Chapter Text
Marinette glanced at the clock. 8:27 pm.
“Oh no, we’re going to be late – Tikki, spots on!”
Marinette smiled as she felt the familiar wave of magic wash over her.
She’d been Ladybug for about three years now and was in her final year of lycée. By now, her friendship with Alya and Nino had grown stronger, and she had gotten over her stumbling and tripping around Adrien a while ago. At the moment, Marinette was content on becoming a close friend of Adrien’s before getting to the dating part, then getting to the three kids and a hamster bit.
For now, she was heading out for patrol with Chat Noir. Their friendship (strictly friendship only) had also gotten stronger and could understand exactly what the other needed the instant they looked into the others’ eyes across a battle.
Waiting perched atop a beam of the Eiffel Tower was the cat himself. Lost in thought, he remembered the day he and Ladybug met. She’s come crashing into him, looking like she’d fallen from heaven, the moment he’d fallen in love with her. From then, their teamwork began, the beginning of a lifetime of trust. Heck, he could even throw himself off the Eiffel Tower and Ladybug would catch him.
Speaking of throwing, Ladybug had even thrown him across Paris.
Speaking of Ladybug, there she was now. Tonight was the night. He was going to tell her.
He stood up, greeting her with a deep bow as she landed, as graceful as ever.
“You’re late, My Lady,” he said, kissing her hand.
“Sorry, Chat,” she giggled, “I lost track of time. Well, are we going to stand here all night or what?”
“As much as I’d love to look at you for the rest of the evening, I’ve got to get back soon. I think my father is finally getting on to me, it’s taken him three years!”
“Well then,” Ladybug returned, “Want to race?”
“You’re on!”
As they leapt across the City of Lights, they let out whoops of glee and greetings to the citizens below. They circled the main parts of the city, stopping by the major landmarks along the way.
Tonight was the night. Chat was going to tell her he loved her but had fallen for a classmate instead. Stopping at the Louvre, they sat on the roof, overlooking the people below.
“My Lady, can I tell you something?” he asked.
“Sure, Chat, anything,” she replied.
“I-I, er, well you see, uh, I’vebeeninlovewithyousincethedaywemetandI’mreallysorrybutnowI’minlovewithsomeoneelseand-“
“Woah, Chat, slow down, I can’t understand you. Now repeat slower what you just said.”
Chat took a deep breath.
“I’m, er, I’m in love with you, and I have been since the day we met, but I, er, I’m in love with someone else, please don’t be offended, and like you’re still beautiful but recently I’ve started to notice one of my classmates, oh, Ladybug, she’s so amazing, you should meet her she’s so talented and certainly has a keen eye for fashion and she’s... Are you ok?”
Ladybug had gone quiet.
Chat looked over and saw she had gone quite red.
“My Lady?”
Chat waved a hand in front of her face. She jumped.
“Oh! Sorry, I kind of blanked out after you said you loved me. Er, you said you liked a classmate, right?”
Ladybug felt weird.
She’d never really liked Chat Noir in a crush kind of way, let alone loved him, but she felt strange when he said he liked someone else now.
Chat sighed in bliss, jolting Ladybug back to reality (as real as you can get when you’re a cartoon, really).
“Yeah, Marinette sure is amazing.”
“I’m sorry, wHO?”
Ladybug nearly fell off the roof in shock.
“OH MY GOSH, I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY HER NAME OUT LOUD OH NO PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!”
“CHAT! Don’t worry, it’s ok, I just, er, have to go home, uhh I LEFT MY MICROWAVE ON BYE”
And with that, she unhooked her yo-yo from her waist and zipped off into the distance before Chat could say “I’m the cat’s meow”.
Chat facepalmed so hard he was sure it left a mark.