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When Marinette walked back into the spacious room, with the intentions of telling Adrien how she felt, and taking on that ‘super cool role’ as Tikki called it, one thing she wasn’t expecting was how Adrien was frozen to the spot, arm across his chest as he stood tall.
At first, in the few moments that it took her to register that it was just his statue, she was actually very confused. Her steps towards him were very slow, making sure it was actually a figure made up of stone, not a human being made of flesh, because to her eyes it looked very real.
But after a few seconds of staring him up and down, head to toe, and with no movements, no blinking, Marinette accepted that it really was Adrien’s statue. And after she did, she laughed. She physically laughed aloud, hand coming to cover her mouth as she let out her giggles.
She circled around to sit down on the white, large out setting of another statue. Her laughter had died down, being muffled by her hands and now her head sank into the palms of her hands.
The bench, though not exactly a bench, but the place she sat wasn’t far away from the statue of Adrien, just near enough that he could still pick up her words clearly.
Adrien decided to play a prank on Marinette, as a way of cheering her up, but he never intended for what was about to come. When she started laughing, it was simple to state that Adrien was merely puzzled by the action, the blonde guy not understanding what was so comical. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the soft sound.
He noticed, as he averted his eyes, she wasn’t looking up anymore, her hands holding up the support of her head. She was placed right in his eye line, so he didn’t have to strain himself to see her.
It came unexpectedly, how her voice carried throughout the large room and up to his own ears, “isn’t so funny that just when about to reveal my feelings, you tend to disappear on me, Agreste.”
Reveal her feelings? Adrien’s brows wanted to furrow in confusion, but he couldn’t unless he wanted to give away his plan. He wasn’t even sure of where his plan would lead but he figured it would just come to him on the spot. But now, he stood, not knowing what to do.
“Well, there’s no harm in telling it to you Adrien statue, it’s not like you’d tell anyone anyways,” her sentence ended with a breathless laughed, almost as if she was exhausted. “It’s good practice for me too.”
Then there was a silence, Marinette formulating her words, scrambling throughout her thoughts in order to form a coherent one. Adrien waited, anticipation rushing throughout his body.
“You know, I’ve liked you for so long that I’ve actually lost track of how many times I’ve tried to do this, mainly because I’m scared you’ll reject me or because it’ll ruin our friendship, and believe me, that is the last thing I want to do.” After her words hung in the air, pausing maybe once or twice within her sentences, Adrien took up a small breath of air. Her revelation hit him with shock, and he wasn’t sure if he should stop the act and reveal himself, or if he should stand there for a little longer and listen to more of her sugar honey words.
He picked the latter, slightly adjusting his pose in order to make it more comfortable. He didn’t even have a chance to battle with himself about which one he should choose because Marinette had already cut his thoughts off and began her speech once again.
Before she started, she let out a shaky breath, “God, this is so weird, I’ve never actually said it aloud to myself, which seems weird because Alya is always teasing me about how I feel about you.” She stopped for a moment, thinking about what else she would tell him if he were really here.
“You know, the first time I started liking you was the day you gave me that black umbrella,” a giggle left her lips, “and it’s still in my room, sitting in my closet. I haven’t used it since that day, and that’s so stupid, I mean it’s an umbrella that’s meant to be used for rainy weather. But there it is, sitting all alone in the corner of my closet.”
Before Adrien even had time to think about her previous words, she cut him off once again. “but, it’s special to me. that whole day was special to me. I’d never forget it for anything in the world.” The small loose thread from her cardigan twirled around in her finger, and although she knew Adrien was a statue, she couldn’t bear to look up at him.
“It was the day I met Chat as well.”
That caught him off guard, Adrien remembered every little detail about that day and him seeing Marinette did not fit into those memories.
“Chat is confusing the hell out of my emotions as well, how ironic that both of you are blondes.” He saw how her head sank back into her hands, slowing moving up and down her face. “I mean, it’s been two, nearly three years since we met and for most of that time I didn’t think I liked him that way, mainly because of my feelings for you, but recently I started thinking about it more.” Most of those words were mumbled, suffocated by the hands that covered her mouth.
Marinette liked Chat Noir? His superhero self? That came as somewhat as a surprise to the blonde boy as he didn’t deem Chat as her type, and they had only shared a few conversations and moments under the moonlight whilst he was under the mask. But, then again, he didn’t deem himself as her type either and boy, how wrong he was.
What did she mean about meeting him the day he got his miraculous, then? Maybe she meant in a way that she saw him on that specific day, all dressed about in suit. That was something he wanted to put his mind to, but what he did know was that he didn’t share an interaction as Chat with her on that day.
Before he could continue his thoughts, Marinette burst in, ending the trail of silence. “But, this isn’t about Chat. It’s about you, and how in the first year I liked you, I couldn’t finish a sentence without blushing as I talked to you, without stuttering or without saying something completely awkward.” That seemed to make her giggle, the sound gentle to his ears.
“And now, here I am, sat in front of the statue of you, rumbling out random words that are meaningless because they’ll never be heard.” A sigh was heard, Adrien taking from it that she was tired from holding up her emotions for so long.
“I’m not frustrated with you, god no, just with myself. I just..” she trailed off, a pause in the moment, “I just wish I had enough courage just to say, ‘Adrien, I like you, do you want to go to the movies with me?’ but I can’t even manage to form a coherent thought around you. I mean, it’s a lot better than when I first began liking you and I am very grateful that I have more control over my emotions, but you still make me blush at times, and that I can’t help.”
“But even so you’re oblivious, which makes me laugh for sure, but sometimes I’m like ‘really Agreste? You can do gravitational force and magnetism, but you can’t see that I like you?’ and it’s in no way a bad thing, I actually find it quite amusing. It makes the whole thing a little better, I guess.”
Marinette paused in her confession, giving herself some time to actually exhale and inhale the air around her.
“This is so dramatized, it really isn’t that deep, sure we’re friends and we spend time together, but am in love with you? I don’t know, I seriously don’t know.”
Adrien wasn’t exactly sure how he was meant to take in all of his information, he knew he was most definitely invading her privacy and he would feel guilty for it for an endless amount of time, but he couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around everything that spilled out of Marinette’s lips. Her, being in love with him?
What Marinette didn’t know was that Adrien, after years of rejection, had realised there was a part of him that accepted that he and Ladybug would simply not happen because of her pining after another guy. So, without consciously thinking about it, he started to lose a sense of his feelings for her. What he knew is that he’d always love his lady, but another part of him begged to let go, to explore more of what love offered, outside his torch for Ladybug. Therefore, in the last few months, Adrien was starting to look at, specifically the bluenette spewing her heart out to him, quite differently.
“It’s all so confusing because on one hand, I keep thinking, am I falling for Chat or have I already fallen for you and it weighs on me, so much. More than it should. It’s just feelings, nothing more, nothing less.” He heard her sigh, shadowing the way she had sighed earlier on and he could tell she was exhausted.
“You’re just such a good person, I don’t know how you handle Chloé, that’s something I’ve never been able to figure out,” a pause caused by her soft giggle, “but you’re always managing to help others, you’re so kind and caring, I think that was one of your aspects that made me like you even more.” The room proceeded into silence, and Adrien began to feel uncomfortable with how he stood, why would he lift his arm, why did he think that was a good idea.
Marinette broke the silence eventually, “think I’ve said enough for a practice run.” And with that she got up and circled around him, making Adrien anxious that if she nudged him just that little bit, he would move instantly.
What was he planning to do anyway, he couldn’t just stay there until she left, it was hard enough now trying to stay in position. But if he moved, she’d freak out, run out before he could explain so he would wait until she moved away from him.
Though, to his dissatisfaction, Marinette only moved about six, seven steps away from him, and he needed more space between them. He noticed, out the corner of his eyes that she was leaning against one of the higher statues, and Adrien knew it wouldn’t fall if she gave it a slight push. Meaning Adrien was going to move.
However, that idea went out the window when she started into it again, “Chat makes me feel so..” she stopped, finding the correct words, “so safe and comforted like he’s never going to leave me. I place so much trust in him. Even so, on patrols, when we’re just fooling around, he makes me smile, over the smallest, stupidest things he does.” She chuckled but Adrien was fading out, as soon as the word ‘patrols’ shot through the clear-cut air, he couldn’t think straight. He kept thinking, his heart racing at the speed of light, it couldn’t be, it wasn’t what he thought it was, he was mistaken, he wasn’t supposed to know but—
Marinette was Ladybug.
His head spun. His lady was in front of him, babbling about more of their adventures together, ones they shared with one another, but he couldn’t hear her. All he could think about was all this time he was chasing after the girl in the suit that was chasing him out of the suit. The whole situation made him light-headed.
He couldn’t form a simple thought with the information he just received, and his breathing became uneven, unconsciously they came in in shallow, small paces. What was he meant to think, how was he meant to think when his mind was so clouded?
The atmosphere he stood in now felt enclosed as if the walls were climbing towards him, and he had no choice but to stand there and allow it to happen. There was nothing he could do, he couldn’t go back in time, it was done, the words were spilled, and he no longer had control of his past actions. He knew he should have stopped the prank the moment she told him that she liked him, he knew, and he didn’t.
Adrien had to end this now, this wasn’t supposed to happen, he shouldn’t have found out, god she was going to be so mad at hi—
“Adrien?” Her voice was so quiet, barely squeaking through.
He finally lifted his eyes to meet hers, and she was in absolute shock. Disbelief tore throughout her complexion and she stood in one place, frozen to the spot, with her mouth opening and closing, nothing coming out.
She didn’t say anything, but he could tell he screwed up so badly, so so badly. Red filled her whole face, the dark blush creeping over her cheeks, and her hand hovered over her lips. The embarrassment was so harsh on her face, he didn’t think she was capable of conveying another emotion specifically at that moment.
It was difficult to breathe, let alone begin to explain the situation to her and he found himself sucking in an extremely sharp breath, swallowing in response. Marinette watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed, his lips coming out to lick his lips. She observed the notion, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than the fact that Adrien heard everything she just said, clearly seeing how she placed her heart on her sleeve.
What was also hitting her that he must have also heard her rambling on about her partner, which just made it seem like she had an uncontrollable obsession with one of the most famous superheroes present in Paris.
The silence stretched, neither of them saying a word but Marinette felt like if she didn’t say anything, then she would end up losing her mind, but somehow Adrien beat her to it.
“Marinette, I never meant- look, I was only playing a little prank on you, I never thought it would lead to this. I should have stopped it before you began talking but I just..” Adrien seemed almost breathless, the words came out so fast he couldn’t catch them himself. His hands were in front of his chest, his palms closing and opening as if trying to explain it all with the motions.
Marinette stared at him, not knowing what to respond, “oh my god.” She let out quietly, with her head falling into her hands again and there was a shaky breath from her.
She began mumbling things under her breath, some of which Adrien couldn’t make out. It seemed to hit her, and she turned to face Adrien just a few metres from her, and her face confided of horror, shock but most of all, fear.
Why she was scared was a mystery to Adrien, it’s not as if he was angry with her. He actually felt quite liberated that she felt of him like that, it made his feelings for her easier to sink into.
There was much less distance between them as Marinette stepped forward, her trembling hands still evident. There was a sudden temptation to reach out and make her comforted, but before he could really process it, she spoke, “Adrien.. what I said about Chat Noir, I need you to forget it, okay?”
His eyes snapped to herself, and her glistening orbs were pleading with her upmost energy, with everything she could manage. “I’m sure you’ll place the pieces together, but it could place your life at threat, that’s why I need you to forget it. It’s the one thing I’ll ever ask of you.”
“But y-you’re..” He was left there, gasping for some sort of pull just to get his words out.
Adrien was standing in front of his lady. The one that he’d adored for so long, the one he held such a strong love for, and she felt the same way.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but no one is meant to know, not even Chat Noir. When he finds out I accidentally spilled my identity, all chaos could break loose. So please, Adrien, this is so important, for the sake of your life, above all.”
“You’re Ladybug.” With one breath it was let out, and Adrien’s comprehension of his words was not easily handled by his own mind.
Marinette managed the faintest smile, but it was so weak it could barely scrape up to her eyes and gave him a small nod, tying the knot altogether.
A brief moment of silence, Adrien closing his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, Marinette was still looking at him with those same pleading eyes. “Marinette.. I can’t just forget that what you’re asking me to do is impossible,” his words were still breathless as they arrived, “whenever I’ll see you as Ladybug, I’ll know who’s under the mask, and you don’t know how hard that’ll be for me.”
The fact that her crush, Adrien Agreste, a guy she absolutely adored knew her biggest secret yet, was astonishing to her. And not in a good way. To know that he was thinking of the times she saved him from akumas or made sure he was safe made her unsteady in body language and dazed mentally.
The bluenette across from him seem confused at his word, not frustrated, but genuine confusion dabbled along her hues. “It’s not as if I see you every time there’s an akuma?” her sentence expressed more like a question and she let out a very breathless laugh, barely audible.
“But you will,” Adrien spoke through strained lines, trying to get it across that her partner was standing in the same room as her.
And if she wasn’t more confused before, she was now.
He let himself scan her face and observe how her eyebrows furrowed and how her mouth slipped open, the small intake of breath snapping him back up to meet her eyes, as he pinpointed the exact moment she registered the meaning of his three words.
The widening of her eyes, the linger of her hand against her lips, shadowing her previous notion.
“No- you’re not- you can’t be-” Her head shook in disbelief, a common emotion in the last few minutes.
An endless line of moments and memories flashed back to her, the two times they had kissed, it had just started occurring to her that she had kissed Adrien Agreste, twice! There was also the serious of moments that she finally stumbled on such as the day he confessed his love for her, the rose, the whole dinner, and she missed it because she was waiting for Adrien, who was waiting for her, on that rooftop. Her partner was the same person she had feelings for. Adrien was the guy with the mask who she kept rejecting because she liked him, without the mask.
It was insane.
“You’re Chat Noir.” Even with the announcement of her own words, she couldn’t believe it, she simply could not wrap her head around it. She gnawed down on her bottom lip with her teeth, and the pressure was harder than she awaited as she scanned Adrien up and down.
Now, it was his turn for the weak smiles, with the source that he tried to make her feel more comfortable, “at your service, princess.” His voice was confident, the pride evident in his words.
She didn’t even register his nickname for her, the thought not ever crossing her mind, “you’re Chat Noir. You’re Adrien Agreste under the suit. Ohmygod, all this time I’ve been rejecting you for you.” The words were rushed, and her hands leaned out to point at him with her last words, and she couldn’t do anything but gaze at him.
Adrien proceeded to step forward, now closing the distance between them, leaving little to nothing space in between them.
But Marinette didn’t stop rambling, not even taking note of how close they were, “How can this be, I mean how are, you, Chat Noir? This is insane, I can’t believe this is happening. You, Adrien, are Chat Noir. And I’m Ladybug. Ohmygod.” Her breaths become uneven.
“Marinette, listen-”
“We’re gonna be in so much trouble with Master Fu, he specifically told us we cannot know each other’s identities! He made that so clear! The one thing he told me not to do was reveal them and I couldn’t even manage that!”
“My lady!” his voice was immediate and that’s all it took for Marinette to stop rambling at him.
His hand crept up gently to touch her face and that’s when she finally snapped back, to share the current moment with him. The nickname caught her off guard, and her azure orbs pierced into his emerald ones as he caressed her soft cheek. There was a want to lean into his touch, to nuzzle more into his hand but she resisted against it. She had to get through this moment first.
He smiled down at her, “we’re going to figure this out, together. Because we’re a duo. It’s you and me against the world, bugaboo.”
His smile was infectious and suddenly, Marinette’s lips played her own smile, and he could tell that it had finally reached her eyes. Her skin was so soft under his touch, and he felt the warmth of the light blushed that appeared when she snapped back to reality, and out of her own thoughts.
There was still a part of her mind that tore the idea that this was all a dream and she was just about to wake up. It made her unbalanced, trying to place the two important blondes in her life into one person. But overall, she couldn’t imagine having found a better person to be under the mask. Not because she had a crush on Adrien, but because both sides of him, she admired. His goofy side as her chaton and his soft, slightly shy side as her classmate.
“I’m really glad it was you, chaton.”
“I’m really glad it was you, princess.”
The look in his eyes gave it all away, he wanted to kiss her so badly, feeling that it would conceal the moment as a whole. His nose just about brushed against hers, and their breaths mingled with one another in the enclosed space. Eyes fluttered shut and their lips touched, as Adrien initiated the kiss but Marinette carried it further out. It was soft, a tender moment shared between Paris’ favourite superheroes. Marinette smiled into the gentle kiss, her hands crawling up to lean against the nape of his neck and Adrien pulled her closer, the hand on her cheek still caressing along her smooth skin.
When they pulled apart, he leaned his forehead against hers, not wanting any distance to come between them. Skylight orbs burned into his as she finally gazed up at him, her hooded lids no longer present, and Adrien stared back at her with the same gentleness. There was something about her gaze that accounted for butterflies to float around in his stomach, and he was fond of the feeling. Marinette was important to him, that was something he was upmost sure of.
Adrien also realised that he could tease her in and out of the suit, in school and on patrols, and it made his significant smile to play around on the corners of his lips, “and, to answer your question, I will go to the movies with you.” His previous smile was now a grin, and it was sweeter than candy, and her mellow laugh was heard before she reached up to connect their lips again.
It was decided, she was in love with her chaton and he was in love with his lady.