Archive of Our Own

Nino could not find Adrien.

Normally, this wouldn’t be too concerning, but a gigantic, kaiju-sized akuma had just smashed up their school, and Nino knew from experience that even though the magical ladybird swarm patched up the physical damage, the mental trauma was lasting.

They’d gotten separated in the chaos, and Nino really just needed to make sure that his best friend was okay. To that end, he desperately searched the school hallways, pulling open every classroom and closet door in case Adrien was curled up in a ball somewhere having an existential crisis.

That was how Nino came to find Adrien inside of the gym equipment storage closet.

Adrien blinked, hand hovering in midair as he reached out to push the door open. “Nino…uh…hi.”

“Dude,” Nino exhaled in relief, throwing his arms around Adrien and knocking him off his feet.

They fell back onto a stack of tumbling mats, but Nino did not release his hold. If anything, he squeezed Adrien tighter, nuzzling him and ruffling his hair.

“Mec, I was seriously freaking out,” Nino laughed, giddy as the anxiety left him. “I couldn’t find you again after we got separated, and I was so worried. Thank God you’re okay! You’re okay, aren’t you?” he babbled.

Meanwhile, Adrien stiffened, noting all the points of contact where Nino’s body pressed against his.

It was an utterly alien experience to have another person on top of him. In battle, he and Ladybug had often been thrown together. There was a lot of contact involved with akuma fights, but it happened so fast that it didn’t actually register.

Having Nino plastered all up the front of Adrien’s body was nothing like that, and Adrien didn’t really know what to do with everything Nino’s touch was making him feel.

On the one hand, he was immensely confused and uncomfortable. On the other, he was so overwhelmingly happy that he was close to purring his head off.

He was absolutely mortified as the urge to wrap himself around Nino and rub his face against his friend struck hard, almost overriding his better judgment.

It took every ounce of self-control for Adrien to lie still through Nino’s display of affection, and he just prayed that Nino didn’t notice how immensely Adrien was enjoying it because then things would be awkward, and Nino might never touch Adrien again, and then Adrien would cry.

“…Adrien?” Nino called hesitantly as he recovered his composure and actually processed the state his friend was in. “Are you okay?”

“N-No,” Adrien’s voice creaked. “Sorry. I…” He had no clue what to say to explain himself in a way that would sound normal. He was well aware that normal people didn’t freak out and get so excited when their friends showed them affection.

“…Do you…like guys?” Nino ventured in the least judgmental tone he could muster.

He was reluctant to add, “Because I’m bi, so it’s totally cool if you do” in case Adrien wasn’t bi and the fact that a bi guy was currently on top of him while he was rock hard freaked him out even more.

Adrien’s eyes went wide with horror. “What?! No! No! I…” He caught Nino’s gaze—concerned, compassionate, accepting—and the lie stuck in his throat.

Adrien looked away, muttering, “I don’t know. I’ve mostly just been interested in girls, but there are some guys I find attractive, so…I don’t know if I like guys or not.”

Nino was about to make his own confession when Adrien, wild-eyed again, exclaimed, “This isn’t some kind of sexual thing! I don’t know why I’m reacting this way, but it’s not because I secretly want to sleep with you or something! I just…” He looked away again in shame. “I just really like being touched. Since my mom’s disappearance, no one really touches me regularly. I mean, not in an affectionate way. There are the people who do my hair and makeup for photoshoots, and I guess I get touched while doing fittings, but…it’s not the same as getting a hug or my hair played with or… Sorry. I’m kind of a mess.”

“Hey,” Nino cooed, giving Adrien’s hair a gentle stroke. “It’s okay.”

“Sorry,” Adrien repeated, tears beginning to bead at the corners of his eyes. “It’s just kind of a big deal to get loved on like this. It hasn’t really happened since I lost my mom, and I’m sort of overwhelmed.”

“It’s all right,” Nino assured. “I’m sorry. I wish…I wish I had known before. It never occurred to me that…”

His stomach soured as he imagined his best friend all alone in his cavernous room with no one to hug him or give him an affectionate pat on the shoulder or a head rub. Nino thought of all the casual touches he exchanged with his family and Alya on a daily basis and then thought of Adrien missing that with his mother for four long years now.

“Am I making you uncomfortable? Do I need to get off of you?” it suddenly occurred to Nino to ask.

“No!” Adrien responded hurriedly and then averted his eyes as he blushed. “I mean…I’m uncomfortable because I’m mortified, but…I don’t want you to stop,” he admitted bashfully.

“Okay,” Nino breathed in relief as he lowered back down to resume loving on Adrien. “I won’t stop, then. So long as you’re not uncomfortable with what I’m doing.”

“No,” Adrien meekly replied, eyes slipping closed as he focused sharply on Nino’s fingers in his hair. “So long as you’re not uncomfortable.”

“Nah,” Nino assured. “You’re good. I’m happy to snuggle…whenever you need it. Just ask, okay? I’m down for snuggles, nuzzles, head rubs…whatever.”

Adrien hummed thoughtfully as he pressed his head against Nino’s hand. “I’d really like that…but what would Alya say? Won’t she have a problem with her boyfriend being so affectionate with someone else?”

“I’ll talk to her,” Nino assured, nuzzling Adrien’s neck and making him purr. “I’ll tell her we’re adopting you as our platonic boyfriend. We can have movie nights where we all cuddle on the couch and snuggle nights where Alya and I sneak into your room to puppy pile on your bed with you. There’ll be platonic dates and hugging and head pats and all kinds of affection. However much you want. How does that sound?”

“…I think I’d like to be your and Alya’s platonic boyfriend,” Adrien admitted amidst a heady purr. “You really think Alya will be okay with that?”

“Yeah,” Nino assured, ruffling Adrien’s hair. “Don’t worry, mon pote. Alya adores you. She’ll be on board.”

“Okay,” Adrien sighed, letting go of his apprehension and letting himself just enjoy the attention.

Adrien worried the whole weekend about how Alya was going to react to the platonic boyfriend idea, even after Nino texted to say that she was on board with it on Sunday.

Surely, it couldn’t be that easy. There had to be a catch. Adrien knew that Alya thought of him as a close friend, but he couldn’t imagine her caring about him enough to share her boyfriend with him, even if it was a platonic arrangement. Still less could he believe that she was willing to be his platonic girlfriend herself.

Therefore, when Alya approached him Monday morning before school saying, “Hey, I need to talk to you,” Adrien was fully expecting her to tell him their friendship was over and to stay away from her boyfriend. He couldn’t decide whether or not she would call him a pervert on top of that. It was a tossup depending on how mad she was.

Alya led him to an empty classroom and completely surprised him by pulling him into a hug.

“First off,” she announced, still holding him tight, “I want to say that I’m sorry I never realized that you needed a hug.”

“It’s okay,” Adrien hastened to assure even as he felt a little unbalanced, uncertain where this was going and where he and Alya stood. “I mean, I never said out loud that I wasn’t okay and had been feeling really alone and unloved since I lost my mom, so how were you guys supposed to know?”

Alya shook her head, squeezing Adrien tighter. “We should have known. We would have if it had occurred to us to think about what it must have been like for you, losing your mother. I mean, we know what your father is like, it should have been obvious that no one was affectionate with you at home. We just never stopped to think. I’m really sorry, Adrien.”

“It’s okay,” he repeated softly, tentatively letting his arms wrap around her.

She patted him on the back as he rested his head against hers, feeling the texture of her hair (coarser than his but still soft) and smelling its tropical fruit scent.

It was warm and comfortable, and Adrien decided he really liked long hugs from Alya.

“We’re going to do better,” Alya promised. “We’re going to pay more attention from now on, so things are going to get better, but if you ever feel like you need a hug or a pat on the back or whatever, please say something. We love you, and we never want you to feel unloved and alone, okay? Talk to us.”

“Okay,” Adrien agreed in a small voice, starting to tear up. “Thanks, Alya. That means a lot to me.”

“No problem,” she stressed. “After all, what are platonic girlfriends for?”

They both chuckled softly at that, and the hug went on until Adrien felt stable enough to pull away.

“A sleepover?” Marinette blinked uncomprehendingly at her friends, looking back and forth from Alya to Nino.

They nodded with twin grins.

“At my house?” Marinette verified.

“My place is too small for the four of us,” Nino explained. “We’d be a little too on top of one another.”

“And my little sisters would be in our hair all night if we had it at my house,” Alya added. “You know what it’s like when you and I have sleepovers.” She rolled her eyes for emphasis.

“I see your point,” Marinette granted.

“Plus, your parents are super chill,” Nino continued to push. “And Gabriel loves you. You’re the only one who’d be able to convince him to let Adrien go.”

Marinette pursed her lips. “I don’t know guys. Aren’t we a little old to have a mixed slumber party? My parents are super chill, but I don’t know if they’d approve of—”

“—Come on, Marinette,” Alya pleaded, reaching out to tug on Marinette’s hand. “You can at least ask. Do it for Adrien. He’s feeling really alone and depressed because his mom abandoned him and his dad is an emotionless slimewad. He gets, like, zero love and affection at home, so he’s been subsisting off of whatever he can get from the people who dress him for photoshoots and whatever other casual touches that random people spare him. As his friends, it’s our duty to make sure his needs are met.”

Nino nodded resolutely, of one mind with his girlfriend. “Adrien’s been neglected for years now, and that’s partially our fault. We need to have this snuggle party for him so that he can see how much he’s loved. The guy is totally touch-starved, and he doesn’t have anyone but us to fix that for him. Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Nino charged, staring Marinette down intently, “are you going to stand by and let that poor, sweet cupcake languish, or are you going to step up and show him how loved he is?”

Marinette balled her hands into fists and shot up out of her seat, galvanized. “I’m going to show him how loved he is!” she declared boldly, earning mildly confused stares from the other inhabitants of the lunchroom.

That Saturday night found Marinette in a panic as she waited for Nino and Adrien to arrive.

“Relax,” Alya snorted in laughter at how riled up her friend was getting. “It’s not like he’s never been to your house or seen you in pyjamas or had you fall asleep on him before.”

“What?!” Marinette shrieked, nearly fumbling the cookie tray as she pulled it out of the oven. “When have I ever fallen asleep on him before?!”

Alya started ticking off fingers. “On the train during our trip to London, on the bus when we had our class trip to Normandy, on the plane when you won that contest and we all went to Milan last year for—”

“—Stop!” Marinette begged, setting the cookie tray down and removing the oven mitts so that she could spatula the cookies onto the cooling rack. “Please stop. You’re making it worse.”

Alya gave her best friend an indulgent smile. “Hey. It’s going to be fine. You finally have the perfect excuse to hang all over him. He needs you to plaster your body up against his and do all the things you’ve always fantasized about doing to him.”

Marinette picked one of the oven mitts back up and flung it at Alya who cackled as it hit her in the stomach.

“Platonically, you mean?” Marinette grumbled. “I don’t feel right about this. Adrien’s really vulnerable, and he’s trusting us. I feel like I’m taking advantage of him, and that’s not okay, Alya.”

“Marinette, you’re not taking advantage,” Alya cooed soothingly, coming over to rub calming circles on Marinette’s back. “He needs a little TLC, and you’re willing to give it to him. It’s a mutually beneficial situation.”

“This doesn’t feel like informed consent,” Marinette sighed, looking down at the still melty chocolate chips and feeling conflicted. “This feels sneaky.”

“Then…tell him how you feel,” Alya urged. “I swear he has a crush on you. Maybe you two can start dating and he’ll have less need of his platonic girlfriend and boyfriend.”

Marinette looked away, shaking her head. “I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. What if you’re wrong and he doesn’t have feelings for me and he just feels awkward and bad because he feels like he’s taking advantage of me by accepting affection? I don’t want to complicate things for him even more. Tonight’s supposed to be about making him feel good. I don’t want to make it about me.”

“Then don’t tell him and just love on him,” Alya suggested with a shrug.

Marinette grimaced. “But if he finds out about my feelings later, he’ll think I took advantage of him, and it’ll ruin our friendship.”

Alya held in a groan. “Then tell him.”

“But—”

Marinette was cut off by a knock at the door. She gave a sharp “eep!” of surprise as Alya smiled fondly and shook her head.

“It’s probably the boys. I’ll get it,” Alya offered, sauntering over to the doorway.

Sure enough, there was Adrien and Nino—Adrien holding a bouquet of fall flowers as well as single yellow and pink roses. Nino had an orange rose in his hand, and Marinette was guessing it was a gift from Adrien.

This hunch was confirmed when (after Alya finished enveloping Adrien in a bone-crushing hug) he offered her the yellow rose.

Alya tackled him anew, giving him affectionate nuzzles and neck kisses that made Marinette begrudgingly jealous.

Once she was done with Adrien, Alya turned to give Nino a languid kiss.

Adrien dropped his duffle bag off by the couch and made his way into the kitchen, blushing as he held out the fall bouquet and the pink rose to Marinette.

“Hey, Marinette,” he greeted bashfully, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. “Thank you so much for having me over and convincing my father to let me come and everything. I brought the flowers for your parents as a thank you gift, but your mom said to bring them upstairs to you so you could put them in a vase. The pink rose is just for you, though.”

“Oh, wow,” Marinette giggled, reaching out for the flowers and feeling a jolt as his fingers brushed hers. “Thank you so much, Adrien. They’re beautiful. And you’re welcome,” she quickly added as she turned to grab a vase from the cabinet under the sink. “We’re really happy to have you.” She grabbed a separate vase for her rose so she could take it up to her room and sigh happily over it later.

“Hey, Marinette,” Nino called as he and Alya followed Adrien into the kitchen.

“Hey, Nino.” Marinette turned to give Nino a hug.

Alya raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t give Adrien a hug, I notice.”

Marinette blanched and then blushed.

“Alya, she doesn’t have to,” Adrien assured, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.

“No, no!” Marinette waved her arms frantically. “I was going to. I just—I had to get the flowers put away first, and then Nino was there, and I just…”

Before she could say anything dumb, Marinette quickly threw her arms around Adrien, squeezed him, and then promptly let go, smiling a little too wide. “There. See? I hugged him,” she giggled nervously.

Alya frowned as Adrien’s eyebrows dipped into a slightly hurt expression. She opened her mouth to demand that Marinette give Adrien a real hug, but Adrien spoke first.

“You know what? You’re both in your pyjamas already. I’m going to go change, if that’s all right with you.” He smiled cheerfully, the fleeting traces of feeling rejected carefully wiped away.

The bathroom door closed behind Adrien, and Marinette groaned quietly. “Please help me stop setting myself up for failure. I told you I can’t do this, Alya.”

Nino stepped in, placing an encouraging hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “It’s okay, ma pote. Just take some deep breaths, okay? It’s fine. It’s all good, all right?”

Slowly, Marinette began to nod.

“Okay,” Nino instructed, “all you have to do is forget he’s this mega hot guy, yeah?”

Marinette burst out laughing. “Sorry, Nino, but I have eyes.”

He shook his head. “You’ve also got a great imagination. Pretend he’s a cat—a lost, lonely, homeless kitten who’s going to die if you don’t love him.”

Marinette’s eyes widened, a gaping pit opening up in her stomach as she thought of her partner.

“Okay? So just focus on loving him so he doesn’t die. But, you know, no pressure,” Nino coached with a teasing wink.

Marinette continued to nod as the concept sank in.

Nino looked over his shoulder at Alya. “Also…maybe let’s not push her to do things she doesn’t feel comfortable with. We don’t want Adrien thinking he makes her uncomfortable. Okay?”

Chastened, Alya nodded, and Nino turned to give her a bolstering kiss.

“So. Now that that’s settled,” Nino announced, “can we borrow a vase for our roses too?”

“Of course,” Marinette assured with a smile, going to fetch a third vase.

When Adrien came out of the bathroom in the Ladybug and Chat Noir pyjamas Marinette had made for him the previous Christmas, Marinette went up to him and slipped her arm through his.

“Hey,” she chuckled shyly.

He blinked, confused. “Hey?”

“Sorry about earlier,” she sheepishly apologized. “You know how I can be such a spazz sometimes. It was nothing you did, I promise, and I’m sorry if I made you think it was.”

“Oh.” A bright grin bloomed like a sunflower on Adrien’s lips. “No worries. So long as I didn’t do anything to upset you.”

“Not at all,” she assured, leading him back to the kitchen. “Here. Come get a cookie or three. I won’t tell that you’re cheating on your diet.”

Adrien grinned impishly, starting to feel better about the earlier incident now that the air had been cleared.

Nino next borrowed the bathroom to change, and then the teens set about constructing their pillow fort.

“I’ve never done this before,” Adrien chuckled as he helped Marinette secure sheets held together with clothespins along the back of the wrap-around couch.

“I used to make forts all the time when I was little,” Marinette laughed as she got out of the way and gave Alya and Nino the signal to secure their ends of the sheets to the backs of the folding chairs they’d brought out of storage for just that purpose.

The teens crawled into the giant tent stretching from the windows on the far side of the room by the TV to the back of the couch. It encompassed the entire living area excluding the kitchen and the area just inside the apartment door.

From the outside, Adrien kind of wondered what the point of the tent was since it was pretty much just the room, but once he was inside and they turned the lights on, the appeal of the cozy glow and sense of safe, enclosed space made itself apparent.

“This is really nice,” he cooed in admiration.

“It’ll be better once we get the blankets and pillows and sleeping bags in here,” Nino chuckled, giving Adrien’s hair a tussle.

They finished their interior decorating with only a brief disagreement about sleeping arrangements.

“I get too hot sleeping in the middle,” Alya complained, laying her sleeping bag out next to the couch, “but I want to sleep next to Marinette so we can whisper if we wake up in the middle of the night. Marinette, do you mind sleeping in the middle?”

In the middle. Next to Adrien.

This was not in the deal. Originally, Nino was supposed to take the outside with Adrien next to him and Alya to act as a buffer between Adrien and Marinette.

Marinette didn’t think she could handle sleeping in the middle…but she couldn’t very well come out and say, “I can’t sleep next to Adrien!” without hurting his feelings again, and that was something she absolutely did not want to do.

So she smiled and said, “No, that’s fine. I don’t mind sleeping in the middle next to Adrien where I might accidentally roll over and start cuddling with him.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Adrien assured with a grin that would make any girl fall in love. “I mean, that’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?” Suddenly doubting himself, Adrien turned to Nino. “Isn’t it?”

Nino nodded, giving Adrien a clap on the back. “Yep. Tonight is all about snuggling and loving on my best bro.”

“But what if I drool on you?” Marinette agonized, nightmare scenarios starting to play out in her mind.

Adrien shrugged, unfazed. “I’m sure it’ll come out in the wash.”

Marinette blinked blankly, unable vocalize all the worries filtering through her thoughts.

“Then it’s settled,” Alya snickered, rolling out Marinette’s sleeping bag between hers and Adrien’s.

Next on the sleepover to do list was board games.

Adrien had around a hundred board games that he had never played because most of them required at least one other person, so he had brought a few for them to play together.

First up was The Phantom Society. It was a team game where the “ghosts” Nino and Adrien tried to do as much property damage as possible to a manor hotel in Scotland before “ghost hunters” Alya and Marinette found them and took them out of commission (recklessly causing more property damage along the way).

They played two rounds, and Nino and Adrien won both.

“Maybe we’d be more in sync if we sat like them,” Alya chuckled to her partner.

“Nah,” Nino snickered, pulling Adrien (who had spent the entirety of gameplay nestled in Nino’s lap, his back pressed up against Nino’s chest) in closer. “We’re just that epic of a team. You can’t beat us.”

“Sorry ladies.” Adrien beamed innocently as he leaned back into Nino’s hold, looking comfy.

“Let’s play a different game,” Marinette suggested, trying to keep her jealousy at bay because she knew how pointless it was to be jealous of Nino…even if Adrien was sitting between Nino’s legs and lounging back against him and Marinette had been dreaming of doing exactly that with Adrien for years now.

“How about Mysterium?” Adrien suggested, sitting up and alleviating a little bit of Marinette’s envy. “I’ve always wanted to play. It’s a cooperative game where one player is a ghost and the others are psychic mediums. The ghost gives the psychics ‘visions’ in the form of cards, and the mediums have to put the clues in the vision cards together to figure out who killed the ghost, where, and with what weapon.”

“That sounds like fun,” Alya agreed easily, not really caring much what they played so long as Adrien was having a good time. “Who wants to be the ghost?”

“I can unless Adrien wants to,” Marinette volunteered, starting to clean up the Phantom Society gameboard.

“I’d rather be a medium,” Adrien confessed. “Thanks, Marinette.”

“Sure thing!” She smiled at him brightly, only later coming to regret her selfless decision as Nino, Adrien, and Alya all formed a puppy pile to love on Adrien as they worked together to solve ghost-Marinette’s murder.

They only played one round of Mysterium before settling in to watch Clue the movie.

Once more, Alya and Nino formed a puppy pile to love on and snuggle with Adrien through the film, feeding him popcorn and making Marinette see green.

Adrien was obviously in heaven, though, so there was nothing Marinette could do. That night was supposed to be all about making Adrien happy, and Adrien was very, very happy. Marinette forced herself to focus on Adrien’s feelings and push down her own.

“I want ice cream,” Alya announced as the credits rolled. “Marinette, do you have any spumoni?”

Marinette blinked at her friend who had pointedly asked Marinette only a few hours before what flavors of ice cream they had at hand. “No. We just have vanilla, sea salt caramel, and caramel ginger.”

Alya hummed as if considering. “No. I’m really craving spumoni. Hey, Nino, will you run to the store with me real quick?”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed as she realized Alya’s plot to get her alone with Adrien.

Nino thought about it for a minute, looked at Marinette contemplatively, looked at Adrien, looked back at Marinette. “…Yeah, okay. Are we going in our pyjamas or changing back first?”

Alya’s nightclothes looked pretty much like athleticwear. They wouldn’t win any fashion competitions, but they could pass as leisurewear. Nino, on the other hand, was obviously wearing blue and orange plaid pyjama pants.

“I’ll go as is. You should probably put real pants on,” Alya decided, extracting herself from Adrien and giving his cheek a kiss before crawling her way out of the tent. “Marinette, make sure you snuggle Adrien while we’re gone. I don’t want him neglected, you hear?”

“I—!” Marinette began to protest, but the words died immediately when her eyes caught on Adrien’s. “Sure!” she corrected. “Yeah. Of course. You can count on me.”

Once the front door shut behind Nino and Alya, there was only awkward silence in the tent.

“So…” Marinette laughed nervously, tentatively scooting closer.

Adrien grimaced, informing, “Marinette, we don’t have to do this, if you’re uncomfortable.”

“What?” She blinked, stunned. “I’m not. I—”

“—It’s okay,” he stressed, forcing his grimace into what looked like a genuine smile even though it wasn’t. “Seriously. I’m good. I really appreciate you hosting the party and going out of your way to make me feel welcome. You’re so thoughtful, and you don’t need to do anything else. You’ve done more than enough. I don’t need people touching me all the time. I mean, it’s wonderful, and I’d totally love it if nights like this could keep being a thing, but…” The grimace came back as he attempted to clarify, “I’m sorry. What I’m trying to say is thank you for going out of your way for me, but you don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“Oh…Adrien…” She bit her lip, trying to find the words to explain herself. “It’s not that.”

He smiled and nodded, but it was obvious that he didn’t believe her. “How about we just play the newest Ultimate Mecha Strike game? I haven’t gotten to play yet. What do you say? Wanna kick my butt?”

Marinette was tempted to take the easy out but ultimately decided not to let it go. He deserved her honesty.

She scooted over so that they were knee to knee, and she took his hand, smiling nervously up at him as he peered back in slight confusion. “Adrien? You don’t make me uncomfortable, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed, not one to argue or contradict.

“Seriously,” she stressed, squeezing his hand. “You’re a really precious friend to me, and I want us to keep being friends. I don’t want to mess things up between us, but I need to be honest with you.”

She could feel him go tense as he braced for impact.

“Okay?” he whispered.

“The reason why I’m so hesitant to be physically affectionate with you is that I don’t want to take advantage of you or for you to look back and question my motives,” she explained levelly, even as her heartrate picked up and her palms felt clammy.

Adrien’s eyebrows pinched together subtly in confusion. “I don’t understand. How would you be taking advantage of me? I want you to hug me.”

Marinette shook her head. “You have no idea how much I want to hug you too,” she laughed at herself.

The deep V of his brows etched itself further into his face.

She took a deep breath. “Adrien, I’ve been in love with you since we were thirteen.”

His eyes went wide as he internally scrambled to make sense of her words.

“I totally get that you don’t feel the same way,” she rushed to assure, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’m not asking for anything to change between us. I’m happy just being your friend, so you don’t have to worry about a thing, okay?”

She forced herself to smile, willing him not to freak out and pull away from her. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I wanted tonight to be about making you feel good, so I didn’t intend to drop this bomb on you like this and make things awkward. I just need you to understand that me snuggling with you isn’t completely platonic for me. So…I didn’t think it was right to snuggle with you without you knowing that it means something different to me than it does for you.”

She shrugged, keeping the fragile smile in place as she waited for his answer. “That’s all. So…if you still want to snuggle, I’m okay with that. I just needed you to know. I didn’t want to take advantage of the situation.”

“Marinette,” Adrien breathed, pulling her in for a tight hug. “You’re wonderful, you know that?”

It was all she could do not to giggle maniacally and take a deep inhale of his scent.

“Thank you,” he whispered into her hair. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you put that much thought into my feelings. Hardly anyone ever stops to think about how I’m feeling and how things affect me, but…you always do, and that’s one of the things I adore about you.”

He pulled back and smiled tentatively. “As for your feelings for me… It’s complicated,” he confessed. “It’s really, really complicated. Honestly, I’m not indifferent to you romantically. It’s just that I’ve been in love with someone else for a couple years now, and, even though she’s told me from the start that there’s someone else for her, I can’t seem to shake my feelings, so…even though I’ve kind of had a crush on you for a while, I’m not exactly emotionally available to date anyone. Does that make sense?” He bit his lip, smiling hopefully.

Marinette nodded but then shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m kind of…in a state. Did you just say that you like me but you can’t date me because you’re still in love with someone else?”

Adrien nodded, smile turning pained. “It’s complicated. You’re a precious friend to me, Marinette. I really care about you a lot. Seriously, you’re one of my top five people, so I don’t want to hurt you or lead you on, but I’ve been trying to get over this girl for a while, and I haven’t been able to manage it. It would be unfair of me to try to start a relationship with you knowing that my heart is already full of someone else. I made that mistake with Kagami, and it irreparably hurt our friendship. I couldn’t bear something like that happening with you…so I’m not dating anyone until I’ve moved on enough to give a relationship my all.”

Marinette’s expression pinched into a frown of concern. “But…what if you never get over the other girl? You shouldn’t feel like you’re doomed to always be alone just because you’re hung up on someone. You deserve to be loved, Adrien,” she stressed, and it came out sounding a bit like a threat.

He gave her a soft, adoring smile and leaned in to kiss her crinkled forehead. “And you deserve to be someone’s number one. You shouldn’t have to settle for second best, Marinette. You’re absolutely amazing, and I want more for you than a relationship with me.”

Marinette’s frown morphed into a pout as she eyed Adrien intently. “Well played, Agreste, but you’ve made one key mistake.”

“Oh?” He arched an eyebrow.

She nodded, a shark-like smirk taking form on her lips. “You’ve revealed that you’re not altogether immune to my charms. I’m a stubborn woman, Adrien. I’m fully prepared to wear you down until you fall in love with me,” she chuckled, feeling her usual Ladybug confidence coursing through her now that she knew she had a chance.

“Marinette,” Adrien groaned as a furious blush spread like spilled ink across his cheeks.

Stubborn Marinette was, unfortunately, very attractive to him.

“I can’t let you waste your life like that,” he pleaded for her to see reason. “I’ve been in love with this girl for four years now. It’s probably going to be at least that long still before I’m even remotely close to where I need to be to date you.”

Marinette shrugged, pinning him in place with the honesty in her eyes as she replied, “You’re worth the wait.”

His breath hitched as he felt himself melt for her.

Her lips spread once more into a wide smirk. “Oh? Did I hit a weak spot?”

“Yes,” he whimpered, leaning in to press his mouth to hers in a quick but firm kiss.

It was over before Marinette even had time to enjoy it.

“Please go find someone who’s actually worthy of you,” he begged. “Don’t make me love you. I’ll just screw things up between us, and I don’t want to lose your friendship, Marinette.”

“You won’t,” she reassured, reaching out to gently stroke his hair. “…Don’t worry. I’m going back into platonic mode so you can just enjoy the rest of the snuggle party. Tonight’s supposed to be about taking care of you, so I won’t press and make you miserable,” she promised.

He breathed an immense sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

She smiled, ruffling his hair. “Come lie down and put your head in my lap. It’s time I got in on loving on you platonically.”

“Yes, please,” Adrien purred in delight.

Once she started playing with his hair and massaging his scalp, he actually started to purr, giving Marinette pause.

“You really are like a cat,” she hummed in surprise.

Adrien stiffened. “What? What cat? Why do you say cat?”

“It’s nothing,” Marinette assured. “It was just something Nino said earlier. I was kind of nervous about the snuggle party because of my feelings for you, so Nino told me not to think of you as a—‘mega hot guy’, I believe his words were—but like a cat instead, so…”

“Oh,” Adrien replied stiltedly, now wondering if he needed to check to see if Nino had figured out his secret identity. “That’s interesting. I wonder where he got that idea.”

Marinette shrugged dismissively. “Meh. It’s Nino. You know how his brain works.”

“True,” Adrien chuckled, sitting up. “So, hey. At slumber parties, do you ever do makeovers? Like, makeup, hair, nails?” He tipped his head to the side curiously.

Marinette’s eyes batted in confusion. “I mean, yeah. Why do you ask?”

Adrien shrugged sheepishly. “Chloé and I do makeovers whenever we stay over at each other’s houses, and I think it’s fun, so I was just wondering if other people did that too.”

“Usually girls do, but I’ve never heard of guys doing makeovers at slumber parties before,” she chuckled. “Though, I guess I’ve never been to a guys’ slumber party, so what do I know?”

“Oh.” Adrien pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Well…I mean, I guess I wasn’t really ‘properly’ socialized as male, so…I don’t know what guys are supposed to like. I just know what I like, and I like doing makeovers.”

“Sorry,” Marinette quickly backtracked. “I didn’t mean to imply…” She trailed off awkwardly.

“It’s okay.” He gave her a friendly smile to show that no harm was done. “Besides, Luka always does my nails when I sneak out to sleep over at the Liberty, so there’s at least one other guy out there who likes doing makeovers at slumber parties.”

“Luka does your nails?” Marinette chuckled, surprised and intrigued.

Adrien nodded, pulling off a sock to show her each of his toenails painted with dazzling, superhero-themed, graffiti-esque designs. It was starting to chip, but it still looked fantastic.

“Oh, wow,” Marinette breathed. “I need to get Luka to do my nails. That’s awesome.”

“Isn’t it?” Adrien preened as if he were being praised. “So…can we do each other’s hair maybe?”

“Sure,” Marinette agreed with a fond chuckle.

His enthusiasm was so cute.

She ran up to her room to get brushes, a mirror, and hair accessories and brought them back to their tent.

“So what do you want me to do with your hair?” she hummed as she surveyed her canvas, running her fingers through his hair and grouping strands experimentally to see if she could make a ponytail or do a braid.

“How about a little ponytail in back?” he suggested. “Like, have you ever seen Luka pull the top part of his hair into a ponytail but let the rest of it hang down?”

“Oh, yeah. I think I can do something like that. Your hair’s a little shorter than his, but I think I can manage.” Marinette nodded, coming around behind him and starting her work.

She spent more time than was strictly necessary just brushing his hair and listening to him purr. He seemed to really enjoy having his hair brushed.

“How do you do that? That purr?” she finally asked when it had been driving her nuts with curiosity for a good five minutes.

“Dunno,” Adrien sighed contentedly. “It just happens when I’m happy. A lot of people make happy noises. You have your own happy noise; this is just mine.”

“Fair enough,” Marinette relented. “I’m just glad you’re happy.”

“Very, very happy,” Adrien assured with a goofy grin.

“Well, your ponytail is done. What do you want to do next? I could do your fingernails, if you like?” she suggested, handing Adrien the mirror so that he could see.

His grin widened as he inspected his reflection, obviously pleased with her work. “Next, I want to do your hair…if that’s okay.” He lowered the mirror and looked to her for permission.

Marinette blinked in surprise. “You want to do my hair?” she repeated uncomprehendingly.

“Only if it’s okay with you,” Adrien hurriedly gave her an out. “You don’t have to say yes. I just do Chloé’s hair a lot, and it’s fun, but no pressure. You can say no.”

“No, it’s fine,” she assured, handing one of the brushes to him and pulling out her pigtails. “Go for it.”

“You’re sure?” he verified, visually on the edge of his seat with excitement to begin.

“Mmhm.” She turned, giving him access to her hair. “Go ahead. Do whatever you want. You’ve got carte blanche.”

“Thank you!” He gave a little trill of glee as he set to work, carefully brushing out the tangles, making her hair shiny and smooth.

Marinette had to admit that it felt really good to have Adrien playing with her hair. She could see why he liked this so much.

He didn’t spend an unnecessarily long time brushing like she had, though. He quickly set about partitioning off sections with delicate touches and minute attention to detail. Everything he did was very deliberate, like an artist giving form to a clay sculpture. He put so much care into piling her hair up and coaxing it into twin buns. He never yanked or pulled the bands too tight.

Adrien Agreste was very good at doing hair.

“Ta-da!” he announced, handing her the mirror. “What do you think? Super cute, right?”

“Wow,” Marinette breathed as she marveled at his work. “You really are good at this.”

“I’ve had plenty of practice with Chloé over the years,” he chuckled, beaming with pride.

“It’s definitely paid off,” she assured him, admiring her reflection.

“…You know,” he suggested bashfully, “you should really consider wearing your hair like that more often.”

“Oh, yeah?” she snickered, shooting him a conspiratorial smirk. “Why’s that?”

“Well, your pigtails are cute, and I love when you wear your hair down…but Multimouse buns are super attractive on you,” he informed coquettishly. “I’d love to see them more often.”

At first, the words didn’t really compute. Her initial reaction was to be flattered at Adrien’s compliments and the fact that he even noticed in order to have opinions about her hairstyles. But then what he had said really started to sink in, tripping a wire in her mind.

Noticing Marinette’s sudden unease, Adrien hastily backed off. “Sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable? I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have flirted with you like that after we said we were just going to act platonically with each other the rest of the night. It’s just that you’re really attractive—physically and personality-wise—and knowing that you like me, even though I’m in love with someone else, I still have feelings for you too, and I just—”

“—It’s not that,” she cut him off, correcting his assumption. “I could get used to the flirting. It’s just…Chat Noir is the only person who knows about Multimouse.”

Adrien’s eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open as his thoughts raced each other in a panic.

She stared at him, her own eyes big and terrified as she waited for him to make up some kind of plausible excuse so that her world could go back to being right-side-up.

No such excuse came to mind, and he hung his head, shaking it sadly. “Sorry. Um… If you like, I could say that Chat Noir was talking to me and let it slip, but…I think you’re a little too smart to believe that.”

Tentatively, he looked up at her, a fragile smile wavering on his lips. “What a stupid way to expose my secret identity, huh?” He held his breath, hoping that she would laugh with him.

Instead, Marinette cursed under her breath and buried her face in her hands, obviously going into one of her freak-outs.

Adrien sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I’m really sorry to spring this on you. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I promise.”

Marinette shook her head, looking at him in horror. “Adrien, this is a huge deal,” she hissed. “Me knowing could put you in danger! What if I get captured or mind-controlled or something and Papillon makes me tell him your identity?”

Adrien scooted in closer, taking Marinette’s hand. “That won’t happen.”

He said it with such authority that she almost believed him.

He cupped her cheek in his hand and fixed her with a resolute gaze. “I stop at nothing to protect the women I love. I won’t let anything happen to you or your family, Marinette. You’re safe. So long as no one knows that you know and Chat Noir doesn’t start paying special attention to you so that people take notice and think you’re a person of interest, no one is going to bother you, and you’re not going to put me in danger. Okay?”

She bit her lip, trying to come up with some point to argue with him on. “But…”

He shook his head and smiled at her like springtime. “I trust you, Marinette. You knowing isn’t a big deal because I know my secret is safe with you. If, God forbid, something happened to Ladybug and I had to pick a new partner, it would be you. I trust you that much, so don’t worry about this. I believe in you, even if you don’t believe in yourself, so don’t worry.”

“Adrien,” she breathed, falling in love with him all over again.

His dependable expression transformed into a sheepish smile. “Just one thing.”

She blinked, eyebrow arching interrogatively.

“I know you and Ladybug are friends. Please don’t tell her I blew my secret identity,” he begged. “Please, please, please. If you care about me at all, please don’t tell her.” His expression darkened. “I just couldn’t take her having yet more proof of what I screwup I am.”

His hand dropped from her cheek as his gaze went to the floor. “I don’t want her to be disappointed in me.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide, and her heart ached for her poor, sweet partner as she finally saw past all the bravado and forced cheerfulness to the insecurity and loneliness.

“I don’t want to disappoint her,” Adrien repeated in a weak whisper.

It was Marinette’s turn to cup Adrien’s face in her hands and gently make him meet her gaze.

“Chaton,” she called softly, eyes warm and full of love. “I’m not disappointed. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you’d let me down because you’re the best partner ever, and I’ve always felt lucky to have you by my side. There isn’t anyone I’d rather have as my Chat Noir.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped as he stared at her, unable to believe his wildest dreams were coming true.

He swallowed and asked in a trembling voice, “…My Lady?”

She smiled and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Adrien. I’ve hurt you so much over the years, always turning Chat Noir down because I was in love with Adrien. I’m such an idiot,” she groaned. “Even after I started to develop romantic feelings for Chat Noir, I was too stubborn to give up on Adrien. I’ve hurt us both for no reason.”

“Marinette,” he breathed, too caught up in wonderment to really process. “I think this has been a team effort failure. I’m sure we’re both to blame on some level, but…the most important thing is…you’re still in love with me even after finding out I’m Chat Noir?”

She nodded wholeheartedly. “I’m even more in love with you now.”

“And…you’re not going to hold it against me, not being able to get over Ladybug and give my heart completely to Marinette?” he tested the waters.

She shook her head and kept smiling. “You get points for wanting to get over Ladybug so that you could fall in love with Marinette. I can appreciate the sentiment of not wanting me to settle for being someone’s second choice. It sounded to me like you loved Marinette even if you weren’t completely in love with her yet, so…I can’t see where there’s anything to hold against you.”

“Oh. Good,” he chuckled giddily, searching her face. “So…seeing as we’re in love with one another…would you want to be my girlfriend?”

“I’d like that very much,” she purred, pushing him down into an unhurried kiss that was only broken some twenty minutes later when Nino and Alya returned from their ice cream run.

Nino took one look at Adrien’s rumpled clothing, messy hair, and kissed-bruised lips and smirked, shaking his head. “Mec,” he chuckled knowingly.

Adrien blushed, smiling as he shrugged helplessly.

“Finally!” Alya crowed as she divvied out the spumoni ice cream. “Oh my gosh. Four years I’ve been trying to get those two together and finally I’m met with success.”

“Alya,” Marinette whined, straightening her buns.

“Don’t ‘Alya’ me,” Alya snorted. “I have put blood, sweat, and tears into orchestrating your happiness. It’s about time my efforts paid off.”

“Question,” Adrien announced, a troubled expression suddenly clouding his face.

“What’s up?” Nino inquired.

“Can I still have a platonic boyfriend and girlfriend if I’ve also got a romantic girlfriend?” Adrien looked around the room at his three friends.

Nino shrugged. “I’m on board so long as your romantic girlfriend doesn’t mind.”

“Same,” Alya assured, handing Adrien an ice cream bowl.

Adrien looked at Marinette.

She bit her lip, considering for a moment before deciding, “I don’t mind. I just want you to be happy, Adrien, and there’s nothing wrong with getting loved on by your friends. So long as you understand that your romantic girlfriend takes precedence, I’m okay with you having a platonic boyfriend and girlfriend too.”

“But of course, My Love,” Adrien cooed, leaning in to give Marinette’s cheek a peck.

“Do that again!” Alya demanded, fumbling to get out her phone. “I wasn’t filming, and I need that for the wedding reception video.”

The

       End