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“You dare me to do what?”
Marinette overheard Adrien say, sounding thoroughly confused and surprised. She made her way over, peeking around the corner of the locker room and seeing Kim, Nino, Adrien and Max standing around. Kim had a smug look on his face as he suddenly crossed his arms.
“Like I said. Iron. A. Shirt. It’s a simple task Agreste. Anyone can do something that mundane, even you being super rich and famous, right?”
Marinette frowned, seeing the uncomfortable look on Adrien’s face.
“Of course I can.”
Kim’s smirk widened as Markov flew over Max’s shoulder, “There is a 12% chance that Adrien is telling the truth, despite factoring in background and known skills.”
Max sighed, “Adrien, you know you don’t have to stoop to Kim’s level.”
Adrien’s hand went to the back of his neck as Nino shook his head, “Yeah dude, Kim’s an idiot.”
“Yo, I’m right here!” Kim said, clearly not the least bit offended as he pushed Nino’s arm.
“No.” Adrien said, sounding determined, “I can do it. Ironing is a simple task after all.”
Marinette didn’t trust the wicked gleam in Kim’s eyes. “Then tomorrow Agreste. In front of the whole class. You’ll iron a shirt and if you can’t, you have to ask out your crush in front of the ENTIRE school.”
Her heart skipped a beat, trying not to let the words drag her down. Adrien… had a crush on someone. She knew that. He had told her as much that day at the wax museum. It shouldn’t grip her heart this way. It shouldn’t hurt this much, but it still did.
She rushed out, knowing she shouldn’t have been listening in the first place. Alya sighed as she walked out of school, “Girl finally, come on! What took you so long?”
“My... locker was jammed, but I got it open. Sorry. Let’s go.”
The girls walked off towards the bakery, Marinette’s heart heavy as she tried to deal with the fact that Adrien would never see her as more than a friend.
…
“You are ridiculous Kim,” Adrien started, “why do I have to ask her in front of the entire school? Marinette deserves so much more than that!” He scolded Kim lightly, his anger burning at Kim’s nonchalant shrug.
“You’ve been saying you are going to ask her out for three months. I’m just trying to kick your butt in gear.” Kim smirked, “Also it’s going to be hilarious seeing the great Agreste actually iron a shirt… IF you know how that is.”
Nino put a hand on his shoulder, “I know you’ve been ‘waiting for the right moment’ but dude, you’ve had those moments. More than once.”
Max adjusted his glasses, “As much as I hate to admit it, Kim does have good intentions. Marinette is sweet, and it’s understandable that you want to do something for her, but you’ll never randomly find that ‘romantic’ moment you are looking for.”
“Yeah Adrien, you just have to take the plunge and ask her.”
Adrien sighed, knowing they were right. He hated to admit his own nervousness, but the guys had been helping him since he let it slip to Nino about his overwhelming crush on Marinette. He knew they had his back, but still, after being rejected by Ladybug for so long as Chat Noir, and then again being rejected by Kagami because of the secrets that the Miraculous brought… he didn’t want that to happen with Marinette.
She deserved the world, and the absolute truth. The question that had him hesitating the last few months was if he could realistically give her that truth, and still be able to keep her safe.
The last thing he wanted was for anyone to spot him as Chat Noir anywhere near her, or to pinpoint that she was the girl who held his heart.
He sighed internally. For the first time since he got it, the ring felt like a ten-ton weight on his finger. If he had never become Chat Noir, would he have noticed his beautiful dark-haired friend earlier? Would they already be dating? Would they be happy?
He knew he would be beyond happy. That was a given if Marinette was concerned. Any guy would be lucky to have the privilege of being at her side, of being able to bask in her warmth and love.
But what if she didn’t like him at all? Her nervousness around him had dulled, and while he was thrilled, he wondered what had changed.
“You are totally overthinking this dude.” Nino said suddenly, breaking his thoughts. “Mari is cool, and so are you. Trust me, you could ask her out in your weird ass Ladybug onesie and she’d still say yes.”
“Probably.” Max added teasingly.
“Probably.” Nino repeated nodding.
Adrien shot Kim a hard glare for snickering, but sighed, “Can’t I just ask her when I’m ready?”
Kim groaned, grabbing his shoulders and facing him, his voice serious, “Listen Adrien. Girls like Mari… they are loved by a lot of people. You wait too long, and we’ll have a Couffaine incident all over again.”
“Luka made her happy.” Adrien said defeated.
Kim shook him with every word just hard enough to make his point, “YOU.COULD.MAKE.HER.HAPPIER.”
“All right, okay! I’ll iron the stupid shirt. I want to ask her out MY way.” Adrien relented, his phone going off in his pocket.
Markov commented, “4:10pm exactly. As usual.”
Adrien sighed, “Yeah. Bring the stuff tomorrow, knucklehead.”
Kim rubbed his hands together, “You got it. This is going to be epic.”
“Your definition of epic needs work my man.” Nino deadpanned as Adrien walked out of the locker room.
He let his head fall back the second the car took off, his eyes staring unfocused on the outside. They passed the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and he saw Marinette walking with Alya. His heart skipped, and the idea formed in an instant.
Marinette was a designer, surely she knew how to iron and could help a stray alley cat out.
Night hit, and he found himself making his way back towards the bakery before he knew it. The second he dropped down, happy flutters filled his stomach. Her trapdoor opened and she smiled, raising a curious eyebrow.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of having one of Paris’ great heroes on my humble balcony?”
He grinned, bowing at the waist with a wink, “This stray knight was hoping to have an audience with the beautiful purrincess.”
Marinette rolled her eyes, but the smile never left her face, “Yeah, come on in you dork.”
He purred at her lighthearted tone, jumping down into her room and seeing the mannequin covered in cloth. “Oh, new project purrincess?”
She blushed, pushing the mannequin out of the center of the room, “Yeah, just something for… nevermind. What’s going on Kitty?”
“I have found myself in a bit of a… situation.”
She pursed her lips, a hand going to her hip. “What kind of situation?”
“Oh, it’s nothing bad, princess. Chat’s honor.” He raised two fingers and she relaxed slightly. His hand went to the back of his neck. “It’s kind of embarrassing actually. You remember a few weeks ago, I told you that because of my home life, I’ve never really learned how to do everyday sort of things.”
“Like baking cookies, or doing laundry. I remember,” she hesitated before asking, “why?”
“Teach me how to iron a shirt.” He went to his knees, putting his hands together and making the biggest kitten eyes he could.
“Really? You came all the way over here for that?” She giggled, ruffling his hair into more of a mess, “Of course I’ll show you Kitty,”
“Thank you Marinette!” His tail swished happily, his eyes sparkling as he hugged her around the middle.
“BUT.”
He stiffened, eyeing her curiously as she smirked, “You are going to tell me why the great Chat Noir suddenly needs to acquire this skill.”
He let her go with a chuckle, watching as she moved to her closet, “It’s dumb really.”
“I’m sure it is, and that’s why I want to know.” She said with a laugh, pulling out a small board and a weirdly triangle-shaped thing . He looked it over curiously, missing Marinette’s soft smile as she watched him look over the iron.
“A few of the guys I’m friends with as a civilian, have a thing for dares.” He went over and took the board and iron from her, seeing her smile as she reached back into the closet for a small spray bottle. “And they dared me to iron a shirt in front of our entire class, or do something embarrassing.”
Marinette’s body jerked and she squeaked in pain, dropping the bottle and holding her elbow as she emerged from the closet, “Ow, ow ow,”
“Mari are you okay?!”
He put the board and iron down on her chaise, reaching for her arm but she shook her head, “I’m fine, I’m fine. What did you say?”
He blinked in confusion, “Are you okay…”
“No, about the dare, you have to iron a shirt…” she stopped, staring at him expectantly and he nodded, confused by the fear in her eyes.
“Uh, yeah… they have an image of me because of my home life.” He admitted sheepishly, “And one thing led to another which led to, I dare you to iron a shirt in front of the entire class or ask out your crush-”
“In front of the entire school…” Marinette whispered as he said it.
He blinked, staring at her in horror as he realized just how badly he messed up. “Mari, wait, before you jump to conclusions,”
“Adrien.”
“I.. yeah…” He went silent and her hands went to her mouth.
“Oh my god…”
“Mari,”
She laughed.
As sheer panic threatened to overwhelm him, her laugh radiated throughout the room, putting him even more on edge.
Suddenly she was throwing her arms around his middle, tears streaming from her eyes as her laughter turned to soft sighs, “You, ridiculous, amazingly wonderful, overprotective, sweet kitten.”
“I don’t know whether to apologize for making you cry, or ask what’s so funny.” He said truthfully, too stunned to even hug her back.
She peered up at him through her lashes, her voice soft, “It’s funny, because you, are YOU, and it’s the same reason I'm crying. I’m so relieved that it’s you. Yet I’m sad and I can’t even begin to explain…” she sniffled, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“You don’t have to explain anything. I don’t understand what’s happening but,”
“I’m in love with you.”
Their eyes met, and he felt as though time itself had stopped.
“You…”
“Both of you. Chat Noir and Adrien. I had a crush on Adrien for so long,” tears fell from her eyes, “and I tried to move on, I tried to push down my feelings when I realized I was starting to fall in love with Chat Noir. I’m the only person in the world who would fall in love with the same boy twice and not even realize it.”
She let him go, stepping back and wiping her eyes, “And I know you have a crush on someone else, so it’s fine. I just want you to be happy. I never expected you to love me ba-”
He pressed his lips to hers, not knowing what else to do to stop the lies from coming out. Her surprise at his boldness was short-lived, and soon her soft lips moved against his with equal vigor. It wasn’t until they both pulled away, breathing heavily that he realized they had somehow made it to her chaise. Marinette had ended up underneath him, her freshly kissed lips smiling up at him. Her eyes held so much love that he started crying, letting his head fall to her shoulder as her fingers moved through his wild mane.
“What’s wrong Kitten?” She asked softly.
He sniffled, feeling like an idiot. “I love you too, so much Marinette. I-I’ve been trying to work up the courage to ask you out for months. You are beautiful and talented, and smart and funny. I was afraid to ruin our friendship with my feelings because I knew someone as amazing as you could never have feelings for someone like,”
“Someone courageous and protective?” She asked, still running her hands through his hair in a way that made him melt. “Someone genuinely sweet and kind, who does everything he can to make sure that people feel safe, and who always puts a smile on his lady’s face even when all she ever did was hurt him over and over again.” Tears spilled past her eyes, and he knew, seeing the familiar guilt on her face, “Who sacrifices himself for her, and makes her smile when no one else can, who makes her believe that together they can do anything, and blindly trusts the girl underneath a spotted mask who has no idea what she’s doing.”
His hand went to her face, cupping her cheek before letting his eyes roam to the small black studs on her ears.
“I do that,” he started slowly, “because mask or no mask, I know there is nothing you can’t do, bugaboo.”
"That WE can't do. You and me against the world, right Chaton?"
He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, "You and me against the world, m'lady."
…
"Wait, so let me get this straight..." Nino spoke up, staring at Adrien holding Marinette piggyback on his back as though it were perfectly normal. "You are admitting... that you have no idea how to iron a shirt."
Adrien nodded, "Not a clue."
"So, you went to Marinette's and asked her to show you last night." Kim continued, staring dumbfounded like the rest of their class.
Marinette smiled brightly, poking her head over Adrien's shoulder. "Yep!"
“And now,” Nino pointed between them, “you’re dating?!”
“Yep!” The new couple said together in perfect harmony, giggling when they realized what they had done.
Adrien bent his knees slightly, just enough that Marinette could reach the floor safely. He felt her hand slip into his and he turned his attention to her, putting the sun to shame.
“But HOW?!” Kim asked, still shocked by the sudden turn of events as the two once oblivious idiots in love stared at each other as though there was no one else in the world.
Marinette’s smile softened, answering Kim despite never taking her eyes off of him, “Because despite being blind, our hearts knew all this time.”
Adrien leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “And they not once ever steered us wrong.”
“But, but,” Kim tried, looking at Nino for help. The DJ just laughed, shrugging and putting his arm over Adrien’s shoulder.
“Good for you my man, and you dudette. It’s about damn time!”
His words broke the shock of the class and soon everyone’s excitement took over at finally seeing their friends together, happier than they had ever been.