Chapter Text
Ladybug felt the adrenaline surging through her veins as she bounded from rooftop to rooftop. Tonight was her first solo patrol in almost a month, and it felt so good to be out here alone. Tikki had finally convinced her to take a break from planning and poring over the grimoire. She’d relented only when she realized that she hadn’t eaten since lunch. She knew it was important to take care of herself as a protector of Paris, but sometimes she just got too focused on her duties. She hardly had any time for herself now. Her most recent design lay unfinished in a heap in the corner of her room. She hadn’t picked up a shift at the bakery in weeks. More often than not, an akuma interrupted her sparse time with friends. She was barely even getting her homework done, having had to pull more than a few all-nighters. Her sleep schedule was messed up anyway, she reasoned with herself, which made it okay that she was out on a spontaneous patrol at 3:30 am.
The streets of Paris were never completely dead, but the lack of hustle and bustle was calming. After a blissfully peaceful jaunt through the cityscape, Ladybug landed on a roof and crouched next to the chimney, catching her breath. She stood up after a minute or two and prepared to sling her yoyo in the direction of home.
A shuffling noise rose up from the alley below her. Ladybug’s eyes narrowed and she turned to scan for the interruption. Hopefully it was just a street cat rummaging through the trash. She was too tired to deal with anything else.
“Is there someone down there?” she called. Silence. She pinched the bridge of her nose and jumped down into the alley. What she wouldn’t give for Chat’s night vision. “It’s Ladybug,” she offered. Nothing. She stepped forward, yoyo gripped tight in her masked hand-
“Wait, I’m sorry, I was just out for a walk!” A figure several inches taller than her emerged from the darkness. He sounded a little out of breath. “Sorry to distract you, Ladybug. I’ll go home now.” He got closer. His cheeks were tinged pink.
Ladybug stopped in her tracks. Of course. She must be hallucinating. Tikki was right, she should have taken a break much earlier. There was no other explanation for why Adrien Agreste was out hiding in Parisian alleyways in the middle of the night like some kind of delinquent. And yet, there he was.
“I- what are you looing out this date? I mean, doing out this late?” she said stupidly. Ladybug mentally chided herself. Marinette was allowed to have a crush on Adrien, but not in the suit. Not while she was Ladybug. The stutter had to go. She had a job to do.
Adrien scratched the back of his head. “I just needed some fresh air, I guess.”
Ladybug resisted the nerves bubbling up inside her. “Well, it’s not really safe for a teenager to roam Paris alone in the middle of the night. Can I escort you home?” She knew her cheeks were turning pink too, but she couldn’t help it. Hopefully Adrien couldn’t tell between the shadows and the mask.
“I really don’t want to interrupt your patrol, but… if you insist,” he said bashfully.
“It’s fine, I had just finished anyway,” she replied. “Now, just wrap your arms around my neck and hold on. I promise I won’t drop you.”
“Ah- oh, I thought you meant you’d walk me home. Um, okay,” he laughed nervously.
Ladybug answered with a nervous laugh of her own. “This way is just faster, plus the Paris skyline is beautiful at night.” Never mind the chance to hold Adrien for a few minutes.
Ladybug felt her heartbeat grow faster as Adrien carefully arranged his arms around her neck and she situated one arm around his waist.
“Ready?” Adrien nodded. Ladybug flung out her yoyo and held him tight as they were tugged into the air. She tried not to focus on the smell of his shampoo or how close their bodies were. Even through layers of clothes, she could feel his abs, and wow, can you really get those from fencing-
She swerved at the last minute to avoid crashing into an unnecessarily large church steeple. After a couple more minutes, they arrived at the Agreste mansion. Adrien cringed.
“Um, I can’t really go through the front door. It’s locked and nobody knows I’m gone. Can you take me to my window?”
Ladybug did so, noticing the window had been inconspicuously left open an inch. She carefully pushed it open and dropped inside, setting Adrien down. She blushed at the Ladybug posters and action figures decorating one of the walls. Adrien turned to her, eyes bright. “Thank you for bringing my home, Ladybug. You’re amazing. Chat Noir is lucky to have a partner like you.”
Ladybug smiled softly. “Thank you. Although I think I’m the lucky one to have Chat by my side. I couldn’t do this without him.”
Adrien smiled. Then, out of nowhere, Ladybug’s stomach rumbled loudly. Embarrassed, she took a step back. “I should probably go,” she said, flustered. She turned to climb out the window.
“Wait!”
She glanced back to see Adrien looking up at her hopefully. “I can go get some snacks from downstairs, if you want? The chefs make some amazing pastries, though not as good as the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It could be a thank-you, you know, for rescuing me from the streets of Paris,” he joked shyly.
Ladybug knew she probably shouldn’t stay any longer, but her heart melted at the thought of sharing pastries alone with Adrien. Against her better judgement, she grinned and replied, “That sounds wonderful.”
Adrien beamed and said, “Cool! I’ll be back in a few minutes. Make yourself at home.” He rushed out the door. Ladybug did so, seating herself on Adrien’s couch. She sighed, knowing Tikki would probably lecture her when she got home. She looked around the huge room, filled with books and games she knew he barely had time for. Despite the fact that the room was objectively nicer than anywhere she’d ever stayed, it felt… wrong. Cold. Too big for one person. She wandered over to the foosball table, frowning as she realized Adrien probably never had anyone to play with. His father barely let him hang out with his friends, and they were rarely allowed to come into the house. She was shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of Adrien entering the room, arms laden with a silver platter full of delicious-looking desserts.
“I didn’t know what kinds you like, so I grabbed a bit of everything,” he said, looking down at the platter as he set it down. “This might be a bit overkill.” Ladybug glanced over and giggled. He had indeed retrieved what had to be every pastry in the house for them.
“That’s so sweet, Adrien. I’m sure there will be something I like!” She walked over and selected a strawberry macaron, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the sweet flavor. “You’re right, this is pretty good, but not as good as that bakery you mentioned.” Of course, she’d be proud of her family’s bakery no matter what, but it didn’t hurt that she truly had never had better macarons than the ones from home.
Adrien laughed and chose a chocolate croissant. “I don’t think any chefs in Paris could beat the Dupain-Chengs baking. I wish I got to enjoy it more often. My father has me on a strict diet. He’d ground me for a month if he found out what I was eating right now.” He looked sad for a moment, then perked back up. “But hey, it’s not every day I get a chance to hang out with Ladybug!” His lips quirked as if he’d just told a subtle joke.
Ladybug waved her hand dismissively. “That’s nothing to get excited about. I’m the one hanging out with a famous model!”
Adrien ducked his head. “Oh. Yeah, I guess I’m famous too. But you actually get to do stuff and help people. Being a model is useless.”
“That’s not true,” Ladybug sniffed. “You’re a great inspiration to the world of fashion.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Adrien scoffed. “The world of fashion is a scam. They’re not selling you clothes, they’re selling you pretty faces. I’m just a breathing mannequin.”
Ladybug swallowed. She knew Adrien didn’t particularly enjoy his photoshoots, but she’d never heard such a strong statement from him about his thoughts on modeling. She suddenly felt guilty about some of the pictures on her wall.
“What do you want to do when you’re older? If you don’t stay in fashion?” she asked curiously.
Adrien stared in front of him as he pondered the question. “I don’t know, honestly. No one’s ever asked me that before.” Silence for a few moments. “I’d like to learn to bake. Or maybe be a photographer,” he said wistfully. “It would be nice to be on the other side of the camera.” He paused again. “Actually, I think it would be awesome to be a comedian,” he said with a smile. “Or study physics. Or- ”
“Okay, okay,” laughed Ladybug. “Adrien Agreste, man of many talents.” He blushed at the praise. Before he could reply, Ladybug’s gaze strayed to the clock on Adrien’s nightstand and she visibly cringed. She was lucky tomorrow was the weekend, or else she’d be struggling to stay awake in class. “Thank you so much for the treats, Adrien. And for inviting me to ‘hang out’ for a little while. But- no more midnight strolls, okay? At least not alone. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t do that again.” He grinned warmly. At least… not alone,” he said with a wink. It was Ladybug’s turn to blush.
He walked her to the window. “Goodnight, Ladybug,” he said before gently placing a kiss on her gloved hand.
Ladybug held in a squeak. “Goodnight, Adrien,” she stammered out before flinging her yoyo around the nearest chimney and disappearing from the window.
She didn’t see the golden haired boy gazing dreamily out into the night as she left.