Chapter Text
Another cloudy day, another day with a high chance of rain. Why did it have to keep raining? Adrien shook his head as he put his umbrella in his bag, it barely had had a chance to dry since the day before. As he made his way down the stairs to the car, Plagg was whining, which wasn't anything new, but it was more so since the rain started.
"Why does it have to rain? I may not really be a cat, but I'm close enough to hate the fact that water just falls from the sky trying to kill me!"
"Plagg, it's not gonna kill you," Adrien muttered, slipping into the car.
"You don't know that," his kwami grumbled, slipping into his shirt pocket.
He had to admit, though, ever since he'd had the cat miraculous, he adopted some cat-like tendencies. Some of them good, like better hearing and eyesight, adjusting to seeing in the dark faster, faster reflexes, and more agility. Some of them were not, like purring, the urge to chase the red laser dot (it's not his fault it's taunting him, daring him to go after it), and not necessarily liking water to get on his face. Sure, he could shower, swim, and wash his face, but when it was unexpected, like the rain, he didn't like it.
Arriving at school, he pushed his thoughts aside and quickly made his way to the locker room. It didn't rain indoors. There he wasn't surprised to see Marinette, Alya, and Nino chatting away. He heard Alya laugh, barely being able to really say anything, and saw Nino shake his head slowly at the red-faced Marinette in front of them. Then he caught what Marinette said,
"I didn't expect it to rain again, it's already been raining for five days now."
He walked over to them, quirking an eyebrow at Marinette, "You didn't look at the weather?"
She looked down, somehow an even darker shade of crimson, "N-no."
He gave her a small smile, "It's ok, at least you're close by, right? And it shouldn't rain before the end of the school day anyway."
She looked up at him, tucking a piece of her behind her ear, "Oh, well, I guess I should be fine then."
He then left them to put his stuff away, catching back up with them on the way to class as the bell rang. He glanced over at Marinette, whose cheeks still had some left over pink dusting her cheeks. Cute, he found himself thinking.
Over the years, he was glad he'd gotten to know Marinette better. She seemed more comfortable around him, there was less darting around, less stuttering, and more of the Marinette that took care of her friends and took charge when necessary. It was nice.
But it also wasn't so great. Because the more he saw this other side of Marinette, especially when it was directed to him, the more unexplainable things happened. His heart would skip a beat, his breath would stutter, he'd catch himself staring, find himself thinking she was cute. A few times, when she was too close, he felt himself heat up, especially when he noticed she was wearing lip gloss that smelled like strawberries, then realized he'd been staring her lips.
Focusing his attention on Ms. Bustier, he decided to push aside his thoughts and maybe, if he tried hard enough, the confusing, unexplainable thoughts that revolved around Marinette would be pushed aside. Because when it all came down to it, Marinette was meant to be just a friend.
Marinette forgot an umbrella, again. She should have checked the weather that morning, but she thought that it just wasn't possible for it to rain for more than five days in a row. Apparently, she was wrong.
Standing under the awning right in front of the door, she considered her options. Her friends had already left, so she would either run and hope that the crosswalk light would go to green when she reached it, or wait until the rain stopped. So, instead of taking her chances, she decided to wait a while.
Tikki looked up at her from the space inside her purse, "Marinette, we can't wait here forever."
"I know..."
Slowly, Tikki's eyes lit up, "Wasn't Adrien still in class? We can wait for him, right?"
Marinette shook her head fast, "How about no? We are not waiting for him." She glanced to a secluded corner, "I have a better idea."
Soon, Ladybug was standing in the secluded corner Marinette had glanced at. She debated whether or not to call for a lucky charm. Usually, they weren't straight forward, like her thought process. But maybe, if she thought of a straight forward problem, like having protection from the rain, she would get a straight forward solution. But at the same time, she didn't want to waste energy for no reason.
Her attention moved up to the sky, maybe she wouldn't get sick if she ran in the rain? And only her hair and face would get wet, which should dry after transforming back to her civilian self. So maybe that would work?
As she thought that, a dark figure landed in front of her with an umbrella. "Hello, m'lady, caught in the rain?"
Or maybe I can get Chat to take me closer to the bakery, she suddenly thought.
"Clearly, I am. I was trying to get to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, but when it started raining, I had to stop," she told him.
He held out his umbrella toward her, "You can use mine."
She blinked at him. She thought he would've said some cheesy, or punny, or tried to flirt. But instead he held out his umbrella to her, a soft smile on his face. A familiar soft smile, tugging at her memory...
A clap of thunder behind them made her jump, landing in Chat's arms. She looked up at him, eyes traveling to his blond hair then his green eyes. Blond hair, green eyes, a soft smile, the rain, an umbrella... "Adrien?"
He stiffened, "Er, who?"
"You," she said simply. "You're Adrien Agreste."
His brain short circuited. Act dumb, he told himself. "Who's Adrien Agreste? I've never heard of him." Not that dumb!
"Oh. I must've been mistaken then." She looked down, almost... Disappointed?
He wasn't sure what to do. If she wanted to know who he was, then shouldn't he just show her? Why was he so hesitant?
Because you don't want her to like you for your name. You want her to like you, no matter who you are, his mind told him.
Right. That was why.
Wait. His brain slowly replayed their conversation. Looking down at Ladybug in his arms, he thought about what she had said. She said she was on her way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, but it started raining. However, the rain started an hour prior, and if they were the same age, she would have been in school. If she had left school early for some reason, then she would've been wet. Unless she went to the school he just happened to find her in.
He looked down at her, remembering how she'd looked at him before. Wide blue eyes, midnight hair in pig tails... "Oh my God, you were right here all along."
Her head snapped up to look at him, "What?"
He chuckled, willing his transformation off in a flash of green light, "It's you, Marinette. God, I'm so dumb!"
The girl in question looked at him, crimson peeking out from under her mask, "I-I thought you said you weren't Adrien?"
Right. "I just didn't want you to think about the fact that I was an Agreste after we revealed identities, but being a friend of mine, and one of my best friends, obviously you don't think about that." He glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck, "I know it's stupid, but a lot of people just want to get close to me to get close to my dad. And I know that, even if I hadn't figured it out, I shouldn't have ever thought of that, but when it happens so often..."
A flash of red light caught his attention. He stared at the girl in his arms, no masks or secret identities to hide her. "Adrien, I get it. I may not have grown up like you, but I know it must've been hard. I mean, the things you told me about your home life as Chat, and as Adrien..." She sighed, shaking her head, "What matters now, is that I found you, and I'm here for you, whenever you need me."
He smiled, She was right here all along.
He really didn't think much about it, leaning down and planting a soft kiss on her lips. He was going to pull back quickly, he really was, but then she caught up to him, the hands on his chest tugging at his collar, her lips pushing against his, hard. It caught him off guard, and he stumbled back a little, the awning no longer protecting them from the rain, his umbrella being the only thing left to keep them dry. But one arm wrapped around her wasn't enough, and he blamed the kiss that made his mind hazy for making him drop the umbrella to let him cup her face with his other hand, drawing her closer.
So there they were, kissing in the rain, the only things keeping them warm being their hearts and each other. It wasn't as romantic as the movies made it seem, they were going to get cold soon, maybe even get sick. But it didn't seem that either of them cared. Adrien knew he didn't, because for him, the moment was perfect.
Another clap of thunder made Marinette jump, pulling back and leaving him chasing her touch, despite his breathlessness and the cold. His eyes fluttered open, staring at Marinette, his mind still hazy. She had a tentative smile on her lips and her face was redder than her super suit.
"I guess I got a little carried away," she focused her attention to the ground, shuffling her feet. His arms were still around her, and it occured to him that maybe it would be better to let go. He didn't. She glanced back up at him, expectant.
Then it clicked in his mind, "Oh! You need to get home. Oh, gosh, the whole reason for the umbrella was so you wouldn't get wet," he ran a hand through his wet hair, "I guess I ruined that."
She shook her head, "You didn't ruin anything, well, other than the fact that I have to reapply lip gloss."
He grew warm, thinking about her strawberry lip gloss, and the fact that after so much taunting he got a taste. "Ah, r-right." He cleared his throat, "Shall we go?"
"Yeah, one second," she then stood on the tips of her toes, giving him a quick peck, smiling at how his eyes widened at the contact as though he hadn't just kissed her.
He cleared his throat again, letting go of her and picking up the umbrella that really had no use, then holding his arm out for her to hold. Once she took hold of his arm, they made their way out to the street, ignoring the few raised eyebrows they got.
Despite feeling a bit cold, and being completely wet, Adrien didn't mind. As long as he had Marinette by his side, he would be happy.