advertising campaign.

Day 13 (Good Luck)

Today was not a good day, Marinette had decided. Things just weren’t going her way at all and were just getting more and more terrible.

First of all, she’d been late to school. (She’d been doing so well recently, too.) Unfortunately, that meant that she ended up being given a detention to make up for the time she missed. Wonderful.

After that, Chloé decided that it was a great day to stick gum to her chair. Thankfully, Marinette had noticed it before she sat on it.

And then during lunch, Lila had the audacity to spread yet another lie. This time, she lied about designing Jagged Stone’s Eiffel Tower glasses—the same ones that she, Marinette, had made. And the worst part about it all: nobody seemed to question her. Not a single one of her classmates who all knew Marinette was the one to design them.

Even Alya and Nino didn’t say anything, although Marinette could tell that they were rather sceptical and didn’t quite believe the pathological liar.

By that point, she’d had enough. Nobody noticed her storm out of the cafeteria, tears building up in her eyes as she ran through the halls of the school. Eventually, she found herself sat on the steps outside the school entrance.

It felt like a dam burst inside of her as the tears began to cascade down her cheeks, blurring her vision. She tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming.

Marinette was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the sound of a car pulling up in front of the school, nor the sound of her fair-haired friend getting out of said car.

She only noticed his presence when she felt a tap on her shoulder as someone sat next to her. Marinette looked up and stopped twiddling her thumbs to see Adrien beside her, a look of worry etched on his face.

He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into a hug. He said nothing as she let out the last of her sobs into his shoulder, the pain of her bad luck dulling away.

“What happened?” He questioned as she moved her head away from his shoulder. He moved so that he still had one arm wrapped around her, Marinette’s leaning into Adrien’s side.

“A lot of things. It just all built up, I guess,” she tried to explain. “Lila was the tipping point. She made up another lie, but it wasn’t even a good one.”

Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed at that, urging her to continue.

“She said she was the one who designed Jagged Stone’s Eiffel Tower glasses even though everyone in our class knows that it was me. Alya and Nino didn’t seem to believe her, but they still didn’t say anything.”

“Just ignore her. She’s obviously spreading these lies to get attention,” Adrien responses after a moment of silence. “Don’t give her the reaction she wants.”

Marinette nodded, agreeing with his words. He was right, after all. If Marinette exploded like she had the first day Lila was back then everything would just blow up in her face.

“It sounds like you’re not having much luck today, huh?”

Marinette let out a small giggle as she shook her head.

“Hey, how about you come and eat lunch with me tomorrow? I miss sitting next to you in class, so it’d be nice to talk to you some more again.” Adrien suggested, a sweet smile gracing his face as he watched Marinette’s eyes sparkle with excitement. He felt his heart flutter at her smile, but tried to push the feeling away.

“I’d love to.”

Day 14 (The Valentine)

The collection had started slowly. Adrien didn’t even realise he had a collection until he ended up with a box full of stuff from her. The box had originally just been somewhere to put the things he ended up receiving from her until he found somewhere else to put them, but eventually Adrien ended up forgetting to take them out again.

There were a few notes—some from school work and some that had both of their handwriting on from when they passed it back and forth between them—as well as other items like his lucky charm bracelet and also a cat plushie she made him a few weeks ago.

Recently, something about the items in there had been nagging at Adrien’s mind. It was as if there was something missing; as if he’d forgotten to put something (or maybe even multiple items) in the box.

Adrien opened the cupboard he kept the medium-sized box in, pulling it out from its shelf and walking over to his coffee table before placing it down. He took off the lid of the box and placed it down to the left of it but paused when he realised he had no idea what to even look for.

“What are you doing?” Plagg questioned, flying over and sitting on the circular lid.

“I feel like something is missing,” Adrien mumbled, reaching into the plain blue box and pulling out a few random pieces of paper. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about it.

He read through the conversation they’d had on the scrap piece of paper, the gears in his head whirring away until it finally clicked.

“Her handwriting,” he breathed, his eyes widening. He reached in and pulled out the note she’d left him the day she gave him the schoolwork he’d missed, remembering his words from that day.

“I know I said that it doesn’t match before but…” he trailed off, staring at the two notes in each of his hands.

All of a sudden, Plagg zipped away, coming back a moment later with the Valentine’s card in his tiny paws as if he already knew what Adrien was about to ask.

Adrien took the card from the cat kwami, holding it side-by-side with the other notes. Marinette’s penmanship was consistently the same, each loop or swirl of each letter matching perfectly.

Now that Adrien had more proof, there was no use in denying it. The writing wasn’t just similar, it was exactly the same.

“Marinette wrote the card,” he mumbled, trying to ignore his palpitating heart. Why did he deny it so heavily last time? What was he thinking?!

“Finally!” Plagg exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief. “You actually can figure things out when you put your mind to it.”

What was that supposed to mean? Adrien shrugged it off, glancing back at the heart-shaped card in his hand. He placed the other notes back into the box before proceeding to read through the Valentine again.

“She’s in love with me, isn’t she?” He questioned aloud, noticing Plagg nod his head in the corner of his eye.

Adrien felt his lips curl into a lovesick smile as a blush sprung to his cheeks, dusting them in light pink. He held the card to his chest and flopped down onto the sofa, staring up at the ceiling as memories of the black-haired girl flashed through his mind.

Chapter Text

Day 15 (Love Rivals)

Adrien got out of the car, making sure to thank his bodyguard before walking towards the houseboat he hadn’t visited in a while. His father had finally agreed to let him play with other musicians (although it had meant that he’d had to sacrifice some more free-time to go towards practicing on his own which was completely ridiculous) so he was finally able to join the band.

That night months ago when he played the keyboard for them at the concert felt amazing and Adrien couldn’t wait to do it again, even if it was only a band practice this time rather than a concert.

Adrien’s heart fluttered in his chest when he spotted her.

Around half an hour later, Adrien found himself almost slipping up the chord he was supposed to be playing as he saw Marinette stare at Luka in his peripheral. A faint tinge of red coated her cheeks, and a sweet smile graced her lips.

An odd feeling welled up within Adrien as he watched Luka look back at her, Marinette sheepishly looking away. He tried to shake the thought away. He couldn’t possibly be jealous, could he? There was no way.

Adrien’s mind flashed back to the time the three of them and Kagami went to the ice rink together. He recalled that Marinette had skated with the older boy that day.

His eyebrows furrowed into a frown at what he was seeing and what had happened in the past.

‘If she likes me then why did she…’

Adrien's eyes widened in realisation as the truth hit him. Marinette must have been upset when he told her about Kagami! No wonder her expression had faltered that day! A pang of guilt rose in Adrien’s chest at the thought of it.

‘She must really like me for who I am if she didn’t give up on me back then,’

He thought to himself, happiness overtaking the feeling of guilt. Adrien glanced over to Marinette, a blush rising to his cheeks when he noticed that she’d been looking at him.

He winked at her, chuckling to himself as she let out a small squeak of surprise. Adrien honestly wanted to kick himself because now that he knew of her crush, it seemed so obvious.

Oh, what an idiot he had been.

He smiled to himself, happy that even though Marinette had had to put up with a ‘love rival’, she still didn’t give up on him. He’d be even more grateful for that later on, but for the moment the underlying feelings he held for the blue-eyed beauty were still held back.

Day 16 (Beach)

Adrien closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of the cool summer breeze flowing along the beach. The group of four had thankfully managed to convince Adrien’s father to let the blond join them on the trip, telling him that Adrien needed to have a day to relax. Thankfully, Nathalie had agreed with them which further helped.

It felt like forever since he’d last been to a beach. Living in Paris meant that they weren’t nearby any, so organising the details of the trip had taken them a few weeks.

Adrien’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of a feminine shriek, his gaze landing upon Marinette who was having a splash fight with Alya in the water.

The sun shone brightly in her hair, highlights of blue reflecting from it. This was only the second time Adrien had seen her wear it in a style different to her usual pigtails. She wore it up in a bun, stray strands falling in front of her face.

Marinette turned to the left as she dodged an incoming splash, her gaze locking with Adrien’s. She flashed him a bright smile, her blue eyes shining with happiness.

And that’s when it hit him.

‘I’m in love with her,’

He thought to himself as he smiled back, hoping that it didn’t come off too lovesick. The fact that he already knew she was in love with him only quadrupled his sudden high of joy. For a person who only seemed to be surrounded by bad luck, he sure was lucky.

“You okay there, dude? You look like you’re gonna combust at any second.” Nino questioned with a raised brow as he walked over and sat down beside him, passing him a can of soda he’d bought from the nearby shack.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just realised something I should have a while ago,” he responded, his gaze flitting back to the black-haired girl standing in the water.

Nino followed his line of vision, his lips curling into a smirk when he caught—or who—Adrien was staring at with that passion-filled gaze.

”Ah, I see. Good look with that, man,” he said, barely containing the triumphant smirk on his lips. Alya now owed him a dinner date. “Just know that it’ll be hard for me to keep the news of your crush from Alya.”

Adrien gaped at Nino as the boy winked and ran out towards the sea to join the two girls in their ongoing water fight, drenching them with a huge scoop of water when he arrived.

If it was that obvious from one look, then maybe he needed to work on covering it up a bit.

“Adrien!” He heard her exclaim as she waved at him, water dripping from her hand. “Come and join us!”

A smile blossomed on his face as he put down the unopened soda can and stood up, racing over to join them in the clear blue water.

Day 17 (Confession)

Marinette paced towards the entrance of the school, noting that most students had already left the building. Class had finished over ten minutes ago, after all, and quite a few students were desperate to leave for the weekend. She’d had to stay behind for a few minutes to collect some work she missed the previous day due to yet another inconvenient akuma attack.

When she reached the door, she heard the faint pitter-patter of rainfall. Opening the door, she observed that the rain was getting heavier and that she’d be absolutely soaked by the time she made it back to her own home even though she only lived just across the street.

Marinette sure was thankful that she’d had the foresight to check the weather forecast that morning and bring an umbrella—his umbrella—with her to school. She really did not fancy getting all of her clothes and bags wet, especially her purse which held Tikki within it.

She was about to open the umbrella when she heard footsteps, the person making the soft noise stopping beside.

“Hey,” he quietly greeted, his green eyes locking with her blue ones for one fleeting moment as matching blushes dusted their cheeks. They both looked away a moment later.

A wave of nostalgia overtook the blue-eyed girl as he recalled the last time they were together when it rained. They were in the exact same place, only it was him holding the umbrella and she held distaste for him. That day was a fond memory for Marinette, a clap of thunder marking the moment she fell in love with Adrien Agreste.

An audible sigh escaped Adrien’s lips as he looked out into the rain to try and spot his bodyguard, the car nowhere in sight for he was not due to be picked up for another few minutes. The rain was too thick to walk home in, even though the distance was relatively short.

”It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon, does it?” He chuckled before turning his head to look her in the eyes once more. She shook her head in response, agreeing with his words.

She pondered whether now was a good time to tell him; she wondered what he might say if she were to tell him. Marinette bit her lip as she weighed the pros and cons, not noticing Adrien’s love-filled gaze still lingering on her as she wondered about the many possibilities.

Marinette smiled softly at him, her eyes softening as she made a decision that she knew would change everything between the two of them. It was about time she let him knew of her true feelings towards him.

“This reminds me of the day I fell in love with you,” she confessed, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she awaited his response.

A clap of thunder crashed through the air, breaking the air of silence hanging between them as the rumble echoed around them. Adrien’s eyes widened in surprise. He knew that she liked him, but he had no idea it had been that long since she first fell for him.

Adrien’s lips curled into a smile as he took her hand in his own, their fingers intertwining as he lovingly squeezed her hand. “It may not have happened on the same day for me, but I’ve fallen for you too.”

Day 18 (In The Rain)

Marinette felt her cheeks blaze at Adrien’s words, her eyes widening as it truly sunk in. An intense feeling of elation rose within her, spreading to the infectious, joyous grin her lips curled into.

She opened the umbrella out in front of her, the object springing out with a slight whoosh, before holding it above her and Adrien. Marinette watched as his eyes landed upon the small tag hanging from the center of the top, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown.

He reached out to grab it, twisting it around to find his own name scrawled across it in immaculate cursive—his own penmanship.

”You actually kept it,” he mumbled, his voice barely audible as his heart fluttered with joy. It had been months since their moment in the rain when he had given her the umbrella. He could hardly believe that she’d kept it this entire time.

”Of course I did. It’s a reminder of how our friendship started, and maybe even a… romantic relationship,” she shyly responded with a smile, Adrien’s heart hammering in tune with the pitter-patter of the rain falling around them and splashing off the umbrella. He reminded himself once again about how lucky he was to have a girl like her love him.

At that moment, the umbrella sprang closed as Marinette’s finger accidentally brushed over a small button on the handle, pushing the two teens closer together and causing laughs to bubble from chests.

“Stupid clumsiness,” she mumbled bitterly, glaring at the stupidly-placed button.

Adrien’s hand reached out in the cramped space between them to touch the side of Marinette’s face, turning it so that she’s looking directly at him.

Matching smiles grace their faces as they lose themselves in each other’s eyes, beginning to slowly lean in towards one another.

”Marinette, may I kiss you?”

“Yes.”

Their lips meet in a brief but gentle kiss, their feeling for one another fully expressed in the short moment.

They chuckle as they part, feeling content in each other’s presence as they finally push the umbrella back open.

They're about to lean in again when the sound of a car horn breaks them out of their trance and Adrien looks up to see his driver waiting for him.

Adrien and Marinette walked over to the car, hand in hand. He took her hand, gently pressing it to his lips as he cheeks flushed once again.

“I’ll call you later,” he mumbled, giving her one last kiss on the cheek before letting go of her hand and getting into the car, waving to her through the closed door as the car began to drive away.

Marinette waved to him as the car sped away and turned around the corner, a giddy grin that looks as if it’ll never fade blossoming on her face as she touched her fingers to her lips.

Day 19 (Akumatized)

“Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed as he ran down the halls of the school, searching for his girlfriend.

The aforementioned girl had just had another run-in with Lila, the brown-haired girl taunting Marinette when she thought that nobody was around to listen to her malicious words.

Little did she know, Adrien was around the corner, anger rising within as he eavesdropped on the conversation. This time, Adrien was glad that a photo shoot caused him to be late to school otherwise nobody would know about this incident.

The blond boy listened in as Lila continued to shout at Marinette about her new relationship with Adrien, throwing a few nasty accusations in her face.

He had been ready to storm around the corner to confront Lila when Marinette suddenly ran past him, tears building in the corners of her eyes. Lila had only laughed to herself as the blue-eyed girl ran away, obviously achieving whatever goal she had in mind.

Adrien continued to race after Marinette who ducked around yet another corner. Worry flooded through the green-eyed boy as he finally caught up.

Marinette knelt on the ground, clutching at her head as she let out a grunt of pain. A purple glow emanated around her, Adrien’s eyes widening when he realised what was happening.

Hawkmoth was trying to akumatize her!

He ran over, kneeling down in front of her as she continued to mumble incoherent words. “Marinette! Marinette, it’s me. Look at me,” he desperately pleaded, trying to help her escape his grasp. “Marinette, you’re going to be fine. Just breathe, Marinette. Lila isn’t worth it so don’t get too worked up over her words. Don’t get upset because of someone who stoops as low as she does!”

Marinette finally looked up at him, streaks of tears running down her porcelain skin as her body trembled with fear. She winced as Hawkmoth tried to regain the control slipping through his grasp.

“No!” She exclaimed, feeling pain. “I will not do your bidding. I won’t let you control me.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as the glowing outline slowly began to fade away, a deep purple butterfly flying out of the small purse hung from her shoulder.

Marinette suddenly collapsed onto Adrien’s shoulder, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. He wrapped his arms around her as she buried her shoulder into the crook of his neck and clutched at his overshirt.

“Thank you, Adrien.”

He smiled brightly at her as he held her in his arms, watching as the purple butterfly started to flutter away.

“I’ll call Ladybug,” he heard Marinette whisper before she shakily stood up and began to walk away.

“Marinette, you look like you’re going to keel over at any second,” he responded, holding onto her arm as she almost tripped over her own two feet.

“But the akuma—“

“Stay here, Mari. I’ll trap it in something.”

Marinette let out an audible sigh as he ran away, glancing down at Tikki in her purse a moment later.

“At least there’s nobody around to see you transform now,” the ladybug kwami pointed out. Marinette nodded, proceeding to deal with the akuma before it could get any worse.

(She also ended up having to explain to Adrien that she ‘just happened to spot it’ and ‘just happened to be in the area’.)

Day 20 (Hamsters)

Marinette glanced over at her boyfriend from her place on her chaise in her bedroom. She peered over the top of her magazine, pondering whether or not to ask him. He was currently in the middle of finishing some work that he missed due to a photoshoot earlier that day, and she didn’t want to interrupt him.

She bit her lip, the question practically begging to burst out of her.

“If you could own any pet, what would it be?” Marinette hastily asked, catching his attention. Adrien span her desk chair around to face her, an eyebrow raised skeptically.

“Why do you wanna know?” He questioned back, confused by the seemingly random question. Marinette totally hadn’t been wanting to ask him it for the past week. Nope. Not at all.

Marinette hid behind her magazine as he rolled the chair closer to her so that he was right beside her. She hadn’t actually meant to blurt out the question, after all.

“I-I’m just interested,” she tried to play off, a nervous expression on her face. “It’s just a random question.”

Adrien didn’t quite believe that. One of the previous times he’d visited her—although it was as Chat Noir so she didn’t know it was actually him—her father had mentioned something about a hamster. Adrien also recalled rejecting Marinette and her running away, shouting something about how she was going to name her hamster ‘loneliness’.

In all honesty, Adrien also loved hamsters. They were small and adorable, but he still preferred cats. (That and Plagg would probably murder him in his sleep if he didn’t say that he loved cats.)

“A hamster would be nice,” he smirked, waiting to see how she’d react.

A bright smile bloomed on her lips as she threw the magazine to the floor and surged toward him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug that sent them toppling onto the floor.

Hopefully, her parents hadn’t heard the loud bang that resonated through the room when they hit the floor. Their daughter was quite clumsy, though, so they probably just assumed she’d fallen over.

Adrien chuckled at her and hugged her back, his arms wrapping around her waist. He was happy that she seemed to be happy.

“So it was just a random question, huh?”

“Oh, shush.”

Day 21 (Nightmare)

Marinette turned over in bed, her eyes fluttering open as she heard a ringing noise resonate through the room. She let out a large yawn and stretched out her arms as her blurry vision slowly became clear, and that’s when she noticed that the ringing was coming from her phone.

She reached over and grabbed it, the brightness of the screen causing it to look a little blurry for a moment. When she saw the name ‘Adrien’ on the screen, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why on Earth was he calling her at this hour if the night?

She answered the call as a sudden feeling of worry overtook her. Surely he wouldn’t randomly call her for nothing, right?

“Hello?”

“Oh, thank goodness,” she heard him breathe out, his shaking a little with each word. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t pick up.”

“Are you okay, Adrien?” She questioned, her worry and concern increasing more by the second. Something about his voice sounded… off. It was as if he’d just been crying.

It took a while for her to receive a response from him, but she could hear him take a deep breath, probably to calm his nerves.

“Not exactly.”

And with those words, she ended the call.

On the other side of the phone, Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed into a frown, tears building in his eyes when ‘end of call’ flashed onto his screen. He felt his heart sink in his chest as a feeling of loneliness and despair washed over him.

Just as he was about to chuck the phone across the room in frustration, something else popped up on the screen. Adrien breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw it. She hung up the call so that she could FaceTime him instead.

“You really scared me for a moment there, Mari,” he admitted as soon as the call connected.

“Sorry about that. I guess I should have said something first,” Marinette responded, laughing sheepishly. “Now tell me what’s wrong. Don’t try to deny it, either. Even in this bad lighting, I can see the dry tears around your eyes.”

“I had a nightmare,” he admitted after a moment of hesitation. “Although I’m not too sure if you could class it as one.”

“What happened?” She questioned, hoping that it wouldn’t be anything too horrific.

He let out an audible sigh as he saw the blue-eyed girl’s bewildered expression. He thought about the events of the nightmare for a moment, pondering how he should word it.

“In my dream, my mom was still here.”

Her confused expression morphed into one of shock as he spoke the words before her eyebrows furrowed again as she shuffled in her bed, moving closer to her skylight so that he could see her face more clearly.

“But isn’t that a good thing? It means that you still remember her well and that you still love her even though she’s gone.”

”I know, but suddenly waking up from it due to the thunder outside is what scared me. It took me a few minutes to actually realise that none of it was real.”

Marinette felt her heart shatter at his words, her concern for Adrien showing in her worried demeanour.

“Oh, Adrien,” she whispered, watching as he blinked back the tears building in the corners of his eyes. “Just know that you’ll always have me. I won’t ever leave you, I promise.”

Adrien rubbed at his eye to stop the single year that leaked from it before giving her a weak smile. “Thanks, Marinette.”

Chapter Text

Day 22 (Aged up)

The years passed by in a blur, a myriad of new memories being formed. Throughout the five (almost six) years of their romantic relationship, Adrien and Marinette’s bond had only gotten stronger as they got to know each other better and spent more time together.

The two teens had been through a lot together, Alya and Nino always close by their sides. All four of them often went on many double dates together, ranging from simple picnics to laser tag to walks along the Seine River. Sometimes, the group split ways part way through, each going to do something different on their respective dates.

Graduation had been a blast for everyone. They all vowed to stay in contact as much as they could (a promise that had been going well so far) before going their separate ways. A few of Adrien’s old classmates even went abroad for their studies!

Adrien was forever thankful for Marinette’s help in convincing his father to let him make his own choice about his university degree. It had always been planned for Adrien to take one of the many Business courses provided seeing as his father knew he had a lack of talent for the design end of the family business. Adrien, however, had no interest for it at all. He’d always been more fond of the sciences than anything else.

Instead—with the help of his amazing girlfriend—he managed to convince his father to let him sign up for a Physics course instead. The green-eyed boy had also been pondering whether or not to take a teaching course alongside it, too.

One thing Adrien was still keeping to himself, though, was his biggest secret. There had been many an occasion where he wished he could let Marinette know that he was one of the heroes of Paris, but he knew that it could put her in danger and he cared too much for her to let that happen. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she was hurt because of his foolish actions.

Although they had been getting closer to tracking Hawkmoth down so maybe someday soon…

“Boo!”

Adrien jumped, pressing a hand to his heart and letting out a sigh of relief when he heard familiar laughter. He pivoted on his heel to see Marinette, her hair in braids rather than her usual pigtails—a style she never grew out of even though they were now twenty and a few years into university.

“Princess, how could you scare me like that?” Adrien jokingly asked, his lips curling into a smile. She shrugged at him, a playful smile on her lips.

Smirking to himself, Adrien picked her up and placed her over his shoulder, her fists hitting his back and her legs swinging in the air as she shouted at him.

“Adrien, I’m wearing a dress!” She loudly exclaimed, trying to break free of his grasp but giggling all the while. “Put me down!”

“Mari, we’re not even out the gates of my house,” he responded as he began to walk forward towards the car packed full of his belongings.

She crossed her arms with a huff, giving in. When they reached the car—which really wasn’t that far anyway—he placed her back down on the ground.

She smooths the crinkles in her pink summer dress, letting out an audible sigh as her gaze met his own.

“Ready to go?” Marinette eagerly questioned, receiving a nod in response.

He spared one last glance at the grand mansion (which he could now refer to as his old home) and took a deep breath, getting into the driver’s seat of the car he was given for his twentieth birthday a few months ago. It wasn’t too big, but it also wasn’t as flashy as the car he used to be chauffeured around in.

His gaze met that of his girlfriend as she grinned at him, excited to move in to the apartment they could both call home.

Day 23 (Fashion Show)

No matter how many times she went to one, Marinette still found herself mesmerised by fashion shows.

The flashing lights, the thrill of watching the models down the runway and the general atmosphere all made her feel elated.

It helped, of course, that a lot of the time she was watching Adrien walk down the runway at some point. Sometimes, she was even allowed backstage afterwards.

Marinette smiled to herself as the fond memory of her and her boyfriend at the age of seventeen popped into her mind. He’d surprised her one day, handing her a front row ticket to his father’s next show.

She recalled excitedly throwing her arms around him in a large hug, a loud squeal of delight escaping her lips. She also remembered rambling on about how excited she was to Adrien the entire time, wonder and awe sparkling in her bluebell eyes. The acclaimed show had certainly not disappointed her.

(Getting to look at all of the clothing that had been worn in the show afterwards was another added bonus.)

In the current moment, Marinette walked through the large crowd gathered around the catwalk, a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces surrounding her. She paced over to her seat on the front row and sat down, a radiant smile on her face as she took out her camera.

A few minutes later, the noise of the crowd died down as the show began. Then when the first model appeared, the shutters of cameras could be heard all around as a myriad of camera flashes lit up the area. Marinette, however, hadn’t taken any photos yet. She was waiting for Adrien to make an appearance first.

A few minutes into the show, she finally saw him. As Adrien strutted past her, he glanced over at her and flashed her a loving smile. Marinette grinned back before pulling a silly face at him, almost causing him to break composure. She knew that he’d probably just laugh about it with her later, anyway.

Day 24 (Bridal Style)

“Mari,” Adrien spoke as he poked her cheek. “You need to stop working at some point. This project isn’t due for another two weeks, and you’ve already done most of it. Besides, you look like you’re ready to fall asleep at any moment.”

Marinette pouted at him, pausing after sewing another stitch into the hem of the skirt she was currently working on.

“I’m fine, Adrien. I just need to finish this last little thing,” she mumbled, trying but failing to hold back a yawn.

“Last time you said that, you ended up working for two hours longer than you said you would,” he responded, brow raised. “You then proceeded to fall asleep at your desk where I found you the next morning.”

A flush rose to Marinette’s cheeks as she remembered the morning he spoke of. She’d ended up getting drool on his shirt which was mortifying.

“Yeah, but I’ve only got the hem left on this.”

“And it can wait until morning,” Adrien replied softly, taking the pleated skirt as well as the thread and needle out of her hands and placing them on the desk. “If you don’t walk to bed yourself, I’ll carry you.”

Marinette smirked at that, letting out a deliberate fake yawn. “Oh, I am so tired,” she dramaticized. “I don’t think I can make it all the way there.”

For added measure, she placed the back of her hand to her forehead and leant back in her chair. A few seconds later, she momentarily peered through her lashes to see Adrien chuckling at her, his lips curling into an amused grin. He placed his hands on his hips as he shook his head, his eyes sparkling with happiness.

“Alright then. I guess I’ll just have to take you there.” Adrien responded, one arm under her knees and the other on her back as he lifted her up bridal style. Marinette leant into his chest, her right arm holding onto his shoulder as he carried her to their room.

After nudging the door open with his foot, Adrien paced across the room and dropped Marinette on their bed, causing the blue-eyed girl to let out a little shriek. She mock-glared at him before grabbing onto his arm and yanking it so that he was beside her. Neither of them cared that they were still in their day clothes as they cuddled, drifting into a state of serene sleep.

Day 26 (Civilian Heroes)

After the first patrol she was able to go to since moving into the new apartment, Ladybug swung home as she usually did, relishing in the cool evening breeze flowing through her hair. However, she hadn’t expected to land on her apartment’s balcony at the same time as her partner, Chat Noir. She hadn’t even expected him to be there at all.

They didn’t get much of a chance to register what was going on before magic sparkles washed over them in unison.

She knew that sharing an apartment with her boyfriend would cause leaked secrets, but she never expected this.

“Adrien,” she breathed, her eyes widening as her mouth hung agape. She could hardly believe what she had just witnessed was true, but all the evidence pointed towards her told her it was.

He didn’t respond, more focused on trying to breath and register just how lucky he truly was. He’d managed to fall for the same girl twice!

A loud, fake cough broke them out of their reverie moments later, and Marinette glanced to Adrien’s right to see Plagg floating by his shoulder. How had she not noticed the cat kwami around the apartment before?!

“Instead of gazing into each other’s eyes like you usually do, maybe you should talk this out.”

Marinette nodded as she took in a deep breath, offering out her hand which Adrien then held in his own. They walked into their apartment through the unlocked balcony door, anxiety building within them.

In just under an hour, they were back to normal. They came to a few agreements about their superhero personas but knew that it wouldn’t affect their long-lasting relationship at this point.

Now they were cuddled up on the sofa, Marinette’s head resting on Adrien’s chest as it rose and fell with each breath he took. She felt content and was truly happy that it turned out that he was her partner this entire time.

“Hey, do you remember that time I called you ‘everyday Ladybug’?” He questioned, letting out a little chuckle. “Even as a civilian, you’ve always been my hero.”

Marinette’s lips curled into a grin at his words and she raised her head to meet his gentle gaze. She gave him a brief kiss on the lips before pulling away, a light blush covering her rosy cheeks.

“You’re my hero, too.”

Day 27 (Marinette & the Agrestes)

A loud squeal escaped Marinette’s lips when she opened one of her emails, catching Adrien’s attention and making him put down the textbook he was skimming through to prepare for the next lesson.

“Adrien! Adrien, you have to see this!” She exclaimed, excitedly pointing at the screen in front of her. He stood up from his place on the couch and walked over, standing behind her chair and leaning his head on top of hers.

His eyes skimmed over the message, a proud smile blossoming on his lips as he reached the end of it.

“Congrats! I think you’re going to do amazingly,” he congratulated, leaning down to give her a brief kiss on the cheek. “You’ve been working towards landing this internship for years so don’t even think about worrying that my father made a mistake.”

Marinette smiled amusedly at him in response, a dusting of pink coating her cheeks. “Who said I was going to worry?”

“When do you not worry?”

“I’m not that bad!” Marinette pouted. Sure, she was a bit of a skatterbrain and sometimes got a little worked up over things, but she wasn’t that bad.

Adrien shrugged at her. “You’re not, but you do tend to get yourself worked up about big things like this. I’ll probably have to be there anyway, though, so if you need me, I’ll be there for you,” he responded before walking back over to the couch to continue reading his textbook.

He’d be there too? Since when? Marinette skimmed through the email once more, scrolling down to the post-script at the bottom where she saw Adrien’s name mentioned. After looking through the email a few more times to check that she hadn’t missed anything and that she’d noted all of the important details down, she sent an email back to say that she would be accepting the offer and was looking forwards to working for the company.

————————

Around a month later, Marinette found herself in the Agreste mansion. Adrien came with her, but only to discuss his upcoming photoshoots with Nathalie due to his upcoming exams complicating his already-cramped schedule.

In the current moment, Marinette finished sewing the last stitch on the prototype she was working on. Throughout her short time as an intern, she’d ended up suggesting some ideas to the designers she worked under. Word had obviously gotten to Mr Agreste (who recognised her for being his son’s girlfriend and the girl who had won many of his design competitions over the years) who then decided to have her work with him instead.

He set her tasks to test how well she dealt with time limits and pressure, preparing her for the world of fashion she desperately wanted to enter as soon as she was finished with her university course. Currently, she was adding the finishing touches to a prototype for a design that matched the theme of nature. She’d only been allowed two hours to design and create the piece.

As per usual, when the time was up, Mr Agreste walked over to look at her work. The stoic man always scrutinised her work, but he praised it too and gave her valuable feedback.

“Very well done, Miss Dupain-Cheng,” he congratulated, bringing a smile to the young designers lips. A few seconds later, Adrien walked into the room with Nathalie and walked over to Marinette, holding her hand in his own.

“Forgive us, father, but we’ve got a reservation to get to.” Adrien informed as he helped Marinette pack away her things before the two began to make their way out of the room.

The older Agreste nodded, his hands clasped behind his back. “Adrien, may I speak with you for a moment?”

Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed as he let go of Marinette’s hand and walked back over to his father, the older man leaning down to whisper in his son’s ear.

“When do you plan to propose to this girl?”

Adrien felt his cheeks burn as the words were spoken, his mouth hanging open in shock before his expression morphed to a more joyous one.

“In the not-so-distant future,” he murmured, a lovesick smile adorning his face.

Day 28 (Adrien Dupain-Cheng)

Sipping his cup of coffee, Adrien felt a little intimidated. He was only with Marinette’s parents, but it was what he was there to ask that scared him. That and their reactions to it, of course.

Tom and Sabine sat opposite, waiting for Adrien to begin speaking. He’d turned up unexpectedly a few minutes earlier, telling them that he had something important to ask them.

Adrien took a deep breath as he placed the coffee mug bag down on the table, preparing himself.

“I’d like to ask your daughter to marry me,” he admitted, averting his gaze as Tom and Sabine gasped. “May I have your permission to do so?”

“Of course!” Sabine exclaimed, getting up from her seat and running around the table to hug her future son-in-law. Her husband joined them a moment later, pulling Adrien into a bear hug.

“Welcome to the family, son,” Tom congratulated, a proud smile on his face. “Have you got the ring yet?”

Adrien nodded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, the engagement ring hidden within.

————————

A few days later, the sound of knuckles tapping wood resounded through the apartment again. Sabine jumped up to answer the door, already knowing who to expect on the other side.

Sure enough, Adrien and Marinette stood on the other side, both wearing matching giddy grins. A sparkle caught Sabine’s eye as she glanced down at her daughter’s hand to see the ring Adrien had shown her a few days prior.

“Congratulations, sweetie,” she greeted, wrapping arms around Marinette. The blue-eyed girl returned the hug, her mother letting go a moment later as she ushered them into the apartment where Tom waited for them.

They all moved to sit on the sofas after more congratulatory words from both doting parents—Marinette and Adrien side-by-side on one with Tom and Sabine sat on the other.

“So, tell me. Where did he propose?” Sabine questioned, excitement shining in her grey eyes.

“He proposed to me on the spot where we first met,” Marinette replied, sharing a knowing look with Adrien as the blond-haired boy kissed her forehead.

What neither Tom nor Sabine knew was that they weren’t referring to their old school at all. It would have to be years down the line for them to find out the truth.

Hopefully, nobody had managed to spot them when he’d broken their patrol route and de-transformed to propose to her on a rooftop on the street where she had first crashed into him all those years ago.

Day 29 (Bien Joue)

“Alya, you’re squishing me. I can barely breathe.” Marinette laughed as her best friend gave her a tight hug. The brown-haired girl loosened her grip and pulled away, placing her hands on Marinette’s shoulders as she smiled at her.

“Sorry, girl,” she apologised as her lips curled into a grin. “I’m just really excited for you! You’ve been dreaming about this day for years and it’s finally here!”

Marinette’s cheeks turned red at those words. Alya was right, though. She had been envisioning her and Adrien’s wedding since they were thirteen which was now almost eight years ago.

“I’m excited too, Alya, but I think I’m too nervous to let it show,” she replied with a giggle, watching as Alya raised a brow.

“Nervous? Why would you even need to be?” Alya asked her. “That boy is head-over-heels for you, so there’s literally no chance of him standing you up.”

Marinette shrugged in agreement at that. Adrien had almost broken the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the actual wedding, after all.

A light knock made both girls glance over at the door as Marinette’s parents, Tom and Sabine, opened the door.

“It’s almost time.” Sabine informed them, her lips forming a tender smile as she looked over at her daughter in her wedding dress. Marinette had designed the garment herself, and it had been quite hard to hide it from her fiancé. She’d somehow managed, though.

Both girls hurriedly put their heels back on and walked out of the room with Tom and Sabine who were right ahead of them.

Moments after they arrived at their destination, music started to play, the beautiful melody resounding throughout the room and echoing off the walls. Alya and Marinette shared one last look as the hazel-eyed girl walked out with the other bridesmaids (their friends from collège).

When it was just the two of them, Tom linked his arm with Marinette’s and gave her a comforting smile. She took a deep breath as they walked around the corner and began to make their way down the aisle.

As soon as Marinette’s gaze met her almost-husband’s, it never strayed away. Not as she took each step down the aisle; not as she let go of her father’s arm and stood beside Adrien as he whispered that she looked beautiful; not through each of their vows.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Marinette and Adrien’s lips met in a brief but passionate kiss, their emotions clear to each other as they broke away with matching smiles.

Their knuckles met in a fistbump as everyone around them cheered, the room filled with shouts and hollers as the couple whispered to one another.

“Bien Joue.”

Day 30 (Us Against the World)

Adrien glanced at Marinette who sat to his left, her head resting on his shoulder as they both watched their children run around the park next to Marinette’s childhood home. He kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arm more tightly around her.

He was glad that he’d kickstarted all of this by asking for her phone number all those years ago when Marinette still stuttered around him. Looking back on things, he could hardly believe how he hadn’t figured out her crush on him. What an oblivious idiot he had been.

Finding out that Marinette turned out to also be his lady, his partner in fighting crime, had only brought them closer together if possible. They were almost engaged at that point, after all. It also proved that they would always choose one another.

So as Adrien watched his daughter, Emma, and his two sons, Hugo and Louis, chase each other around the park, he felt content with his life. He’d fallen in love with the same amazing girl twice, they’d defeated Hawkmoth together (an event Adrien still tried to block out of his mind) and they were now adjusting to life without the miraculous together. At this point, Adrien couldn’t imagine life without Marinette because in the end, it always had and always would be the two of them against the world.