Chapter Text
If Adrien Agreste had to pick a preferred way to die, drowning in Ladybug’s vanilla-scented sweater would have hands down won first place.
Not like that was a legit concern right now. If any of them, it was Adrien squeezing her too tightly, looping his arms around her back and hugging her like there was no tomorrow. But how could he not, when it’s been way too long since he got to hug her — or anyone for that matter — and when he was Chat Noir, their hugs never lasted this long. Which was quite understandable, still, Adrien wished it wasn’t the state of the matter.
If it was up to him, he could get lost in her embrace for hours. In the flutter of her heart against his cheek. In the warm exhales that tickled his crown. In the soft firmness of her arms coming around him and holding like she never wanted to let go, either.
To hug her was sitting by the fireplace with a cup of cocoa. It was humming a tune he knew better than the palm of his hand but could never get tired of. It was the remedy of a fluffy blanket at the end of a long and exhausting day.
Her hug was home if he ever knew one.
And that was precisely why Adrien, in all the glory and wisdom of his eighteen years, tightened his embrace around Ladybug when an intrusive voice shouted, “That’s a wrap, good job everyone!” in the background.
With a heavy sigh, she lifted her head, her arms momentarily loosening around his frame. “Adrien... you can let go of me now,” she whispered, a smile in her voice.
“I know,” Adrien said.
Then proceeded not to do so.
It was quite simple, really. Her embrace was the best part of his week, and the gentle caress of her fingers didn’t prove as any indication that she was hurting to disentangle their limbs.
Why would he?
“Adrien,” she called again. She was squirming in place but her voice sounded more amused than anything else. Which, coincidentally, was all Adrien ever wanted: to get lost in her warmth and make her smile. “Everyone is staring at us.”
He almost shrugged. “So let them.”
Wait, what?!
Adrien’s eyes snapped open and he sat up so fast, as if the so-far comfortably warm fire suddenly burnt him. He stared down at Ladybug. Her eyes were blown wide, and the pink Gabriel sweater she wore over her super suit paled in comparison to her cheeks. Then his gaze met the photographers and stylists standing by the set, and Adrien finally understood what feeling like a cat caught in the headlight meant.
Ladybug sat up and undid her ruffled pigtails to fix them. She was still way too close to him, considering… everything he just said, and the smirks the crew was scrutinizing them with. It was almost as if she didn’t mind the unreasonably long hug, and didn’t mind people reading more into their relationship than it really was. Almost as if she wanted—
“Um, you’re kneeling on my sweater.”
—personal space the godforsaken idiot still holding onto their professional closeness didn’t give her.
“I’m so sorry, Ladybug!” Adrien cried, springing back instantly.
In the vehement motion, he accidentally rolled off of the bed they used as a prop. He ended up on the fluffy carpet, hitting his head with the impact, but at least the proper distance was maintained. That was a win in Adrien’s book.
“Oh god, are you okay?” Ladybug asked, immediately at the bed’s edge and peering down at him.
Her hair fell over her shoulders, directly on and around Adrien’s face. It surrounded them like a border. A dark fire curtain separating the world from the intertwining blue and green flames, less their fusion burnt it to the ground.
Adrien allowed himself a second of weakness, just taking in her sight like that, before answering. “I’m fine.”
“You are.” She nodded dreamily, before paling and shooting up with the speed of light. “I mean! I’m glad! Nothing more! Not that I don’t find you attractive, you’re a model, after all. It’s just that our relationship is professional, and I’m just glad you didn’t hit your head. That can cause serious side effects, you know. Like dizziness, and talking nonsense, like that you’re okay with everyone thinking we’re an item, when we’re—” She was seemingly at the loss of words, gesticulating so wildly in her labile position on the very edge of the frame that Adrien was afraid it was one wrong move it took and—
Ladybug lost her balance and stumbled forward with all the tact and poise of a bug splattering on the windscreen. She landed on Adrien, knocking the wind out of him. However, he was grateful for the ache in his chest this time; at least it meant she didn’t faceplant on the floor with full force.
“I’m so sorry. About all of this,” Ladybug murmured into his chest, not even attempting to get up anymore.
Adrien patted her back soothingly. It really felt like they were on patrol just now, not in a studio full of prying eyes. It was like when they met for the first time and got all tangled up in her yoyo. “No need to apologize for falling for me, m’lady— bug!”
Ladybug’s head whipped up. She stared him in the eyes, her mouth forming a little ‘o’ that Adrien oh so would have liked to kiss if only he wasn’t too busy dying inside.
It was — seemingly — Ladybug who first regained her composure. She scrambled to her feet with the speed of light. “Well, of course. I, uh, had a lot of fun today but I have places to be. Things to do, you see. Very important, superhero-y things. So, uh, thanks for sleeping with me!”
Adrien could have pinpointed the exact moment his face caught on fire. The voice that left his mouth was more reminiscent of a verbal key smash than coherent words, but he was of the opinion that that was actually quite preferable in his current predicament.
The less he talked, the better.
Not that Ladybug was doing any better. There was no denying it, with her cheeks burning as brightly as they were, she was a walking-talking fire hazard.
“Okayseeyoubye!” she said, checking off the talking part.
Then — to fully qualify for the position — she turned on her heel and power-walked out of the studio. (Some might have said she ran away but superheroes did, under no circumstances, run away from civilians they just dropped a bombshell on.)
Adrien’s head fell back, hitting the carpet with a low thud. He pulled the front of his sweater over his head and promptly screamed into it.