Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette was not having a great day. 

It all began when she slept through her alarm, finally waking up so late that she couldn’t even zip her backpack, never mind indulging in luxuries like eating breakfast. If she’d had time to even turn around, she’d have noticed her parents shooting glances full of concern and admonishment at her retreating back. 

Despite her best efforts, she ended up  missing half of the first period and of course, it was  Mme. Mendeleiev’s hour. So much for Ladybug luck. Mme. Mendeleiev didn’t deem her own harsh reprimands enough, choosing instead to  send Marinette to the principal’s office, where he, in turn, took up the remnant of the first period lecturing her about the importance of time and punctuality. 

By the time she got to her second period class, all of her friends were offering words of comfort (except for two glaringly obvious exceptions), which made her smile a little. Alya had even offered her notes for the lesson she missed. 

Adrien’s concern for her didn’t even have a second to falter— not when he heard her soft snores, accompanied by her head falling to the table with a soft thump in the middle of  class, not when her freakout when Ivan, Rose and Juleka approached her to remind her of a half-finished commission she’d taken up but promptly forgot about was interrupted by a loud yawn, (they completely understood, of course, and told her to take her time, but Marinette was Marinette, and she couldn’t bear to disappoint her friends), not when she tripped on thin air and fell down, and especially not when an akuma attacked right as she sat down for lunch. 

The spoonful of food had barely entered her mouth. 

Alya ran off to capture her scoop, Chloe sashayed away, but not without whining about  how lame the superheroes had to be, if akumas attacked so regularly, and Adrien shot to his feet, making an excuse about needing the restroom as he gave her a meaningful look. 

Marinette? No, Marinette didn’t have time to fill her empty stomach. She had a job to do. 

Sighing heavily, she scrambled over to the locker rooms. Looks like lunch would have to wait. Again. 

Her feet were carrying her of their own accord when she was suddenly grabbed by the hand and pulled into the nearest hallway. 

“Let go of- Adrien?” she gawked at him. 

Wordlessly, he removed his ring and handed it to her. 

“What are you doing?!” Marinette exclaimed. Why was he giving the ring back? “We need to get out there and-”

“I know.” He said seriously, his usual mirth absent. “That’s why I’m offering to be Mister Bug for now.”

“You really don’t have to.” Marinette said, sighing in relief. For a moment the dumb cat had scared her into thinking he was leaving her. 

“You’re exhausted,” he raised an eyebrow. “Something tells me you didn’t get much sleep after last night’s akuma.”

“Oh come on, we’ve worked with worse odds before. I can handle it. We can handle it.” She closed his fist around the ring, but he wouldn’t let her. 

“I know you can kick ass running on barely any sleep, m’lady, but it doesn’t mean that you should have to. You need rest too. I’ll handle the reins today.” He said, smoothly sliding the ring into her finger. “If you’ll let me. I can’t promise to be as good as you when it comes to figuring out Lucky Charms, but I’ll try my best.”

Marinette gulped. She was going to either kill him or give him the biggest hug later. Maybe both, she didn’t know. 

“Okay.” She said, unhooking her earrings and offering them to him, watching them turn from black to silver the minute his skin brushed against them.

“Great! See you there, m’lady.” He pressed a fleeting kiss on her cheek before scampering away. 

“See… you.”

Chapter Text

Marinette was absorbed in sewing when she heard the tell tale thump on her roof. 

That sound could have been caused by one of three things: a squirrel, a pigeon, or Chat Noir.

A squirrel wouldn’t have made so much noise, a pigeon would have flown away by now. So it was definitely her kitty. 

“Come in!” She called, not looking up from the t-shirt she was hemming. They’d been too busy studying for their exams to hang out much apart from akuma attacks, and now that their exams were finally done, she was delighted to have time to spend with him again. She didn’t know why he’d chosen to drop in unannounced, but, no matter the reason, she was glad. 

“I don’t think he heard you.” Tikki said.

That was weird. He would have invited himself in and made a complete show out of it by now. 

“What if it was just a squirrel?” Marinette murmured to herself. “No, that doesn’t make any sense. I always know when he is here.” She had practically memorised the sound of his boots by now. 

“Wait, I’ll go and check.” Tikki said, flying up towards the skylight.

To Marinette’s surprise, Tikki came flying back almost immediately. 

“Tikki? What’s wrong?” Marinette got up from her chair. 

Her kwami winced. “Okay, he didn’t see me, but—”

“He’s out there?” she interrupted, her head snapping toward the skylight, “And he hasn’t come in?” 

“Chat Noir!” She called, but there was no answer. She didn’t want to risk calling Adrien by his civilian name where she could be overheard, so she sighed and climbed up to her hatch.

“Okay, what’s going on, why are you just standing there instead of coming-?” She stopped when she took in the sight in front of her. He was sitting cross legged, and his face was pouted in the most pitiful look ever. He looked terribly… guilty? But for what?

“Adrien?” she whispered. “What’s going on?” 

“Promise me you won’t be mad?” He whimpered. 

“Okay, you’re scaring me.” Marinette climbed up her balcony and sat down across him. “What’s happened?” 

He opened his palm, which she hadn’t noticed was fisted tight, to reveal the lucky charm she had given him, only the thread was in two pieces and the beads were all over the place. 

“I swear, it was an accident. I was fencing today while wearing this, like I always do, because it genuinely makes the odds better and my opponent’s saber accidentally caught under it and-” he looked like he wanted to cry. “-the beads went flying. I found every single one of them and I tried to fix it but I think I made it worse.”

“Oh, mon chaton.” Marinette sighed. This was what he was so worried about? 

“If you don’t want to make me another one, I totally understand.” He hung his head. “I won’t blame you for being angry.”

“Adrien.” Marinette shook his shoulders. “Hey, look at me.”

He finally did, and it broke her heart to see him so devastated over this, as trivial as it was. 

“I’ll fix it for you.” She said, opening her palm. “Hand it over.”

“Really?” His face brightened, like Christmas and his birthday had rolled into one and occurred on the same day. 

“Yes, really, you dumb cat. You mean more to me than some dumb bracelet.” She said, kissing his forehead. 

“Careful what you call dumb, bugaboo.” he pouted playfully. “That’s my Marinette lucky charm. It’s the furthest thing from dumb.”

“Unlike its wearer.”

“Hey!”

Chapter Text

"How did you do on the test?" Alya asked an anxious Marinette. 

"That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out. I remember writing a lot but I can’t remember a thing I actually wrote!” She banged her head on the desk, much to the surprise of the three people around her. 

"I've been trying to convince Monsieur 'A plus' here too." He leaned back against his seat, towards his girlfriend. 

"Nino, you know I didn't get much time to study for this test." Adrien frowned. "And don't talk about me like I'm not here."

"Uh, that's what you said the last time you got an A minus on that history test you had no idea was happening because you were away all week." 

".....yeah, but this time it's different!" Adrien said defensively. 

"Point taken." Marinette raised a hand from her seat in affirmation. 

Adrien squinted at her, trying to make sense of whether she was crying or something. She had practically been in hysterics when she had texted him urgently yesterday, screaming in all caps about some emergency.

He came rushing to her aid, only to find her all suited up, sheepishly sitting on a roof surrounded by her books. 

She needed his help to study, apparently. He remembered watching her fondly as she kept on apologizing over and over again for calling him for something like this, but she just worked better with an extra set of hands. 

One can only imagine what those words did to him. He was jumping for joy at his limited study time getting even more enjoyable, he had almost forgotten that with all the akuma attacks, he hadn't studied either. 

Not that that stopped him. He was always, always more than happy to spend time with her.

"Woah, dudette, you can't have written it that badly." Nino remarked, and Adrien was brought back to earth. Apparently, Marinette was still bemoaning her fate.

"Yes, I have! You don't know the half of it, Nino." Marinette groaned, and then yelped when she felt a finger flick against her head. 

"Adrien! What was that for?" Marinette said indignantly, rubbing the spot on her head. 

"I remember you acing every problem yesterday." He frowned. "Seriously, you handled the trig chapter way better than I did and I'm supposed to be the math whiz here." 

"And you were way better at arithmetical progressions." Marinette harrumphed. "Seriously," she said, mocking him. "You were practically preening at finishing an entire exercise in what, 2 minutes? Excuse me if I don't believe that you supposedly flunked the test." 

"Well excuse me if I just think the everyday Ladybug should be more kinder to herself." He said, topping it all off with a wink worthy of Chat Noir.

The affronted expression and the dusting of red on her cheeks told him that he had won this round.

The magic of the moment was immediately dispelled by Alya loudly clearing her throat.

Slowly, torturously, the two turned to see Nino with his jaw slackened and the biggest grin on Alya's face.

"No, don't mind us. I just wish I had some popcorn." She said, in a bored tone.

Nino was quicker to recover. "Did you two study together?" 

"No!" Marinette said at the same time Adrien said, "Yes."

Sharing a quick terrified glance, Adrien changed his answer to "No." just as Marinette turned hers to "Yes." 

"Um, what Adrien means to say is," Marinette hastily amended. "We didn't meet up to study, we called each other." 

"We had a video chat. Made it easier for comparing work." Adrien piped up. 

"Yeah, but 'last night'?" One could hear the air quotes in Alya's voice. 

"Well, uh, Adrien has his schedule and I had too much other work to catch up on." 

"Exactly!" 

"Hmm…" Alya squinted suspiciously before dropping it. "If you say so." 

"I loved helping you study, Adrien!" Marinette said, his eye twitching. 

However, Adrien was in a playful mood this time, and he shot back. "Helping me study? From what I remember, I wasn't the one calling you up at 11:30 in the night." 

He received a particularly sharp flick to the forehead for that.

Chapter Text

"Happy birthday, dear Mylene, happy birthday to you!" Everyone sang around the birthday girl as her boyfriend lifted her up to blow out the candles on the ginormous cake, courtesy of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

"Thanks, you guys!" she said, her face lighting up. "Thank you, Ivan," she spun around to kiss her boyfriend’s cheek. 

"Alright, kids!" Mylene's father said, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Come on over to our backyard, we have a surprise for you!" 

"Aww, look at those two." Alya remarked as they followed the crowd. 

"I know!" Marinette cooed. "It’s so cute how Ivan’s so in love with her, even though they’ve been together for two years already.” 

"Kind of like how Adrien is around you." Alya said. 

"I know, right!" Marinette squealed. It took her nearly thirty seconds to realize exactly what she was agreeing to.. "Wait, huh-A-alya!" she shrieked, craning her neck to see if Adrien was within earshot. 

"What? Relax. He and Nino were the first ones out of the house." Alya shrugged. "So you wanna tell me how you and Adrien went from struggling with that weird tension in New York to being thick as thieves in a little over a month?" 

"Uh, um, it's nothing, really. I just got to know him a lot better in New York." 

Technically, she wasn’t lying. She did find out, after nearly losing her for good, that her kitty had only been in New York because of her.

She knew that if he’d been around, he’d have known exactly what she was thinking and he’d have chastised her for it. He hadn't let her blame herself once throughout the entire ordeal, and while she was touched by how vehement he was in his defense of her, she hated how he took all the guilt upon himself. 

"Really?" Alya’s question didn’t come off as skeptical, even though Marinette knew she had every right to be, after that terribly vague answer. The look on Alya’s face was full of curiosity and concern. 

"Yeah, and believe me, those feelings, they've gone poof! They've-" she stopped herself short at Alya's glare. "Okay, they haven't. But what's the point?" She mumbled. 

Forget Adrien. Chat Noir hadn't made any advances towards her in forever. He’d obviously given up and moved on after being rejected so much. 

(Whenever she was reminded that he didn’t call her his lady any more, a heartstring of hers snapped. At this point, she was surprised she had any left.)

"Marinette, believe me. As your best friend, there’s nothing I want more than for you to be happy and stress-free. But believe me when I say that that boy is head over heels for you."

"Why would he be?" She said absentmindedly.

"Excuse me?" Alya was offended. "Why shouldn't he be? Have you looked at yourself?" 

"Okay, okay, I get it." Marinette said gratefully. "But you're wrong, okay? I just don't want to assume anything right now."

"Marinette, when you two look at each other like that and have a personal set of inside jokes which no one can understand, you can totally get why I assume things like that. But-" she held up a hand. "I'm so happy for you. It's so nice to see you not work yourself to death around him." 

"Thanks, Al. Where would I be without you?" She wrapped an arm around her. Half of the time she was around Adrien before the reveal and she managed to not make a mess of herself, it was because Alya's advice was always at the back of her mind. 

"Alright, kids!" M. Harpele said. "My Mylene was telling me all along about bringing her friends to watch "The Mime's Return", airing in theaters! Well, I thought why not do exactly that here?" 

"Uh, excuse me sir, the movie was released only a month ago, how would we be able to see it?" Max asked. 

"I have my connections, young man." He winked. "Mylene and I will be screening the movie here for all of you, exclusively." 

The class cheered happily. The girls all went over to give Mylene a big hug. Most of the class were all fans of the play, recently expanded to be included in theaters.

"Make yourselves comfortable guys! The movie is beginning soon!" Mylene said.

Ten minutes later, Marinette was sitting on the grass, her aching legs stretched out fully. 

Alya and Nino were at the front, and she knew for a fact that their seating was due to Alya's intense excitement. She was a huge fan of the play and the two of them had already seen it in theaters. 

"Hey there." She jumped when she heard a voice behind her. "Is this seat taken?" 

It was Adrien. He was holding a plate piled with two slices of the birthday cake. Of course he made a beeline for the sweets. He had such a huge sweet tooth, and she was the one who grew up in a bakery. No wonder him and Tikki got along so well.

"Yes." She said abruptly. 

His face fell. "Oh. Uh, no problem then, I'll be out there in the-" 

"Taken by you, silly." Marinette giggled and he frowned. 

"Don't scare me like that." He grumbled as he sat down next to her, his legs crossed and his posture ram-rod stiff.

As much as she wanted to, she knew better than to ask him to let out a bit of his superhero energy. Chat Noir slouched against freaking walls, but Adrien's posture couldn't be bent by the strongest of winds. 

"Cake?" He offered. "It's so, so good."

He had gotten two spoons along with the two slices. 

"You do realise that this came from my parents' bakery, right?" She giggled. "Of course I know it's good."

"Marinette." He deadpanned. "Take a piece or I will feed it to you in public." 

Marinette shoved the spoon in her mouth with a speed that could rival light itself.

She shivered a little, her free hand going to rub her arms. Why did she wear a dress in the middle of fall? 

It wasn't too cold when she stepped out of the house, but still, she should have foreseen this.

"Wait, hold this." Adrien said, handing her the plate and shrugging off his white overshirt. 

"Wh-what?" Marinette stuttered. "No, you don't have to do that!" 

"I want to." He said warmly as he draped it over her shoulders, adjusting it so that she was loosely bundled in it. 

"Is it comfortable?" He asked, popping the collar of the shirt just in case. 

"Y-yes." She said, determined to keep her eyes off of how his arms looked in his black shirt. Nope. She was not going down that road. 

Oh, wow. The collar was so warm around her neck. Gooseflesh was rising earlier thanks to the cold, but the overshirt did nothing to prevent it either. It was worse now, thanks to its warmth. 

It felt like one of his hugs. Smelt like one too. 

Marinette internally screamed. She was supposed to not look at him, not feel the soft fabric around her, AND hold her breath so she doesn't accidentally smell said fabric? She couldn’t multitask like Markov, her brain was overloaded already!

"I'm so glad I caught you by the way." Adrien said. "It was either this or Lila guilt tripping me in public to help her to translate the movie's LSF because her tinnitus came back." He rolled his eyes. 

"Seriously?" Marinette scoffed, the mention of Lila distracting her briefly. "She was claiming only last week that it was cured! For the 5th time. How did you get out of it?" 

"I reminded her the silent movie about a mime has subtitles." He snickered. "You should have seen her face." 

"Hmm. My chaton is so smart." She grinned appreciatively, trying to calm her still red cheeks. "I'm so proud of him." She nudged him as the opening credits began.

If anyone asked Adrien and Marinette later why their cheeks were so red, they could just claim that the summer heat was getting to them.

In the middle of autumn.

Chapter Text

"Will you stop tossing and turning?" Plagg snapped at Adrien. "I can hear you sulking." 

"I haven't even said anything!" Adrien exclaimed from his face plant on his pillow. 

"You didn't have to." Plagg grumbled. "Seriously, just go and talk to her if it's bothering you so much." 

"I would. You know I would. But she's, ugh, she's being so unreasonable!" Adrien said, frustrated. "How was what I did today reckless?" 

"You jumped in front of a sword." Plagg deadpanned. "That electrocuted you. No wonder she was scared. Anyone would be." 

"What? Are you saying she should have gotten-" Adrien's throat seemed to have gotten superglued on itself, because he couldn't complete that sentence. 

"Look, of course I'm upset that she's upset, and I would do anything to fix that but she said she wants to be alone right now." His chest twisted painfully at the image of Ladybug swinging away, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. 

"I don't want to force her into anything." He said tiredly. "Besides, she was never this upset before-" 

"That's a lie and you know it." Plagg said, following him into the bathroom. "She was never fond of you laying down your life for her. She never said anything before because she knows it's your job. But after one point…" The kwami sighed. 

"Look, Tikki's almost never had to deal with wielders who were killed. The only one I know of is Joan, but anyway. Our job, the black cat's job, is to maul, to destroy, and to protect the Ladybug miraculous because-" 

"-the ladybug is our last hope of fixing things." Adrien finished his sentence, splashing his face with cold water. "I know."

He was aware of his role in their partnership. All of their former teammates brought something unique to the table, but Ladybug had made it extremely clear that his role was indispensable. And he believed in her trust in him. 

He was never ever afraid of getting incapacitated, something he wouldn't admit out loud to anyone except Plagg. It was all for Marinette, and it was worth it. The city would be lost without her, and he needed to make sure that that never ever happened. Not to mention he wouldn't be able to function if something ever were to happen to her. 

Was literally vanishing into thin air, getting impaled, getting thrown off of buildings for Ladybug's life worth the tears she managed to hide from him every other day? 

"I have to go see her." He declared suddenly. She may have shut him out but if he really had to leave, he'd much rather hear it from her. 

"Come on, Plagg," he said, determined as he strode out of the bathroom. "Claws-" 

His tongue twisted itself in his throat when he saw Ladybug outside his closed window, her fist raised as if to knock. 

He didn't know how long he was standing there gawking at her, but it wasn't until she hesitantly raised her hand to wave at him that he rushed to grab the remote that opened the window. 

The remote was barely out of his hands when she came bursting into his room, flinging her arms around him.

She was sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm sorry." she whimpered. 

"Marinette?" He caught her by the shoulders to prevent them from falling onto the ground.  

"Marinette, hey, why are you sorry?" his hands rubbed soothing circles on her suit.

"I'm sorry I walked-" she pulled back a little to wipe her tears. "I'm sorry I walked away without even listening to you. It shouldn't have just run away like that, I should have listened to you. I'm so, so sorry." 

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." he finally muttered. "But you shouldn't have to worry about me, bugaboo. Being your shield IS my job." 

"Of course I worry!" she slapped his chest, moving away from the close embrace they shared. "Do you even understand how terrifying it is to see you die in front of me and then-" she smacked her forehead. "I can't believe this. I never ask for you to throw your life away like it means nothing!"

"Hey." he said, prying her hand away from her head. "I think you and I know more than anyone that this job doesn't have the most...uh, convenient options. If I had to choose between rescuing you and dodging a hit...there really isn't a choice there. We need you around-"

"Don't bring that up again!" she snapped. "You are not expendable and I don't know what put that idea in your head but I never saw you that way! Paris doesn't need me, Paris needs both of us, and I'd like to not take all the credit, thank you very much."

"But you have saved the day before on your own."

"Just because I can doesn't mean I want to." Her lower lip trembled. "I need you around. I couldn't do half the things I can do without you."

Her words were harsh. Harsher than they had ever been. Then why were they surrounding him like a warm blanket on an icy cold day, blocking out every other thought in his mind?

"I know you worry, bugaboo." he said sadly. "I know that.  I do those things because I know and trust you to bring me back. That's why I'm telling you not to worry."

"Fat chance of that happening." she grumbled. 

Right then and there, Adrien got the answer to his question. They would never ever agree on this. He would always want to protect her and she would always hate it. 

He took a few steps towards her, smiling at her like it hurt. 

"What is it?" she asked, her glare sagging slightly. 

He raised a hand, gathering up the last bits of courage and pushed the lock of hair covering her ear, revealing her active earrings. "Spots off, Marinette." he said, his fingers brushing against them. 

"Spots off." she murmured, her eyes locking with his.

His eyes definitely weren't lingering on the curve of her neck, nope they weren't. He just happened to see her gulp audibly, that's all. 

Forcing his eyes to stay on hers, Adrien took her hand and sat them both on their couch. 

She quietly followed his lead, the tips of her toes barely skimming the cold floor of Adrien's room. 

He didn't want her to leave, he didn't want them to keep on sitting here in silence for who knows how long, and most importantly he couldn't bear to see her holding back tears. 

"What do you think we should do?" she asked out of the blue, making him jump. "We can't keep on disagreeing about this."

"We can do two things." Adrien said slowly. "I could boot up Ultimate Mecha Strike and we could..." his sense of hope was wilting by the second, but he plowed on. "...we could play a few rounds while you're here. On mute, of course." 

'Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes-'

"That sounds wonderful." she finally said. Her tightly clenched fists loosened. "I haven't been able to play in so long." 

"Multiplayer is so much better anyway." he grinned, straightening out his rumpled t-shirt. "Winning against the computer gets so old sometimes."

"And what's the second thing we're going to do?" Marinette asked. 

"I'll try not to vanish on you." He placed a hand on his chest, bringing his other palm up.  "I won't always be able to, but I'll try my best to not make you worry." he solemnly promised. "Cat's honor."

"Thank you." Marinette said, nudging his leg gratefully. "Being a hero isn't half as rewarding without you around anyway."

Chapter Text

"I made a good call choosing this spot, m'lady." Chat Noir snickered at his own pun. 

"I won't hesitate to ditch you here too." Ladybug flicked his bell. "Your puns are getting worse, and that's saying something." She rolled her eyes. "Your 'in the dark' puns were unbearable." 

"Come on, the silence was getting annoying." He said. 

"So you chose to sit above a wedding reception?" Ladybug chuckled incredulously, pointing at the party going on several stories below.

"Hey, I have my reasons." He mumbled, turning away. He didn't know why he chose that very stupid option but it wasn't like he could back out on it now. "I needed some form of proof that all of Paris isn't quiet and lonely tonight." 

Normally Adrien would have given anything to spend a quiet night on the roofs talking with his superhero partner. Would have craved it even. 

The eerie cold of his house must have gotten to him a little too much today, because he couldn't handle one of his favourite pastimes without fidgeting anxiously. Marinette had given up after 10 minutes of his nonsense and asked him what was wrong. 

And his response was to utilize his enhanced hearing to find the noisiest spot he could at 1 AM, just so there would be some form of distraction he could lose himself in. Marinette certainly wasn't an option.

'It just had to be a wedding reception, didn't it? Great going, Einstein, you nailed it.' A voice that sounded suspiciously like Plagg hissed in his head.

"I think it's great though." Ladybug murmured. "Look, we can hear the music from here and everything."

"Yeah, tell me about it." He said, his cat ears wiggling. 

The open sparkling gazebo was a Parisian candle in the midst of darkness, only rivalled by the light of the Eiffel Tower, perhaps. 

They were too far away to differentiate the bride and the groom from the wedding guests, but the music was something they both vaguely recognized from the radio.

"Oh, oh, look!!" Ladybug gripped his arm, shaking it slightly. "The couple are about to start their first dance!" 

"How do you know?" He asked, surprised. 

"Well, my parents got a lot of catering orders for weddings recently," she explained. "Apparently this song is pretty good for romantic first dances and all. I've heard it about a thousand times now and-" She rambled, sighing a little in his direction before freezing up. 

"Everything okay?" He asked, confused by her change in mood.

"Uh huh!" She gulped. "I'm good. The lights! Look at the lights, they went from-from pink to green! Isn't that pretty?" 

Were they? He hadn't really noticed. 

"Are you humming?" Ladybug asked a minute later. 

"I am?" He blinked. "Oh wait, I am. Uh, it's nothing much really. I recognized this song too. It's a part of my piano lessons so.." he shrugged. 

"It really is a pretty song, huh?" Ladybug rested her chin on her palm, her legs swaying to the music. 

The song wasn't the same, but he was vaguely reminded of dancing to a similar slow song with Marinette. Once at Chloe's party and another time in New York. He didn't know then why his skin had tingled in every place she had touched him and he had touched her,  but now he did. 

…maybe it wouldn't be too much of a stretch? 

"Will you dance with me?" He asked, hopefully extending a hand towards her.

"Huh?" Her cheek slipped off her palm. 

"Will you dance with me?" He repeated softly, earnestly, trying to get the thinly veiled message across.

She simply stared at him, her mouth slightly open. 

"W-well, I just thought, you know, we've danced twice as Adrien and Marinette, but not as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and I know that doesn't make much of a difference cause we are the same people but-" 

To his surprise, she cut him off by chuckling loudly. 

"You have no idea how funny you look when you get flustered." She patted his thigh before accepting his hand. "Yes, of course I will dance with you."

His face broke out into the biggest grin as he pulled her up, all remnants of shyness gone. 

His hand went around her upper back, hers was hooked around his shoulder, and their free hands met, intertwining in a gentle but firm hold. 

He began to lead them to the music, and Marinette said, "Something tells me I would have been shocked to find out what a good dancer Chat Noir was, if I already didn't know he was Adrien Agreste." 

Her fingers were delicately tracing the back of his neck. Adrien had to fight the shivers running down his spine when he answered, "Oh? Does my lady believe that her tomcat isn't capable of grace and poise?" 

"Well…" she feigned thinking. "I have literally seen you asking me to throw you across Paris sometimes-"

"You don't understand, it's like - the only rollercoaster experience I'll ever have!" 

"-but tomcat?" She said, continuing to sway in his arms as if she hadn't heard him. "Now that's taking it a little too far, don't you think? You're a tame housecat at best." She flicked his bell, as if that proved her point. 

He scoffed, as he raised their intertwined hands to twirl her once to a particularly rousing section of the song. "How dare you?" 

"How dare I?" Ladybug retorted teasingly as he pulled her back into their original position. 

"Yes, how dare you?" He paraphrased. "Would a tame housecat be able to do this?" He surprised by grabbing her middle by both his hands, lifting her up and spinning her around.

"CHAT!" She shouted, beating at his shoulders. "Put me down!" 

He immediately did, but his laughter didn't subside. "You were enjoying that." 

"No I wasn't! You scared me!" 

"No I didn't. You were laughing. You've picked me up and thrown me around with lesser warning. This was mild at best." He rolled his eyes. 

"And what exactly did you hope to get out of it?"

"For you to admit that I am a tomcat after all." 

It was only then that they both noticed their drastically different positions. Both her arms were around her neck, his were around her waist. They had been swaying around like that for a while and they didn't even realise it. 

"Hmm." She said. She hadn't moved away or told him to knock it off. Yet. "Maybe. When you're out there cracking puns at akumas and kicking ass? Sure. But at the end of the day…" she laid her head on his shoulder, her cheek resting on his collarbone. 

His lady was getting snuggly? Well he would make it even more comfortable for her.

He adjusted his arms around her in such a way that he could hold her drowsy body upright.

"...you'll always be a cuddly, warm housecat to me." She sighed against his neck. "Is that okay?" He nodded against her hair in a form of surrender.

The only cat he'd ever want to be in any capacity or form was hers, anyway.

Chapter Text

People laughed sometimes. People didn't laugh sometimes. That wasn't something to get worked up over.

Alya and Nino were terribly bad at holding in their laughter. Luka and Juleka weren't huge on laughing at jokes, but they did appreciate them. 

Kagami wasn't a ball of laughs either. That didn't mean anything about who they were as a person!

Okay maybe it did, but it was nothing to mull over. Sometimes people were just like that. 

When everyone laughed, Adrien cracked a wide smile. When everyone guffawed, he chuckled at the most. 

It shouldn't surprise Marinette this much that she couldn't remember what it was like to hear Adrien laugh. 

Of course, she could just be overthinking things again, and maybe he was having an off day. 

Maybe Adrien was just that guy who understood jokes quickly but didn't waste too much energy laughing at them. 

That was fine.

Completely. 

Nino, his best friend, didn't have a problem with it. No one else batted an eye.

Wait. Jokes. 

How could she forget that Adrien was Chat Noir? 

Chat Noir was a vending machine for jokes, except he didn't need coins to make one. He'd make puns out of the most dire of situations, and if he had a solution to get out of a tight spot, it always came after a very, very bad joke.

Seriously, the dude had inside jokes with himself! 

Marinette sighed in relief. She knew that Adrien was less restrained as Chat Noir. Maybe he just reserved the funnies for then. 

She really was just overthinking, she realised as she remembered having a conversation while he hung half off a building with no qualms whatsoever.

"What's up, girl?" Alya asked pointedly. "You've barely eaten anything." 

Marinette looked down at her plate, only to find her fork scraping through. 

"Oh! Uh, nothing, I just had a large breakfast." she lied through her teeth. 

Alya seemed to have a short attention span today, because she shrugged. "Hey, by the way, did I ever get to show you the interview I got with Chat Noir yesterday?" She said, excitedly. 

Oh. That was most likely possible. They didn't need to use Cataclysm until the very end, so he had more time than her. 

"No, you didn't! How did it go?" 

"Here!" Alya booted up the video, and practically shoved it in Marinette's hands. 

"Hey there, Chat Noir!" Alya's voice droned out from her phone. "Got time for a quick interview?"

She had caught him mid-way while climbing a building. "I've got all the time in the world!" He practically shouted, and Marinette rolled her eyes.

"As long as it's within five minutes." He said as he neared the camera, winking when Alya laughed. 

"So, unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture today's akuma." Alya began.

"I should hope not." He said, pretending to be shocked. "That's Ladybug's job." 

Marinette actually chuckled at that. That was pretty funny. 

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Video-Alya said, though she was laughing too.

"What happened today?"

"Oh, uh, I'm not sure if I can give their name, for their privacy," he said uneasily. 

"I understand." Alya said from behind the camera.

Marinette smiled at that. She didn't have the time to talk to the victim, but he was the owner of a theater which had recently fallen to heavy losses, and she and Chat Noir had barely managed to get him out of sight from the cameras. 

It was understandable, of course, no one wanted their suffering to be broadcasted live. 

But seeing him be so genuinely respectful of the man's privacy...was it stupid to say her heart skipped a beat? 

"All I can say is," he sighed, looking right into the screen. "I look good in clown get-ups." He boasted, clearly flaunting for the camera.

Ugh. How he could go from being the sweetest person ever to being a literal dork was beyond her. 

"Was this a hard fight?" Alya continued. 

"It was until I figured out how good I was at juggling balls on the villain's head." he said smugly, before jumping a little and glancing at his ring. "Oops. Gotta s-cat. Thanks for having me!" He said, extending his staff and swinging away, and Alya came back on camera with her usual outro. 

"Wow," Marinette bit the inside of her cheek. "He was born to be a part-time clown, don't you think?"

"Haha, I know, right? He didn't talk much about the fight, which, I guess was to protect the victim's privacy-" 

Marinette knew better, though. He was using humor to deflect attention towards himself, and thus away from the victim. 

Chat Noir being much more savvy with reporters made a lot more sense now. He was Adrien Agreste after all. 

"-but boy, was he a ball of laughs!" Alya said as she scrolled through her phone.

Wait.

Oh no. 

She had definitely heard more than her share of Adrien's jokes as Chat Noir. The funny ones, the clever ones, the childish ones, the really bad ones. 

But she had never heard him laugh. Chuckle? Giggle like a little girl? Sure. But actually, really laugh?

'Calm down, Marinette, don't have a mid-life crisis over nothing!!'

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a building crashing outside the school. She barely registered Alya running outside along with several bystanders. 

'Okay, Marinette. You can do this. You can stop thinking about these stupid things and just focus on the akuma." 

—

"I can't do this!" Ladybug was on the verge of screaming. She NEEDED to focus on Gumball Machine (SERIOUSLY, Hawkmoth?) - not keep looking at Chat Noir to see if he would laugh at his own jokes!

'Stupid. That's what you are.' She slapped her forehead. 'S to the T to the U-P-I-D. Now is not the time to check Adrien's laugh-o-meter, you are way past that stage!'

"Look out!" She heard Chat Noir say before she was body slammed into the next roof. 

By the time they stopped rolling over, Chat was on top of her, looking concerned. "Everything okay, m'lady? You look distracted."

"FINE!" She squeaked, pushing him away. She could NOT have him in close proximity right now. NOPE. "I was just worried about writing that history test!" 

"You mean the history test we wrote an hour ago?" Chat blinked as he pulled her up.

"Right! I was worried how I wrote it-look out!" Ladybug pointed, and Chat baseball batted the approaching giant gumball away. 

"Wow." she exclaimed, half-smiling at him. "Home run."

"Yep." He flexed at her cockily.

Ladybug's eye twitched. That was a joke! A good one! Why wasn't he laughing?

"Never mind." She muttered. "Lucky Charm!" 

She got a large umbrella, almost the same size as Stormy Weather's. Really? Was the universe mocking her now? 

"Well, we could always use it as a shield or something!" Chat said as they dodged another onslaught of gumballs, one narrowly missing her head.

"That's it!" Ladybug roared. "I'm just about done with you!" She flung it at the akuma and it found its mark inside the akuma's cannon, making it malfunction heavily. 

"Chat Noir! Now!" Ladybug shouted amidst the akuma's indignant roaring. 

"Cataclysm!" He quickly destroyed the cannon, and out flew the black butterfly, ready for purification.

"Really wish that bastard would stop akumatising kids already." Ladybug muttered, turning over the umbrella in her hands, opening and closing it again and again, before just holding it over her head for no reason. She just needed something to do with her hands. "It's like kids can't cry to their own parents for candy without getting used for it."

The boy's mother was practically in tears when they dropped him off. 

"Believe me." Chat sighed. "Hawkmoth has a lot to answer for." He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "And we'll make him pay. Promise. That's why the world needs Ladybugs. To tell the Hawkmoths of the world to suck it." He winked.

Okay that was the last straw! What on earth could even make him laugh-

"Oh!" Ladybug yelped, her vision was suddenly surrounded by red and black spots. She had closed the umbrella in on herself. In front of Adrien. Again. 

"Ugh." She pulled herself out of it, grunting in frustration. Why hadn't she used her power yet?

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she said grumpily, throwing it in the air. 

"Pfffff." she heard a voice behind her. She turned to see Chat Noir, his cheeks puffed out as he laughed uproariously, like a little kid watching his cartoons. He was doubled over as he pointed at her. "You-you never have any luck with umbrellas, do you bug?"

Marinette stilled in shock. She HAD heard him laugh before! He had laughed with her when his umbrella had closed in on her. The perfume ad wasn't wrong. Adrien's laugh was radiant with happiness, carefree and...okay she was NOT going to complete that thought, she realised, blushing heavily. 

Chat Noir had barely calmed down when she realised how much more stronger and drawn out his reaction was this time. His laugh was a beautiful sound. It was only when she heard it she realised just how rare and precious it was. 

"I-" she cleared her throat, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "I wouldn't say bad luck, I mean, that was when we talked properly for the first time, wasn't it?"

That made him stop laughing, and Marinette instantly regretted it, until she saw his cheeks turn pink too. Her earrings beeped, in perfect sync with his ring. 

"I should get going," he muttered, giving her an easy smile that reached his eyes. "See you in school?"

"I like your laugh!" She blurted out, and she supposed it was too late to take it back. "You should laugh more!" She said all in one breath, before getting the heck out of there, leaving him confused but strangely happy.

"As you wish, m'lady." he whispered to her retreating form.

Chapter Text

The last thing Marinette felt was a hard punch to her middle, and the hard gust of wind roaring in her ears. 

“Ladybug!” She heard someone scream, the noise piercing her eardrums like a sharp needle to thread. 

Her limbs weren’t working. Her yo-yo was somewhere….she didn’t know. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t even muster the instinct to save herself. She was sure of one thing. She was falling, falling, falling - and at some point she would have to hit the ground, right?

“Gotcha!” The free-fall paused out of nowhere, strong arms wound around her, and she felt all the blood rush to the rest of her body from her head. 

“I’ve got you, m’lady, let’s get out of here.” Warm breath echoed in her ears, and suddenly, she recognised the voice. 

“Ad-I mean, Chat-” she hissed at her blunder, burying her face in his chest. “Sorry, I- should have been looking-”

“Shh, m’lady, it’s okay.” He said. “I’ll explain everything. Let’s just get out of here first.” 

For the next few minutes, Ladybug didn’t dare open her eyes. Her head was clouded with Chat’s hand under her legs and the other around her shoulder, holding her up, Chat’s broad shoulder, the leather skimming smoothly through her skin, Chat’s scent - no, Adrien’s scent buried in the crook of his neck, Adrien, Adrien, Adrien…

She flinched a little when he dropped down somewhere, and she felt herself being lowered down.

“Gah-” Her feet were wobbling. 

“Easy!” His voice breathed in her ear, his hands covering her arms. “Watch your step.”

“Where are we?” her hands fumbled around, finally stopping when she felt leather. “Why is it so dark? Chat, can we go somewhere lighter?”

He didn’t answer for a while, and all that Ladybug heard was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. “Where is Sightless? The last thing I remember-”

“M’lady, please don’t freak out.” he said, one of his hands sliding up to her shoulder. “I think when you fell off that building after Sightless hit you, I think you’ve lost your sight.”

“WHAT?!” Ladybug shrieked. “I can’t see?!”
“Ladybug-”

“Oh no no no no! When I looked away - that’s when he-” she clapped a hand to her mouth. 

“Marinette-” he was urging her, but his plea fell on deaf ears as she continued to catastrophize. 

“This is all my fault - I should have gotten to him sooner! I should have used my powers - I should have planned ahead! Now he’s probably looking for us and I’m going to lead him right to us! I’M SO STUPID!” she smacked her forehead. Warm, salty droplets of water caressed her cheeks, flowing down, down to her chin and dripping off her face so rapidly that for a moment, she thought it was raining. 

She didn’t realise they were tears until she felt his hands on her face, and what must have been his thumbs wiping away at her cheeks. “M’lady, it’s going to be okay. I’ve taken us far away from him and he can’t track us here. Trust me on that.”

“But what if he does?!” she smacked his hands away impatiently. 

"What if he has some sort of- of a tracker or something to find us or what if he has a tab on all his victims? What if he gets Hawkmoth here?! What then?! What are you going to do about your blind, useless partner then?!" 

There was no answer for a second, and Marinette's heart jumped to her throat. 

"Marinette?" she finally heard him. "Where is this coming from?" 

She broke down completely, sobbing into her palms. "I-I'm sorry!" She didn't know if his kindness in the face of her deranged craziness was comforting or terrifying. "I should have been m-more careful - I'm such a failure-"

Before she knew it, his arms were around her, pulling her into his chest. 

'It's okay." He squeezed her briefly. "Let it all out." 

"B-but the akuma-"

"He can't find us. I punched him off the same building the minute he hit you." He soothed, rubbing her back. "I promise he's just lost out there somewhere. I'm right here. I won't let him find us." 

Ladybug cried, and cried, and cried until realised she didn't know how to stop crying. 

"Do you want to detransform?" He asked her, and she barely registered that his voice was trembling too. 

"No, no I can't. I don't want - I don't want Tikki to see me like this, I already lied to her last night that I was fine - I can't -" 

She felt Chat sigh. "Don't worry. We don't have to do anything you don't want to." His head was resting on her shoulder as he held her close, clinging to her like a lifeline, even though she was the one having a mental breakdown. 

"I'm sorry." she sniffled, her hands making fists on his chest. "I have to get a hold on myself."

"You don't have to get anything." He said sharply. "Don't push yourself right now, okay? You haven't had a moment's rest in the past three days."

"We haven't." she corrected him tearfully, letting his gentle, firm voice anchor her to the real world. "But you've - you've been amazing. You've managed to get out of bed in the middle of the night, you've managed to study for tests, you've managed to handle everything, you haven't been a pathetic mess like me."

"You are not pathetic. You are not useless, and you are definitely not a failure." he said sharply, sounding personally offended. "And this isn't about me."

Hawkmoth had been relentless for some reason this past week, and Marinette had gotten a total of three hours of sleep in three days. She had to explain to her parents why she had gotten Bs in all her subjects, she had to postpone her commitments including a good night's sleep, all so Paris could have its heroes. 

She had been so lost in her thoughts she didn't realise she wasn't teary-eyed anymore, but her shoulders were still shaking in tiny hiccups. 

"Do you want to tell me what happened last night?" He said, one of his hands, brushing against one of her pigtails. 

"L-last night?" she mumbled.

"You said you told Tikki you were fine but you really weren't? What happened?" He said.

He was fidgeting with her ribbons, she realised. 

She moved away a little to tilt her face up. All she could see was pitch black, but she could picture the patient concern on his face. 

"I had a bad dream." she whispered. 

"What did you dream about?"

"Hawkmoth had gotten the miracle box." She stuttered. "And he had destroyed Paris, and everyone we know - Alya, Nino, our friends, my parents, they were- they were all blaming me - and they were right to because - because I let Hawkmoth hurt Master Fu and - I let Hawkmoth destroy the temple of the guardians and they - " she broke off into a fresh set of sobs. "I don't even want to remember the rest. I failed everyone, I failed you, I failed Paris!"

He held her for a long time, letting her cry again, not saying a single word, just rocking her back and forth. 

"This is so stupid. I couldn't sleep at all last night because of some stupid dream." She berated herself. 

She just had to come to school and fall asleep on her desk, didn't she? Why couldn't she get her life together?

"When an idiot like Hawkmoth doesn't have a life beyond ruining others', it's hard to keep it all in together." he said darkly. 

She had said that out loud?

"But you manage it so well, bugaboo. You don't have someone tailing you around with a schedule to stick to, you have that covered all on your own, and you still find time to help people out, whether it is as Marinette or as Ladybug. You're the everyday Ladybug, remember?"

She could hear the smile in his voice. "You always keep saying that."

"Because it's true! You're amazing, Marinette. You're an incredible person, an even better hero. I'm not even exaggerating. It's fine to not be okay all the time, you're not a robot, you're human. That's what Chat Noir’s are for - to be there for their Ladybug’s whenever they need them." 

If she were in a better mood, she probably would have argued that the Chat Noirs of the world definitely did a lot more than being the Ladybugs' therapist. 

But frankly she was too exhausted to do anything other than wonder just how much she would be lost without him. 

What would have become of her if she never got the ring to him after what happened in New York? 

What if Aeon wasn't able to find him?

What if he was so disgusted with her he didn't want to return at all? 

'Chill out, Marinette, give yourself more fodder for nightmares, why don’t you?' she thought drily. 

"Hey, was I in your dream?" she heard him ask. 

Something inside her froze. Her parents were disappointed in her, Lila was laughing at her misery, Chloe was slamming Ladybug in social media, Alya had exposed her in it, Master Fu blamed himself for choosing such an incompetent Ladybug but....

"No." she said out loud. "No, you weren't in it."

But why? Of anyone he would have the most reason to be upset with her. 

"That's a sign," he said, holding her arms as he pushed her away a little. 

"H-huh?" 

Why was he pushing her away?

"I mean there's a reason why I wasn't among the people turning against you." he said warmly. 

"O-oh?" 

"Even if the world thinks that you'd let them down, I on the other hand would know better."

"I believe in you, m'lady. With or without your eyes, I know you'll find a way to kick ass because you're just that awesome. And I'll follow your lead, or if this time, you want me to lead you, I'm at your service. I won't leave you, I promise." He pressed a comforting kiss to the side of her forehead. "You and me against the world?"

For the first time, she truly regretted being blind. Her cheeks were heating up and she had no idea if he had noticed it or not.

"You and me against the world." she managed to repeat with what must have been a weak smile.

"Are you ready to go now?" He asked her, his claws brushing against a lock of her hair. 

She reached up and wiped her tears. "Yes. But before we go, we need to do two things." 

"Name it."

"I won't be able to see my lucky charm, so you'll have to be the one to tell me about my surroundings."

"Done and done. I'll be your eyes and shield, m'lady. He won't get to you a second time." His voice cracked at the end and Marinette's heart sank. 

'Don't tell me you were blaming yourself for this.' she thought mournfully. All this time she was thinking she was the only one blaming herself for her partner getting hurt. They were just as bad as the other.

"And the second thing?" he asked, clearing his throat.

She flung her arms around him haphazardly (she probably hadn't aimed too well but he would catch her anyway) in a crushingly tight hug. 

"This. You're the best partner I could ever ask for." she said, pulling away just enough to kiss his cheek (and lingering just long enough to feel it burn with warmth). 

Chapter Text

"So why can't we go to the moon?" Chat Noir pouted, watching Ladybug take off in her space suit. 

"I told you, it's too dangerous." she said with a stern smile.

"But you could go get the horse miraculous! We'll get back to earth in no time!" He said, his golden-black wings flapping steadily as he hovered in air, his boots still skimming the roof. 

"Tikki would never let me hear the end of it. Powers are not supposed to be used for personal reasons after all." Marinette sighed and Adrien had to blink a little. The glow from her stationary wings was even more apparent during nighttime. 

"Besides, we have a ton of work we have to catch up on." She said. "We're only doing this so we can patrol better and faster."

"Right." Chat said, shooting up into the sky like a comet, before swooping back down just close enough to Ladybug's open visor. 

She was heavily unimpressed.

"Just admit that you enjoy flying after all." He raised a cocky eyebrow. 

"You know this isn't about flying." she poked his chest through his starry suit. "I just need a faster job done today that's all. I have a lot of commissions waiting for me back home."

"Hmm, and I wonder who was the one who decided to drag me to the stratosphere-" He purred teasingly, his large wings forming a loose cocoon around her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ladybug crossed her arms. 

"-all so she could take a selfie for the Ladyblog." he whispered.

The enclosed space offered by his wings was bringing them closer, and she didn't seem to be doing anything to expand it. 

"Alya needed that." She was nonchalant. "For a morale booster."

"Morale booster." he repeated mockingly.

He wanted to make a comment on how much she glowed under the moonlight like this, but he held it in. 

He couldn't do things like that anymore, because this wasn't just Ladybug, it was Marinette too. She never showed any interest in him like that.

"Y-yes!" Her voice had an indignant edge to it. "To show that something like the difference in atmospheric pressure won't stop us from-"

"-enjoying the ride?" He was trying really hard not to laugh now.

"-from putting Hawkmoth in his place! God, do you take anything seriously?" she scolded.

"I take riling you up like this very very seriously, m'lady." He held a hand up. "With my life."

"You-! Ugh, you're lucky you're wearing a helmet." She said. "Or- Or- I'd-"

"Stutter at me?" 

"Adrien!"

"Reveal my identity to all of Paris?"

"I hate you." she grumped before shooting out of his wing-cocoon and flying away. 

"I almost believe that!" He called back haphazardly, doubling over in laughter. 

"Are you coming, or is all of Paris going to watch your circus-of-one?" She taunted, four blocks away.

"Thanks for the compliment, m'lady." He replied in a normal tone, for he was by her side in a minute. "You sure know the way to this lowly clown's heart." 

"I can already see the rave reviews." she sounded annoyed, but a smile was playing on her lips. "Local clown mocks and annoys superhero for no good reason." 

"Hey," he admonished gently. "I was only trying to get you to admit you like flying."

"Whether I like it or not is irrelevant." 

"But it's relevant to me." he pouted. "How else can I persuade you to have a picnic with me on the moon?"

"Simple. You can't. And put those kitty eyes away, you know those don't work on me."

"Is that why you are avoiding looking at me?" 

"We have a city to patrol!" she exclaimed, grabbing his head and pushing his gaze down. 

"Oh alright. I'll let it go. For now." he said mischievously.

—

"Nothing much today, huh?" Chat muttered, yawning.

They had circled the entire city twice by now. Other than a few 24 hour establishments, they seemed to be the only living beings that gloomy night.

"Are you tired?" she asked, worriedly. "Do you want to call it a day?"

"Nope, not that much. I can hang around for as long as you like." he grinned lopsidedly.

He stretched in mid-air, which made his wings spread wide like an eagle's. 

"I wish I had wings that moved like you." Ladybug said absent-mindedly, staring at her glowing, yet admittedly unmoving wings. "It'd be cool, I guess."

"Oh, don't worry about it, m'lady." He said kindly. "My wings may be bigger but they don't glow as brightly as yours." 

Suddenly, he stilled. "Wait a minute." he squinted at her. "You want better wings?"

His train of thought had only just taken off, but Ladybug was already waiting at its destination. 

"NO! NO I didn't mean-"

"You want wings like these?" He smirked. "So they'd be...hmm, I almost didn't hear the word but I think it was-"

"Stop. Don't say it." she said through gritted teeth.

"-cool?" 

"Chat! This isn't- okay, even if I do enjoy flying-"

"Ha! You enjoy flying! Time to blast off to the moon!"

"Did you miss the part where I said 'if'? Even IF I do enjoy flying, we can't go to the moon on a whim like that!"

"What do you have against the moon?" 

For some reason, he actually saw her shudder. Had he missed something? What was it about the moon that made her look so scared? "You know it's too-"

"Watch out!" he suddenly shouted, glomping her and covering them both with his wings.

"Wha-?" she squeaked against his chest, her voice vibrating against his neck. 

‘Keep it together you idiot! Now is not the time to swoon!’

He floated away until they were a good distance away from the skyscraper she was about to crash into. 

"Sorry about that." he said, gently moving as his wings extracted themselves from around her. "You were about to crash right into that building's...window." he winced as he pointed. "I didn't mean to frighten you-"

"No, no, you didn't." she assured breathlessly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise where I was going."

"Eh, it's okay." he shrugged. "It happens to all of us. I've lost count of the number of times I've run into my own billboards because I wasn't looking right in front of me."

"Still, I should be careful-"

"It wasn't like I was helping either." he said sheepishly. "We really don't have to go on a picnic to the moon if you don't want to. It was a dumb idea anyway," he rubbed the back of his neck. 

He caught a glimpse of discomfort (and pain?) in her expression, but it was gone as quickly as it came. 

Crap. he had offended her, didn't he? God, he was so stupid!

"Did I go too far?" he asked forlornly. "You know I didn't-"

"Really?" she was grinning too now. "I thought you'd last much longer than that. I thought you would have busted a flying pun by now." 

He sighed in relief. She was probably still reeling from shock. "I would have said them earlier, but I had to move us to the flight direction." 

She laughed, and Adrien's eyes softened. He couldn't tell her just exactly how much he adored making her laugh, would do anything to protect her, loved being with her, loved her.

He couldn't not feel those things either.

"I know it can't compare to the moon, but - do you want to come over? I think I have some food left over for all of us. And cheese for Plagg." 

 "Sounds gouda!" he said excitedly.

"Okay, that was really bad."

"And it's about to get feta." he winked. 

"Ughhhhh, what am I going to do with you?" 

"Why, my lady, it's not my fault my happiness is in 'plane' sight!" 

"Race you to my house?" she said, giving up. "I think these wings are much better than I thought if I can almost fly into a building several yards away without even knowing it."

And in that split second, he took off. 

"What are you doing?!" he heard her shout. 

"Thanks for the headstart, m'lady!" he said, several miles away already. 

He had barely turned his head when he found himself next to his partner, glowing in red and blue. 

"You call that a headstart?" she taunted.

"So you do like flying." he mused. "I was right all along."

"Yeah, you wish." she said, rolling her eyes. "See you th-air!" she spun around in mid-air, doing a purposeful loop-de-loop. She was far from reach, but she was never out of his sight. 

God, he loved her. What was he going to do with himself?

Chapter Text

"No more questions?" Chat winced at the ten different replies he got.

Their akuma today was a girl who had gotten dumped and had attracted a lot of attention, mostly because she had gone around turning all the men of Paris into frogs.

The heroes of Paris barely had time to answer all of the questions. They explained what had happened, and offered their assurance about the victim's safety.

"Thank you, but we're done for today." Ladybug said, and both of them turned to leave.

"Ladybug!! Ladybug, one last question!!" A reporter who had pushed herself to the front of the crowd jammed her microphone into the heroine's face.

"I'm really sorry, but we must leave." She stressed, turning her head frantically to see if her partner had already left.

Nope, he was a little frazzled, but he hadn't moved an inch away from her. Smiling to herself in relief, she whipped her head back to the woman, ready to tell her again that they had to leave when-

"Lately I have been observing you both, outside of battle of course, and the idea that many Parisians have - that Chat Noir has been rather forward with you, way too much forward, seems to have some form of truth to it. What do you-" she said, fixing Chat Noir with an ugly smirk, "-have to say about this?"

Someone dropped their pen.

The disappointed reporters at the very back, who were about to leave suddenly stopped, eyeing the front with interest.

"E-excuse me?" Ladybug stuttered. "Forward? What do you mean 'forward'?"

"Well, it is no secret that the two of you have a lot of chemistry as a team, as well as people," she said patronisingly, like she was miles ahead of them in the knowledge of THEIR relationship. "But some of us have begun to wonder if it is being abused."

Her dark glare was fixed on Chat Noir.

She wasn't being subtle at all.

A stricken Ladybug followed her line of sight to look at her partner, who seemed to have shrunk into himself in horror.

"What exactly are you insinuating here??" Ladybug growled.

"Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. It's right there, clear as day." She pointed her mike at Chat. "Are you dating Ladybug?"

"Hey!" Ladybug shrieked. "You have no right to-"

"No." Chat interrupted her. "No, I'm not. Is that what you wanted to ask?"

Every reporter in the crowd was hanging on to his each word.

"Then on what grounds do I see you being so close to Ladybug physically? Closer than what is acceptable?"

"What?!" Ladybug shouted.

Chat looked like he had been slapped in the face.

"Many photos on the Ladyblog have surfaced. Photos of you hugging her, kissing her cheek, having your arm around her, lying on her-"

"Stop it!" Ladybug stomped her foot. "Stop this nonsense right now!"

The onlookers probably couldn't differentiate between her suit and her face, but Marinette didn't care.

Who the hell was she to say such things about HER partner?!

Her raging seemed to be futile, because the woman didn't seem to know she had run a marathon away from the ethical line.

"Ladybug probably isn't aware of what you are doing to her, that's why she's reacting like this." She presented her with a sickly sweet smile that would have made Lila Rossi cringe.

"But YOU know, don't you? You know exactly what your intentions are. Chat Noir, are you trying to harass Ladybug into loving you?"

"He hasn't done anything!" Ladybug shouted. "Chat Noir isn't like that!" She yelled at the crowd of reporters, for good measure. None of them were taking notes, some of them fixed both of them with a sympathetic look, but all of the cameras in the vicinity were recording everything.

Including her partner's discomfort.

"Stop recording this!" She harrumphed so ferociously one guy almost dropped his camera. "Now!"

Almost every camera was switched off immediately, whether it was out of fear or respect, Ladybug didn't care.

Almost, except the camera of the network of the woman verbally attacking her partner.

"Answer me, Chat Noir. All of Paris is waiting for your answer. Are you cornering Ladybug? Are you isolating her from her loved ones? Did you threaten her? Because from the way she is throwing a tantrum, I'd say you've done a pretty good job at it."

"Chat." She turned her attention to him. "Listen to me. None of it is true. And I told you earlier that we were done!" She snapped at the reporter.

She heard a tiny sniffle from him, and a thousand knives stabbed at her heart. He looked terrified - like a cornered, wounded animal.

"I never - I never meant it that way!" He squeaks. "I wouldn't want to harm Ladybug-"

She knew it was Adrien underneath the mask. She knew how good he was on camera. She knew he was better than her at maintaining his composure.

She wanted to shake him on camera and yell at him to be just as mad as she was.

His skin had gone white. His lips were moving but no words came out. "I- I didn't mean to-" he finally blurted. "I'm sorry -" he fisted his palms so tight they could have drawn blood. "I didn't realise I was-"

Angry tears spilled out of Ladybug's eyes.

He was actually believing her lies?! He was letting her hurt him like this, letting her stab him with that guilt of actually doing something like-

"I have to go." He said, springing out his staff and vaulting away without another word.

"Chat! Wait!" She called out to him, but he didn't look back. She had to get to him.

She was about to leave when she heard,

"Yeah, right, that's what all boys say." The reporter sighed, shrugging off the fact that she had more or less wounded another human being like it was nothing.

A collective, angry gasp escaped the crowd.

"How can she say something like that?" Ladybug heard a male voice whisper in the crowd.

"Listen here, sweetheart. You're young, you still have so much to learn. Boys like those? They need to be taught a lesson. I mean, look at the girl who was akumatised today - I won't say she had to turn them into frogs -" she laughed at her own joke "-but she was right to have it out for boys in general. Guys like Chat Noir need to be taken down a peg."

"What did you call him?" Ladybug growled through her teeth, taking a closer step towards her.

She was a whole head shorter than her, but for the first time, the reporter looked scared.

"Say it again. I dare you."

"Look, sweetie, that boy-"

"Don't call me that. Don't call him a 'boy' or a 'harasser' or anything that you just said." Ladybug fisted her palms. If she was an akuma, she would have taken savage pleasure in beating her up, but deep down inside, she knew punching a civilian wasn't very heroic.

"I'm giving you one chance to turn back to that camera, and apologize for everything you said about him." She threatened. "Do it, and we can pretend this never happened."

"A-apologize?" She scoffed, though her knees were trembling. "But if you two aren't dating, he shouldn't be that physical with you-"

"Oh I didn't realise he had to ask for YOUR permission every time he dares even to look at me!" Ladybug exploded.

She could already see the headlines - 'Ladybug and Chat Noir - partners or something more?' 'Is Paris being saved by stupid kids?'

She couldn't find it in herself to give a single hoot.

"Chat Noir is the bravest, kindest, most incredible person I know." She barked at the crowd. "He gives his life to protect this city. He's always around to make sure any civilian is safe and guarded. He'd throw himself in harm's way if it meant saving us all and he's always down to help someone in need. He's the best thing that could have ever happened to me and to Paris."

She fixed her murderous glare on the liar again.

"He has never so much as looked at me in any inappropriate way, and he never will. Whether or not my best friend is affectionate with me is none of your business, you hear me?"

"But he just left without saying anything! What else is that other than a sign of guilt?"

That was the last straw. 

She wanted to break something. She could have broken the microphone but it would leave a stain on her reputation. If she broke the camera, she wouldn't be able to say what she wanted to say next. 

"If it is indeed true that some of you out there think that Chat Noir is anything other than a gentleman, you'll have to answer to me." She warned. "No one, and I repeat no one spreads lies about my partner-" she hissed at the woman. "-and gets away with it."

She swung away without another word.

—

It had been 10 minutes of searching, and he was nowhere to be found.

She had to tell him that she never ever thought of him that way that he hadn't done anything wrong - that he was the best thing that ever happened to her since she put on those earrings.

Her poor kitty. Adrien had looked physically pained at the idea of him doing something like that to her.

"Where are you?" Marinette lamented to herself.

Suddenly, her tracker flickered to life. A stationary paw print appeared on her screen.

"I'm coming, mon chaton."

—

By the time she reached Tour Montparnasse, the pawprint had disappeared, and once she saw him, she understood why.

"Oh my god." She whispered. Adrien had buried his face into his knees, and he was shaking.

"Marinette!!!" She heard Plagg and the kwami flew over to her. "Thank god, you have to do something - he's been crying for the past half an hour - he actually believes he's a- he's a- you know what!"

"Spots off." She muttered, and Tikki flew out of her earrings.

"Go to him, Marinette. We'll stick around."

"Adrien?" She whispered, slowly padding towards him.

"I'm fine." He whimpered, quickly rubbing his wet, tear-streaked face on his jeans.

"No, you aren't." She kneeled next to him. "And you don't have to be. I chewed her out on camera-"

"I know. I saw it online. It's been going viral." He gave her a watery smile.

"You know you are none of those things, right?" She soothed, rubbing his back. "She didn't know what she was talking about."

He flinched suddenly, moving away from her.

"Adrien?"

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable - right after -" he muddled up his words. "I'll stop if that's what you want. I won't touch you without your permission, I'll drop the nicknames, I won't pun, I won't flirt- I'll stop it all. In and out of the mask."

"No! You shouldn't have to!" Marinette said indignantly. "That woman was being a-

"But what if she's right? What if I did make you feel unsafe and I didn't realise it? I don't ever want to hurt you, m'lady. I will never ever forgive myself if I ever did things to you - I've gotten mad at you for that exact same thing and-" he whimpered. "-it all came rushing back. I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Please, please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive!" Marinette pleaded, taking his hands in hers boldly and kissing his fingers. "You have never made me uncomfortable. I've never felt unsafe around you."

"But there are times I have been too close-"

"If there were those times, I would have told you to stop, and you would have listened." She said with firm conviction. "That's why I haven't needed to tell you to back off too strongly, because I know you will listen. I trust that you will listen. And besides, you're the one who is always unsure if you should sit closer unless I pull you into cuddles." She squeezed his hands, pressing a longer kiss to his knuckles. "You're my partner, Adrien. I know you. You are not that person. You will never be that person. I love hugging you. I love being affectionate with you. Do you trust me on that?"

"I will always trust you, m'lady." He blinked, wiping his tears away.

Noting his still shaking shoulders, she asked, swallowing down the tears that threatened to spill down her face too. "Do you want a hug?"

He immediately sat up. "Yes! That is if you want to! And if you have to be somewhere else and I'm keeping you-"

She flung her arms around his neck, pulling him close in a bone-crushing hug. "There's no-nowhere else I'd rather b-be." Damn it. She was crying too.

She hated it. She hated that no matter how good and polite and loving her partner was, there were still people out there who wanted to hurt him like this, and gain pleasure out of it. He didn't deserve this.

He was clinging to her waist as he cried silent tears on her shoulder, too afraid to make a sound, afraid that she would pull away and this would end.

Little did he know, she was doing the exact same thing as well.

Chapter Text

"Yo, Adrien." Plagg zoomed out of Adrien's duffel bag. "Don't leave yet, I need to grab more cheese on the way out!" 

The kwami of destruction flew into his cabinet gleefully, fully expecting Adrien to scold him for finishing all his cheese already. 

Any minute now, the door was going to open, and Adrien was going to snatch him out of thin air, as if that did anything.

Then Plagg would fly back into his cheese stash and grab some extra. 

Maybe he would take three today.

Plagg cared about his kid, but pissing him off was half the fun of gobbling up his camembert.

Which was why Plagg was extremely confused when Adrien hadn't opened the door or even yelled at him today. 

"Adrieeeennnn, I'm taking three wheels today!!" Plagg taunted. He must not have heard him. 

There was still no reply. 

"Okay, what happened now?" Plagg grumped, flying out into Adrien's room. 

His kid was kneeling down next to his fencing gear, hunched over something silently. 

"What's the matter with you?" Plagg inquired. 

A pair of shaking hands extended a blue scarf. "Look at the hem-line." Adrien said in a hushed, trembling voice, pointing at it.

"You're getting all worked up over a scarf?" Plagg rolled his eyes. "What's so-wait, why is Pigtails's name in your father's scarf- Ohhhhh - wait, what?"

"I know." Adrien said, gripping the scarf like a lifeline. "Why is Marinette's name on the scarf my father gave me?" 

There was a loud knock on his door and he flinched heavily. "Time to go, Adrien." he heard Nathalie say on the other end.

"C-coming!" he stammered, throwing his helmet and sabre into his bag rapidly. 

"You're seriously going to your fencing class?? At a time like this?" Plagg said incredulously. "You have to go to her!"

"Not now, Plagg." Adrien said tersely, zipping up the bag and throwing his scarf around his shoulders. 

"B-but-! Your father made you think that he gave you that scarf! You were so happy but now-"

"You think I don't know that?" Adrien hissed irritatedly. He instantly regretted it when he saw Plagg's face fall. 

"Sorry, Plagg, but I can't afford to sneak away now. I have fencing, then Chinese, then Father is going to-" his breath hitched in his throat. 

His father was going to watch him play piano today. 

How was he going to face him? 

—

"Did Marinette make the scarf?" was the question in his head when he defeated three of his fencing classmates with ease. 

"Why didn't she say anything?" he wondered as he half-listened to Monsieur D'Argencourt's praise. 

"How did the mix-up happen?" He thought desperately as he went over his notes with his Chinese tutor. 

He hadn't taken the scarf off all day.

He felt awful. He thought the hand-knitted scarf was so well-made. Fantasies of his father sitting at a sewing machine for his sake, making sure that he would like it fizzled away, to be replaced by Marinette’s kind eyes, the same shade as the scarf itself.

The guilt consumed him. He should have known. All those times he wore it to school, telling all his friends about his father's amazing present, ignoring the sting that came when he realised he hadn't been able to see his father on his own birthday - all those times, Marinette was there. 

Nodding for him. Smiling for him. Fawning over her own creation's quality for him. Lying for him. 

He should have realised sooner.

He could have spared her so much unnecessary disappointment. 

'Did she mail it to my address? Did she come to the house? Who got it from her?' He considered, as he settled himself on his piano bench. 

The answer immediately came to his mind. 

Nathalie. 

All of his and father's mail went through her. 

Marinette must have left some sort of note with the present. Did it get lost in the scuffle? 

But if the note wasn't there to indicate it was from Marinette - how did she know it was a present for him?

More importantly, how did she make it out to a present from his FATHER? 

"Good evening, Adrien." Nathalie said, striding into the room. "Your father will be joining us in a few minutes."

"Oh!" Adrien snapped out of his trance. "Okay." he said lamely, poking away at the keys. 

"I'd suggest getting a last minute practice in." She said, scrolling through her tablet. 

"Nathalie, can I ask you something?" he blurted out before Nathalie broke out in a coughing fit. 

"Nathalie!" He exclaimed, alarmed. "Are you okay?" 

"I am fine, Adrien." she cleared her throat. "Just a bad cold." 

"Are you sure?" He got up, scurrying to the other end of the room. "Do you want some water? Should I call the doctor?" 

"I am quite alright, Adrien, but it was sweet of you to offer." she half-smiled at him. 

"O-kay." he muttered, seating himself again. 

He waited for a few minutes to see if she would ask him about what he was going to say, but it seemed like the matter was quite forgotten. 

So he kept quiet as Nathalie greeted his father, who had just entered his room. 

He kept quiet as his father’s lifeless eyes passed by his scarf without any comment.

He kept quieter as he was reprimanded for butchering two notes in his piece. 

Maybe it was because he felt guilty about accusing Nathalie when she was sick. Maybe it was because he didn't trust her enough to get the truth out of her. Maybe it was because he knew his father would not know the story behind the scarf, and would just tell Adrien to stop wasting his time. Maybe it was because the room felt so stifling and hot and he would do anything to be in Marinette's embrace right now as he begged for her forgiveness. 

Chapter Text

Marinette sat on her balcony, absent-mindedly sewing away at a shirt whose stitches had come undone. 

"What a quiet night." Tikki remarked as she chewed on a cookie.  "You haven't gotten a moment to breathe at all this week." 

"Careful." she giggled. "You'll jinx it."

"Sure, all kwamis of good luck are very good at jinxing things." Tikki said flatly and Marinette laughed. Tikki could be very sassy when she wanted to be.

"Hey!" Tikki exclaimed, pointing. "Look, do you see something?" 

Marinette followed Tikki's gaze.

A black shadow was perched on the roof of the school. 

A shadow she recognised instantly. 

"It's Adrien!" she whispered to herself. "Why isn't he coming here?"

She waved to him, and the shadow stiffened, like he had only just seen her. A second later, he was on her railing. 

"Hey." he said. 

"Why hello there, does the stray want some food to get him by?" she joked, cocking a hip. 

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

Marinette's smile faded when she realised he was being serious. His usual grin was quite absent, and he looked frazzled, like he had run a marathon. 

"What happened?" Marinette questioned, taking his outstretched hand as he stood fully on her balcony. "Wait, don't say anything here." she beckoned him to follow her inside. 

He dropped his transformation just as he landed on her bed. 

He was still in his everyday clothes? Wasn't it pretty late already? 

"Adrien, what's wrong-?" she cut herself off when she saw what was around his neck. 

The blue scarf she had gotten him. 

Was he here to-? No, it couldn't be, maybe he just happened to be wearing it....since this morning at school....

"If I asked you something, will you be honest with me?" He whimpered, slowly blinking at her. 

"Chaton, you're scaring me. What's happening?" She asked, worriedly. He looked like he had been thrown in the wash several times for how much his shoulders had shrunk. He wasn't meeting her eyes. 

Slowly, he unraveled the scarf and folded it so that she could see the hem. 

'Marinette.' her own name glared up at her. 

Shoot. She had forgotten she had signed it!! 

"Uh...." She stammered. "You see..."

"Marinette, did you give me this scarf?" he asked, and now, his guilty eyes were trained on her. 

"I...yes." she admitted, because she wouldn't, she absolutely wouldn't lie to him if she could help it. "Yes, I did, Adrien."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, and it was Marinette's turn to look away. 

He was here to yell at her, wasn't he? For deceiving him, for giving him false hope about his father, for-

"M'lady? Please. Please tell me." he begged. 

He didn't sound angry. He was reaching out to her, and once she met his gaze, it was clear that he was just as upset and confused as her. 

"I...I don't know how the mix up happened. But yes, I did make that scarf for your birthday. I left it at your house and everything."

"But we didn't even know each other that well back then." he asked. 

Marinette's heart jumped to her throat. How was she going to explain her way out of this one??

'Hey, I had such an embarrassingly huge crush on you so I spent three sleepless nights making a scarf for you?'

Yeah, that would go over SO well. She would either scare him off or make him feel even more guilty.

"I'm sorry!" 

He was apologizing?

"I- you were so nice to me and here I am nitpicking at your kindness." he smacked his forehead. "I'm such an idiot. Please forget I said that." 

"No, no, it's okay." she jumped on the chance to escape. "You didn't know me that well back then, but haha, you know now I make handmade presents for all my friends!" she laughed it off nervously.

Adrien was too preoccupied to question her about it, and she sighed in relief.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. "I came to school wearing that scarf several times.  I told everyone what an amazing present my father had given me. I told YOU that!" 

"You looked so happy to hear it was from your dad." she said sadly. "I didn't want to spoil it for you by saying it was from that strange girl in class you barely knew instead."

"But I would have been happy to know it was from you!" he said defensively.

"You were happy already, Adrien." she shrugged, picking at a thread at the hem of her pants. "The scarf made you happy - that's why I made it. It didn't matter who it came from. To me, that is!" she clarified, quickly.

Adrien blinked at her, still and unmoving.

"Chaton-oh!" she gasped when he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, Marinette." he was shaking as he buried his head into her shoulder. "I should have realised sooner, I shouldn't have put you in that position."

"It's not your fault!" she said indignantly as she pulled away from him and swiped her thumbs at his cheeks, expecting to wipe away his tears.

She had expected it correctly. 

"But I hurt you." he leaned into her touch but didn't dare to come closer. "I am so stupid - it was right there in front of me all along and-" he blinked rapidly. "I can't believe you did that for me."

"Of course I did!" she probably shouldn't say that with so much conviction, but anything to alleviate his guilt. "You would do the same for me. You have done the same for me."

"You're incredible." he murmured hazily. "You are so selfless, so kind, so...so...you're amazing, m'lady."

He told her that everyday. Slipped in between conversations, battles and dying breaths. 

Hearing it so unironically did unnamed things to her, even before the reveal. 

Now was no exception. 

"Oh, stop, you silly kitty."

"I am absolutely serious," he said firmly. "I'm going to wear this tomorrow, and I'm going to tell everyone that this scarf was from you, and I'm going to brag about it." 

He said in such a challenging tone, she had no doubts about him actually going back on his word. 

"Adrien!! You don't have to do that!"

"Try me." he said fiercely. "I'm going to wear this everywhere I go, I won't remove it unless I absolutely have to and once summer comes, I'm safely carrying it with me at all times." he said proudly.

Marinette was sure her face was a tomato by now. "Oh my god...."

"Come on, the world needs to know about Marinette Dupain Cheng's artistry. And I own an original!" He held the scarf up, caressing it with his fingers,cradling it like a baby. 

On the bright side, he was smiling again.

On the other hand, Marinette's heart was beating out of her chest and she was sure she was, ugh, falling for him all over again.

After all her efforts the stupid cat had made his way back into her heart and made himself at home. 

She wanted to simultaneously melt into a puddle and bang her head against a wall. 

"Mon chaton, please, believe me, it really isn't worth all this attention. It's fine, really. I'm just really glad you know the truth. That's enough for me."

He laid her scarf down in his lap, cradled her cheeks in his large, calloused hands, (making her squeak) and kissed her forehead, lingering for as long as he could. 

"I love you, m'lady." he said, so sincerely,so genuinely, Marinette almost didn't register his words at first.

'HUH?!' her head screamed. 

"You're the greatest friend and partner anyone could ask for." he said fondly, his hands had dropped down to hold hers. 

Oh.

She had lied to him several times about her feelings, both in and out of the mask.

She had gone along with a white lie once to make him happy, and she would do it again if she could.

Marinette hated lying, but she did it a lot more than the average person would. She would do anything for him.

"Love you too, mon chaton." she said, straining out a loving smile like it was second nature.

Chapter Text

All Adrien could tell for a while was that the back of his head stung.

His hands hurt, his arms were cramped, he couldn't move. 

He flinched suddenly when he felt something damp and wet fall on his cheek.

"-drien!" he heard something in the back of his mind. 

Was that his name? Were they calling out to him?

Something else slid softly behind his head, effectively cushioning it. 

The warmth spread from his head to his ears, and for a moment, just for a moment, he had forgotten what it was like to have eyes that could open and close. 

Why did one need to see anything other than pitch darkness if they could feel this comfortable and safe while doing it? 

"Chaton, wake up!" something screeched, and his eyes shot open.

Adrien groaned at the pain from batting his eyelids - they were watering already.

"Oh thank goodness."He heard a familiar female voice, and looked down to see black hair on his chest. 

"M'lady?" he rasped, trying to move his hands around her. Was she crying?

He could move his right arm, and after a few attempts, gave up on trying to move the left. It was stuck somewhere.

"You stupid cat," she mumbled, looking up at him. “You scared me.”

Her mask was gone. She had detransformed?

Did she lose her earrings? Did the akuma get to them?

Oh no, she was still wearing them. 

"What happened?" he gasped, looking at his bare hand. 

"The akuma trapped us in a gift box,” she grumbled, sighing as she rolled off him, sticking herself against a multicolored wall decorated with ribbons. She wasn't able to get up. 

And neither was he, by the looks of it. 

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I should have been looking-"

"We both should have," she said, elbowing the wall. "What is this thing made of?? I can't get through! This is a present, isn't this supposed to be paper?"

"Gah!" he grunted, kicking out his legs like a baby, only to find out he couldn't. The only things he could move were his head and his right hand.

He was trapped.

Oh shit.

"The kwamis?? Where are they?" 

"We're sorry, Marinette!" he heard Tikki phase into the box. "We tried to unravel the knot but-"

"Adrien!!" Plagg practically shouted as he flew to him. "You're awake?!"

"Yes, he is, Plagg." Marinette gave him a relieved smile. "It's okay, we'll get out of here. The kwamis just need to be fed."

"No, it's not okay!" Plagg shouted. 

Adrien narrowed his eyes at his kwami. "Plagg. Don't." he gritted his teeth, trying to keep his wandering thoughts in check. 

His legs were numb. He was sure his back was broken from how hard he banged himself against the wall. 

"My kid here can't stand being locked up! Get him out of here, Marinette!" Plagg yelled, clinging to Adrien's shirt.

"Adrien...?" Marinette was by his side in an instant. 

"Would this..." he panted. "...be a good time to say that I'm claw-strophobic?" 

"Oh god, I can't believe I forgot!" she exclaimed, holding his cheek.

"We'll get out of here, I promise!" Marinette said, frantically caressing his cheek with the gentlest of strokes. "Tikki, get some cookies from my purse, Plagg, get your camembert!"  

The kwamis obediently followed Marinette's orders. 

"Hey, hey, it's going to be okay," Marinette soothed, kissing his forehead. 

Her lips felt cool against his rapidly heating body. 

"Can I hold your hand?" he blurted, scrambling around, until it was grasped by her.

"I'm here, I'm right here." she said. "Plagg is eating. Once he's done, you cataclysm us out of here." 

She held up their intertwined hands so he could see properly through his hazy vision. How was his larger hand completely dwarfed by her tinier one?

'This isn't like those other times, Adrien.' he told himself harshly. 'Plagg is here, Marinette is here, you're getting out of here soon, don't say anything stupid like-'

"You're so beautiful." he murmured. 

'-that.' 

"Have I told you lately how pretty your freckles are?"

Her eyes widened, and she stammered. "Oh come on, you flatterer. You don't know what you're saying."

"I know-" he gasped for breath as he pulled down their intertwined hands to kiss one of her knuckles. "I know what I am seeing and what I am looking at. There’s literally no one else I’d rather be trapped in a box with."

"Oh stop!" she lightly hit his hand. "Did you have a bunch of Flirty-Os for breakfast this morning?"

"M'lady, complimenting you is the only thing that is distracting me right now. " he said truthfully. "And on that note," he took a moment to study Marinette's shocked features. "I'm so so lucky and that's only because I have a very lucky ladybug as my partner."

"Adrien..." she said mournfully, using her other hand to stroke his head. "Will telling all these sweet things really help you feel better?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes." he said firmly. "Your presence here is the only reason I'm not falling apart right now."

"I'm only holding your hand..."

"You're doing much more than you think." he whispered. "You're amazing."

He was on a roll. He had to tell her, his amazing partner and friend and love of his life - and he didn't care how dramatic he sounded when he told her just how much he-

"I lo-"

"We're ready, Marinette!" Tikki chirped. 

"Plagg, claws out!!" Adrien shouted without any preamble, both in annoyance at being interrupted and the need to get out of this tight space. 

"Tikki, spots on!" Ladybug's spotted hand was holding on to his tightly. Sparing a single moment to brush his lips against her knuckles lazily, reverently, he let it go. 

"Hang tight, m'lady." he whispered. "Cataclysm!"

He rolled them both out of the growing hole they made, careful to not expose her to any flicker of his power. 

He cradled her head against his chest as they landed in a heap a few yards away from the disintegrating rectangular box. It was a while until he realised his arms were full of her.

"We're out!" Ladybug exclaimed, getting off of him, to his slight resentment. He could get used to being cuddled up next to her like that.

"You did it!" she said, pulling him up and rubbing his shoulders comfortingly. "Are you okay? Do you want some time before we go find that akuma again?" 

"No, I'm okay." he sighed, leaning his forehead against hers. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, silly. You were amazing in there. You're such a brave kitty, aren't you?" she kissed the top of his head, and he leaned into her lips even as she pulled away, only for her to kiss his cheek briefly.

He was going to go insane if she dropped kisses on him like that.

He was going to go insane now that she stopped. 

'I love you', he wanted to say. 

Instead he repeated like a broken record. "You're amazing."

"Chaton, you've already said that." she shook her head fondly, helping him stand. "Let's go?"

"Let's go." he confirmed and watched her take off. 

"Still meant it." he muttered to himself, as he followed her.

Chapter Text

"You think Ladybug and Chat Noir are secretly together or something?" Alya wondered out loud at their lunch table.

Both Adrien and Marinette choked simultaneously on their food. 

"Woah, dudes, you okay?" Nino said, alarmed. 

"Mhm!" Marinette managed to say through a mouthful of food while Adrien had to soothe his burning throat with a long drink of water. 

"Anyways," Alya said, her eyes narrowing, but she calmed down once she picked up on her train of thought again. "You do remember them kissing after we became Oblivio, right?" 

"Yes, but if you recall," Nino argued, "their memories were erased. By us." 

Marinette heard Adrien break off into a small coughing fit before composing himself. 

Her cheeks felt like a thousand burning suns. She could not have this conversation now. 

Not in front of Adrien! Not in front of Chat Noir!!

"Uh, did you two study for that test in Chemistry today?" Adrien weakly suggested. 

"And what exactly do you think happened when they got amnesia?" Alya pressed on, like Adrien hadn’t spoken at all.

She knew Adrien wasn't a mind reader, but she hoped he could hear her silently thanking him in her head. 

That is, if he could hear over all the blaring alarm signals in it. 

"I mean, isn't it romantic if you really think about it?" Alya was practically sighing.

"What? Two people who don't even remember each other falling in love while they fight a monster coming after them? Sounds like a chick flick." Nino joked before softening a little at Alya's excitement. 

"And kind of romantic." He finished, agreeing. 

They were over this! They had been fine for several months without ever questioning it! 

(Sure, she understood NOW why she fell in love with a civilian Chat Noir and kissed him, but that was not the point!) 

Marinette was well past her days of screaming into her pillow that she had kissed Adrien not once but twice - but of course that photo had to come back to bite her in the butt.

Clearing her throat, she snuck a peek at Adrien. Chat Noir was always much more level headed in times of extreme crisis like this one - of course he was faring better than her - oh.

Adrien had his fists clenched at his sides so tightly, his knuckles were white. His gaze had not moved from his lap. 

"Um, Alya?" Marinette began, trying to keep her voice from wobbling too much. "Maybe it's not a good idea to discuss Ladybug and Chat Noir's relationship status out in the open like this?"

"Walls have ears." Adrien blurted out briefly before going silent immediately. 

"He's not wrong." Nino shrugged nonchalantly. "You can never be too careful with Hawkmoth around."

"Oh, alright." Alya said, resting a hand on her cheek. "Hope that wherever they are, they're okay though. That whole mess with that rude reporter really must have been awful for them."

Marinette felt Adrien sigh in relief just as she did. Hopefully she could go on with her life without her relationship with Adrien completely and absolutely ruined. 

She wasn't going to bring it up, she knew he wouldn't bring it up -

"I will say one thing though." Alya said. "Do you remember what Chat Noir told Ladybug just before they kissed?" 

"OH! Uh," Adrien shot up in his seat, pulling out his phone. "Whoops, Nathalie is calling me, this must be important, I gotta go, see you soon!"

He walked out of there with all the dignity and grace of the model that he was.

Sometimes she really envied how Adrien could always blame his excuses on his father and Nathalie. She didn’t really have that out.

Why wasn't she as cool-headed as him?! Her head was going to combust from all the heat it was occupying-

"I don't, actually," Nino said, seeming unsure. 

Alya huffed impatiently, like Nino had asked her what the color of the sky was. "He asked for her permission!"

Marinette dropped her fork. 

"F-for what?" she stammered. 

"To kiss her, of course." Alya sighed. "And I'm not even saying this to satisfy my need for Ladynoir, this only goes to prove just how wrong that woman was. Chat Noir is nothing but a gentleman. He must have felt awful when she called him names like that. Have you seen the way he looks at her? Chat Noir would never do something like that to Ladybug."

Marinette barely registered the rest of what Alya said, because her ears felt like the foghorns of a ship. 

Nothing but loud alarm bells and the raging oceans for as far she could hear. 

"Believe me, babe, if I was the type for social media, I would have personally made a list of all the things that made Chat Noir rad." Nino affirmed fiercely. 

"Excuse me." Marinette said, surprisingly with enough dignity for a functional human being. 

Abandoning all pretense, Marinette ran towards the restrooms, leaving behind a very confused Alya and Nino.

—

Slamming the door shut, Marinette heaved a large, shaky breath. 

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki floated out worriedly.

"I can never see Adrien again." She blurted.

"Woah, woah, hold on a minute, shouldn't you think this through?" Tikki said, cautiously. "What are you going to do?"

"Was it true?" she said desperately. "Did he really love me then? Did he really ask me if-" Marinette hid her face in her hands, burying the rest of her words in a multitude of squeals. 

"Marinette, I don't think Adrien remembers what he told you that day." Tikki reasoned. "You can ask him sure, but you won't receive an answer."

Gripping her phone, she opened up her text messages with Adrien. The last message from him was some dumb cat pun followed by a goodnight, with a cat emoji that blew kisses.

Not. Helping.

"Tikki, I really don't understand." Marinette whispered. 

Why oh why did he have to be so respectful? Why did he have to follow her strict orders of never ever speaking of that image again?! She could have had some clue about how HE felt! 

"What don't you understand, Marinette?" Tikki asked. 

"If he doesn't really feel anything for me, should this have made him uncomfortable? Or does him being just as twitchy as me mean something?"

"If there's one thing about falling in love, Marinette?" Tikki began. "It's that there is no 'should'. No one 'should' fall in love with someone, and vice versa. No one 'should' feel in a particular way that is acceptable because there are no rules when it comes to the heart." She said gently. "We don't control whom we fall in love with. But do you know what we can control? How we act when we are in love. So tell me, Marinette, what are you going to do?" 

Marinette looked down at Adrien's contact picture. She had badly wanted to draw cat ears and whiskers on it, but she knew it was too conspicuous. 

The camaraderie they shared, the inside jokes, the silence that only came when they understood each other wordlessly, the double lives they led - they were all secrets. 

"I'm going to talk to Adrien."

—

Chat Noir twiddled his thumbs on the roof of College Francois Dupont. 

'I know Nathalie didn't really call you, so can you wait for me at the top of the school?'  she had sent.

He had read it, reread it, counted the words to make sure he hadn't missed anything, checked if she had sent him a text in ancient Greek instead of French before giving up and doing as she said. 

"Chat?" he heard her behind him, a voice he was half-expecting to be filled with rage.

Instead, she sounded just as nervous as he did.

When he faced her, he found her toeing the roof awkwardly, a nervous tic of Marinette that no doubt looked weird on Ladybug. 

"Can anyone hear or see us here?" she asked. 

"No." He informed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I checked. I assumed you'd want this conversation to be private."

"Thank you!" she stammered but he waved it off before delving straight into an apology. 

"I'm sorry about what happened on that day-"

"Is it true that you asked before you kissed-"

They both stopped when they realised what the other was saying.

"Why are you apologizing-?"

"I did WHAT now-?"

Marinette took a large breath before taking the lead. "You don't have to apologize. I don't know what happened that day but I know that you wouldn't plant one on me like that without my consent. Remember what we talked about?" her blue eyes glinted with an affectionate warning. 

"Heh, I know, m'lady." He said. "Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that, but I'm trying."

"I know." She said.

Her hand reached out to him as if she wanted to pull him into a hug, then she reeled it in. 

"What were you gonna say?" he asked. He definitely had not missed the gesture.

"Alya said something just as you left."

"What did she say?"

"She um, and I know you don't remember it - but she said she remembered hearing you ask if you could kiss me." Her cheeks turned bright red. 

"That...does sound like something I would do." He said thoughtfully. 

He wanted to DIE. 

Why didn't he watch his words better?!

"I know it's stupid!" Marinette said before he could rectify his mistake. "And I'm not even saying you wouldn't do something like that - it's just I always assumed one thing led to another but I didn't think you'd actually fall in LOVE with me and I don't know if you feel it now or if it was just the amnesia getting to you-ohmygodillstoptalkingnow!"

Marinette buried her face in her hands, turning away from him hurriedly. 

She let out a muffled scream into her palms, but Adrien could understand perfectly what she was telling herself. 

"You are not a mess, Marinette." He replied soothingly, his hand splaying across her shoulder blades.

"I am, okay?" she looked up from her meltdown. "How can you say that - look at me!"

"Well if you are, which I still don't believe in, I really don't mind." He said kindly, both his hands squeezing her shoulders as he stood in front of her. 

"And uh," he stammered, and she noted that he was growing anxious too. "I don't know if we can sidestep this anymore so..."

"Yes?"

"I don't know what happened when we lost our memories, but I know that guy who kissed you in that picture and I are the same person."

Marinette had done more than her share of stupid things in her life. But that didn't mean that she was stupid. 

She knew exactly what he meant, but the seeds of doubt in her heart persisted.

"But I thought...you weren't flirting with me anymore - and when we knew who the other was you didn't say anything. I thought I was too late."

"I thought that neither Marinette nor Ladybug felt anything like that towards me. Well," his mouth upturned in a smug smile. "Aside from the time you claimed you'd name your hamster 'Loneliness'."

"Oh stop you!" Ladybug snapped, shoving his chest lightly as he laughed. "I already explained why I did that!"

"You told me you loved me to protect your identity?" he guffawed as she glared at him. "Are you sure your subconscious wasn't telling you something?"

"Adrien!" she whisper-shouted. 

"My lady had the hots for me all along and I had no idea!" he bemoaned dramatically. "If I knew I would have asked to kiss her much earlier! All this pain and heartache for nothing!" 

"What if you didn't have to ask?" she surprised him by interjecting. 

"Huh? What do you-" was all he got out before she grabbed his bell and pulled him down into a searing kiss.

"MmPH!" Adrien heard himself against her lips. 

Ladybug - no, Marinette was kissing him. 

It was her hands on his cheeks - pulling him closer, it was his eyes that were fluttering shut, it was his body melting against her as he kissed her back. 

This wasn't a dream, he wasn't going to wake up and forget - once she pulled away he would actually get to relive the feeling of her soft lips against his for as long as he liked.

His mouth was still open when she pulled away with a smirk. "Now that ought to shut you up." 

He must have still been gaping like a goldfish, because she giggled and closed his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. 

"You - I uh - did - huh?" he stuttered.

"Close your mouth, mon chaton. You might catch flies."

He recovered long enough to nuzzle his nose against hers. 

This was real. She was real. 

“You kissed me.” He stated. Nope, he still couldn’t believe it. 

“Was that not clear enough?” she said incredulously, even though she did nothing to expand the non-existent gap in between them.

“Purr-haps I should make it clearer for the lady, then.” He murmured against her lips as he kissed her, softly (so he wouldn’t press too hard and hurt her), reverently (like there was nothing he’d rather be doing) and leisurely (like there was nowhere he’d rather be.)

Alya was the only one among their classmates who didn't express confusion at the two of them stumbling into class 10 minutes late.

Chapter Text

It was quiet. Really quiet.

And dark. 

Well, save for the patch of moonlight streaming through her hatch. She had insisted that it remain open for a while to give Adrien some air. 

She didn't know for sure if he had even heard her when she suggested it. 

She craned her head up slightly, her dark curls splaying across her pillow as she watched him breathe, his back turned to her. 

The light from above made looking at what she could see of him much easier. She could see the crinkles of his undershirt, bunching up a little at his waist - revealing a bit of skin above his pants. 

She loved watching him sleep. She knew he loved to return the favor too.

Truth be told, she wasn't used to watching Adrien sleep away from her. She had gotten so comfortable with watching his eyes waver underneath his lids as he dreamt, his arms wrapped around her waist as he laid his head on her chest, his chin against her temple as she snuggled against his torso, hearing his heartbeat. 

When he had landed on her balcony, with tired eyes that had bags underneath them, asking in the quietest voice possible if he could spend the night with her, and that an empty mansion with only the Gorilla for company was depressing, who the heck was she to refuse him?

He didn't look at her properly. Not once. He was far too careful not to brush even his pinky finger against her skin. 

The gaping space between the two of them on Marinette's tiny bed felt huge. Impossible to breach. 

She didn't even consider the possibility that he may not want to cuddle with her today of all days, and she hated herself for it. 

Losing his mother all over again was bad enough, but finding out that his father was his mortal enemy all along? And having to relive it every year? Of course he wasn't in the mood for anything much. 

She had never seen her kitty be more violent than what was needed. He was the attacker, but that was always to defend her or get to the akuma. Yet she had seen him haul an unmasked Gabriel bodily out of pure rage and fling him across the terrace they had fought him on. 

The older man had been heavily bruised, and from the distance she could tell that he was still moving, but in terrible pain. When the police had dragged him out, the tall, strict, cold-hearted man whose very existence she despised now, was hobbling with his handcuffs on. 

Part of her knew that her boyfriend needed his space, and even him reaching out to her was a huge thing. The other half of her wanted to hold him tight to her until she was clinging to him without knowing where she began and he ended. Just like how she held him on that rooftop a year ago. 

He had been screaming into her chest in the midst of tears, screaming about his mother, screaming about his father, screaming about how he had nearly, knowingly murdered him, screaming about how he should have known better. 

And here they were. Three years of dating. A year of living in Paris without Hawkmoth. 

Marinette hesitantly raised her hand, and touched his back. He continued to take even breaths, not having stirred even a little bit. 

Idly, she began to caress his skin covered by the soft cloth of his shirt, and before she knew it, her fingers were dancing across his skin, drawing nonsensical patterns.

Nino would probably stick by his side all day tomorrow at school. He would fix a glare at anyone who dared even look at him the wrong way. Alya would find ways to cheer him up or distract his attention. Every single one of their friends would have a kind word for him, which he would acknowledge with a kind smile. 

"I..." she mouthed as she drew the letter. 

He would definitely notice her worriedly looking out for him, give her a pained smile and assure her that he was okay. 

'It was a year ago.' He'd say. 'I'm fine, m'lady.' He'd say. 'Don't worry about me.' 

"Love..." the next word was traced.

And people thought Ladybug was a symbol of hope. They didn't know that Chat Noir was the one who saved her life countless times. They didn't know that he spent three months repeating the same 5 minutes over and over again to save her. They didn't see her meltdowns, quietened by his promises to stay by her side forever. 

(If only he would let her do that for him.)

"You." Came the final word.

Her hand traveled back to his shoulder blades to trace the message again. "I....love...you." It came easier this time. 

"I love you." She wrote again. 

And again.

And again. 

He didn't move a muscle. 

'Please.' She silently pleaded in her head. ‘Turn around.’ Tears stung her eyes. 'Look at me. Let me be there for you. Let me give you the love I know you think you don't deserve.'

Who was she kidding? 

He was probably already asleep for how tired he was. She was probably ruining his peaceful slumber with her stupid thoughts. 

She rolled over to the other side to avoid looking at him. 

No sooner had she did, she felt the mattress shift. Stiffening, she slowly peeked behind her, expecting to see Adrien rolled on his stomach or something. 

She was met with him balancing on his arm, hovering over her with bloodshot eyes. 

"Adrien!!" She exclaimed as his large, surprisingly warm hand fell on her wet cheek.

"I love you." He said.

She hadn't realized that she was crying too. 

"I love you too, Marinette." He whispered it this time, a forbidden secret for her ears only. 

His other hand still ghosted over her waist, unsure if he should move away or pull her closer. 

"M'lady, I-" 

She sat up fully so she could grab his shoulders and press her lips to his, not too hard to startle him, but firm enough to let him know that she wasn't pulling away. 

His tears mingled with hers, and he pulled away briefly to wipe hers away before kissing her again, his fingers threading into her hair.

Marinette was sure her insides were a puddle of goo. Even in the worst throngs of depression, he was still looking out for her. Her right hand settled at the nape of his neck, and the other rubbed slow circles on his cheek. 

Her steady ministrations did wonders to him. He was practically melting against her, his hands winding even more around her waist as he fought to be even closer than he already was. 

By the time she let him pull away, he was panting for breath and she couldn't help but chuckle at his flushed state. 

"Red is a good color on you, mon chaton." She teased, gauging his reaction. 

To his relief, he managed a small, yet fully indulgent smile. Not that it was the toothy grins she missed terribly, it was still a massive improvement. 

"I thought you were asleep..." he said sheepishly. "I didn't want to disturb you anymore than I already ha-" 

She cut him off with a glare. "Come off it. You could never disturb me. You know I would be more than happy to stay up all night with you." 

"And let you face our teacher's wrath when you are late to school tomorrow?" He twirled a 

strand of her hair around his finger. "Nah, bugaboo." He said, and her breath hitched. "I 

couldn't live with the guilt." 

He hadn't called her anything other than her full name in so long. 

Don't get her wrong. Bugaboo was still a stupid nickname. It was all his fault for getting her so attached to it she ended up missing it too much. 

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" She asked. 

"Yeah." He yawned, locking heavy lidded eyes on her. "Sleeping 2 inches away from you and not being able to touch you was torture." 

She kissed his cheek and pulled him back to bed. "All you had to do was ask." 

It was his breath that hitched as he settled his head against the crook of her neck. "I know." He said quietly.

Marinette silently spared a curse for Gabriel for messing him up like this. 

His arm wound around her curves as he burrowed into her like the cat he was. "Love...you." he mumbled into her neck. 

She pecked his forehead, her trembling heart finally at peace. "I love you too." She murmured against his hair.