Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

           “Marinette, I’m just not sure this is working out.”

            Marinette stared, completely floored. “Luka...I don’t understand. What happened? What is something I did?”

            Luka hesitated, looking out the window at the setting Paris sun. “Marinette, you’re great. You’re more than great. You’re sweet, funny, brave…but you’re also a bit unreliable. I never feel like you are giving me your all. Like there is another side to you that you aren’t allowing me to see.”

            Marinette felt her heart drop. Of course there was a whole other side to her that she couldn’t show him. Oh hey, by the way, I’ve actually been Ladybug for nearly eight years now, and now that you know, you can expect to become a target of Hawkmoth’s! Also be sure to never, ever be akumitized because that would be putting me and my family at risk. No, she couldn’t ever tell him. How could she ever put that much pressure on him? How could she be that selfish?

            “Luka, I want to give you my all. I love you.”

            “I love you too Marinette. But I want someone who can be with me completely. That’s just not how our relationship has been going,” Luka shook his head, strumming a minor chord on his guitar restlessly. “I mean, we’ve talked about this kind of thing before, and after we talk, it’s gotten better for a bit. But then, it starts all over again. You’ll blow me off, give me lame excuses, or not talk to me about things that I can tell are really bothering you. That just won’t work.”

            Marinette didn’t say anything. She just looked imploringly into his impossible blue eyes.

            Luka flipped his guitar so it could be on his back and put his arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “You are amazing, and I know that you’ll someday find someone who you can be completely yourself around.” He dropped his arm and made his way to the door. “See you, Marinette.”

            As the door shut behind him, Tikki flew out of her hiding place and hovered above Marinette’s shoulder, looking at her girl with concern. “Are you okay Marinette?”

            “No, I’m not okay!” Marinette cried, throwing her hands in the air, feeling a panic attack coming. “Luka broke up with me. Luka broke up with me because I’m Ladybug. How am I ever going to recover from this? How can I ever be with someone ever again? No one will ever want me, no one will ever care for me, and I am completely unlovable and Luka was right to let me go because Ladybug and Paris will always come first in my life so I’m never going to be able to around someone for very long without them leaving me and—“

            “Marinette!” Tikki interrupted. “You know that’s not true. Alya’s stuck around for this long, and she still loves you for who you are. You’ll find someone someday who will be okay with you and everything that comes with you. It’s going to be alright.” Tikki pressed her small face against Marinette’s face, hoping to provide her with some comfort.

            Marinette collapsed onto the couch in the living room of the apartment that she and Alya shared. She buried her face into her hands, feeling absolutely hopeless. Just as Marinette was thinking she needed to go for a run around Paris, Alya walked in through the door, her arms loaded with books, notebooks, pens, and binders. Alya was the principal at a private school and wrote for Le Monde twice a week as well.

            “Heeyy, girl!” Alya said cheerfully, having not glanced at Marinette yet. “How was your day? I was thinking about inviting Nino and Luka over and having maybe a great double date! We could even make it a triple date and invite Juleka and Rose, what do you think?” As Alya talked, she made her way to her bedroom, dumped her supplies onto the floor, and walked back into the main area. “I know Rose is super busy with her scrapbooking store and Kitty Section, but – hey what’s wrong?”

            At Alya’s question, Marinette felt her eyes prickle with tears. She looked up from her hands and choked out, “Luka broke up with me.”

            “Oh, Marinette,” Alya sat down next to Marinette and put an arm around her. “How did it happen? Do you want to talk about it?”

            “He just…he said…” Marinette tried to speak through the tightness of her throat. She took several seconds to breathe and wipe her eyes. Alya jumped up and grabbed a tissue. Marinette blew her nose, feeling rather pathetic. She sniffed and said, “He said that I was unreliable, and he knew that I could never be completely myself around him. Which is completely true, but I just thought…I mean I wanted…”

            “Oh, Marinette,” Alya said again, compassionately. “I know this is hard. I’m so sorry you’re going through this.”

            “Alya, Luka is the most patient and kind guy that I know. If he can’t deal with me, who will?” Marinette hid her face in her hands again and felt her throat close again.

            Alya pulled Marinette onto her shoulder and rubbed her back, unable to say anything. Although Alya wouldn’t say it, she knew Luka had a point. Marinette was often forgetful and frequently overbooked herself, causing her to suddenly drop everything and disappear. Alya had dealt with it since they were fifteen, and she found it endearing, but she knew that being a platonic best friend to someone like Marinette was completely different to being in a romantic relationship with them.

            After fifteen minutes or so, Alya suddenly jumped up from the couch, causing Marinette to fall sideways onto the couch. “Alright girl, ice cream and pizza. It’s time for Dealing With A Breakup 101. You lay there and be sad, and I’ll turn on Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and order us some pizza. I think we have some chocolate ice cream in the fridge…”

            While Alya got busy, Marinette curled up with a blanket and pillow, tears leaking out of her eyes again, this time with gratitude for having a friend like Alya.

            In the midst of laughing, crying, and eating her feelings, Marinette discovered that she was feeling a tiny bit better. The movie ended just before nine, and Marinette realized that she was going to be late to patrol with Chat Noir. She stood up as casually as she could. “Alya, thank you so much…I needed this.”

            Alya smiled up at her. “Anytime, girl. You feeling any better?”

            “Yeah, I think so. If it’s okay, I think I need a bit of alone time.”

            Alya stood up to hug her. “Let me know if you need me.”

            Marinette returned the hug, then hurried into her room to transform. She could still feel a heavy weight in her chest, and her head was killing her from crying.

            “Marinette, if you don’t feel like going, I’m sure Chat will be fine on his own tonight,” Tikki said softly, popping up beside her.

            “No, I should go,” Marinette sighed. “I mean, Ladybug and Paris come first.”

            Within seconds, she was running across the rooftops of her city, her mind clearing with the fresh air in her lungs. She reached the Arc de Triomphe just ten minutes after nine. Chat Noir was already there, stretched out on his back, throwing his baton high up into the air with one hand, then catching it in the other. Ladybug landed beside him and caught his baton mid-air before he could.

            “Hey, kitty,” she smiled, handing his baton back to him.

            Chat sat up quickly, his face brightening as he looked up at her. “My lady, I was paws-istive you were standing me up.”

            “Yeah, sorry. I’ve had kind of a long day,” Ladybug sat down beside him.

            Chat peered closely at her. He could tell that something was off; whatever it was, it was bigger than just a long day. He debated internally whether he should ask her about it, and ultimately, his curiosity won over. “What’s wrong? No offense, my lady, but you look merely stunning instead of ravishing like you usually do.”

            Ladybug shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, Chat. Let’s just start patrol.”

            Chat nodded, stood up, and stretched. “All right then! You go left, I go right, and we meet back up here in half an hour or so?”

            “Um, actually, Chat,” Ladybug said, standing up as well and biting her lip. “Would it be okay if we did patrol together? I don’t really feel like being alone tonight.”

            Chat was surprised. Ladybug didn’t often want to do patrol together. Whatever she did in her real life, Chat suspected it was something very hectic. She usually arrived early, waited impatiently for him, did patrol quickly, waved goodbye, and that was it. Not that Chat thought that she didn’t care about him, he knew that she did; he just also knew that Ladybug wasn’t happy unless she was busy. “Yeah, of course, Ladybug. Lead the way.”

            After twenty minutes of running and scanning the areas of high akuma sightings, Chat suddenly noticed Ladybug was no longer with him. He turned around and saw her just a few buildings away from him, completely stopped. He extended his baton and landed beside her. Looking around, he realized they were on top of his old school.

            “Everything okay, my Lady?” She had her arms around herself like she was cold, and her face was turned away from him.

            “Yeah, I just…needed a break,” she murmured. She sat down on the roof with her legs overhanging the inside of the school. It was something Chat had always loved about the school – it had an inner quad that was both outside and inside.

            Chat sat down next to her and was again surprised when she leaned into him slightly. “Ladybug, tell me what’s wrong. I know it’s more than just a long day. You can be as cryptic as you need to be.”

            Ladybug was quiet for a few minutes, then asked, “Chat, have you ever dated anyone?”

            Chat frowned, not sure where this was going. “Not seriously, no. I’ve gone on some dates with a few girls, but none seemed to stick. Have you?”

            “Yeah, I have. We actually just broke up, like, three hours ago, so that’s been pretty sucky.”

            “Did he break up with you? Or did you break up with him? Wait, was it a guy? I know you’re into guys, but I guess I have no idea if you’re into girls as well.”

            Ladybug chuckled sadly. “No, it was a guy, and he broke up with me. He…well, he broke up with me because I’m Ladybug.”

            Chat stared at her. “Wait, you told him your identity?”

            “No, I didn’t tell him my identity and that’s actually the problem,” Ladybug pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Chat had never seen her looking so vulnerable. He loved it and hated it at the same time. “He could sense that I wasn’t telling him everything about myself, and I think that bothered him a lot. He was all in, and I could never be because I’m constantly carrying around this huge secret that caused me to be unreliable.”

            Chat saw a tear leak out of her eyes. “Ladybug, I mean…Why didn’t you just tell him? If you dated him, I’m sure he must be pretty trustworthy.”

            “Chat, if it had to do with trust, I would’ve told you by now. But if I told him, it would put major pressure on him that he doesn’t deserve. What if he got akumatized? What if he was disappointed to find out that Paris’s superhero is just…” Ladybug trailed off. “I just mean, it would selfish of me to put that burden on somebody who never asked for it. It would make them a target as well if Hawkmoth ever got a hint that Ladybug was dating somebody.”

            Chat put his arm around her and pulled her in. He wished he could just tell her how amazing she was, how it didn’t matter who was under the mask, how he knew what it was like to hold a secret inside and not be able to tell anyone. He wanted to tell her the main reason he hadn’t dated anybody seriously – his heart still belonged to her. He hadn’t told her in years, but he knew that if he ever was going to date somebody seriously, they would have to shine a pretty bright light to even compare to the sun in his life which was Ladybug. Instead, he settled for saying, “Someday, Ladybug. Someday, someone is going to steal your heart away, and you will have absolutely no doubts about telling them your identity.”

            Ladybug shook her head. “No. I’ve decided I’m done. I’m not going to date anyone until Hawkmoth is defeated, and I can retire peacefully. That is the only way I can know for sure that it will be okay to tell someone.”

            ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

            Chat swung into his bedroom of the apartment that he and Nino shared and dropped his transformation. Throwing Plagg some cheese, he made his way into the kitchen where Nino was playing a video game. His head was still swimming from his conversation with Ladybug. He couldn’t believe that she didn’t want to be with anybody until Hawkmoth was defeated. That could be ages! His heart ached for his lady; he knew what it was like to lead a lonely life, and he couldn’t stand the thought of Ladybug feeling like she had to be alone out a sense of duty or whatever. He wanted her to be happy; he wanted it so bad, his chest hurt.

            There was nothing he could do about it right now though, he thought forlornly. “What do you think Nino, cereal or spaghetti for dinner?” Adrien looked around his kitchen for a bowl.

            “Dude, you’ve got to learn to cook,” Nino chuckled from his place on the couch.

            “I know how to cook just fine, I just choose not to!”

            “Yeah, whatever. I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you had a personal chef for most of your life.”

            Adrien threw a dish towel at him. “Shut up, Nino. Like you know how to cook any better.”

            “I don’t have to, dude!” Nino turned off the console and stood up stretching. “When your girlfriend was raised by the head chef of Le Grande Paris hotel, you get five star meals basically every day.”

            “Yeah, how is Alya? I haven’t seen her in a bit,” Adrien asked, settling on cereal since that meant he wouldn’t have to boil water, which he assumed could only lead to a disaster.

            “She’s good, we’re good. She stayed home with Marinette tonight because Luka broke up with her today.”

            Bad luck in the love department tonight, Adrien thought. “That’s too bad, I liked Luka. Why did they break up?”

            “I dunno,” Nino replied. “Maybe you should text her to find out. When’s the last time you saw her?”

            “Oh, man, maybe…six months?” Adrien used to see Marinette all the time, since she made the costumes for Luka’s band, Kitty Section, and Adrien sometimes played the piano for them. But then, Adrien’s father, Gabriel Agreste decided to take a step back from leading his fashion empire, Gabriel, when his secretary Nathalie died, leaving Adrien to take the reins. He was basically running the company now, so between that and being Chat Noir, Adrien didn’t have time to be Luka’s band. It was too bad because music is one of the things Adrien really enjoyed; it made him feel like he was still connected to his mother.

            “Well, maybe after enough time has passed, you can ask Marinette out or something. You know, to catch up,” Nino said as casually as he could. Adrien shot a glance at him skeptically. He was well aware that Nino and Alya had been trying to get him and Marinette together since they were teenagers. Adrien had even been about to ask her out right before they graduated lyceè when he heard that she and Luka were official.

            “Maybe I will,” Adrien said, trying to sound both nonchalant but also defiant, and failing miserably at it.

            Nino chuckled then turned to head into his bedroom. “Well, I’m off to bed. I’ve got a gig this weekend that requires me to spend all day tomorrow in meetings.”

            Adrien was left to eat his cereal alone on the couch. He munched thoughtfully, then pulled out his phone and scrolled to Marinette’s number.

            “So you find out that both Ladybug and Marinette are both single in the same night, and you choose Marinette?” Plagg asked, flying out of his hiding spot.

            “Plagg, I’m not choosing Marinette. I just figure that, you know, I don’t have Ladybug’s number, so I can’t text her to ask if she’s okay. But I do have Marinette’s number. So I’m going to text her.” Adrien turned back to his phone and typed out:

A: Hey Marinette, I know we haven’t talked in a while, but Nino told me you’re going through a breakup. I’m really sorry, I hope you’re doing okay. I’m here to talk if you ever need it.

            Adrien stared at his phone, eating his cereal almost blindly, until he saw it light up and felt it buzz under his hand.

M: Thanks Adrien. It’s been really tough.

A: Anything I can do to help?

M: I don’t think so. It’s really nice to hear from you though.

A: It’s nice to hear from you too.

Chapter Text

Six Months Later…

            “So what’s going on with you today, Adrien?” Nino asked, strolling into the kitchen donning a snazzy blue dress shirt and green tie.

            “Eh, I have a big meeting with some representatives from a fashion tech company.” Adrien stirred his coffee, being careful not to splash onto his suit. “My father blew them off a year or so ago when he met with them, so I’m hoping that I can make a better impression on them and maybe even form some kind of partnership.”

            “That’s big stuff, dude.”

            “I suppose.” Adrien frowned thoughtfully. He wasn’t looking forward to this meeting. He had been in the room when his father suddenly excused himself and disappeared for the rest of the day. Adrien knew that the technology the company had been working on could change the future of fashion, and it frustrated him that he was already getting off on a bad foot. “What about you?”

            “I got a meeting with my producer, then I’m actually leaving tonight for a gig in Lyon. I won’t be back until late afternoon tomorrow,” Nino replied, pouring some coffee for himself.

            Adrien wished Nino good luck, then headed out the door. Adrien’s driver was waiting for him in front of the apartment.

            “Good morning, Adrien,” Richard said, opening the door for him.

            “Morning, Richard. How’s the family?” Adrien asked, sliding into the car.

            “Very well, sir. Lottie turns two next week.”

            Adrien pulled out his tablet and began preparing for the meeting. Reading and analyzing contracts was something Adrien was good at, but didn’t necessarily love doing. He had been in his third year of law school when Nathalie died and his father seemed to simply give up on the company. Within weeks, Adrien had been elected by the board of directors to lead Gabriel, and he dropped out to take over.

            Half an hour later, Adrien sat at his desk, feeling a bit of trepidation at the looming prospect of the meeting. His desk intercom buzzed.

            “Monsieur Agreste, the representatives from Fashion Tex are here for your 9:00,” his secretary, Anse, said.

            “Yes, send them in,” he called back. He stood up as his door opened.

            “Monsier Agreste the junior!” a beefy man in his thirties exclaimed. “It is so good to see you again. I am Jules Trimèe, and these are my associates, Alex and Maxim.”

            Two other men followed Jules. Adrien walked out from behind his desk to shake their hands. Alex was a middle-aged man with speckled-gray ginger hair and glasses while Maxim was much younger, had bright blue hair, and very large eyes. Behind Maxim, Adrien could see someone else had entered the room.

            Jules caught where his attention was. “Oh, and this is our fashion architect, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng.”

            “Madame Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” the small woman said, stepping out in front and reaching to shake Adrien’s hand. She smiled at him a bit shyly. “Hey, Adrien.”

            “Marinette!” Adrien grinned at her. “I didn’t know you worked for Fashion Tex. How have you been?”

            “I’ve been—” Marinette began before she was interrupted.

            “What is this? You two know each other?” Jules glanced back and forth between them, his mouth curling downwards.

            “Yes, we have been friends since we were teenagers,” Adrien said, not breaking eye contact with Marinette. “What were you saying, Marinette?”

            “I’ve been—“

            “Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, why didn’t you tell me you knew the Agreste family?” Jules cried indignantly. “We could’ve had this meeting to smooth things over ages ago!”

            Marinette took a deep, calming breath, then replied, “I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that I’ve won several Gabriel contests, and I know I’ve mentioned that I knew Adrien back when he was a model. Maybe you didn’t hear me.”

            Jules waved her off. He gave an embarrassed glance at Adrien. It took Adrien a moment to realize that Jules was embarrassed about having Marinette there, not embarrassed that he hadn’t been listening to her. Adrien felt ruffled. If he were Chat Noir right now, he knew he would be arching his back and hissing.

            “Well, Monsieur Trimèe, I think it’s about time we begin, don’t you?” Adrien gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. “Please, take a seat.”

            “Yes, good idea, Monsieur Agreste, good idea. Ah, Marinette, my dear, will you take notes for us?”

            Who does this guy think he is? Adrien thought, completely annoyed. He looked at Marinette, questioningly. Marinette just shook her head and pulled out a notebook. She gave him an I’m used to this look.

            “Monsieur Agreste, I think you will find our technology to be the next big thing in fashion!” Jules pulled out a tablet and began playing a video of several models showing off shiny dresses. “Those dresses are glittery, but not with sequins. Those are tiny little screens sewn right into the fabric. This means that at a small touch—“ the models tapped their wristband “—the fabric comes alive!” At that, the dresses changed and began swirling with color.

            “That’s not all,” Alex said, speaking for the first time. “With this expensive technology, the rich and famous will be their own spotlight on the red carpet. Celebrities and icons all over the world will want to be the brightest at the ball.”

            Jules nodded. “Alex is our financial expert. He has been with this technology from the very beginning, and he thinks it can make a huge profit. I want to see the models at Gabriel to be showing this off by Christmas!”

            Maxim then spoke up. “Monsieur Agreste, I’m a top designer for Fashion Tex’s models. I have a contract right here that once you sign, you are the proud owner of this technology. You will be able to use your creative input to do what you want with this. Of course, Fashion Tex will take a small percentage of the profit, but you are about to be a very, very rich man."

            Jules finished the presentation by saying. “Adrien, my dear boy, don’t keep this beauty from the world any longer. Sign right here and show everyone that you are a man who creates success!"

            Adrien felt like he had just watched a promotional video for a multi-level marketing scheme. He ignored the tablet and pen with the contract on it that Jules was shoving towards him. He turned to Marinette. “Madame Dupain-Cheng, what is your role with this technology?”

            Marinette looked at Adrien, then looked at Jules who frowned at her and said, “Marinette is simply –“

            Adrien interrupted him. “I’m sorry Monsieur Trimèe, I didn’t get to hear what Madame Dupain-Cheng had to say. Go ahead, Marinette.”

            Jules sat back in his chair, his brow furrowing. Marinette looked into Adrien’s eyes. She started slowly, “Well, like Jules said, I’m a fashion architect at Fashion Tex. But I’m not just a fashion architect, I’m actually the head architect for this project. I double majored in Fashion and Graphic Design and minored in Computer Science, so I have a great deal of knowledge on how to marry clothes and technology. It has been my dream to have my designs be on the runway and be worn by the powerful since I was a teen. But…if I’m being completely honest here, I want this technology to become even more widespread. I want to see it be worn by as many people as possible. I believe this could be a complete revolution of the fashion industry, and someday become so common place that parents will buy it for their children. I’ve been doing loads of research to make this possible, and I believe a huge expense in these clothes is the material we are using to chemically bind the clothes and microchips. With the right team, I believe that we can find an easier way to design and create the clothes.”

            Adrien was completely blown away by the passion in Marinette’s voice and the vision of the future that she could see. He was about to tell her so when Jules spoke up, “Yes, well, Marinette, I’m sure that Monsieur Agreste doesn’t want a twenty-year plan. Right now, we are merely focusing on the potential of this technology for the immediate future. And let me tell you, the future is bright!”

            Adrien ignored him. “What do you call this project?” he asked Marinette.

            Jules and Marinette spoke at the same time.

            “Ball Bright!”

            “Fashion Fuse.”

            Adrien raised his eyebrows between them, then spoke to Jules. “Ball Bright? You can’t be serious, Monsieur Trimèe. That sounds like a children’s toy. Madame Dupain-Cheng, I love your idea of Fashion Fuse revolutionizing how people wear clothes. Would you like to head up this project and come work for me at Gabriel?”

            Jules gaped. “Monsieur, you…you can’t be serious! Why don’t you take Maxim, he has much more experience in leading projects. Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng was only given this assignment because our CEO is very ‘progressive’ and believes that men and women should take turns leading projects instead of just giving it to the most qualified.” He shot Marinette a dirty look.

            “With all due respect, Monsieur Trimèe, what is exactly is your job at Fashion Tex? You never told me.”

            “I’m the CEO’s son,” Jules replied with a smug look on his face. “You see, me and you aren’t that different.”

            “Hm, I see,” Adrien commented mildly. He turned to Maxim. “Maxim, how many years of experience in designing and creating clothes do you have?”

            “Seven years, sir. I first started my last year in public school.”

            “And Marinette, how about you?”

            Marinette jumped at the sudden attention. “Um, well, I started when I was ten, but I didn’t do any serious designing until I was thirteen, and I’ve been designing clothes professionally since I was fifteen. I’m twenty-three now, so between eight and thirteen years?”

            Adrien turned back to Jules. “Monsieur, I believe Madame Dupain-Cheng is well qualified for the position I’m offering her. If she so chooses, she may ask Maxim to be on her team, but let me clear.” Adrien had been leaning on the front of his desk while the team was presenting, but now he took a step toward Jules who jumped to his feet, looking livid. Even while they were both standing, Adrien towered over Jules. “I am not picking Madame Dupain-Cheng because she is a woman. I am not picking her because we went to school together ages ago. I am picking her because she is the most passionate, most qualified, and most hard-working person in this room.”

            Jules shrank back from the intensity of Adrien’s gaze. Adrien worried he might have gone too far, but as he looked at Marinette and saw her eyes swimming with tears of gratitude, he felt it was all worth it.

            Maxim stood up and stepped forward. “Monsieur Agreste, I think your idea is fantastic. Does this mean you want to enter into a partnership with us?”

            “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” Adrien said. “The only condition I’m unwilling to bend on is Madame Dupain-Cheng will come work with me and lead fashion into the future. If she wants to, of course,” he added kindly, glancing at her.

            “I would love to!” Marinette exclaimed. “This is what I’ve always wanted. Thank you, Adri – uh, Monsieur Agreste.”

            “Well, then, that’s settled!” Adrien rubbed his hands together. “Now, I’ll have Anse send over a contract by tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for coming by, and it was great meeting you all.”

            There were handshakes all around, and Adrien ushered them toward the door. As Marinette exited, she flashed him a grateful smile, saying, “I look forward to working with you, Monsieur Agreste.”

            “I look forward to that as well,” Adrien replied, his heart swelling. “Do you think you can start Monday?”

            Marinette laughed. “I’ll be here bright and early!”

            Jules was the last to leave. He gave Adrien a dark look and said, “You’re lucky it has all worked out, Junior Agreste. I’m friends with very powerful people who could tear you down in a second.” He snapped his fingers at that last word and stalked out, leaving Adrien with a taste of bile in his mouth.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

            “This is amazing, Tikki!” Marinette gushed later that night while getting ready for bed. “I finally feel like I’m going to be taken seriously, and I’m going to be working at Gabriel which has been my dream for years!”

            “It also doesn’t hurt that Adrien is going to be your boss,” Tikki said shrewdly.

            Marinette shot her a look. “Stop it, Tikki. I told you, not until Hawkmoth is defeated. It just…it feels really good to know that Adrien grew up to be an amazing guy, you know? He was the only one in that room who treated me with respect, and I feel like he would’ve treated me like that even if we were complete strangers.”

            “Uh huh.”

            “Plus, he offered me a job, on the spot! I don’t have to go to work and be treated like a secretary every day! How great is that?” Marinette set down the towel she had been using to dry her recently-washed face and practically skipped to her room. She didn’t have to worry about Alya being home since she had already left for Lyon with Nino.

            “It’s really great, Marinette.”

            “I just want this to all work out, you know? I don’t want to be stuck in a job again where I have to defend myself from men who don’t know how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am now,” Marinette dressed in her pajamas and walked to her window. She and Alya had been pretty lucky to get an apartment with such an amazing view. Marinette had specifically looked for corner apartments where one bedroom was in the corner and had a window on each of the outside looking walls. She wanted to be able to easily sneak in and out of her apartment as Ladybug.

            For some reason, instead of staring at the Paris skyline, Marinette’s eyes dropped to the street below. There was a man across the street sitting on a park bench looking like he had just stepped out of a black and white fifties mystery novel. He had dark shades on, a fedora hat, and a long tan trench coat that was pulled up over his face. Marinette couldn’t see where he was looking since the sunglasses were so dark, but his head was tilted up towards her.

            Marinette stared down at him, hoping that her attention would make him turn away. No such luck. He didn’t move.

            “Hey, Tikki?” Marinette turned to look for her kwami. When she glanced back to the window, the man was gone. “I…never mind.”

            Marinette felt a nervous bubble in her stomach. Who was the man? Why had he been staring at her? Where had he gone? Marinette shook her head and went to the kitchen to get her mind off of it.

            As she was cooking some chicken for dinner, Marinette felt her phone buzz.

A: Hey Marinette! It was really great to see you today.

            Marinette smiled, a little giddily, and replied.

M: It was great to see you too! Thanks so much for treating me with respect. Jules is a bit of an asshole, sorry you had to deal with him.

A: It’s all good. I’m just glad you won’t have to see him every day.

            Marinette chewed her lip, trying to think of a reply that adequately expressed how grateful she was for him. All he ever wants to do is help people, she thought, a little dreamily. She instantly frowned and scolded herself internally.

            Tikki sensed what was going on inside her head. “Marinette, you don’t have to repress your feelings. You don’t have to give up being happy.”

            “I am happy, Tikki,” Marinette said, trying to reassure her kwami and herself. “I don’t need a romantic interest to be content with my life.”

Bzzzzt.

A: Do you want to go to dinner with me this Saturday? You know, to catch up and everything?

M: I mean, wouldn’t that be unethical? You are my boss after all.

A: Hey, I’m not your boss until Monday. Until then, we’re just old friends spending time together after not seeing each other for like a year.

            Marinette hesitated. Then,

M: Sure, sounds great :)

            Marinette stared at her phone in shock. “Tikki, I…I really just did that. I really just did that. I’m going on a date. With Adrien. On Saturday.”

            Tikki smiled at her girl and said, “Marinette, that’s great! You’ve missed him, haven’t you?”

            Marinette took several steps backwards, as though trying to erase the last few seconds of her life. “No, no no no no no no no. I can’t do this again. I can’t get caught up in someone, fall in love, and have them leave me. Nope. Nope. I have to cancel.”

            “Marinette!” Tikki grabbed Marinette’s phone before she could. “It’s okay! I won’t let you sacrifice your happiness just because you got hurt.”

            “It’s not about that, Tikki, I promise! It’s about not getting distracted and looking at the bigger picture.”

            Tikki scoffed. “It’s not about Luka at all, huh?”

            Marinette jolted at the name of her ex-boyfriend. She stared at Tikki in shock. Tikki had never spoken sharply to her before, and they hadn’t even discussed Luka in months. Marinette felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, and she turned away from Tikki, embarrassed and ashamed. “Give me my phone back, Tikki.”

            “Marinette, I’m so sorry. I should have never spoken to you like that, but I just hate seeing you be so closed off! The Marinette I know would be strong and confident in her decisions, and she wouldn’t back down when she felt the world pushing her. She would stand up tall and keep going, and I know you got hurt, but don’t let that stop you from doing what makes you happy.”

            Tikki set the phone down on the counter and slowly approached Marinette, who was standing very still. “Marinette?”

            “You’re right, Tikki,” Marinette said in a small voice. “I’m sorry, it’s just…it’s so hard. I loved Luka. I thought he was the one for me. He broke my heart into a million pieces, and I didn’t think I could ever be at a point in my life where I would want to love again. And now that I might be…it’s terrifying. What if I ruin everything?”

            Tikki leaned against Marinette’s face. “You won’t. And in reality, is Adrien really scarier than Hawkmoth?”

            Marinette cracked a smile. “Maybe, but don’t tell Hawkmoth that Ladybug’s only weakness is a blond-haired pretty boy.”

            “Yes, we definitely don’t want Hawkmoth donning a blond wig and doing some modeling poses to get to you,” Tikki lightly teased.

            Marinette laughed. “Oh Tikki, I’m so lucky to have you.”

Chapter Text

            Alya and Nino walked through the door of Alya’s apartment, exhausted but satisfied from their trip to Lyon. It had been nice to get away, even if Nino was busy most of the time being DJ for the mayor of Lyon’s birthday party. Alya had thought that a mayor’s birthday celebration would be a classy affair, but she had been very wrong. If she was being honest, it was a bit of a rave.

            “Marinette, I’m home!” Alya called, setting her bags down by the dining room table. I’ll put those away later, she thought. “Man, I am starved, are you?”

            “Ravenous,” Nino said, perking up. “Think you can make me some of that Bouillaibasse that you made last week?

            “For sure! That was good, wasn’t it?” As Alya got busy, Marinette came into the kitchen and nearly died tripping on Alya’s bags. Nino grabbed her arm and yanked her back up before she hit the floor.

            “Alya, I have so much to tell you,” Marinette said without skipping a beat. She turned to Nino. “I need you to go sit on the couch and put your headphones in for the next twenty to thirty minutes. Maybe the next twenty to thirty hours.”

            Nino narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Is this about Adrien or something? Oh dude, he had that meeting yesterday with a fashion company. Was that Fashion Tex? Did you see him yesterday?”

            “Couch!” Alya and Marinette yelled simultaneously.

            “Alright, but I’m taking my dignity with me.” He went to the couch and put on his headphones then gave the girls a thumbs up.

            Alya looked at Marinette and winked. “I’m pregnant.”

            They both peeked at Nino. No face change, no startled jump. “Alright girl, looks like we’re good. What’s up?”

            “Okay, Nino was right. I did see Adrien, and I presented my ideas to him, and he loved it! He even offered me a job to head the project at Gabriel. This is literally my dream come true!”

            “Marinette! That’s awesome, way to go!” Alya began sautéing vegetables. “He’d be a fool not to hire you. Plus, this means you won’t have to deal with Jules everyday, which means I won’t have to hear about him constantly. I mean, what could I fill my brain with if it wasn’t already stuffed to the brim with knowledge about how much Jules Trimeè sucks?”

            Marinette laughed. “Yup, you’re off the hook as my sounding board as far as Jules is concerned. But…”

            Alya suspected what Marinette was about to say. Whenever Adrien was concerned, her friend always seemed to flip a switch that turned her brain to mush. “Let me guess, I am now your sounding board as far as Adrien is concerned.”

            Marinette hid her face in her hands. “This is so stupid. I meant what I said when Luka broke up me – I don’t want to date anyone seriously ever again. But how was I supposed to know I would be resisting Adrien?”

            “Girl, why do you have to resist him? If you’re ready to date again, go for it!”

            “No! I can’t.”

            “But – “

            “I just can’t, Alya.”

            There was silence in the kitchen, save for the sizzling of vegetables and the whir of the food chopper. Alya didn’t understand why Marinette was so stubborn on this issue. Maybe I don’t understand because I’ve never broken up with anyone before. She looked fondly at Nino, then at Marinette. She cared so much about Marinette, and just wanted her to be as happy as she could be. If Marinette was really happy shutting herself down romantically, Alya would leave the situation alone. But Marinette was miserable.

            “Also…” Marinette hesitated. “Adrien asked me out to dinner. And I said yes.”

            “What!?” Alya cried, nearly chopping her hand off as she prepared the fish. “Why didn’t you lead with that? Is this a date?”

            Marinette frowned. “Well, yeah, of course it is. Right?”

            “Well, did he call it a date?”

            “Uhh…no? Does that mean it’s not?”

            Alya chewed on some leftover bread thoughtfully. “Not necessarily. I mean, how did he word it?”

            Marinette pulled out her phone and read Alya the messages.

            “Ooo, ‘old friends spending time together’?” Alya sucked in through her teeth. “That doesn’t sound like a date.”

            Alya watched her friend go through the five stages of grief in about ten seconds.

            “Okay. Well then, that’s fine,” Marinette said, trying to sound relieved. “I didn’t want it to be a date anyways.”

            “Or you could just ask him like a normal person!” Nino suddenly cried, jumping up from the couch. “Geez, Marinette, it’s not that hard. Just text him, asking, ‘Hey Adrien, is this a date?’ Then you’ll know, and you won’t need to be constantly questioning yourself.”

            “Nino! What the hell?” Marinette yelled. “I didn’t want you to hear this, and I don’t want your input.”

            Nino had to the grace to look slightly ashamed, then said, “Okay, but in my defense, I spent twelve hours last night listening to ear-busting music. Even I need a break sometimes.” He walked to the kitchen and sat next to Marinette on a bar stool. “But seriously, why can’t you just ask him?”

            “It’s not that simple, Nino,” Alya said, patiently. “I mean, what happens if he says it is, but he only says that because he thinks that Marinette wants it to be a date? Or what if he says it’s not, but he wants it to be a date, but he doesn’t think Marinette wants that? Or what if he says it’s not, but then he takes her to a really fancy restaurant and Marinette wears a T-shirt and jeans? Or what if he says it is, but then takes her to McDonalds, and she’s dressed to the nines?”

            “Exactly,” Marinette added. “Or what if he gets super freaked out by calling it a date and tries super hard to make it the least date thing possible? Or what if he wants it to be a date but then thinks I’m expecting something at the end of the night? Or what if he doesn’t want it to be a date but then tries to kiss me at the end?”

            Nino’s face reminded Alya of the loading screen on a frozen computer.

            “Nino, it’s okay, you just don’t get it,” Alya turned back to Marinette. “That being said…I think that Adrien will be honest with you if you ask him. Maybe also ask him where the date will be and how you should be dressed. I think that’ll give you an idea of what is going on inside Adrien’s head.”

            Nino threw his hands in the air. “I give up.”

 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

            Marinette crossed her legs on her bed, staring at her phone. Tikki flew up beside her. “You got this, Marinette. Remember how understanding and kind Adrien is.”

            Marinette nodded, took a deep breath, and began typing.

M: Hey Adrien, quick question about tomorrow. Is this a date?

            Marinette saw the three dots indicating Adrien was texting pop up then disappear twice before his message finally came through.

A: Do you want it to be? What would you feel most comfortable with?

            She actually felt most comfortable with the idea of exploding due to the building anticipation inside her chest.

M: I would be okay with calling it a date. But I don’t want to put any pressure on you to pay or anything. I’m seriously fine with eating at a fast-food place if that’s what you want. Or not eating at all. Haven’t you ever wondered what starving felt like?

A: Now that you mention it…nope. Never. ;) Don’t worry, we’ll go someplace on the nice-ish side, you won’t have to starve.

M: Too bad, maybe next time.

M: But do you want it to be a date?

            His answer came quickly.

A: Yes. Would that be okay?

M: Definitely :)

A: So…seven okay?

M: Seven is perfect.

A: It’s a date ;)

            Marinette released a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Okay then. A date. Now that she knew, it was easier to look forward to tomorrow.

            She slowly walked back into the main area of the apartment where Alya and Nino were finishing up their dinner. She felt strangely calm, yet still had a nervous energy bubbling in the bottom of her stomach.

            Alya looked up as she approached. “Well? Spill it girl!”

            Marinette sat down and left them in suspense for a minute. She looked up, smiling slowly and said, “It’s a date.”

            Alya and Nino cheered and high-fived. Marinette grinned, feeling slightly ridiculous. “It doesn’t really mean anything, because, you know, he’ll be my boss by Monday and then of course we couldn’t ever get serious, which is what I want anyways, but it’s nice to know he’s okay with it being a date and…” she trailed off, realizing she was rambling.

            Alya and Nino smirked at her. She rolled her eyes, and stood up from the table. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you two have demonstrated that someone can show too much support.” She pointed a finger at Nino. “If you speak a word of this to Adrien, I will find you and end you. I know Chat Noir, and he will be in your apartment to steal your precious baseball caps if I even suspect you mentioned this to Adrien.”

            “Jeesh woman, okay!” Nino batted her finger away. “I promise on the grave of my dead grandmother.”

            “Woah, let’s not get crazy here,” Marinette said.

            Alya and Nino laughed. Marinette headed back into her bedroom; she had to meet Chat Noir for patrol soon, and she wanted to take a moment to collect herself.

            “Marinette, I’m so proud of you!” Tikki squealed.

            “Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette said, throwing herself backwards onto her bed and spreading her arms wide. She allowed herself ten seconds to be excited about the date, then stood up again to transform.

            Seconds later, Ladybug stood on the roof. She felt as though she were completely invincible, even though it had been proved time and time again that Ladybug’s costume could only withstand so much.  She was about to turn to meet Chat when she saw a man on the sidewalk. It was the same strangely-dressed man who had stood there the other night. Her stomach plunged and turned to ice. Had he seen her transform? He didn’t appear to be looking at her; instead, he was staring in through the window that led to the living room and kitchen.

            Then, he vanished. Ladybug started. Had she blinked? There was an alley behind him, maybe he disappeared into the alley. Ladybug tapped her foot nervously on the roof, wondering if she was making too big a deal out of nothing. 

            Eventually, Ladybug turned away, feeling uneasy. If I see him again, I’ll ask him what he’s doing and maybe get Chat involved. He always knows how to scare people off.

            As Ladybug approached the Arc, she could see her partner sitting on the edge with his feet swinging. He wore a smile, which made Ladybug’s heart soar. It was rare for her to see her kitty genuinely happy when he was by himself.

            “You’re looking chipper today, chaton,” Ladybug said, swinging in beside him. “Got a big weekend planned?”

            Chat Noir smiled at her. “Actually, I do. I have a date.”

            “A date?” Ladybug placed her hand dramatically over her heart. “And just like that, Chat Noir forgets about his best friend. The era of ‘Ladybug and Chat Noir’ is over!”

            Chat burst out laughing. “My lady! I didn’t know you cared so much.”

            Ladybug chuckled, sitting down next to him. She bumped his shoulder with hers. “No seriously, who is this girl? And please, be cryptic. We don’t want me finding out your identity to be the highlight of your weekend.” She winked.

            “She’s just an old friend,” Chat said, smiling slightly. “We just recently reconnected, but I’m hoping we can stay in touch and maybe become even closer.”

            Chat had such a fondness in his face that Ladybug thought that maybe she should give him a moment alone. They were both silent for a few minutes. Then Chat said, “And don’t you worry, my lady. You will always be number one in my life.”

             “Aw, you’re going to make me blush.”

            “My life’s goal, Ladybug.”

            Ladybug clapped her hands together. “Well, kitty, you ready for patrol?”

            “You know, Ladybug, since you don’t seem to be in any rush tonight, you want to play a game?”

            Ladybug hesitated. It was true she didn’t have any urgent reason to hurry home on this Friday night, but she hated to stay out late when she had an important day tomorrow. But maybe just this once, she thought. “Alright, what’d you have in mind?”

            “Just a quick game of tag. The only twist is we must be heading toward the Eiffel Tower at all times. First one to the Eiffel Tower wins.” An excited look was spreading over Chat’s face. It made him look years younger, like an innocent teen instead of a tired adult.

            “Oh you are so on, mon chaton.” Ladybug jumped up and tapped his bell. “You’re it! Bye!”

            With that she was off, laughing at Chat’s stricken face. She heard Chat extend his baton and jump after her yelling, “I’m so gonna get you for that!”

            For the next half hour, Chat and Ladybug vaulted from roof to roof, tagging the other each time they flew past. They may not have taken the most direct path to the monument, but they got there eventually. They were both panting and clutching their sides but grinning at each other like idiots.

            “Woo! Woo, hoo…” Ladybug gasped. “That was fun!”

            Chat chuckled wheezily, massaging his ribs. After a few seconds, he caught his breath and said, “Yeah, it was! I can’t remember the last time I did something that reckless just for fun, you know? Behind the mask, I kind of lead a boring life. It’s amazing to remember how crazy I can be if I want.”

            “I can’t imagine you leading a boring life,” Ladybug said, shaking her head. “When I think about the people in my life who are the most carefree, you immediately come to mind.”

            “Aw, my lady,” Chat said, putting his hand over his heart. “You flatter me.”

            They both laughed. Ladybug turned to look out over their peaceful city, feeling a sense of satisfaction and ease. She hadn’t realized how stressed she had been until she was given a chance to burn off some of that nervous energy. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind in her hair, and breathed deeply.

            “You’re beautiful, my lady,” Chat suddenly said quietly.

            Ladybug jumped. She turned to him, ready to scold him, when she was suddenly taken aback by the intensity in his eyes and the sincerity in his face. Staring at him, she felt her heart soften, remembering all of the times Chat had been there for her when she was down or wasn’t easy to love. For the first time in a while, she wished she knew who he was under the mask.

            “Thank you, mon minou,” she whispered. She stepped forward and pecked him on the cheek. “You really shouldn’t say things like that the day before you go out on a date with a different girl, though.”

            Chat chuckled. “You’re probably right. Sometimes when I’m with you, I completely forget that I’m a grown adult now and not a star-struck teen.”

            Ladybug thought of how she got around Adrien. “I know what you mean.” She turned back to the Paris skyline, their shoulders just barely touching.

            “We just passed eight years, you know. Eight years, and we still don’t know each other’s real names. And yet…”

            “And yet, we trust each other completely,” Ladybug said, finishing his sentence. “I really appreciate your partnership, Chat.” She raised her yo-yo. “To eight more years.”

            “To eight more years.” Chat bumped his baton against her yo-yo, then said, “Although, hopefully in eight years, Hawkmoth will be defeated, and we won’t need our miraculous’s anymore.”

            “You’re right,” Ladybug said, frowning thoughtfully. “Maybe sometime soon we should formulate a plan of attack. I really can’t imagine allowing Hawkmoth to terrorize the city for much longer.”

            “I’ve actually been thinking for a while, my lady, about a potential plan.” Chat tapped his fingers restlessly against the rail, then said. “What if we gathered all the miraculous’s and the miraculous holders in one spot and challenged him. It would give him a prize worth going for – all the miraculous’s – and it would give us the best chance against our greatest enemy with all of our friends by our sides.”

            Ladybug chewed on her lip. Ever since Marinette had become a Guardian of the Miraculous, it was now her responsibility to protect them and use them only in emergencies and only for good. “Chat, I don’t think that’s a good idea because it would be much too risky. I mean, what if Hawkmoth actually got another miraculous? We’ve seen what he can do with two!”

            “That’s true,” Chat sighed. “I just hate having to wait around for him to attack when we could potentially draw him out, you know?”

            “I know, kitty.”

            They were silent, looking out at their city together. Ladybug was the first to stand, saying, “I’ll think about it, chaton. Don’t get discouraged, I’m sure we’ll think of a plan. In the meantime, have fun with your date tomorrow, okay? Don’t annoy her too much.”

            “I promise to be a perfect gentleman, my lady,” Chat said, standing as well. He took Ladybug’s hand in his and brought it up to his mouth. He pressed his lips against it gently, looking right into her eyes. “And I won’t get discouraged if you don’t.”

Chapter Text

            Adrien knocked on Marinette’s apartment door, a small twist of nervousness in his stomach. He straightened his tie and ran his fingers through his hair. After Adrien became a bit more independent from his father and wasn’t forced to dress the way others’ wanted him to be, he had stopped putting the massive amounts of product in his hair that he had been forced to put in every day as a model. To his dismay, he found he looked way too much like his alter-ego, so he decided to put at least a little gel in his hair every day. It was tedious, but at least it was his choice.

            Alya opened the door and grinned up at him. “Adrien, hey, come in! Marinette is almost ready.”

            Adrien stepped through the door, taking a look around while Alya headed off down the hall. He had never been inside their apartment before, but he felt instantly at home. He could tell Marinette and Alya had taken great lengths to make this a cozy place, and he could see evidence of both girls strewn across surfaces and walls. He walked over to the wall between the living room and the bedrooms. It was filled with pictures of Alya and her family, Marinette and her family, Alya and Marinette, Alya and Nino, Alya and Nino and Marinette, as well as several others with people Adrien didn’t know. He focused on the one in the center of the wall. It was a picture of Alya, Nino, Marinette, and Adrien, just after they had graduated from lycèe. With arms around each other and bright beams at the camera, it was an accurate representation of how close these four friends had been.

            “I love that picture,” said Marinette behind him softly. Adrien hadn’t heard her approach him, but he had somehow known she was there.

            Adrien nodded, finding it slightly hard to speak at the moment. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then turned to look at her. She was wearing a modest pink dress with a lacy floral pattern on it, a locket on a gold chain, and white wedges. Her hair was down but had a slight curl to it.

            “Wow, Marinette, you look…really great,” Adrien marveled.

            Marinette reached up to tug on her hair, a slight blush creeping up her face. “Thanks, Adrien. You look really nice, too.”

            Adrien turned back to the picture. “I remember this as honestly being one of the happiest days of my life.”

            “Yeah? Why’s that?” Marinette took a step forward so she was standing next to him.

            “All of the important people in my life were there, and I was finally an adult so I was able to make the choice to spend my entire day with those people.”

            “It was a really good day. We got ice cream, played games in the park, and went to the movies…”

            Marinette and Adrien looked at the picture in a comfortable silence for a minute. Finally, Adrien cleared his throat. “So, um, I’m taking you to Le Petit Monde, a new bistro just a mile away or so.”

            “I’ve heard of that place! It apparently rides the line between ‘romantic’ and ‘just friends,’” Marinette said, the corners of her mouth twitching. “So this is very appropriate.”

            Adrien stared at her. “Marinette…are you teasing me?”

            Marinette raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged. “What, you can’t take it?”

            “No, I can take it,” Adrien said, a grin spreading slowly on his face. “I kind of like it actually.”

            “Well, you better get used to it, because come Monday, you are going to have to deal with it a lot more often,” Marinette smirked. She grabbed her purse off of the table and headed to the door. “Bye, Alya! I’ll be home soon!”

            Alya reappeared at the hallway entrance. “You have my girl home by midnight, you hear Agreste? And keep your hands to yourself.”

            “Alya!” Marinette groaned while Adrien chuckled, trying not to look too embarrassed.

            “I promise to be a perfect gentleman,” said Adrien, raising one hand and crossing his heart with the other.

            Marinette started at his words. She stared at him for a moment then pressed her lips together and shook her head, as though rejecting the thought she had just had. She looked at Alya and pulled a face. “Stooopp, Mom, you’re so embarrasssiing. Gooosh.”

            Alya wagged a finger at her. “I’m serious, young lady. Midnight!”

            Marinette and Adrien laughed. Waving a hand at Alya, Adrien opened the door for Marinette, and they began walking toward the entrance of the apartment building.

            “I’ve missed Alya!” Adrien said, grinning broadly. “She and Nino make such a good pair, I’m so glad they found each other so young.”

            “Me too,” Marinette agreed as Adrien opened the door going outside. It was a gentle fall night with just a hint of nip in the air.

            “Marinette, this is my driver, Richard. Richard, this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s an old friend back from when I was a teenager, and she’s my new head fashion architect at the firm.”

            “Nice to meet you, Madame Dupain-Cheng,” Richard said, extending a hand to her.

            Marinette shook it and smiled up at him. “Nice to meet you too, Richard. Please, call me Marinette.”

            Richard opened the door for Adrien and Marinette to climb in.

            “So, Richard, how long have you been working for the Agrestes?” Marinette said, settling into the seat as Richard started the car. “How has it been having Adrien as a boss? Be honest, I want to be prepared.”

            Richard raised his eyebrows at her in the rearview mirror in surprise, then said, “Well, Madame, I am the son of Adrien’s previous driver-slash-bodyguard, who was mostly known as ‘The Gorilla’ to the Agreste family. I was trained by my father and took over for him when he retired. I actually met my husband through this job, so I can confidently say I owe my entire life to this job. I have been married for three years, and I have a little girl named Charlotte who is the best thing in my life and the reason I get up in the morning. I’ve worked hard to get to this point in my life, but nothing has made it worth it like my little Lottie.”

            Adrien smiled at the tenderness in Richard’s voice. Richard had been Adrien’s driver for nearly four years. He was an amazing man, and Adrien felt lucky enough to consider him a friend. He had been to dinner with Richard and his husband Raphael, who was simply lovely, and he had even been able to meet Charlotte, their spunky toddler. It made Adrien long for family like that someday.

            “That’s amazing,” Marinette said softly. Adrien looked at her and realized that she was just as touched as he was.

            There was silence in the car for a few minutes before Adrien changed the subject and said, “Marinette is an amazing designer. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she designed and created the dress she has on right now, which is good enough to be featured on this month’s edition of L’Officiel.”

            “That’s sweet, Adrien,” said Marinette. “I did design and create this dress, but I honestly don’t design my own clothes as much as I used to do. Only when I need something really special.”

            “Hm, so you admit that the other professionals just aren’t as good as a Marinette Original?” Adrien said slyly.

            “Oh, see, now you’re just twisting my words,” Marinette laughed. “It’s just a case of ‘I want something very specific and I’m too lazy to search online or in clothing stores for hours.’ It’s honestly just easier to create exactly what I want.”

            Adrien shook his head. “Honestly, Marinette, you are incredible.”

            A lovely blush rose to Marinette’s face as she looked down, obviously pleased. As he gazed at her, Adrien felt lighter than he had in years. Besides Nino, he didn’t have very many close friends, and the friends he had, he could never be sure if they liked him for who he was and not just for his money or power. But Marinette was so real, so genuine. Adrien was so busy admiring her, he didn’t notice the amused glance Richard gave the pair of them in the rearview mirror.

            “Here we are, sir,” Richard announced as he pulled the car to the curb outside of the cute, corner restaurant.

            “Thanks, Richard,” Adrien said, pulling his eyes from Marinette and opening his door. “I’ll call you when we need picked up.”

            Adrien and Marinette walked into the quiet and surprising roomy club. Adrien had visited the United States several times throughout his life, and he was always surprised at how large their restaurants were compared to the cramped cafés in Europe. However, he had chosen well with this one; it didn’t make Adrien feel too claustrophobic.

            “Wow, I love this!” Marinette exclaimed, looking around excitedly. “I can’t believe this is so close to where I live. I’m going here all the time, it’s official.”

            “Reservation for two under ‘Agreste,’” Adrien said to the young hostess, his eyes on Marinette and his smile growing wider at her enthusiasm.

            “Right this way,” the hostess prompted, leading them across the dining area to a small, intimate table. As she laid the menu’s in front of them, she said, “It’s amazing to meet you, Monsieur Agreste, and it’s so cool to have you dining here. I was a huge fan of your work as a model, and I’m an even bigger fan of your work at Gabriel.”

            Adrien felt his face growing warm from embarrassment, suddenly aware of the other dining guests glancing in his direction and whispering. It wasn’t that he hadn’t met fans before – he had met plenty and was generally well-equipped to handle them. He was more embarrassed by it happening in front of Marinette. He cleared his throat and smiled up at her. “Well, thank you. If you’re a big fan of Gabriel, I think you’ll be pleased to meet my companion for the evening, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She is our new head fashion architect for a big upcoming project.”

            The hostess turned to Marinette and began gushing. “Oh my gosh, seriously? Working at Gabriel is, like, my dream. You are literally living my dream. How did you do it?”

            Adrien looked at Marinette, quickly realizing that he put her on the spot with no warning. However, to his surprise, she didn’t seem embarrassed at all but instead rather genuinely pleased with this turn of events.

             “A lot of hard work. A lot of believing in myself. And of course, having good friends and family by your side,” Marinette smiled, her eyes meeting Adrien’s across the table.

            “Wow. Just…wow,” the hostess sighed in awe. “Would it be okay if I got a picture? I mean, I don’t want to intrude, I’m just really excited. With both of you maybe?”

            Adrien and Marinette leaned in close while the hostess pulled out her phone and snapped a quick selfie with the two of them.

            “Thank you, thank you so much, I’m seriously in shock right now, I’ll just go, thank you again,” the hostess stammered.

            “Wait!” Marinette blurted. “What’s your name? Do you maybe want to exchange numbers? You seem like a really cool girl.”

            “Oh my gosh yes! I’m Eloise, here, I’ll put my number into your phone so then you can decide if you want to text or whatever.” She took Marinette’s extended phone and typed her number in quickly. “Okay! Well, um, your waiter will be here shortly, and um, come say goodbye when you leave, or don’t, or whatever, or um…”

            She hurried away, blushing furiously. Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, trying to stifle a laugh.

            “She was cute,” Marinette said, picking up her menu and flipping through it. “She reminded me of me a little bit. You know, when I couldn’t even talk to you or anything.”

            “That was cute,” Adrien replied, winking. Marinette started, then saw his teasing face and rolled her eyes.

            “For you, maybe. It was absolute torture for me.”

            “Ah, well. What made you get over it anyways?”

            Marinette shrugged. “Confidence, mostly. I needed to get over myself and remember that you were a person with flaws just like the rest of us. Plus, Luka and Kagami came along, and…” She stopped, blushing. She quickly busied herself with the menu. No need to let him know about the massive crush my teenage self had on him right now. Or about how Luka broke my heart. Or about Luka in general. Oh god. Don’t think about Luka right now.

            Thankfully, Adrien seemed to not want to make her any more uncomfortable. “So, what’re you feeling, food-wise?” he said, changing the subject and gesturing to the food choices in front of her.  Marinette tried to see the menu, but found her vision blocked by a sudden spring of tears in her eyes.

            Adrien’s blurry face came into view as he gently lowered her menu. “Marinette, what’s wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you.”

            Marinette shook her head and quickly swiped at her eyes. “You didn’t upset me, Adrien. I just haven’t talked about Luka to basically anyone beside Alya and…uh, and my mom. It just kinda got me all of a sudden.”

            Adrien nodded, then said hesitantly, “Well…Do you want to talk about it?”

            “I don’t know. I know I’m over him, it’s just the loneliness that has gotten to me.” Why are you telling him about this?  “My previous job was awful. I really can’t believe that you were able to pick up on that within, what, ten minutes of speaking with my coworkers? I used to have Luka to talk to and to rant about my job, and it really sucked not having him there to listen. I mean, I have Alya, but I guess it’s just not the same as having someone who is completely dedicated to you.”

            Adrien nodded sympathetically. “I can understand that. I’m sorry you and Luka broke up, you guys were good together.”

            No, stop. Here come the tears again. Luckily, Marinette was saved from breaking down by their waiter.

            “Hello, my name is Achille, and I’ll be your server for the evening. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

            “Just water for me,” Marinette said quietly.

            “Same.”

            “I’ll have that out for you right away. Are you two ready to order or do you need a couple of minutes?”

            “Couple of minutes,” Adrien said, smiling up at him.

            Marinette and Adrien sat in silence, both looking over their menus. Marinette couldn’t believe she had talked about Luka within fifteen minutes of her first date since the breakup. And if that wasn’t bad enough, her first date since the breakup with with Adrien Agreste – a former crush and a future boss. I am never going to live this down. I guess I’ll just have to go live in a cave somewhere and be friends with the stalactites. Maybe I’ll learn to identify rocks based on their smell.

            “Marinette?”

            “Hmm?” She looked up to see Adrien frowning at her, concerned.

            “You okay?”

            “Mmm-hmm,” Marinette said, glancing back down at her menu. Think of the cave jokes you’ll be able to tell Chat Noir. Although, I suppose being Ladybug would be hard in a cave with no technology to keep me updated on akumas. Plus, I don’t want to eat bugs the rest of my life. She sighed, putting down her menu, deciding just to get it all out there in the open. “Listen, Adrien, I’m sorry I brought up all that heavy stuff about Luka. I really just want us to have a good time tonight, and I feel like I ruined it.”

            “Hey, seriously, no worries,” Adrien reassured her. “I want to have a good time tonight too. I think it’s weird because this is technically a first date, but we’ve been friends so long that I feel like we just skipped over the weird first date awkwardness and went straight into the fifth date deep topic awkwardness.”

            “Oh my god, that is totally it.” Marinette bit her lip, trying to determine what to do. “Alright, how about this: We ask each other first date questions but we have to throw in a weird personal detail we don’t think the other knows about each other.”

            “Okay,” Adrien said, grinning. “I like this. You go first.”

            “Hmm..” Marinette put a finger to her chin, thinking. “In the movie of your life, who would play you?”

            Adrien opened his mouth to respond when their waiter appeared, placing two glasses of water in front of them.

            “Are you two ready, or do you need a few more minutes?”

            “Um,” Marinette giggled. She glanced at Adrien, who was wildly looking through his menu again. “I think we’re ready.”

            Adrien waved his hand at her. “Marinette, you go first.”

            “The seared salmon, s’il vous plait, with the house salad and balsamic vinaigrette.”

            “And, uh, the rack of lamb.” Adrien decided. “With the pea soup?”

            “Excellent choix, monsier,” the waiter said. “I’ll have that right out for you.”

            Marinette turned back to Adrien. “So? Famous actor who is worthy to play Adrien Agreste.”

            “Ah, geez. I’m going to have to say Danny Devito.”

            “What??” Marinette choked on her drink, laughing. “You can’t be serious. All the famous actors in the world, and you go with Danny Devito?”

            “What can I say?” Adrien said, waggling his eyebrows. “He is the only one who could accurately portray my complex inner dialogue.”

            “You know, I think he even kinda looks like you, now that you mention it,” Marinette teased, putting her hands up to frame his face.

            “See?” Adrien turned his head to give her a good side profile.

            “Wait, was the ‘complex inner dialogue’ supposed to be the weird personal detail you think no one knows about you?”

            “Whoops, I forgot about that part. Alright then, I suppose the personal detail would be that Matilda was actually my favorite movie when I was a kid. Danny Devito was in it, so…it relates, I suppose?”

            “Seriously? I loved that movie as a kid too!”

            Adrien smiled back at her. “So, what about you, Mari? Who would play Marinette Dupain-Cheng in the movie about her life?”

            “Well, it’s tricky because there aren’t very many Chinese-French actors out there,” Marinette said, sipping her water. She shrugged. “There aren’t even very many Chinese-English or Chinese-American. We are just underrepresented in the movie industry.”

            “That’s totally true! I don’t really understand why, I mean, you’re certainly pretty enough to be a movie star.”

            Marinette started, her eyes jumping to meet Adrien’s. He looked completely unabashed, his sincerity making her blush. She felt her heart flutter and her head go fuzzy. Stop it, Marinette. You are completely over him and I’m sure he is only saying this as a friend. I mean, Alya says nice things to you all the time. She smiled, trying to act completely normal. “Thanks, Adrien, that’s sweet.”

            They were silent for a minute. Then Marinette snapped her fingers. “Phillipa Soo. Fantastic actress. I would want her to play me.”

            Marinette told Adrien about how she first heard Hamilton when she was in a low point in her life and Eliza’s story of forgiveness helped her through the rough patch. Adrien told her he felt the same way about Toy Story 3, which gave her a laugh even though she completely understood and agreed. They continued to discussed favorite movies, songs, and plays for a while. Meanwhile, their food came, but if they were completely honest, neither of them paid much attention to it because they were so engrossed in their conversation with each other.

            Eventually, their plates were scrapped clean, and the waiter put down the check in front of Adrien. Marinette reached for it, but Adrien snatched it quickly. “No, no, no, Marinette, please, let me pay.”

            “Woah, at least let me pay half! I’m the one who officially made it a date after all.”

            Adrien shook his head. “Nope, I asked you, I pay.”

            Marinette rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. “Fine, but only because you are a CEO, and I am currently not. But you have to let me pay next time.”

            Next time. Adrien felt a warm bubble in his chest at the prospect of a ‘next time.’ He definitely wanted to continue to see Marinette and not just at work, although he was looking forward to that more and more. He wanted to see her in a comfortable, relaxed setting like this again where he could learn more about her and get her all to himself. He shook his head, pushing those thoughts to the back of his head.

            After signing the check, Adrien and Marinette made their way out. Richard was waiting for them in front of the bistro. Adrien paused before approaching the car and glanced down at Marinette, realizing that their evening together was coming to an end and he didn’t want it to.

            “Hey, what would you think of walking?” he said to Marinette. “It’s not that far, and it would give us more time to talk, if that would be okay.”

            Marinette smiled up at him, biting her lip in a way that made his stomach swoop. “Yeah, I think I would like that.”

            “Richard, I think we’re going to walk. Go ahead and just meet me at Marinette’s.”

            Richard waved at the two of them, got in the car, and drove off. Adrien bowed slightly and gestured at the path before them. “Go ahead, m’lady.”

            Marinette raised her eyebrows at him, looking slightly suspicious, then rolled her eyes and started walking. “You’re such a dork, Adrien.”

            “I will take that as a compliment.”

            They walked together for a few minutes in pleasant silence, each taking in the city, their shoulders brushing together ever so often. Finally, Adrien broke the quiet.

            “So, how long have you lived at that apartment with Alya? It’s a nice place.”

            “Since graduating university. I was actually planning on moving in with Luka but then I completely flipped out and got all commitment-phobe, so instead, Alya and I moved in together. It’s worked out really well, though. I am thinking of getting my own place soon, especially since I am more financially stable now than I ever have been.”

            “Yeah that certainly helps. I really like living with a roommate though, you know?”

            “Oh I know. If I did move out, I would probably still visit Alya every day.”

            “And hey,” Adrien glanced at her, not wanting to cross any boundaries, but also wanting to know even more about her, “It’s okay to be afraid of commitment. You weren’t ready to take that step with him, and it’s okay.”

            Marinette shrugged. “I suppose, but I was never ready to take that step with him. It sucked because he was so understanding about everything, but I wasn’t one-hundred percent with him, and he deserved someone who was."

            Adrien nodded, unsure of how to feel or what to say. There was another minute of silence.

            “I mean,” Marinette said, hesitantly. “I guess it was like you and Kagami, right?”

            “Yeah, I suppose it was,” Adrien said, thoughtfully. He hadn’t thought about Kagami ina while. “Kagami and I were never actually a couple, and part of it was exactly that, I couldn’t really commit to her. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great and we got along really well. But then she was sent to a private school in Italy, and besides, my father would never have let me date anyone while I was still in school.” He said the last words unintentionally bitter.

            “What? Are you kidding?” Marinette stopped walking and turned to look at him straight on. “Not even to someone as perfect as Kagami?”

            “Well, you know how my father is…He always just wanted me to be focusing on my studies and on my work. A girlfriend would’ve gotten in the way. Sometimes…sometimes I don’t think he saw me as a person, just as another reminder of my mother and as a tool to further his goals in life.” Adrien was shocked by his own honesty. There was something about the way Marinette’s eyes were fill with compassion and understanding that made him feel like he could tell her everything that was going on inside him. “I know that’s not true, he loves me. But I wish he had been a better father. Maybe I could’ve been a better son.”

            “Adrien.” Marinette took a step forward, gazing intently at him. “You are the single most amazing person I have ever met. You want to know why I couldn’t speak around you? I was constantly in awe of how kind, how caring, and how strong you were. I mean, just look at what you did for me this week! You changed my life, and I know you have changed countless others’ by just being who you are. You are so deserving of love, especially of your father’s love. Please, believe me.”

            Adrien had chills running down his back, but at the same time, he was completely warm. You are so deserving of love, especially of your father’s love. Please believe me. Her hand gently took his, sending an electric current up his arm. He wanted to stay in this moment with Marinette forever.

            Suddenly, Marinette’s eyes glanced to the side, in the direction of the restaurant. She tensed, then turned to keep walking. She put her arm through the crook of Adrien’s elbow and began leading them away quickly.

            “Marinette? What’s wrong?”

            Marinette spoke quietly, her words freezing Adrien’s blood. “Don’t look back, but there is a man in a trench coat following us.”

Chapter Text

            Marinette hurried forward, pulling Adrien along with her. Her mind was working a million miles an hour, mapping out the city in her head and planning potential routes where they could lose him. She glanced at the reflection in a shop window ahead and saw Trench Coat Man was half a block behind them. It was pretty late at night by this point, so there weren’t very many Parisians out on the streets, which unfortunately would make it harder to disappear.

            “Listen to me carefully, Adrien,” she murmured furtively. “About two blocks ahead we are going to take a left and then immediately duck into the alley between the pharmacy and the bookstore. It’s really small and easy to miss because of the subway entrance right there.”

            “How do you know about that alley?” Adrien said, frowning at her.

            “Uh...” Definitely not because I always need a place to transform. “I used to go to that pharmacy all the time, and I’m pretty observant.”

            They quickly walked the two blocks, turned left and then left again into the alley. Marinette pressed her back up against the wall and motioned for Adrien to do the same. They stood there waiting with bated breath. She heard footsteps turn the first corner, then stop. There was a long pause. Then she saw the shadow of Trench Coat Man pass the alley and his footsteps get quieter and quieter.

            Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and took a step forward, but Marinette didn’t feel safe yet. She stuck her arm out in front of his chest, preventing him from exiting the alley. Just then, the shadow of Trench Coat Man loomed onto the sidewalk in front of them. Marinette didn’t allow herself time to panic; she grabbed Adrien’s hand and pulled him deeper into the alley.

            If Marinette hadn’t been Ladybug for eight years, there is no way she would’ve known where she was going. But she had explored nearly every nook and cranny of Paris as Ladybug, and all of that knowledge was flooding back to her in this instant. She knew every shortcut, every back alley, and every empty construction site in her city. She continued to press onward, moving as fast and as stealthily as she could.

            She could no longer pretend that this man in the trench coat wasn’t a threat to her. She thought that seeing him twice was just a fluke; maybe he lived across the street? But now she realized that she was being followed. What she really needed was to get Adrien to safety, and then to transform into Ladybug so she could pursue him.

            Adrien, meanwhile, was completely in awe at how calm and collected Marinette appeared to be. She never hesitated and always seemed to know where she was going. As Chat Noir, Adrien knew exactly where he was, but he had never expected Marinette to know all the seedy back alleys of Paris. They turned left then right, then up some stairs, then through a construction site, then through what Adrien suspected was an abandoned strip club. All the while, Marinette led the way, gripping his hand tightly.

            Who was this man? Why had he followed them? Adrien remembered that in the restaurant, neither of them had been very covert about their positions in the fashion world. In fact, there were plenty of people around to hear Marinette say he was a CEO, and then there was that excitable hostess…Why hadn’t he just let Richard drive them home? Spending time with Marinette wasn’t worth risking her safety.

            Something else was bothering Adrien as well. The man in the trench coat hadn’t made a sound approaching the alley the second time. Could this guy be an akuma? Maybe he’s just a really good mugger, he thought. What he really needed was to get Marinette home safe so he could transform into Chat Noir to pursue him.

            Finally, they made it to the Eiffel Tower, which even at this late time of night was crowded with tourists. Marinette and Adrien stepped into the square and tried to seamlessly blend with the masses. They both breathed sighs of relief at being in a crowded place with no sign of the man anywhere.

            “Are you okay?” Adrien asked, glancing at Marinette.

            “Yeah, I’m good,” Marinette said quietly. She continued to lead the way, striding quickly down the streets.

            “You handled yourself really well back there, Marinette. And I’m so sorry about this, I’m sure this is my fault.”

            Marinette nearly got whiplash turning to stare at him. “Your fault, how is any of this your fault?”

            “Well,” Adrien reached to scratch the back of his head, a bit sheepishly. In the back of his mind, he realized his other hand was still clasped with Marinette’s. “I don’t mean to be boastful or anything, but I am a bit of a celebrity.”

            Marinette burst out laughing. “Oh dear, Monsieur Agreste has got himself a big head. No, Adrien, I’m sure this wasn’t your fault.”

            Adrien shook his head. “I mean, we weren’t exactly subtle with our respective status’ back there at the restaurant. I’m sure he was just a mugger who hoped to get a big wallet out of one of us.”

            Marinette pursed her lips and was silent. Adrien looked curiously at her, wondering if she knew something he didn’t. I’m sure she’s still just a little shaken. He had had stalkers before, so this one incident didn’t rattle him as much as maybe it should.

            From a distance there was a large boom. Marinette and Adrien both stopped in their tracks, looking around. There was another, shaking the ground and rattling the wind-chimes on a nearby shop. Then another. Just as Adrien was putting the pieces together, a shadow appeared above them.

            “Adrien, look out!” Marinette threw herself into Adrien, narrowly avoiding the car that was suddenly hurled their way. Adrien felt Marinette’s weight on top of him for a few seconds before she quickly rolled off and pulled him to his feet.

            “Oh no. An akuma? Now?” Adrien grumbled. He pulled Marinette behind a sidewalk billboard as another car was hurtled their way, as well as…a giant pink blow-dryer?

            “THIS’LL TEACH YOU TO DISRESPECT MY METHODS!” boomed a voice from about a block away. “I’M COIFFEURIST, THE GREATEST HAIRSTYLIST IN ALL OF FRANCE!”

            Excellent, Adrien thought. I love it when a villain states their name and personal issue right away. Makes my job so much easier.

            Coiffuerist came into view. He was huge, hot pink, and had a gun that appeared to be shooting styling products out of it.

            Adrien looked at Marinette and grimaced. “Guess we should’ve taken the ride from Richard, huh?”

            Marinette opened her mouth to respond, but was cut short by a giant pink comb tearing through the billboard, forcing them to dive apart. Adrien rolled over to check on Marinette, but she was out of sight. He sat up quickly, scanning the area for where she might have disappeared.

            Someone screamed near him. He looked up to see a giant bottle of conditioner sailing right towards him. He raised his hands in defense when he was scooped out of the way and suddenly soaring through the air.

            “Ladybug,” he breathed, staring up at her majesty. She sprinted on top of the rooftops for a few blocks before jumping back onto the ground and setting him on his feet.

            “You okay, Adrien?” Ladybug said, her hands on his shoulders, staring into his eyes.

            “Uh…uh, yeah,” Adrien stammered. So smooth, man. What’s wrong with you? He cleared his throat. “Thanks for saving me.”

            Ladybug smiled and turned away, raising her yo-yo. “Stay hidden, alright? Chat Noir and I will take care of this!”

            “Wait, Ladybug! My friend, Marinette, she’s still back there somewhere. Can you make sure she’s okay?”

            Ladybug started, then regained her composure, shifting to look at him. “I’m sure Marinette is fine. You’re a good friend for worrying about her.” With that, she tossed her yo-yo and swung away.

            Adrien stared after her for a second. Plagg poked his head out of his jacket pocket. “Are you just going to stand there?”

            Adrien shook his head to clear it, transformed, then bounded after Ladybug.

            Meanwhile, Ladybug was stopping Coiffeurist from causing too much damage. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, but she knew she should wait for Chat Noir. The plan she had mapped out in her head would only work with one of his Cataclysms.

            “My lady,” Chat Noir said behind her. Ladybug smiled; she had sensed him before he had spoken.

            “Chat, great. I can’t figure out where his akuma is, but I’m thinking the gun is not the answer. It’s too easy,” Ladybug said, pulling some civilians out of an overturned car. “We’ve got to stop him from moving through the city and causing more terror. I’m going to lead him over to that subway station while you get all the people out of the underground, then on my signal, you Cataclysm the road above it so he falls in and is trapped. Got it?”

            “Got it!” Chat Noir hurried away.

            “Coiffeurist!” Ladybug yelled. She tossed her yo-yo, whacking him on the head and causing him to turn in her direction. “Come get me, ugly!”

            Coiffeurist roared and aimed his gun at her. Ladybug danced out of the way of the barrage of giant pink combs, hairspray, and other products. Coiffeurist began making his way down the street, pulling at the apron around his waist. Ladybug smiled as she realized where the akuma must be.

            “I heard someone over here didn’t like what you did to her hair!” Ladybug yelled. She could see Chat Noir herding everyone out of the subway. They made eye contact, and Chat Noir nodded as the last person hurried up the steps and away from the giant pink man.

           Coiffeurist howled in fury and stormed toward her. Ladybug yelled, “Chat Noir, now!”

           “CATACLYSM!” Chat Noir yelled, then jumped between Coiffeurist’s feet and slammed his hand onto the ground.

           A large crack echoed, then the ground opened up beneath Coiffeurist. Ladybug had a moment of gratification as he began falling, then panic as she saw Chat Noir was falling with him. She quickly swung her yo-yo and pulled him out into her arms.

          “You dumb cat, why didn’t you get out sooner?” Ladybug scolded as she set him back on his feet. “You could’ve been crushed.”

             Chat Noir dusted his suit off and grinned cockily at her. “I knew you would save me. Besides, being crushed by a giant pink hairstylist is on my top ten list of ‘Ways to Go.’”

            Ladybug shoved his shoulder lightly, shaking her head. They both turned to Coiffeurist, now trapped but continuing to shoot with his gun.

            “Where’s the akuma?” Chat Noir asked.

            “The apron, I think. But we won’t be able to get close with that gun. Can you Cataclysm the gun if I get you close enough?”

            “I think I’ve got at least one more in me.”

            “Alright then. Lucky Charm!” Ladybug threw her yo-yo in the air. “A mirror? Why would I…” She looked around quickly and deciphered what to do. “Alright, kitty. I’m going to use the lights from the Eiffel Tower to blind him with this mirror. Then you swoop in a get his gun. Then I can get close and cleanse the akuma. Ready, go!”

            They both sprung into action. Ladybug leapt up to the roofs to get a better angle while Chat Noir hurried toward Coiffeurist yelling as a distraction. Within a few minutes, the akuma was gone and everything was put back in its place. Where Coiffeurist once stood, now was a man looking slightly confused.

           “Bien joué!” Ladybug and Chat Noir said, bumping their fists together.

____________________________________________________________________

            “That wasn’t too hard!” Ladybug said. It hadn’t taken long to get Gauchí, formerly Coiffeurist, back on his feet with a renewed vow to not let customer complaints get to him. Now she and Chat Noir were on the roofs, surveying the area quickly before parting.

             “Yeah, it was just fine. I like that we can use our powers more than once, now that we are adults,” Chat said, stretching to crack his back. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, my lady, I’ve got something to get back to.”

              “Actually, Chat, one more thing,” Ladybug hesitated. Whatever she said next could be dangerous, but she needed him to know. “Do you think you could check on Marinette Dupain-Cheng later tonight?”

             “M-Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

            “Yeah, do you remember her?”

             Chat waved his hand at her impatiently. “Of course I do. What’s wrong?”

               “Um, well, she thinks she may have a stalker. She didn’t go into it with me, but I really think you should go by her place later tonight, just to check on her. Maybe she can give you the full details.”

              “Yeah, sure, but…why can’t you go? Or at least go with me.”

            Ladybug tried not to feel slightly hurt that he didn’t want to go. “I have somewhere to be tonight. Just trust me, okay? She needs to see you.”

             Chat scrutinized her, then said slowly. “Well, okay. I trust you.”

              Ladybug smiled, relieved. She took Chat’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “Thanks, Chat. And I promise you that the next time a civilian needs looking after, I will do it.”

               She turned away from him and swung away, letting herself fall to the ground after only a couple of buildings. She transformed back and pulled out a cookie for Tikki from her purse.

               “Why do you need Chat to come visit you tonight?” Tikki asked, swallowing a few bites. “Why couldn’t you just tell him what was going on as Ladybug?”

               “I couldn’t let him know that I knew so much since this is something that just barely happened. When would Marinette and Ladybug have time to have a full conversation? I’m not even sure what I told him was okay,” Marinette said, feeling the anxiety creep back into her chest now that she wasn’t full of the confidence Ladybug gave her.

             She put Tikki gently in her purse then hurried out of the alley. She only needed to go a few steps when she saw Adrien up ahead where they had first been attacked.

              “Adrien!” she called, waving her hand and hurrying towards him. Adrien turned and visibly relaxed upon seeing her.

              “Marinette! Are you okay? I was worried after you disappeared that something had happened to you!” Adrien put his hands on her shoulders in a similar manner to what she had done to him as Ladybug just half an hour before.

                “I’m fine! Ladybug took me to safety. What about you?”

              “Same, actually, just scooped me up like it was nothing. She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Adrien said, a slow smile creeping over his face as he looked off into the distance.

               Marinette cocked an eyebrow at him. “Do you…have a crush on Ladybug?”

             Adrien jumped, pulling his hands away, waving them in a definitely non-suspicious manner. “What? No. What? No. What? I just…I just thinks she’s cool, okay?”

              Marinette laughed. She stepped to his side and took his arm, leading him down the street. “I’m just teasing, Adrien. I mean, she is pretty great. But she wouldn’t be anything without Chat Noir, of course.”

             Adrien chuckled. “I suppose. But his puns and childish humor doesn’t get to you?”

             “What? No, of course not. I mean, sometimes it can be a bit much, but all in all he’s a really good guy, and I actually find him pretty funny most of the time. Plus, he’s always there for Paris and for Ladybug, and he’s really smart deep down.” Marinette quickly shut up before she gave away how well she knew Chat Noir. It was hard to keep track sometimes how much Marinette knew and how much Ladybug knew.

           As they stopped at a crosswalk, Adrien turned to look at her, a cheeky smile on his lips. “Wow, Marinette. Do you have a crush on Chat Noir?”

            Marinette dramatically put the back of her hand up to her forehead and pretended to swoon. “Who doesn’t? Those tight pants and swishy hair. What a babe!”

            Adrien guffawed loudly, then covered his mouth, looking slightly embarrassed. “Geez, Marinette. Tell me how you really feel, why don’tcha?”

            Marinette giggled as they crossed the street. “At least I can admit it when I admire someone. You nearly had a heart attack when I voiced my suspicions about your feelings, or lack of them, for Ladybug.”

         “Well…to be perfectly honest, no one has ever picked up on the fact that I might harbor a slight crush on Paris’s superhero,” Adrien said, shrugging. “You just caught me off guard.”

           “What?” Marinette said, feigning shock. “No one has ever guessed that the CEO of Agreste, the child model prodigy, and son of freaking Gabriel Agreste himself has a crush on Ladybug?”

            “Alright, alright!” Adrien said laughing, putting his hands up in defense. “Although, I mean, you’re freaking Marinette Dupain-Cheng and have a crush on Chat Noir. Who could’ve guessed that?”

          Marinette waved her hand dismissively. “Please. I wasn’t hiding it – it just has never came up.”

            “Well, now that I know, you better believe it’ll come up again,” Adrien said, flashing her grin.

            Marinette laughed. “Fine, but now that I know your secret, you better believe that will come up again.”

            “You called my bluff, Dupain-Cheng. I retract my former threat.” 

            They both laughed, then walked in comfortable silence, slowly making their way to Marinette’s apartment. Marinette was feeling more relaxed than she had in months, maybe years. Adrien’s presence, once enough to throw her into a panic, now seemed to give her waves of serenity. She could almost forget about Trench Coat Man. Almost.

_____________________________________________________

             “I had a really good time tonight, Marinette,” Adrien said, standing at the door of her apartment, butterflies in his stomach. “I mean, excluding the potential mugger and the akuma attack.”

             Marinette smiled back at him. “I had a good time, too. It was so nice to catch up, and I’m so glad that our friendship is one that can fall right back into place after such a long time apart.”

            “I feel the same way.” The way her eyes were sparkling made his head spin. “I’m really looking forward to seeing you a lot more often.”

             “Yeah, me too! Although, it’ll be a bit different since you’ll be my boss and all. Do you like being the CEO?”

               Adrien paused, not sure how to respond. No one had ever asked him if he liked being the CEO. It was just something that was expected of him, something he felt he had been born to be. “Well…I’m not sure. It’s, you know, just something I do.”

             Marinette frowned at him. “Really? But do you feel passionate about it, and are you excited to go to work everyday?”

              “Um…I guess not. Should I?”

             “Adrien, if you had your druthers, what would you want to do with your life? Like, if you had complete freedom, where would you go? What would you do?”

             “I couldn’t just abandon the company my father has worked so hard to build!”

             Marinette shook her head. She took his hand again, sending a jolt of electricity to his brain. “But what do you want to work hard to build?”

            “I want…I want…I want to help people. As many people as I can.” Adrien couldn’t believe how good Marinette was at extracting the truth from him. “I feel purposeless at my current position, like I’m not making an impact. And I want to make an impact.”

            Marinette beamed at him. “Adrien, you are so good at helping people. If you could find a job where you could do that all the time, I think that would bring you a lot of happiness.”

            Adrien blinked at her, a little stunned. “I would love that.”

            “I mean, you don’t have to immediately quit your job and start over, but at least start thinking about it. I just want you to be happy.” Marinette stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. With a deep longing in his chest that he couldn’t quite explain, he put his arms around her and rested his chin against her soft hair. She smelled like cookies, lavender, and something familiar. Whatever it was, it only caused the ache in his chest to expand until he could hardly stand it. He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes again.

            “Thank you, Marinette,” he murmured. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Marinette jumped slightly and put her hand up where his lips had made contact. He stepped back and smiled. “I’ll see on Monday, alright? Text me if you need anything.”

            I’ll see you sooner than you think, Princess, he thought, heading down the hallway. When he got to the doorway of the building, he texted Richard.

A: I’ll just be a while longer, we got to talking.

R: No problem. Do you mind if I wait at the coffee shop down the street?

A: Of course not. I’ll call you soon.

            Adrien transformed in the lobby, hurried out of the building, and hopped onto the roof nearby. He had a good view of Alya and Marinette’s apartment. He saw Marinette talk to Alya for a few minutes then escape to her room. Alya, looking slightly disgruntled, left the apartment. He saw her moments later leave the apartment building on the phone, and from the sound of the conversation, she was talking to Nino.

            “She won’t tell me anything! And she was gone for ages. What do you think happened?” Alya walked down the street and disappeared.

            He chuckled. No doubt Marinette didn’t feel up to talking, plus she might even be expecting a visit from a superhero soon. Marinette walked out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing. The way the light breeze pushed her hair back made her look prettier than he thought was possible. He extended his staff and landed silently behind her.

            “Hello, Chat Noir,” Marinette said, nearly scaring him to death. She turned around to face him, smirking slightly at his shocked expression.

            He cleared his throat and straightened up, trying to composing himself. “Hey, Princess. Uh, what’s up?”

            Marinette giggled. “Nothing much. How long have you been waiting for me?”

            “Uhh…Not long.” Chat could not believe the nerve of this girl. It was like their roles were reversed: she was smug and confident, and he was tripping over himself. He would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. “You’re all dressed up. What, you had a hot date or something?”

            “Hm, wouldn’t you like to know, Kitty.” She reached out and flicked his bell, then turned back to view the Paris skyline, resting her arms on the railing again. Chat took a few steps forward and leaned back against the railing to see her face.

            “No seriously. I feel like we haven’t seen each other in a while. How have you been?” Adrien used to come visit Marinette all the time as Chat just to get away when he was still living under his father’s thumb. But since he gained more control over his life, he hadn’t needed an escape as often.

            “I mean, I’ve been doing really, really well recently. Things feel like they’ve been lining up for me,” Marinette said, looking down at her hands.

            “But…?”

            “But I’m just afraid I’ll mess everything up, and I’ll lose it all. I don’t want to hope too much in the future if it’s all going to be taken away from me.”

            “Ah, cherophobia.”

            Marinette turned to look at him. “What?”

            “Cherophobia. It’s the fear of being happy. You had something happen recently that made you afraid that happiness is a façade and temporary. You don’t want to allow yourself to be happy because it will just lead to misery in the end.” Adrien knew all about this from his time spent in therapy. He had only gone for six months or so back in law school, but his therapist helped him realize that he had already missed out on so much living. He shouldn’t ruin the good times out of fear of the bad.

            Marinette was silent. Chat glanced at her, worried he had gone too far and found her staring at him, a bit shocked. “What?”

            “I don’t know,” Marinette said, a soft look coming over her face. “I just never expected you to be able to read me so easily.”

            Chat’s cheeks grew warm under her gaze. They stared at each other for a long moment. Then Chat cleared his throat and said, “So what happened to make my optimistic princess lose hope?”

            Marinette sighed. “It’s complicated. My long-term boyfriend broke up with me because I’m unreliable, and now I don’t believe that I’ll ever be able to hold a successful relationship again because I’ll just ruin it. Not to mention at my job, my boss belittles me at every turn. I guess former boss now, but two years of abuse from that guy can traumatize someone.”

            Chat’s chest rippled with anger at the thought of how Jules Trimèe had treated Marinette at the meeting earlier this week. Two years of that? Marinette was insanely talented and smart, and this guy thinks that he can just walk all over her like she’s nothing. How could Trimèe not see Marinette’s potential? Or even worse, if he did see her abilities, how dare he try to squash them?  He crossed his arms and strummed his fingers, a hard knot in the pit of his stomach.

            “Chat?”

            Chat swerved his eyes to glance at Marinette. She had stepped back and was staring out into the street, her eyes wide and fearful. Chat turned to see what she was staring at. There, down the street from her apartment, was the Trench Coat Man in all his frightening glory. Before Chat could process the situation, the man snapped his face around and stared right at Chat.

            Chat yelped and jumped backwards a foot. The man turned and began running away.

            No, I can’t let him get away. He turned to Marinette. “Stay here, I’m going after him.” Chat leapt off the balcony leaving Marinette to gape after him.

________________________________________________________________________________

            Marinette leaned over the railing a bit, anxiously watching Chat turn the corner after Trench Coat Man. Tikki flew out of her hiding place, but before she could say anything, Marinette had transformed and swung away.

            Ladybug caught up to Chat and the man within seconds and landed in front of Trench Coat Man, blocking his path.

            “Who are you? Why are you stalking Marinette?” Ladybug took a step forward, readying her yo-yo. The man’s glasses flashed in the street lamp light, making it unable for her to see his eyes.

            “Answer her!” Chat yelled, grabbing the back of the man’s collar and lifting him up.

            The man lifted his face up to show a round chin and sharp black stubble framing a wide smile. “You think you two scare me? Just as your powers have grown with age, so has Hawkmoth’s. He sends his regards.”

            Ladybug inhaled sharply. “You’re an akuma.”

            “Oh my dear, I am so much more than that,” the man sleazed. “I am here to find Chat Noir and Ladybug’s weaknesses, and it appears I have found one. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Why would two superheroes go to all this trouble for one girl? Why wouldn’t they recommend just going to the police?”

            Ladybug’s hands trembled for a moment, but she didn’t let the fear mess with her head. “Listen, Trench Coat Man. We are here to protect all citizens of Paris, including Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

            “Yeah, you dirtbag,” Chat growled. “If you even touch her, I’ll rip the skin off your head and feed it to you.”

            “Chat, that’s enough,” Ladybug snapped.

            The man smirked. “Don’t give yourself away now, Chat Noir. Do you have a soft spot for black haired women?”

            “Chat, don’t let him get to you,” Ladybug warned, eyeing him. Chat’s face was contorted with rage, and he was shaking so violently Trench Coat Man was vibrating as well. She turned her focus back on him. “What do you mean you’re ‘more than an akuma’?”

            Trench Coat Man chuckled. “I have more abilities than most akumas. For one, I’m completely aware of myself, and for another, I’m patient. I’m not into some quick, petty revenge scheme that will ultimately lead to failure for both me and Hawkmoth. I’m in this for the long haul, and I’m not easily distracted. But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon, Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Staring intensely into Ladybug’s eyes, his lips twitched upwards into a smirk. He raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and vanished.

              Chat grabbed the air around him pointlessly. “No, no, no! How could he get away from us?”

             “Chat, calm down, it’s going to be okay,” Ladybug said desperately. Her stomach was in a knot, and her chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself. This akuma was definitely different…he had more control behind his voice, and she felt that the person behind the akuma was a bad person even without the influence of Hawkmoth.

            “No, this is my fault!” Chat grabbed his hair in frustration. “He saw me and Marinette on her balcony and drew a conclusion that isn’t altogether inaccurate! Now Hawkmoth is going to go after her with everything he’s got!”

            Ladybug took a step towards Chat and held her arms open. He collapsed into her, breathing heavily. She wrapped an arm around his waist and swung her yo-yo up to the roofs above them, pulling them up. As soon as they were out of sight of the street, Chat collapsed, sitting against a wall with his head in his hands.

            Ladybug watched him, feeling slightly confused. She hadn’t realized Chat felt this way around her. I mean, I knew he used to feel that way towards me, Ladybug, but not me, Marinette. It was touching, but in all reality, rather odd because Marinette should’ve been just another citizen to him. Maybe they had gotten closer a few years ago, but it’s been awhile since Marinette and Chat had conversed the way they used to do.

            Chat sniffed, breaking her train of thought. “I’m sorry, Ladybug. I got too close to a citizen in my superhero form, and it’s ruined everything.”

            Ladybug knelt down in front of him. “Why don’t you tell me about it…about her?”

            Chat was silent for a moment, then breathed heavily. “Do you remember years and years ago when I made you a special surprise up on the rooftops and you didn’t come? I mean, I was kind of a jerk about it, but I actually ended up taking Marinette there instead. She was there for me and after that…I started stopping by maybe once a month or less, just to check on her and talk. Then things got bad in my civilian life so I would go there to escape much more frequently. I did this for years…even after she had moved out of her parent’s house, I found her and kept coming back. I haven’t seen her in a while because I’m doing a lot better, but when I saw her tonight…it was like we were never apart.”

            “Wow…” Ladybug looked down at her hands, her feelings jumbled. “You really care for her, don’t you?”

            “I mean…yeah I do.”

            “Do you love her?”

            “What? No. What? No.” Chat coughed convincingly. “We are just friends, I promise Ladybug. She does mean a lot to me though, but I never should’ve gotten close enough to put her at risk. What was I thinking?”

            “Hey,” Ladybug said gently, reaching up to take his hands. She pulled them away from his face so she could look into his eyes. “It’s okay, you needed her, and I’m sure she needed you too. And I’m the one who asked you to check on her, so if you need to place the blame someone, place it one me. I probably could’ve taken care of it, but I think I knew that she would prefer you.”

            Chat’s eyes suddenly got big, and he stood up, pulling Ladybug with him. “We’ve got to go warn her! She’s in danger, possibly right now!”

            “No no no, Chat, I promise she is not in danger!” The last thing Ladybug needed was Chat racing back to her apartment, finding her gone and tearing Paris apart looking for her. “I was able to get her someplace safe before following you and Trench Coat Man.”

            “What? How did you do that? You must’ve had like fifteen seconds between when I left Marinette and when you found me and Trench Coat Man.”

            “Chat, do you trust me?” Ladybug asked, holding his hands in her own, looking at him imploringly.

            “I mean…yes of course.”

            “Then please trust me when I say she is safe,” Ladybug said. “And from now on, why don’t you let me take care of Marinette? I think I have a better control on my emotions as far as she is concerned.”

            Chat bounced on the balls of feet restlessly. “I trust you, you know I do, I just really, really don’t want anything to happen to her.”

            “I know. And I promise I will do everything in my power to keep her from harm. And now that we know the guy following her is an akuma, I can ask her who she may have angered recently,” Ladybug said, watching Chat closely. He seemed on the verge of an anxiety attack. “Chat. I promise you that I will not let anything happen to her, and it will all be okay. Will you please go home? I’ll take care of her.”

            Chat closed his eyes tightly for a long moment, then opened them and nodded. “Alright Ladybug. Thanks for taking care of her.”

            “Anytime, Chat. What’s important to you is important to me.”