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A happy sigh left him for what felt like the hundredth time that day. The smile permanently etched on his face. How could it not? It had finally happened. Ladybug said yes, she agreed to go out with him!
Adrien leaned against his open locker, letting his eyes close as he thought back to last Saturday night. Patrol was over, the city was quiet. They sat at their usual perch on their favorite rooftop out of sight, just enjoying being in each other’s presence. Three years they had been doing this together, fighting at each other’s side.
Their partnership wasn’t perfect, and they’d had their share of disagreements, but one thing through it all remained absolutely certain. She always had his back, and he would always have hers.
He remembered the nice breeze, and the way it softly fluttered the long ribbons in her hair out behind her. His head had lied to him for a long time, casting out the wishes of his heart in favor of fleeting happiness. To no avail. Trying to move on, it was a mistake. His heart always came back to the beautiful and courageous partner at his side. It always would, and he was tired of trying to pretend otherwise.
Her question had come from out of nowhere, stealing his breath as his eyes snapped to her calm form. “Wh-What did you say?”
She giggled, turning her bluebell gaze on him with the softest smile, not able to hide the feelings reflected in the ocean of her eyes. “Are you still in love with me?”
He tried not to think about it, not to let the overwhelming feelings he had for her escape the way they used to. “Bug, you… you know I’ll always love you.”
Sadness dimmed the light reflecting on the ocean, and she turned away. “Yeah, I know Kitty. I’ll… I’ll always love you too.” She stood suddenly, already reaching for her yoyo. “Forget I asked, I’m just being dumb. It doesn’t matter.”
He was up before she could pull out the yoyo, grabbing her wrist to stop her from taking off and disappearing. He’d watched that happen far too often, and didn’t want to see it happen again. “M’lady,” he whispered longingly, “I’ll always love you.” He gently turned her face back to his, smiling as he thumbed her cheek. “I can’t, I’ve tried but, I’ll never be anything less than completely in love with you.”
Her small hand covered his where it rested on her cheek, her eyes closing as a shaky breath left her. "Will, will you..." Tears fell from her eyes as they opened. "Will you go out with me Kitty?"
His forehead touched hers, every fiber of his being swelling with the love he had for her. "Bugaboo, I thought you'd never ask."
She rose up on her toes and kissed him soundly, a soft, tender brush of lips that burned deep into his soul. It crackled along his skin like lightning. It was a moment forever etched into his memory, a dream made real. A wish finally granted. When she pulled back, she ran her hand through his wild mane, scratching lightly just behind his cat ear. A rippling purr escaped him, their eyes locked on each other knowing that everything had changed.
“Earth to Adrien! Come back down out of the clouds you lovesick dork!”
His vision of happiness popped at Nino’s teasing tone, hearing the rest of the guys snickering around the locker room. He shot his friends a stern glare, knowing his cheeks were slightly flushed. “Let me enjoy being happy. You all act like you weren’t walking around the clouds when you got a girlfriend.”
Ivan chuckled. “Yeah, but you are swooning.”
Kim gave Ivan’s arm a hard punch, the gentle giant not even so much as flinching. “Hey, I knew there was a word for it!”
Adrien mentally stomped his foot in his mind, forcing himself not to actually act out the childish tantrum. “I’m not swooning!”
“Five minutes!” their instructor yelled into the room. Everyone quickly finished changing, Adrien turning back towards his locker and pulling his shirt over his head, throwing it angrily into his gym bag. So what if he wanted to be happy and in love? His dreams were finally his reality, or at least as close as they could get at the moment. The only thing that would make it true purrfection would be if Ladybug turned out to be...
“ADRIEN WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!”
He turned back to Nino with a confused frown as he asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Agreste you sly cat!” Kim said with a wicked grin. “I bet you loved being face down so she could do that to you.”
His frown became more pronounced, his brow furrowing. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
Nathaniel cleared his throat, telling him in a whisper as he finished tying up his shoes next to him, “You have a hickey on your left shoulder.”
“I HAVE A WHAT?!”
He turned in a circle, knowing he was never going to see it that way. He ignored the guys’ laughter at his expense, asking Nathaniel who was the only one not full out laughing at him, “Will you press where it is?”
Nathaniel nodded with a knowing smile, pressing just above his shoulder blade, not too far from his arm. “Just above here.”
“Our little cinnamon roll is growing up so fast,” Nino crooned like a proud parent, wiping fake tears from his eyes.
“Growing up a little too fast! Last week he didn’t even know what a hickey was,” Kim teased.
“I did too!” he argued, crossing his arms over his chest in defense. “I’m seventeen, I’m not a prude.”
“Oh clearly.” Kim smirked, exchanging a knowing look with Ivan who shook his head in amused silence.
“Come on guys, leave Adrien alone. Don’t be jealous just because he has the hickey to show off,” Nathaniel light heartedly reproached, Adrien sending him an appreciative smile of thanks while the guys protested being jealous in any way. As the redhead walked towards the door, he paused, sounding highly amused, “Besides, the one on his shoulder is nothing compared to the one on his stomach.”
Adrien blanched, his hands going to his abs where he saw the purplish bruise-like blemish on the right sitting proudly for all to see just above the line of his boxers.
“Aw damn it,” Adrien cursed to himself, but slowly started to smile again. He could practically feel the ghost of her fingers as they moved up and down his torso. The slight scratch of her nails that sent goosebumps radiating out over his body. The way her silky lips left a humming trail of desire in their wake, until the moment her tongue made contact with his skin as her teeth lightly grazed him.
Well… at least in the moment he thought it had been lightly.
“You smug little son of a gun,” Kim said proudly, clapping him hard on the shoulder and nearly causing him to topple over.
“Let’s go or you’ll all run extra laps!” the instructor called out suddenly.
Adrien finished changing in a manner of seconds, thankful for all the hectic runway shows in moments like this. He followed everyone out, glad that the subject of his… he frowned. He didn’t want to call them hickeys. It sounded so lewd. There had to be something better he could call them… but what?
Their gym instructor had them run laps around the basketball court, the goal to run at least fifty before the end of the hour and half period. Adrien ignored the groans around him, smiling when he realized that the girls were getting similar instructions. He was pretty sure there would be a lot of chatter going on today while they ran, but at least it would be an easy day.
Alix and Kim sped off the second they were allowed to start, most of them rolling their eyes at the couple’s weird rivalry that had persisted since college. He kept a slow steady pace. There was no reason to use up all his energy at once.
“Yo man, you gonna be good?” Nino asked, eyeing Alya and Marinette across the gym already.
He chuckled. “Yet I’m the one swooning. How long have you been dating Alya again?”
Nino pushed him with a smirk. “Shut up model boy!” Nino increased his pace and called back, “And FYI, you WERE swooning!”
Adrien scoffed. But honestly, he couldn’t deny it.
Nino split the middle between Marinette and Alya when he caught up, the girls both turning to look at him as they rounded the corner. He saw the amusement in Alya’s eyes, and knew Nino had told them. He rolled his eyes to himself, continuing to run. Running like this was easy, it was second nature at this point. His body worked on autopilot, gradually keeping pace while letting his mind run free. Not that his mind was actually free at all.
His thoughts went back to the person they always did. His lady.
“Adrien?”
He blinked, not indulging in his memories the way he wanted when he heard her worried tone. Marinette raised a curious eyebrow at him, and he smiled. “Oh, hey Mari. What’s up?”
“I should ask you the same thing.” A small smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth and his face flushed.
“Nino has a big mouth,” he muttered, flushing more when Marinette chuckled next to him.
“He’s not the only one apparently!” Kim snickered as he rushed past them. Adrien turned beet red the second he noticed Marinette’s eyes widen.
“KIM SHUT UP!” Adrien called out. “It’s a, a...” He scrambled to come up with an excuse, and only one thing came to mind: “It’s a bug bite!”
The guys’ laughter erupted at various points around the gym, Adrien stopping and putting a hand on the nearest wall out of the way of the rest of the runners. His free hand covered his face, trying to get his overheated face back to normal. A small hand touched his arm, her voice gentle.
“Adrien don’t let them get to you. I don’t know what’s going on, but you know they just like to tease.” She turned almost like an instinct, as if she had known Kim was already coming back around. Her voice got louder as she teased, “At least SOME PEOPLE have grown up since COLLÈGE!”
“At least some people didn’t SHRINK!” Kim called back instantly.
Marinette pursed her lips, and Adrien told her softly, “Don’t listen to him. You’ve definitely gotten taller.”
Nino and Alya headed towards them wearing matching smirks. “A bug bite huh?” Alya asked lightly while Nino snorted. “A bug bite doesn’t leave a mark that big on someone my dude.”
Their friends kept running, and the instructor called out, “Walking is fine but don’t stop!”
Adrien sheepishly stepped away from the wall, Marinette following suit as they walked to continue their laps. Falling into a comfortable silence that stemmed from years of their friendship, it shouldn’t have surprised him when Marinette nudged his arm suddenly. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Her eyes met his, and he gave her a small smile. He nodded and she smiled back before they picked up their pace.
It amazed him sometimes, how easy it was to be friends with Marinette. It always caused the best warm feeling in the pit of his stomach in these moments, moments that happened with increasing frequency. He just, knew her, after all this time. All the little habits she had, the way her smile would be too bright when she was sad, the way her tongue would peek out when she concentrated too hard.
He smiled to himself.
The way the storm of her eyes would clear into a bright tranquil sea when she managed to make him smile.
Idle chatter flitted between them as they ran, finishing the laps with plenty of time to spare. Surprisingly, they were one of the first ones finished. When they settled on the bleachers near Kim and Alix still trying to catch their breath, Alix whistled low.
“Damn you guys, I didn’t realize you both moved that fast.”
“Oh we know how fast Agreste moves,” Kim muttered just loud enough for him to hear. Adrien turned and shot him a cold glare in warning, but Kim just snickered.
Adrien already had his excuse ready, not commenting on Kim’s teasing. “Fencing.” He shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing more.
Marinette needlessly tightened her ponytail, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “You guys know I’m constantly late. Running around had to pay off somehow.”
Adrien tried to make her feel less self conscious about the habit she just never seemed to be able to break. “Hey you’ve gotten better,” he said sincerely. It did the trick. Marinette smiled.
“Dudes, that was brutal,” Nino said as he fell into the space heavily next to Adrien a few minutes later. Alya shook her head, sitting down next to Marinette.
“It could have been worse,” Alya said shrugging, her eyes glinting in that way Adrien knew meant trouble. “So what’s this I hear about a bug bite? Don’t tell me the great Adrien Agreste finally has a girlfriend.”
Marinette scolded her instantly, “Alya.”
Adrien felt the heat returning to his cheeks, but answered her honestly, “M-Maybe.”
Marinette and Alya stared in shock, blinking like they weren’t sure they’d heard him correctly. Nino snorted. “Don’t look so surprised dudettes. Half the girls in Paris want to date him.”
“No,” Alya said slowly, “No that’s not it. That’s great Sunshine, it was just…” She looked at Marinette who patted Alya’s hand for some reason.
“It’s great. You deserve to be happy Adrien,” Marinette said, turning back to him with a smile that edged on being too bright. He frowned, getting ready to ask what was wrong when Nino pushed his arm lightly.
“Oh he’s happy. Anyone would be happy getting a ‘bug bite’.”
Alya smirked seeing the blush coloring his cheeks, “A bug bite. Where did you happen to get said bite?”
“Oh he’s got more than one,” Kim supplied, Alix laughing at the horrified look on Adrien’s face.
“Kim, if you are my friend at all. You will shut up,” Adrien practically begged.
“One on his pelvic bone, one on his back shoulder.”
Everyone whipped around, seeing Nathaniel pulling his sketchbook from his backpack without a glance in their direction. “Nathe! Really?!” Adrien whined.
Nathaniel smiled, holding the sketchbook to his chest. “Sorry Adrien. Better to tell them now before you get stripped down in the middle of the gym so they can find it.”
Adrien groaned, knowing how likely that actually was to happen if word got out.
“W-Wait…” Marinette muttered, “on...on your left shoulder?”
Every pair of eyes fell on Marinette, including shocked forest green that couldn’t look away. There was no way. The guys were the only ones who knew, and judging by the shock he had seen on their faces, it didn’t look like any of them had told her specifics.
So… how could she know? She couldn’t… not unless… could he really be this lucky?
“Dudette…” Nino started, Alya finishing slowly, “how did you know that?”
Marinette’s face flushed in a way Adrien hadn’t seen in years, going red from her neck to the root of her hair. “W-Wild guess!” she squeaked.
Adrien felt his entire world shift. The soft smile that graced his features doing nothing to temper the swell of truth, filling his heart with unbridled joy. He knew. He knew as he watched her eyes gloss over from her slip.
He didn’t want to let those tears fall from her eyes, and smirked confidently as he leaned closer to her. “I’m sure it was more than a wild guess,” he whispered it so only she would hear, “purrincess.”
She scooted back closer to Alya, eyeing him hard. “You- YOU, YOU,”
“Don’t blame me,” he said a little louder, practically preening despite the death glare she was silently giving him. Kwamis, he loved this girl. “You’re the one who left a ma-” she quickly covered his mouth with her hand, her eyes wide as saucers.
“Shhh!”
He grinned under her hand, wiggling his eyebrows at her. His new term took on a much better meaning, and was actually quite literal. He gently pulled her hand from his mouth, grinning ear to ear. “ Bug bite, get it princess?”
She groaned, her face meeting her palm with a loud smack. “Please no, I can only take so much.”
“You love my sense of humor, you said so!” he corrected her, watching as she pulled at her face in annoyance.
“No, that’s not what I said. I said, I could deal with the humor because I love you. YOU, not your puns,” she said triumphantly, her confidence melting him on the spot.
“Oooo you love me now?” Adrien teased, Marinette pushing him away from her gently.
“Don’t make me change my mind, dork.” Marinette jabbed playfully.
“I love you too, you know,” Adrien said tenderly, bringing the hand he was still holding to his lips. Her eyes softened as he pressed a kiss to her fingers.
“I know,” she said, smirking, tapping the end of his nose.
“Cheeky,” he teased, her carefree laugh doing him in as he fell in love with her all over again.
“WHAT!?” Their friends chorused around them, all in various degrees of shock. Adrien turned to them practically beaming unfiltered sunshine in their direction.
“What? I told you guys that I had a girlfriend.”
“You also could have told us it was Marinette instead of keeping it a secret!” Nino exclaimed, watching Kim reach over with a serious expression and holding out his fist to Marinette. Marinette smirked, tapping her fist to his with a small chuckle.
“What..” he started to question when Kim unknowingly answered it anyway, “Way to claim what’s yours Mari.”
Alya grabbed her stomach as she laughed, doubling over in hysteric giggles. Alix chuckled, but rolled her eyes. “Finally.”
Nino sighed but held up his fist. “No wonder you couldn’t stop swooning all day.”
Adrien gently tapped his fist to his best friends’, saying it automatically, “Not swooning.”
“You still could have told us,” Nino said, looking between them.
Marinette said it before he could, “We were trying to keep it a secret for a little longer, to keep it out of the media for Adrien’s sake.”
He smiled at her. Technically, that was the truth. It was why they decided as Ladybug and Chat Noir to keep things a secret. Once the media found out, there wouldn’t be a soul left who didn’t know, and they wanted to just enjoy the time they had to be together before that day came and brought the chaos with it.
“And for hers,” he added. “Things will get chaotic really fast if anyone finds out.”
“We can keep a secret,” Alix promised, everyone nodding in turn and agreeing to stay quiet.
Alya elbowed Marinette, telling her lightly with a huge grin, “But hold back on the ‘bug bites’, huh?”
Marinette turned pink, and his eyes closed heavily. “We are never going to live this down are we?”
“Never!” Their friends responded, earning a groan from the couple before laughter flitted between them again.