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“Oh, Spots, you really didn’t have to,” Chat Noir took the small, wrapped gift from him.
Ladybug shrugged. “You said your birthday was this month,” he replied easily. “And I saw this and thought of you.”
She looked up at him. “You’re sweet.”
“Thank you,” he replied, kissing one of her black ears. “It’s face lotion with SPF. I doubt these suits protect our skin from sun damage, you know.”
Chat Noir deflated a bit.
“And some ladybug earrings that I had made, in case you ever wanted to wear them.” Ladybug quickly added, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her close.
XXX
“Go away.” She said to him, as he stood in front of her table at the library.
“It’s your birthday.”
Nathalie looked up at Gabriel Agreste. “It is. Did you need something, Gabe?”
He rolled his eyes at her before setting an unwrapped shopping back in front of her. “I got you a gift, because the rest of the student council said it’d be appropriate for the vice president to buy the president a gift for her birthday.”
Her brows pushed together as she grabbed the bag and opened it, pulling out a package.
“It’s for you horrible acne,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Which I thought you would’ve handled by now but apparently not.”
Nathalie looked down at the face lotion, and then looked back up at Gabriel. “Did you really buy a gift to insult me?”
“I’m finding this entire experience to be rather humiliating on my end,” he answered. “No need to thank me, Nathalie.”
She pressed her lips together. “Thank you.”
Nathalie waited until she got home before she started freaking out. It was Gabriel Agreste. He was Ladybug. He was her boyfriend, of all people.
“What do I do, Plagg?
“I don’t care, kiddo. Lie?” He asked, bored as he ate a piece of cheese. “I told you you’re crazy about that brat.”
She glared at him. “He’s a pain in my ass.”
“Then break up with him?” Plagg replied, raising a brow at her. “It’s not a big deal. It’s great! That jerk is rich and I bet he can afford fancy cheese.”
Nathalie groaned, sinking into her mattress. “He’s so awful. I hate him so much.”
Plagg floated over to the wedding scrapbook on her desk. “You’re dramatic, as usual. It’s not like you’re nice to him at school. You destroyed him when you were both running for president. And you cheated the election, too. Are you gonna tell him that?”
Her brows pushed together. “No.”
“Then what’s another secret.”
“It’s one secret too many!” Nathalie sat up. “I’m already keeping my secret identity from him, I can’t be expected to date him and keep this one!”
XXX
Chat Noir stiffened when Ladybug drew nearer after finishing their patrol that night, attempting to kiss her. Like they did every night. Ladybug stiffened as well, when he realized she wasn’t moving. “What’s wrong?”
She stepped away from him. From Gabriel. “Nothing! Nothing is wrong. I’m great. How are you?”
He tilted his head. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Okay!” Chat Noir took another step back. “We have to break up.”
His eyes widened as the color drained from his face. “What? Why? ”
“Does there have to be a reason?” She asked him. “Can’t you just trust me on this?”
“No,” he said, his voice trembling slightly. “I care about you a lot. So I’d like to know.”
Chat Noir bit her lip. “It’s, well, Ladybug, you, um. I know that this hasn’t been easy, dating each other. Superhero identities, you know?” Chat Noir swallowed. “I...recently...well. I know you’re Gabriel Agreste.”
Ladybug swallowed. “I see. Well, you figured it out. Wouldn’t that be a bonus?”
“I know people who know you, though,” she replied, sheepishly looking down. “And I hear you’re a jerk. So I don’t like you.”
He clicked his tongue. “Really?”
“Y-Yes,” she said. “I’m really sorry.”
Ladybug pressed his lips together, and placed his hands behind his back. “Are you gonna tell me who you are, then?”
“No.”
“I can’t even pursue you, then. As Gabriel?”
Chat Noir looked away. “It’s not a good idea, Spots.”
He bristled. “Fine.”
XXX
“You have to do something, Nathalie.” June begged her, as soon as they left the student council meeting.
Nathalie, who had hardly survived that meeting and barely paid attention, looked at the student council secretary. “What do you mean?”
“About Gabriel!” She replied. “He was completely useless today. He didn’t even present his proposals for the spring charity fundraiser!”
“Was that due today?” Nathalie asked. She had presented her ideas at the previous meeting.
June tucked a hair behind her ear. “He’s been so spacey lately. Can you please talk to him? I know he’s awful but he’s an okay-ish vice president. He needs to do his job.”
Nathalie frowned. She did not want to talk to him at all. They had barely spoken in the several weeks since she and Ladybug had broken up. “I can try.”
She didn’t see him for the first or second period of classes, but managed to track him down to the library during lunch.
“Is this seat taken?” She asked him.
Gabriel didn’t look up from his book. “Go away, Nathalie.”
Nathalie sat down.
He exhaled, closing his book and dropping it on the table. “What could we possibly talk about? We just had a meeting. You were there.”
She tried to smile slightly at him. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. It hasn’t escaped the council’s notice that you’ve been feeling a bit off lately.”
Gabriel blinked. “I’m fine. You’re not going to have me fired yet.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Nathalie replied, attempting to sound gentle and likely failing. “When have I ever tried to get rid of you?”
“You ran against me for president when you said you wouldn’t?” He asked, bewildered. “Seriously, Nathalie. We’re not friends.”
Nathalie nodded, looking down at her hands. “I know that wasn’t a high point for our friendship, Gabriel.”
Gabriel glared at her. “Yes,” he said coolly, “I was there. Why are you here?”
“I was just worried about you. Despite what you might think, we don’t make a bad team,” Nathalie replied haughtily, standing up and gathering her things. “You’re being an asshole, as usual. So I’ll go.”
She tried to get him out of her mind for the rest of the day. Nathalie nearly succeeded, until she found him waiting by her locker. He looked up at her, with his usual neutral expression. Gabriel may have been attempting a smile.
“I thought you could use my umbrella,” he said. “A raincoat would protect your hair, and we both know it needs all the protection it can get.”
Nathalie glared at him. “My hair is fine. Water didn’t kill anyone.”
“I have an extra umbrella in my locker,” he told her, handing her his umbrella. “I’m not kidding.”
She frowned, but took the umbrella. “It’s really coming down out there,” she commented, looking up at the windows as the rain pelted down on them. “I don’t think your shoes will make it.”
Gabriel sighed, zipping up his obviously not rainproof coat. “I have already made peace with that fact,” he said. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for earlier,” he said awkwardly. “And for being a bad vice president. It’s not fair to you.”
Nathalie felt a small amount of grief creep up her spine. It was likely fair to her, considering that she didn't win the position she was lording over him constantly by fair means. “It’s alright,” she told him as they walked towards the entrance of the school. “I doubt any of this was about me.”
Gabriel nodded. “To be honest with you,” he murmured, “My girlfriend broke up with me recently, because I’m an asshole...so you calling me one didn’t feel great, even if it was called for.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize you had a girlfriend anyway.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He replied, huffing a bit. “I’m a great guy.”
“When you want to be, I suppose.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes.
They both looked at the torrential downpour that was happening in front of them. Neither took a step forward. “Do you want to come back to my place?” She asked him. “We can study and wait for the rain to stop. It’s a bit closer than your house.”
He exhaled. “Okay.”
It was perhaps ten minutes later when two drowned rats entered the Sancoeur apartment. “My parents won’t be home for a few hours,” she told him, peeling away her coat and setting it onto a hook. “We should change.”
Gabriel ran a hand through his sopping wet hair. “I don’t have anything to change into.”
“Can I just give you a pair of pajama pants and one of my oversized t-shirts?” She asked him as they took off their shoes. “We can throw your clothes in the dryer.”
He deflated a bit. “Sure.”
He trailed after her and stood in the doorway of her pristine bedroom, glancing around. “Wow,” he replied. “I had no idea you were a Ladybug fan.”
Nathalie straightened up, and glanced to a small collection of Ladybug and Chat Noir newspaper clippings that were pinned to a bulletin board. “He’s handsome, I guess? I don’t know.” She finally added. “There aren’t a lot of news stories and stuff about them. They may be worth saving.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes, watching her rifle through her drawers for something he could wear. “I can call a cab, Nathalie.”
“It’s fine.” She replied, finally finding a pair of old pajama pants she had stolen from her cousin. “Here, the bathroom is behind you.”
The next thing Nathalie knew, she was jolting awake. She glanced around the room, and found Gabriel, sitting at her family’s dining room table, doing homework. “What happened?” she asked, still a bit dazed.
“You fell asleep. The rain stopped but my clothes are still drying,” he replied, not looking up from his textbook. “I learned that washers and dryers are not the same thing. They are two separate machines.”
“What?” She asked, still lost.
Gabriel looked up at her. “People always say ‘washer and dryer.’ I just assumed they were one in the same.”
Nathalie squinted. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I figured out how to work the dryer,” he said. “And you looked peaceful for once, so I didn’t want to bother you.” Gabriel inhaled. “I also made coffee. There’s still some left.”
She nodded, standing and stretching. “Did you come up with an idea for the charity event for next spring?”
“I was thinking about a fashion show,” he replied. “or a clothing drive. Or a dance.”
“A dance?” She asked. “Our school doesn’t do dances.”
Gabriel looked at her. “Hence why we should do a dance. It’ll be the event of the season. The tickets could go towards whatever charity we pick and we can host a raffle or something to raise money for the student council.”
“It’s a thought.”
He rolled her eyes. “You don’t like it because you’re a bad dancer. I can tell.”
Nathalie scoffed. “I’m a good dancer.”
“No way. Prove it.”
XXX
She knocked on his window, and Gabriel looked up from where he was sewing on finishings, and his face lit up.
He was across the room in an instant, opening the windows for her. “Hey, kitten.”
“Hello, Gabriel,” she replied, glancing around his room.
He put his hands in his pockets, awkwardly following her gaze. “What’s the occasion? Is there an akuma attack?”
Chat Noir looked at him, and smiled. “Can’t I just want to see you?”
His expression softened, and he looked at her so sweetly, in a way that filled her up with guilt. “Have you come around?”
“I--” Nathalie stopped herself, hesitating. She looked down. He would hate her if he knew about the election. She had deliberately ruined his chances of winning and destroyed their friendship in the process. It filled her with guilt and panic. “I have a few things to work out before we could even begin.”
“You want to date me?” He asked her.
She looked up at him, a bit terrified as she remembered dancing with him in her apartment, if just to prove to him that she could dance. Nathalie wanted to see him smile like that again.
“I do,” she told him. “In time. After I sort some things out.”
XXX
It was a week or so later when Nathalie stood on the porch of June’s house, ringing the doorbell before classes.
“We said we’d take this to our graves, Nathalie.” June hissed, handing over the ballot box they had stolen and swapped out last year. “You’re going to get in so much trouble.”
“I know.” Nathalie replied quietly. “You won’t get in trouble.”
It was some hours later when Nathalie was pretending to study in the student council’s room. The box was on the other side of the room, by the door. He wouldn’t have missed it. Gabriel came into the room to eat lunch around this time anyways.
When he made an appearance, he glanced at the box sitting on one of the tables. “Why do you have the ballot box out?”
Nathalie smiled. “I need you to empty it out and redecorate it. Everyone is going to vote on a theme for the dance, and then we’ll start the official planning process.”
Gabriel glared at her. “Why can’t you do it?”
“I decorated it last time,” she replied, closing her textbook and smirking at him. “And I thought you’d like to keep the few votes you actually got.”
XXX
Nathalie glanced between the principal, and Gabriel. He had counted the votes. He had counted them twice.
She listened to June and Claire count up the votes, in an official recount. Compared to the doctored voting slips Nathalie had made last year, Gabriel beat her by a slim but fair margin. There was a minute or two of shocked expressions, and silence. Gabriel was only frowning, patiently waiting for something to happen when the principal of the school spoke.
“This is unacceptable, Ms. Sancoeur,” The principal told her, frowning as he spoke. “You cheated to win the election.”
“Gabriel got to be vice president,” she replied, pretending to argue. “I fail to see the issue, but I understand that these things happen.” Nathalie stood. “I will resign from my position, seeing as I did not earn it.” She turned to Gabriel. “I guess that makes you President, Gabriel. Congratulations. You deserve this.”
“We’re not finished, Nathalie.” The principal went on. “I’m calling your parents in and we’re going to discuss the appropriate consequences here. I won’t allow cheating to go unpunished.”
“I understand.”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Ah, Principal Heuron, thank you for coming in and overseeing this entire thing, but we have a lot more planned for this meeting besides fixing this election scandal. Perhaps you and Nathalie could discuss this elsewhere and we can get back to work.”
“Right,” Nathalie said. “I wouldn’t want to impede your work, Gabriel.”
“Sure, Nathalie.” He retorted, coldly ushering her away as he took her seat.
XXX
Ladybug landed near her on a building they liked. He was on top of the world. Chat Noir smiled at him. She had spoken with the principal and her parents for an hour, discussing various punishments, but it was worth it.
“You look happy,” she said. “What’s the occasion?”
He grinned, taking her hand and kissing it quickly. “Last year I ran for student body president and lost. Yesterday I found out that the election was doctored. So as of today I’m now president.”
Chat Noir smiled. “In that case, congratulations, Mr. President.”
Ladybug’s smile faltered a bit. “Thank you,” he murmured. “I lost my best friend over that stupid election, you know, and she couldn’t even let me win fairly.”
“I’m sorry.” Chat frowned, looking away. “I’m sure it wasn’t personal.”
“I got to be vice president, I guess,” he said, “but it was still rude.” Ladybug softened a bit. “I’m planning a school dance. It’ll be in two months. Do you think you’ll be sorted out by then?”
Chat Noir’s eyes widened. “You want me to go with you?”
“I bet you can dance a little bit,” he said. “It’s going to be nice.”
She let out a small breath. Part of her wanted to say something now and tell him everything, but it was still too fresh. “Sure, I’ll be there. How will you know it’s me?”
“Just tell me when you get there.”
XXX
“I didn’t think you’d show up here,” Gabriel commented to her, outside of the venue--a small art museum in Paris.
“How could I miss it?” She asked him, “It’s the event of the season, after all.”
He pressed his lips together, glancing her up and down. She wore a green, crushed velvet dress, and a choker necklace. “You look nice.”
“So do you,” she said. “Red suits you. How’s being president?”
“It’s alright.” Gabriel told her. “I never thanked you for giving me the real ballot box. You’re too smart to leave those sort of things lying around.”
She smiled. “Did you want to go back inside and dance, Gabriel? Since I prove to you that I could, that is.”
Gabriel chuckled. “I have a date. I’m waiting for her to get here.”
“Ah,” she nodded, awkwardly milling about. “Well. I am here now, aren’t I?”
He didn’t comprehend what she was saying for a moment. Then, his smile dropped, and he looked at her, his mouth slightly agape. “You, kitten?”
“It’s me, Spots.” She bit her lip slightly. Her hands trembled. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting for so long.”
Gabriel blinked. “It’s been you this whole time?” He whispered. “Nathalie?”
Nathalie nodded.
He pulled her into a hug in the next instant, surprising her. Ladybug was not a hugger. Gabriel recoiled when others touched him. “I’m really glad it’s you.”
“Yeah. I was really guilty about everything when I found out,” she replied, hugging him back. “I’m sorry for cheating the election.”
“ Oh, ” Gabriel cleared his throat, pulling away. “I cheated too.”
Nathalie blinked, staring at him. “Excuse me?”
“I burned the original ballots and stuffed the box. I knew you cheated too, but I couldn’t prove anything without revealing myself.” he said, his voice lowered as he looked around. “I have no idea who actually won. It didn’t occur to me that you swapped out the boxes, though.”
“We really are partners, then.” Nathalie said, deflated. She smiled though, because he was smiling and she was happy for that. “Do you want to go inside? I think you owe me a dance, Spots.”
He took her hand. “Yeah, I do. Let’s go.”