Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette pushed through the front doors of her school and reveled in the feel of the summer sun on her skin. In less than a month, she would be free of her class. Until the start of the next school year, anyway. Still, a break is better than nothing at all, she mused.

The sound of Lila’s voice and her classmates’ giggles pulled her out of her thoughts. Ever since Hawkmoth had been defeated, Lila had been on a rampage, creating more elaborate lies and being more vicious toward Marinette. She figured that Lila was trying to replace the power that Hawkmoth’s akumas had provided her by securing a stronger grip on the class.

“Oh yes, Damian did send me this necklace! He wanted me to know that he was thinking of me, even when we were apart.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, and her hand unconsciously drifted to the angel wings hanging around her neck. This was one of Lila’s newest and most favorite lies. Now that Adrien had been temporarily pulled out of school to avoid the publicity surrounding his father’s trial, she could no longer use him to further her ambitions. So, she had turned to another son of a rich businessman, claiming they were childhood sweethearts who had reconnected. Of course, everyone conveniently forgot how she used to hang off Adrien’s arm every chance she got.

The kicker was that her so-called “boyfriend” was Damian Wayne. The first time Lila had name-dropped Marinette’s best friend, she had almost fallen out of her chair in shock. She had immediately reached for her phone but paused just before texting Damian about what she had heard. She knew how he would react, and she may not like Lila, but that didn’t mean she wanted the other girl dead. Besides, revealing her friendship with him would bring a lot of unwanted attention her way.

Once again, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a voice, though this one was much more pleasant. “Hey Angel.”

She whirled around, and there he was, waiting off to the side on the steps of the school. “Damian?” She ran and threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. “Wait,” she pulled back just enough to see him, face scrunching in confusion, “why are you here?”

“My semester already finished, as you know, so I thought I would surprise you,” he said with a shrug.

She rolled her eyes. “You make it sound as though you live across the city, not across the ocean.” She ignored both the light blush on his face and the heat on her own. They still hadn’t talked about the kiss. She meant to, that first time they video called after Hawkmoth’s defeat, but as soon as she saw him, she couldn’t do it. She was afraid that Damian, emotionally repressed as he was, would shut her out if she tried to bring it up. And while she could finally admit to herself (and Chloé and Kagami and Luka) that she had an absolutely massive crush on him, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing his friendship. So, she kept quiet. At least it was easier to pretend that it didn’t happen because they had both been behind their masks.

Damian smirked at her. “Well, owning a private jet does make traveling easier.”

Marinette’s answering giggle was cut off by the sound of her name. She let go of Damian and turned to see her classmates watching her with expressions ranging from curiosity to disgust.

“Who is he?” Alix asked, definitely on the curious end of the spectrum.

Clearly none of them remember Alya trying to ruin our friendship last summer. “This is my best friend Damian.”

Predictably, Alya spoke up. “How could you want to be friends with a bully like her?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You tried to convince me that she was a bad person nearly a year ago. It did not work then, when I knew her for only a day, and it certainly will not work now,” he said coolly.

She could see Lila fuming at the lack of attention she was receiving, and sure enough, she interrupted Alya’s retort. “Oh, are you American? Damian must be a popular name there.”

“Really?” he said in a bored tone.

Marinette, on the other hand, was panicking because she knew where this was headed. “Dami, that’s Lila, you know she’s not worth it, let’s just go.” She started tugging on his hand, but he wouldn’t budge.

His eyes narrowed, gaze never leaving the Italian. “No, Angel, I want to hear what she has to say.”

Lila shot her a smug smirk, then opened her mouth and sealed her fate. “I was just telling everyone about my boyfriend, Damian Wayne. Surely you’ve heard of him.”

“Here we go,” Marinette muttered under her breath as she felt Damian rip his hand from hers. He stormed up to Lila, signature glare on his face. The whole class cowered, including the girl in question.

“You are not dating Damian Wayne.” Lila tried to argue, but he continued. “You are not dating Damian Wayne, and I know because I am Damian Wayne.” He fished his wallet from his pocket, flashing his ID for the class to see.

“You are lucky that Marinette convinced me not to interfere before, but this ends now. You will be receiving a cease and desist order from my lawyers, and if you continue trying to benefit from my name, I will not hesitate to sue you for slander. I will also be contacting every celebrity whose name you’ve used in a similar manner so that they may do the same. It is a good thing that your best friend has unwittingly been keeping a record of your claims on her little tabloid blog. I have already taken the liberty of saving each of your interviews, in case she tries to cover her tracks, so I have plenty of evidence. I know for a fact that Jagged Stone will not be pleased to hear how you have been treating his honorary niece,” he gestured to Marinette, “and will be more than happy to take action against you.

“In addition,” he continued, “when I help Marinette sue this pathetic excuse of a school for ignoring all her reports of your bullying, I will make sure to ask for access to your medical records, which I am certain will not list any of the many disabilities you claim to have.

“Lastly,” and Marinette could see true rage flickering in Damian’s eyes just then, though his voice only raised a few notches in volume, “even if you were not one of the most despicable people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, I still would not date you!”

A breath, and then—

“Why not?” squeaked Rose.

“Because I am in love with Marinette!”

The class audibly gasped, which was the first reaction they had shown to his speech beyond rapidly paling faces. Marinette froze, only able to feel the heavy thumping of her heart. Damian himself looked shocked, but he quickly recovered.

“And if I hear that any of you so much as give my Angel a dirty look, I will end you.”

With that, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the car that had been waiting for them, ignoring the class’ collective meltdown behind them. He let her climb in first, and they started moving. Even after a few minutes, she still couldn’t find her voice, and he wouldn’t look at her.

She glanced out the window and, seeing where they were, forced herself to speak. “Pull over.”

The driver acquiesced, and it was her turn to grab Damian’s hand and pull him out of the car. It only took him a moment to recognize the park where they had met. “Angel, what are we doing here?”

Marinette found an empty bench and sat, pulling him down with her. “We’re going to talk. And you’re not going to run away even though you don’t like emotions,” she added as she saw his eyes dart around as if he were planning escape routes.

Finally, he looked back at her and she continued. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?” he deflected, looking away again. His face flushed a brilliant red.

“Did you mean it when you said you loved me?” She held her breath, waiting for the answer that could possibly change their entire relationship. Damian just stared at her, face unreadable. As the seconds ticked by, she had a harder and harder time being patient. Just as she was about to snap and shake him until the words came out, he spoke.

“Yes,” he said, before abruptly standing and running a hand through his hair. He began pacing. “I did not anticipate it happening, but looking back, how could I not have fallen for you? Despite my rude behavior at our first meeting, you offered me kindness and friendship. And the cleverness you displayed then and ever since intrigued me; as you know, it can be difficult for me to find people on my same wavelength, so to speak. But I think it was your strength that drew me in most. Be that the quiet strength you display when dealing with your class, or the strength you used to defeat Hawkmoth and restore Paris’ hope. Even with my difficulty understanding emotions, I quickly figured out that I want to be in your life as long as you will let me.” He stopped in front of her with a sheepish look on his face. “The fact that my heart races every time I see you also helped to make it clear.”

Marinette didn’t know what she had expected him to say, but it certainly wasn’t that. She almost felt faint as phrases bounced around in her head.

How could I not have fallen for you?

I want to be in your life as long as you will let me.

My heart races every time I see you.

She only snapped out of it when Damian called her name and gently touched her arm. She hadn’t realized she was standing. Wait, Dami’s talking!

“…forward of me. I understand if you would like to be alone right now,” he said with a worried expression. “I can call the driver—”

“No!” she yelled, then winced at the startled look he gave her. “Uh, what I mean—that is—well, you know—” She stopped, took a deep breath, and willed herself to say the words without screwing them up.

“Damian, I love you too.”

He stood stock still, processing what she said. Then, before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and resting his forehead against hers.

“I never thought I would hear someone say that. I never even knew I wanted someone to say that until I met you.” She could nearly feel his lips forming the words against her own. All she could see were his beautiful eyes.

“You would’ve heard it,” she murmured, placing her hands on his neck. “You think falling for me was inevitable? Once you allowed me past your admittedly prickly exterior, I didn’t stand a chance. You let me fight my own battles but make sure I know that you’ll back me up if needed. You encourage my passions but reign me in when I’m at risk of burning out. You are intelligent, brave, loyal, and good. You are exactly who I need in my life.”

She gazed at him adoringly for a few seconds, and then admiration turned to shock as she saw him tearing up. “Merde, now I’m the one making you cry!”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I am not crying. It is just…allergies.”

“Mhmm,” she hummed skeptically, moving her hands to his cheeks and wiping away the few tears that had escaped.

He continued to glare. “You are the emotional one in this relationship, not me.”

Her hands halted as her heart began to race even more than it already was. “Relationship?” she questioned. She barely noticed him tensing up against her and his eyes widening.

“I did not intend—I apologize for assuming—You do not have to—”

She tamped down on her welling happiness enough to put him out of his misery. “My boyfriend, Damian Wayne,” she mused. He shut up. “I like the sound of that.” She couldn’t contain the smile spreading across her face.

He let out the breath he had been holding. “Can I kiss you now?” he said, voice rough.

In lieu of answering, Marinette popped up on her toes and closed the little bit of distance that had been separating them.

This kiss was different from their first—slower, less urgent. Still, when she eventually pulled away, they were both breathing heavily, and pleasant tingles ran through her body.

Damian’s eyes were darker than she had ever seen before. The intensity almost pulled her in again, but then the moment was undercut when he suddenly let out a yawn. She laughed, her heart light, as he scowled at himself. “You're tired? Isn't it midday back in Gotham?”

 She felt his fingers flex against her back as he muttered, “I might have stayed awake the entire flight trying to anticipate what might happen when I saw you.”

“And how did it work out?” she asked coyly.

A small smile graced his face. “Better than I could have predicted.”

She grinned and pressed a kiss to his smile before pulling back and grabbing his hand. “C’mon, we can go back to my place and cuddle while you rest.”

He kissed her temple as they started walking. “Only you can make something so…soft sound appealing.”

She snorted. “Please, as if you don’t try to adopt every animal you see. That’s the definition of soft.”

They continued to tease each other as they walked back to the bakery, smiling the whole way. When they passed by her school, they saw her classmates still out front, in various states of distress. “Sweet, sweet karma,” she sighed happily.

Chloé had joined them outside, though she was standing off to the side and holding her phone up, likely recording the scene for posterity. Marinette waved and she returned it, before glancing down at the new couple’s interlocked hands. The gleam in her eye when the girls made eye contact again promised a hell of an interrogation.

“Should we run before she decides to corner us?” Damian asked lowly in her ear.

“Yep!” she yelped, and they took off, still hand-in-hand.

Later, as they lay curled up on her bed, she gazed at his sleeping face.

“Tikki?” she whispered. The little red god zoomed into her vision. “I know I’m Ladybug, but how did I get so lucky?”

Tikki smiled. “You’ve earned this happiness, Marinette. Enjoy it.”

“Yeah,” she replied, then kissed Damian on the forehead, “I think I will.”

Chapter Text

Chloé:

Emergency video call with me, Kagami, and Luka in 10 minutes!!

No excuses!!

Cass:

👍

Jason:

u got it

Dick:

OMG is everything OK??

Chloé:

Yes it’s good news!!

Steph:

ooh that makes me even more curious

Babs:

I’ll make sure everyone gets hooked up.

Tim:

uh some of us have work???

Chloé:

I said NO EXCUSES

Tim:

…

yes ma’am

“We called this meeting to inform you that a great evil has been defeated today,” Kagami announced solemnly.

Steph leaned over to Cass. “Was there another supervillain Mari didn’t tell us about?” she whispered.

Cass shrugged.

“Thanks to your brother, Lila’s reign is officially over!” Luka cried.

“Ha! I can’t believe Demon Spawn finally exposed the bitch!” Jason crowed.

 “Jason! You can’t call her that, she’s still a child,” Dick chastised.

“An evil child,” Tim muttered.

“Now, I wasn’t there when he did it, but I did witness most of the implosion. Babs?” Chloé prompted.

“Sending the video file to everyone now. Damn, this is long,” Barbara commented.

“Now, before you go watch this truly beautiful video, I must tell you the best part,” Chloé said with a gleam in her eye.

“You didn’t tell us anything else,” Kagami said accusingly. Luka nodded in agreement.

“That, my dear Kagami, is because I wanted it to be a surprise for everyone!” Chloé took a breath. “Marinette and Damian were already gone by the time I exited the school. However, while I was videoing, I happened to glance across the street and saw the two of them walking by. And—” she paused dramatically, “—they were holding hands!”

“Holy shit!” Dick exclaimed.

“The kid did it. He really did it,” Tim said with a sense of awe.

“But wait, there’s more!” Chloé cut off any other responses. “According to one of our classmates, Damian announced that he’s in love with Marinette to the entire class.”

Chloé sat with a self-satisfied grin as everyone on the call exploded.

That evening…

“Dami, do you also have approximately one million texts from your siblings and my friends?”

“Unfortunately. How did they even find out about us?”

“…”

“…”

“Chloé.”