Work Text:
“What are you doing here, kitty?”
Chat Noir had been making frequent reoccurrences to Marinette’s balcony, dropping in occasionally after an Akuma attack, or on nights where he felt lonely, which was often. He had seen Marinette sulking on her balcony from a distance and had decided to pay her a visit once again, as he had grown quite attached to her recently. It turned out they had more in common than they thought, the feeling of constant loneliness, unrequited love, and an overwhelming desire to make others think they’re okay. Even when they’re not.
“I smelt the feeling of despair and loneliness and decided to follow it.” Chat Noir replied.
“So, did you come to laugh at me?”
"Seems like you still don’t know me very well if that’s why you think I came.” He replied shifting his weight to sit away from her, toward the view of the city.
“I’m sorry, it just...hasn’t been a very good couple of days.”
“I figured. Thought maybe you could use some company.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Chat Noir turned towards her, “Boy problems?”
Marinette rolled her eyes turning away from him, a small smile playing on her lips.
“A stereotypical school girl problem, huh? You’re not entirely wrong. There definitely is a boy, and it definitely is a problem. But it’s the feeling of loneliness that has me feeling so down.”
“I know exactly how you feel, Marinette. Will you tell me about it?”
“Do you really want to hear me rant about a boy, friends, and other teenage stuff?”
“I would love to hear all about your ~claw-ful~ experiences.” He smiled.
The tension surrounding them immediately broke as they both burst into giggles, a certain glint in Chat Noir’s eyes as he laughed with her. It was nice, bantering with someone who at least found him funny, someone who could find him useful.
“Okay, but only if you rant after me.”
“Sounds ~purr-fect~.”
“I guess we can start with the boy. I’ve had a crush on him since forever, almost as long as I’ve known him, and he just never sees me. It’s like no matter what I do I end up embarrassing myself and saying something stupid. He’s so kind, and warm and uplifting but I can tell he’s lonely. I want to be there for him or something but I can barely call myself his friend because of how terrible my skills at communicating with him are.”
“Marinette, come on. You’re the most amazing, kind hearted, brave girl I know. Besides my lady, of course. He would be insane not to notice you. I’m sure he’s noticed you more than you think.” He sadly smiled to himself, remembering how Luka had acted when he was akumatized, it was obvious that he was really into her.
Marinette blushed slightly, moving her face to the side to avoid his gaze.
“Thank you, Chat. But this boy is on a whole other level of oblivious. So many girls in our class like him and he hasn’t even noticed. He probably just thinks I’m weird.”
“Wait, he’s in your class? Would it be inappropriate if asked who it was?”
“Well I guess everyone does know at this point. I guess you could say I’m in love with Adrien Agreste.” She winced.
Chat Noir scrambled to catch himself from falling over the ledge of the balcony as he heard this, this was news to him. Did everyone really know? Is that why she would only act weird around him? He had assumed maybe she was just a bit quirky, but was overall a kind and talented person.
“I...I thought you liked that guy with the blue hair and painted nails? Why would you like Adrien Agreste?”
“Luka? I can’t say I never thought about it, but we decided to just be friends. He’s amazing, and probably too good for me anyway, he deserves someone better, someone who can give their whole self to him. And, I just told you! Adrien Agreste is such a kind hearted person, who has gone through so much. If anything I would at least like to be his friend, he doesn’t deserve to be so lonely.”
“Wow. That’s really something, Marinette. I think you’re too good for him, honestly.” Chat Noir blushed. No one had ever thought about him like this, or at least no one had ever expressed it to him. People had had crushes on him in the past, but they felt superficial and he never felt like anyone truly understood him or the way he acted. Adrien was always seen as a kind, smart model, no one had ever seen just how distraught he was. No one had ever seen him in his worst moments, no one had seen him be truly himself.
She shook her head, “You’re completely wrong about that, he deserves the world.”
He blushed furiously, turning his body away from her.
“So what’s going on with you, Chat?”
“Me- Oh! Um not much just you know um just fighting Akumas and stuff...Besides, wasn’t there more you wanted to talk about?”
“I see you trying to change the subject, Chat. But I’m not really in the mood to delve into my loneliness. That’s a little too heavy after boy talk, I think.” She laughed.
“Well, anytime you want to talk about anything, I’m here.”
“Thank you, Chat. I appreciate that.”
“Anytime, princess.” He smiled.
—
The next few days Adrien felt guilty whenever he saw Marinette. It felt wrong that he used his secret identity to learn something like this, it felt like he was betraying her trust. Marinette of all people, did not deserve to have her trust betrayed like this. But he asked, and there wasn’t really much he could about it now. It also felt kind of nice though, in a sense. It felt nice to know someone cared, and it gave him a desire to get to know her better, both as Adrien and as Chat Noir.
He sat down next to Nino after he arrival at school and began to look over his notes for class, attempting to shove away any feelings he has about Marinette’s confession. As it happened, Marinette rushed into class, settling into the seat behind him. For once she has been on time and began to talk to Alya. Adrien contemplated the idea of speaking to her, but decided against it as he didn’t want to embarrass her by talking to her in front of the whole class.
After school had ended, Adrien attempted to talk to Marinette about something he knew they had in common, video games.
He walked up to her and Alya on the outside steps of the school,
“Hey Marinette, hey Alya.”
“Hey Adrien, what’s up?” Alya asked raising an eyebrow and glancing towards Marinette.
Marinette smiled shyly in his direction without saying a word.
“I was actually wondering if Marinette wanted to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III sometime. I know we played it that one time, but after all the stuff that happened with the tournament we never got around to playing it again. Besides, Marinette is so good at it, I was wondering if she could teach me a few moves.” He beamed.
Alya smiled brightly before pushing Marinette in front of her, “She would love to! In fact she isn’t busy today and has the game on her computer at home, she would totally be down to play with you.”
Marinette forced a smile, and nodded.
“Great! Let me come up with something to tell my dad, I’ll be right back.”
Adrien walked over to the gorilla’s car and began to search for an excuse.
“Girl I don’t know what happened, but that boy has been looking at you all day, and now he’s asking you to hang out? Whatever you’re doing, it’s working.” Alya smiled in her direction.
“I haven’t done anything! That was all completely random, I have no idea what even just happened.”
“Well this is your opportunity, hang out with him, and be yourself! You’re a really cool girl Marinette, and I’m sure Adrien sees it too, just try to keep the stuttering at bay.”
“You’re right, it’s definitely gotten better though! I just haven’t completely gotten rid of the stuttering unfortunately.” Marinette crosses her arms.
“Well today is the perfect chance.”
—
“So, why the random desire to play video games with me? It’s been months since the tournament.”
“Uhh, well I um actually just rediscovered the game the other day, I just randomly got back into it I guess.”
“...Right. Okay well, I guess I should warn you about my parents. Please don’t believe anything they say, they can be a little...nosy and say things they don’t mean. So if they say that I talk about you a lot it’s totally not true. Why would I even talk about you? I-I mean not that you’re not interesting or that I don’t like you or anything, I just mean—”
“Yeah I get it, but I think your parents are awesome. I wish I had someone who wanted to know what was going on in my life like your parents do.”
“Oh—Adrien I didn’t mean to make you sad or anything, I’m so sorry.”
“No, no I know, I just meant that I think your parents are really cool, that’s all.” He said.
An awkward silence fell over them as she nodded, feeling embarrassed that she had not only called him uninteresting, but had also made him feel bad about his family situation. Before she could decide on what to say in an attempt to comfort him, she found them stepping into her family’s bakery.
“Marine— oh and Adrien! It’s lovely to see you again, what are you guys up to?” Marinette’s mother, Sabine, chimed as they entered the bakery.
Marinette’s cheeks began to grow red at the fear of her parents telling Adrien any of the weird things she had done or said about him, and so she quickly rushed to the stairs.
“Just playing games! Let me know if you need me.” Marinette said motioning for Adrien to follow her.
An hour later after Marinette had successfully managed to beat Adrien every time, they leaned back in their chairs both contemplating what to say next. Adrien awkwardly looked around until his eyes landed on a photo of him in one of his father’s photoshoots. Fashion—that’s something they could talk about, he supposed.
“So, Marinette, how long have you been designing? You’re really talented so I can only imagine it’s been quite some time.”
A blush etched itself unto her cheeks, “Oh, thank you, and honestly I guess as long as I remember? I guess starting from when I was younger, I had a whole notebook full of these terrible terrible designs and I had a brand name and everything, I really believed at age 6 that these drawings were amazing. But then I started designing things physically, not just the brainstorming aspect, and realized how difficult it can be and—oh I’m rambling. I-I do that a lot, I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s refreshing to hear someone so passionate about something without wishing for anything in return. Besides, the stuttering is kind of cute.”
Oops.
Marinette blushed, cupping her face in her hands in total embarrassment. Adrien blushed as well, but found himself not wanting to look away even when he was embarrassed.
“Well—uh—thank you?” Marinette cleared her voice before speaking again, finally managing to turn her face towards him again.
“What about you, is modeling your passion, then?” She inquired.
Is modeling my passion? Do I even have a passion? His mood took a slight inquisitive turn as he thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t say I’m passionate about it. It’s honestly just something I do.”
“Well what are you passionate about?”
"I guess school? I actually really enjoy school, not just the social aspect, but also the classes. The whole atmosphere and everything that comes with it is just exciting to me. I guess that’s why I enjoy being there so much.”
“I’m sure that’s tough, with your dad keeping you away constantly.”
“It’s fine, I’m used to it.” He smiled, bringing a hand behind his head.
“But it’s not actually fine, is it? I’m sure it really really hurts that your father can’t see that you’ve found something that makes you happy, and you still have to fight him to even go there.”
“Oh, um. Well, yeah. You’re not wrong, not at all.” He turned away from her, peering out her window. If it wasn’t for Chat Noir he didn't know if he would have even gotten this far. He supposed his time as Chat Noir could be considered a coping mechanism, he only felt free when he was Chat Noir. The only person who could really hurt him then was Ladybug, and she knew he never would. Not intentionally, at least. His Chat Noir persona felt more real to him then Adrien ever did.
—
“Once again Ladybug and Chat Noir have saved Paris from the akumatized villain Heartbreaker! We will be right back with more details concerning the fight.”
The whole fight made Marinette feel terrible, Heartbreaker’s power was the ability to make people say things they believed would break someone’s heart. But he had gotten to her. She had been trying to avoid letting Heartbreaker hit too many civilians, but his words had struck a chord and stopped her in her tracks. Chat Noir, her loyal partner had been beside her when she was hit and so she turned to him and said,
“I will NEVER love you.”
The fight was over quickly after that, Ladybug sprung into action quickly capturing the Akuma. But after Ladybug had exclaimed Miraculous Ladybug, Chat Noir was gone. So, with a heavy heart she went home, promising herself to reach out to him an apologize the next time she saw him.
When she got back to her house she noticed the lights on in her bedroom. Assuming her parents had gone in her room or something she found an alley to transform back and made her way to the bakery. When she climbed up to her room she found an unexpected visitor, Chat Noir sitting on her floor gazing out the window.
“Chat?”
He scrambled to his feet, wiping at his face before turning to her, “Oh hey Mari, uh I just dropped by and your door was open but I didn’t see you and I just wanted to say hi I guess.”
“Are you…are you okay?” She asked taking a step towards him.
He instinctively took a step back, his eyes softening at her concern.
“I’m sorry, but no, I don’t think I am.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“In the wise words of someone I know, there isn’t really much to say, I’m just disappointed mainly. No, but really. I’m ironically kind of heartbroken.” He sadly smiled.
“Why? You don’t have to tell me, but maybe I can try to help?” She replied as they both sat next to each other on her floor.
“I guess I did promise to rant about my problems, so here’s me paying you back. My problem is I love Ladybug, and I know, I know she doesn’t love me back. But sometimes she says things that give me hope and I fall right back into it and think, you know what maybe she at least likes me, maybe she could love me. Which is such a stupid thing to think, but I can’t help it. I’ve been trying so hard to move on, but hearing her say that just really, really hurt.”
“I’m sorry. Maybe you should have a conversation with her, really talk things out?”
“She’ll never take me seriously, to her I’m just a sidekick.”
“Why would you think that? Chat you’re just as important as she is, Ladybug would never be able to save Paris without you. You guys are a team, you’re partners! You’re equals, and you’re both important.” Marinette replied, raising her voice.
He ducked his head down placing in into his hands. The thought of him crying due to her only weighed down on her more.
“Thank you. I should go I guess, I didn’t mean to intrude or anything, I’m sorry about that.”
“You should stay, as long as you can. I don't have anything else to do so we can just hang out and talk for a while.” She said, her hand coming to rest on her neck as she felt awkward. Was it wrong to want to hang out with him more? He’s one of the most important people in her life, but she felt as if she was betraying his trust, like she was playing him. She knew she had some feelings for him, but she had always dismissed them because of her feelings for Adrien. Her and Adrien had become closer over the last few months and she really did like him, but something about Chat Noir felt equally as alluring.
Chat Noir ended up staying over for 2 more hours, until her parents had called her for dinner. They had talked about so many things, though she had to keep cutting him off when he accidentally gave her clues towards his identity. As much as she wanted to know, she knew it was for the best that they kept their identities a secret, no matter how much she wanted to tell him.
After dinner she plopped into her bed, “Tikki, am I doing the wrong thing?”
“Honestly, you’ve kind of backed yourself into the wall here, knowing Chat Noir as Ladybug and Marinette is really going to make things complicated.” Tikki replied coming to lay down near Marinette.
“I know, but I like being around him, especially as Marinette because I don’t feel like I need to hold back anything. I don’t have to hide myself or pretend to be something I’m not. He’s the only person I feel completely comfortable around, that I can actually relate to. I just feel like I’m messing with his feelings by talking to him about Ladybug and stuff. I want to tell him who I am, but I don’t want to mess up the relationship we have.”
“You like him, don’t you.”
“What?! Tikki, I love Adrien you know that!”
“Maybe, but you like Chat Noir, it’s okay to have feelings for both.”
“That isn’t fair to either of them though, I can’t mess with their feelings like that. Adrien and I are finally friends and we even talk and text now, I’m not going to say anything about my feelings towards him. But as for Chat, it’s not fair to tell him I like him if I still like Adrien.”
“Why don’t you tell him the truth?”
“I’m just scared I’m going to mess everything up. I don’t want Chat to hate me as Marinette or Ladybug, we both need him.”
—
“My lady, can we talk about this?”
They had just defeated another Akuma, though Chat Noir had been extremely flirty that day, frustrating Ladybug so much that she had decided to ignore him. A lull fell between them as both of their miraculous signaled 1 minute left.
“We’re about to run out of time, Chaton.”
“Can we meet at the Eiffel tower in an hour?”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
An hour had passed and Chat Noir had been waiting for Ladybug for almost twenty minutes, the anxiety of finally talking about his feelings gnawed at him but he had been waiting to get this off his chest. He knew it was unlikely that she felt the same but couldn’t help but hold on to the small glimmer of hope that there was a possibility she would, if not now maybe she could, one day.
Ladybug landed silently, walking over to Chat Noir who had been overlooking the city from the edge of the tower.
He turned to look over at her, “Ladybug, you know how I feel about you. But I wanna tell you myself, and just get this off of my chest.”
Ladybug held her breath and turned towards him as h began speaking, “I am in love with you. I know you might not think it’s possible since I don’t know who you are, but I am completely consumed by my love and adoration for you. You’re the first person I think of every morning, and the last person I think of every night. I know that a relationship between us would be difficult, but I’m willing to put in any amount of work for you. You’re the most brave, amazing, intelligent, and talented person I know. I want to be with you, and I'm sorry if this complicates things. You don’t have to even respond to me, I just needed you to know how I felt.”
Ladybug let in a breath as she turned away from him, “Kitty, you are my best friend and my partner. You mean so much to me and honestly you deserve better. I just can’t give you my whole heart, there's someone else I'm in love with. I don’t want to be unfair with you, and even besides the whole identity thing I just don’t think it’s fair to you that I’m in love with someone else. I like you, but I’m in love with him. I don’t want hurt you because of my feelings for someone else."
Chat Noir smiled a sad smile. “I understand bugaboo, just know I’m always here for you. If that guy you’re in love with isn’t in love with you, he’s crazy. I’ll see you around.”
He leaped off the tower heading back to his home leaving Ladybug with a sour feeling. It hurt her to hurt him like that but her feelings for Adrien would not let her admit how deep her feelings for Chat Noir had grown.
—
At school the next day Marinette sat behind Adrien as per usual, her eyes constantly lingering on him as she tried to pay attention in class. Marinette’s mind drifted until class was dismissed, her friends trying to get her attention.
“Marinette? Hellooo?” Alya asked smirking at her friend.
“Huh oh yeah what is it? Sorry I uh… didn’t get much sleep last night.” Her eyes met Adrien’s as she looked away, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.
“We’re talking about our favorite superheroes, Alya’s taking a poll.” Adrien smiled.
“Oh uh favorite superheroes… uh yeah okay. I would say my favorite superhero is Chat Noir.”
Adrien glanced away, a deep blush settling on to his face.
“Really? I thought you’d agree with Adrien since you’re SOOOOO in love with him. It’s obvious Ladybug is the best, but I guess you wouldn’t know since you’re not friends with her like I am.”
Marinette didn’t even need to think twice before rolling her eyes, Lila always had to be the center of attention and ruin everything. It took a moment for her to realize she had said Marinette was in love with Adrien, in front of Adrien.
She blushed, briskly gathered her belongings and left the classroom, immediately heading to her locker and then home for lunch. She was beyond frustrated and embarrassed by what Lila had said. Of course she had inadvertently made it pretty obvious of her feelings towards Adrien, but the way Lila had said it really embarrassed her, and she had said it in front of him too. Before she could even open her locker, Adrien had walked up beside her.
“Marinette? I’m sorry about Lila, she really knows how to get under your skin doesn’t she?”
Marinette avoided his eyes, rummaging through her locker, “She really does, you don’t even know the half of it.”
Marinette just tell him. Get it off your shoulders and tell him. You might ruin your friendship but at least he’ll know how you feel.
"I know Lila lies a lot, but she actually said something kinda true for once. I kinda…lov-like you? Yeah I uh, I like you.”
“Oh...well that kind of makes sense then.” Adrien laughed, feigning surprise.
They both flushed turning away from each other a moment.
“You really are an amazing girl Marinette and anyone would be lucky to have you, but I kind of have feelings for another girl. I like you, but I’m in love with her. I don’t wanna hurt you because of my feelings for someone else.”
And then it all just clicked…the green eyes and blond hair. Oh and also the fact that he directly quoted what Ladybug had said to Chat Noir the previous night.
“I cannot believe you just quoted me.”
“I—what?” He asked, looking absolutely lost.
“I said those exact words to you. Last night. On the Eiffel Tower.”
And then it all just clicked…the blue eyes and dark blue pigtails.
“We are so stupid aren’t we.” She stated unable to look him in the eyes.
“Yeah, we really are.”
“Oh my gosh, I absolutely cannot believe we have been rejecting each other, for each other.”
“I mean I’d say thats kinda romantic don’t you think?” He laughed.
The awkwardness in the room dissipated as they both laughed.
“So, are you disappointed to know it’s me?” She asked.
“Marinette I would be disappointed if it was anyone but you. I’ve kinda had a crush on you for a while now, but my feelings for Ladybug over shadowed it. I felt bad about liking you both at the same time, but I guess I don’t have to worry about that now.”
“You know, I feel exactly the same way.” She laughed.
“Great, then can I uh-can I kiss you?” He asked staring at the space directly beside her.
“Of course, Chaton.”